A Guiding Light | Tag: Kathryn

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

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Helen did not usually like to admit it, but she was scared.

Scared for what was to come, and scared for the life of one of the only friends which remained of her past. It was painful to think that everyone she had ever held dear to her heart, was gone from her life. Every single one. Perished. Murdered. Lost forever. They all died in the name of what the Sanctuary held dear. They all died to save the lives of others. Some even died for her.

She squinted her eyes briefly shut, trying to block away all those memories. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about the past. Right now, she was needed in the present. Somehow, she needed to hold herself together. She was much stronger than this, and she very well knew it. Kathryn needed her help, and Helen would make sure she would do everything in her power to keep her alive.

Kathryn’s heart rate was beating rapidly fast, and if Helen did not find a way to slow it down, she would go into cardiac arrest. Something was very wrong. Helen whirled around the Infirmary, gathering small bottles of various drug concoctions, that was hopefully dull the pain and bring her back to consciousness. Helen checked the heart rate and blood pressure monitors, and made sure the IV drip was firmly in place. Suddenly, the monitors began to beep frantically. She was losing oxygen, and fast. Any more, and Kathryn would begin to lose basic function of the brain.

”No, no no no. Kathryn. Stay with me. “ Helen threw down any equipment that she was holding, so she could immediately perform CPR. It took her several attempts before Kathryn showed any sign of consciousness. It was all but faint. Once she took note of the blood pressure slowly easing from the saline drip, Helen retrieved a syringe and plunged it into one of the bottles of Epinephrine. Drawing out a small dose of the adrenaline, she plunged it straight into Kathryn’s skin in order to give her a jolt. Once the machines began to ease, and Kathryn was back to steady breaths once more. Helen breathed a sigh of relief, until Kathryn immediately grabbed her arm like an iron vice. Kathryn’s grip was intense, and Helen was sure it would leave a lovely purple bruise.

Helen winced, as she tried to shake it off, ”…Kathryn? What are you doing?!” She peered into the woman’s eyes. There was some sort of sentient energy pulsing through her, and in fact, Helen could practically see her veins popping out from her skin. Something was definitely not right. ”….What is the meaning of this? Kathryn, fight it. Don’t you dare give up on me now.” Kathryn tried to fight against her, as she started to rise from the bed, but Helen tried to pin her down. Some thing was not right at all, and Helen began to realise that she was not herself. So, she did the only thing she could do. She injected a strong sedative into Kathryn, in order to send her into a relaxed state.

She needed to figure this out, and fast.

”I’m sorry, Kathryn. I will try and get to the bottom of this. I will.”

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[DR KATHRYN LAWSON]

Delirious and unsure of her surroundings Kathryn’s mind began to wander. She had thought she heard Helen in the background but everything surrounding her was just noise floating by as if it were a cloud. As the drugs took effect Kathryn finally began to sleep and her thoughts and dreams took her back to the night when this all started, six weeks after her arrival in Hollow Earth.

It had been a confusing time for Kathryn, trying to adjust to her new life in the most foreign of surrounds. Having spent her life in Victorian Sydney and London to then arrive in a place far beyond anything she had ever witnessed was as extreme a form of culture shock possible. But to top that off she had been struggling with the ever increasing pain from headaches which now seemed to arrive more and more frequently. Within hours of arriving she had been told she was in fact an abnormal and that in itself had been hard to process but now this just made the growing pile of things even more intense.

One of the few who had been kind to her in the early days had been Rana, a woman of great power and influence in Praxis. She had tried to get Kathryn used to her surrounds but could see the adjustment had been hard for her, unlike many though Rana seemed to understand. It had been Rana who saw Kathryn struggle with one of her worst headaches since arriving and took her to see some of the best medical specialists that Praxis had, they would know exactly what was going on. The specialists performed test after test, looking at brain function and hyper activity and even Kathryn’s motor skills all to see what was going on inside but instead of giving her a reason for the headaches they gave her a way out.

Kathryn had told Rana of her fears and worries as to what she would become; she didn’t want to lose her humanity, her identity. She had spent most of her life dealing with one gift to have anything else thrown at her was too much, all she wanted was time to adjust and process. As Kathryn sat alone in one of the medical offices Rana returned to present her with an option. Out of all the memories Kathryn had, this one felt the most vivid of them all.

