The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2)

Chapter Forty-Four: Dissection

By the time morning rolled around after the fight, the extra electricity had faded from Eric's body, leaving him aching and exhausted. He and the others rested most of the day, except Veronica, who had volunteered to help Charles and the other researchers dissect the Apex. After an underwhelming boost of energy from dinner and a text from Veronica informing them the dissection would be done any minute, Eric joined Sam and Summer in waiting outside the lab.

Sam sat on the floor scribbling in his sketchbook while Eric and Summer stood. He erased the line he'd just drawn for the tenth time and made another attempt at drawing the back of the jetchopper. Summer paced back and forth between him and the door to the lab.

Eric leaned against the wall by the lab door, letting electricity run between his fingers. Maybe they should have tried to capture the Director. Pressed him for answers.

The door finally opened. Charles stepped into the hall, followed by Beth and Veronica. Veronica pulled an elastic from her hair, letting it fall out of its ponytail.

"So?" Eric asked.

Charles sighed. "Where do I begin?"

"Do you know why it was after me?"

Sam climbed to his feet and peered around Charles into the lab. He made a disgusted face.

"Well, its biology is unlike anything we've ever seen," Charles began. "It'll be a few days before we get results on all of our analyses. Its head had some interesting organs, though. Sam, I think your suspicions were correct. It was using something similar to telekinesis to find its way around. But rather than controlling objects, it could only sense them."

"Still, that would be way more effective than sight or hearing," Sam said.

Veronica jumped in. "There was another organ that it might have used for echolocation. And its chest was interesting. Eric, remember those labs we found at SCI? This thing had lungs that looked like what we saw in that cryo tank."

"And there was another organ in its head connected to a tube," Charles said. "We...found what looked like human blood inside."

"Human blood?" Summer asked skeptically. "I don't know how any of our blood could have gotten in there. It didn't hurt any of us that badly."

"That's what I thought," Charles said. "But we tested the blood right away, and the DNA was a match for Eric."

"Me?" Eric frowned. "How did it get my blood?"

"No idea. There are a couple possibilities, I guess." Charles glanced back into the lab. "What I want to know is where the Apex was kept before it was sent after you, and who might have had a sample of your blood to give it."

"Someone at Scorpion could have done it," Eric said. "They took my blood when they kidnapped me back in Tyche Point."

"That's possible. But you were also in an intense battle at Delta Labs," Charles reminded him. "There's a chance you left enough blood at the scene for someone to get a sample. And SCI likely went back in to look."

"You think SCI has samples of our blood?" Sam asked.

"Maybe."

"I did slice my hand open at Delta." Eric glanced at his palm and remembered his fight with Ash at Scorpion. "And again at Scorpion, while I was fighting Ash. He said Apex attacked him after that. Maybe it detected my DNA on him."

Summer folded her arms and studied Eric. "But why would SCI send that monster after you?"

No one had an answer.

"There is one more thing," Charles said after a moment. "We found a small camera in its skull."

"And it was wired to a transmitter," Beth added. "Someone may have already seen the footage."