“What about the other girls who were with us?” Draa asked, stopping before the platform hovering in the air.
He carefully placed his foot on it, expecting the disc to collapse under his weight, but it didn’t even budge. Light from the cluster of blue lamps on the ceiling along the sides of the dome illuminated him. Blue and green colors ran across his body from his feet to his head. Nothing unusual so far.
“Two have already reunited with their parents and are resting now. Rudrani…” Vipstana’s elbow jab cut off Lucius’s account. “Ah, right. Doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“Tell them, or I’ll do it wrong.” Satya waved her hand. “They saved us. The locals here are strange,” she addressed the girls, “almost as alien as you are. They assured me no one would find out about the parasites in my back after they were removed. Who gives a fuss about that?”
“I regularly pull those critters out from under my scales,” Vyfka agreed.
“Well, it’s good that you’ve been cleansed.” Vipstana sighed. “Rudrani is currently in room eighteen, recovering after surgery.”
“Where is that?” Tigfy inquired.
Thomas pointed down the corridor, full of doors with incomprehensible symbols. Satya crossed her arms, then showed a V and three fingers.
“Due to careless handling of open wounds, an infection entered her eye sockets, leading to tissue contamination that developed into fever. Nothing critical, but the eye transplant surgery was postponed until tomorrow. We’re monitoring her condition and helping her body recover for now,” Vipstana explained.
“I’m sorry.” Tigfy wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling her knees to her chin. “I didn’t consider the Softskins’ weak immune system. So she’s still in darkness because of me.”
“You led us to safety, and Rudrani will get better!” Satya hesitated for a second, then timidly patted the spotted girl on the shoulder and immediately jumped back under the doctors’ protection.
“That was all Draa,” Tigfy said stubbornly, glancing at him.
“Uh-huh. Don’t listen to her; she’ll tell you all sorts of nonsense. Tigfy is the only reason I survived in the underground at all,” Draa cut in. “What do I need to do?”
Instead of answering, a transparent dome descended over the platform, separating him from his friends. Standing in the center of the circle, Draa looked around. Blue tongues of electricity shot up from beneath the base, flared for a moment, and vanished, leaving behind shimmering air through which everything outside blurred. He sniffed but caught no smell of burnt rubber or smoke. He couldn’t sense anything at all except himself.
From inside the dome, particles resembling wind-blown sand from the dunes flew toward him. They swirled around him, forming elongated tubes in motion that covered his arms up to the wrists. Soon, even simply moving his fingers became difficult, as if Draa had been submerged in a vat of viscous liquid.
But there was no pain, and he accepted these unusual gloves.
“You’ll feel a slight tingling now…” Lucius’s words coincided with a pleasant discharge running from his feet to his head. “The first stage of the examination is complete. Congratulations! You definitely have a power.”
“As if we didn’t know,” Vyfka muttered.
“It’s not that simple.” Lucius turned to her. “Abnormality, or simply power, manifests in different ways. Sometimes it’s a borrowed ability, where one user temporarily loans part of their functions to another, creating a false Abnormal. By isolating Draa from external factors, we’ve confirmed that’s not the case. And the mild, irritating stimulus confirmed that his isn’t a passive trait either.”
“Wait. You mean he could transfer his haze to me?” Vyfka leaned forward.
“It’s doubtful his power works that way.”
“Figures.” The girl rolled her eyes. “Everything always goes to others.”
“So what even is this power?” Draa asked with interest, stretching the transparent ‘grabbers’ on his hands. They resembled straps, but without any hint of material. “How… did Raoul manage to become intangible?”
“He stretched the molecules of his body through space. Without technology, that should have killed him due to synaptic rupture.” Vipstana tapped her finger on her forehead. “But it didn’t. As for your first question, the phenomenon of power arises from a substance known as the Glow. In its original state, the Glow is a toxic mass…”
“How toxic?” Vyfka perked up.
“One gram would be enough for immediate acute radiation syndrome, affecting the bone marrow… It would have melted us,” Vipstana simplified for the puzzled Vyfka.
“Oh… And how much does a gram weigh?”
Tigfy moved closer and whispered in her ear. Lucius slid a glowing sheet toward them, pointing at a corner. The scaled girl’s eyebrows shot up.
“For most living beings, the Glow means death. In extremely rare cases, it enters the bloodstream and gradually settles in the brain. Attempts to extract it from cells or reproduce similar results through cloning have been unsuccessful,” Vipstana continued. “Among other things, the presence of this substance in the body grants its bearer the ability to perform actions impossible by the laws of nature.”
“Among other things?” Tigfy spoke up.
“Even I know that,” Satya declared proudly. “That stuff is one of the sources of unholiness… I mean mutations,” she faltered. “Sorry. It’s hard for me to get used to.”
