Page 139 of Return of the Nine

Dr. Meevin looked impressed with the turnout. “Step into the scanner please, Vida.”

As she had the day before, she stepped into the scanner and waited. Her skin was tingling, and there was an ache in her limbs that was a shadow of the day before.

S’rin and Lerinian were in quiet conversation as the data began to spill onto the screen.

Dr. Meevin was making notes with Ula on the readouts, and Ziggy sat on the medical bed across the way making faces at Vida to keep her entertained.

It was almost as if Ziggy knew how odd it felt to be examined like a bug. Come to think of it, being the first Gaian to live on the mother ship of the Nine, she might just know exactly how this went.

The machine beeped, chimed and pinged the occasional alarm. Apparently, whatever had gone into her body the day before had created an issue.

When the machine had worked out all the details it needed, Dr. Meevin released her from the unit and asked her to have a seat on the medical bed that Ziggy surrendered.

The collection of the Nine gathered at one side of the room, murmuring and comparing notes. Eventually, they called Ula over.

Ziggy smiled, “Don’t worry. I can read those reports. You are fine. I mean, you still aren’t in shape to travel, but your bones have completely reset and all ridges caused by breaks and remodeling have been removed.”

“Oh goody, so I am good as new?” Vida wiggled her toes.

“Well, something is up. I can’t recognise all the energypatterns of the Nine on a readout, but I am guessing that yours has shifted since yesterday. You know what that means.”

Vida did indeed. She literally wasn’t the same person she had been the night before.

Chapter Six

Ula made a few final adjustments to the blue and white fabric before she shook it out. “Here, try this on.”

Everyone in the room had an eye on Vida, so she grabbed the suit and returned behind the screen. The robe was off in a moment and she stepped into the legs, working the soft skin up and around her. It was a change from the metal suit, like water was to rock. The blue and white fabric hugged and supported her, but most of all, it felt like comfort.

She fluffed out her short hair and poked her head around the screen. “Nobody laugh.”

The room was very solemn as she came around, and Ula came up, tugging slightly until the fit was perfect. “Excellent. It has been wired to channel your sight and amplify your perceptions. I know enough about your ability to make a guess at the means by which you operate. Your eyes are your focus, so the power needs to flow through there.”

Dr. Meevin used a hand scanner and nodded. “It is helping to balance your body temperature. Good. How are you feeling?”

“My bones ache a little.”

“They were resurfaced and are still in the process of being reinforced. It will be an extensive remodel. Your body has taken to the injection that you received yesterday. It has decided to rebuild you using the DNA as a template.”

Ziggy cleared her throat. “The DNA of what?”

“Whom, really.” Lerinian bowed slightly. “S’rin designed the bone builder, but it was set for members of the Nine. We used my DNA as a starting point, but in your body, it has become something else.”

Vida narrowed her eyes at the cloaked figure. “What has it become?”

S’rin answered her. “Something new. We don’t know what it is, but it is making changes to you that normally do not happen outside of a bonding, and yet, there is no identifiable DNA left in your system. You have taken it apart.”

“So, am I Balance, Gaian, something in between?”

S’rin chuckled. “Yes.”

Vida sighed. “Right, well. Can we stop it?”

Lerinian and Meevin shook their heads. “No.”

“Fine. It is happening without my willing it, so do we just wait and see?”

S’rin spoke up, “You will come to my lab once a day, and we will go over your alterations. Dr. Meevin has agreed to have a standing scanner sent to my work area.”

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