Lucky made the tactical decision to learn as much about the human body as possible. From the comfort of Star Surfer, they lounged in the captain’s chair and scrolled through various websites. Illnesses and injuries were numerous and sometimes the ways to fix them also seemed tedious and dangerous.
Stumbling through descriptions, even videos of surgeries made Lucky’s stomach queasy. Yet, they were so addicting.
“Hello!” Raymundo’s voice echoed off the metal walls.
“Hey!” Lucky shouted back. They slowly stretched their legs out, feeling the blood flow return to their feet, skin and muscles prickling.
“What have you…” Raymundo walked into the room and immediately turned around. “Um. Why?”
“Research.” Lucky paused the video with a tap and then buried the link so the wall returned to its sleek and shiny default setting.
“Cool.” Raymundo shrugged a shoulder, but didn’t turn around.
“Hey, speaking of research,” Lucky grabbed Ray’s arm and spun him around to face them. “Have you ever had a catheter?”
“No.” Raymundo shook his head. “But why?”
“I was curious how it felt. Also, you are half Qwortarian, so… how does doctors and stuff work for you?”
“It was normal. Well,” Ray rubbed his chin and then gestured to the two chairs. Lucky let him take the captain’s chair while they plopped on the other one. “It is normal. I don’t think any of my doctors have ever suspected I’m not fully human. But, when I was, oh, around ten or so, and DNA started being a big thing in the news. The human genome project and all that, well, I remember my dad acting weird.”
“Hmmm.” Lucky leaned forward.
“And he told me, in private, to never get into trouble, and never allow someone to read my DNA. It didn’t make sense.”
“Have you followed it?”
“His advice? Well, yeah. Otherwise I might be in lockup or something. Though I have been tempted to see what those DNA readings would say about me.”
“Yeah.” Lucky put her feet on the ottoman. “You aren’t the first half-bread, but we still don’t quite understand how the shape shifting gets passed down when we match the genetic material of the species we are breeding with. We know the phenogland exists, but how it is grown without clear instructions is a mystery.”
“So you think he’s right?” Raymundo sighed. “My dad.”
“It is probably safest if no one tries to look at your biological building blocks more closely.” Lucky nodded. “Same with your future children.”
“Any advice on what to do if the world suddenly changes and our DNA goes into some world wide database?”
“Keep the Star Surfer in good shape, and she’s your answer.” Lucky stretched their arm across the four foot space and pulled up the navigation system. “I’m going to program Qwortar’s location and a few other ones friendly to us shape shifters if the need ever arises.”
“Thanks for the backup plan.”
“Thanks for agreeing to help me find Skylar.”
Word count: 495
