COVELENT: XenoTrait

The chamber was silent. Felix stood alone.

Dim reflections of water shimmered across the reinforced floor, remnants of broken containment tanks now empty of life.

Felix raised his arm slowly, studying it under the faint overhead light.

”...I ate all the animals... starfish, octopus, and the zebrafish.

I now have 5 spots left among my 12 traits, and the octopus and zebrafish, I put them into my glands... I’ll have to think it over before I fuse them.”

He reached for the blade resting nearby. With a precise motion, he cut deep into his arm.

Pain struck instantly. ”Ahhh,” he groaned.

The wound opened... blood dripped down his hand.

Muscle fibers tightened violently, pulling inward as it healed the damage done.

Felix watched carefully as he smiled. ”It worked... the starfish trait works exactly as I imagined it.”

Felix flexed his hand slowly.

He lowered his arm, then rolled up his sleeve further.

”Glands,” Felix said softly, ”I have 10 in total... they are the secret to mutation. To make a mutation of traits, I have to choose which one of the 12 traits I am going to mutate using the traits in the glands.”

A pause.

”Traits in the glands are not active... but inactive.”

He glanced at his reflection.

”Just... waiting... waiting to be fused.”

He tapped his wrist. ”I placed it here... the octopus trait.

And I placed my zebrafish trait here on my neck.”

He pondered, ”If I ever remove a trait... it’s gone. My body will not take it in again...

It is erased... if I think about it, this isn’t switching abilities,” he said, ”it’s sacrificing them.”

He turned away from his reflection.

”And if I make the wrong choice...”

His voice lowered.

”I lose that part of myself permanently.”

The training room felt smaller than before.

Abel stood at the center, flexing his fingers slowly. ”My body feels stronger, faster, but incomplete.

Like something had changed...

But stopped halfway.”

Felix entered without a word. In his hand was a container.

Abel looked up. ”...What is that?”

Felix stopped in front of him. ”Your next step.”

He held it out. ”A starfish sample.”

Abel frowned. ”What am I supposed to do with it?”

Felix’s gaze sharpened slightly. ”You’re supposed to eat it.”

Silence.

Abel blinked. ”...You’re serious?”

”Yes.” Felix’s tone didn’t change. ”If you want to gain a trait...”

He raised the container slightly. ”You must consume at least one kilogram of that organism.”

Abel stared at it. ”One kilogram...?”

”That’s the threshold,” Felix said. ”Anything less and nothing happens.”

Abel looked uncertain. ”And if I do...?”

Felix didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he stepped closer. ”There are consequences.”

The room grew heavier.

”The serum works on a simple principle,” Felix said. ”You become what you eat.”

Abel’s expression shifted. ”That includes everything.”

Felix’s voice lowered. ”Strength, structure, instinct.”

A pause.

”And their flaws.”

Abel stiffened slightly.

”If you consume an animal,” Felix continued, ”you don’t just gain its advantages... you inherit its behavior.”

Images formed in Abel’s mind instantly.

”If you consume a cow...” Felix’s tone remained calm, ”you may feel the urge to graze.”

Abel blinked. ”...What?”

Felix didn’t react. ”You may develop dietary shifts. Behavioral changes. Instinctive responses that aren’t human.”

A beat.

”And that’s not the worst part.”

Abel’s attention sharpened.

”You can inherit diseases.”

Silence.

”Anything that hurts the animal can become a risk to you.”

Felix looked directly at him now. ”Parasites, weaknesses, and even biological defects.”

Abel’s grip tightened slightly.

”This power isn’t clean,” Felix said. ”It’s consumption.”

The word lingered.

Abel looked down at the container again.

”So if I take this...”

Felix nodded once.

”You may gain regeneration.”

A pause.

”Or nothing.”

Abel exhaled slowly.

”And if I don’t?”

Felix’s expression didn’t change. ”Then you stay as you are...

A prototype, stable but limited.”

Abel clenched his jaw. ”...And you?”

Felix didn’t hesitate. ”I don’t have that limitation... I evolve continuously.”

Abel looked down at his hand.

The one that healed... but never fully restored.

Then at the container.

A choice.

Felix stepped back slightly. ”I won’t force you.”

A pause. ”But understand this.”

His voice sharpened slightly. ”Every step forward changes you.”

Another pause.

”And not all changes can be undone.”

The room fell silent.

Abel stood there, staring at the starfish sample in his hand.

”Power, with risk and change... all of it contained in one decision.”