Chapter Three: Conversations
One week later...
By now, it was almost eight-thirty at night. Octavius had been working on the reactor, with Carolyn's assistance, since early morning. They were just about ready to break for dinner, when Curt walked in the lab, looking downcast about something.
Octavius noticed this, said, "Alright, Carolyn, we'll call it a day." and walked over to Curt to see what was wrong.
"My house was broken into last night, while I was at ESU trying to secure funding for my experiment." Curt said, walking upstairs. "Whoever it was, they ransacked the place. They were still there when I got back, but they took off."
"What!" Octavius replied, thunderstruck. Why would someone do this?
"Exactly as I said it." Curt said as the two of them headed upstairs to get something to eat. Rosie and Carolyn were already there. "They not only robbed me, they tore the place apart."
"You were robbed!" Rosie said, shocked to hear this.
"Yes." Curt said, shaking his head, that downcast expression still on his face. "But there was something strange about this burglar."
"What's that, then?" Octavius asked, making himself a plate and taking a seat.
Curt did the same and sat down, then said, "I got a glimpse of him right before he left. His appearance... I don't think he was strictly human."
"Oh? Why is that?" Octavius asked, interested in the answer.
"This person... he was huge! I mean, bigger than the average human. He had this odd grey skin, and a... a horngrowing out of his forehead!" Curt said. "He looked like a giant rhinoceros!"
"I've heard of this happening." Carolyn said, finally speaking up. She was the geneticist in the group, after all. "A flaw in the human genome, acquired before birth, giving the person superhuman powers. Anything else unusual about this person?
"Only the fact that he ran straight through my wall!" Curt said. "I think he's got superhuman strength, as well."
Carolyn only nodded, as if that confirmed a suspicion, and said, "Probably a mutant, then. There have been several new cases of human mutation in the last few months. Usually the mutated genes are latent, until the person reaches maturity. Sometimes they are not. This may be another case of mutation."
"There are genes that can do something like this to people?" Rosie asked, not being as knowledgeable in the sciences as the three others at the table. "And you say they're born with it?"
"Yes. By definition, a mutant is someone who is born with the gene that grants the person their powers, whereas anyone else with powers would simply be considered superhuman." Carolyn replied, taking a sip of her coffee, before continuing. "The parents may or may not have the mutated gene, but the offspring can still be born with it. A few of us at the lab I used to work at jokingly called them Homo superior, after someone claimed they were the next evolutionary step."
"Is that how you know so much about them?" Octavius asked, extremely interested in what he had just been told. "You mentioned you were a geneticist when we first met. That's your area of specialty, isn't it?"
"No, it has just always fascinated me." she replied. "That, and..." here, she trailed off, but Octavius knew what she was hinting at.
"What, you're going to tell me you are one, yourself?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"Actually, yes." Carolyn replied. "I'm a technopath. I can take control of technology using only my mind. I try not to, however. I never found much use in it."
"Fascinating." he replied, surprised by what he had just heard. Someone who could control technology with their mind? "And you were born with this gene? How is that even possible?"
"Can we please get off the subject?" she replied, looking down at the table.
Octavius did not say anything more about it. He looked over at Curt and said, "How bad is the damage?"
"The house is completely destroyed." he said, shaking his head. "Martha's staying with a sister of hers until we can find a new place. I was going to ask... I mean, if it's not too much trouble..."
"Say no more." Octavius said, a small smile playing on his face. "I know what you're going to ask. There's a spare bedroom down the hall."
"Thanks a lot." Curt said, smiling now. "I'd stay with her sister, but we've... never been on such good terms."
"I see why you wouldn't want to, then."
The room was silent until Curt said, "Wait a second. You said there were several new cases of mutations." He looked over at Carolyn and said, "Are you telling me more and more of these people are being born every year?"
"Yes. Every month, we hear of at least ten or twenty new cases. And the numbers are rising." she replied. "Now, I don't much believe the hypothesis that they're the next evolutionary step. But I can tell you this much; if it keeps going at the current rate, in about fifty years or so, they may number in the millions."
Curt gave a low whistle, and Octavius said, "So they would be just as commonplace as normal humans."
