I could follow on the monitor ringed by open flame. The Titan was as tall as a twelve story building, but the monsters he had just made were taller than him. They surged forward on limbs that were still mutating, one covered in brightly painted blisters, and the other narrower, leaner, and meaner. The lean one didn’t seem to take any meaningful damage from any incoming attacks, while the blistered one had pockets of fluid or gas that popped every time something struck it, bogging down the battlefield. The camera showed the bodies of the capes who had been caught by the first surprise blast of liquid.

For each and every one of them, their flesh was melting off at the arms and legs only, with bones showing. Their mobility was limited, with only a few people able to use powers to try and get away.

The needles skewered them, appearing from the ground and carrying them up dozens of feet.

I felt like I could throw up. Old sensations were boiling up, along with memories.

I saw Kenzie turn her head to look, staring at the scene.

“Kenz,” I called out, feeling weirdly protective, even though there was no way this could be as visceral to her as it was to me.

She turned to look at me.

“You don’t have to watch that. You could turn off the extra monitors.”

“The monitor is hooked up to power. If it’s burning it’s making everything work a bit faster,” she said.

“Can you change the channel? It just seems like a lot of extra stress.”

“I can deal,” she said, glancing back at the monitor. “I’m just going to focus on tinkering. I only have thirty minutes.”

“Need anything? Tinker-friendly snacks? Drinks?” I kind of wanted a distraction.

“No thank you. I appreciate the thought.”

She hunkered down over her work, putting a device together. Reaching up, she pulled the sphincter-screen down, popped the film with her finger, and cinched the sphincter tight to hold a tool where she needed it.

“Meaning leave me alone,” I interpreted, no longer raising my voice to be heard fifty feet away.

“Yeah,” Natalie agreed.

“I’m not good at leaving things alone,” I said.

“No you are not,” Natalie said. “I’m too good at leaving things alone. I think that was why your mother wanted me involved in your project. If things had played out differently, she would have pushed me to do things to influence you. You were right, in our first meeting. I might not have called her out on it if you hadn’t made it absolutely clear from the start.”

“Even then, you had to see it,” I said.

Natalie nodded. “Sorry. I never really saw that in reality before. Only in movies, and that was something else.”