Read Online Unremarkable (Anything But) by Lindy Zart - Free Book Online Page A

waited to see what it would do to people?”
    His body went cold, still, as he ingested James’s words. Isaac lived in a world where nothing surprised him anymore, not really, but that—that surprised him. And even as it surprised him, the truth of it couldn’t be ignored. It made sense, in a way.
    “I think it only affected certain people because of the way their bodies were made up, but I think it wasn’t by accident that it was let loose, and this strand, it’s called a Temene strand. I think they were thinking whoever showed signs of carrying it would be the ones chosen to go on, to be immortal.”
    “ What are you talking about?”
    “ This Temene strand? It naturally begins to fade out when a human reaches the age of thirty-five, which is why humans start aging faster after that point.” James paused to let that sink in.
    “ What are you saying? Just say it already.” He thought he had it figured out, but he had to hear it to make sure.
    “ I think the virus is an altered DNA strand they airborne administered all those years ago. I think they’re also injecting higher doses of it into UDs and maybe UDKs. They’re messing with mortality, trying to make it so humans don’t age, so we don’t die. I think our ancestors were the guinea pigs and I think it didn’t work out the way they’d hoped it would. Or maybe they thought only the strong would survive.
    “ It kind of worked, I guess. I mean, it slowed the aging process for the UDs, but what did it do for us? Or, I should ask, what does it have the potential to do to us? There are always risks and benefits with everything. The UDs transformation may be a benefit, maybe the UDKs altered perception is a risk, or can be, depending on what else is done to them. Maybe not. This is all speculation. For now.”
    “ Honor.” Isaac straightened and turned, gripping the edge of the desk, his head hung.
    “ Exactly. I’ve been catching bits and pieces of what’s going on in the facilities, and Nealon, it isn’t good. What August did to her...”
    He spun around, stabbing James with his eyes. “What did they do to her?”
    Sadness pulled his features down and added a shine to his eyes.
    “ Tell me now,” Isaac growled.
    “ They’re trying to turn her into a UD. They’ve been injecting her, on a continuous basis, with UD blood. They’re trying to turn her into some kind of hybrid, a UDK turned UD.”
    “ Why her?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because she was wounded and thought to be dead? She would make an easy test subject. Maybe simply because August doesn’t like her. I don’t know. And I don’t know all the details. That’s all I know, for sure. Whatever else they’ve been doing to her—no idea. And then there are the side effects of being a UD, the possible rage, the urge to kill. I don’t think they counted on that. Or maybe they did, but they thought they could control it. And with Honor…I don’t know what’s going to happen to her.”
    “That’s a lot of I don’t knows.” Isaac looked down, blinking his eyes at the discomfit that news brought him. He met James’s eyes and wished he hadn’t. It was too late—he couldn’t look away now. “So you’re saying, with what they’ve been doing to her, there’s a chance she’ll turn into a monster? A UD bent on bloodlust?”
    James swung his chair around so his back was to Isaac. It was a long moment before he replied. “Yes. It’s more than possible.” He faced him again. “There’s a good chance that will happen to any UD, but with Honor? She already had the virus or whatever it was and now they’ve infected her with the counterpart of UDK blood. Of course, UD and UDK blood is connected—it is blood affected differently by the same disease.
    “Who knows what will happen when all those different DNA strands mix? Especially foreign, untested ones. So, yes, I also think they let her leave. Or August did. I don’t know if anyone else was in on it or even knew