The wine was definitely flowing, as well as the champagne and almost anything else you could ask for. Although Soph and Carla wanted a small private wedding, it kept growing. They put their foot down at 250. They sold the rights to a media company, so there was only one film crew in addition to their photographer. Sam was paying for most of it, so Soph and Carla were making a healthy profit. It was good publicity for the rights of the Enhanced.

  The Hardcastle lawyers were arguing over our military contract for us. It wasn’t just turning into a contractual dispute. It was also becoming a fight for the Enhanced that needed access to the Anomalies and Essence, as there was pushback from human rights groups. Are we human or animal?

  Religious groups were mixed between us being an abomination of satan or we were deformed and needing compassion and salvation. They could both get fucked as far as I was concerned, but obviously, I sided with the compassion group. Soph and Carla’s wedding made it harder for the religious groups to find compassion, but it got the gay rights groups behind it.

  Everybody can just piss off as far as I was concerned. Non-binary sexuality is pretty much outdated now that we have shark girl marrying dog girl, and sex isn’t even their thing. Transitioning between male and female seemed tame, although it was definitely safer than full mutation.

  Carla got married in her scales and looked good in the skimpy dress shining in the sun next to Soph’s copious fur in a matching dress. They were making a statement about who they were. I said she should have gone complete shark, but I was ignored as usual. At least I got another load of scales from it when she changed back.

  Ata stood for Carla’s family, as they weren’t even in the country, and they were not supportive when they were. Sam stood for Soph’s family. Soph’s dad was also there, but Soph has had very little to do with him since the divorce when she was five.

  I stayed well in the background, and when people did approach me, I was all, “Keep your distance, or you might get poisoned”. That was a fantastic line. Even though the army had released the truth of my poison, you can’t fight social media and rumours. The two are usually the same. Very few people bother fact-checking things.

  The week leading up to the wedding I spent most of it with Ata, preparing the boat for a more extended voyage. She basically opened every compartment and traced every wire. The Ocean Blue had two queen-sized bedrooms. Ata would have one, and Soph and Carla would have the other. I had a smaller single room further under, and on the opposite side was the other single room, which we outfitted for the animals. I think it is Murray who will suffer the most not having Earth under him. It was a good boat for the price, and I am glad Ata is so competent. I did learn more than I wanted to. Ata and I took it out into the gulf for a couple of half-day trips. She had found it very difficult to sail on her own.

  Our departure was delayed for a day because a storm came through, and it was pissing down. Carla decided to try giving me my wine.

  We set it up, and this was different. Amanda came for medical support and for her new paper. She had her contract with the military cancelled but was not wrapped up in a legal dispute with them. She was freelance consulting and found it very rewarding.

  This time, we had Soph and Barb. However, it was a brand new form. It didn’t go easy. This went long and hard and took well over three-quarters of my Essence pool. Hopefully, it was because it was the first time.

  Carla’s skin took on a bark-like texture, like a vine. It was wirey and tough.

  “It is very hard to move,” she said, “Like I am forcing my limbs to move each time, and there is resistance. Yes, it is like using resistant weights all the time. Push against this.”

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  She held out her hand, and I tried moving it. It wasn’t easy.

  “Why is your head green?” Soph asked, running her hands over the rough surface of her head.

  “It is not just my head,” she said, rolling over. She usually changed naked as there were always remnants left behind, even if it was just dead skin. Her back was covered in green leaves. They weren’t regular leaves, as it was the skin that had transformed to look like leaves.

  Amanda was fascinated, “Do you think you can photosynthesise?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. We will have to wait until the morning to find out,” she replied.

  “What I want to know is where do we juice you?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said, and she grabbed one of her breasts, which was cornered in bark and tried squeezing it. Nothing came out. “You might be out of luck. It doesn’t look like I am even producing grape juice.”

  “Fucking waste of time.” It wasn’t a waste of time, of course, as her pattern had changed with this mutation. There were lines and symbols there that weren’t there before, and I had my laptop out. I was trying to capture all the new stuff before I forgot what was new and what was old. Her old pattern was not yet complete. I wish I could take a photograph or record it in some way.

  “Let me take some blood and tissue samples to analyse,” Amanda said. She had trouble getting the needle past the bark, and that was before Carla hardened it.

  “I think it is called sap, not blood,” I said absently as I was furiously trying to copy her pattern. “Get some piss as well. You never know.” Then I looked up. “Will you grow longer like a vine if we feed you? If you chopped off a finger, would it regrow?”

  “Those are fascinating questions,” Amanda said. Carla withdrew all her appendages and looked warily at us. “No, no, we won’t do that. The DNA samples should tell us.”

  “Do you know why it was so hard to change?” Carla asked me.

  “I am pretty sure it is a first-time thing because you rewrote part of your Essence pattern. No, not rewrote, added to. It is more complicated now, and it was the most complicated one before as well.”

  “I sensed that as well,” Soph said, “but my senses are not as detailed as Bob’s sight. It is like I sense the surface, and he sees the depths. Plus, I was not concentrating on it. I was channelling Barb’s Skill.”

  “Did her colour change, Ata?” I asked.

  “No, she is still pure Fluorescent Blue, but I think she strengthened her colour when she imbued all the green/tan. If we could measure the immunisation, she would be very high, I think.”

  “The analysis of the samples will take a few days,” Amanda said. “Are you going to be around?”

  “We will be sailing by then. We have a satellite phone and satellite internet. The Internet is the best. We will have new email addresses all at Brightblue.nz,” Soph said.

  “Do you have a way to find anomalies, or are you just searching at random?” Amanda asked.

  “That is a company secret,” Soph said.

  “What about your maternity care?” Amanda asked Ata.

  “I will probably fly home for the birth,” Ata said. “Maybe Australia.”

  “Can I be there?” Amanda asked.

  “Probably. A friendly face is always good. Mum wants to come for it as well,” Ata said.

  Amanda asked Carla, “How long will you stay in this form?”

  “Not sure. A couple of days to test it out anyway.”

  “Can you let me know? The samples I took from your back will be tested for photosynthesis, but I am fascinated to hear how it is from your end,” Amanda said. “I notice your gills are still there, but I can’t imagine salt water would be good for this form. Fresh water is probably fine.”

  That is a good observation. We will test it, thanks,” Carla said.

  “Before I go,” Amanda said, “I heard Captain Griffiths has been replaced as the one in charge of the Anomaly Reaction Unit. A particular viral video did not show him in good light. The new commander is willing to talk, but they are going to destroy it in a week.”

  “Not unexpected,” I said. Classic villain, I thought. He will be out to get us.