“Kathryn I understand how scary this can be so the doctors can help you.”
“They can? How exactly?”
“They have been developing a formula which can slow down the genetic rate of mutation. This will allow your body time to adjust.”
“This is perfect, exactly what I want. How do I get it?”
“It is experimental, there will be side effects.”
“Rana please I don’t care. After everything that had happened I can’t handle everything at once.”

Rana went away and returned with 2 doctors who injected with chemical compound and left her to sleep off the initial pain. At the time Kathryn had not thought about the true nature of her words “I don’t care” if she had thought about it more she may have realised taking the drug was the worst mistake of her life. The side effects were temporary at first but eventually one became obviously permanent. Kathryn’s cells had slowed dying to the point where the average life span of one was 30 times that of a normal human cell. What that meant for Kathryn as a whole was she would age at a very slow rate and outlive every 2 generations of people, a feeling she did not enjoy.

Kathryn had just been given what most people would dream of, a chance to live longer than anyone else and yet she hated the idea. Kathryn was slowly welcomed into the community and eventually became an important member but it was those dark days Kathryn regretted because now she had no control over the future and no control over herself, she was now completely in Helen’s hands.

For a brief moment Kathryn regained consciousness, her vision blurry and her mind all over the place she thought she saw Helen standing over by some machines. She knew what was wrong with her own body but she needed Helen to know, she tried to get the words out but all she could manage were two before her whole body surged again.

“Brain Scan”

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen’s breaths slowed to a steady rhythm as she tried to process what had just happened in the last few minutes. She knew from the moment Kathryn was wheeled into the Infirmary when she first appeared injured on the Sanctuary doorstep, that something was not right. Well, it did come as a shock when Kathryn appeared at all, since she believed her to be dead. But in the last few days, Helen had learned more about her, than the last years they spent together at Oxford. Time can be an amazing teacher, but also a great curse.

Then Helen took a moment of sadness. A realisation that consumed her very soul. Time was also a lonely warrior, and made her realised how much time had truly passed. She could never imagine re-living those long years again, because it was not only filled with her greatest triumphs, but also her greatest failures. But it could not be re-written.

The moment Kathryn slipped into a relaxed state, Helen still continued to move around the room like a frantic moth, reading the monitors and adjusting settings as she went. Once that was attended to, Helen went up to Kathryn and placed the back on her hand on her forehead to determine her fever. It was starting to cool down now, which was a very good sign. She only hoped that it would remain this steady. There was a slight stir from Kathryn, and all of sudden, she began to open her mouth to speak. Helen leaned closer, trying to decipher the woman’s soft words. They were hoarse, but she was still slightly conscious.

Brain scan. Helen blinked, as she stood back up. The brain scan was already next on her list, but given the urgency in the woman’s first, it needed to be top priority. Then Helen rushed to work immediately. She attached the IV drip to the corner of the bed, and re-attached a portable heart monitor, then she began to wheel Kathryn in the room next door where the large CT scanner sat idle in the dark room. Switching on the lights and the scanner, Helen positioned Kathryn’s head just under scanner. Once she prepared the patient, Helen seated herself at the set of monitors behind a thick glass. Typing furiously at the controls to get the machine started, the scanner whizzed into life and began the scan immediately. A light brushed over Kathryn’s head, as it scanned every inch of her skull in order to pick up any anomalies that needed to be made aware.

Once the scan was done, it took all but several minutes for Kathryn’s brain scan to show up on the monitors. Helen blinked several times, as she tried to process the image before her. Several black spots appeared like small masses located at the start of her spinal cord. The crucial point of the main nerves to the brain. But as the scan began to update itself every few minutes, she noticed more and more spots began to appear around the region. At an alarming rate. Entering a few digits on the keyboard, she zoomed in to get a clearer picture of the masses. They almost looked tumorous, however even tumours do not grow at this speed.

