Dema came out of this reverie of the past to find herself once again in her snake body. It took only an instant to regain her human shape, but she remained pale, and that made her think about the dream. In that existence it had taken an act of retribution for her to fully recover her natural human color and warmth. It was as if only that would bring things into balance enough to release her from the snake-dream.

Sedna was right, she thought, the pallor, the white hair, are metaphoric, symbolic of the blood loss, not only my own, but of all innocent victims of the drug mobs, including Kore. I have to bring them down. It's that need that keeps me from returning to normal. That's why I keep waking up in snake-form, and can't restore my natural human warmth.

Convinced that she must go after the drug mob that brought her to this state and exact retribution as her ancestor had done, that only this would enable her to regain fully human form and remain so, Dema spent the day preparing. She was going to need access to the records in the DEA office to locate the hideout in the Poconos. That meant she was going to have to look normal. So she went up to her room, applied her makeup, got dressed, and went out to buy a supply of hair coloring. She also got more makeup, a type that would not rub off easily, so she could color her hands as well as her face.

Back home, she applied the rinse to her hair, and tried the new makeup on her face and hands. Then she dressed in long pants and a long-sleeved turtleneck, and went downstairs to spend some time with Sedna. Brimming with confidence, she told Sedna of her plan. After Sedna completed her appraisal of Dema's appearance, they decided to have dinner.  

Later on, they were back in Sedna's sitting room with the lights low, having a relaxed conversation, when Naga came in.

"Dema!" she said, "I didn't know you were here! It's so good to see you!"

Dema stood up and took a step toward her mother that also took her deeper into the room's shadows. She was fairly confident of her makeup, but she didn't want Naga to notice her yellow eyes.

"It's great to see you, too, Mother," she said.

Mother and daughter exchanged hugs. Dema made it brief, so that Naga would not feel her lack of body heat, and Sedna deftly maneuvered Naga into the chair Dema had been using, so Dema could take a seat more out of the light.

"What brings you home, Dema?" Naga asked when they were all seated, "I thought you were in Philadelphia."

"It's the case I've been working on," she replied. "I needed some advice from Sedna about shamanism."

"Really! How did that come up?"

"It's kind of involved, and I really can't talk about it much. But you'd be surprised at where some of these drug cases take you."

"I can imagine. But shamanism? I would have thought you'd have already known more about that than just about anyone around."

"Well, I suppose that's how I got as far as I did," Dema said, "And how I knew to come consult with Sedna."

"What did you tell her, Sedna?" Naga asked her mother.

"I told her the story of my own experience," she replied. "You know the one."

"About how you spent almost a week sitting on a rock, with nothing to eat? Yes, I know the story. That sort of foolishness would be enough to give anyone hallucinations."

Dema expected her grandmother to bristle at that, but Sedna knew her daughter too well, and just smiled.

Naga smiled back. "Every once in a while there's an interesting paper in one of the medical journals," she went on. "There appears to be good evidence that quantum chemistry plays a role in biological evolution, that when the cellular environment changes, quantum-level possibilities that were previously unlikely become favorable, and manifest themselves.

"Now some neurobiologists are starting to talk about what they call quantum consciousness. It seems that under certain conditions, which they think might occur in the human brain, groups of atoms can remain in a state of quantum coherence, which basically means that all of their potential configurations remain possible, however unlikely. They think this can explain how we integrate our experiences and anticipate events to come.

"In theory, if that state of coherence could extend to a whole body, you might get something like the shape-shifting effects the shamans claim. So science may catch up with you yet, Sedna!"

"Phaa! What do they really know!" Sedna exclaimed.

Naga chuckled, enjoying her little joke.

But Dema thought it made some sense. She knew enough of modern science from her forensics education to at least have a bit of a handle on the workings of quantum theory. Her now intimate familiarity with the dream-state and the shape-shifting process told her there might be more to this idea than Naga could realize.

She looked at the name tag on the breast of her mother's blouse. It had a little caduceus beside the name, twin snakes coiled around the shaft. After all, she thought, her mother really was carrying on the family tradition in her own way. For a moment she was tempted to demonstrate her new ability, but quickly thought better of it. Seeing her turn into a snake might improve Naga's opinion of shamanism, but with the makeup and hair color falling to the floor along with her clothes, and returning to human form looking like she belonged on a slab in the morgue —not so much.

So all she said was, "If there was a drug for it, someone would sell it."

"Don't get me started!" said Naga. "I know you see some bad stuff, Dema, but you should let me walk you through one of the hospital wards some time. They have drug cases there you wouldn't believe. And a lot of them are on doctors' prescriptions!"

"I understand what you're up against," said Dema. "At least the ones I go after are breaking the law."

"The ones I'm up against are breaking their own medical ethics," said Naga, with some heat. "But you're right, as long as the law allows it, they'll keep getting away with it. All I can really do is give people another way to go."

"And hope that when people find out that your way works, and they don't have to buy all those high-priced drugs, it will drive the medical drug pushers out of business. If they don't come around then they'll be cutting their own throats. Now if only there was that good an alternative to what the people who buy street drugs are looking for."

"There is, Dema, and you and I both know it. It's called real life. But that's a hard sell too."

Dema nodded.

"You make me proud, both you girls," said Sedna, getting up. "But it's been a long evening."

Dema took her cue and followed suit. She needed to escape before Naga decided to drag her out on that hospital tour right now. "Yes, and I've got a long drive back to Philly in the morning," she said, intentionally letting her eyelids droop.

Naga stood too, and gave Dema another hug. "Well I'm glad I caught you here. It's been good talking with you Dema."

"You too, Mother. Hope I catch you again soon. You can bring me up to date on quantum theory!"

Naga grinned, and turned to say goodnight to Sedna, who was already headed for the door. Dema said quickly, "'Night, Sedna," and slipped out the door and up the stairs to her room. Inside, she latched the door. She couldn't very well use the back room again now that Naga knew she was here, but neither could she risk Naga peeking in at her daughter on her way out in the morning, and seeing a sixteen foot snake coiled on Dema's bed.