Chapter 13: Convergent
Valeria's gaze remained fixed on the data stream, her voice measured but laced with something unreadable. "Your Xenothalamus was never meant to stabilize—not like this. Not while interfacing with the Genesis Strain."
Orion's fingers curled slightly against his palm as he placed a hand against his chin, his brow furrowed in contemplation. "Could my age be a factor? Could that be why this is happening now?" His voice was low, almost as if he were voicing a thought that had only just surfaced.
Valeria didn't look at him yet. Her mind was elsewhere—on the implications, the anomalies. With a flick of her wrist, the scan deepened. A larger display materialized: a breakdown of mutation efficiency, Hekatryon synchronization, Gensis markers.
There.
An anomaly. A signature hidden within the layers of his DNA, something beyond the expected interference of the Genesis strain. Valeria's pupils dilated just slightly, the closest she ever came to surprise.
Valeria's breath hitched—a rare break in her composure. She tilted her head, eyes narrowing as if the data might change under scrutiny. "Impossible..." she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, laced with something between awe and unease.
Varun stepped closer, his gaze flicking between Valeria and the data, reading the tension in her expression before speaking. "What exactly are we looking at?" His voice was calm, measured—but there was an edge to it, a rare trace of unease.
She exhaled through her nose, not in frustration, but in something closer to fascination. Orion's genetic sequence was adapting. Adjusting dynamically.
Valeria exhaled slowly, her gaze sharp it finally landed on Orion. "By all logic, the Genesis Strain should have rejected you," she said, her voice measured, yet carrying an undercurrent of something almost reverent. "And yet... it didn't just stabilize your mutation, it somehow integrated your xenothalamus, instead of shutting it down, it adapted to it."