Sedna couldn't stop thinking about it. And neither could Newt. Maybe they could solve the personal oxygen problem by making the necessary physiology part of their Mars form. But how? What special physiology would they need to include in their Mars shift? It might be a good idea, but so far it was way too vague. Endless possibilities maybe, but what are they? How do you choose?

Sedna called her mom on the QAR link and told her what they'd been thinking. 

Dema said, "You're right. It should have been obvious from the start. Just like for you, it's a 'Why didn't I think of that?' moment for me, too. But then I'm sure you know that my own reaction to the whole space flight thing was pretty much ho-hum at first. There's always plenty to keep me busy right here. I had no interest in going into space, let alone Mars." 

"I remember your reaction when Newt and I first did it."

"Using your personal drones, yes. At first I was not impressed. As I was saying, I've been rather committed to the Earth Mother role. For me that took precedence. But going to Mars made sense for others. Particularly the Ravens. I can see how the possibilities of shifting on Mars could be liberating to many."

"Like Frogo. He's here with us. And detests the centrifuge routine."

"And Dutch. He lives in Houston, but he has the Mars itch. And Mariah is a shifter with a strong Mars connection. They'd probably both go for the idea of shifting to a natural Martian physiology when they are there, rather than trying to stay in shape for Earth."

Sedna was pleased with Dema's moral support, and decided it would be worth the effort to try becoming more acclimated to Mars by shifting. But the oxygen problem nagged her. She knew she couldn't really be a "natural" Martian unless - until - she solved that.

Newt agreed. He mentioned the Terraforming option. He reminded her that the farm plants were already producing the oxygen everyone breathed in their tube. 

He said, "Maybe we could develop plants that will grow on the surface here and spread naturally.  Eventually they might produce enough oxygen from the carbon dioxide and other sources to support animal life. That's what actually happened on Earth, right?"

Sedna agreed that might be good to do someday. But she wanted a more immediate solution, and set about investigating the possibility of giving animals the ability to extract oxygen from CO2. Starting with herself. Another question for her mom.

When Sedna called and asked, Dema said, "The closest I've come to that was when I turned into a tree. I've never been sure that whole episode wasn't a Q dream. But it felt real at the time. I recall somehow knowing that my leaves were taking carbon dioxide out of the air and releasing oxygen. It was a very slow kind of living.

"That's not what you want though, is it. You want to breathe the air but stay mostly human. Have you found any life at all on Mars that breathes the air? "

"Aside from the plants we brought with us? I don't think so. But I know who to ask."

She was thinking of Marian, the Coon Island farm guru. Sedna had grown up loving Aunt Marian for her ability to answer all her questions about how the aquaponic farm system worked. 

When Sedna asked her, Marian said, "As far as I know, other than plants, only certain very primitive bacteria that live deep underground have a CO2 metabolism. I don't know if this will help, but some Earth animals like octopuses have blue blood. The blue comes from copper in a protein called hemocyanin. It helps them deal with very cold water in the deep ocean. 

"Wow! It gets really cold here on Mars, too. This might be worth a try! Mom and Aunt Kore learned the octopus camouflage trick of changing skin color to match the surface they were on. I wonder if they had to do blue blood for that? I'll have to ask them about it. And I want to find out about those bacteria too. Thanks, Aunt Marian!"

Sedna was actually very much in tune with her Aunt Kore. Maybe more than with her mom, because she had shared Kore's body for several years before her mom decided to have a baby and she got to grow up this new one. So she checked in with Kore, using their natural direct mind-to-mind Q link.

Hi Aunt Kore!  Once they connected, Kore immediately knew exactly what Sedna was thinking about.

Hi Sedna. Yes, I do remember doing the octopus camouflage trick. But I don't think we ever went into the shift deep enough to have blue blood. I think the blue blood helps them survive deep in the ocean, where the salt and pressure keeps water liquid at extreme temperatures. Do you know if it's true that there's life on Mars deep underground?  I've heard that idea, and if there is those critters might be dealing with similar conditions.

Wow. I've heard about it but don't know if any has been found. Maybe so. I'll check it out! Thanks, Kore.

Armed with these new possibilities, Sedna told Newt she wanted to start exploring deep underground. First she tried using the Q. It was easy enough to link to a chunk of lava that had come from someplace very deep. But the lava had no links to anything alive down there. She thought if she wanted to find it she'd have to use her drone and take the plunge. Literally. She thought the main vent of their volcano might work.