Evolutionary Liberator

"Why are you so mad?" asked Olivia, climbing to her feet, flabbergasted. "If you had such a problem with me leaving Dustin, why didn't you say something before you left?"

Granny stopped pacing, and glared at Olivia. "You don't know, so I will explain it to you, in easy enough terms that you might be able to understand. Uz'En bond with their first mates, for life. LIFE. Do you understand what that means?"

Olivia paused as Granny's words registered. That meant…

"You shouldn't be able to flirt with anyone. Leaving Dustin boggled my mind, but I was sure you would eventually get your wits about you, and return to him, but obviously that didn't happen. You're broken, and it's all my fault."

"Wait, what? How?"

"Sit, I'll bring up a diagram," said Granny, pointing to the seat Dustin had been sitting in, when Olivia first entered this room.

She sat without a word, confusion the main emotion that was swirling in her mind.

Granny punched in a command into the other console and a hologram of Olivia's body appeared.

"When I first encountered you, you had just had Kit, remember?" Her words had softened as she seemed to remember the occasion fondly.

"I thought you were another monster to try and kill me, and all I could think of was protecting Kit and Jake." Olivia closed her eyes, remembering the panic, and the pain, when she ripped herself on the inside, jumping to protect them.

"Your spirit was torn and ragged, as if you had been in some nasty fight. It was too damaged to heal on its own, and you would have died, if I hadn't tried to help."

"I remember only that I could breath again, but that if I fell asleep, I would have died."

They were both quiet for a moment, lost in the memory of the past.

"When I tried to heal the rifts and tears, there were extra pieces that I thought were torn from you, and needed to be reattached."

Olivia watched as Granny typed in another command, and a misty white form appeared floating above Olivia's holographic form. There were tears as if some monster with large claws had swiped at her, leaving gashes in the white. As Granny pointed, Olivia could see small pieces that looked like they had separated from the whole, but hadn't drifted away yet.

"When I learned how to heal the spirits of those who could be healed, my mother cautioned me not to bond two spirits together. I'm afraid that is what I may have done, and why you were not bonded correctly with Dustin."

"Is that also why I never gained those memories, that you said I should have gained?" asked Olivia, fear threading its way into her mind.

"Your original form and all of your sister clones, are dead. There's no doubt about that. The memories of your former self, should have made their way to you by now. The fact that they haven't, only proves that I messed up. This whole damn mess is my fault. And if any of my people find out…" Granny stopped speaking, as real fear broke out over her face.

"What do you mean?" asked Olivia. She may have just been in a fight with her, but this small green monster saved her life, and taught her how to raise her child, when she didn't know how to do it.

"If they find out I messed up someone's spirit, even by accident, it's a death sentence. Do you know how hard it is to kill a Gooblen? And even if they take pity on me, I would become an outcast. No Gooblen would ever agree to be my mate, or talk to me ever again. I don't think I could live with that."

The look of fear on Granny's face broke Olivia. She looked away, and said, "So, how do we fix me? Can you just take the extra spirit pieces away?"

"Oh, no! I don't know how to do that, but I know someone who does. The problem is, I haven't been able to find her. My mom was excellent at protecting the little Gooblens when everyone started hunting them. Too good for me to find them."

"Wait, your mom?" Olivia looked at the wizened green figure before her, and tried to imagine someone that looked like her, only older. She had to shake her head. There was no way.

"How do you know she's still alive?" she asked.

Granny smiled and lifted her shirt before Olivia knew what she was doing.

Olivia went to cry out and look away, convinced she was going to be scarred for life, but the sight that appeared before her, only confused her instead. A gem, imbedded into her skin, glowed a soft orange. It was obvious that the skin had just pulled back to expose it.

"Every Gooblen is born with a gem seed in their abdomen. They know when their mother dies, because that seed will stop glowing and die. It's how my people kept track of who was in charge, over large distances. Our society is matriarchal. If we were sent on a task, that took us far away, we would know to return if our mother died. It's complicated and involves far more than just that, but you understand now, why I know my mother still lives."

"Wow," whispered Olivia. She wasn't sure if she was more impressed with the system they had developed, or the knowledge that there was someone out there, older than Granny.

"My mom will know as soon as she looks at your spirit, that I messed it up, but she's the only one that can fix you." Granny looked away, swiping at the hologram to make it go away.

Granny was the closest thing Olivia had to a mother. The green skinned Gooblen had taught her how to feed and care for Kit, when there was no one else to teach her.

"Surely your mom will understand and not condemn you! You did what you thought was best, to save my life."

"I was never formally taught to heal spirits, despite my advanced abilities. I had been caught trying to watch my mom heal someone, which was a huge mistake. If I had distracted her at the wrong time, it could have killed both the patient and my mom. That is the worst crime a Gooblen can commit, trying to kill their mother, even if it's by accident. My mom was in tears when she punished me. I was refused the lessons necessary to heal spirits. It broke her heart, and mine. I was to be a prodigy, and it was taken away because of my own stupidity. I left home the next day, and never went back."