Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69330 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Not much,” Lann said. “There’s nothing documented about it.”
“We could learn some from the animal species,” Sara offered. “The jellyfish is the only species who has mastered this process to date.”
“Now that you mention it,” Sky said, “he did use the comparison.”
“How does it work?” Cain asked.
“Hydrozoans, or jellyfish, start out as larvae known as planula,” Sara explained. “As a planula settles down, it gives rise to a colony of polyps. The polyps form a branched structure, and jellyfish then bud off these polyps. All the jellyfish arising from a single planula are genetically identical clones. When sick or old, the jellyfish can revert to the polyp stage, and repeat the cycle, recreating itself via transdifferentiation. Transdifferentiation alters the differentiated state of the cells and transforms them into new types of cells. I know this because I recently read a study in which marine biologists expressed their concern about the rate at which these carnivorous immortal jellyfish prey on other jellyfish.”
Maya looked around the table. “Do you understand what this means? If the process of the hydrozoans is similar to the one Godfrey’s implementing, it means he’ll not only become immortal, but that he can also clone himself.”
“That’s what he meant when he said he wants to wipe out the weaker race,” Sky said, “replacing it with an immortal creature.”
Sara gasped. “He wants to make a whole world filled only with himself.”
“He won’t need a female to reproduce,” Lann said. “He’ll only need himself.”
“What about sex?” Sean asked. “He wants to fill a planet with clones of himself, making it an all male territory. Just speaking from a man’s point of view, that doesn’t make sense.”
“It does,” Ivan said. “In fact, it makes perfect sense. The quantumancist I met was, by lack of a better word, a bisexual creature. Multi-sexual, even.”
“You met one?” Sky exclaimed.
“It’s a long story. All I can say is he, or she, was both man and woman, and animal.”
“The properties of the seven cells,” Cain said.
Ivan’s expression was tight. “I don’t like where this is going. I’m not eager to turn into a creature who can only have sex with itself.”
“We don’t know for sure yet,” Cain said. “Ivan, we’ll have to run tests.”
“Whatever you need.”
“Josselin, contact Eve, and get Tim’s doctor here too, for what it’s worth.”
“Who’s Eve?” Sky asked.
“Our team doctor. She specializes in the seven arts.”
“What about going after Godfrey?” Joss asked.
“Before we jump into another fight, we need to get our facts straight. I have a feeling this war is not going to be won by weapons. This is a war we need to fight with knowledge. Which brings me to another matter. I know you’ve had your doubts about my intentions and those of our sponsors. I spoke to our government supporters, and we agree it’s time to announce your existence to the world.”
The team members looked at each other, some brows raised in question.
Cain held up a hand. “Before you say anything, this will obviously not be an easy or smooth process. Humans may not react well to discovering that supernaturals live among them. What we need is a legal system that will give us rights and protection. As you know, human law doesn’t apply to us, which is why, up until now, the government could have our kind eliminated. My sponsors are putting together a council for the formulation of these laws, working closely with government representatives from across the world. Each of you will have your say and input, seeing that you’re fighting and risking your lives for humans. What complicates the delicate matter of ensuring equality and freedom for all of us are the growing attacks by the Medusa Movement. They’ve caused a wave of panic with their propaganda against your kind, condemning the arts. They demand execution, not much different from how things played out in the Dark and Middle Ages when your ancestors were burned at the stake.
“I fear a civil war. It won’t be long before every kind of shifter and vampire out there takes up arms in protest. The can of worms has been opened. Now that the lid has been lifted on the seven arts, humans who know about other supernatural beings are going to start spilling the beans.”
“We’re not politicians,” Lann said. “How do you propose we handle this Medusa Movement?”
“We fight them with the truth,” Cain said. “But first we have to find their source of information, whoever is feeding them this false belief that you’re here to wipe out the world.”
“How is Katherine doing with her research?” Joss asked.
“Everything is secret and underground,” Lann said. “There’s not much to go on. We’ve looked into every symbolic aspect of the serpent woman in the hope of finding a possible lead.”
“It’s not the woman with the serpent hair,” Sky said with a gasp as the realization hit her. “It’s the jellyfish.”