Author's note: Ok! Sorry this one is a long chapter. We're on the home stretch and close to finishing the story! So the next chapters might be a little longer than usual. I also want to say I have no idea what I'm talking about when I write about science. So just pretend everything that Kowalski says makes scientific sense XD enjoy the chapter!
It was a day and a half later when Kowalski had finally finished setting up the surveillance cameras and connecting them to Blowhole's computer. He had also done some snooping around on the computer, finding the files and software Blowhole used to spy on them in the HQ. He even found the software that let Blowhole connect to his leg and speak through it. It was handy that Blowhole had a microphone connected to the computer. Kowalski could talk through his own leg if he wanted to, but he needed it for something else today.
He felt a weird sense of role reversal as he connected to the line Blowhole used to hijack their TV once before. All he had to do was wait for a moment before he got the notification that he was connected and wait for the 3 oblivious penguins to realise he was on the TV.
From the several bugs Blowhole had around the HQ he could see Skipper and Rico back at it again with the checkers and Private in his bunk brushing his pink lunacorn's hair. Private was within perfect sight of the TV and cocked his head out of his bunk once he noticed the TV turn on unexpectedly. He then gasped upon seeing the penguin on the TV.
"Skipper! Kowalski's on the telly!" He exclaimed.
Skipper looked up from the checkers board and twisted his body to face the TV. Rico saw the opportunity to grab one of Skipper's pieces in a bit to cheat and pull the game in his favour before looking up at the TV too.
"Well, look at that! Isn't this reminiscent of something? You've not stolen ring tail, right? If you have, you can keep him."
Kowalski chuckled under his breath, remembering back to one of the first encounters with Blowhole where he had mistaken Julien for Skipper's best friend. He must have been embarrassed at the end of that caper.
"Unfortunately, I haven't kidnapped Julien. Sorry, Skipper. I just wanted to report back. I've installed cameras around the lair. You can access the footage from the computer in my lab. The software is still downloaded from before, you just need to input a code I'll tell you it now. Rico will know how to do it. He helped me install them the first time."
Rico jumped up from his seat and scrambled across the table.
"Oh! Outta the way!"
The penguin ran into Kowalski's lab and over to the computer where he tapped away on the keyboard for a moment, opening the software and amazing both Skipper and Private. Since when did Rico know how to use a computer?
"Yup!" He called from the lab.
"Alright, the code is 1234567890. I made it simple, just put your flipper on the first key at the top left of the keyboard and drag it across to the complete other side."
Rico did just that and the file granted him permission. Skipper left the TV for a moment to look over the different cameras, checking their angles and their coverage. He seemed content with what he was given and waddled back out into the main room of the HQ.
"Good job, Kowalski. Which camera is surveying Blowhole? I wanna get a look at him," Skipper said excitedly, rubbing his flippers together.
Kowalski sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Camera 7."
Skipper disappeared again, a lot faster this time and enlarged the picture on camera 7. The HQ went quiet, with the only sounds being Private's feet as they patted on the ground as he walked to join Rico and Skipper in the lab. Kowalski could still see them, since he had access to Blowhole's bugs and there were quite a few in Kowalski's lab. All 3 penguins were very quiet as they huddled around the screen.
"Where is he?" Skipper shouted, since the TV was in the other room.
"Probably underwater. He is a sea serpent."
Skipper huffed and crossed his flippers.
"Can't you get him to come out or something?"
Kowalski rolled his eyes again. He pulled up the camera footage Skipper was watching and inspected that too. Francis was in there, he could see the dark shadow on the pool's floor, but it was still. Francis was probably sleeping.
"He's peaceful, Skipper. I don't want to disturb him."
Just then, the door to Blowhole's lab opened and Doris rode in. Her happy smile warmed Kowalski completely and washed away any irritation Skipper had left behind. She rode over to the desk where she saw what Kowalski was doing and raised a brow.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
But instead of Kowalski replying, Skipper heard the strange female voice and answered for him.
"What? Who's that?"
Kowalski chuckled and turned back to the computer.
"It's just Doris," he said.
He then turned back to Doris with a hopeful gaze.
"You're here to check on Francis?" He asked.
Doris nodded and closed her eyes, cheerfully bouncing.
"Yes, I bought him an squid. Caught it myself. I know how much he loves squid."
Kowalski nodded and then got an idea of his own.
"I'm on the line with the boys back at the HQ. They want to get a look at Francis. Think you can lure him up out of the water?" He asked.
