Chapter X
It's Alive!
Dr. Pretorius stared at them. He held the jar and stared, his gaze sometimes straying to the jar but mostly centred on his two stooges. It had been several minutes, and both Dieter and Friedrich were beginning to feel a bit self-conscious.
"So, uh," said Dieter as he and Friedrich began backing out of the room. "If that's all, we're just going to the staff break room. But, you know, if you need anything else..."
"If I need anything else?" yelled Pretorius furiously. "If I need anything else! You haven't even explained this yet!" he screamed, indicating the brain floating in his arms.
"Well, it's a brain," said Friedrich, telling the doctor just about everything he understood about the situation.
"I can see it's a brain, you fool!" shouted the doctor. "I told you to bring me the body of Valeria Engel! So why have you brought me this?"
"I think you said for us to bring you her brain," Dieter suggested. "I'm pretty sure you said, 'Bring me Valeria Engel's brain.'"
"You wouldn't want the rest of her," Friedrich added. "There really wasn't much left that would have been any good to you."
Doctor Pretorius began to calm down, as at this point he couldn't say for sure what he might have said earlier. 'Bring me Valeria Engel's brain' did sound like the type of thing he might say in a dramatic moment.
"But how can I be sure this truly is Valeria Engel's brain?" he asked, holding up the jar to view the brain within.
"Well it was the only one that wasn't smash..." Friedrich started to say before Dieter kicked him.
"Oh don't worry about that, doc," said Dieter. "Everything was really well organized. All the drawers, and shelves, and jars and things. Everything in its place, filed away perfectly."
"That's right," said Friedrich. "Alphabetical, even."
"No mistake doc, that's your brain."
Doctor Pretorius was obviously thinking through the situation. "The brain is preserved in Formaldehyde. Do you know what formaldehyde preservative does to a brain?"
Dieter and Friedrich looked at each other. "Preserves it?" Dieter suggested with a shrug.
"It can cause irreversible cross-linking of the primary amino groups in the proteins," Pretorius explained. "There has also been damage to the cerebral cortex. It was obviously not removed with reuse in mind. The medulla is intact, though..."
"Well there you go," said Dieter encouragingly. "You got a good medulla, and that's a start!"
"Sure!" Friedrich joined in. "Rinse it out, scrape off the bad bits. It should be fine."
Pretorius looked dubious, but Dieter continued to encourage him. "This is a brain, doc, and brains is what you do! You can do this, you know you can!"
"Rinse it out? Scrape off the bad bits?" Pretorius considered the suggestion. "I suppose that a thorough rinse in distilled water could halt the effects of the formaldehyde. Then any damage could be carefully removed, and replaced with cells from the Austrian body's brain. Do you know, it's just as I stated in my thesis. They called me mad, at the Academy..."
"Not just at the Academy," said Friedrich.
"...but now, I'll prove them all wrong!"
Doctor Pretorius set the jar down on the laboratory table, threw some switches on the console behind him, and then put on a pair of rubber gloves with renewed enthusiasm. He turned to the brain, and removed the lid from the jar.
"Why is there a chrysanthemum floating in here?"
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VVV
Doctor Pretorius worked furiously through the night, preparing the brain. He believed the brain to be that of Dr. Valeria Engel, brilliant German billionaire, but unbeknownst to him it had been exchanged for the brain of Steve Frank, an American student on holiday in Eastern Europe who unfortunately died in a typical Transylvanian fashion. The story of how Steve Frank ended up in this situation is told in Bride of the Wolf. A brilliant story, you should go back and read it if you haven't done so yet.
The body arrived from Austria shortly after midnight, perfectly preserved as if it had been dead only a few hours rather than weeks, due to the interventions of Valeria Engel. Combining body and brain was a task that would have been beyond even the world's most brilliant neurosurgeons, and yet, using the processes developed and explained to him by Dr. Engel, it was mere child's play for Dr. Pretorius. When the final step was performed, and life was returned to this empty vessel, life would also be brought to the cells connecting body and brain. That final moment had arrived.
Dr. Pretorius stood at the centre of the great underground laboratory. On the platform before him was a table, and strapped to that table was the lifeless body of a young girl, perhaps nineteen years old, now fully prepared for reanimation with the mind of Valeria Engel. This girl would be Valeria Engel! It was an awesome moment.
"Maybe, could you explain one more time?" asked Dieter.
Dr. Pretorius sighed, and led the two henchmen to the control panel. "Once I am on the platform, I will indicate to you to turn the wheel, clockwise. As the two of you turn the wheel, I will be raised with the platform to the roof. Once I am at the roof, lock the wheel in place."
Pretorius moved along the panel to a series of enormous throw switches. "When I tell you to, I want you to throw switch number one. Not before I tell you though, do you understand?"
Dieter and Friedrich nodded their understanding.
"If the first switch is not enough, I will indicate that you are to throw the second switch. I hope it does not come to this. But if I ask, you must throw the second switch."
"Okay doc," agreed Dieter. "We're gonna do exactly what you say."
"Good," said Pretorius. "But under no circumstances, must you ever throw the third switch! Promise me, you will not throw this switch!"
"But what if..." Friedrich began to ask.
"Under no circumstances!" screamed Pretorius. "Touch that switch, and you could kill us all!"
