Page 7 of Dark Awakening: Hidden Currents

Perhaps Aru was busy and did not want to teach him. The next time Ell-rom saw Annani, he could ask her about the gifted immortal, but he wouldn't even suggest wasting the immortal’s time on teaching him to shroud.

Ell-rom smiled. "If I get very good at it, I might request a lesson or two with the master shrouder, but for now, some basic instruction will do. I understand if you have no time for me, though. Maybe Julian can show me while supervising my physical therapy."

"I have time," Aru said. "Not much, but I can teach you the basics, and then you can practice independently." The god seemed more resigned than enthusiastic about teaching him, but Ell-rom would take it.

"Thank you." Ell-rom dipped his head. "Does shrouding work on everyone? I mean, gods, immortals, Kra-ell, and humans?"

"It depends. Generally, gods can shroud themselves from immortals and humans, but immortals can only shroud themselves from humans. Within those parameters, there are varying degrees of ability. Also, some individuals are more susceptible than others. Those with strong mental abilities can often see through or resist a shroud. The Kra-ell are nearly impossible to thrall and are not susceptible to shrouding. Some humans are immune as well."

Jasmine wasn't one of those immunes; that was clear from what she had told him about her miraculous healing and her suspicion that one of the gods had thralled her and then bitten her to speed up her recovery.

Ell-rom was still angry with them for doing this without her consent, but it had been done to save her pain and discomfort, so he was willing to forgive them, but only this one time.

If any of them dared to deceive her in the future, for whatever reason, they would have to deal with him.

5

JASMINE

Jasmine had gotten pretty good at discerning Ell-rom's emotions from subtle changes in expressions and body language. He had slightly different frowns for when he was worried, intrigued, or upset, and the one he was sporting now was clearly the latter.

What had caused it?

There could be several things, starting with her telling him about riding on Negal's back after twisting her ankle, to what she had told him before about her suspicion that one of the gods had bitten her to hasten her recovery.

Either way, it was time to change the subject, or rather take it in a different direction. "I've just remembered a concern that Ell-rom and I brought to Kian's attention. I don't know if he spoke with you about it or not, but do you think that your commander will ask for DNA samples to prove that Ell-rom and Morelle were indeed hybrids and to prove that they are dead?"

Aru leaned back in his chair. "That's a good question. My commander wouldn't ask that of his own volition but, given theEternal King's agenda and his paranoid tendencies, it's likely that he will want proof of the twins' demise."

"Would a genetic sample collected from a live person differ from one collected from a dead person?" Ell-rom asked.

That was a good question for which Jasmine had no answer. She hadn't been interested in the subject before, and if they had taught it in her physiology and anatomy class in high school, she didn't remember it.

"Let's check." Margo pulled out her phone. "All the answers can be found on the internet if you know what to ask, especially with that newest chatbot version they've introduced."

Jasmine had happened to read about artificial intelligence in a magazine but had yet to try it herself. According to the article she'd read, artificial intelligence chatbots were easy to access, and some of them were free, but the answers couldn't be a hundred percent trusted because some AIs were known to hallucinate, which Jasmine found hilarious and a little worrisome.

Making up stuff was a human trait, so did it mean that the bots were becoming more human?

But that was less bothersome than the bias intentionally incorporated into those bots for whatever reasons and agendas.

Truth shouldn't be selectively modified or altered to better fit certain views and agendas of those controlling the bots, but that was the way of the world. Those with money and power decided what the plebs were allowed to know and needed to believe.

"Here is what I found," Margo said. "DNA itself doesn't change after death. However, the degradation process can make itharder to extract and analyze DNA from a dead body compared to a living one." She lifted her head. "But if we take tissue samples, like hair or fingernail clippings, it wouldn't matter if they were taken from a live body or a dead one, right?"

"I don't know about that," Dagor said. "With how advanced Anumati's tech is, they might be able to detect subtle differences we're not even aware of."

There was a long silence as everyone mulled over the problem, and then Frankie lifted her finger. "What about a chemical solution? Something that would destroy DNA but look like it resulted from the crash? Could that work?"

Gabi nodded enthusiastically. "You could say the pod's fuel leaked and mixed with other chemicals, creating a corrosive substance."

Dagor chuckled. "The pod doesn't operate like one of your vehicles. It doesn't use fossil fuel."

"What does it use?" Ell-rom asked.

"The technology and substances used are not available on Earth, but its functionality is similar to nuclear fusion."

"Don't you mean fission?" Gabi said.