But that was not all the brain showed. The scan also showed an added mass onto the Cerebral Cortex, something Helen had not seen in any human brain scan. The mass is positioned along the Left Hemisphere, which suggests how her memories and intelligence has somewhat, enhanced. This certainly sparked Helen’s interest. It was almost as if Kathryn’s brain had….Mutated. The most likely cause would have been the abnormal implant into the woman’s knee. Overtime, the abnormal cells took control of the brain, and not only helped her to heal and live longer, but also allowed her memory capacity to increase almost tenfold.

She would need to study the cells more closely, but if her theory was correct – which it usually is – The brain growth could continue to expand, and in any case, begin to leave permanent damage. Over 113 years, the brain has mutated. Yet now, it could be for the worst.

Helen swallowed bile that accumulated in her throat, as she glanced over to the woman’s relaxed form. Rising from her seat, she wheeled her back into the Infirmary, and she transferred the data to her portable tablet for further examination. For now, the woman was stable.

Seating herself on the edge of the woman’s bed, she glanced over at Kathryn for a few moments. What would become of her?

Once Kathryn regained more consciousness, she would need to talk to her before any further examination. She may even have to perform a biopsy, from both her knee and her brain in order to compare the abnormal cells which were rapidly multiplying.

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[DR KATHRYN LAWSON]

Kathryn’s mind began to race, the pain had subsided for the moment but she knew it was only a matter of time before it returned. As she slowly opened her eyes she could see Helen was reading some of her notes at the foot of her bed. Maybe she expected to be alone because the site of Helen startled her, her nerves had been so severely heightened that just mere site of someone had sent her brain into overdrive. Kathryn knew what to do to stop this, in her drugged state the idea had come to her, she wasn’t sure if it would permanently fix the problem but at the very least she knew that she wouldn’t be a danger. But how would she escape? There was no way Helen would simply let her past, too many thoughts and emotions now clouded her mind she couldn’t take it and screamed at the top of her lungs.

The sudden roar had got Helen’s attention and Kathryn could see she was fearful but at this point she didn’t care, she needed energy and fast. She rose quickly tearing off all the leads and cables which had been monitoring her, she pushed the instrument table away from her slamming it into the wall; the sound of metal instruments crashing to the ground filled the air. By this point Kathryn was enraged her emotions at boiling point none of which she could control, she didn’t want to feel like this but she needed to get out of there quickly before she exploded. By this stage Helen had moved to block the door, a move Kathryn had expected.

“Get out of the way Helen; please just get out of the way.”

Helen wasn’t going to move, she was trying to reason with her. It was clear Helen was thinking something else; did she think these actions were intentional? Her rage now boiled over.

“FOR GOD SAKE HELEN, GET OUT OF MY WAY I KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. I AM NOT SOME PET PROJECT OF YOURS TO STUDY.”

The yelling had seemed to do the trick; confused and clearly hurt Helen took a step to the side and let Kathryn through the door. Kathryn took off down the corridor and used the mental map she had created to take another turn down the back corridor behind the infirmary. As Kathryn raced down the corridor she could hear the sound of thundering heals behind her and it was clear Helen had decided to chase after all, it didn’t matter Kathryn had found what she was after. She stopped in front of one of two giant power cables which fed the EM shield on this side of the mansion and looked at them for a moment. It was also clear that Helen had stopped as well and as she turned around Helen had one of the stunners in her hands, Helen was pleading but Kathryn couldn’t go back now.

“I am sorry Helen about before but I have to do this.”

In one motion Kathryn reached out with her right arm and snapped the cable in two sending the millions of volts into her body. What would normally kill a human instantly did the exact opposite with Kathryn the electricity passed through her as if she were part of the cable but for each bit of energy that passed through her more came out the other side; her plan was working much to her delight. Kathryn felt the energy slowly disappear from her body and before she had drained the sanctuary completely of its shield she put the cable down and sat on the floor. And for the first time in months she could genuinely say she felt fine, she just wasn’t sure for how long.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen had been attending to her paperwork, and analysis that she was undergoing on her portable tablet. She hated to leave Kathryn given the current crisis, and so preferred to be conducting her work in close range. But there were still several things that did not add up. Given the responses in the woman’s brain, any activity should be limited. Brain functions should have been rendered limited, and yet although the signals were above normal, they were not affecting her physical and verbal mobility whatsoever. Perhaps it was the mutated cells keeping the woman in peak condition.

