The Deathless Trilogy

1.15. New Plans

Gabriela brought new strength to the Immortal. Now that the leaders know the President is unaware of their plans, it's full steam ahead on our projects. I've never seen Phoebe so cheerful, and Winston's smile is even more contagious than usual.

Mom is doing especially well. Her treatments are working to clean her body, and her projects with Phoebe are apparently testing perfectly in trials. She's stronger than I've ever seen her, which only makes my looming concerns about our family worse. I want to be strong and happy with her, but I can't shake my nerves. I'm terrified that soon the other shoe will drop.

According to our navigators, we will be nearing the refugee camp in a matter of days, so the leaders have asked me and Declan to finalize our knock out compound. All we need now is to run trial experiments. With Victor on my shoulder, I walk toward the enclosure of female rats, and reach in to cup Misty into my hand. She will be the first test subject for our knock out compound.

Declan has personified all the rats, giving them names, jobs, and character traits. He's quirky like that. I guess when you spend so much time with animals, they begin accruing human characteristics. Misty is one of the mother hens of the group, taking care of the others by grooming them and lying on top of them like a blanket. She's one of the more personable ones, so when I reach my hand into the cage, she is always the first to come and sniff me.

She recognizes me, and crawls into my palm. Her pink tail hangs off the side of my hand, and her matching pink nose sniffs the air around her. She is spotted with light gray and white patches of fur, one of our more beautiful rats, but she's also one of our oldest. At three years old, there isn't much time left for her, and we've been talking to her about how to make her life more meaningful. Nate hasn't said much of anything to me since Gabriela's arrival, except that Declan and I are strange for talking to the rats, but I prefer "quirky." We're quirky.

Declan and I decided that she should be our first test subject for the knock out compound, so here she sits in my palm as I lower her into the experiment cage. "It's okay, Misty. You'll be fine," I tell her. She scurries around the cage, exploring her new habitat. "Get used it, girl. Who knows how you'll see it once you're knocked out."

A voice startles me from behind. "Are you talking to yourself, Isla?"

It's Nate.

Since Gabriela was found, Nate's been spending most of his free time with her, but I'm not complaining. It's better this way.

"No, I'm talking to Misty," I correct him without taking my eyes off of her. She sniffs my fingers and licks the remnants of breakfast from their tips.

"What's in store for the rat today?"

"Misty is going to be the first test subject for our knock out compound."

"Cool." He leans past me to look at Misty in her experiment cage, resting his hand on the small of my back to help keep his balance, and Victor takes this opportunity to bop Nate on the head. I laugh even though Declan told me I should scold Victor when he does that, but Nate remains serious. "Can we talk before Declan gets back from the bathroom?" he asks.

"Attention!" A voice interrupts him over the loudspeakers. "Will the following Deathless please report to the Captain's dining room: Isla Blume, Beatrice Blume, Mitchell Harper, Rumi Patel, Gabriela Rivera, and Nathan Ward. Thank you."

Nate and I stare at each other for a moment in confusion. "I guess we have to go," he says. "Any idea what this is about?"

"None," I say, though my guess is it will either be about the rescue team or the knock out compound. I put the lid on Misty's cage, and place Victor back in his enclosure. He doesn't want to let me go, and to be honest, I don't want to let him go either. He's become a huge comfort, like a therapy animal here, but Declan told me the leaders don't like him leaving the biology lab. Apparently he causes too much of a distraction. I blow Victor a kiss and he does the same to me before I follow Nate out of the lab.