She continues. “As the Makers evolved as a society, we had to confront these controversies. Genesis dismantled their Blood Science guild entirely, replacing it with Bioscience. At Avant, they still practice Blood Science, and they definitely involve themselves in some morally questionable behaviors, but even they have limits. When the Council was established and they enacted laws to restrict experimentation on living beings, it was understood that it could mean an end for some of these magnificent creatures. Steps were taken to preserve them, but we had more success with some than with others. Many have already been lost.”

“Like the unicorns?”

“Yes.” Her voice is wistful as she pets Peggy. “Nowadays, the evolutional experimentation that continues is purely aimed at enhancing and improving the world within a more confined set of limitations while maintaining a strict code of conduct that does not harm any living beings.”

I watch in a daze as Kaylie encourages Peggy to gallop for a bit… and then to fly. The wind horse flaps her wings—not dissimilar to Valkyrie wings—and rises into the air, huffing her snout and shaking her mane in glee.

How beautiful she looks in flight. Her coat is like liquid gold turning to a platinum sheen as it catches the sunlight. Kaylie extends her own wings and joins Peggy in the air. They frolic together, two impossibly beautiful beings, and my heart aches at the possibilities of creation.

Humans came up with the science to make humans and horses fly. Because human limitations—my limitations— are nothing like what I have been previously led to believe. Who knows what I will one day be capable of if I learn from these people?

But first I need to join a guild.

14

The weeks pass quickly, and I find myself in a comfortable groove at the institute. Getting into a guild so I have access to the Guild Testaments is my top priority, so I keep my head down and focus on my classes and on gathering as much intel for the Families as I can. (Fine, also some occasional hoverjousting.)

Even at only the apprentice level, my classes are odysseys away from anything I ever had at home. I haven’t had to look at a single monomial, polynomial, or trinomial in months. And while the other apprentices might be a lot younger than me, I’ve had to work extremely hard to catch up to them. And I’m not even fully caught up yet.

My anatomy class is the one I’m struggling with the most, by far. I’d done perfectly fine in biology back home, but these classes are totally different. We have to do things like re-create detailed models of body parts with loam and theorize about bizarre and theoretical surgeries.

My art classes, on the other hand, are pure joy. The other week I painted an entire picture using dyes I made myself with plants I grew myself.