Frankenstein's Monster

The title referred to a man. Victor, to be specific. She found that to be very humorous. Claire knew she read the book long ago but her memory of it was very fuzzy, so she requested a copy from Boyd. Reading it now, it amazed her how something written nearly two centuries ago could still ring true.

Hollywood bastardized the tale. These days people believed that the title referred to the creation. If only they knew that the creation had no name…

Adelle ordered that Victor be imprinted with Dominic's personality. Once he realized what was happening to him Dominic lost it. Saunders struggled to sedate him. Wild-eyed, Victor stared right at her scarred face. He uttered a word:

"Whiskey."

"It appears he wants a drink instead," she mused.

The incident quickly left her mind. There were much more pressing matters to focus on.

It was a quiet night in the Dollhouse. After they wiped Victor she didn't have much to do. Feeling restless with thoughts of Alpha, Claire roamed the floor. That was when she found Victor. His pod was in shatters and he sat in the remains, shaking.

She guided him into her office as calmly as she could. Then he was there. Alpha. Quick as ever, his knife cut into Victor's skin. Claire was frozen in shock and terror. She wanted to scream but she couldn't. She was getting a flash of his weight pinning her down, his eyes wild as he looked down on her. She trembled, sobbing in fear. He was so close to her, his knife glistening and still fresh with Victor's blood.

"Have you always wanted to be a doctor?" He loomed over her like a dark shadow. "It's a simple question. Answer now."

"Yes," she whispered.

"That's a lie," he remarked. But not an accusation, just observing the facts.

Only after Claire was sure he was out of the House could she think again. Her first thoughts were for Victor. The Doll lay bleeding on her floor, frightened and in pain. He needed her help.

"It hurts," Victor murmured.

"It won't always," she assured him. She dabbed at his scars, trying to breathe and remain calm. His scars looked much more serious than hers. Deeper, according to Alpha.

"I'm no longer my best," Victor said. Claire thought she could hear sorrow in his tone. "I want to be my best. How can I be my best now?" In her mind's eye Claire traveled back to a time long ago. A bleeding girl weeping into a man's shirt. She looked pleadingly into his eyes.

I don't understand. I tried to do my best.

"Dr. Saunders? How can I be my best, please?"

"You can't, Victor!" she snapped. She turned on him with malice. "You're ugly. You're disgusting. All you can hope for now is pity, and for that you have to look somewhere else."

There was so much venom in her voice she hardly recognized herself. She regretted her words moments after they left her mouth. She called Victor back and offered him a lollipop. They were in the same position now: scarred, broken… No longer worth anything.

Later she stood in Topher's domain making sense of everything that happened. Alpha was gone, taking Echo with him. When he went on his first rampage Alpha spared Echo and no one knew why. Now on his return Alpha abducted an imprinted Echo but no one knew why or which imprint.

"He asked me if I always wanted to be a doctor," Claire said. Topher responded with his usual nervous smile. He always seemed nervous around her.

"Who can comprehend the mind of a crazy person?"

"The one who made him crazy," she answered, "maybe."

They all thought Alpha used one of Echo's imprints. But Topher discovered it was another Active entirely. Whiskey. Listening, Claire's mind flashed back to the imprinted Dominic. He looked into her eyes and uttered a word: Whiskey. He wasn't asking for a drink; he was saying a name.

She kept the computer screen window open so it was the first thing Topher saw when he came back in the room. Her smiling, unscarred face right before his eyes.

"I think you gave me more computer skills than would be required of a medical doctor," she began quietly. "It was very easy for me to hack into your system." She watched him, measuring his reaction. He could clearly see the picture of what she was before smiling at him from the computer screen. His breathing became irregular.

"I mean, I can understand not wanting to waste an investment," Saunders continued. "And why go through the trouble of hiring a new physician when you can just imprint the broken doll?" There was something in Topher's eyes she'd never seen before. Tears? Pain? Guilt? All of the above, perhaps. Claire could see she was hurting him and she coldly continued.

"But why did you think it was so important for me to hate you?" She let that question sink in and added, "I find that strange." Feeling satisfied with that, she turned to walk away.

"You didn't open it," he croaked out. She paused; there were definitely tears misting in Topher's eyes. "Aren't you curious to see who you really are?"

"I know who I am," she answered.