28 Genius

"To tell you the truth boet, we need to talk to Ezbar, hes the real reason im calling"

Quintin shrugged and handed the phone to Ezbar.

"Ezbar speaking?"

"Hey doc, how's the leg?" Koos chuckled.

"You have the odassity to ask me about that!?"

"Fokkit chil doc, we're sorry ok, the reason im phoning is we need to form a mutual alliance"

Ezbar grunted sitting down "Im listening"

"You see, we can't go guns blazing wherever we go, sometimes well need a more, how you say, fire with fire approach"

"I was wondering if that didn't cross your mind? You gun ho bastard! And by fire with fire you mean Quintin?"

"Yes, whenever we need him, he must be available if possible. In return we'll be available whenever you need us, but lets get one thing straight, we don't work for each other, instead we work with each other"

"Wery well, i can agree to that"

"Now, we found out a lot about werewolves in the past few hours, and were willing to exchange that info with you for something else"

"Like what?"

"All your research, and the tools you use to make that serum you used on Quintin"

Ezbar laughed "Oh, you want to change your selves into sabers as well? I don't think even if i give you the tech that your brains will be able to figure out how to do it"

This time Koos laughed "Don't jump to conclusions doc, we like being human, we'd like the tech so we can learn to understand werewolves better, thats all"

Ezbar rubbed his chin, then clamped the phone between hie shoulder and ear "Very well, im making backup copies of the work, ill send it and some extra lab equipment your way in a box. Whats the adress?" He said typing away on his computer.

"Just send it to the post office in Worcester"

"Ok, it will be there in about two days"

"Thanks doc, give me an email adress, ill send you the new info about werewolves, when you have it and read it, phone me on this number again, we need to discuss it further"

"Ok" Ezbar put the phone down.

One week later

With everything on the new Ratel done, Frits finally had the chance to install the delicate computer equipment which will serve as the eyes and ears of the unit. The double turret on top both with multiple guns, the front now sporting four twenty millimeter auto cannons. The back had a ninety millimeter anti tank gun, then two nato auto cannons from the Red buzzard on each side of it, alot of fire power, both quick and powerful, just as Koos wanted it. When Frits finally finished the computer installation, he immediately booted it up.

"You guys go get us some beers, ive got everything i want to do stuck in my head, all i need to do is test it theoretically" He said loading discs, and typing way, it was about half an hour when he hopped out smiling. Koos had the fire going, Naledi and Piet was with him.

"Ok, i got some good and bad news" Frits said sitting down.

"Bad news first please" Koos said handing him a beer.

"Ok, Naledi... How long after a person has been bitten by a werewolf, does he become one?"

"Moon to moon, so if he gets bitten tonight, the next full moon wil change him"

"Ok... What if he gets bitten tonight, and this was the last full moon of the cycle? And only maybe four or five days later the next full moon comes into view?"

"Same story"

Frits stroked his beard "So, the transformation isn't different in any way?"

"Well, not that i know of, why?"

"Well, what i figured out is; Werewolf venom are similar to parasites, bare with me, for the sake of this explanation im going to call the venom a parasite..." He opened his beer and took a drink "As we know, a parasite would rather prefer its host alive, or, alive for as long as possible, so, i take it the werewolf " parasite" will slowly change the person into a werewolf? Right? This person will show sighns of the wolf venom long before the moon comes, and, will get more 'wolf like' the closer the moon comes"

Naledi nodded "Its true, the bitten one starts getting hungry for meat, agressive, anxious, and his voice would get deeper, all sorts of things happen, and when the moon comes he changes"

Frits stroked his beard again.

"Hows this bad news Frits?" Koos asked.

"Well, before i can say this, i need to explain what im on about. It seems the venom has changed alot, almost like it had to adapt, why would werewolf venom need to adapt?"

"What do you mean adapt?" Naledi asked hearing about this for the first time in her life.

"Lets put it like this, there were certain tree moths in America, they were white of colour, the same colour as the bark of the trees they lived on. Then humans came along and built factories that made smoke, the smoke made the tree bark black, exposing the moths, so over time the moths also turned black, its an adaptation to survive. Now this is what i say happened to the werewolf venom, like rings in trees i could figure out, that the venom is now more potent, it changes the person into a wolf much quicker than it should, and i think because the venom acts so quickly, the person can never control the werewolf form, whereas in the past, if Blair or Asena bit you, you'd maybe turn into a werewolf slower over time, thus you would be able to control it. And that also aligns with Blair's story, where the wolf form was a gift if you really needed it"

"Ok, then why refer to it as a patasite? And not a moth?" Naledi asked.

"The werewolf venom needs time to change the body, other wise the host wont survive, it prepares the body for that massive physical change. Now if you say the same thing happens over five days as in a twenty four hour period, i take it the venom acts slower over the longer time, but, it still adapts the body first, before the moon. It's a force of nature in a nutshell, animals can sense calamities coming from miles away, birds can sense winter coming. The venom can adjust itself to the moon, so it only awakens the wolf when its full... So, now that I've explained that the venom prepares the body, it might add some bad news with the good news i have"

"Which is?" Koos asked.