She needed to know the details of Kathryn’s surgery, and the only way she could find out the truth, was to ask the woman herself. Before Helen could continue her diagnosis, a shrill scream cried out behind her causing Helen to wince and turn around to find Kathryn rising immediately from her bed. It all happened much too quickly, as Kathryn began to rip out her IV cords and other machines that were trying to keep her alive. Putting down her portable tablet, she faced Kathryn with a look of bewilderment.

”…What on Earth!?”

Helen blinked as she tried to calm the woman down with reassuring hands, but something was telling her that she was not herself. Suddenly, Kathryn pushed away an instrument-filled table as it crashed against the wall, and all the metal pieces hitting the floor with a loud rattle. Helen stepped back, as Kathryn moved forward like a force not to be reckoned with. Kathryn was not herself. Then Helen made her way to the door before she did, as her slender form blocked the exit.

”Kathryn, don’t you understand? I am trying to help you. Allow me to help you!” Helen clenched her jaw, and stared at the woman with icy blue eyes. She was both concerned, and somewhat fearful. What had this woman become?

Helen bit back the next string of words that came out from Kathryn’s mouth. Her lips twisted in both hurt and anger, and she could not believe what her friend had just said. Simple words, but they hit Helen to the core. She hated being analysed like this, and having her medical knowledge questioned. Helen had dealt with a lot of people with her time, and what hurt the most was that those words came from a friend. Maybe Helen was getting too emotionally attached to people these days. She was better off living her life as an ice queen. Devoured of emotions. Focused on her work. Not allowing any person to get close to her, no matter what the situation. And now, she seemed vulnerable. How did she ever become like this over the years?

Helen angrily clenched her jaw, as she stepped aside, and allowed Kathryn to do whatever her crazed mind had in store for her. Watching the woman run off down the corridor, Helen turned to the small desk in the corner, and retrieved a Stun gun from the drawer. She always had one in the Infirmary, in case of any emergency. And hidden, for obvious reasons. With the loaded weapon in hand, she bolted down the corridor after the woman. Helen did not want to shoot Kathryn, but at the state of the woman’s mindset, she may not have any other choice.

And she will not hesitate when that time came.

Helen followed in pursuit, ”Kathryn! Stop this madness! Why can’t you be reasonable?” She had followed the woman all the way outside, and watched as she picked up both of the cables which fed power to the Sanctuary, and in turn, it’s EM shield. Helen stopped a small distance away, as she pointed the stunner directly at her. ”Kathryn, I am trying to save your life. What makes you think otherwise?” Helen’s face softened, ”….Don’t make me do this. I am not the woman you once knew back at Oxford. I am trying to be reasonable. Confide in me. Please.”

The next few moments happened much too fast. Suddenly, Kathryn ignored Helen’s pleas as she snapped the cabled in two, sending thousands of jolts of electricity through Kathryn’s body. Helen could feel the sizzle in the air, as she took a few steps back to avoid any wayward sparks. The sudden flashed of light blurred Helen’s vision slightly, but in seconds, it was over. Helen slowly lowered her weapon, yet she was still unseasy around her. Helen frowned, and looked down at Kathryn’s seated form.

”Mind telling me what just happened?! If you even bothered to inform me of any details of the surgery, I could have come up with something much more safer. I offered my help, and you threw it away.”

It was clearly obvious that Helen was far from happy. And now the Sanctuary was vulnerable.

[DR KATHRYN LAWSON]

Kathryn looked up at Helen; she wasn’t surprised at all that she was angry she had just drained a significant portion of energy out of the Sanctuaries defences. Kathryn didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter though Helen was spending too long trying to find a solution when she didn’t have the time. Had Kathryn not done something in that moment she would have been dead within hours, trying to make Helen understand this might be a tough sell though. Kathryn got up and dusted herself off, her face was calm and her thought process was clear for the first time in months she could actually think.
“Understand something Helen, what I just did was the only thing that could have been done to save me. I will admit in my delirious state the idea came to me and if I didn’t act then and there I would have been dead within hours. I did value your help and I did not throw it away but the amount of energy I needed could not be drawn from any machine here I had no choice. And if I had told you would you have believed me? Honestly? I doubt it. Even I wouldn’t have believed what I was saying I had to act, I am sorry for doing so but I had no choice.”

