After bickering with Crysa for a few minutes, Sarah strode in silence after taking care of Mr. Fred’s body.

She honestly didn’t know why she reacted so strongly when the man died.

Perhaps it was Chimera’s Influence on her, as she was still dormant inside the blob's body.

Now her head was clear, her mind focused, and most important.

She finally started connecting the dots.

Dr. Pox was behind most of the things that had destroyed Sarah’s normal life, up to and including killing and or kidnapping her parents.

She would have to check in on that.

Also, there was a hidden element in the Hero’s League that was either working in concert, or is at least aware of Dr. Pox’s plan for humanity.

The experiments, the death children, and the need to keep Sarah in New Terra.

All of it pointed back to Crimson R.

It just made no sense after she thought about it logically.

Why would they just let her walk away with their prized bioweapon, if that was truly what they were using it for?

Unless the bioweapon wasn’t a bioweapon at all.

It was the next stage in an experiment, one that was being run by Dr. Pox on her.

Crimson R and her parent’s formula must be connected, and that meant that Dr. Pox was still controlling her movements.

She had already connected with each of the death children, and the only one that was remaining was Monica.

Sarah was getting stronger and more powers than ever flowed into her new body.

Now she was able to create limitless energy using her gifts.

If everything pointed to the truth it would mean just one thing.

She was Dr. Pox’s key to uplifting humanity.

Something about her original body must have allowed this change with Crimson R, as otherwise there was no reason for Pox to admit those things to her mother.

The formula in the memory matched the look of Crimson R almost completely.

Sarah shook her head.

There’s a final connection, Dr. Pox needs to take control of me in order to facilitate this plan.

He would know that I wouldn’t join him willingly, after what he did to my parents.

Sarah thought about the triggers, the mind controlled scientists, and Aura’s behaviour.

Monica must have some kind of control power, maybe it has something to do with mind control, or maybe it's hypnosis. Either way, she’s the key to this.

That was why she had never seen Monica up until this point.

It was a contingency, in case Chimera, or Sarah, found a way to resist.

“We both know that she has the key, Margaret, you said so yourself.”

His words echoed in Sarah’s mind.

She needed time to process what she saw, and find clues that could help them track down the doctor, and end this cruel experiment once and for all.

And finally get her revenge for destroying her peaceful life.

“Chimera, I leave our body to you for now. I need to think.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Wait wha-?”

Sarah merged into Chimera’s body, retreating into the nerve center of their now shared mind space.

The Answers are there, I just have to find them.

…

Chimera felt a lurch as her mindscape was preoccupied by Sarah doing her research.

It was strange, but now she finally could feel the difference in their thoughts.

It was irrefutable proof that she wasn’t Sarah, as much as she was her own person with Sarah’s memories.

Still, it felt weird to share a head with someone.

“Oh, I should go back too.”

Clonemera hopped inside her head next, moving to her own room.

“Me too, I want to plan a funeral for Mr Fred.”

Mimicera jumped in after.

Copymera was already inside, and the peek into her head space was starting to look terrifying.

“Yes… with the power of the unlimited energy battery, I will no longer have to remain in our head for long periods of time! I can finally move on to real experiments, instead of the dumb thought ones.”

She could hear the maniacal laughter echoing in the room as she closed the metaphorical door.

Good thing she's a homebody, that’s not going to go anywhere.

Chimera and Crysa finally returned to the warehouse after Chimera handed the body of Mr. Fred to the trees.

Bury him deep but keep him away from any contaminants. Maybe a tombstone too.

Her trees answered her back in agreement, and a rusty piece of sheet metal with a root wrapped around it put down his name.

Fergus Frederick, to some, a bum, to others, a hero.

Chimera put a hand over her heart and bowed to the tombstone, saying a few words to the rusty thing as she met Crysa inside.

The first thing they both witnessed was Meghan wrapped in gauze as the Bottys were checking her vitals with a piece of junked medical equipment that they had stolen from Blackrock.

They at least got the heart monitor and an IV going, so that was good.

“Creator Chimera! Creator Meghan has sustained injuries and severe exhaustion from her battle with the wolfy one. Please assist us!”

“PLEASE ASSIST US!”

The Bottys were in a panic as they were trying to take pieces of Meghan’s power armor off, which was looking to be connected to another medical device they had stolen.

It looked a lot like that stimulant injector that they took from the convict.

“Damnit Meg, going to have to take that off of her first.”

Chimera turned into her blobby form as she wrapped around Meghan.

With her now encased inside of Meg, she was able to remove the sections and the medical device without causing her to bleed out.

She could help her friend, and that was what she would do.

With a shot of adrenaline to her friend's heart, she jumped off of her before Meghan awoke, a gasping yell coming from her as she tried to breath and scream at the same time.

“Where am I?! Where’s that fucker with the shitty bot designs?! I’ll kill him!”

“Umm Meg? You alright?”

Meghan turned to her, a half crazed look in her eyes as she started to calm down.

“Bastard made shitty bots and told them to die… *hoo*. Whatever that was, I want another.”

“No, you’re already enough of a junkie, no more adrenaline for you.”

“Boo!”

As Meghan stood, Crysa moved up to glare at her.

“Where’s my brother Ho-bot?”

Meghan turned to glare right back, “probably swimming to the shore right now. Serves the techsist bastard right, can you believe he made them out of part that weren’t insulated? It’s like he wants them to die!”

“Well, they’re just robots right?”

Meghan did something Chimera could only describe as a frowl, a growl that carried with it all the frustration of someone who had to correct a person’s terrible error.

“I’ll have you know that…”

And I think I’ll leave them both for now.

Chimera checked on the Bottys as Meghan tore into Crysa about bots and how they are just as human as we are.

Oiling a few, fixing an unscrewed joint on a leg, Chimera could do this.

It was something that could be fixed.

Still, the foreboding feeling she had in her gut wouldn’t go away as she thought about the mad doctor who was after them.

It was as she was pondering this that a door opened, and her brother walked in, with a girl on his arm.

Said girl had a very familiar motif of white and black, witha dreamy look in her eyes as she stared up at an equally blushing young man.

Chimera felt her mindscape rip open as Sarah, who was distracted by her brother’s return, jumped back out of her.

“Who the hell is that, Aden?!”

Ohhhhh Dear…

,,,

Aden flinched as a red tinged version of his older sister appeared out of the younger version, a face twisted in outrage staring back at him.

Damnit, I knew this was going to happen.