“After your foolish little invasion of Underground City A, I would hope you remember the effects that your “Sunshine” has on the humans of the surface. However, what the UR failed to tell you that day was how she was cursed with that disease and what the disease actually is along with the dangerous future it’ll have on this planet.”
Emmy—short for Emerald—was scrolling through a bunch of documents on the status board Dante stole from her. The drunk had left it on the table, and the only way she could show me her notes in detail was by allowing her to use the device. Though, I had to hold it for her while she used it just in case she tried to call for reinforcements or send coordinates to our location or whatever a hostage would do in this situation. The map with Sunshine had its size reduced to a small screen in the corner, so I had to make extra sure she didn’t do anything fishy with it.
“I think I have an idea of where it came from, but I’m not too sure so you’ll have to correct me on this,” I said, staring at how weirdly Emmy’s fingers bent against the SB. “Her mother was bitten by a zombie when she was still pregnant with Sunshine, and she died a few months after she gave birth. Even though my daughter wasn’t bitten directly, maybe the zombie ooze mixed with Sunshine’s genes somehow and infected her with something really nasty.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, giving me a judgement look. “You’re a Type Two Radion, and yet you're using an archaic term like ‘zombie’? You’re a disgrace to your species.”
“Hey, I still identify as a human, so you can screw off with that disgrace shit,” I growled. “Just tell me if my theory’s right or not.”
“It’s not right, obviously…. Well actually, it’s partially correct. Move the status board back a bit.”
Once I did what she asked, a holographic screen popped out of the SB, floating just above the device. There were a couple images on the screen—two sets of DNA, balls that looked like cells, and a bomb. “You see, when Radion DNA comes in contact with human DNA, it infects the human DNA, corrupting it and eventually breaking it down entirely until all that is left is Radion DNA.” She demonstrated this fact with a picture of a badly drawn monster chowing down on the human DNA like it was a meal. “And while it’s true that pregnant females would pass on this corrupted DNA to their unborn child, they wouldn’t survive birth like Sunshine did. Which means your ‘theory’ has flaws.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, moving the monster around with my finger.
Emmy slapped my hand away and said, “I know that because we’ve used human test subjects to see for ourselves.”
I paused once I heard that. “What the hell?”
“You seem displeased by that, and yet you were the one who wanted information so badly. Yes, we used human female test subjects who we deemed to be unneeded for humanity and forced them to be impregnated. The results varied.”
“What do you mean by ‘unneeded’? Former criminals? The mentally unstable?”
“If we got rid of the latter, there wouldn’t be much of a surviving human race. No, we used females who had already been bitten by zombies and we studied all the ways it affected the infant at birth.”
She closed the screen and opened up a video of a mom on a table. She was in a small, white room surrounded by green-skinned doctors or scientists, picking up tools from another table behind them. For the next couple minutes, they cut up her belly till near the end of the video where they finally pulled out the baby.
The baby was dead.
“Thanks for ruining my day with this video,” I said, covering my eyes. “You could’ve just told me this would be a glorified miscarriage.”
“This research shouldn’t be ruining your day. I didn’t even exist yet when they were doing these experiments, so you should be appreciating their hard work. Here, I’ll show you another result.”
Thankfully, she closed the disturbing video, but she ended up showing me something even worse. It was a picture—a picture of a zombified baby devouring its mother from the inside.
“Hey!” I shouted, punching her forcefield. “Don't show me shit like that. As a widower, it’s not something I wanna see. My theory was wrong. Let’s move on now.”
She unshielded her face and sighed. “Your temper annoys me greatly, but I respect that you see how incorrect your theory was for the most part.” She closed the photo and went back to the cartoony images. “Sunshine would've been terminated or turned into a Radion in her birther's body if she had only come in contact with Radion DNA. The only way she would’ve lived was through a combination of more DNA that could cancel out the negative effects, and an outside energy source. Your DNA.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“So there’s something special about my DNA, and I passed on those genes to her?” I asked, looking at my hands.
“Precisely,” she answered, drawing a nuclear symbol on the screen. “When a human with a Radius Ability creates offspring, their offspring will also have a Radius Ability. Radius Ability users are immune to the negative effects of a zombie, so it would effectively cancel out the-”
“Hold on,” I interrupted. “I didn't have a Radius Ability when Sunshine was born, so where would she have gotten Radius DNA from? She was nine when I first had these powers, and she's still that age now.”
