"We'll have to go to the library to look for the book," Lily said to Anne as they moved down the corridor. Though Anne's movements were admittedly rather sluggish.
"Well, I get that," said Anne. "But I don't get why we're doing that at 6 am on a Saturday when I had plans to sleep in."
"Because there's work to be done!" said Lily, rounding the turn that leads to the grand staircases.
"After breakfast?" said Anne, gesturing towards the direction behind them.
"Breakfast isn't until 12 remember," said Lily, referring to when her first meal of the day would be.
Before Anne could object and say lunch was at 12, Lily continued, "I thought you wanted to know what the note says..."
Anne tilted her head a bit, suggesting that maybe she didn't care that much after all. And yet, now that she was up.. she was curious about what Lily would figure out... Better to be there with her at the time of the discoveries than to get a summarized or potentially botched version later.
"What's the book called again?" she asked, as they entered the library... which was very much deserted.
"The Return of the Lycans, by Nathaniel Macafy," said Lily.
"For a class?" Anne hedged carefully.
"No, that's what Ryan's note said," said Lily. "But... it wasn't from Ryan. It seems he was just a messenger because it was signed 'Miss Art'."
"You think it's a teacher?"
"I don't think a student would have gotten Ryan to deliver it," said Lily. "I wish she had delivered it to me herself. Would have saved me from Irene's irrational irateness."
"Interesting," said Anne as they neared the M authors in the resources section.
"Do you think Miss Art could have put something in the book?" said Lily.
"Maybe she just wants you to read it."
It wasn't long until the girls found the large leather-bound volume. Anne picked up one as well titled, "I can, Lycan."
Lily laughed. She couldn't help it. It seemed like such a stupid name for a book and she told Anne as much.
"Don't judge a book by its title!"
They moved towards the back of the library and got settled in one of the largest group study rooms. The books landed on the table with resounding thumps. Lily, who was getting in the habit of her new schedule, slid out a notebook and pen from her satchel. She felt.. excitement. Not just to see what the book held for her, but also for the sense of normalcy. A feeling of belonging. To be just another student in this big school sitting down to start studying.
Unfortunately, nothing slipped out of the book upon opening it. Which meant that the next two hours were spent reading the fine print.
"They're born from shifters?" Lily said to Anne... who might have fallen asleep.
"Hm? Yeah?" said Anne.. clearly not hearing what she'd just said.
"No, read right here," said Lily, pointing to a small passage under a graph showing the Lycan's genome.
'Born from two shifter parents, a Lycan is born a shifter and is likely to remain a shifter. Statistics show that potential Lycans, more accurately defined as shifters who have the LRPPRC2 gene, make up less than 0.4% of the shifter population. In nearly all cases, a shifter with the LRPPRC2 gene, henceforth referred to as the Lycanthropic gene, will exhibit behaviors similar to that of a shifter unless the Lycan gene is activated. (See more on page 365).
It's believed that the trigger for this gene to be activated is the reason why Lycans have not been seen for hundreds of years.'
"Wow, that's crazy," said Anne when she finished reading the paragraph.
"See Anne?" said Lily, "You could be a Lycan, and we might not even know it! Then again, I've never heard of a female Lycan. I wonder what the trigger is that causes the transformation."
"Did you check the reference page?" said Anne, suddenly much more engaged.
Lily responded by turning to the page indicated, and they both leaned forward to read.
'As of the date of this publication, research regarding the Lycanthropic gene is tentative and limited. However, certain environments and specific viruses have been found to have a high correlation with the activation of this gene.
Stressful environments have been shown to have the highest association with the activation of the Lycanthropic gene; Including, but not limited to situations of abuse, and survival.
The viruses, mainly consisting of the Ebola Virus, and the Lassa Virus, have been tested and are believed to be indirectly correlated. Thus far, results have been inconclusive (largely because of the difficulty of segregating the effects of a virus from a more general environmental trigger). Furthermore, it's a challenging study to conduct due to the limited population of shifters that have the gene required for such studies.'
"Wow," said Lily. "Makes you glad you're not a Lycan. Or a potential Lycan I guess. The subject of all these horrible science experiments where they unleash deadly viruses? That'd be horrible."
"I suppose so," said Anne. "But the research is needed. And, those viruses don't affect shifters without the Lycan gene. They would just fight it off like any other illness."
"I don't know Anne. It just doesn't seem right," said Lily thinking about Ryan. She wondered if he was turned in one of those horrible experiments, or was his environment the trigger? She'd never thought of Ryan as anything but a.. a title really, the Lycan. And now that she'd read about all those horrible things, she considered him in a different light. Not just a Lycan, but rather someone real. A fellow student.
"What if the shifter didn't want to become a Lycan?" She asked Anne. "How would they even know what being a Lycan would entail?"
"You're kidding right," said Anne. "The Lycan is the strongest species alive today. Anyone with the good fortune of having the Lycan gene ought to be grateful."
"Maybe," said Lily, lost in her thoughts, she looked out the window. "Assuming they survive the unpleasant environment and/or lethal virus they're subjected to. Assuming they survive the transformation into a Lycan..."
"It's for the greater good though," said Anne. "I don't know the whole prophecy yet, but I know that the Lycans wouldn't be prophecized to come unless it was essential to the new reigning order, and the wellbeing of shifters."
"But it's not fair to the would-be Lycans. Risking their lives? And for what? Are they even told what they're signing up for when their 'gene is triggered?'"
Anne seemed... angry. Then again, Lily felt oddly angry also. It didn't seem right to put people in experiments like that. But she didn't push the topic.
Instead, she closed the book. She wasn't sure if she was happy to have learned those things about Lycans. She felt somehow haunted now.
"You want to go for a walk?" Lily said. She wanted the emotions between them to dissipate. Anne was there with her at the start of this new situation. Both were cast into such a jarring and unexpected situation. Both not knowing what to expect. And yet, this new life seemed manageable with Anne. Things were ok so long as she wasn't alone.
"Yeah," said Anne. "A walk would be good. Maybe we could stop by the dining hall for a bagel to go though? We can explore the fourth-floor courtyard after that. We've hardly seen any of it in our Agility class."
"Deal!" said Lily closing the heavy book. "Take a break from this Lycan stuff."
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