World changing. My twin’s words ring in my ears, following me into the dark mess hall and around the vacant tables that sprouted the legs of upturned chairs like a herd of hedgehogs. I didn’t need world changing, I’m wasn’t looking for anything more than life changing, my life changing, but all the same something had tightened in my gut when Sassa flung her hands in the air and said the words. The something stayed with me, crouching in the back of my mind, running up and down my spine with equal parts excitement and trepidation.
I push past half-door, slipping into the galley dimly lit by the green exit sign and small red standby lights on the huge appliances. The heavy cold-room door stands at the end of the long row of stainless steel benches and I pull it open slowly, waiting until the flickering automatic light steadies before stepping across the threshold. Rows and columns of carefully stacked and sorted food and, towards the back, a stack of frosted plastic drawers. I slide one out, revealing a pile of orange-red, banana like fruits the gathering party collected the day before, and reach in and pick out the juiciest.
“A single genetic marker.” My breath frosts in the cold as I study the fruit, my mouth already watering. “Changing the world.”