“Here,Dora,” said Rick as he handed me a stick with nicely cooked meat, “I’ve beensaving this for you.”
Itook it and smiled at him, “Thank you, Rick. This smells so nice I don’t knowhow much longer I could have waited.”
Therewas a short moment of silence, and all that was heard was soft, chewy munching,crackling firewood, and gentle wind sounds coming from the pine needles above.
“Whyaren’t you eating?” I turned to J, mumbling a bit with my mouth half full.
“Iwant to see you have enough. I’ll eat later.”
“I’mnot going to eat the whole animal! There’s plenty. Please, eat.”
Jsmiled but didn’t move.
“Ah!”Peter sighed theatrically as he stabbed raw meat onto a new empty stick andwalked toward us. “Here you go. Just so you don’t need to move away from Dorafor a few seconds.” And he winked at me as he handed the stick to J.
“Thanks,Pete.” J smiled, lifting his hand to bring the meat over the fire.
Theevening soon turned out to be very cheerful. I didn’t feel any pain, and I wasready to sit by myself, although J never let me go. I enjoyed his undividedattention immensely.
Atthe end of the evening, everybody went to their tents.Only Rick, J, and I stayed by the fire, still talking.
“Dora,”Rick said, looking straight into my eyes, “why are your eyes so green? I mean,the color is just amazing,” he said, not realizing I was a bit embarrassed byhis words. “And the whites in your eyes are… not really white either.” Heleaned a bit closer to me. “There is this same shade of green.”
Ilooked away. “It’s the fluorescence.”
“Whatfluorescence?”
“It’sa green fluorescent protein, and its gene is connected to the gene of interestin the Descendant species of Senthien.”
Rickshook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Ibraced myself for an explanation, but J was faster. “If you have a feature thatyou want to introduce into an organism using genetic engineering, and thisfeature is difficult to measure or see, you need to link it to another genethat you’ll be able to see more easily. So in our time, and this is probablywhat they did with you,” J said, looking at me, “was to link this gene ofinterest which causes a specific feature, to a green fluorescent protein, a GFPgene. The GFP lights up fluorescent green when excited by a wavelength of UVlight. So if a cell, or organ, or the entire organism lights up green, you knowyour gene of interest is there as well. Right?”
“Yes,thanks.” I was amazed by the simplicity of J’s explanation.
“Allright… but we don’t have UV light here. Why do I still see it as green?” Rickpersisted.
“Duringthe day, the sun emits UV light and excites the GFP. This excitation is sostrong that the fluorescence lasts for many hours, even when the sun is down. Additionally,the concentration of the GFP is so high that you see the color simply becauseof its density,” I explained.
“Sothe protein of interest is important for this future-seeing stuff, right? So,why isn’t it expressed only in the brain?” asked J.
“Mainlyit is, but there are some random areas where the gene was inserted by mistakeduring the genetic engineering, in some specific epithelial cells andconnective tissues like eyes, bones, and cartilage, as well as nails.” I liftedmy hand and showed the backside of it to Rick so he could see my green tinted nails.
Rickraised his eyebrows. “Cool!”
“Now,a question for you,” said J, his left eyebrow arched inquisitively. “Why didDescendant researchers still use basic molecular biology techniques when theymade such a perfect Descendant species?”
Hisquery triggered further questions in my mind.
Are Senthiens perfect?
Are any of the Descendants perfect?
Was Zamnan cleverer than natureitself?
Ianswered J without mentioning my thoughts. “The gene of interest that led to theVisionaire feature was meant to do something else. This gene was linked to GFP—”
“Greenfluorescent protein,” J quickly repeated for Rick’s understanding.
“—and incorporated into random places in the genome and ultimatelymanifested itself as a new trait, which was to be able to predict futureoutcomes based on the current course of events. The protein was expressedmainly in the brain, and more precisely in the primary motor cortex.”
Rickfrowned. “I don’t understand—what’s that?”
“It’sthe brain center where body movements are controlled, and it processes a hugeamount of data extremely fast,” explained J. “Even in a Human.”
Inodded. “But it took some time before the changes in the brain stabilized andthe new ability was understood.”
“So,”Rick asked, “were your Visions ever wrong?”
“IfI didn’t interfere in the process of the decision,” I said, looking at J, “thenno, all my Visions came to be.”
“Andfor other Senthiens? Were they always right as well?”
“No.Senthiens do make mistakes. The Visions are only possible projections of thefuture. I cannot guarantee I will always be correct in my Visions. I can alsomake mistakes like any other Senthien.”
“Theoretically,yes,” Rick pressed on, “but in reality, no. Your other Senthiens have alreadymade mistakes. But you haven’t!”
“Thisis true, but I am less than four hundred years old. I am sure I would have hadsome inaccurate Visions if I was older.”
“Butdon’t you think there is something else?” J asked, obviously heading in thesame direction as Rick. “Don’t you think that this gene acts differentlybecause you’re half Human?”
“Genesmutate over several generations, not in one person,” I said.
“Butwhat if we’re not talking about gene mutation?” J continued. “What if your genesare still the same, but the genetic environment is different? Basically, what Iwant to ask: what if your Human genes improved the function of your Senthiengenes?”
Iwas silent. I didn’t know the answer to that. I looked at the dying fire and glowingembers radiating light and heat.
Epigenetic influence… this could bepossible…
Andthen somewhere, deep in my mind, a new thought started to form: an insight aboutHumans and Zlathars.
Whydid the Zlathars push Humans to the bottom of the Uni society under all otherDescendants? It’s all linked, somehow,somewhere…
“Idon’t know,” I said,
