The First Ark: Deathless Prequel by Chris Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

around her. "Show yourself, Ka. I would have words."
    Her anger was clear, as was the reason. The mutagen had transformed her mate in ways she, no doubt, found disquieting. They ran contrary to nearly every life form that had graced the planet.
    "I am here," Ka said, willing a holographic representation to shimmer into existence not far from the Ka-Ken. "Ask your questions and I will answer as I am able."
    "What have you set in motion?" she asked, eyes hard. She gestured at the Dun. "This mutagen you had me craft, tell me exactly what it has done to Osiris."
    Her fiery-haired companion lurked behind her, standing on the balls of her feet as if she might attack. It would be fruitless, of course. Ka's current representation had no substance.
    "The mutagen combined helixes from many species, primarily primate and simian. However, those alone would not have been sufficient to restore your Dun to life. That required a cellular activator, one that could restore necrotic flesh. Such a creature lived during the warmer epoch that preceded this one, approximately seven million years ago. Its body adapted to process a special band of solar radiation that could restart mitosis even if the body had been inert for years."
    "What of the voice in my head?" Osiris roared, taking a step closer to Ka. His eyes flared green, clear proof that his body had been infused with the proper radiation. Excellent. He would be even stronger than she'd anticipated.
    "Just as I gifted your Ken with a shard of my own existence so to do you possess one," Ka explained, experiencing another surge of satisfaction. Such an unexpected victory. "It contains a part of my knowledge and will guide you as I would guide you, even if you stray far from the Ark."
    "This voice," Osiris said, grip tightening on his spear. "Tells me to feed on the flesh of my mate, to slay Sekhmet and feast on her corpse. It. Is. Evil ."
    "That is unexpected, yet the concept of good and evil are arbitrary and defined by your own morality," Ka countered. "Ultimately your own mind should retain control and your shard should serve as nothing more than an advisor. It seeks your preservation, and the mutagen ensures that your strength will grow as you feed. This is why it recommends such seemingly harsh actions. They are merely a means of ensuring your continued survival."
    "Is there no way he can be rid of it?" Sekhmet asked, venturing a little closer. She seemed afraid of Ka, but mastered that fear. Impressive.
    "It is a part of him now. The mutagen has permanently altered his genetic structure. Even if it were possible to remove doing so would kill him," Ka offered, understanding that her words did not please the hominids, but also understanding that their approval meant little. What she'd set in motion would echo across millennia, transforming their entire species regardless of what they chose here. It was too late for them to interfere.
    The Ka-Ken cocked her head as if listening, then her eyes narrowed. "The voice in my head claims that the mutagen spreads like a sickness. That those killed by Osiris could rise just as he did. Is that true?"
    "It is," Ka admitted, nodding.
    "Why?" the Ka-Ken asked. "You've created a plague. One that could wipe out the few of us left."
    "You are incorrect on two points," Ka countered. "First, I did not create the mutagen. You did. I merely guided you, but the act itself was yours. Second, it will not wipe out anyone. Merely reshape them into a form much more adept at surviving the harsh environment outside the Ark. This glaciation has lasted for eleven hundred years and could persist for several more millennia. The mutagen provides an unparalleled genetic adaptation that may allow your species to survive where it would otherwise perish."
    "It turns our people into walking corpses," Osiris said, eyes flaring green. His hands trembled and Ka had no doubt that if she possessed a throat this hominid would attempt to choke her. Then his eyes widened in sudden