Hidden Monster
Page 50
***
True to his word, I had a few needles poked into me, blood drawn, and one CAT scan… At least, I thought that was what it was. I held perfectly still in the cylinder, my thin hospital gown doing nothing to protect me from its cold, ceramic surface.
We took a break after the body scan, and Tonbo had food brought up to the lab. We ate in a private room, one without glass walls. I was glad to escape the eyes that had followed my every move today. I’d overheard a few whispered conversations, rolling my eyes at a few of the muttered phrases I caught.
“She’s the one that held her breath.”
“She got a new batch, so who knows what she can do.”
“That’s Blake’s damsel, better steer clear.”
Tonbo busied himself with tying a bulky bib around his neck. I wondered why until I saw what was on his platter—a whole heap of sticky, barbeque ribs.
I told Tonbo to surprise me and choose my meal. When I hefted the silver lid off mine, I was indeed surprised. No ribs, instead, a piece of grilled salmon, sautéed vegetables, and a slab of carrot cake.
“How did you know these are all my favorites, Tonbo?” I asked, impressed.
“I know many things about you, Samantha. Now, the damsel side, not as much, I’m afraid. I hope we can at least determine what exact strains of DNA were used.”
“Will it explain how I can alter my appearance too, like my hair and that dress?”
Tonbo frowned. “That one perplexes me to no end. To change hair length is one thing, but to appear in different clothes is another matter.”
“It’s not just any clothes either, Tonbo. It’s always that blue dress.” The one I threw away, I thought with relish.
“Your first time morphing, you wore the dress, but not always?”
“Yeah.”
Tonbo ran his thumb along his other hand’s knuckles. “That I will delve deeper into. The sharper vision, sense of smell, even holding your breath, I can find logical explanations for. We’ve already found that your myoglobin, that’s the stuff that stores oxygen in your muscles, is through the roof. Your red blood cell count is extremely dense too, which helps keep your brain,” he tapped his temple, “oxygenated.”
He held up a rib. “And the body scan showed some interesting workings within your metabolism. The way you break down sugar is quite fascinating. I believe you can slow it down to conserve oxygen, just like the sperm whale does.”
“So that’s what the person did to change it, added whale DNA?”
“I’d like run some more tests tomorrow. I might have some ideas about the blue dress. But yes, I’m fairly confident you have some strains of whale DNA. Not all, or you’d need some bigger clothing.” He winked and took a bite of his dripping rib.
“That’s a scary thought,” I mumbled as I put a bite of salmon in my mouth, enjoying the lemon-butter drizzle it was covered in.
Tonbo agreed. “Yes, especially since you have the gene that slows down your metabolism!”
I found it hard to swallow my food down.