"Doctor?" The assistant hesitated at the entrance to the laboratory that had held the Sorceress until that afternoon. The alcove where she had been held had not yet been touched since her removal, and a puddle of intravenous fluid had formed on the floor before the feeding device had been shut off. Likewise, there was a patch of partially dried blood just outside the door; fortunately, the soldiers' bodies had been removed.

The doctor was standing inside the laboratory, scanning over the data on one of the monitors with little apparent heed for the nature of his surroundings or the absence of his test subject. When he glanced over to his assistant, his expression was one of mild annoyance at being disturbed. "Yes, what is it?" he asked.

"Sir, Administrator Derrick requests you send the government your most recent findings regarding the Sorceress along with his report of her escape."

He nodded. "An intelligent request. I'd been preparing to do just that." He indicated the data on the monitor. "At least Commander Leonhart saw fit to leave us all our files; there is sufficient information here to keep an entire team of scientists busy for years."

The assistant frowned, stepping up beside the doctor as he continued his examination of the monitor. "Do you believe they intend to recapture the Sorceress, doctor?"

"Oh, I'm certain of it," he replied. "Though I have strong doubts as to whether they will in fact be able to do so." Nodding to the information displayed on the monitor, he stepped aside to allow the assistant a better look. "The results of the latest tests. Tell me what you see here."

"Bio-etheric energy levels had increased by seven percent," he said, scrutinizing the graphs. "But her body was effectively comatose during that time."

"Indeed," said the doctor. "However, she never lost consciousness, did she? Despite the data recorded here, the Sorceress remained aware of her surroundings for the entire time."

The assistant nodded, frowning. "Yes, that's right. But that shouldn't be possible. What does it mean, doctor?"

The other man shook his head. "It's impossible to say with certainty without further tests, and that is of course no longer an option. However, I theorize that the same energy that provides the Sorceress with her magical abilities is also fueling her body and mind, preventing her from unconsciousness."

"But she was unconscious when she was brought into the facility," the assistant protested.

"And very heavily sedated, as well," the doctor observed. "And if you'll review the neural activity charts we have, you'll find that her state of consciousness does not appear to have changed at all over the several days since the sedatives wore off. By all scientific reason, she ought still to be in an unresponsive, comatose state." He began to pace, taking a few steps toward the empty alcove, then turning back towards the door. "Yet she was obviously conscious of us, and her surroundings. She interacted with us. The only explanation is that her neural state is no longer the sole indicator of her level of consciousness."

"So that means," said the assistant, "that her powers as a Sorceress are affecting her state of mind?"

The doctor glanced at him, with an eyebrow raised. "A particularly apt description, I'm afraid," he said. "The Sorceress possesses a well of power the extents of which we cannot even begin to hypothesize. We've verified experimentally that this power is having a profound affect on her body and, it appears, her mind. Under test conditions, this is a curiosity; however, now that she has been removed from the laboratory, I have grave concerns regarding how these effects will manifest."

There was a pause, as the assistant looked from the monitor to the doctor, and back. "...I'm not sure I understand, doctor," he said.

"Our goal in this research was to understand the Sorceress," said the doctor, "so that we might devise a means to stop her and those like her in the future. The need for this is obvious; every major conflict in history was precipitated by the actions of a Sorceress, from the Centran conquest of the Kashkabald lands in near-prehistory to the machinations of the Sorceresses Edea and Ultimecia only last year. And always, the Sorceress is ruthless in the application of her power."

Stepping over to the alcove where the Sorceress had been restrained, he frowned at the opened cuffs and hanging wires and tubes. "It seems now that the very energy that gives the Sorceress her power might implant a certain urge in her mind, in a certain way behaving as some mood-altering drug. Perhaps it reaches a point where the Sorceress is no longer in control of her powers, but rather the powers hold sway over her." He shrugged. "Such hypotheses aside, we have subjected the Sorceress to a treatment that would induce a strong current of resentment and hate in any living person. And in doing so, we have given her a very inviting target for her power."

The assistant was frowning deeply, trying to make sense of the doctor's words. "What do you think she's going to do?" he asked.

Solemnly, the doctor shook his head. "I can't predict the details," he said. "But I expect that Galbadia has a great deal more to fear now than we did when this project began."

END OF PART ONE