“You’re telling the truth…” Tigfy whispered.
“Spatial distortion is currently separating you from us, Draa,” Lucius said. “Details later, but the main point is: there are eight thousand kilometers between us. Don’t hold back. Summon your power, big guy.”
Draa tried to obey, not understanding whether the adult was joking or not. How could there be eight thousand kilometers between them? If that were true, he wouldn’t be able to hear them. Probably local humor. The white haze didn’t appear; reality around his fingers didn’t crack. He bit his lip, trying to summon the power. Just recently, it had responded to his first call, so why was it silent now? His temples throbbed; he broke into a sweat, desperately wanting to master the destructive ability and not disgrace himself.
Come on! Come on, appear!
“It’s okay if you need time,” Vipstana said gently.
“I can… I know I can…”
“Stop fixating on trying to ‘turn it on.’ The power is part of you; command it like your arm or leg. You don’t think about every step.”
A Softskin in a leather jacket and a hat with curled brims entered the room. Thomas was immediately at his side; the man handed the mutant a long tube with a metal drum. His face looked not much older than Satya’s; small scars crossed his skin, his eyes were deep set, and his nose had a bump from a break.
“Mighty greetings, pardners.” Two fingers touched the brim of his hat. “Sorry for the intrusion, I was worried about…”
“Uncle Pierre!” Satya exclaimed.
“You!” Tigfy arched her back.
The girl lunged forward, startling everyone. Her fur bristled, a low, vicious growl escaped her throat, her claws shot out. At the last moment, right before the swing at Pierre’s smiling face, they retracted. The man dodged, letting Tigfy’s body pass over him, and, already straightening up, took Thomas by the elbow. Tigfy landed nimbly, her sides heaving heavily, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.
“It’s alright, there was a slight misunderstanding between me and the lassie,” he said to Thomas, who had uncoiled his tail.
“You cost me an organ! You almost killed me!” Tigfy howled. “Don’t you dare laugh! Don’t you dare think I’m nobody!”
She lunged at him from behind. A dark cloud condensed before her, delaying the strike just long enough for Pierre to move out of the attack’s path. Tigfy kicked, breaking through the veil. The man ducked, slid under her leg, knocking the girl off balance, and as soon as she fell, his foot crushed on the back of her knee. His left arm grabbed the Malformed’s neck, his right gripped a patch of the girl’s hide along with her right ear.
Draa jerked, bouncing off the dome but unable to break through it. That hold! It’s dangerous. And so fast… Pierre had definitely broken necks before!
“Feel that, you little shit-rodent?” Pierre’s face contorted: muscles bulged, his cheeks pulled taut, revealing yellow teeth, the whites of his eyes reddened, his pupils slit vertically. “This is it, death, you freak-spawn. One tug and the light goes out for you forever.”
I won’t let him! Haze enveloped Draa’s fists. With one touch, he shattered the dome, tried to step out, and couldn’t move an inch. Cracks spread from his hands; the air whistled, sucked into the tears in reality. Draa raised his arms and brought them down on the floor of the disc, smashing it to pieces, but he couldn’t escape. Beneath him waited the floor a single step away, yet he didn’t fall; he floated along with the debris. The strange gloves hadn’t disappeared. A tongue ran over his saliva-wet teeth.
Softskin! How dare he. Break limbs, tear tendons, save friend and feast on him.
Lucius stood up, clenching his fists. Vipstana rushed to Tigfy, trying to break the hold. Vyfka was pulling off her mask, shielding Satya from the chaos with her back.
“Release the child. Now.” Thomas didn’t raise his voice, but his furry paw clenched Pierre’s right wrist. Brown fingers tightened.
“But that’s not going to happen. I’m not your enemy, pardner, and I don’t intend to be. Don’t judge others by their thoughts, kitten. Only actions matter.” He released Tigfy and stood up. His right hand hung limply. Pierre looked at Thomas and, grabbing it, popped the dislocated joint back in. “Respect. I didn’t even notice.”
“Refrain from foolishness, and I won’t have to take you apart,” the specialist retorted.
“Hey, I was just trying to help the kiddo,” Pierre smirked. “As you asked, his…”
“You’re insane, using your power here?!” Vipstana shouted, pressing Tigfy to her chest and rocking her. “That’s a lethal weapon, not a toy. Breathe, sweetie, breathe, don’t be afraid. It’s all over.”
Draa calmed down, but hatred remained in his gaze. His hands twitched; he heard a crackling and craved to sink his teeth into the arrogant bastard for daring to hurt his friends.
“You… why does only kindness come from you? I did something stupid,” Tigfy whispered.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Apologize, don’t do it again, and keep moving forward.” Vipstana didn’t let her go.
