Chapter 11: Lycanthropy
Adam had been waiting in the common room for a while, trying to keep from feeling impatient. There was someone he wanted to talk to, and she'd promised to meet him in that room within the last few minutes. She must have been held up by something, which wasn't too shocking, given all the chaos that had gone on over the last few hours, but he was still surprised by the way she looked when she opened the door, and stepped inside the common room, her boots making deafening thudding noises whenever they hit the carpet, in spite of the lethargy with which she was moving them.
When Nancy Archer finally collapsed onto the giant couch that had clearly been made for her, Adam had to grab the fabric to keep from being thrown into the air. However, when she glanced down at her smaller friend, she still had the same look in her eyes, in spite of her apparent exhaustion. In fact, she looked even more compassionate towards Adam than she had before. It was an encouraging sign, so after a moment, Adam decided to speak up, and hope she'd be willing to listen to him.
"There's bad news, Colonel." Adam began, but Nancy actually interrupted him just a moment later, in almost the very words he'd been about to use.
"The power's still out, and the aliens aren't through with us yet." she observed, surprising Adam just a little, though it only took her a moment to explain where she'd gotten that information.
"Dracula had that figured out pretty quickly." she said.
"So did Dobson," Adam replied, "though I hear the two haven't talked much since the ship fell apart."
"I guess not, but I try not to pry."
Nancy still looked just as upset as she had before, but that was no surprise, so Adam continued, hoping for a positive reply to his next remark.
"Colonel Archer... Nancy... I felt I should thank you."
"For saving your life?" Nancy asked, looking surprised, "It's no problem. That's just part of my job; to protect my smaller teammates in high-danger situations."
"You still deserve a medal for that..." Adam replied, ignoring Nancy's objections, "and for one more thing too. I... I'm sorry I didn't bring this up earlier. I suppose I was still a bit ashamed of myself, which was why I was so reserved, and maybe I thought that no one would care how I felt, but..."
However, at that moment, Nancy's already-impressive-sized eyes had widened even more, and all of her lethargy seemed to be gone, though in its place, there was something like embarrassment, curiosity and nervousness all rolled into one. Still, she had the chance to make some excuse for herself, get up off that couch and leave, and she didn't take it. When she asked her own question a moment later, in fact, it was clear that she didn't really want to bring the conversation to an end just yet.
"How you felt? What do you mean?"
Adam nearly sighed as he gathered his courage, and prepared to tell Nancy the full truth, hoping that she'd take it the right way, and not jump to any conclusions.
"Nancy, I spent much too long running from my problems, but now I feel I'm ready to face them again, and I know if I really want to be strong, I have to fight my own inner weaknesses. The problem is, I'm still not certain what I'm aiming for; what my goal is. I mean, no one's perfect, and I've found precious few human beings who make sufficient role models. Still, I needed someone who could show me what it meant to be the ideal person that my father once meant for me to be, before he abandoned me."
"I eventually found that person;" Adam continued, smiling just a little, although Nancy still looked nervous, "a monk named Brieve. He was wise and kind, and he showed me what it meant to really care for others, and just why kindness wasn't always accompanied by weakness. He showed me how a man could be good, and also strong, and what it meant to care about someone, even to the point of sacrifice. I looked at him as my only visible role model for the longest time, because he understood what love really meant; that it was never selfish, and had nothing to do with personal pleasure. I still care about him a great deal, but on that first night, when we arrived at this base, the way you spoke to me was the same way he did. I don't know why you were so kind to me, Miss Archer, but it's the most I could ever ask of you, and I felt I should thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart."
For a moment, however, Nancy's face started shifting into new expressions like mad, and Adam wasn't sure what to make of it. At first, she looked flattered, then she started to look ashamed, then she seemed as if she was about to burst into tears, and then she actually looked as though she was going to start shouting. However, she didn't wind up reacting in any of those ways, and eventually just reverted to her exhausted expression; the same one she'd been wearing when she'd first entered the room.
"It's alright." Nancy eventually replied flatly, "Don't worry about it. It was nothing."
However, Adam had been around for quite a while, and he had a talent for understanding situations like that. He could tell that something was very wrong with Nancy, and as much as he hated to upset her further, he knew he couldn't just let things sit like that.
"You're lying." Adam observed, drawing a look of absolute shock to the face of the monstrous giantess, "It wasn't nothing. It was all you could do to keep talking to me that way, wasn't it?"
