Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 15: Testing His Sincerity

Sarina's eyes ache with exhaustion and yet it seems she's no closer to the answers she craves. The lab is dark, her workspace brightened only by her computer screen and the faint glow of the mutagen sample beneath her microscope.

She doesn't understand, but she knows she will. The mutagen reacts with organic matter the same way regular mutagen does, but what stumps her is what it doesn't do. Regular mutagen, when coming in contact with two or more types of organic matter, splits the different cells apart and then knits them together again in a new way. This strange white mutagen completely ignores them, leaving the cells intact and unmutated.

Sarina has already pored over her TCRI file, specifically in terms of her mutation. Her fusion with inorganic matter is not unheard of; Donatello has entertained her with the tale of his mutated spy-roach before. But even then, this white mutagen does not react.

She groans and slams her head against the table. Think, Sarina, think! What else? She pictures the beast; cold, fast, ferocious. Destiny said it felt like her attacks didn't always land how they should have. Is there any chance that—

Sarina stops when she hears scuttling, looking up from the table just as a cockroach scurries across. In a flash, she grasps an Erlenmeyer flask and brings it down over top of the bug, trapping it inside a transparent prison. Slowly, her bright eyes drag to the tiny vial of mutagen in its holder.

She flips the flask right side up. The bug scuttles around, trying and failing to climb the steep triangular sides of the flask, and she brings herself down to eye level.

"I apologize, little one, but this is for science," she murmurs. "I am sure you will live."

She works quickly, locating a battery and a cable clamp. With some quick work, she connects the clamp to the end of the battery and lightly touches her finger to the other end of the cord. A pleasant buzz rushes through her fingertip. Perfect.

She will have to make this precise. She lets the cord dangle as she carefully feeds it into the narrow neck of the Erlenmeyer flask. The cockroach keeps running in circles as the electrified end draws near. She prepares the white mutagen with her other hand, hovering it over the opening.

Just as the cockroach touches the end of the cord, she pours a dollop of mutagen into the flask. There's a burst of light, enough to make her turn her face away, as she yanks the corded battery away. She waits for the light to die down, faintly aware of the electric buzz in the air, the sound of a neon sign humming.

She looks back and her eyes flash rapidly. The cockroach keeps running around the flask, its once brown body now glowing bright white, flickering and sparking like a livewire, an endless electrical spark.

"Oh my Darwin," she breathes. She looks at the bit of white mutagen still resting in her flask and quivers a little, inhaling sharply. "Ohhhh my Darwin."

The laboratory door creaks open and her head whips to it, eyes wide. Donatello appears, looking groggy as he stifles a yawn with his hand.

"Sarina? Are you...still..." He trails off, noticing the bright electric bug still trapped in the flask. "What is that?"

"Donatello! I finally have made progress! I now believe that I understand what the mutagen does," she says. "How is Raphael?"

"Well, that's why I'm here," he says. "He's getting feverish, but his whole arm is still cold to the touch. He hasn't woken up either."

"That...that makes no sense," she whispers. "We cleaned and debrided the wound. Infection should not be setting in and certainly not this soon."

"I know, and he should have at least been responsive by now. He has all the symptoms of an infection everywhere else. It's like, whatever this is, his body can't kill it off."