“No need for apologies; we both made blunders.” Pierre walked past, sat next to Satya, and didn’t even glance at the producing venomous saliva Vyfka.
Vyfka’s mask consisted of fabric and three devices that went into her mouth and nostrils; all were attached to a small square under her jaw. No longer restrained by the technology, acid dripped onto the floor, leaving no trace. Noticing Satya’s frightened look, Vyfka covered her maw with her paw and moved away.
“Need help putting it back on?” Satya asked.
“I’ll do it myself.” Lucius approached Vyfka, fearlessly looked into her mouth, and began slowly refitting the mask. “Pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll personally feed you a power-suppression pill. Don’t barge in during a procedure.”
“Don’t push it, cupcake. Or I might take your words as a challenge.” Pierre shifted his gaze to Draa. “So, you’re William’s boy?”
****
“You knew my father?” Draa asked.
While the doctors examined the girls in separate rooms, changes had occurred in the medical bay, as Lucius called the space. Small mechanical insects dismantled the platform where Draa had been tested. The nimble creatures grabbed fragments of metal and plastic and dragged them into openings appearing in the walls.
Then an opening gaped in the wall opposite Vipstana’s table, revealing the innards of the flying mountain. Countless cables, jutting directly from the floor, filled the view; between them scurried clicking, beeping, and completely silent mechanisms servicing the ship’s lifeless veins. A cluster of cables parted, and dozens of insects dragged the remnants of the platform and dome, which scraped along the floor, inside. The sound was irritating, and Draa, grabbing the edge of the destroyed disc, shoved it along with the dome into the opening. The smooth metal edges of the hole closed without a sound.
After returning, Tigfy sat on the edge of the couch, nervously clutching a mug of hot drink in her trembling paws, methodically sipping it, ignoring Vyfka and Satya’s questions. Vipstana typed at her table; Thomas and Lucius stayed close to Pierre, who had settled at the opposite end of the couch. Mechanical assistants cleaned the poisonous spit from the floor.
“We were friends from childhood,” Pierre confirmed. “We grew up on the same ranch, raised cusacks, and then his parents announced they couldn’t stand ‘the filth’ anymore.” His lips twisted as if he wanted to spit. Thomas coughed, and the spit didn’t come.
“And you just stood there and did nothing when they cast him out?!” Draa exclaimed.
“I was twelve. He was sixteen. What could I do?” Pierre looked away. “You saw my pupils. I had to prove my usefulness too.”
“Had to…” Draa repeated. “Did anything change?”
“Yes. The Iternians, for one,” Pierre replied. “And father…”
“Not proven,” Satya put in.
“…of the missing children changed the Marva clan’s ways, and exiles became far fewer.”
“That doesn’t sound true,” Draa doubted. “They constantly brought discarded ones to us. Most with burns or already dead.”
“Well, what can I say?” Pierre shrugged. “Believing it or not is your business. The boss is a decent man. He gave me a place in the clan instead of leaving me a worthless orphan.”
“One point against him,” Tigfy muttered.
“Has anyone ever told you holding onto anger is bad, unless you want to burst? I’ll gift you a roasted cusack steak with spices, dripping with fat, so tender the pieces slide down your throat by themselves,” Pierre said dreamily.
“Tempting,” Tigfy agreed. “Give me a whole beast, and I’m in.”
“Half to each, little lassie.” He tossed her his hat.
“Satisfactory. And no more trying to kill each other.” Tigfy examined the hat, sniffed it, and put it on.
“There won’t be any attempts. Our people live in clans. The more influential the clan, the more privileges. If youngsters from a high clan shoot our cusacks while drunk, we just have to suck it. Same with the laws.”
“Softskins don’t have a single chieftain?” Vyfka asked.
“No,” Satya laughed. “Our settlements are scattered around the Nest. No single place can provide thousands of people with food and water. In the north, metal deposits are close to the surface—I happened there to Ma actually—but they have few cusack pastures. They sell weapons and metal to the west and east, buying supplies.”
“The elders gather to vote and don’t always make the right decisions. That’s life. Was.” Pierre smiled. “Then the Iternians came and occupied us.”
“The inhabitants of the Southeastern Frontier joined voluntarily,” Thomas interjected.
“If you say so.” Pierre waved his hand, looking at Draa. “I read everything I could on the terminal…”
“What’s a terminal?” Draa interrupted.
“A communication device and a small computer.” Pierre pulled out a grimy rectangle, covered in grease stains and rust, with a tiny screen, pressed a button—inscriptions flickered on the display. “The doctors here have much better models. Anyway, they sent us the standards for joining Iterna. You know how many we meet, pardner? Almost none. Strife, corruption, intolerance toward the altered… at least we beat racism. It’s something else. But on the other hand, what difference does it make? We have our whole lives ahead of us!”