Of course, Adam hadn't meant to words to sound accusing, but it seemed that Nancy had taken them that way, because a moment later, she'd started hissing angrily.
"Well, who wouldn't have a hard time with all this?" Nancy replied cuttingly, "I mean, I've read all about you, Adam, even before... Well, before this happened to me!"
When Nancy said that, she raised one hand as high over her head as she could, and started scowling bitterly, but she continued before too long.
"When I was a teenager, I read about you in school, and do you have any idea just what started me drinking? Do you know why I lost control of my life, and tried to forget about what was real and what wasn't? It was because I couldn't find a single guy in my entire life who was anywhere near as clever and contemplative as you! I was never happy with the people I knew, Adam, because they were all happy being just ordinary guys, and never wanted to improve themselves in the slightest. You... I mean, even when that book was written about you, you were..."
"...A cold-blooded murderer." Adam interrupted ruefully.
"A tragic hero." Nancy argued.
"A vengeful sociopath."
"Betrayed by superficial society."
"Hideous."
"Not on the inside."
"Yes. On the inside. I murdered innocent people, because of a grudge against one man."
"You're different now."
However, by that point in the conversation, Adam could tell that Nancy's words were driving in a direction that he'd never expected them to, and he wasn't even sure whether he should try to steer the discussion elsewhere or not. Adam could already see just what Nancy's problems really boiled down to, and in many ways, the two of them were a lot alike.
"You sound like me." Adam finally admitted, although Nancy's expression didn't change from angry exasperation when he said that, "Both of us were born into a world unwilling to teach us what we needed for our own survival. Your parents didn't abandon you, though."
"Yes they did." Nancy replied angrily, however, without missing a beat, "They spoiled me. If that's not abandoning me, I don't know what is."
Adam was still stunned by the depth of wisdom that Nancy's years seemed to have taught her, but he decided to simply concede the point to her for the moment, and hope that he could get back to what he'd been trying to say in the first place.
"Nancy, I... I'm sorry if I upset you in some way. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I just assumed that, like everyone else, you... Well, I assumed that you found my appearance horrifying, and I sort of wanted to get that out in the open air. I apologize."
However, when Adam said that, Nancy's near-crying expression returned, though he couldn't spot any actual tears. She was, however, having some trouble talking with him, because it seemed that she still couldn't get past her feelings.
"Do you know what the strangest thing is about all this?" Nancy asked at last, completely ignoring Adam's apology, "All these years, I always convinced myself that you weren't even a real person, because I didn't think complicated, heroic guys even existed, and now you pop up all of a sudden, and tell me that I'm your role model? It almost feels like a trick. I just don't know what to say."
"Did you really ever admire me before you were a monster?" Adam asked, but fortunately, Nancy didn't look the least bit offended by the question. It seemed that at the very least, she'd come to grips with just who and what she'd become.
"I did, and now, after all these years, you turn out to be... I mean..."
"Different?" Adam asked, though that only made Nancy look less comfortable than before, leaning back into the tremendous couch again, and looking away from him.
That, however, was when Adam had to make another choice. Nancy was clearly frustrated, but he wasn't really sure why. It might have been because she felt like she was being put on the spot, or maybe, Adam considered, she was really just angry at herself for having blown up at him just then. Adam's intuition had been wrong before, but it usually wasn't, so he continued just a moment later.
"Different... and better. As you said, you admired the old me, and you admit that I'm not the villain I used to be. What do you think of me now?"
"It doesn't matter." Nancy replied, still not daring to look back towards him, but by that point, he was sure that he understood how she was really feeling, and he didn't want to leave her in a nasty mood like that, when he knew how to rectify the situation.
"Well, I just told you what I think of you, and I won't take it back. You taught me that love and caring can be found in more than just one person in a million, and all you had to do was show me a little human kindness. I think that may have been the most important thing you've done for me; even more than saving my life."
"Love!" Nancy exclaimed, although it was hard to tell exactly what she meant by that. There was something about her tone of voice that sounded a bit sarcastic when she said that word, and yet, that sarcasm wasn't reflected in her face or posture. They just seemed to be conveying a strong disappointment. By that point, though, Adam was sure that he understood how Nancy must have been feeling, and a moment later, he said something that, much to his dismay, caused a look of unspeakable horror to spread across the giantess's face.
"Nancy, if you think I'm an unbearable sight, you can just tell me. I won't take offense. I know I can be ugly to some, with each body part a different size and shape. Still, men like myself prefer the concrete to the emotional. You would be doing me a great courtesy if you just told me why you were pushing me away."