Frits sipped his beer again, turning to Naledi "How old are you?"

Her face shy'd red "Very old, i lost count almost as old as Cleopatra"

"Yet you look to be in your early twenties"

"Yes, i told you already, i might not be classified as an amarok, but i carry the same pro's, i dont age"

Frits smiled "And thanks to us meeting you, just gave us a bit of hope for seeing Ra face to face one day"

"Ok? Explain?" She frowned.

"You don't age, because your regenerative abilities are even higer than the previous rank, dire, so good in fact, that your cells that grow old, are shed and replaced by new ones, now what werewolves have, are technically supercharged versions of what humans already have... Let me explain" he got up and took another beer.

"In order to become a wolf you need a high level of proteins to grow the muscles, a high level of calcium to rapidly rebuild breaking bones, a high level of adrenaline for extreme boosts of energy, and of course a high healing ability, or 'regeneration' as we came to call it. Without any of these the werewolf can't exist, but!" He said loudly, only Piet jumped at the exclamation.

"But what!?" Piet yelled not really keeping up with Frits.

"Humans have it all, only much more watered down... Now, thanks to Naledi 'Spesifically' i figured if i can isolate only the adrenaline, and the healing ability and give that to us, like Ezbar gave the saber form to Quintin, i recon we can live long over our expiry date, at the acception that we need to activate the adrenaline in order to activate the regeneration, so it would mean physical exercise every morning for as long as we want to stay young enough to fight, as soon as we stop exercising, well grow old like normal"

Only Piet didn't have the brain power to keep up, but Naledi and Koos got a shock.

"You, you were this smart all along?" Naledi asked.

Koos slapped him "Bliksem man! When were you going to spill your brains to us? I bet you not even fokken Ezbar figured out whay you just said!"

"I told you I had ideas! But we were in the fokkin bush! Where the fok were i supposed to do things like this!?" Frits yelled back rubbing his head.

"So like lego blocks you can build onto us, so we can live longer?" Piet asked semi catching up.

"Yes Piet, exactly... In more basic terms, but thats where the bad news come in"

Koos rubbed his face "Fok, im getting tired of all this bad news"

"If we do this, we are, as Piet said, adding to our DNA like legos, so if we get bitten by a werewolf after that..."

"...You will die" Naledi said.

"Yes"

"What!? Why!?" Piet asked.

"You see, we finished the procedure of becoming a werewolf partially, if a werewolf bites us, we will suddenly become werewolves instantly, and that would be too much for our bodies to handle, heatstroke, broken bones, torn muscles, brain damage, heart attack. Fok theres so many the question is going to be which would kill us first, above all, it will be a very painful death, our bodies will, for lack of better words, rip themselves apart"

"Fok!" Koos said lighting a cigarette "So basically its a sacrafice we make, and a risk"

"A risk yes, but with the same rewards as an amarok, we don't grow old, meaning one day we can face Akmah-Ra"

"Not stronger?"

"We might be slightly stronger and faster than your average human, but its nothing to say wow for"

Koos went silent, thinking of this step they can or cannot take, he then looked at Piet and Frits, but threw his hands up "Im drawing the line here, i dragged you two through hell these past weeks, im not going to force you two into this" he said.

Piet shrugged "Well were not dead yet Koos, so no matter if it was hell, were still here, hoohaa"

"Hes got a point" Frits said "If it was any other General, I'd say go fok yourself, but you make one hell of a battle strategy, so as long as you can keep that up, I'll keep the science and computer shit coming"

"And I'll keep driving this Ratle like it's a bat outa hell" Piet said, making Koos nod.

"So we have an agreement"

"Atleast we know no wolf that will bite us will ever own us" Piet chuckled "I'd like to see that doos's face when he thought he has beaten us by turning us, only to find out its like us biting a fokkin syonide pill"

"Again, hes got a point" Frits laughed.

"So you're taking the risk?" Naledi asked after being silent all this time, the three men nodded.

"You're crazy the three of you! One nic from a werewolf fang and its over! One little cut, or spatter of blood into your mouth or eyes then boom! Its over! And in case you three forgot, when you use that Ratel! There thends to be alot of spraying blood!"

"Dont worry sussa, well be carefull not to repeat that mistake"

Naledi shook her head "Youre crazy, theres just no other words"

A ping came from the Ratel close by and Frits slapped his hands together "Now, for the best part" he went to the Ratel and brought back his satellite computer "I connected this tab to the computer system in the Ratel via wireless network, so now i don't need to be inside it to access those computers, here, look at this" Frits held the tablet to Koos, he saw an orto photo of some landscape, Frits then held it to Piet, who recognized it.

"That's this farm!"

"Yes, but look closely" Frits said zooming in, they saw the four of them standing around the fire place.

"You took that just now!?"

"Yes, but thats not the interesting thing, look closely at us, then at Naledi" The two men and woman squinted, then noticed the slight whiteness around her.

"It looks like the photo smudged around Naledi"

"Exactly! This is how well find Cleopatra"