"Yes, she is. Just like her sister Hope. Granny." Kai said as he pointed at the bag with a laugh.
"You mean that my granddaughter is in there? She's going to be in our historical documents. What an honor." Solina said, overjoyed. Solina said as she stood and embraced her son. She patted her sons back as her mind became a storm. She understood why she was needed here, but she was unsure why Allurai was not here as well today. Ryen has said that there was an argument among the Allari that day.
"We are in the process of developing an injection with mRNA instructions to repair Matriarch's lines across the world. Work on this has to be done at a slower pace. It was recklessness and haste that got us into this mess," Janel said. He could not imagine the desperation and time constraints that their ancestors were under. The virus itself, which had caused the issues, had enacted changes to the host's bodies, altering the genetics of their progeny. The artificial ovum itself needed to be constructed from much older unaffected mitochondrial maternal DNA. The person who engineered it sampled it from themselves. They themselves were a clone of a woman who was infected with the virus initially. The virus damaged the Mitochondria, which is why people were sterile to begin with. This is what caused the defects and deaths in the first children and Morrits Syndrome further down the line. It was ironic that hundreds of years later that Janel would be fixing the work of his own ancestor, Dr. Sinpani Morrit. Janel hoped that she would be proud that he reclaimed their clan name.
"That is something you will definitely want to be careful in how you present it. What you have done, you are surely going to go down as a hero, Janel," Solina said. "It is not going to be long until you and Monil receive your clan names. Please let me be the first to say this, but congratulations on your daughter, Dr. Morrit." Solina said cheerfully. This was the first time an outsider to the clan treated him with respect. Solina normally treated him well, but this felt rewarding.
"Thank you," Janel said. "All this would not have been possible without Nora." Janel added with a blush spreading across his face.
"Can you explain why Nora's genetic information was needed to extrapolate a cure?" Solina asked. Janel cleared his throat, he knew that this would come, so they had already prepared. His mouth dried out.
"Allow me to tell you more about myself and explain. Although it is true I am from the Northern Hemisphere, my background is more complicated than what I will continue to present to outsiders." Nora spoke with confidence. " Janel, could you please bring up the visual aids. Thank you," Nora said with a nod and continued. "I am from another version of this world, it is very similar. In the wake of its probable destruction, I ended up being transported here inexplicably. I am the same species as you, with very few differences." Nora said as she compared her and a sample of Solina's DNA. Two genetic profiles appeared in front of them on a prepared display. Nora had two prepared presentations in advance. One in which she had been working with Janel for the live broadcast that would happen when the children were at full term, and one for today in which she admits to their most important ally. Solina would be laying down lives to protect them in the future. It was only fair that she was transparent with her and told her the whole truth.
"The differences are minimal. Here on chromosome 3 are some remnants of another species on my planet we called Neanderthals that my people interbred with fifty thousand years ago. That is where my hair and skin traits are derived from. You will see interbreeding with a different species of people here on your own genome. These people are responsible for your amber-coloured eyes, your flexibility and Alphem pheromone response. It was a vestigial rarely seen trait until manipulated in the past. We can all agree it is best that it returns that way." Nora said as she continued her prepared lecture.
"We still share the same originator species. Our ancestors just interacted and moved differently, causing slight differences." Nora said."So you experienced the destruction of a planet and woke up here?" Solina said cynically, furrowing her brow in disbelief.
"No, it was extremely painful from what I remember. I would have died if I had not stumbled into an animal trap right away. " Nora said. Solina gave her an odd up and down look. There were only very slight differences between them, but she began to feel xenophobic. They had encountered space-faring alien species before. Solina did not like them. She did not look like one of them, and did not treat her like a lesser being. Nora was technically a multidimensional human, but it was not clear whether her dimensional space of the universe existed still. Solina's mind reeled as she stared at Nora. She liked this woman. She had accepted her as a Northerner.
'Kai would have investigated her thoroughly when he learned of this.' Solina thought to herself. Nora prepared for questions like this, it was her biggest source of anxiety.