For a few moments, Nancy just stared at Adam in fear, as if his insights were more terrifying to her than his appearance, and in just another moment, she leaped up from the couch and fled from that room, running full-tilt, her feet shaking the whole base as she drove them into the floor again and again on the way out of the common room, and Adam couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, even though it wasn't entirely his fault. Nancy Archer clearly had a lot of problems which, even in all her years, she hadn't quite resolved.
Adam hadn't wanted to sit on that giant couch for even a moment longer, after the words that had just passed between himself and Nancy, so he'd slid off very quickly, then left through the opposite door, and started pacing the titanic hallways of that compound, not really sure what to expect or look for, or even if he should be looking for anything. He had a feeling that he should probably be doing something, but he didn't really know what, and as he walked down those reinforced, metal halls, he could hear most of the things going on around him. He could still hear Nancy, off on one side of the base, though he suspected that she could hear him even better, and although she wasn't stomping around anymore, she did seem to be talking to someone. When he concentrated, Adam could hear what some of the others were doing as well. Dracula was too far away, and the Gill-man was just resting, but Dobson was making a racket in her lab, and Barry... Barry was headed right towards Adam, almost sounding like he was sprinting.
Adam was on the alert almost immediately, once he realized that Barry was running towards him. Werewolves often lost control of their emotions, and Barry had certainly gone through a lot recently. Depending on how he'd taken their recent adventures, Adam concluded, he might even be confused enough to attack anyone he came across. However, as the young werewolf rounded a corner, heading towards where Adam was standing, the creation of Frankenstein realized that he'd been worried over nothing. Though he did seem to be in a pretty big hurry, Barry didn't look like he was enraged, or confused, or anything like that. He seemed pretty elated, and eager for attention, but not really dangerous, fortunately, and in just another moment, he spoke up, looking as if his former nervousness was starting to fade away.
"Adam! Adam! Look at this!"
In another moment, Barry had pulled a piece of what looked like rock from behind one of his ears, and held it up for Adam to see. Sure enough; it did look like igneous rock; only recently hardened, and Adam could tell why Barry was so excited.
"I was covered with this stuff until a few minutes ago. Do you know what this used to be, Adam? It used to be lava! That stuff burns people to a crisp at ten feet, and I just walked right through it! Oh, sure, it was hot; really hot, but it didn't feel much worse than being dunked in scalding water, and now I don't even have a single burn! Can you believe that?"
However, Adam, for one, was having no difficulty believing what had happened to Barry. In fact, he'd been expecting him to survive something truly devastating for a while, and was glad that it hadn't shaken the boy's perception of reality too badly, so when he spoke next, Adam's voice was calm and in control.
"Quasi-immorality." Adam observed, "Old Talbot had the same problem."
"Problem?" the boy asked, however, looking as though he didn't understand in the least, "What problem? I've never felt better in my life! I'll bet I can do whatever I want, now that nobody and nothing can..."
"That's the problem right there!" Adam exclaimed, suddenly growing visibly angry as his worry about the young man grew, "That's how it always starts; the power of the werewolf takes hold of you, increasing your natural aggression and arrogance, and then, once you realize that it also makes you very hard to kill, you start to think of it as a means to an end; just another way to force your will on other people. Then, you keep thinking about it that way, until finally, someone dies, and you're responsible. That's how it happened to Talbot, and if you're not careful, it'll happen to you the same way, Barry."
Barry had seemed very enthusiastic about his power just a moment before, but when he saw how Adam had responded, his expression changed to one of pitiable shame. That, however, was when Adam noticed something new about Barry; something that he'd never seen in any other werewolf before. Though he was still young and impulsive; even more so than Talbot had been, Barry Hammerson seemed very easily shamed as well. That, Adam thought, was a promising sign.
"I guess... I don't know. I mean, I don't really... Look, if I can be this powerful, what does it mat...?"
"Before you finish asking me that question," Adam interrupted the young werewolf very sternly, "I want you to imagine regaining your senses, and looking down at your girlfriend; the young lady you were attacking before I stopped you. Try to imagine that her whole body was a mess of fang and claw-marks, and that for the rest of your natural life, you had to live with the fact that it was you, and no one else, who was to blame for her death. Now, ask me why it matters one more time, if you can."
Sure enough, Barry's shame had resurfaced when Adam said those words, and he was looking at the floor with a somber expression on his face. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence between the two of them, Barry just muttered the rueful word "sorry," which made Adam feel even more relieved.
