Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 24: The Argument

After managing to get over his shock at the scene in front of him, James stared at Fuller.

"What. Happened. Here?!" he at last managed to half-gasp, half-hiss.

"Interesting things..." the man he thought he knew mused in wonder.

"Interesting. INTERESTING?" James might've hit the roof if he could fly. "Look at this!"

He gestured at the impact site right in front of his daughter's bed with a trembling hand. He was greeted there by another unpleasant sight: his daughter knocked out on the floor beside it.

Fuller, on the other hand, seemed as giddy as a teenage girl at a rock concert. "I know. Awesome, isn't it?"

James was positively shaking with a mixture of rage and bewilderment. "What did you do to her?"

"I merely told her what a good job she was doing for me," he said, as if talking about the weather. "And I told her about the errand I had you do. I don't get why she's so hostile towards me. She really needs to get that temper of hers in check..."

James realized with that exactly what went on here. "You activated that fail-safe didn't you...?"

"You wound me. I did no such thing. Intentionally."

James was outraged at his mellow demeanor. "She could've died... YOU could've died from this!"

"Please," Fuller said with a waving away of his hand. "She wouldn't have died. She couldn't even have kept conscious long enough to kill herself from the strain..."

"You... You've been looking at my notes, haven't you?" James whispered.

"I mill around." was Fuller's reply.

"What's wrong with you?!"

"Me? What's wrong with you?" He closed his eyes, shaking his head and smiling to himself. "You see, you're not thinking big. Your dreams are too small. What a pity."

"..."

"You really don't get out much, do you? You've created six powder kegs that might finally blast this Powered world wide open!"

"What are you even talking about?"

Fuller seemed genuinely surprised that James couldn't understand. "Really? Use your head. The first artificial superhumans created by one man... These creations of yours form six arrows against the human world! Think about it, man!"

"You were only... interested in their powers..."

"Not quite. I do like them for who they are, in a way... but they have a role to play. They're on one side, and the humans are on the other."

The words sent a chill down James's spine. "You plan to... start a war?"

Fuller finally turned around to leave the scene. "One day, sides will have to be chosen. Humans tend to fear what they don't understand. It's coming. Sooner or later."

Fuller walked away, leaving the scientist to wonder what kind of maniac he had been partnering up with for the last half-decade.