COVELENT: XenoTrait

As he stared at his turtle, an insatiable hunger stirred within him.

”I guess I should get food from the fridge.”

He walked into the kitchen, sat down at the table, and prepared some bread with eggs. As he walked passed his microwave in the reflection he stood there while he was holding his face, ”man I did not age gracefully....haaaa when I find time I should really remove this beard.”

He grabbed his food and chewed, he frowned, ”This tastes like nothing... Why does it feel like nothing?”

Felix stood up, deep in thought.

”Maybe I should go to a restaurant. All the food I have at home has no taste....hmmmm maybe i just got uses to it.”

At the restaurant, he sat down and ordered a bowl of soup. He took a sip and to his shock....Nothing.

He frowned and then chugged it, hoping something, anything would register.

Still nothing.

”What’s happening to me?” he muttered.

He raised his hand, and a waiter approached. Felix scanned the menu briefly before saying,

”Can I get ghost pepper mixed into the soup?”

Minutes later, the waiter returned and set the bowl down. Before he could speak, Felix grabbed it and began drinking.

The waiter’s eyes widened.

”Sir! There’s ghost pepper in that. I don’t recommend your throat will”

Felix stopped mid-drink. Sweat dripped down his face.

”What... what the hell is going on? I couldn’t even taste that.”

Then it hit him like thunder, ”The covalent nucleotide...”

He folded his hands, thinking intensely, ”Is this an aftereffect? If it is... did it work... or did it fail?”

As the waiter walked away, he muttered under his breath, ”I’ve never seen anyone do that in all my years.”

After a while, another waiter approached politely.

”Sir, I’m afraid we’re closing soon.”

Felix sighed, put on his jacket, and stood.

”Well... it definitely did something to me.”

Back home, inside his small lab, Felix drew blood with a syringe and placed a sample under a microscope. His eyes widened.

His cells looked... normal. Exactly the same as before.

”A failure...” he whispered. Then his mind drifted to Benovel.

The memory hit him like a wave. Nausea followed instantly. He rushed to the trash bin and vomited.

Moments later, he grabbed a voice recorder.

”Day 1: Upon waking, the subject loses their sense of taste.”

He paced the room, glancing at his turtle.

”Subject experiences an insatiable hunger when near living organisms.”

His fingers dragged along the glass tank as he passed.

In the kitchen, he devoured everything he could find.

”Still tasteless... I hope it’s enough for self preservation.”

He forced himself to sleep.

He woke in the middle of the night and rushed to the bathroom. After some time, he returned, weak, his cheeks hollow as if he had been starved for days, he picked up the recorder,

”After food intake, the subject experiences diarrhoea and progressive weakness.”

A pause.

”Day 2: The subject’s body becomes thinner, as if its insides are consuming themselves.”

Needing some fresh air, he stepped outside.

The moment he saw a dog, saliva began dripping from his mouth.

He froze then quickly turned and rushed back inside.

Back in his lab, he recorded again.

”Subject experiences uncontrollable hunger when exposed to living beings.”

He lowered the recorder slowly.

”Does that mean... if I get hungry enough... I could feel this way toward a human?”

That thought alone forced his decision.

Isolation.

Sleep became impossible. The hunger gnawed at him constantly.

Eventually, he staggered out of his room and stood before the turtle tank.

His body was frail, skeletal...like a man starved for months. Saliva dripped onto the floor.

He crouched down to his feet while staring intensely. Then he lunged his body slammed into the tank, bouncing back as blood trickled down his forehead.

Again snd again, seven times until the glass finally shattered.

Water flooded out, but Felix didn’t move. He lunged forward, grabbing the turtle.

He tried to bite it but the shell was too hard. Then he saw it a gap where one leg had been.

He forced it into his mouth and waited.

Moments later, the leg extended.

He bit down instantly.

Blood spilled as some of his teeth fell of.

The moment it touched his tongue, his eyes widened. Veins surfaced across his skin. He screamed and began chewing violently.

He needed more.

Grabbing a wooden plank, he flipped the turtle over and struck the softer underside repeatedly again and again until the plank pierced through.

He dropped to his knees and drank the blood

Still not enough.

He tore into it plank and teeth devouring everything until almost nothing remained.

Then he collapsed.

Morning came. Felix woke to the stench of blood. Disoriented, he looked around, blood covered everything. The shattered tank. The remains and in his hand a fragment of shell.

Then it all came back.

Everything.

He broke down after a long while, he cleaned the mess and buried what remained of his turtle.

Later, as he passed a mirror, he froze.

”...Wait.”

He stepped closer.

His body It had changed.

Gone was the frail, starved figure. In its place stood something stronger a lean muscular build.

He smirked faintly.

”Oh my days I look just like how I did in my 20’s” he held his face , ”the beard I had just 3 days ago is also gone...what is happening”

He glanced at the mirror once more flexing his muscles, ”But damn... I look like a bodybuilder. Just... leaner.”

He grabbed the recorder.

”Day 4: After consuming an animal, the subject’s body reconstructs.”

There was a trace of sorrow in his voice.

Later, he went out again.

At a restaurant, he ordered boiled meat, steamed meat, and medium-cooked meat.

When the food arrived, he nodded politely.

”Thank you.”

He tried the boiled meat first.

Nothing.

”I still can’t taste this...”

He tried the rest. Still he could taste nothing.

He raised his hand. The waiter returned.

Felix asked where they sourced their meat.

The waiter looked puzzled.

”Sir, if you’re dissatisfied, we can...”

”No,” Felix interrupted, slightly sweating. ”The taste is fine.”

A pause.

”At least... I think it is. Everyone else seems to enjoy it.”

He stood and asked, ”What’s the bill?”

”It’s on the house, sir.”

Felix exhaled quietly. ”In that case... I’ll be going.”

At a local fish market, he approached a fisherman.

”How much for a live fish?”

”Five dollars. Ten with the tank.”

Felix handed over the money.

Minutes later, he returned home with it.

He stood in front of the tank, watching the fish swim.

”I have to eat you now... I don’t know if it’ll be painless, but I’ll try.”

He picked up a knife and in one swift motion.

The head fell cleanly. He cut a piece of flesh.

He hesitated but ended up forcing it into his mouth.

His eyes widened. Saliva flooded in at the taste of blood.

He swallowed as a tear left his eye, ”...I can taste it...”