"I see you have a good imagination." Adam observed, though he still didn't dare to smile as he spoke, "Talbot had to go through something like that before he realized the terrible evil of lycanthropy, and committed himself to finding a cure for it. Honestly, though... I'm impressed by your willingness to listen to reason. Most werewolves have trouble doing that, especially at your age."
However, although Barry still looked ashamed of himself, he also seemed to be growing more curious with each passing moment, and it was only a matter of time before he voiced one of the questions that had clearly been traveling through his mind for a while.
"Adam... You talk like you've seen a lot of other werewolves."
"Too many." Adam replied, hoping that Barry wouldn't consider his reply an insult, but fortunately, the boy still looked too ashamed to really take offense, and a moment later, he asked another curious question.
"I guess I still don't know enough about werewolves." Barry admitted sadly, "but you... I mean, you seem like you know everything there is to know about them... I mean us... Me. I just... I have to know more. You understand, right? I have to know what I'm in for, Adam! You've gotta help me!"
Talking to any other werewolf, Adam would have felt suspicious of that request, but Barry had proven, again and again, that he was much more easily worried than any other werewolf Adam had ever met, so after thinking about it for a moment, he nodded, and started to explain everything he'd ever learned about werewolves, from the very start.
"The supernatural disease that transforms a person into a werewolf is called lycanthropy." Adam began, starting with the basics, "No one's really sure how Lycanthropy began, or where it originated. There are legends about ancient, druidic, pagan rituals that may have been responsible for it, but past a certain point, it grew too powerful, and they couldn't control it anymore. Modern lycanthropy is a dangerous disease, which is passed on through the fangs of each and every remaining werewolf, but even when it spreads, it takes a while for it to become really serious. When a person contracts lycanthropy, they start to notice their physical power and speed improving the following day, and maybe a new aggressive temptation or two appearing in their thoughts. However, it gets worse. The werewolf keeps growing stronger, faster and more aggressive until the night of the next full moon, when the disease reaches full maturity within them, and from that point on, they have to fight constantly to keep from snapping, and biting someone's head off, and not only that, but they can pass the disease on to others under certain conditions too."
Barry looked like he knew most of that already, but he still seemed very interested, because his next question was just as curious as his first.
"What kinds of conditions?"
"Once every month, at the full moon, lycanthropy changes those infected with it; taking its true, supernatural form." Adam replied sadly, "Werewolves undergo a physical and mental transformation at that point. Everything about them changes, even the structure of their muscles, hair and bones, and they take on the form of a vicious, wolf-like predator; a form much stronger and more feral than anything human. Under those conditions, any human bitten by the werewolf will contract lycanthropy as well, though again, it won't reach maturity in them for another month."
Barry was starting to nod slowly, as he soaked in all the new information, but he seemed to understand that there was more to it than just that.
"What about the tattoo on my hand? What about the thing that happens when I scrape the walls with my nails?"
Adam was starting to feel a little out of his depth at that point, however, because while he could give Barry some answers, there were others that he just didn't have.
"The mark on your hand is the pentagram; an occult symbol used in many pagan rituals." Adam explained, "A lot of prominent werewolves have them on their palms. In fact, that symbol has come to be viewed as the werewolf's mark. That's why I knew the truth about you as soon as I saw it. As for the way you use your nails like claws, though... I'm honestly not sure how you do that, but I do have a theory, if you're interested in hearing it."
Barry just nodded a moment later, looking as curious as ever, so Adam continued, still not daring to smile.
"Legends of beast-men, and other things like werewolves have been around for hundreds of years, on numerous continents," Adam explained slowly, "but not one of them was identicle to modern lycanthropy. Even the druidic legends I told you about didn't change their practitioners into monsters, exactly. They did transform, but as far as I can tell, they only looked like ordinary wolves. Some were a bit larger than normal, but none walked like men, the way the modern werewolf does. I think that what we now call lycanthropy is an increase in the old magic that was once used to change men into beasts, and back again; almost like some kind of supernatural mutation. If that's true, then the druids fell victim to something like a cross between evolution and divine judgment. They toyed with something they shouldn't have, and wound up losing control of it, when it grew beyond their original intentions. Werewolves have been at large since then, and if I'm right about this, the same thing might be happening all over again, right now."
"So... you're saying I might be some new mutation; something totally different from every other werewolf?" Barry asked, looking, fortunately, more horrified than thrilled by the idea, so Adam replied without hesitation.
