The Ascension

Wolf child

 Artemis' ship picked them up with its dubious teleportation capabilities, and soon Aster was following Artemis through his halls into a bleak medical room. It reminded her all too much of visiting the doctor's office.

She sat on a cold plastic bench. Two of Artemis' animal attendants waited next to her as Artemis rummaged through a cabinet.

"What are these then?" Aster said, pointing at one of the creatures.

"Mine." Artemis said, looking up briefly at her.

"What are they though?"

"Very well trained. And mostly human, with a little bit of dog in there."

"So these are what made Ikina so upset?" Aster could remember how irate the god had been when discussing Artemis, and his enjoyment of genetics. "You know, I though genetic manipulation was the main role of godhood. You know, all that bear-editing. I never learned how to do that computer stuff. Are you going to have to teach it to me?"

"That was... before plans changed." Artemis said simply. He paused. "I want to inform you, professionally, that I am under instruction to withhold certain information from you."

"Even after I become a god?"

"No. Just until." He continued his searching. "I can still teach you if you want. Ikina... didn't like it much. They had their reasons." He stopped for a moment to look up and gesture to one of the hybrids. "They used to be human children."

"Oh. Guess I do mind that a little bit. But that alone made Ikina resent you so much?"

He shrugged. "They weren't fond of me. I was sort of like you, you know. Lost, but more eager. For me, things were- When I became a god, I served under Ikina. They told me not to experiment on humans. So I did. Call it the resentfulness of youth. The determination to have a rebellious phase. Of course, I still dabble, even in my older ages- but now that Ikina's dead, I suppose there is less point to it."

Aster examined at the furred guards. "Are they... consciously aware?"

"Of course. Fully self-aware, sentient, capable of higher thought. Whichever. As I said earlier, they're very well trained. Ah!" Artemis finally located what he had been looking for, a thin piece of plastic, identical to the shot Aster which had first given Aster her powers. "Take off your coat and roll up your sleeves."

"Why'd you even give me the coat if we were going to leave the planet?" She said, obeying him.

Artemis did not reply, and again searched his cupboards until he found a small, green tab which he wrapped around the tip of the shot. "This will hurt."

"Yeah." Aster said, impatient for the preparation to end.

Artemis carefully inserted the plastic thing, easily gliding it into her flesh without a jolt of pain. It was slightly cool, and Artemis dug the tip slightly up as he finished inserting the length of the shot into her.

The pain came gradually, a cold sensation that started as a slight sting and soon felt like it was fizzling. The area the tip was in began to feel like it was burning, and quickly her whole arm mimicked the feeling. The worst part was waiting for it to spread, as she could slowly feel it travel throughout her body.

It was burning, colder and colder, for a while before it simply began to hurt. Then there was no fancy way to explain her feelings. It hurt. It was painful. She screamed, and Artemis politely covered his ears. One of the dog attendants left the room. The other sat next to her, and Aster clung to its fur as she writhed on the bench, howling and screeching to the best of her ability.