The General looked down at the boy with a frown. It'd only been a day since he'd gotten the injections, and he showed no signs of it receding. But the General wasn't worried about that. What he was worried about, what Yasra had called him inside the room to see, were the very faint iridescent blue marks that were appearing beneath his skin in various places on his body.
"I thought they were veins at first," said Yasra, "But then I saw this".
Yasra held up the coin-like pendant that had been with the boy's clothes, the symbol on it, the V with a central line inside a circle was a well-known ancient mark that haunted many stories through the Galaxies.
"How is it possible? You saw nothing in his genetic test?" asked the General.
"There were dormant genes, but they showed the same traits as genes that are laid dormant due to genetic evolution," said Yasra, "Even he seemed entirely convinced he was human, or he wouldn't have let us do this".
Danin appeared in the doorway, "He is human, his whole family is".
"Those marks suggest otherwise, Danin," the General replied.
"No, I'm saying that even if those dormant genes are what we think they are, they've been dormant for thousands of years because human blood has overridden the rest," said Danin, "By giving him the gene enhancer, we've activated those dormant genes".
"We've also given him a death sentence," the General growled running his hands through his hair.
There was a stillness in the room as they all came to terms with the gravity if the situation. Then Yasra spoke, "I can do it now, that way, no one has to know-"
"No," said the General his expression filled with a dawning realisation, "We can't do that"
The two looked at him, "But General…"
"I need the two of you sworn to secrecy over this, nobody else finds out," said the General, "Yasra, you fake a report and say that the Genetic enhancer had adverse effects and caused scarring. We'll have him wear bandages, or a mask or something to cover the marks".
"It won't be that simple, no other genetic enhancer has caused such a thing-"
"Then create a history of it," said the General, "A classified history of it".
"General, what about when he has to do medical tests in future, I can't be his attending Doctor indefinitely," Yasra replied, "Someone is going to notice".
The General thought long and hard before Danin spoke, "You'll have to be".
Yasra turned to her, "I'm Chief Medical Officer for the 73rd-"
"Put in for a transfer," said the General.
Yasra was struck dumb, "To a Military Academy? I'm a respected professional-"
"Exactly," said the General, "They won't be able to refuse".
"It'll be suspicious," said Yasra.
"They boy will have several scars from a genetic enhancer you administered…give the excuse that you're trying to find a way to reverse the effects or something?" Danin suggested.
Yasra sighed, "It's thin".
"But it will give you an excuse to be near him, for research at the very least," said Danin.
"And I get to come back to my position when this is over, right?" asked Yasra.
"You think I am thrilled to lose you?" asked the General, "Yasra, currently, you're my own option because I trust you with my life in a heartbeat. Besides, this way you can keep tabs on him and send reports on his progress".
Yasra grumbled, "Better arrange though bandages then…future injections will only make the marks more prominent".
"Should we forego them, then?"
"No. It won't matter if he has the injections or not. The genes aren't dormant anymore for it to matter," said Yasra, "At least with more injections, it'll be easier to explain how a kid from an F-class planet suddenly has the potential to rival the next generations' best".
It could have been weeks as far as Dayton was concerned. He felt so lethargic and out of it that it took him several hours to be conscious enough to respond to Yasra's prompts.
"Thirsty," Dayton rasped.
A cup appeared before him with a straw, "Sip it a bit at a time. We've ordered you a soup as well that'll arrive soon, you can have more solid foods in a few hours".
Dayton frowned at the mixture of sweat and brownish-black gunk on his skin, "Urgh, can I shower?"
Yasra chuckled, "You can sit up first, work up to the shower".
Dayton did as suggested. Despite the ache in his limbs, he felt his muscles respond more fluidly and more readily than they had before. It was a subtle difference, one he was sure he wouldn't have noticed prior to the enhancers, but now, the difference seemed as large as a Chihuahua from a Great Dane.
He sipped the water given to him through the straw, feeling relief in his parched throat, "It worked".
Yasra nodded, "It did. I'm sure you'll notice more than anyone else just how much, but there are a few things we'll need to discuss before we head off world".
"Such as?" asked Dayton, taking more of the water, and feeling his limbs relax and the soreness ease by the second.
"After your shower…" Yasra trailed off, "Don't panic, by the way".
Dayton's eyebrows rose, "About what?"
"You'll know when you see it, and seriously, there isn't a need to panic," said Yasra.
Dayton was not at all assured by those words, and eager to shower now.
"I placed some clothes in the bathroom for you already so you don't have to touch them on the way in," Yasra explained. Dayton moved into the bathroom and Yasra closed the door behind him.
