Confrontation [Titans]

[Martin Christopher Taylor]

"The Girl was infinitely more important to the research we where amassing, the Hybrid was interesting, and may have proven useful, but being a mix, he was not vital to the research... The girl was."


Sitting in a simply black leather office chair, Vorac looked squarely into the camera, his covered eyes, and dual tone voice betraying but one thing; annoyance...


"Either way, we do have more data than we did, and as we surmised, she had the three strands of core genetic coding variations that all the others have, including the hybrid, however..."


The scientist on the screen paused and scratched his head for a few moments, which drew out a impatient sigh from Vorac; "Yes Doctor?"


"Well... There are some VERY strange readings with the Hybrid... there are apparently... well, its a double helix, four rows rather than two, and one of the rows is... mostly blank... Not registering as any known genetic code markers, and the few that do... Look to be very highly evolved meta-human type markers, they look like the markers in the other meta's however, they are so far advanced... and I mean, millions and millions of years, its like comparing modern human DNA protein markers to that of an ancient shrew, both are mammalian but the progression is staggering, the other three are... Well, there are two strands, the core strands, which are clearly both meta-human, over sixty percent total in fact, much like the girl, and a hand full of the other's but, its the final strand that is so baffling."


Vorac shifted and folded his hands into his lap, then nodded in signal to continue, which the doctor did.

"It looks and is coded much like Canine DNA, however... The sequencing is not Terran, there is no iron proteins or iron based markers at all, it's instead, some strange blue element that... Closely resembles Kryptonite, blue Kryptonite, but there is some variances we can't account for, yet of course."


"Of course..." Vorac said lowly before he stood, the camera following his movements as he spoke; "In light of this, I will need to speak with my employer, however until I can contact him, stay on task with the study of the girl's genetic coding, she has one of the most highly evolved sequences we've encountered, but don't ignore the new information with the hybrid... Devote a few underlings to peruse that, the rest of you work on the original task. I'll be in touch."

"Very good sir."

"Vorac out."



This was going to be very interesting... Perhaps it was time the Titans knew he was in jump, Vorac of course, if he knew Robin's BIO at all, he knew that the young detective was already aware that Martin Taylor was in town on business, but not Vorac, not yet.


That should change... Soon...

[quinn]

"So, it seems that your body is making the recovery very well," the doctor said, removing his white gloves. "You're not quite at 100%, but you're doing well enough that I would feel comfortable with the idea of you returning to training."

He sat on a small stool in the diagnostics room of the medical center of Titans tower, typing a few notes into the computer before turning back to look at the young woman sitting on the table. Though her face showed very little, he could detect the barest hint of satisfaction in her deep blue eyes, and a small smile spread on his lips as he noted it.

"Do you have any concerns you'd like me to address while we're here? Any health problems or abnormalities you've noticed?"

Violet shook her head once, exchanging a glance with Will, who stood by the door.

"There is one thing that I don't understand," she admitted. "When I was in that place, they said that they were interested in me because I was the 'next stage of human evolution'. They seemed especially stuck on that. I'm not sure I'm clear on what they meant by that."

Kavanagh nodded, looking highly contemplative for a few moments before his pale green eyes turned to Violet.

"As you know, I am very old," he stated. "When I was born, I was one of perhaps a couple dozen metas in the entirety of the world. We were rare enough that a number of pagan religions are based on the idea of us as gods. However, as the years progressed, it became clear that metas were becoming more and more common. We are undoubtedly the next stage in human development. Our DNA is not wholly like a normal human. But even someone like me, with the abilities that I have, would not be of as much interest as someone like you. My powers accelerate the processes which every human possesses. Your powers changed your biochemical composition drastically, so that you would be able to survive your powers. See what I'm saying?"

Violet nodded once.

"You are human at heart, and most of your DNA is human, but what sets you apart from humans and even from most minor metas is the degree of change that manifested in you. Not only do you have the capability to transform chemical energy into thermal and photo energy, but the chemistry of your body cells make you entirely impervious to outside radiation. That requires a significant departure from the natural biochemistry of a human being. You are what would be considered the next step of human, not just the transition, as I would be considered. The next stage of human evolution. It is that unique quality that makes them so interested in you."

Violet's eyes were distant and thoughtful for the next few moments of silence.

[William Talbot]

Will leaned on the doorway and listened as they spoke, until the Doctor was done talking, explaining what he had Violet had overheard time and again. Partly.

"Doc, I have a question myself; they where seemingly confused by me in a lot of ways, and I overheard one of them say that there where glaring gaps in the sequencing of my second helix... What exactly does that mean? I thought DNA was in a single helix of proteins and genetic code."


Moving to the side of the exam table, Will stopped next to Violet and gently rested a hand on her shoulder slightly, feeling the deep and wandering thoughts, the wondering and uncertainty that was flowing in her mind even now.

He could well understand it, as aside from the over all trauma, there had been many questions, both answered and raised by the time spent in the lab, and at this point, Will was still trying to connect all of the dots, but... they where not making a very nice picture thus far, and after experiencing the horrors of the lab first hand, he wanted to shut them all down as fast as he could.

[quinn]

Kavanagh turned his level gaze to the Titan at the door, folding his arms and leaning back against the cabinet against which his stool was wedged.

"I assume they were referring to your unusual DNA structure," the doctor said. "Normally, a strand of DNA consists of a double helix of protein, sugar, and nitrogen bases. Your DNA, however, consists of two double helices. Modern machinery would be incapable of detecting the portions of it that it has never encountered, which I assume stem from your unusual lineage. If it wasn't for my powers, I wouldn't be able to tell myself. To their machinery, it would appear that there were gaps in the coding, which isn't actually possible, for a strand to function. Naturally, any scientist studying your DNA would be baffled by it."

Violet listened passively, her mind still sorting through the information that they knew on the labs. It was hard to ask the questions, since they all brought back memories that she wished she didn't have, but she knew that solving the puzzle would require all of the pieces, not just the easy ones. Still, with Will's question, her eyes closed in a hint of a wince, remembering the sounds of the tests on Will in the next room as she suffered something that would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

Her hand moved to rest on his, with her long, thin fingers seeming ridiculously tiny compared to his much larger hands. The warmth of his skin never failed to be a comfort.

[William Talbot]

"Hmm..." Will hummed as he digested the information, and considered what that meant, both personally, as well as to what the farther reaching impact might be.

Thus far, none of it was encouraging, at least as far as shutting down the labs went. Which was rather frustrating, given that even before he and Violet had been subjected to the evil of the labs, he was of the firm belief that any place, or people who would lock away other people, simply to poke and prod and test them, needed to be stopped, and now after his and Violet's forced tenure...


He would give his last breath to ensure that the injustice was righted, and that no one else would ever endure such darkness.


"I guess that would make sense, if you don't know what something is you wouldn't know what to call it or if even if you found it, much less knew it was there."


Shifting his hand slightly, he brushed his thumb lightly over her fingers a few times as he thought about it all a bit more, then sighed softly before he moved and extended his other hand to the Doctor and smiled lightly; "Well, thanks again Doc, you've been a great help to us on all counts."


Still, there was a part of Will that wished that the kind old doctor could be of a bigger help, if only because there where still far too few answers for am ever growing number of questions...