9 It Begins

Within it were two grey rings which looked almost the same as a watch. They were the same size as one, too, and even had a face. Near the sides were indents so that it could be pried off. Two long sliding switches were to either side of it.

"No one put those on," Asher said, referring to the two 'watches'. "We don't know what those could do."

"Well, we will know as soon as that finishes translating," Adah pointed out.

"Mhmm," Asher muttered. He hated when anyone stated the obvious to him.

When it finished, Asher blinked a couple of times. He slightly lowered the lid, viewing the text through the small slit in the bottom where light could still slip through.

"Asher, what is it?" PJ nervously asked.

"This is too weird to be true. It talks about altering the 'akh', or body, to be more akin to any idol, particularly an animal one, by inputting a part of their akh," Asher said.

"I think its talking about DNA. There isn���t a word for that in ancient Egyptian, obviously," PJ said.

"But… that can't be right. DNA alteration seems like it would be useless on a species like the one we saw," Asher spat through gritted teeth.

"Well, maybe that alien stole this ship," Cain said, shrugging. "Maybe the reason why no alien has shown up yet is because they were a wanted criminal."

"That's a stretch," PJ proclaimed. "I think that these would work, even on a gelatinous life form like that. These are like lifeboats. Have you heard that all spacecrafts in the future are supposed to carry seeds in case they crash and survive? I believe this is similar, a way they can make their DNA adapt to any scenario they might encounter."

Asher blinked. "That seems much more likely."

PJ blushed at the remark from her crush.

"So, what are we going to do with it?" Miriam chimed from the back of the group.

"Well, we're going to have to test it," PJ said. "Not it, though," she continued, putting her hands up in the air.

"First we need to gather materials then. You said DNA would be good, yes?" Adah asked.

"DNA is what we need from any animal. Fur, feathers, scales will work the best," Asher said.

"Wait, who'll test it?" Miriam asked.

They all looked at each other. "I'll do it," Asher said.

"No, I doubt your immune system could handle it," Adah laughed. "I'll try. I volunteer."

Asher gave her a concerned face. No matter how much he sometimes despised her she was his twin, and he didn't want to lose her.

"I'll do it if you don't want Adah to try," Cain said.

"Are you sure? We don't know what this thing will do to us," Adah asked.

"You volunteered too," Cain pointed out. "I'm a teen, I can handle it. What can go wrong?"

The words hung in the air. It was almost as if he was challenging the world to make the worst fate imaginable for all of them.

"So how'll we ever get anything? We don't have regular access to bears here," Miriam said. "Besides you, Cain." The boy in question laughed.

"But we do have regular access to mountain lions and coyotes. It seems you have somehow forgotten that on sundays I go to the animal rehabilitation center," Adah said. "And guess what day it is today?"

"Saturday! Great!" PJ exclaimed. "We won't have to wait at all!"

"Cain, you need to come up with an excuse. You need to be with me for twenty four hours so I can see if there's any side effects," Asher ordered.

"Well, it seems like we'll have a sleepover. Ooooo, what if we did it inside the ship?" Cain asked.

Asher shrugged. "I dunno."

"We can tell ghost stories! Or alien stories!" PJ cheered, hyping them all up.

Cain scratched his chin. "We still don't have a name for the ship, though. What should we call it?"

"Don't look at me. I was the one who decided to call the treehouses 'Tree Camp'." Adah said.

"I've been thinking about one. Requiem of the Moon," Cain announced, using both of his hands to make a rainbow above his head.

"That wouldn't fit. This craft didn't come from the moon. Maybe Orion Express?" PJ considered.

"That's a band that has worked its way through your subconscious," Asher told her.

"Oh, I forgot about them," PJ muttered.

"I think that we should call it Hayley. Because it was big like Hayley's Comet," Adah said, once again showcasing her blunt way of naming things.

"I have an idea. Chicxulub after the comet that killed the dinosaurs," Asher declared.

"Chzeldub isn't a good name. It's too hard to pronounce," Cain critiqued.

"But it has meaning!" Asher exclaimed.

"Miriam, you have been awfully quiet," Adah said to her girlfriend. All eyes turned to her and the redhead blushed.

"I think it should be called Genesis," Miriam nervously said. She was the most religious in the group, so she wasn't sure how all of them would respond.

"That's a great idea. It kinda fits with the wristbands," Asher mused. "But I feel like we still need to add something to make it unique."

"Genesis Requiem," Cain exclaimed.

"I'm starting to think you have a thing for the word Requiem. Is it because of that 'JoJo' anime you've been watching?" Adah asked.

"It is not," Cain denied. "I just think its very cool. It's used a lot in ballet, too."

"You are not a ballerina, though, you weeb," Adah teased.

"Well maybe I want to be," Cain said, raising his head, puffing out his chest, and closing his eyes.

"Flight of the Genesis would be more ballet then Genesis Requiem," PJ remarked. Her word on dance was law. She had done ballet since she was four, and quit when she was ten to do musical theater.

"Maybe we should do something more plain," Adah said. "Genesis 2, so people can know we're not talking about the bible."

Asher started to laugh. They wanted to be covert, not shout from the mountain tops. But surely, a two couldn't hurt and they could always abbreviate it.

"I think that's a good idea," Asher stated.

"Me too," PJ followed.

One after the other, they all fell to Asher's influence, and as such the vessel now felt even more like home to them.

Asher looked back at his laptop. All of the symbols had finished translation, but all of them were very vague. After an hour, they all returned to their homes.