Viktor headed back out into the brisk air and his waiting taxi. He knew as soon as he closed the door and heard the familiar chime of the bell above the door that he would never see Alfonse again. One way or the other, their history together had just come to an end.
4
Rufus and Dr. Peters worked in the near darkness of Evan’s laboratory. Evan had given Thorn a walk-through and had shown all of the different projects that he had completed and the ones that he was in the middle of. Then he showed Thorn the ones that had him stymied. His biggest project was the one he had hoped would bring the upcoming war to a quick end…but he kept hitting dead ends. His idea was to design a weapon that only targeted natural born vampires. But the enzyme that the weapon was based on was too unstable and tended to also target living creatures as well. Evan had hoped to perfect the weapon prior to the battle’s start and once deployed, it could devastate a huge portion of the Sicarii’s forces, but with the setbacks and dead ends he kept hitting, the project was about to be shelved.
“This enzyme that you base your weapon on, it is only found in natural born vampires, oui ?” Thorn asked Evan as he read through his notes.
“Well, yes and no.” Dr. Peters set down the slides he had been working with and pulled another notebook from his shelf. “If you look here,” Evan flipped to a page in the other book, “the same enzyme is also present in natural born werewolves. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how.”
Thorn looked up at him with a wry smile. “For the life of you? This is funny, non ?” he chuckled.
Evan gave Thorn an odd look of misunderstanding until he realized the joke that Rufus had made. “Ah. Yes. I get it now.” Evan flustered. “Sorry, it’s just a phrase that…”
“ Non , non it is quite alright. I tend to poke fun at such things simply because I, too, say such things and…” Thorn glanced away embarrassed, “I wish it were still true.”
Evan sat quietly with Thorn for a time and shared a moment of regret. A camaraderie between two beings who both wished their fates had been different. Finally, Thorn looked up and broke the silence. “Perhaps there is something to this enzyme, oui ? Something that binds all supernatural beings together?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking when I stumbled upon it,” Evan explained, almost excitedly. He pulled two more not ebooks and flipped through them. “If you’ll look here, I found the same enzyme in the blood workups on trolls. And here, I found it in some of the woodland Lesser Elves. But…here, see? Nothing in the Greater Elves. And here, there’s nothing in ogres or gargoyles.”
Thorn read through Evan’s notes and considered his fin dings. “Do you know if the Lesser Elves were all natural born?”
Evan turned a puzzled look toward Rufus. “I don’t unde rstand. All elves would have to be natural born, wouldn’t they? I mean, an elf isn’t going to bite a human and transmit a virus…”
“ Non , you misunderstand me.” Rufus was shaking his head. He searched for the right words in English. “In lore and history, many elves and humans have…inter-bred, oui ? They have…hybrid children. Some would still have the characteristics of the Elven peoples, and would be required to be raised as elves.”
Evan sat down slowly, digesting this bit of news. “I wasn’t aware of this.”
“ Oui , it has happened many times. And if the human genes are passed on to their offspring, it could disrupt this enzyme, non ?”
Evan considered this idea and nodded his head. “I suppose it could. But it still leaves me with the problem of separating the enzyme base so that it only affects vampires and not the elves. Or to affect only the werewolf and not the vampire. Or to only affect an elf and not…”
“Why?” Thorn asked.
Evan was shocked at Thorn’s question. How could he ask why? Their goal at the moment was only to
4
Rufus and Dr. Peters worked in the near darkness of Evan’s laboratory. Evan had given Thorn a walk-through and had shown all of the different projects that he had completed and the ones that he was in the middle of. Then he showed Thorn the ones that had him stymied. His biggest project was the one he had hoped would bring the upcoming war to a quick end…but he kept hitting dead ends. His idea was to design a weapon that only targeted natural born vampires. But the enzyme that the weapon was based on was too unstable and tended to also target living creatures as well. Evan had hoped to perfect the weapon prior to the battle’s start and once deployed, it could devastate a huge portion of the Sicarii’s forces, but with the setbacks and dead ends he kept hitting, the project was about to be shelved.
“This enzyme that you base your weapon on, it is only found in natural born vampires, oui ?” Thorn asked Evan as he read through his notes.
“Well, yes and no.” Dr. Peters set down the slides he had been working with and pulled another notebook from his shelf. “If you look here,” Evan flipped to a page in the other book, “the same enzyme is also present in natural born werewolves. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how.”
Thorn looked up at him with a wry smile. “For the life of you? This is funny, non ?” he chuckled.
Evan gave Thorn an odd look of misunderstanding until he realized the joke that Rufus had made. “Ah. Yes. I get it now.” Evan flustered. “Sorry, it’s just a phrase that…”
“ Non , non it is quite alright. I tend to poke fun at such things simply because I, too, say such things and…” Thorn glanced away embarrassed, “I wish it were still true.”
Evan sat quietly with Thorn for a time and shared a moment of regret. A camaraderie between two beings who both wished their fates had been different. Finally, Thorn looked up and broke the silence. “Perhaps there is something to this enzyme, oui ? Something that binds all supernatural beings together?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking when I stumbled upon it,” Evan explained, almost excitedly. He pulled two more not ebooks and flipped through them. “If you’ll look here, I found the same enzyme in the blood workups on trolls. And here, I found it in some of the woodland Lesser Elves. But…here, see? Nothing in the Greater Elves. And here, there’s nothing in ogres or gargoyles.”
Thorn read through Evan’s notes and considered his fin dings. “Do you know if the Lesser Elves were all natural born?”
Evan turned a puzzled look toward Rufus. “I don’t unde rstand. All elves would have to be natural born, wouldn’t they? I mean, an elf isn’t going to bite a human and transmit a virus…”
“ Non , you misunderstand me.” Rufus was shaking his head. He searched for the right words in English. “In lore and history, many elves and humans have…inter-bred, oui ? They have…hybrid children. Some would still have the characteristics of the Elven peoples, and would be required to be raised as elves.”
Evan sat down slowly, digesting this bit of news. “I wasn’t aware of this.”
“ Oui , it has happened many times. And if the human genes are passed on to their offspring, it could disrupt this enzyme, non ?”
Evan considered this idea and nodded his head. “I suppose it could. But it still leaves me with the problem of separating the enzyme base so that it only affects vampires and not the elves. Or to affect only the werewolf and not the vampire. Or to only affect an elf and not…”
“Why?” Thorn asked.
Evan was shocked at Thorn’s question. How could he ask why? Their goal at the moment was only to
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