"Exactly." Carolyn finished.
"This is incredible." Curt said, with a stunned expression on his face. "Now, I thought I knew a lot about how the human genome worked, as I'm in the field of biology myself, but I've never heard of this before!"
"That's because you're not a geneticist." Carolyn replied. "You don't specialize in the study of the human genome. But I'm not surprised; the study of genetic mutations resulting in superpowers is still a relatively new science. Not many people, not even those in the field of genetics, have heard of it."
"So, at the rate this is going, incidents like this may become more commonplace." Curt said.
"If the people born with the gene believe that makes them superior, then yes." she replied. Octavius looked over at Curt and said, "There's going to be a lot of potential research into that field. Maybe you ought to check it out."
"Perhaps." Curt said, before falling silent.
They were all silent before Rosie said, "...I'm going to go grab something. I'll be right back."
She left the room and Octavius said, "Probably going to grab that book of poetry she's been reading. She probably feels completely lost by now."
"Yep, that's pretty much it!" Rosie said from the other room, and Octavius couldn't help but laugh at this. "I mean, I'm sitting at a table full of geniuses, and I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Come on, you know me." Octavius said. "It's not often I get to have a discussion like this."
"I know." Rosie replied as she took a seat at the table with her book. "Why do you think I sat silent for so long? I have to say though, it's awfully frustrating when I have no idea what's being discussed."
Octavius knew she was only joking; the look on her face gave it away, if nothing else.
"When you're an English Lit teacher sitting at a table of scientists, I think that's bound to happen." Carolyn said, shrugging, before looking at Octavius. "She... is an English teacher, right?"
"That's right." Octavius replied, a small smile on his face. "This is why I find it funny that she fell in love with a scientist."
"Maybe so, but you're my scientist." she said, reaching a hand over to ruffle his hair. "Besides, you've got more personality then most poets I've met."
He caught hold of her hand and said, a smirk on his face, "Not funny."
"I thought it was." she said, a coy grin on her face.
"Well, I think I'm going to head home for the evening." Carolyn said as she stood up and grabbed her coat off of the back of the chair. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you in the morning, Carolyn." Octavius said, before looking back at Rosie, who was looking at him with a smirk on her face.
"What is so funny now?" he said, a smirk to match hers crossing his face.
"I hope you don't mind me saying, but you are such a nerd." she said, putting her arm around his shoulder. "I had no idea what you three were talking about, and yet you were in your element."
"I usually am, when in the midst of a scientific discussion." he said, laughing. "Maybe I am a nerd. But then again, so are you, when you're talking about poetry."
"Touché." she replied.
It was then that Curt said, "I think I'll retire for the night. It's been a long day." He stood up and said, "I'll see you in the morning."
He walked down the hall towards what was to be his room, and Octavius said, "Do you think what she said was true, though? About the rise in mutations?"
"I honestly don't know." she said. "Personally, I'm rather tired, myself. I'm going to bed." She stood up and started to walk towards their room, but she turned around and said, "Join me?"
"Just a minute." he said, thinking about something. Maybe this was something to worry about, if the number of superhumans who were born with their powers increased?
He decided to think about that later, following Rosie down the hall.
xxx
Meanwhile, in that building downtown, the mastermind was sitting at his desk, his feet propped up on it, looking through a file folder of some sort. He was waiting for another of his subordinates to arrive.
He had just thrown the folder back on the desk when the subordinate walked in, a serious expression on his face. He took up position in front of the mastermind's desk and said, "I'm here, as requested."
"So I see." the mastermind said, taking his feet off of the desk, looking up at the man. "It took you a bit longer to get here than I expected it would."
"It was a long flight from Russia." the man said, eyebrow cocked. "And it was short notice."
"Understood. Any trouble getting past airport security?" the mastermind asked.
The man scoffed and said, "With my talents? It was child's play."
"I figured as much." the mastermind replied, a smirk on his face. "Your assignment should be just as easy." He opened the file folder he had been perusing earlier and turned it towards the man. "I know you recognize him, don't you?"
The man looked down at the picture, and the mastermind could see the flash of anger in his eyes.
"Ah, yes. Dr. Otto Octavius. I remember him all too well."
