Meeting the Mutant

Anita came to a halt before a large steel door. It waited in shadow, but the maze-like basement did allow one bar of light to cut through the dark. The light came from a narrow window above – but was not daylight at all, considering its orange colour.

“Hjalmar is inside,” Anita said as she drew a key from her belt. “Remember, he’s chained to the pool so he can’t escape.”

“What does that mean?” Lily asked. She did her best to keep her voice even, despite growing concern.

“It’s easier to show you.”

Anita led them into a dim chamber of stone. This room was lit by a circular skylight and the falling beams of light were pale. Tinted by blue. Almost beautiful… but a sense of menace lurked.

That menace emanated from a rock pool that filled the room’s centre.

Steam rose from the surface.

Anita knelt at the edge. A small bucket rested there. The Warden reached in and removed a stone, which she dropped inside.

Lily tensed.

Water stirred and Hjalmar – the mutant – broke the surface.

Rivulets trailed down scales of gleaming blue and purple, bright and beautiful. His head seemed to be that of a giant, snub-nosed fish, yet Hjalmar’s body was more human – if over-sized.

And also covered in scales.

Only one eye was visible, placed on the side of his head. When he rested four arms across the rock pool’s edge, uneven chains of silver clinked together. His hands were webbed but his fingers were long.

The sense of danger had not eased… but the mutant didn’t seem poised to attack.

Anita reached up.

Hjalmar lowered his head and she stroked the scales. “I’ve brought someone for you to meet. I think there might be a way for you to communicate again.”

The mutant turned to face Lily.

Lily didn’t take a step back but she did realise that she was trembling. “Can Hjalmar understand us?”

“Yes. He only lost his speech.”

[How did this tragedy occur?] Gabriel asked.

Once Lily translated, Anita shook her head. “That is a tale for another time. Today, I just want Hjalmar to meet you. He’ll decide for himself whether he wants you to try and help.”

The mutant regarded them without blinking while Anita explained her idea.

Hjalmar lifted several of his hands, moving his fingers as he did. Then he seemed to give a nod before sinking back beneath the bubbling water.

And that was all.

Lily felt some tension drain from her body. “He agreed?”

“Just like I’d hoped.” Anita gestured back to the door. “All done. Why don’t you visit the market and then join me for dinner. You can stay here as long as you need.”

“That would be wonderful,” Lily said. She kept a little doubt to herself – for the moment.

Yet once they were back in the streets of Koy, striding for the market, she came to a halt in the same shadowy street they’d driven through before. She looked around. It seemed no-one was near enough to overhear her words. “So, what do you both think?”

Gabriel and Sasha answered at once, expressing similar doubts.

Lily laughed. “Me too. But I think we should try to teach him. We could ask Anita for a vehicle, in exchange.”

[Maybe,] Gabriel said. [But I see two problems, at least. She might refuse us. Especially if we try and then fail to teach the mutant. Just as likely, there’s also a chance that the Warden won’t want us to leave if we succeed.]

“That’s actually worse than I’d considered,” Lily said.

Sasha folded her arms. “We need to know what happened to Hjalmar. I think I can guess… and if I’m right, it doesn’t make me trust the Warden.”

“Do you think she’s responsible somehow?” Lily asked.

“Perhaps. The Olana spent generations researching how we came to be and the clues we found don’t all point to accidents with kami or exposure to toxins after the Collapse.”

[Are you suggesting that humans are responsible for the Olana?]

“Well, we don’t have any proof…”

Was Anita behind Hjalmar’s transformation somehow? Lily couldn’t keep a frown from her face. Equally troubling was the thought that humans had created the Olana in the distant past. Sasha herself had been blessed with healing powers but not all mutations were happy ones. And I don’t actually know how she feels about it all either, Lily thought. “We need a plan if it turns out we can’t trust Anita.”

[Why don’t we start by finding supplies? We can also check the north exit before heading back to the Warden,] Gabriel said. [If we’re happy to risk working with her?]

Sasha didn’t seem certain. “I feel as though we have little choice. We’re racing time and Virren’s kami. One of the yon would be so valuable.”

“Then let’s see how we fare in the market,” Lily said. She tapped the shoulder strap of her pack, since a new doubt had come to the fore. “Although, we don’t exactly have much to barter with.”

[We’ll do our best,] Gabriel said with a smile.

She nodded in response. I hope you’re right, she thought.