Doris nodded again and rode off without another word. She had been constantly bringing Francis things from his childhood, things he enjoyed as an adult and anything she thought would spark more memories. When the siblings were younger, they used to play in the large outgrowths of kelp. Swimming through, getting tangled up and having to find each other. Doris brought him a very hefty amount and he played with those for hours. Throwing them around, swimming through them and using them to cover himself for camouflage. It was sweet to see Francis enjoying his life, even if he was a mindless monster.
Doris appeared on the security camera a few minutes later after her first arrival and the shadow at the bottom of the pool began to move. Doris held out the squid in her flipper and called for Francis to come up. He did, sluggishly, as he had been sleeping. His full body emerged from the dark water and Skipper went wild.
"Look at him! He's colossal!"
Doris dropped the squid in his toothy maw and Francis slipped back in the water a moment later.
Skipper was in awe, jumping up and down like a fanboy. Kowalski had to admit, Francis was pretty awesome.
"Imagine if I took something like that down!" Skipper said feigning stabbing Rico in the gut.
Kowalski crossed his flipper and shook his head.
"Sorry to take the glory, Skipper. It's me who will take this one down."
Skipper stilled and made his way back out to the main room of the HQ and back in front of the TV.
"Count yourself lucky. But Blowhole did a heck of a job creating this."
Kowalski let his head drop slightly and sighed. He certainly had done a heck of a job, hadn't he?
But in any case, kowalski had reported back just as Skipper had asked to and now he needed to get back to work. He had managed to collect a good amount of data and now he needed to process it. He was getting closer to a breakthrough and he could feel it with every bone in his body.
"Enjoy your view, Skipper, Sir, but I have to go now. Take care and hopefully I'll report back with some good news."
A couple more days passed in the lair where Kowalski had nearly fried his brains from working so hard. But it was all for the greater good. He had managed to stay up most of the previous night, accidentally falling asleep at some point on the desk and waking up in the morning with drool running down his beak. He had to laugh at himself, otherwise he would have cried and just kept working like nothing had happened.
Red One and Doris joined him in the lab that morning, only after Doris had forced him to take a quick break and get some food. Kowalski was always grateful. Even when broken up, she was still an angel and wanted nothing but the best for him.
Kowalski had had some sort of breakthrough, it seemed. Nothing had been done but he had concluded and found the reason to all of their problems. It was more simple than he would have imagined and he was eternally grateful that Red One had infected Francis with an old unfinished strain and not the newest ones.
"Ok, so what I've done, may sound a little bit complicated but just tell me to slow down if you get lost," Kowalski said as he looked down from the desk he stood on at Doris and the lobster, who was standing on the floor.
They both nodded, Doris smiling happily like normal and Red One just content that Kowalski was giving him information and progress. Blowhole didn't usually like to do that.
"You didn't know, because I did it a few nights ago while he was sleepy, but I gave Francis a brain scan and tested his neurons in the brain. This virus he created released something, I don't have a name for it but it travelled straight to his brain."
"Can I name it?" Doris suddenly cut in.
Kowalski paused briefly to look at her, confused.
"Uh..."
"Can we name it Henry? I hated Henry," she chuckled.
Kowalski chuckled back and slowly shook his head. It was good she was keeping herself amused but now was probably not the time to joke around. Red One certainly thought that too, as he shook his head in annoyance.
"Alright... this Henry is attacking and stopping the neurons from transmitting data. That's how information gets around your brain, how you manage to recall memory and I suppose that's just what Francis wanted. To block brain activity. His mind hasn't been wiped, everything is still in there, it just can't be called forward."
Doris and Red One nodded along. Though, Red One seemed to understand better than what Doris did, as she tilted her head in a thoughtful way.
"He's essentially like a new born infant, seeing the world for the first time, all the time, his memories from now on only stay as short term memories. So, he's most likely to forget everything about his time being a monster. I guess this strain of the virus hadn't had the instinct to kill put in it yet. That is what would have made him a mindless killing machine."
"Thank Neptune," Red One said quietly.
"I am very lost but continue," Doris said.
But Kowalski smiled to them both.
"Curing him will be easy, Doris! We just get rid of Henry and he'll remember everything. His brain is like a blocked pipe. We unblock it and the water will start flowing again."
Doris understood that. The metaphor was greatly appreciated.
"Oh, Kowalski! This is great! So he really is my baby brother at the moment?" She giggled.
"Funnily enough, yes."