"Okay, okay," agreed Dieter. "You can trust us, doc. We're not even gonna look at that one."
Pretorius looked relieved. "Then it is time." He walked to the centre of the great cavern, and stepped up onto the platform. He looked at the body, his creation, and imagined it filled with life. After a silent moment, he was ready.
"Turn the wheel!" he called out to Dieter and Friedrich. Then, as the chains which were attached to the four corners of the platform began to pile up on the floor he added, "The other way!"
Dieter and Friedrich reversed direction and turned the enormous wheel, clockwise, hand over hand, and watched as Dr. Pretorius and the body were raised. When the platform finally reached the ceiling Pretorius called down, and Friedrich locked the wheel in place. They watched as Pretorius leaned over the body, making final checks and adjustments, until he finally called down:
"Throw the first switch!"
Friedrich went to the first switch and pushed it up, locking the enormous mechanism into position. Sparks crackled from the connection, and electricity immediately snaked across the ceiling of the cavern like lightning until it reached the platform above.
Pretorius bent over the body, as close as he dared while thousands of volts of electricity coursed through it, scrutinizing it for signs of life. He eventually gave up in frustration, turning to the pair below and calling out:
"Throw the second switch!"
Dieter was ready, and as soon as the order was given he pushed the massive switch up and into place. Sparks flew, and the switch briefly flamed and smoked as enormous amounts of power flowed through the metal connectors.
The ceiling was now alive with electricity, dozens of trails arcing across the cavern, seeking out the platform at the centre. The sound was unbearable, as electricity crashed into the platform like repeated strikes of lightning and thunder.
Pretorius examined the body. Something should have happened by now. He had performed every step, he was sure! Every step, every procedure, every preparation was performed exactly as required, and yet she did not live!
Pretorius leaned out over the edge of the platform. His frustration was so great, he was willing to try anything. Through the enormous din, over the almost continuous crashes of electricity, he called down:
"Throw... the third... switch!"
Dieter and Friedrich stared at each other, wondering what to do. Finally Dieter called back through the thunder, "No, master! Not... the third... switch!"
Friedrich agreed, "We must never throw... the third... switch!"
"I'm telling you to throw the third switch!" screamed Pretorius. "I am ordering you! Throw it now!"
Dieter and Friedrich looked at each other as if they might never see each other again. Then they moved slowly to the third switch. Grabbing the enormous handle, they moved it into position together.
Power immediately exploded through the connection, throwing the two minions across the room. Electricity arced across the chains which hung from the platform, like demons ascending Jacob's ladder to the heavens. The room was thick with electricity, the very air crackling with blue flashes. Dieter and Friedrich could not raise themselves from where they lay without feeling the sparks on their faces and shoulders, and so remained flat on the ground.
Pretorius checked the body for signs of life once again. The face of the corpse glowed as if lit from within as the power raged through its cells, but the body did not move.
Nothing could withstand such power for long. Within moments one of the massive generators at the side of the room exploded, sending flames and shrapnel spinning across the cavern. Soon each machine in turn exploded, filling the room with smoke. One mighty rupture shook the wheel used to raise the platform, knocking loose the locking mechanism. Before it could reconnect, the platform had fallen half-way to the floor, but halted in the air, left hanging precariously at an odd angle.
With most of the electricity knocked out by the explosions, Dieter and Friedrich were able to race back to the control panel, pulling the three switches and bringing the chaos to an end. The small fires quickly burnt out, and the smoke dissipated.
Dr. Pretorius stood from where he had fallen on the half-toppled platform.
"Quickly, bring me down!" he commanded.
Dieter and Friedrich turned the great wheel, bringing the platform back to the ground. When it was safely on the floor they returned to Pretorius' side.
The doctor searched the body once again for signs of life. He felt the mouth for breath, searched the wrist for a pulse, listened for the faintest of heartbeats with his stethoscope. There was nothing.
He tried everything again, but found no sign of life. Something had escaped him, some essential process, and his creation would not live. With a heavy heart, Pretorius was finally forced to concede defeat. Dieter and Friedrich watched as the man turned, broken, and walked away from his creation. His failure.
"uhhh, mm..."
The slightest of sounds made Dieter turn. "Hey doc! Come back!" he called out.
The doctor turned, excitement bringing the usual madness back to his cheeks. He flew back to the table as he shouted:
"She's alive! Alive!"
Pretorius gazed down upon his creation, now very obviously breathing on her own as she stirred in her slumber.
"Awaken!" he commanded. "Awaken, my beautiful creation. Awaken from your eternal slumber!"
The young woman suddenly sat up, snapping the leather restraints which had secured her to the table with the strength of the undead.
"I'm awake!" she called out without opening her eyes. "I won't be late for school!"
"It is time for you to stand," Pretorius told her. "Stand, and walk!"
Still without once opening her eyes, the young woman lay back on the table and rolled over to lie on her front.
"Just five more minutes, okay Mom?"
A/N: Just a short chapter, but an important one! After so much anguish in Bride of the Wolf, Steve is finally back! And one of literature's greatest and most important characters, Dr. Pretorius, who hasn't been seen since Bride of Frankenstein in 1935, finally makes his triumphant return. But next week, we finally truly meet Frauleinstein! And she and Dr. Pretorius don't exactly see eye to eye...