Bloodline

Annus's fingers tightened slightly around the receiver, and he fell silent. He had been born on Birka. His parents had died before he could remember them. An old monk on Birka had raised him, and the old monk had died when Annus was ten.

"What percentage does that fragment account for in the entire Lineage Factor sequence?"

"The Lunarian trait fragment accounts for... your entire activated ancient sequence."

Vegapunk paused again, likely checking the data.

"About thirty-one percent.

The remaining sixty-nine percent is a standard Skypiean ancient sequence.

In other words, you have roughly one-third Lunarian blood and two-thirds Skypiean blood.

This ratio indicates that your Lunarian ancestor was not too distant. Most likely a great-grandparent, no more distant than a great-great-grandparent. If the ancestor had been further removed, the fragment would have been diluted more severely through generational inheritance."

The wings behind Annus's back unconsciously spread a little farther. He glanced at them, his gaze lingering for a moment on the silver-gray line along their tips.

"Is there a way to change them back?" he asked.

It was not dissatisfaction, merely a straightforward question. As if he were asking whether a certain function of a tool could be adjusted.

"You mean, turn them into the pure white wings of ordinary Feather People?"

There was a faint, restrained interest in Vegapunk's voice. It was the tone he always took when facing a technical problem.

"In theory, yes. Give me some time, and I can try to isolate that Lunarian fragment and design a targeted sequence to silence it again. But frankly, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why?"

"First, silencing an ancient fragment that has already been activated is riskier than activating it. Activation follows the current; silencing goes against it.

A Lineage Factor is not a switch, something you press once