Tess selects a single strand of hair that is ⅓ pink, ⅔ brown. No, wait, now it is ½ pink and ½ brown. Tess snips it at the base and explains herself as she does so, “I want to preserve one strand mid-transition. If I bring this to the biochem lab, I might be able to… wait, shit.”

I glance over at her hand to find the reason for the explicative. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me…” The free strand of hair in her hand which was cut from Harry’s head is now 80% pink and still advancing. “Tess, if you cut that strand off his head, how the hell is it still advancing? Isn’t that dead?”

Tess bites her lips as the free strand of hair between her fingers becomes 100% pink. “This strand is just dead, dried keratin. There isn’t a living cell anywhere on here, and it’s not connected to the body. It shouldn’t be able to change… it shouldn’t…”