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"No, no," she said quickly. "The markers all interact with and determine the functioning of the adrenal system. It\'s as if she\'s developed an increased… sensitivity to the Chimera. I don\'t know how better to put it. In the Chimera, these genes, in conjunction with others, are part of their heightened senses and awareness of the world. But Sasha\'s senses remain human. It\'s as if her body has changed to… accommodate something to do with the Chimera. We haven\'t had enough time to observe or test to know more than that. But no, this doesn\'t change who or what she is. Sasha remains human. But there\'s a very narrow scope within which her body has changed."

"To what purpose?"

The technician grimaced. "If we assume it\'s to do with the matebond, I would hypothesize that she\'s gained a… a sixth sense for her mate. That some kind of physical connection has occurred within them, something that they both carry. But without testing Zev to see if his marker changes reflect hers, I can\'t be sure."

"Let\'s make that happen as soon as possible," Nathan said, his voice low and firm as he made a note on a pad in front of him.

"You will do no such thing," Sasha seethed, leaning forward over the conference table, towards Nathan. "You will not touch him. You will not bring him out of Thana. He\'s dealt with enough of your shit to last more than a lifetime! You leave him alone!"

Nathan stared at her for a moment, then leaned forward to mirror her. "You have no power here, Sasha. Shut your mouth and listen. You might learn something."

"All I\'m learning is how fucked in the head you all are!" Sasha spat. "I saw your precious \'sanctuary\' this morning. You\'re killing your own experiments and you don\'t even know it. If it wouldn\'t destroy them, I\'d wish for it to happen so you could all learn your lesson."

Nathan didn\'t look up from his notepad where he was making notes again, but his jaw was tight and Horace watched him warily.

"What if, rather than the matebond, your presupposition was pregnancy? Could that cause the kind of shift you\'re describing?"

"It seems unlikely—or at least, extremely odd. But since we haven\'t successfully mated a human woman with a Chimera before, we can\'t really know."

"What are you saying?" Sasha breathed, but they all ignored her.

"Explain," Nathan said to the technician. "Why would you dismiss pregnancy as the cause?"

"Because if the changes were occurring because her body was connected to a different DNA source, it would show up in other places first—and likely, not this significantly at this stage. She\'d be far too early in the process to have a shift this dramatic—at least, we assume so. Plus, as I say, we know which systems are affected and how, there\'s others we\'d expect to see changing before this, if it was a blood-sharing issue, or even hormonal."

"What are you saying?" Sasha said, louder this time. "Are you saying I am pregnant, or I\'m not?"

The technician looked at her oddly, as if she were something under a microscope, to be examined. "We don\'t know," she said after a minute.

"I… how can you not know?" Sasha\'s voice was too high, too frail.

"The changes that we can mark in your bloodstream, hormones, and DNA don\'t appear to be those attached to pregnancy. But because we haven\'t had this kind of pregnancy before, we can\'t be sure."

Nathan\'s lips twisted. "Unacceptable."

The technician seemed to shrink in her chair. "She isn\'t showing the correct markers by Chimeran blood tests. And the natural human hormones and physical shifts aren\'t present in her system. But Chimeran pregnancies are different and we can\'t know how they\'ll affect the human body. We\'ll do full work ups every day until either her period begins, or we can find something more concrete."

"I… you\'ll… no, you won\'t. I\'m going back to Thana!" Sasha snapped.

Nathan flipped a page on his notes, frowning. "I told you that you could return if and when we were certain you weren\'t pregnant, Sasha. Until we know one way or another, you won\'t be released. Because until we know, we don\'t know what our short term goals are."

"Your goals? I\'m not a fucking soccer game, Nathan."

"No, you\'re potentially carrying—or going to carry—the most exciting development in human technology and medicine since the dawn of time. So you\'ll forgive me if we\'re rather committed to ensuring both your safety, and the appropriate treatment plan before we make any rash decisions."

"I can\'t stay here. If I stay here Zev will—" She snapped her mouth shut and cursed under her breath.

"Zev will what, Sasha?" Nathan asked with exaggerated patience.

"I don\'t know. But it won\'t be good. If he thinks you\'re hurting me—"

"He\'ll either show up—and he\'s welcome here—or he\'ll send others after you, correct?" Nathan said, his brows up as if he was genuinely surprised they were having the conversation. "The only person in this room that\'s not interested in getting more of the Chimerans from Thana into the Sanctuary is you, Sasha. So I\'m afraid your protests are really only feeding my fire."

Then he smiled.

Sasha wanted to claw his face. She wanted to spit on him. To shoot him in the head—dear Lord, she\'d never been a violent person. Was this because she\'d been spending time with the Chimera who were so physical about everything? Or was this just… her?

Was she changing?

Was it possible she was pregnant?

Sasha swallowed. What if they\'d been telling the truth? What if they\'d somehow messed with her hormones before she went to Thana so that she would be fertile? But how would they have even known the timing to use? And wouldn\'t she have noticed?

Then for the first time, it occurred to her…

What if they hadn\'t messed with her hormones before to get her pregnant, but they had been doing something now? What if they were somehow stopping her cycle from starting so they\'d have an excuse to keep her here—and draw Zev out?

How could she have been so stupid?