Kathryn was calm and relaxed as she was talking, she felt as though she could actually do something to help here and now she could at least give Helen a proper explanation.

“In Hollow Earth I was given a drug which was an extremely potent form of liquefied carbon, the base from which all energy is taken. This drug allowed my body to slowly accept the changes that were occurring within my body over an extended period. The reason I didn’t tell you this earlier was because I was in a withdrawal state and my mind couldn’t handle details. Too much had happened recently for me to be able to think. “

She looked over at Helen and gave her a smile; it was nice to be able to talk without the stress that had plagued her for so long. She looked up at the ceiling and then back at the floor before continuing.

“Without the drug in my system the changes were happening too fast, so fast that it would kill me. At times I was unable to control my actions and my thought process and that’s why I returned to alcohol to take some control back. The jolt you gave me bought me some time so I must thank you for that.”

Kathryn turned around and looked at the cable, she did feel bad for having caused such a mess and decided to apologise again for her actions.
“Once again Helen I apologise for causing this, but I must tell you I am not sure how long I can be in this state. The huge amount of energy I took was the equivalent of one shot of the drug so I would gather I have a month before I return to my previous state. “

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen gritted her teeth in an attempt to hold back any words that may become hurtful. She was hardly the type of person to throw abusive remarks, even to someone she had known for years, but Helen did not like to be left in the dark in such things. She needed to know what she was dealing with. When someone acts recklessly in the watchful eye of Helen – in her own home – Helen would not take this situation lightly. No, she was far from the naïve woman she once was in her youth. Times were changing, and regrettably, so was she. She had her fair share of dishonest, disloyal, and reckless acquaintances and even friends, over the years. And each time delivered a hurtful blow. And it was no wonder Helen was very used to doing her own thing. She was always used to getting her own way, and when that control has been hindered, her senses go on alert. She simply could not stand back and allow the defences of her Sanctuary to be disabled by a woman who had conveniently left out that detail of her surgery. Kathryn had plenty of time to tell her, and yet she didn’t.

Helen shook her head in disbelief, ”And yet you chose to render my Sanctuary – my home - defenceless.” She raised her chin, and peered at Kathryn with a furious look on her face, ”I could have found you an alternative solution, Kathryn. How do you expect me to help you, when you hold crucial information back? Honestly Kathryn. I am not a mind-reader, and I couldn’t have known in time. You have been lost for years, and I had believed you to be dead after spending months searching. Years, even. There were days when I held off my research at Oxford in order to search for you. “

She tilted her head to one side, and her stern expression finally softened. ”….Why have you been hiding all this time? You had a choice to come back. I could have offered you solace within the Sanctuary. I could have found a cure, or an alternative, years ago.” Helen allowed her arms to drop by her side, clearly frustrated. ”Now among the recent Abnormal invasion, I have a new crisis at hand. It just keeps getting better.” She said the last statement, quite bitterly, and shook her head lightly once more.

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[DR KATHRYN LAWSON]

OOC: Decided to change the colour of the spoken text. Easier for me to read

Kathryn realised she had made a mistake a huge one. As much as she had hated to admit it she had thrown all the trust back in Helen’s face and now she wasn’t sure how to fix the problem. It was the one thing Kathryn hated above all else to screw up friendships she had worked so hard to keep together. She put her back to the wall and slid down until she was right back where she had started this episode, ashamed, depressed she couldn’t look at Helen properly. She needed to find words but she couldn’t bring herself to speak for the first time in a very long time she had no answers.
Kathryn tilted her head down and looked at the floor, softly words finally did come. “You deserve to be angry, I know what I did was wrong. This place is your home and I just cut one of its defences. I didn’t hold anything back Helen, you see for the last few months I have felt like a prisoner in my own body, unable to control my actions. At times I have said things but really I have been screaming that it’s not the truth. I guess you could say I feel like I have been possessed.”
Kathryn again looked at the floor unable to look at Helen.
“If I had been able to tell you I would have the first moment I arrived here, but I couldn’t”