"It's one possibility. One day, one werewolf learned to walk upright, and then, one day, a werewolf named Barry Hammerson began cutting stone with his bare nails. However, there might be more to it. No one knows how lycanthropy really operates anyway, so it's impossible to say for certain."
The look of shame on Barry's face hadn't faded in the slightest while Adam had been talking to him, but fortunately, he did seem to be growing more and more satisfied as they talked, and as disappointing as Adam's conversation with Nancy had been, it was nice to have the chance to cheer someone up for a change. Soon, Barry had another question to ask, and Adam couldn't help but smile when he heard it.
"You keep mentioning somebody named 'Talbot.' He was a werewolf too, right?"
"Larry Talbot was the first werewolf I ever met, and in spite of his curse, he spent most of his life searching for a cure. Our encounters were somewhat rocky, but I respected him a lot."
"Well..." Barry continued, looking as curious as ever, but not quite as nervous, "You know, I'd love to hear more about him. I mean, it's not like I've got anything else to do, and if you're not busy either, then..."
Though he still wasn't sure what was going to happen to him next, or when the aliens would make their next move, Adam was finally starting to feel as if he belonged somewhere, as he invited Barry into the nearest room, to tell him a story of excitement in older times.
Nancy had been fighting monsters and other threats for decade after decade, taking orders from some of the strictest commanders in the military, most of whom had been concerned with keeping her "on a short leash." She'd needed to deal with the demands of being both a military soldier and secret weapon, and also learn to tolerate the fact that she couldn't ever have her old life back. She could never go out and buy furs again, never get drunk with friends, never sit in a coffee shop and gripe about what a mess the world was in... The number of activities she missed from those days were nearly countless, and although the other soldiers of bunker thirty-two had done their best to be her friends, Nancy had suffered pretty badly, whenever she thought about all that had been lost. She was no stranger to tears, thanks to that. Still, it had been a while since she'd actually cried; so long, in fact, that she'd recently thought that she was done with it for good.
The moment that Nancy had closed the huge, metal door that led into her room, tears started to pour out of her eyes, and she put her face in her hands a moment later, thought she tried to stay silent as she mourned her lost humanity. There was always some pain, whenever she thought about those things, but it became especially bad when she knew that her tremendous size had cost her something very important; something she'd wanted desperately, but couldn't have.
Nancy had sat on the floor of her room, crying for a little while, not sure what else to do, but soon, she found herself being interrupted by the brush of friendly fur against her left hip, and turned to look at her long-time friend and roomate, who, when she was seated like that, came up to about the level of her eyes.
The giant gorilla named King Kong was standing almost upright at that moment, only hunched over a little bit. His knuckles weren't even resting on the ground, in fact, the way they usually did. On top of that, he had a look in his eyes, which, though very stern, also made him seem worried about her, as if he thought that someone was responsible for making her cry, and wanted to punish whoever had done it. It was one of the sweeter ways that Nancy had ever seen him act.
"Thank you, Kong," Nancy said, doing her best to smile and dry her tears, "but this isn't really anybody's fault. I was just... I was upset about something... something I can't do anymore. I'll get over it. Don't worry."
Kong seemed relieved by that remark, and started visibly smiling, but a moment later, he slapped both hands against the ground again with a crash, and started jumping up and down, repeatedly clapping his hands as he moved. Nancy wasn't really sure what to think at that point. She knew what those gestures meant, of course, but as for why he wanted to wrestle with her again, she couldn't exactly tell. Normally, his reason was only that he was feeling energetic and needed something to do, and yet, whenever the two of them wrestled, it always seemed to cheer Kong up. It wasn't impossible that he thought it might do the same for her. Whether that was really his motive or not, though, the thought alone made Nancy feel a little better.
"Alright. Alright." Nancy said with a smile, "We can wrestle once if you want, but you know you're just going to win again. It never turns out any different."
However, Kong didn't look like he was about to change his mind, and soon, the two were fighting, arms and legs hitting the walls and floor as they stomped across the room, crashing back and forth, and repeatedly seizing each other by the limbs, trying to make headway against one another in their fight. It lasted a bit longer than most of their previous matches, and Kong never seemed to stop smiling at any point while it was going on, but what Nancy found really astonishing was just how quickly her own tears vanished as their battle progressed. It wasn't that she was really enjoying the match, exactly, but rather, it was a type of struggle that she was used to, and compared to the time she'd spent contemplating what she'd lost, it was easier to take. That was why, for a few moments, Nancy decided to just follow the gorilla's lead, and lost herself in the fight.
