The Transcended: They call him Lucius

Part 3: Blood ~ Chapter 12

Zoey entered Isa's office and immediately spotted two glass jars on her desk with a round object floating inside. The blood drained from her face as she pointed at them. "Is that what I think it is?"

Isa sat down and nodded. She motioned for Zoey to sit across from her and she pushed one jar forward. "This would be the eye of subject T. And this—" She pushed the other jar towards Zoey. "—would be yours."

Horrified, Zoey looked at her mangled eye suspended in the jar. "Why on Earth would you keep that?"

"Because we wanted to study it and compare it to subject T's." She smiled. "I'm hoping you can tell me more about him."

Zoey pulled her gaze off the jars and shook her head. "You'll need to explain a bit more because I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Okay, let me start from the beginning. We managed to pull your files from the hospital you stayed at during your short reprieve from Lucius." She grabbed a large folder from the pile of documents on her desk. "This here contains reports from Doctor Langston and Doctor Reed."

Zoey's fingers clenched around the armrests and she gritted her teeth. Memories from her time there along with the betrayal caused adrenaline to flood her system. I should have made a run for it. I should have tried to escape him. I should have tried to convince them more. I should—

"These were not easy to get, but they provided a lot of information. Still, they lack the details we need. Hence why I wanted to do this little interview." Isa put the file away and grabbed a notepad and pen instead. "So, you okay with me starting?"

Zoey took a deep breath. "No, but I doubt I'll ever be, so let's just get this over with."

"You mentioned seeing a young boy when you went to visit Lucius' forest hideout. He had lost an eye." Isa tapped the pen against the jar. "We believe he may have been subject T. Can you describe him for me?"

Lucius words resounded in Zoey's mind, "Remember little Timmy? It was a piece of him that you so willingly ate." The room spun a little and Zoey closed her eye. "Timmy. You mean Timmy?"

"Was he the one missing an eye?"

Zoey nodded and looked at her. "How come you have it?"

"Lucius sent it over for testing. You see, the boy's iris turned grey—like it would with those transcended. But, he was not transcended."

A chill went up Zoey's spine. "My eyes turned grey too; is that why you're so interested in me?"

Isa grinned. "Partly, yes." She tapped the other jar that contained Zoey's eye. "You extracted your eye while you were going rabid. Despite that, you were still only recently transcended and the majority of the cells had not yet formed a symbiotic bond with athanasia. Your athanasia-free cells and those of subject T showed the same protein deposits that change the iris' observed colour to grey."

Zoey stared at Isa for a moment. "Could you... Could you please repeat that in English?"

Isa chuckled. "Sorry." She ran a hand through her short, fuchsia hair. "Normally, eyes turn grey after someone transcends and even then, it can take a week up to two months. However, Lucius proved with subject T that it's possible to gain traits previously thought to be obtained only by transcending. He just refuses to tell us the details. Like, we expect regular exposure is the cause, but how regular? How much athanasia is needed, what are the means of exposure, how long does it take before the eyes change? And most importantly: what other effects occur? Our experiments on adults have been unsuccessful—on children even more so."