I was staring out of the window when my new lieutenant came in to report. "The new mutant was brought in this morning. It's the second case in two days we've discovered."

"And that's the operative word here isn't it, Mr Marlowe?"

"Sir?"

"Discovered," I said, breaking my fixed gaze out the window and turning to face him, slightly irritated that he failed to catch my drift. "There's no telling how many of these aberrant loose cannons are wreaking havoc out there."

"Well, this loose cannon turned the entire city aquarium into an ice block. Killed all the fish inside."

"Ichthyology has never been a particular interest of mine," I said dismissively. I had rather bigger fish to fry than a literal pile of dead ones.

"Well, along with the diver who was feeding them."

Well okay, a human death was likely to cause more of a public sensation. I paced my office, looking at the floor. "What about the other one?"

"Her new mutant power of suggestion caused a thirty-two car pile-up on the Trans-Island Highway."

"Any human fatalities there?"

"Two, sir."

"That's tragic. But a credible excuse to initiate a clampdown. What have the interrogations revealed?"

"Since being apprehended, they have fallen extremely ill. High fevers, deteriorating vital signs."

"And you still have no idea what's causing this?"

Mr Marlowe shook his head. "No. But our medical staff are running batteries of tests and, we just need more time."

"Well, you don't have more time. Solving this problem is priority one. I want all squads on full alert to locate and incarcerate out of control new mutants," I said, sitting down.

"Yes sir," Mr Marlowe said, leaving immediately. That was promising. No questions, no excuses. Just following orders. That was what I liked to see.

I didn't like to leave the facility unless it was unavoidable. No, that is not true. I would very much have liked to lead a normal life full of extravagances such as going outside, but my condition made such things a risky gamble.

The incidents of new mutants losing control of their powers had increased exponentially. Mr Marlowe and the other GS Agents were doing their best to contain the situation, but by now they were completely overwhelmed. It was time for me to step in. Time for me to speak to the very person who was responsible for my confinement. As much as I didn't like to admit it, collaborating with Adam was my best bet for finding a solution to this new mutant epidemic.

Mr Marlowe's team had reported that Adam was at large at the scene of one of the most recent incidents. As my driver was pulling up outside the apartment buildings, there was an explosion. With an out-of-control thermal new mutant, that was no surprise.

"Well, I gather you've met my new lieutenant," I said as I got out of the SUV.

Adam didn't look particularly surprised to see me. Perhaps he had come to the same conclusion I had.

"This infection, it's just killed this woman. It could wipe out every new mutant in a week," Adam said. "Now I might be able to beat it, but I don't stand a chance if I have to fight you at the same time."

From Adam, that was almost a compliment. It felt good to hear him explicitly say that I was such a significant hindrance to his operation.

I took several steps towards him. "What are you suggesting?" I asked, forcing him to make the proposal himself.

"A truce. To accomplish a common goal," Adam said, still regarding me with suspicion.

"What?" said Shalimar Fox, who was standing behind him.

"Do you honestly believe I'd shed a single tear if your freakish monstrosities were wiped out?" Of course I had to protest. Just to save face, I had to put on a show of reluctance. And besides, arguing with Adam was just barely more satisfying than it was infuriating.

"If the new mutants disappear, so does the GSA, Mason. Overnight you're obsolete," Adam said.

"Obsolescence in the wake of total victory is a mixed blessing but a blessing nonetheless," I said.

"Yeah, but what about you? You'd lose your bête noire, your reason for living," Adam said. And I had to suppress a smirk. Did you really think I did not know that, Adam? The French or the consequences for myself? Perhaps you exaggerate your intellect.

"I'm deeply touched by your concern for my welfare, Adam," I said, sarcasm dripping off my words.

"For a man whose life is completely defined by what he hates the most, this could be your undoing."

I clenched my jaw. Of course Adam wouldn't let me escape without getting in a few savage jabs of his own. I looked over my shoulder at Mr Marlowe, and said to Adam, "Give me a moment."

"I think it's a huge mistake to trust Adam with GSA technologies and secrets," said Mr Marlowe.

"While gaining access to his genius and expertise," I stated, trying my best not to show how bored I already was with this conversation. I had already made my decision, this was all for show.

"Bottom line is, our priorities and his remain fundamentally opposed."

"Well under normal circumstances you'd be absolutely correct, but now we find ourselves in the rare positions of having our agendas intersect. At least, until he discovers a remedy." I nodded to Mr Marlowe, and took a few steps towards Adam. "Tell me what you need," I said.

Adam didn't look at all surprised at my acceptance of this truce. Perhaps this whole thing had been theatrics on both sides.

I allowed Adam to assist in setting up a temporary nightingale hospital to observe and treat the victims of the infection. I made the decision to largely stay out of it. Adam would not do his best work with me breathing down his neck, and I did not want to extend the duration of this epidemic any further than necessary. And there was always the chance that this infection, so far only affecting genetic anomalies, might have some obscure detrimental effect on me because of my immune vulnerabilities.

