FENN DRAX #4
"I’ve gone over the results from your blood samples, your lymph, your semen, even the composition of your sweat, and for the life of me I can’t find a single factor, element, hormone, or molecule that could explain your secret, Drax."
I make a conscious effort to calmly hold his gaze.
"You do produce libido-enhancing pheromones, yes, but they’re irrelevant to the fertilization process, and we don’t use them in therapy.
You also produce small amounts of a hormone unique to you, lyxin, which seeps into your sweat and mildly stimulates slick production, also inducing a light preheat phase.
That’s what we extract and use in inhalation treatments.
But beyond that…? Lyxin doesn’t activate dormant gonads, Drax.
We haven’t managed to isolate anything that explains how you’re capable of awakening fertility in anyone. "
I know I have to sound like someone telling the truth, but also like I’m clueless and it’s their job to get to the bottom of it.
"Maybe you’re looking in the wrong place. Maybe it’s just magic." I grin broadly, as though I’m mocking their narrow scientific perspective, but I’m actually giving him important information. The truth. I’m just disguising it as a joke.
Dr. Lee watches me for another long moment.
Then he says, "You know, sometimes I think Sidorov lied to me." His lips tighten slightly. "That story about him simply finding you by chance and randomly deciding, ‘Hey, since you look different from normal people, you can probably change someone’s hormonal profile from beta to omega or alpha to omega.’ Come on. I don’t buy it. I just can’t make it fit in my head. Can you help me understand?"
Damn, he’s persistent, and I really need to be at my best for this performance. I spread my hands theatrically and give a shrug.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe it’s magic, Dr. Lee? I don’t know the scientific side of the process. That’s your specialty."
Dr. Lee ignores the question.
"Why do you think Blue Lowen shut down his own Alpha Activation project? Brilliant man. Exceptionally intelligent. Yet he gave up."
I swallow.
"Well… they didn’t have me as their primary subject anymore. That’s probably why."
Dr. Lee bites lightly at his lip while his fingers continue scratching thoughtfully along his beard.
"Something about all of this doesn’t add up, Drax."
What am I supposed to tell him?
If I revealed to him what I believe is actually happening, if I explained the source of my ability, they’d shut down this program today.
My story is fairly short.
Around my presumed eighteenth birthday, when my pheromones began to gradually awaken, my status at the young alphas’ camp shifted.
I went from being hated and feared to someone who suddenly attracted a lot of attention, including from members of the staff.
In some cases, I gave in. It was all new and fascinating to me, and I found their attention flattering.
Although betas are officially believed to be almost incapable of detecting pheromones, the sheer volume I produced in those early days, coupled with the staff's constant exposure to them, still had an effect.
Those who had some omega characteristics were especially drawn to me. Soon, they became pregnant. None of them chose to carry the pregnancies to term, but the fact that it happened made me start putting two and two together.
When I met Sidorov, I wasn’t yet sure whether it would also work on regular betas, those without omega traits, but as it turned out, it did.
I realized that having sex with me was activating something inside other men's bodies. It happened completely without my conscious involvement or control, even though by then I had already learned how to influence the function of other glands and biological systems in the body.
I eventually concluded that this specific ability was rooted on a much deeper level than my other powers. To put it simply: my animal side was in control of it.
In the end, it all came down to the fact that my abilities couldn’t be replicated in any laboratory, but that wasn’t something I was willing to admit to them.
If I did, I would lose my usefulness, essentially my only leverage for earning money and securing a reduced sentence… Can anyone really blame me for that?
Perhaps sensing my unwillingness to discuss details, Dr. Lee slowly rises to his feet.
"No answer?"
"Magic, doctor. It’s not my fault if you don’t believe in it."
Dr. Lee dismisses the comment with a small wave of his hand, and a faint smile touches the corner of his mouth.
"I think everyone defines magic differently. Magic might be the unconscious charm of a creature that produces pheromones capable of attracting potential partners. Magic might also be that creature’s ability to alter those partners on the level of sex itself, transforming every single one of them into fertile vessels capable of passing on its genes. "
My heart slams against my ribs.
Dr. Lee is dangerously close to the truth, but I have to keep up the act.
"I had a vasectomy, Dr. Lee. I can’t impregnate anyone."
He snorts.
"Interesting. You only responded to that one part of what I said. But I suppose if I asked whether you are that kind of creature, and whether your magic can’t simply be replicated because it’s an inherent part of your nature as a magical being, you wouldn’t answer that question either. Right?"
"I have nothing to add, Dr. Lee. I’ve told you the truth and nothing but the truth. I simply don’t know how to translate the language of magic into the language of science. I think that’s your field, not mine."
"The problem is that I’m a scientist, not a mage, and this situation may require exactly that."
The sarcasm in his voice is unmistakable. He heads for the door, but just before leaving, he pauses and glances back at me.
"If you told me the truth right now, perhaps I could influence Dr. Lomax and convince him to release you. You’d leave with no money, of course, and you’d probably still have to serve some time in prison, but at least you’d have peace of mind.
The question is whether you really want to spend the next two and a half months here.
I ask because some of the things Dr. Lomax has planned may not be to your liking. "
Then he walks out of my room.
A shiver runs through me.
Should I tell Dr. Lee that he’s far smarter and more perceptive than he realizes?
Should I tell them, Gentlemen, this program is never going to work. You’re not going to figure it out.
But the contract is simply too good to walk away from. I’m getting two million dollars, and I won’t have to spend a single extra day in detention.
Breaking the agreement would mean going back to prison, possibly even facing my original sentence. Ten years. If a judge decided I had knowingly deceived Welrun while fully aware their research would lead nowhere, I’d be finished.
Am I too greedy?
Anxiety settles heavily in my chest, but part of me resists sabotaging these final weeks. I can only hope whatever Dr. Lee was referring to isn’t something I’ll end up regretting.
My gaze drifts back to the bed where Marlow had been only minutes earlier. I hurry into the bathroom, but it’s already empty. The vent cover lies on top of the toilet tank.
I never got to tell him everything I wanted to say.
A knot of fear tightens inside me at the thought that the coming weeks may be far less stable and peaceful than I’d hoped.
My eyes move to the small schedule displayed in the corner of the room on a wall panel.
Soon is my day off. I need to get out of here. My head is so full of worries, and unease that it feels as though an entire beehive has taken up residence inside my skull.