“True enough.” Draa smiled back. The urge to tear the Softskin apart had subsided. Pierre could evoke both sympathy and irritation at the same time. “Did you hear about the rescued child from the platform near the Nest? A tiny little one, a mutant. Her parents took her. I wanted to know if they made it.”
“The Voroshovs!” Pierre straightened up. “I and…” He hesitated. “My friend led them to Artificer. As far as I know, they’re already in Iterna, granted expedited citizenship for cooperation.”
“Why the sadness?” Tigfy asked.
The Softskin clenched his teeth; his eyes darkened. Draa tensed, ready to spring, but Pierre just leaned back on the couch, staring at the round lamp on the ceiling. “I lost someone close. The lightning-lady. Don’t read what I’m thinking about you right now.”
Draa didn’t know what to say. He remembered the body collapsing on both sides of him, the frozen disbelief in eyes full of pain. How would he have behaved himself if Dad hadn’t survived? He’d probably lash out too, hating Softskins.
“The results are ready. Tigfy, you’re fine,” Vipstana announced.
“Fine? But I felt how he…” A mix of disbelief and hope flickered across the girl’s muzzle.
“Was not. At most a touch, nothing more. He didn’t have time,” the doctor assured her. “You’re pure. And, by the way, we found a remnant of a tail on you.”
“Oh, that.” Tigfy stood and turned her back. Just above her tailbone, a small bump was visible. “It healed long ago. Raoul cut it off for disobedience.”
“Barbarism.” Vipstana pursed her lips. “We’ll restore it.”
“Oh, what for? Normal people don’t need extra appendages.” Lucius grimaced.
“Everyone present here is human, brother,” the doctor cut him off coldly. She placed a strap with a golden badge around Tigfy’s neck. “Sorry, but untrained Abnormals capable of reading thoughts or emotions are required to wear identification marks and a beacon on the ship.”
“I kinda like it.” Tigfy lifted her head, admiring her reflection in the mirrored panel beside the table.
The woman handed her a small mirror.
“Draa, now you. Your power will be studied in detail in Iterna, but it’s already clear: you possess the gift of space destruction. Material objects disintegrate upon contact with the field around your hands. But that’s not all. According to projections, you should be capable of the same range of abilities as…” Vipstana coughed. “…that criminal.”
Draa’s throat tightened. The passage of a large body through Dad. The claw’s swing. Blood and entrails. The arc. The girl’s death. Smacking lips and the promise to visit Mom. He jerked his head.
“Never. I’ll never become like him.”
“Using the same power doesn’t make you a copy of anyone,” Thomas said gently.
“No! You don’t understand. The temptation… I don’t want it,” Draa replied stubbornly. He had enough sudden urges to devour a person as it was. Enough. “Pierre. I’m really sorry about what happened to your friend. If I could, I would have done anything to save her. I don’t think you’re a bad person. But if you ever hurt my friend again, I’ll break you.”
The pale field appeared around his fists on its own. Neither despair nor hatred was needed; the power had become part of him, and he knew with certainty he could use it whenever he wanted. Pierre met the gaze of his red-green eyes. The muscles in his face twitched in response to the challenge; his fingers scratched the armrest.
Not enough. Instincts assured Draa that this victim wouldn’t be able to stand against him up close.
“Pardner, threats only work when you can carry them out.”
Draa opened his mouth but didn’t hear his own words. He tried to inhale; no air came. The field around his hands died out; he grabbed his throat. Dead silence reigned around him, although Lucius was noiselessly gaping his mouth. The boy reached out his hand, wanting to break Pierre, but a gust of wind knocked him off his feet, throwing him to the floor.
A cloud of dust picked him up, spun him around. Nausea rose in his throat; his teeth chattered in a desperate plea for oxygen. Draa gasped convulsively, gulping precious air, and found himself hanging upside down in front of Pierre. The whirlwind held him as the man leisurely stood up. Taking out a cigarette, he struck a match on Draa’s bony chest plate.
“Lesson over. Don’t look down on me just because I seem weaker. If you want a tussle, just say: ‘Fight’.”
“Fight.”
A fist slammed into Pierre’s face, sending him flying sideways. The whirlwind’s grip loosened; Draa flailed his arms and landed in Lucius’s embrace, who easily caught the heavy body. The doctor smiled at the shocked Malformed and sat him on the couch.
“The Planet teaches tolerance, but I’m not particularly religious.” The ruddy doctor pushed the taller Thomas aside. Pierre, having hit his back against the corner of the corridor, was rubbing his bruise; a red welt was swelling on his face. “Anyone disturbing the hospital’s peace can test me. Fair warning. I am a sore loser. I only enjoy one-sided domination.”