Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
”I hope you two had a pleasant night?” Alexander’s grin implies that he already knows Claire and I had a good night. Guess neither of us had been particularly quiet. Ah well, what do I care what he thinks? I shoot him a smile.
”It was certainly better than a cold prison cell, thank you. Do you have anything for breakfast?”
”How about some beef jerky?”
”Not really what I wanted but it’ll have to do.”
I sit down and grab some of the beef jerky Alexander has placed on the table. A few moments later, Claire joins us. She lightly touches my shoulder before she sits down.
”So, what’s the plan now?” She asks.
”Well, we need to reunite the resistance, find new safe houses and plan the next mission”, I say. ”Or did you have other plans?” I look at Alexander. To my surprise, he frowns.
”I have to tell you something but I’m afraid you won’t like it.”
I swallow the last bit of my beef jerky. ”What is it?”
”Remember the DNA sequencing I did when you joined the resistance?”
”Yeah, you said everybody had to go through this before they could join. I assumed everything was fine with my genome. Is it not?”
”Not exactly. I found the primary genetic marker on one of your chromosomes.”
”You did what?!” Suddenly, my whole body feels even colder than the day before when we faked my death. ”But I’m not a primary!”
”I know, I know. As I said, it is only on one of your chromosomes. I guess you got it from one of your parents.”
”That can’t be, my parents are both secondaries”, I protest.
”Apparently, that is not true. I checked twice, sequenced your whole genome with Illumina sequencing. When the marker turned up, I did a PCR to confirm it.”
”Those are pretty outdated methods”, Claire remarks. She’s right. Illumina sequencing might be called a ‘next generation sequencing’-method, but it’s several decades old. 50 years ago, it had been the main method to sequence genomes.
And a PCR of a DNA segment that big? Must have taken hours. After all, this method, the polymerase chain reaction, was used to amplify the template taken from my DNA to generate several thousand copies. And then, he had to check with a gel electrophoresis if the length of these DNA fragments matched the genetic marker he was looking for.
I doubt he’d been willing to go through all this work without a serious reason.
”So you’re absolutely sure I carry this marker?” I ask.
”A hundred percent sure.”
”And it couldn’t be a spontaneous mutation?” I ask hopefully.
”No. A sequence of this size? With exactly the right bases? More than unlikely.”
I lean back in my chair, close my eyes and rub my forehead. The situation is giving me a headache.
”Are you alright?” Claire asks.
”I think so. I’m not sure. And I really don’t know what the implications of this are. It doesn’t really make me special, I’m not really a primary. I’m lacking their perfect genome. And I certainly don’t have perfect looks.”
”No”, Alexander says. ”But you’re living proof that primaries are normal humans, just as secondaries. They aren’t special just because their genes have been tweaked.”
”Interesting conclusion to draw from this”, I note and raise one eyebrow. ”I highly doubt that other people will see it the same way as you do.”
”Not everyone”, he admits. ”But maybe enough to gather more members for the resistance. Maybe even turn some primaries to help us.”
”Wait, what are you talking about? Nobody knows about this, right?”
”But they will soon. It’s the reason I chose you to be the next leader of the resistance, Hel. We need to make it public! It’s our next big step!”
”Dude, this isn’t a dystopian teenage novel. I am not the fucking chosen one.”
”But we can make you the chosen one”, he insists. ”It’s perfect! People love a chosen one.”
”Yeah, no, thank you. I’ll pass.”
Suddenly, Alexander looks very grim.
”Are you serious?”, he shouts. ”This could be the easiest way to gain more support and you refuse because you don’t feel like it?”
”I refuse because it’s bullshit!” My weak attempt at defending myself isn’t very successful, as Alexander looks even angrier.
”I’ve been planning this since I saw your test results. You can’t just say no! You joined the resistance to change something, well there you go! Be the cause for change or leave, for god’s sake. But don’t act like you care about any of us.”
The room seems to start spinning. What is going on? This whole situation took so many unexpected turns, I’m not able to keep up.
Claire grabs my hand and squeezes it lightly.
”I understand why you think Alexander’s plan is dumb”, she says. ”But it could actually work, without making it all about you. We just need to change one detail.”
I look at her. ”What detail?”
”We’re not dragging you into the spotlight. We’re asking your parents to tell the public their story.”
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