PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4| PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7

“Fortunately for us, I did inject a NeuroTag in her subconscious before I placed her in the DreamLaunch which tethered us to her. She should not be far away and should emit a slight yellowish glow visible only to us when we see her. I took that as a precaution in case her physical form differs drastically from what we have observed in the lab,” said Leywat as the genio pair exited the small residential pod in which they had awaken only a few minutes earlier.

They decreased their elevation roughly 15.5 meters via a narrow, boxy room with planks and tiny bars bolted to the walls on either side which they found useful for steadying themselves throughout their descent before exiting a wooden portal into the busy street they had noted from above. The air felt strange as it entered their nostrils, thick and musty. There was a heat to it that seemed almost solid enough to touch. Wintmos felt a tightening in his broad chest as he violently expelled air out of his lungs and struggled to replace it somehow. Leywat turned to her genio pair concerned and said quietly.

“Relax, my love. Take slower breaths. Your lungs do not appear to appreciate the difference in humidity from inside to the outside.”

As he listened and slowly regained control of his breathing, Wintmos looked at Leywat with a question in his eyes, “How could you possibly know this?” he asked.

“I do not know. The knowledge just seemed to come to me when I noted your distress,” she replied. Wintmos began to form another question when Leywat cut him off and saying, “Look, I think that is her, I think that is Human 314!”

About 200 meters east of their position outside of the residential pod building was a woman with a slight yellowish glow surrounding her. She was tall and mahogany colored in her face. She wore what appeared to be a long, flowing, sea foam green colored dress and wooden ornaments hung from her earlobes and around her neck and wrists. Her hair was pinned up high on top of her head in thick, tendrils of fur which only made her appear even taller. There were several colors painted onto her face that seemed to compliment the other colors that adorned her body at present. She stood still for a few moments staring at a metal contraption that resembled what Wintmos and Leywat had been taught were primitive conveyances once called automobiles. Suddenly, Human 314 turned and began a brisk walk leading her further away from the genio pair.

“Leywat, how is any of this possible? Human 314 should be in a laboratory. She is sub-Human. How is it that she is out amongst the other Humans moving freely? How can we tell the difference between the two species?”

“I do not know, Wintmos, but we must follow her!” said Leywat excitedly as she grabbed Wintmos’s hand and they both began to walk towards what they hoped would be answers.

~ Marta C. Youngblood