"This is why I called you to carry out this assignment." the mastermind said. "I want you to eliminate him. He has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I want him finished!" He slammed his fist on the desk to punctuate this outburst.
"When do you want it done?" the man asked, making sure he had his pistol in his jacket.
"Within the next twenty-four hours."
"It will be done." the man said, nodding.
The mastermind said, "I know. That's why I entrusted this assignment to you." He leaned forward and said, "I know the animosity you have towards him, Smerdyakov. Do not let it endanger your mission. You're dismissed."
The man named Dmitri Smerdyakov left the room, and the mastermind leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Soon, it will be over.
xxx
Octavius woke up that night, crying out at something. It had been a while since he'd had thatdream; it had always scared him pretty badly.
"It was only a dream..." he said to himself as he pushed himself upright, running a hand through his hair, feeling the cold sweat that had broken out across his forehead. "Only a dream..."
"What happened, dear?" Rosie mumbled, only half awake, as she sat up in bed.
"Oh, nothing..." Octavius said unconvincingly. "It was nothing..."
"You had the dream again, didn't you?" she asked, concerned.
"Yes." he admitted, pushing the images out of his head. For the last year or so, he'd been haunted by the same dream; a man in a mask, wielding a machine gun, gunning down everyone he had ever known while he watched, captive. The masked man then turned the gun on him; in a burst of light and a flash of pain, he was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. His attacker strolled up to him casually and ripped his mask off, and the last thing he saw was the smug and satisfied face of Norman Osborn...
"Oh, Otto..." Rosie said sadly, knowing how badly that dream always affected him. "I know how that dream always gets to you. But Osborn's in prison. He can't hurt you now."
She put her arms around him and rested her cheek on the top of his head. "You have to stop worrying about him, dear. He can't do anything to you or to anyone of us. Not anymore."
"I really want to believe you." he said. "But locking him up... it just seems too easy. I can't help but shake the feeling that he's going to find a way to interfere in my life again."
Rosie just sighed and put her hand to the side of his face, gently turning him so he was looking her in the eyes.
"Otto, look at me." she said softly. "Nothing's going to happen. I promise."
With nothing else to say, she put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. It was a moment before he could bring himself to kiss her back. She seemed to always know when he needed that little bit of assurance.
But that feeling of lingering danger still gnawed at him.
xxx
The next day...
It was evening by now. It had been a slow day in the lab, and there was a storm threatening to break over the city, dropping inches of snow on the streets.
By now, Octavius had called it a day with his experiment, and he, Rosie, and Curt were upstairs, in the middle of dinner and a discussion of last night's topic.
"Think about it, though. What if she's right?" Curt said, worried about the situation with the growing number of mutations occurring in the population. "What if we wind up with an entire race of these people? Can you imagine what that would do to this city? The number of superhuman criminals would be outrageous!"
"I know. Don't you think I've thought about this?" Octavius replied, leaning back in his chair. "This city already has the highest number of superhumans in America. And if more and more of these people keep appearing, I can't help but wonder what that would mean for the world."
Rosie yawned and said, "I think it's out of our hands, really. I mean, from what I gather, you can't help whether or not you're born with it. And by the time it gets that serious, we'll all be dead."
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Octavius said, looking over at her. "Not much use worrying about it then, is there?"
"Not really." she said, putting her book down. "This is why I'm glad I'm not too deep into this discussion. I don't have to think about it much."
"Well, how do you expect us to react to it?" Octavius asked, eyebrow cocked, a smirk on his face. "We're both scientists. This is what we do."
"I'll accept that as an excuse then." she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Just don't get too lost in discussion that you can't find your way back to reality."
"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises." he replied, when all of a sudden, he heard what sounded like footsteps on the roof.
"Is... someone up there?" he said, a note of uncertainty in his voice. The three of them fell silent as they listened, but they heard nothing more.
Had they looked out the window, however, they would have likely seen something most alarming...
On the roof of the building across the street, a masked man had taken up position, a rifle in hand, looking into the window.
I've been waiting a long time for this. the man thought. It's my time now.
He picked up his rifle, positioning it right, his finger tightening on the trigger…
