Page 32 of Ancient Rising
She went to the table and settled down.Addy sat next to her, and the passing of plates began.It took five minutes, and everyone was eating while asking for clarification on what was on the plates.The speed of eating increased once everyone was comfortable with the food, and as Harwin looked around, she saw the ladies relaxing.
“So, how long were you in the lab?”
Addy sighed.“Six years.I was in the second pickup, insane injuries.They healed me enough to get me working and used me as a research subject to try to find out what the average potential for the incoming humans was.After they took samples of everything, they gave me a hefty injection and dropped me into a repair unit.When I came out of the unit, I was blue and really irritated.”She smiled, and it was a dark smile.
The purple and green woman grinned.“She tore the lab apart and several of the researchers.”
Addy chuckled.“Apparently, the Veskueth are rather brutal.It was a rookie mistake.They didn’t make it again.Any other species they blended resulted in a locked room when the hybrid emerged.”
The orange and ivory one smiled.“We gathered around the units and soothed the new arrivals.Some of us were given helpful skills that calmed the panic and pain.We became a sort of extended family.Like...cousins.”
The ladies laughed.
“Well, we have two days before the first of the others emerges, and we can do assessments of how long you guys will take to finish binding.”
Addy asked, “Why do you call it binding?”
“Because the genetic material is already in you, and your body and mind aren’t used to them, so the idea at this point, since extraction isn’t possible, is to help your brain create the pathways to deal with the new impulses and your body to control the power you have.”
Addy nodded.“It feels like there is something I am not quite getting.I am stronger, and my hands feel weird, but I can’t do anything with it.”
The ladies looked at Addy and said, “You go first.”
Harwin finished her meal and smiled.“I will be on standby.”
Addy looked at her plate.“Can I do this on a full stomach?”
“Absolutely.”
“Great.This food is amazing.”
They laughed, and Addy and the others ate until the feast for twenty had nothing left.Thank goodness they hadn’t prepared for eleven.
Harwin smiled.She had missed hosting.There was nothing like a dinner party.
Chapter Seven