"I am no threat. I have no world to go back to and every reason to stay. I know my words might seem unbelievable, but I can prove it." Nora said as Solina's face contorted into shock. Believing that she was the last Northerner, she was definitely more comfortable than the unknown alien. The Nora she knew was not a threat, she felt nervous for her. Solina slowly digested the information. "This part of the presentation will show how I arrived at the Hospital. You will see I have arrived in no condition to be a threat," Nora said. Images popped up of Nora's arrival at the hospital in Izaberne. She was covered in burns, her leg was almost severed, her clothes had traces of burns and melting on them. Some of it was burned to her. Video then sped up at 3x speed as the whole floor of doctors, researchers and medical staff raced to save her life.
"You can see that I owe a debt to those men. I was scared at first. Luckily, I learned quickly." Nora finished. "Luckily, a plausible backstory was already created about me, the last Northerner. I wanted you to know the truth about me. You deserve to know. But to the rest of the world, I will remain that last Northerner. It is safer for us. For my children," Nora said.
"You certainly look better than when you arrived. How would you explain the condition you arrived in, should this information be found?" Solina asked.
"It has already been recorded that an industrial leakage was responsible for the death of my people and my irradiation. You will notice that they never recorded the type of radiation that I was exposed to in the records. It is a plausible explanation," Nora said.
"Her belongings have been incinerated, and the translation program created to communicate with her has already been purged as it was on the HudaiTech system." Kai said,
"There are no other traces, she has learned the past history and customs of Northerners that we have left in our knowledge base to be safe. The children do not even know," Cerez said. Solina sighed with stress, they had a backstory and narrative prepared. They had a short time.
"I am here to help you safely unveil the existence of the children. I believe you must have put some thought into this?" Solina asked.
"We were prepared to go to Matriarch Elite with the cure first and await a response. After what happened at the Allari Complex months ago, we decided to present their births on Feather live. A copy of the cure will be sent to all the ally Clans should anything happen to us. If something happens to you, it will be sent out to every interface on the planet." Nora said, still traumatized. Their building was built strongly and there was a subterranean residence located an unknown number of floors below. She had little faith she could make it there if she could not even make it down a short hall like what happened months ago.
"I have seen what happens when you challenge Matriarch Elite. I do not want to have to hide like Leilanna Allari has to. I believe it is necessary now," Nora said. It was hard to come to this collective decision. Solina had completely redone her residence, but the place was still haunted by Kai. Kai assured her that he would be alright. "At least until we see the reaction. Releasing the news on Feather will at least make it nearly impossible to silence it. I am prepared to lose the privilege that comes with being a Matriarch. Should there be radical change? " Nora said with confidence.
"Setton will protect you. However, we are only so powerful. I will start a recall of our troops to the capital. But if something unforeseen happens. If my abilities fail you?" Solina asked.
"Then the Halid shall starve them all, the Allari shall ignore their health, Sedai will stop manufacturing, the Noro shall shield any clan defending us from political repercussions and everyone will know. I do not matter. This matters." Nora said passionately.
"Good. I am prepared to lose my privilege and my life for this. At its core, Clan Setton had always been a family with honor as a Clan of the Old Vazqit Guard of the old Abithiz Empire. In this lifetime, I shall regain our honor through defending your cause. I will be proud to face my ancestors and be worthy of my tomb," Solina said. She was truly like the Valkyrie of the old Norse culture of her own planet.
"I am certain that we will be remembered. Nothing will stop us," Nora said resolutely.
Janel felt a sense of trepidation. He and Monil had fought and talked about having a daughter. It was not something that was forced, it was normal to try multiple embryos and choose from the best. Eve's gestation was a surprise, he grew more weary and nervous by the day, whereas Monil seemed to grow expectant. This had implications; they would no longer be a lower class if the problem was resolved. They were quiet about this project, but he was still afraid that men would come rushing in at the behest of some Matriarch that did not see a challenge to the comfortable lives they had as a positive change. He had wagered his life the moment he altered Ivy and Fiona Quill's lives and bought himself protection. That protection was a bunker in a basement and powerful backing. If they were attacked, it would take some time to receive help.