Adam's talk with Barry had really raised his spirits quite a bit. As brutal as his lycanthropy had made him, it seemed that the boy's drive to learn hadn't quite been eradicated by it. Apparently, he'd been something of a computer nut before his transformation, and had been a very peaceful person, eager to grow in knowledge, and utterly unwilling to fight anything. In a way, it was too bad all of that had needed to happen to him, because he might have had a bright future in computer engineering or programming if it hadn't been for the werewolf that had apparently bit him. Then again, he might have also been cheated of a decent carreer by economic factors. There was no way to be certain. Still, Adam was beginning to care for Barry, almost like a son.
Of course, the one who Adam had really wanted to settle things with had been Nancy, but that hadn't ended well the last time he'd tried it, so for the moment, he decided to just leave her alone and hope she got herself into a better mood. He could hear the banging and crashing of whatever she was doing from halfway across the base, but Adam wasn't really too upset by the ruckus. Still, he wasn't sure what else to do, for the moment. He'd thanked Dobson for her gifts, talked to Nancy and Barry... He could have spoken with Dracula again, but he really didn't feel like doing that. Somehow, after all he'd seen of the technology of the aliens, he didn't seem like another meeting with the vampire lord would do much good just yet. However, that meant that Adam had to make a difficult choice; something that he'd been putting off for quite a while.
The enemies they'd faced had been a lot more powerful than Adam had originally expected them to be, and from the looks of things, they were only going to be stronger once they got serious. Adam had been watching many of his allies for a while, and aside from Dracula, he could see that they had a lot of potential they weren't using; especially Barry. In some cases, they just didn't seem to understand what they were really capable of, while in others, it was just a matter of having been caught up in the affairs of their own lives, and failing to notice opportunities to improve themselves. Still, Adam knew that he couldn't reprimand any of them for that, because it would have made him a miserable hypocrit.
Adam Frankenstein could tell that he had massive potential himself, and he knew what he had to do, in order to bring it out. In the past, he'd doubted that it was worth the sacrifice, but he couldn't afford to have those doubts anymore. Sacrifice was the very nature of love, and if he really wanted to be more like Nancy and Brieve, Adam decided, he had to start by making a tremendous sacrifice, and running the biggest risk of them all.
Soon, Adam had opened the small, metal door that led into the lab, and there was a sight in front of him that nearly blew him away. Half of the lab looked like it had been taken apart, and the one responsible was lying on her back on the floor, threading new cables and wires into a machine that looked something like a small jet engine. It took up quite a bit of room, and looked much too heavy for a tiny woman like Dobson to lift on her own, but then again, thanks to her bracers, Dobson was a lot stronger than she looked.
As soon as Adam entered the lab, however, the mad scientist stopped what she was doing with a start of alarm, and turned to look at him in surprise, then worry, as if she was truly shocked that he'd show up there again, after all she'd done for him. Still, Adam hadn't exactly kept his distrust of her a secret, and what he was about to do would probably surprise her even more.
"Doctor..." Adam said, looking at the machine she'd been working on for a moment, "Is this a good time to talk?"
However, Dobson's broad grin started returning when Adam asked her that, and immediately, she dropped both the cable and the connectors she'd been working with on the floor with a clang. It was the kind of action that spoke volumes.
"In that case, I'll just get right to the point." Adam said to her directly, "I haven't exactly trusted you since we first met, and I know you understand why. However, a while ago, you told me I had more potential than anyone. What kind of potential did you mean?"
At that point, though, Dobson's smile faded away, and she started to look contemplative again, as if she was searching for the best way to explain it.
"The thing is, I'm not exactly sure. I know you can absorb and channel mountains of electric power directly into your physical strength and speed, and by itself, that's impressive enough, but you might have other powers too; things I haven't even discovered yet. Unfortunately, your blood didn't give me all the answers I wanted; only a few."
However, that was when Adam asked one final question, which he was sure would get Dobson excited.
"Supposing that you wanted to find out the full extent of what I'm capable of... What kind of tests would you need to perform?"
Sure enough, the moment that Adam asked that question, Dobson's eyes opened much, much wider, and her smile was broader than Adam had ever seen it get before. He might have been just about to make a very bad choice, and yet, Adam decided, if he truly wanted to be the best he could be, he had to take that risk. For the moment, he was entrusting himself into the hands of a manic, mad scientist, but it was the only choice he really could have made.