I sent Mr Marlowe in my place, and told him to deliver regular reports. It came as no surprise to hear that it was not long before they clashed. Adam could be very antagonistic, and it seemed that Mr Marlowe was an equal to him in that respect. He had certainly got right into the spirit of hating Adam immediately. I didn't know why, but if it benefitted me, then I didn't particularly need to know.

It was not long before Mr Marlowe visited me to air his grievances.

"This partnership with Adam seems to be as big of a misfire as the one you forged twenty years ago," Mr Marlowe said as he paced the floor in front of my desk. That was one thing that I did not need to be reminded of. It was not as if it was something I was likely to ever forget.

"You're giving him everything that he asks for, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Yes," he said, exasperated. "He still can't get a handle on the cure."

"I have to say, Mr Marlowe, I find your attitude rather singular. You certainly wouldn't be walking around today if it wasn't for Adam's efforts." I was playing Devil's advocate. I would certainly not defend Adam.

"I'm supposed to thank him for that?" Mr Marlowe said, while messing around with some of the valuable equipment in my office.

"His other new mutants seem to."

"Well, those other new mutants aren't blessed with my particular powers."

"Powers I must say I wouldn't mind possessing, were I one of you," I said. If I had powers like Mr Marlowe, I would have walked away from incident X unscathed, instead of sustaining life altering injuries. I found myself irritated by his lack of gratitude.

"I mean, you should have gotten Adam to twist up your DNA while you were still on good terms with him."

"That's not what Genomex was about back then," I said quietly, realising what I was saying only when the words were out of my mouth. I sounded like Adam.

"Yeah, well that was then and this is now. I can't believe you're putting your trust in him. You haven't had anything to do with Adam in years." Mr Marlowe's anger was escalating, and I felt myself losing control of the situation.

"I've had everything to do with Adam. I know the man," I snarled. Not a day went by when he did not feature heavily in my thoughts. I knew the details of Adam's psyche perhaps more intimately than the man himself did. I had two decades of scrutinising and profiling Adam. No, he was not to be trusted in most situations, but I could successfully predict when he was likely to do something that would indirectly benefit me. "With something so dear to him at stake… If there's a cure to be found, he'll find it."

"Yeah well that sounds like wishful thinking to me," Mr Marlowe snapped back.

"It's better that than your perpetual negative thinking, Mr Marlowe."

"Negative, positive, what's the difference? In the end, the results are all the same to me."

"Just don't let your personal despair impede the successful competition of this mission," I said. Mr Marlowe's psych report had come back with serious concerns about his mental stability. But then around here, whose didn't?

"I told you, he's getting everything he wants."

"Good. Because whoever controls this disease and its cure controls new mutants."

For the first time since he stepped into my office, Mr Marlowe looked somewhat pleased. "You're talking about wresting it away from him, aren't you?"

"Of course. And with you heading the opposition, it won't be much of a fight."

Mr Marlowe smiled. "No, it won't," he said.

I sat back in my chair and looked away to indicate the conversation was over. Diffusing this situation had been quite tiresome.

Adam came up with a novel idea to cure the infection involving Mr Marlowe. I didn't listen to the specifics, but it involved taking my lieutenant back to his Sanctuary. Which was fine with me, I had no fears of Mr Marlowe defecting. He clearly hated Adam with a burning passion.

I took a walk around the nightingale hospital. "Get word to Adam, I want Marlowe here with a cure in half an hour," I said to one of my staff, "or I start removing patients from life support, beginning with these two," I said, looking down on Jesse Kilmartin and Emma deLauro.

Mr Marlowe returned along with Adam and Shalimar Fox.

"Can I assume you've completed-" I began before Mr Marlowe pointed a gun at me. One of my personal guards levelled a gun at Mr Marlowe simultaneously.

"Call in a full retreat, Mr Eckhart," he said.

I glanced at my guard. "What good is your gun against him?" I said. I turned to Mr Marlowe. "I must say I am very disappointed in you, Mr Marlowe."

"You call in that retreat or you'll never get a chance to get over your disappointment."

With great reluctance, I tore my eyes away from Mr Marlowe and approached a microphone to make an announcement. "This is Mr Eckhart. Pull back all units at once."

"We're almost there," Miss Fox said as she did whatever it was she was doing to one of my computer terminals.

"Got these guys well trained, don't cha?" Mr Marlowe said, still pointing his gun at me. I concentrated my energy on keeping a completely neutral expression and trying to slow my pounding heart. I usually found that it was not beneficial to be completely blasé about being on the wrong side of a gun.

I noticed a curious thing on Mr Marlowe's hand. A bandage. This would not have been necessary for someone like him with regenerative powers. "Shoot him," I commanded of my guard.

He did, and immediately Miss Fox sprang to attack. She did one of those showy backflips that the ferals seemed to be fond of doing for some unknown reason, and flashed her eyes yellow at me. Doubtlessly in some attempt to intimidate me. She actually thought I would be scared by a big cat after having had a gun pointed at me? Cute.

Regardless, I turned and walked away and left my man to fight her.

Mr Marlowe did not survive. Adam somehow deployed his cure using my systems. Sometimes, it was a case of you win some, you lose some.