"But... if Henry is in the way of his neuros, why does he remember us?" She asked, tilting her head again.
"Neurons. Well, after researching I've come to the conclusion that not all of his neurons are blocked. Remember, this is an early strain. It wasn't completed. Things engraved into his mind so permanently get through. Common knowledge, like you've been his sister his whole life. I've been with him so often lately that I'm constantly in his mind at the moment. He would probably remember where he grew up, or at least find it familiar."
"So how do we get rid of Henry?" Red One asked, his deep scratchy voice tearing through Kowalski. For someone who caused all of this, he certainly was just as bossy as ever before.
"See, that's going to be a little tricky. The brain is a very hard thing to experiment with. One wrong move could give him permanent brain damage. Neurons naturally repair themselves and it could be possible for them to repair and connect through this Henry, with a little bit of outside help."
"So, what?" He demanded.
"I just have to speed up the growth rate so they can push past Henry."
"Ok, Kowalski this is great, you're a star," Doris said coming forward and placing her flippers on the desk before Kowalski.
Kowalski blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. This was all fine and dandy. He had found the problem and now he knew how to fix it. Coming up with something to stimulate neuron growth and repair wouldn't take long at all. It was figuring out how to turn Francis back into a dolphin that was going to pose the biggest challenge.
Getting back to work was no trouble for Kowalski. He had a plan, he had a goal and he was going to get there. Doris came in and out throughout the day to check up on Kowalski and during his food breaks he found himself sitting at the computer looking at the surveillance, watching Doris and Francis do just whatever they pleased. It seemed like Doris was really enjoying her time with her brother. Kowalski didn't really have a clue at just how much older she was than Francis, but maybe she was old enough to remember playing with him as a calf and recent circumstances had her reminiscent of their childhood.
As well as researching neuron growth, Kowalski had taken it upon himself to really think about how he was going to give Blowhole his rightful body back. He had many ideas but a lot of them were pure fantasy and it would have been more effective for him to wish upon a star. But at the end of the day, he had finally thought of something. Now that was all it was for the time being, a thought. But it was a thought he could definitely build off.
The day was drawing to a close and Doris entered the lab one last time to make sure Kowalski was going to get some rest. She brought him a cup of water and made sure to start packing things away.
She helped gather paper that Kowalski had strewn across the table and stopped to look a weird design.
"What's this, Kowalski?I don't understand any of it," she said, looking up from the lines and squiggles.
Kowalski looked over for a moment, briefly taking his eyes off of his papers and looking at the ones Doris was inspecting.
"Oh, that's just a rough sketch for my newest invention."
Doris frowned and put down the paper.
"New invention? I thought you were supposed to be working on something to turn my brother back into a dolphin?"
Kowalski smiled tenderly and put his sheets of paper down as he walked over to Doris.
"It is for him. I'm making plans for a machine I'm going to call the molecular rearrangement chamber. It's risky business but if you think about it all this virus has done is rearrange Blowhole's DNA, his fabric, his makeup. This machine is going to do just that, all over again. I take DNA from a certain species, I.e you, and the machine reconstructs his entire body to match the subject."
Doris looked down at the paper in awe. She didn't quite know what to say, suggest or do. Was that actually possible? She didn't really understand half of what Kowalski said anyway. She didn't know what a DNA was. Would taking her DNA be painful? But that part about reconstructing her brother sounded painful. She remembered once a friend of hers had a broken flipper and they had to push the bones back in their rightful places. Would it be like that? That friend had howled in pain for hours. She felt bad for her poor brother.
"How long is this going to take to make?" Doris asked.
Kowalski bit his tongue and looked down to his feet.
"Well, I already have many starts to contraptions back at the penguin HQ with qualities needed for molecular rearrangement. Incorporating my already thoughtout and built parts will cut the construction time in half. Though, it would be completed much faster still if I had Blowhole to help me... but alone... a few weeks, maybe more."
Doris looked down again. Her flippers slipped down to the table as she looked on in despair. This was a long long ride but the end was very much in sight, even if there was still a few miles of road left.
"Well, I know I'm no genius. I know you both think I'm stupid. But I'll help you, Kowalski. We can knock off even a few days with my help surely?"
Doris looked to Kowalski in desperation and Kowalski couldn't help the warm smile that engulfed him and his senses.
"Of course, Doris. And you're not stupid. Me and your brother are just unreasonably smart."
"I like to call him gifted."
"Then there you go. I'm the unreasonable one," he chuckled.