Dayton didn't even strip the underwear he'd been given before he'd climbed into the shower, figuring that needed some kind of wash as well. The water felt great on his skin, and Dayton felt better and better as he scrubbed the gunk off of himself, stripping down as he went. As he placed the underwear in the corner of the shower, then turned to reach for the soap, he paused, his eyes focusing on the iridescent blue marks on the back of his right hand and leading halfway up his forearm in nearly a straight line. They were of varying curled and sharp shapes, and Dayton traced them with a finger, realising that they weren't on his skin, but more in it, or under it. They weren't sore, nor did they hurt when he pressed them, and as Dayton looked over his body, he found another set on his left calf, on his right hip that curled around towards his belly button, and some on his left shoulder curling down his back that he could barely see without a mirror.
He remembered that Yasra had said not to panic. Is this what he'd meant?
Cautiously, Dayton washed his skin and hair thoroughly before he stepped out of the shoulder, drying himself and stepping in front of the mirror to look at the marks he hadn't quite seen, one of which was on the right side of his face, in a line from just below his eye-socket to his jawline. The marks were intriguing and somewhat pretty, but also quite disconcerting to have.
He dressed, noticing that his clothes were a little too tight, it was only then that he realised he had grown a little taller, and his muscles appeared more defined.
Even his black hair and blue-green eyes appeared richer in colour.
If not for the blue marks, Dayton would have been impressed that the gene enhancers had made him look better. But his first concern was what on earth they were.
He stepped out, wondering where his necklace was as he stepped out into the lounge area where Danin, Yasra and the General all sat drinking tea, in the centre of the table, between a pot of tea and a tiered tray of finger sandwiches, was his necklace. He paused, looking at it.
"Where did you get the necklace, Dayton?" asked the General.
Dayton's eyes narrowed, and he didn't speak.
"You're not in trouble," Danin clarified, "We're as surprised are you are about the…"
She motioned to her own cheek and Dayton raised an eyebrow.
"The glowing blue tattoos?"
"They're actually a kind of skin pigmentation," said Yasra, "Like freckles".
"Not for humans," said Dayton, "And no offence, but no alien race I have seen have marks like these either".
"No," said the General, "And you likely won't see any others. The race that held such marks was hunted down and eradicated five thousand years ago, at least". The General leaned forward and picked up the necklace, offering it to Dayton, "Which begs the question of why you have in your possession, a pendant made from a metal native only to their planet, engraved with the symbol that is widely associated with them".
Dayton frowned, taking the necklace and putting it around his neck, "My Grandfather gave it to me when my mother died, he said that it'd been passed down in my family for longer than even his father could remember, and that it was Tradition to pass it down to the oldest child once their parent had passed away. My mother never got to hold it, so my grandfather passed it straight to me".
"You don't know how long it's been in your family?"
Dayton shook his head, "Not a clue. Want to tell me why you're all so haunted by it?"
There was silence before the General sighed, "A long time ago, before the O.S.L.A Trade Alliance, there was one race that dominated the Galaxies. Not only were they genetically advanced, but their technology also went beyond anything any other race developed and has developed since. They were highly respected across the Galaxies for a very long time, but whenever their allies asked, they refused to share the secret behind the substance that fuelled their technology. A liquid, biological energy we only know as Ki".
The General paused before he continued, "As you can imagine, after a few thousand years of being brushed off, many grew dissatisfied with this race's unwillingness to share their secrets. There were many secret investigations launched until an answer finally presented itself. Ki was a substance that could only be produced on their home planet".
"An Alliance was struck between several parties, and a grand-scale attack was launched on the planet. Unprepared, and alarmingly overwhelmed by the numbers, a once highly respected race fell, all those on their planet decimated, as even the children refused to yield. A five-year long war followed as those that had been in space returned to try and win their planet back, but with every loss, their population dwindled, and to the dismay of the alliance, so did the Ki they had tried so hard to win for themselves".
"The Ki you see, was made only when the blood of one of these races mixed with the water of their planet. Entire stores were captured, but quickly drained, and though they tried to use normal water from the planet without the blood, it became clear quickly that it was not the same. When every last member of their race was wiped out, there was no way to make more Ki".
"In the end it was a worthless war that wiped out a great technology and an even greater race," said Danin.
"There were rumours of a few that had escaped the purges, but even after searching for centuries, no trace of them was ever found," the General concluded, "Until you".
"The marks are Atlantean, which means you are a descendant," said Yasra, "That was what your dormant genes were. Not from primates, but from Atlanteans".
"Atlanteans?" asked Dayton as he sat, "You mean, like, from Atlantis?"
They frowned, "Their planet was called Atlantia. What is Atlantis?"
"It's a story," said Dayton, "A myth really as no evidence of it has ever been found, but if it relates to another planet then…"
"What story?" asked the General.