Kathryn knew full well how brilliant Helen was but in everything that had physically happened to her Kathryn had been unable to tell Helen everything. It had not been my choice it was only now that her mind has been put back together, like the pieces of a puzzle finally reformed. But clearly this was not all Helen was concerned about and it had been unexpected. Kathryn had not been taken to Hollow Earth by choice; the experiments had not been totally her choice either but her decision to stay had all been hers because she had a purpose. What she had failed to take into consideration was the impact she had on others especially Helen. Growing up Kathryn had never felt important to anyone, brushed off by her parents and expected to do what she was told she was never taken seriously when she wanted to do something else. Making any friends was always tough for her having put so many walls up in her life.

She put her head between her knees and for a few moments tried to pretend that none of this had happened that the last 113 had just been a dream and that she had never left Sydney. She had her reasons for staying in Hollow Earth and each time she thought about them they sounded selfish and crude. Kathryn had changed a lot from the young woman who was naive about the world, she was now battled scared, mentally & physically and hated herself for it. “I could give you many reasons why I hid in Hollow Earth, I could tell you I found purpose, that I wasn’t ridiculed for my ideas, that my ability to learn could be endless but I guess I would be lying to myself if I did say that.”
Of course she would be lying to herself the reason was so much simpler than that, so blindingly obvious to herself it had only occurred to her now. “I hid because I thought I had nothing to come back too. I felt lost and that I wasn’t wanted by anyone anymore, I didn’t understand that I could come here, I didn’t understand anything. It’s funny I have this incredibly high IQ and right now I feel like a child caught in the middle of a storm.”

Kathryn closed her eyes trying to stop the tears that had started to fall, her life now felt like one giant mess and that every step she made was another failure someone else had to clean up. She had never recovered fully from her fight with Helen it had been the trigger for this whole thing. “My family hated me, Helen. Most of my colleagues thought my Archaeological theories were insane and the only friend...s...I thought i had lost. You might not see my reasoning but put yourself in my mind for just a moment Helen, if you thought you had lost everything you have ever loved and worked for and you couldn’t fight would you honestly return if it hurt so much?”

She knew Helen would try to understand but she wasn’t sure if she could. They were scientists but from opposite ends of the spectrum, their theories often clashed but they had always got passed it. Maybe Kathryn couldn’t belong in this world after all. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness and I am not sure you would want to Helen, I could apologise all night but I can hear the bitterness in your voice”

Kathryn decided to let it go before she could say anything she may regret. Her thoughts went to the abnormal invasion it had been happening around her and now it was making Helen’s life a living hell. At the very least maybe she could be of some use in trying to quell the ever growing situation. She knew that not all the abnormals would believe in invasion some just needed a new home. “There were two distinct groups in Praxis those who saw people on the surface as a threat and those who didn’t. I can tell you now Helen that if the military up here take any action and I have no doubt they would be, than not only would the solders be in trouble but millions of innocent lives with no understanding of what they have walked into.”

Kathryn looked down at her feet again not sure if she would ever feel needed again.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen felt defeated. She simply did not know what to think any more.

She noticed Kathryn was now avoiding her gaze. Helen did not intend for any of this to happen, but when her home is threatened in any way, then she would take immediate action. The Sanctuary was not just her home. It was her life’s work. In honour of her father Gregory Magnus, and to provide safety to those who are misunderstood in the world. Abnormals needed her protection. Yet how can she do her job when it is being threatened? Naturally, she needed to take extreme precautions and do whatever was necessary to keep it thriving. Whatever was a threat to the Sanctuary, was a threat to her. Times have changed, and she was not the woman she was fifty years ago.

Helen clenched her jaw as she listened to Kathryn’s every word. Despite everything, she was one of her remaining friends from her time at Oxford those many years ago. She’d hate for something like this to hinder their friendship, but Helen was on guard. Her defences were like an iron forte, and she kept up that wall for over a hundred years now. But she was not a selfish woman, and whatever her decisions are, were not just on a personal level.

