Physical Assessment 7 (1) –
Test subject exhibits mild respiratory distress and seems less comfortable in the lab. When interviewed by myself what he can remember about his experiences inside of the lab he is able to recall a number of experiments including shock treatment (similar to our own experiments on his former/'alter' self) but definitely no exposure to animal test subjects. He also has no recollection of myself or Bell – perhaps when experimented on in his other life, his father had done so in secret.
When undressed, there was slight bruising to his body – especially around the ribcage area – but dissimilar to the bruising that our boy experienced through his deteriorating illness. Although we can allow for the possibility that this child is more hyper/less calm in personality due to variations of events in his life and may be therefore more prone to falling over or hurting himself, we cannot rule out physical abuse from his home.
Physical differences between this child and Walter's traditionally biological son:
Left-handed,
Blue-green irises (as opposed to prominent green),
Thinner (not bloated on steroids),
Physical similarities:
Equally pale complexion (although the other child was sick, so the white pallor of this child must owe to his natural environment),
IQ still at 190.
Attached, personal lab report –
Just as some cities can be smokier, the levels of oxygen in the airs between the different worlds must be different too. If a pair of seven year old lungs are expected to adjust to an entirely new environment, breathing apparatus will be required (either to receive or restrict more oxygen into the body).
Bell devised a special nebuliser to stabilise his breathing and relieve attacks with a blend of several medicines, and when he trusted that the child could come off the machine and breathe alone, several prototype inhalers were constructed quickly although the subject did not require anything further.
The bruising, Walter was loathed to admit, probably was because of problems in the home. When he had stolen the child away, it wasn't as simple as a father beckoning his boy on a little outing with the promise of candy and such. Even though I continuously questioned his mental health at the time, Walter seems adamant that he hadn't misjudged the fact that at first the replacement Peter recoiled from him.
I've seen him hit the dead Peter countless times in the past and threats of punishment was even more common. Peter was never anything more than a possession to Walter, and he perhaps decided to care about aforementioned pet too little too late. Walter is a man with no social restraint and it is feasible that his alternate self has an even lesser grip on his mind and attitude.
It never occurred to the man that just because he wouldn't reject his new son, that didn't ensure that the new son would instantly warm to him. Although Peter has no cause to worry that he is indeed somewhere else and that everything about his life has now radically changed, he is still unsure of [what he perceives as] his own father and that in itself concerns me.
Maybe despite the questionable ethics, it was for the greater good that a little boy was taken from a broken home and not just swallowed up in foster care but actually given the chance to relive his life all over again minus the abuse and the neglect. Maybe they were each other's catharsis.
Walter hadn't been the best father, not by a long shot. The dead Peter's life was literally held in all of our hands – not when he fell ill but before that. He wouldn't have fallen ill at all if it weren't for us. I'm hating myself at the minute beginning to differentiate between a 'Peter' and a 'dead Peter' like this new one is a suitable replacement. Whether or not young Peter is dead and this one alive, it doesn't change the fact that we ourselves indirectly killed a minor. Bringing this new Peter here doesn't bring the old one back, it doesn't undo anything. They are different. They mightn't see it. His mother mightn't be willing to see it either. But we can.
I can only hope that – although kidnapping him from the clutches of the other Walter seems better for both our world and the child now – it won't significantly alter his life in the future. There is no telling if the change can affect a person subconsciously, owing to anxieties about not fitting in and not quite understanding why; and if this covert chipping away at his mental health does prevail, will Peter have a better quality of life here in the long run?