Page 157 of Star Bringer
“I have,” Merrick says. Apparently I was right about the look on his face earlier. “It’s called tripartition. When a single entity—in this case, Ian—splits into three and forms a triplex.”
“But still—how? Giving it a name doesn’t make it make any more sense.” Kali doesn’t look at me when she says it. I don’t know if that means she’s disgusted by us or just that she doesn’t want to make me uncomfortable while she tries to understand. I’m hoping it’s the second, but I doubt it.
“The Sisterhood believes in lingering DNA from the Ancients,” Merrick says. “We’ve been collecting records for millennia. Some people, especially Seratians, have traces of DNA strains that survive from before humanity evolved in Senestris. We think of these genetic anomalies as blessings from the Light, and they often come with side effects that we study—visions, foresight, longevity. There are also side effects when people whodon’thave alien DNA come in contact with it. Tripartition is one of those side effects, though it’s very rare. I’ve only heard of one other case in the last hundred years, and they died when…”
Sure. Exposure to Ancient DNA. Makes as much sense as anything else we’ve read about what happened in that dune.
“When what?” Rain asks. She’s leaning forward, fascinated in a way that Kali doesn’t seem to be at all.
Is that good or bad? Then again, it doesn’t really matter, does it? We are what we are. I can’t change it and wouldn’t change it if I could, so it’s no use worrying about whether Kali thinks we’re okay or not.
“When one of them was killed in an accident,” Merrick answers reluctantly. “They all died.”
And there it is. The one big—and I mean huge—downside to our little gestalt. “Yeah,” I say. “One of us dies, and we all die.” We discovered that little gem in our early research. We never found an explanation like the one Merrick just gave me, but we did come across stories and legends that could only be the same thing.
Kali backs away from me and sinks down into a chair behind her. Her eyes are wide. “So, what just happened?” she asks, and her voice quivers.
“We felt Milla. She was in pain. That’s the only way we can feel her over large distances.”
“Is she dead?” Beckett asks, and for a second she looks like she’s just waiting for Max and me to keel over.
Max rolls his eyes at her. “Which part aboutif she dies, we diewas not clear?”
She shrugs. “I’m just making sure we weren’t going to have to prepare for you to go down any second.”
“Beckett!” Rain looks horrified.
Beckett throws her hands up. “I’m just saying, this is some really weird shit. I’m just trying to figure it out.”
“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Kali says softly.
“Us too,” Max says.
“So, how does it work?” Kali asks Merrick. “This tripartition thing. I mean, if one person becomes three, there has to be some kind of biological explanation. I mean, at bare bones, physics is a thing, and mass occupies a certain amount of space. Not to mention things like organs and nervous systems and blood.”
“Like I said, we have the knowledge on Serati but not a lot of practical application of said knowledge,” Merrick clarifies. “To the best of our understanding, the alien DNA acts like a virus in the host it comes in contact with. Over a very short time—I don’t know how long, but accounts in the Sisterhood’s records say an hour or two—normal, healthy cells begin to split at a really fast rate. So fast that other cells don’t have time to die out like they normally would.”
“Hold up,” Gage says. “All the cells split? Brain, organ, everything?”
“Again, no medical professional has ever witnessed it happening—to my knowledge, anyway—but that is the supposition. When the cells become too much for one body to handle, it splits.”
“So kind of like cloning,” Gage says. “But with one consciousness.”
“And—in Ian’s case—enough female alien DNA to create at least one female in the triplex,” Merrick finishes, and he’s studying me like I’m some sort of curiosity.
They all are—even Kali. Which is the other reason we never tell anyone what we are. Just think what would happen if someone like Dr. Veragelen got hold of the information.
“The Sisterhood consider those altered by Ancient DNA children of the gods,” Rain says. “We call you the Gifted.”
“I don’t feel particularly fucking gifted right now.”
“No, she’s right,” Merrick adds. “Likely, you’d be considered a miracle back on Serati and revered for your holiness.” He sounds amused by the idea.
Beckett smirks. “Holy Ian and Max. Somehow I doubt it would stick.”
Me too.
“So, we have to find Milla,” Kali says abruptly. “Not just because she’s obviously suffering, which is bad enough. But if we don’t …”
