Kara pops open the mind of Carol Kowalski, a highly professional and skilled ND. She's happy with her work here, even if it is stressful. They currently have 7 patients. Connor, 3 victims who were drained by Parasite and are in induced comas, a Jane Doe who has so many broken bones it would seem someone dropped a building on her, and three police officers whose brains are infected with some sort of alien worm.
Carol is currently checking vitals on a bank of monitors while another nurse prepares IV bags with various medications.
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The Dr. replies, "Of course, William, like everyone on this primitive planet, you fail to understand the intricacies of matter. You fail to see the chains that prevent you from recognizing your true potential, the lies deep within your mind. The way we have been treating your father was based on largely false information. You see, we had believed that Connor was a clone of Superman created by Cadmus, much as Power Girl was a clone of Supergirl. In fact, while Power Girl was created through a Kryptonian cloning process discovered in the Doomsday Matrix, Connor was created through a process developed here on Earth. Clearly an inferior process, one spearheaded by Lex Luthor with no concern for the subjects. Connor was only the last in a line of experiments, one that was barely successful, as you now see. Given time, William, this therapy could repair the damage to his DNA and allow him to recover completely. Of course, it has to be delivered with a bit of Kryptonite, because otherwise it could not edit his genome. The question, William, is what are you willing to do for this cure? You, a genetic monstrosity who would have been an illegal genetic anomaly on Krypton or Ma'aleca'andra. What would you do to restore this crippled man?"
The doctor's voice grows increasingly intense, and you imagine a flash of fire in the eyes.
William stumbles backwards as the woman slowly backs him into a corner, it becoming increasingly aware that this was not the doctor he had come to know these last few years. It had already started to take her. Was there nothing he or Kara could do to bring her back to normal? If there was no hope for her, then what were their chances in bringing J'ohn back either?
He tried to contact Kara, but all he got was static. The doctor, either intentional or not, had managed to block his telepathy. He was on his own here.
"Doctor, what are- What are you doing to my father?!" He practically shouted, his human guise falling away to reveal his true monstrous form. He stared through the doctor, his kryptonian genetics reinforced and allowing him to truly observe the gas on a microscopic level, and to see just what it was doing to Connor.
William finds that the Doctor is being straight with him. The gas contains a virus that is delicately editing the damage to Conner's genes that is making him age abnormally. Just as she said, it seems to be healing him.
"Only what I have said, William. I am offering you a cure. In return, you will join The Burning."
His gaze focused back on the martian before him. He... he had to buy time. Maybe get some information out of her. They barely knew anything about this condition, how to stop it, how it spread, where it even came from. "What... what is it? What Is The Burning?"