Emmy raised an eyebrow at me, rubbing her chin. “Huh? That can't be right… My records show that there were two instances where she used her ability in the Underground City, and yet you're telling me you didn't have one at the time of her birth? Unless… you gave one to her in a different way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I assume you've used those giant teeth or yours to take a bite out of your daughter, yes?”
“Bullshit! I’d never do something like-”
“Yes you would,” she cut off bluntly. “It’s in your nature. Radions don’t feel hunger nor do they need to eat. And yet, they still have that urge, that desire to devour human flesh, though I do not know why. They don’t particularly gain anything from doing so.”
My fingers began to claw through the wooden table. “I said I wouldn’t-”
“If you did, then there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. You are a Radion, after all. In fact, biting her would be the only way she’d have a Radius abil-”
I slammed my fist against the table and broke it in half, Emmy backing away immediately. “I said I wouldn’t do that. Everytime she slept I was fully awake, and I never laid a single tooth on her skin. I might not have a brain, but I definitely remember that much.”
“If you’re so sure, then how do you explain her having an ability?”, she replied nervously, keeping her distance from me.
I ripped out a piece of the ooze on my body. “Maybe she had an open cut and my zombie ooze got seeped into it.”
“Impossible.” Emmy’s body started to light up, her appearance growing smaller till she transformed into my daughter again. “Your daughter had three wounds at the time of me taking her body. One on her arm, one on her cheek, one on her back, and the final one on her leg. I know this because whenever I morph into a human, I gain the memories of all the times they’ve been damaged. And this…” She revealed a scar on Sunshine’s calf, and I felt myself sink when I saw that they were human-shaped teeth marks. “When I look back at the memory of her getting this wound, I see someone–no, something biting her leg with ooze spilling out the creature’s mouth. I’m positive that creature was you.”
I wanted to tell Emmy that she was wrong, that my teeth would never pierce through my daughter’s skin nor would my toxic essence corrupt her entirely. Though, I was the kind of dad that waited till he was sure their child was sleeping safe and sound before they did anything else. There was never a zombie in sight in the nights she was able to sleep. Except for me.
Emmy sighed, annoyance and maybe a bit of pity baked into it. “I don’t understand why you’re so affected over such a trivial thing. No one expects you not to do what Radions are supposed to do. That would be like asking a human not to think or asking a surfer to be intelligent. We all have roles we’re assigned to, and there’s nothing wrong with doing them.”
I didn’t respond to her. I only caressed my teeth.
“Hmph. If you’re not going to respond, then I’ll just c-”
“Eating humans…”, I said, hopping off the stool. “Is that really a thing all zombies have to do, even ones like me?”
“Correct. It's an instinct, like what any other animal would have.”
“Is that so?” I clenched my teeth, keeping my hand over it. “Is that so? Is… that… so?”
Emmy squinted her eyes at me, pursing her lips. “Can you please repeat yourself mindlessly without opening and closing your jaw. It's very unsightly to look at.”
“Is… that so? Is that so? Is that so?” I removed my hand and repeated three words again. Once I felt satisfied, I said, “Alright, that feels good.”
“What are you-
Before she could finish, I cocked my arm back and drove my fist straight into my mouth. A sickening crack echoed across the bar as I pulled my hand out, shards of teeth, ooze, and other bones spilling out of the gaping hole that was now my mouth.
Emmy’s face was racked with fear and confusion, gripping her hair. “W-W-W-What are you doing to yourself!? Are you stupid? I know you are, but it’s about time you admitted it.”
I turned my attention back to her, my hanging face wobbling. “Maybe I can’t… stop my instincts from…taking over me, but I can stop it… from doing any serious damage to anyone.”
“Y-You’re insane! You can’t just defy your role by damaging yourself, you silly surfer,” she yelled, pointing her toe at me. “That’s not how life wo-”
“Just shut up and finish your yap-fest already,” I demanded, caressing my face. “”Cause no matter what you say or how you explain it, my daughter’s disease is getting cured no matter what. And I mean that with all my heart.”
“Y-You’re a Radion! You don’t even have a heart!”