Year 3000 Midohira, Daikidageda
“Why do you live deep in the woods, Jizen?” Rakuten asked.
“To avoid attracting unnecessary attention.” Jill winked. As Jill let them in, Rintaro marveled over the computer that Jill was holding in her hands and carrying around.
“You can carry it around?” Rintaro asked, astonishment apparent in his tone.
Jill smiled at Rintaro as she let him hold her laptop. She watched in awe as Rintaro handled it like a small baby.
“And what does this thing do?” he asked pointing towards a huge machine which looked like a chair consolidated in the shape of a box.
“That will take me back to the space station, hovering over Daikidageda.” Jill said, pointing northwards, outside the window. “I assume that you are smart enough to imagine what a space station is.” she added.
Rintaro nodded, as he subliminally realized that he was talking to an alien. Despite knowing the fact for a few days, he was seemingly astounded looking at the technological advancements the people on Earth had accomplished. It only made him fear more about the possible blitz that would dawn upon them in the near future.
“And this, finally,” Jill said, pulling out a small case from a hidden shelf in her closet, “Will help you with Idiosyncrasy.”
“Wait a minute, you are joking, right?” Rakuten asked with a puzzled look on her face. “This looks like an empty syringe. What will this even do?”
“Let her finish, Raki! I am sure Jizen wants us to inject something in our bodies.” Rintaro said, with an unusual devilish look on his face.
“Back on Earth, we have designed a program that identifies data points in an animal's DNA and configures a similar data points in the human DNA, which gives them the physical, logical, emotional or instinct driven attributes of animals. However that is the modern method of using Idiosyncrasy. It is said that in the early days of its adoption, an old scientist synthesized a chemical that reacts with the DNA string that comes in its physical contact. When multiple DNA strings come in its physical contact, the outcome is a chain reaction resulting in the two DNA strings to fuse together. Therefore, if this chemical, combined with an animal's DNA, comes in contact with the human DNA, a fusion of the two DNAs shall take place within the human body.” Jill explained.
“What does this chemical look like?” Rintaro asked, as this conversation had peaked his interest.
“Well, I had never seen this chemical previously, until recently, since this was a very crude implementation of Idiosyncrasy. However,” Jill paused, “You have seen it before, Rintaro! Do you want to take a chance to guess?”
Rintaro donned a puzzled look, as he tried to make sense out of what she said. He glanced towards Rakuten who still seemed to be amazed by all the devices Jill had in her room. Rintaro looked at the syringe, as he wondered if the path to ensure the safety of humanity on Daikidageda was as simple as it sounded. Unable to make a guess, he shrugged his shoulders and arched his eyebrows, expecting Jill to resume sooner.
“Midohira, is the emphatic answer!” Jill said, sounding slightly victorious.
“Midohira? Our town!” exclaimed Rakuten, suddenly jumping into the conversation.
“Midohira, the green crystals found in the caves in the hilly regions of your town.” Jill said, as she pulled out a couple of small crystals out of her pocket.
“Awww!” Rakuten jumped in joy, as she took one of the crystals from Jill’s hands and tried playing with it. “My mother always used to say that these crystals bring us good luck.” she said, smiling.
Jill tossed the other crystal towards Rintaro. He knocked on it to check for its hardness and tried to look at it closely. The crystal felt cold and sharp in his hands which prompted him to toss it back towards Jill.
“They have a melting point of 250 Fahrenheit. Molten Midohira is essentially the chemical that was invented by the old scientist many years ago." Jill stated.
"And how do we get the animal's DNA?" Rintaro asked.
"You can find about 35 µg of DNA in one milliliter of fresh blood of any animal. That should be enough for Idiosyncrasy.” Jill answered.
“Fresh blood?” Rakuten asked, nervously.
“Not more than two hours… Maybe three.” Jill scratched her head, trying to present an estimate.
“Jizen, DNA is present in almost every cell of an organism. Why is it so important to draw fresh blood from an animal?” Rintaro asked. “We could use their feathers, fur, hair or even their saliva?”
“Correct! However, molten Midohira requires haemoglobin for the fusion reaction to be initiated. Blood would be the only easily accessible source that contains haemoglobin as well as the DNA that you need.” Jill sighed.
Shocked, Rintaro asked, “Are you suggesting that if I draw a millilitre of blood each, from a whale, a lizard and a tortoise, Idiosyncrasy would let me swim, regrow my limbs and live for hundreds of ye-”
“Careful, Rintaro, that could be detrimental.” Jill cautioned him. “For now, let’s just go with an assumption that your body can only undergo a single transformation. Attempting to tweak your DNA too often may result in you losing the human in you. You could cease to exist as you. This is the same greed and lust for power that humans on Earth developed.”
“Well-” feeling embarrassed, Rintaro composed himself. “That was just a thought. Not that I would jump onto it right away.”
“That is more like you, Rin.” Rakuten said as she nudged him.
“Despite spending countless resources on scientific research, we have not yet been able to even theorize the reason behind this limitation. We have heard rumors about some humans having used Idiosyncrasy with more than one animal, however there is no conclusive evidence of it.” Jill stated.
“How do you change your form, Jizen?” Rintaro asked, completely engrossed in the conversation.
Jill looked towards the floor and sighed. “I am afraid, I cannot teach you how to transform. If you invoke it once, you would be able to invoke it again - you would just learn it. The more you use it, the stronger your animal attributes would get.”
Rintaro was not fully convinced with Jill’s answer. He continued rubbing his chin, trying to comprehend what she said.
“As a kid, were you ever taught to flinch your hand after having accidentally touched something really hot?” Jill paused as she looked at Rintaro and Rakuten. “It was your human instinct that was awakened for the first time, upon experiencing agony. When that moment arrives for you…the animal in you, you shall learn how to enter that domain.” Jill elaborated.
She turned around and pulled out another little box from her closet. It contained a little tube filled with a viscous liquid, eclectic green in color. “This is, of course, molten Midohira.” Jill said pointing towards it, as if it were a sacred elixir; maybe not for the ones living in Midohira, but most certainly for her.
“Do you want to use Idiosyncrasy, Rintaro?” she asked.
Rintaro began haltingly, “Yeah… No… I… I have not really tho-”
“Got you!” Jill and Rakuten laughed hard at Rintaro’s plight. Out of habit, Rakuten extended her hand to exchange a hi-five with Jill. Not knowing what was expected of her, Jill looked towards Rakuten’s hand and tried to imitate her action.
“This is how we share a pleasant laugh with a good friend, Jizen.” Rakuten said. “it is definitely something that I can teach you.” she winked, as she held Jill’s hand and showed her how a hi-five is exchanged.
Easily bored by the overly sweet conversation, Rintaro said, “I am starving!”
Jill turned towards Rakuten and asked, “Raki, can I borrow you to set up the dining table?”
Rakuten nodded as she followed Jill out of the room. “What have you cooked for us, Jizen?”
“I have cooked one of my favorite recipes that we make on Earth!” Jill said, as Rakuten’s eyes twinkled. “This is a Taco.” she bragged.
Jill spent a few minutes teaching Rintaro and Rakuten how to prepare a Taco and eat it, cleanly.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s start eati-” Jill stared at Rakuen, as she started devouring the Tacos.
“This is so good!” Rakuten exclaimed with a full mouth.
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