Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) by Niall Teasdale (best summer reads txt) 📕

way. She could use more complex cantrips too. The spells she had memorised, however, had not changed and would not suddenly get more powerful just because there was more space available for them.

She consoled herself with this kind of thought as she sat in the SSF’s HQ, working through the weekend’s reports from her troops. Another boring task to go with the very many boring tasks the captain had to deal with. Maybe she should take some turns patrolling, just to break the boredom. Then again, the patrol she had done with Sixte had been pretty tedious…

A slight sensation of pressure on her mind told her a spell was being used on her. This sensation was familiar, however, and she allowed it through without resisting. In front of her, just the other side of her desk, a young human girl in a very frilly rainbow-coloured dress appeared.

‘I thought I’d do it this way,’ Trudy said, ‘rather than appearing physically. It’s easier, and it won’t cause problems if someone walks in.’

‘Which is possible,’ Nava said. ‘There will be patrols popping in now and then, though…’ She checked the time on her terminal. ‘… Mm, I’m not expecting anyone for half an hour or so. What did you want to talk about? The threshold shift thing?’

‘That’s… part of it.’

Nava gave the illusion an appraising look. ‘Trudy, I don’t appreciate it when exceptionally intelligent people with information I assume is important beat around the bush.’

‘Oh! “Beat around the bush.” I know that idiom. It means you think I’m not getting to the point.’

‘And now you’re dodging the question.’

‘I… This may not be entirely comfortable as a topic of conversation.’

Nava paused, waiting, but that did not seem to give the Harbinger the hint. ‘I assume this is important, as I said. Perhaps you could illuminate me? If you haven’t noticed, I don’t scare easily.’

‘No. I have a spell I use in biological analysis. I think you’d call it Analyse Species. It sequences the genome of a subject.’

‘Ah, so you noticed the artificial chromosomes in my DNA.’

‘You know about them?’

‘I know they’re there. No one but the people who made them knows what they do.’

‘Sort of. They weren’t made. They were… harvested. They’re Harbinger chromosomes, Nava.’

This time, Nava was silent for several seconds. ‘That’s not possible. You’ve made a mistake.’

‘Genetics isn’t my speciality, it’s true, but I know those genes. Even the amino acids are right. And I know it’s not possible. It’s ridiculous. How could someone possibly have got their hands on Harbinger DNA? It’s not even as simple as that. They’ve taken Harbinger DNA and transplanted it into human cells and made it work. Do you have even the smallest idea of how hard that would be?’

‘The smallest idea? Probably. Yes. My biology isn’t normal. Drugs can have weird effects on me. I’m probably lucky that alcohol and coffee have more or less normal effects. There has to be some really weird engineering in my cells to make it all work.’

‘That is a considerable understatement. However impossible it is, you have Harbinger genes in your genome. Whole chromosomes.’

Another silence. This one was shorter. ‘Do you know what they do?’

‘I’m not a geneticist, as I said. I can tell you some of the things those chromosomes do in a Harbinger. That may not hold true for a modified human. They’re mostly concerned with neurological and sensory development. One of them has a lot of genes which code for immune system elements.’

‘So… That would seem to indicate they’re there to enhance my sorcery abilities and my lifespan. I have better sorcery abilities than typical humans, and I’ll live longer, if I don’t get killed somehow. I know that. I was told that. My cognitive speed is faster than normal too.’

‘That all fits. The genes are expressing nerve cells with higher firing rates and transmission speeds. They must be creating suitable regions in the brain for better handling of quintessence and Q-field integration. Your immune system probably contains some of the factors we integrated to prevent diseases, cancers, and various other metabolic problems. Overall, those factors would likely result in an enhanced lifespan.’

‘Okay. Am I likely to exhibit any other Harbinger traits? Am I going to turn blue? Or start walking on my toes?’

‘In those heels–’

‘You know what I mean.’

‘It would seem that your homeotic genes are entirely human. You shouldn’t exhibit any physical traits associated with Harbingers.’

‘Homeotic?’ A flicker of a memory from a dream surfaced. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Homeotic genes are those which control your morphology. They control how you grow. Give you bilateral symmetry with your arms and legs and eyes in the right places. At a basic level, they make you look like a human, not a fly or a cat or a Harbinger.’

‘That’s something of a relief then.’ Pause. ‘Trudy, I’d prefer to keep this private for now. Please don’t tell Carina. I won’t be mentioning it to my friends. For now. When I’ve worked out what I think of it myself, I’ll reconsider.’

‘That’s fine with me. I’m not sure what to make of it myself. The only way I can think of that someone could have got that DNA is from a live Harbinger. There could be a live Harbinger out there somewhere!’

‘Mm. That would be… I think it would probably cause all sorts of problems. We’ll keep it quiet. At least until we know what we want to do about it.’

236/6/32.

Courtney unfolded her ketcom’s screen, tapped at something, and then peered at the message she had just received. ‘Oh. I just got an invite to Kyle’s graduation ball.’

‘Graduation ball?’ Nava asked. They were variously doing homework, personal study, and SSF paperwork around the lounge. Nava had decided she could work from there for this afternoon, though she was using her own ketcom to monitor for problems with the afternoon patrols.

‘Officer training ends with a dinner and dance. Part of the training is etiquette, so the ball is sort of a final graduation exercise. It’s also an excuse for various