”Listen – I do not blame you for what happened to you all those years ago. I am highly dedicated to my father’s cause, and I will do whatever is necessary to preserve that. You will find solace in here, but I need to formulate a way to reignite your original cell structure. Draining my Sanctuary of its defences is not an option.” Helen glanced down at the sitting form of Kathryn, as her lips curled in frustration. She took a deep breath and continued.” Given recent events, I will not lose this Sanctuary – my home – Especially since Earth is being invaded by those who resided in Hollow Earth. My work is always being threatened by those who oppose, and I will not allow it to happen. At any cost. In order for me to help you, I need to make sure you are protected. I can’t do that when my home is being exposed. We are not just dealing with Abnormal crisis, but governmental as well.”

Helen felt like she was giving a lecture. But her blood had been boiling for quite some time. Was her work not worth anything anymore? How can she help others, if they do not allow her to?

She shook her head in disbelief, ”Nonsense. You were always highly valued at Oxford. Your talents even sparked my interest. What makes you think you were meant nothing?” Helen could not believe what Kathryn was saying. At Kathryn’s next remark, it stung straight to Helen’s heart. ‘You might not see my reasoning but put yourself in my mind for just a moment Helen, if you thought you had lost everything you have ever loved and worked for and you couldn’t fight would you honestly return if it hurt so much?’

Helen stood there for a few moments. How dare she say such a thing. It hurt. It truly did. Little did she know what Helen had been through in the last one hundred years. And Kathryn thought she had problems? Helen stared at the woman, with tears glistening in her eyes. There was a moment when Helen looked away, as the anger bubbled deep within her. No, she would not let this get to her. She was much stronger than this. Fighting back the urge to let the tears fall, Helen let her arms fall to her sides, stunner still clutched in her right hand. Slowly, Helen walked closer to Kathryn, and found herself leaning against the wall directly beside her. She briefly stood there for a few minutes, until she let her form slide down in a sitting position.

She shook her head, in disbelief, ”You have no idea what I’ve lost, Kathryn. I’ve buried al lot of friends. Colleagues. Lovers….A daughter. I have lost more than you can ever imagine.” Helen looked up at the sky. The breeze outside was welcoming, and thankfully, helped to dry her tears more quickly. One thing she hated, was other people see her like this. The great Helen Magnus was always perceived as invincible. Strong. Even cold-hearted. She denied neither of those things, but when someone sees her vulnerable, they get to see her in a whole other light. And it was not always for the best. ”I have change a lot since our last meeting. I’m not the woman you once knew. There was a time when I would forgive without a heart-beat. Times have changed now, Kathryn. Though one thing remains the same – I will never turn away from someone in need.”

Helen took in a deep breath. ”The world is changing far quicker than I could have ever imagined. I am trying desperately to bring this situation under control. But I will not stop looking for Adam. He is my goal, and I will see to it that I will end his delusions once and for all.” Helen shifted in her position, until finally, she decided to get back up. There was far too much to do. Adam needed to be found, and fast. She was more than willing to give her life in order to stop him. That’s how desperate this situation had become.

She turned to look at Kathryn once again, ”…As for you. There may be a safer way that we can deliver energy to you system. It may be possible that Nikola Tesla can come up with a solution. Heaven forbid, if he is willing to comply. “

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[DR KATHRYN LAWSON]

“I Understand Helen”

It was the only sentence Kathryn managed to get out of her mouth, she now had got to a point where she just wanted to hide herself away and stay out of sight. Maybe now this would give Helen a chance to get on with things and not have to worry about her. With a clear head everything that had happened to Kathryn over the past two months started to play in her head and none of it was a fun, so much death and destruction so much pain and suffering. Kathryn got up and stared at Helen for what seemed like an eternity, the pain was etched all over Kathryn’s face but she stood firm showing the resilience she once had was still there.

“I am going to head back to my room and lock the door and sleep for as long as this battered body needs. I won’t bother you and I shall leave you to work on abnormals who clearly need your help more than I. If you need my help for any reason you know where to find me, but I doubt I shall be bothered.”

There was clearly some defeat in Kathryn’s voice; she decided the out of site out of mind plan would be best for now. Hopefully after this madness she may be able to begin to repair her friendship with Helen but for the moment she needed her space. Kathryn slowly walked away with a slight limp to her left side not looking back as she headed to her room.