Dayton sighed, "Its said that a few thousand years ago there was this really wealthy and advanced city somewhere in the vicinity of the Mediterranean here on Earth. No one could match them in their riches nor military might, particularly on the seas. Anyway, the myth is that they invented or tried to harness something that was only for the gods, and in retaliation, the gods sent fire and water to eradicate the city, burying it beneath the ocean in a single night. There is harder evidence to suggest that it was just a really bad natural disaster that buried the city. A massive volcanic eruption that caused an earthquake and then a tsunami in rapid succession. But as I said, no one has ever actually found the city to know for sure".
"If the Atlanteans were actually from another planet, then maybe they arrived here for sanctuary and encountered early man, then when they told their story, man couldn't comprehend certain parts of the story-"
"And so altered it for it to make more sense to them," Danin finished, "It would make the most logical sense. If the Atlanteans really did arrive here for sanctuary, then it would explain why their genetics blended within the human population. It was likely a Genetic Camouflage".
"There must not have been many who survived, or nearly everyone on the planet who got the gene enhancers would display Atlantean characteristics," said Yasra.
"Either that or it's only supposed to be prominent in every first born of a singular bloodline," said Danin, "They were advanced enough to make those genetic specifications, weren't they?"
"Yes, but Earth was far outside of the known Galaxy at the time, they could have lived peacefully without hiding, why purposely reduce their numbers to a singular bloodline?" asked Yasra.
"We might never know why," said the General, "But what we do know is that Dayton is displaying Atlantean traits and is about to get sent into the centre of one of those part of the Alliance that eradicated the Atlanteans".
Dayton's eyes widened, "They'll kill me, won't they?"
"They'll probably use you to produce Ki first. If there's any water left on Atlantia," said Yasra, "It's not been a popular destination seeing as it's practically a barren wasteland now".
Dayton frowned at that.
"Which is why we're going to have to lie," said the General, "And lie thoroughly".
Dayton turned to the General, "How?"
"Yasra here has already compiled a report and faux-precedent reports, stating that the gene enhancer caused scarring on you. We've also procured bandages and wraps for you to cover the marks. Yasra will also be transferring to the medical wing of the Military Academy to help you in hiding your quite prominent nature," said the General.
"Though with the story that I'm attempting to reverse the anomaly caused by injections I gave you," said Yasra.
"Nobody can find out, Dayton," said Danin, "We're the only three people aware and it must remain that way".
"For the rest of my life?" asked Dayton as he held the bag of specialised bandages Danin had handed him.
The General sighed, "Perhaps, one day, you'll find people that you trust enough to tell them. But I can't stress how important it is that you be absolutely sure of their trust. If even a rumour were to slip that you are Atlantean, then not only will you be in danger, but this entire planet as well".
Dayton's eyes widened, "They'd all come here to find more like me, wouldn't they?"
The General nodded gravely, "They would, and bets are that any they find will have a one-way ticket to a slave camp on Atlantia where they are forced to give their blood and produce Ki for the rest of their lives, just as their children will be condemned, and their children's children".
Dayton gave out a shaky breath, "I understand".
After a long moment of silence, Danin spoke softly, "Your soup arrived too, eat and rest, we'll head up to the ship in the morning".
"You'll have to wear your bandages as soon as possible, it's unlikely anyone will enter the room and accidently see the marks, but we can't take any chances," said the General.
Dayton nodded, "Yeah, I get it".
He stood and went to the bowl that Danin had indicated, taking it with him back to the master bedroom and turning on the television. He didn't really feel like eating, but he was terribly hungry. The date on the news said he'd been out for three days.
After he finished, Dayton walked back to the bathroom, stripping his clothes off to look at each of the marks. He felt a sense of pride in them after hearing the story of what his ancestors had achieved, but also a sense of dread at the death sentence he now carried with him for not only himself, but many on this planet he'd been born on.
Staring at himself in the mirror and thinking of the story, Dayton realised that the only way he'd be able to escape the greed of others was to make himself untouchable. Only strength and power would do that. Neither of which he currently possessed.
Dayton donned the mask that covered the right side of his face, from the corner of his chin and lips, to the bridge of his nose and up and around the outside of his eye, and his ear on the other side.
The fabric sealing itself snugly on his skin, and flexing with his facial muscles. The only way he could take it off, according to instructions given by Yasra, was to heat it with warm water. He slid the same fabric onto the mark on his calf. The one for his hand looked a bit like a sleeve with a thumb hole. Finally, he wrapped the bandages around his waist, and the other around his shoulder and upper torso, then donned clothes to sleep in.
He'd have to adjust to dodging anyone that wanted to rip the bandages off and expose the 'scars' beneath. Though he supposed it helped that except the ones on his hand and face, the others could be covered with clothing easily enough.
Dayton took a look at his 'wounded' self in the mirror and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for his predicament. This may just save his life, but it'd also make him appear weak.
Dayton curled up on the bed and fell asleep.