Chapter f Reflex

The heat seeped out of Baine's skin and his hardened expression softened. He melted like ice. He transferred his balled hand to Iggy's shoulder and laid it gently across. He sighed and nodded forgivingly. "You phased out. I get it."

Iggy looked up at him with his hands still held up. "I did…?" He looked down at the ground searching for what might have happened. "I can't remember anything. It's scary… I'm scared. Please, tell me that this won't happen again."

Iggy felt Baine's fingertips grip his shoulder. "Every night."

"I feel… so empty," he confessed, dropping his chin to his chest. "Like, there's nothing inside of me anymore. Like, someone else is driving me." He looked up at Baine again, feeling the warmth under his palm soaking into him. His eyebrows lifted. "Is it you… are you the one driving me now?"

Baine quickly shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Nansen. "Cut his hair, clean up the mess, and after that I'll take both of them."

Emi pulled herself away from the wall and stood upright. Her voice shook with nervousness. "Me, too? To where?"

He drew his hand away from Iggy's shoulder and spoke slowly to the both of them. "I will show you what's on the outside of the walls, and if you're good, I'll let you come back inside."

Her arms wrapped around her torso. "I already know what's out there."

Playfully, as if he had already forgotten everything that had happened, he elongated a finger over his lips, making a symbol of shhh. Then he shook his head and whispered, "nope. You don't know anything." A little grin appeared and with the power of just one look, the entire atmosphere shifted. The altercation was done. Intrigued by his confidence, Emi's arms loosened and she leaned backwards. Baine turned and gazed into Nansen's eyes. His grin widened. "He looks like Firmin, doesn't he?"

Nansen loosened up and chuckled. "With the black hair?"

"His body type, too."

"Yeah, he looks a lot like dad. Have you seen his eyes closely?"

Baine grinned and nodded. "Yes, I did. More than one color is a bad sign. Did you count how many he has?" Nansen held up three fingers and Baine lost his breath. "Holy shit… I'm missing Revpora more and more by the second. We better find a way to contact him, or else we're going to be drowning in problems."

"Seriously? Nansen gasped hopefully.

"Oh, God no," Baine corrected. "You know what he'd do-"

Emi softly cleared her throat. "Excuse me," she said with a newly found respectfulness. Nansen and Baine simultaneously looked at her. "Who is your father?" She looked up at the ceiling, clicking through all the faces that she had seen since her arrival, but not finding anyone worthy of the title.

Nansen's eyes narrowed specifically hard on hers. He loved to play games, but their father was a sensitive topic for all of them. She could easily say something unforgivable about him… but then again, Nansen hated women. He wouldn't mind holding a real grudge against her. So, he tightened his vocal cords and spoke to her as if she were much smaller than him. "Our father is The Undying Race. The father of us all."

Throughout her whole life, Emi had learned much about the origin of the virus and all in an instant she found herself utterly let down in her preparation. "The Undying Race… is a person?" she asked. "I always thought that it was just a figure of speech. The virus itself is titled The Undying Race in most literature, because the people are practically immortal."

Nansen belched a laugh. "Now, who's the idiot? Yes, he is a very real person. And as the Silgria Heiress, you will probably get to meet him one day, if we're all lucky."

"Or unlucky," Baine countered.

"Yeah, or unlucky…" Nansen agreed.

Baine poked his head in. "Anyways, that's not going to happen right away. For now, we're here. So, when you two are done, meet me in the lobby. Dress lightly, it's a nice night." He turned his back on everyone and walked away into the hall.

Nansen came closer to Iggy's side with the scissors. He snipped away without asking him a single question about how short or long he wanted it to be, just taking control as he always had. Emi lowered herself down to the floor with her knees bent up and crossed. Her thighs hid her breasts, and her elbows pointed outward awkwardly. She struggled to hold her shins into her body. The position was easier for her when she was twiggy, but now she needed to learn how to bend and fold her adult body. Deep in thought, ripples wavered across her forehead.

Iggy thought about the pink mark on her cheek from the slap. It was long gone already, but he still asked, "Emi, are you alright?"

"That was probably the first time that this little princess has ever gotten hit," Nansen snickered.

She sighed and tilted her head. Her voice was soft and angelic, truly pure, but her thoughts were still outside of herself. "What is your father like? Everything that I've ever read about The Undying Race becomes really distorted when I think about it as a person. I mean, one person? How could one person begin this huge family tree all on their own in less than a hundred years? It's impossible. Let alone start the plague of-"

Nansen shot her a glare that passed right through her and she shut her mouth.

Iggy peered down at his empty palms, seeing everything that he had to offer her on this topic. Since he knew virtually nothing, except for the snidbits overheard from other conversations, he closed his hands. "Sure, he's a person," he chimed in, "but, I don't know anything other than that. I've never met him. We've never been introduced. Everyone else seems to know him, though."