Amalgamation

Deep in the uncharted jungles of Vietnam, there lurks a sinister parasite, alien to our species . . . until now. A chance encounter binds human and parasite at the mitochondrial DNA level, thus starting a chain of events that may bring real monsters into our midst. A dual being must learn to coexist with each half, but the world is a stressful place, and stress causes change. In most relationships, there is a dominant and submissive partner. Are we really the apex predator we believe ourselves to be? The question, then: will humanity be able to dominate an unwanted live-in partner or fall prey to one of the most adaptive, smallest organisms on Earth?