First story:
Dr. Cornelius gets down to his experiments with Carol Hines in assistance. Logan is laid on a hi-tech bed with wires surrounding him like snakes. Needles have been inserted in numerous points in his body, and all his functions are being monitored by Hines.
The Professor watches intently. He is strictly hands-off when it comes to surgical matters. Cornelius informs him that Logan’s conditioning cannot be counted on in his re-formed state. His brutish impulses are greatly exaggerated since the adamantium bonding. The Professor asks if this will correct that situation. Cornelius replies no, but it should offer them a real knowledge of Logan’s stress dynamics since his operation. The Professor hopes this isn’t a waste of his time. They should have begun reorientation by now. What’s the point of this weapon if they can’t control him?
Cornelius hands him a microphone and informs him that he can control him, somewhat. The microphone has a direct link to Logan. The Professor takes it and asks if he can speak to Logan through it… control him? Cornelius says he can suggest things, perhaps. Control? He doesn’t know about that. What the Professor will see on the big screen behind them will be in direct relation to his spoken word.
The Professor puts the microphone to his face and starts talking. “Logan, you are in my control, Logan…” Cornelius says stuff like that should be fine, but he shouldn’t use his former name. They’re trying to eradicate that kind of thing. Cornelius tells Hines that they’ll need an exacting flow of the adrenergics, and Hines informs him that it’s all in. She programmed it herself. The Professor speaks again. “You are a beast. You are an animal born to serve! You have one master, and it is me. You will do anything I say.”
Cornelius and Hines look at him blankly. Cornelius then informs him that they haven’t begun yet. The microphone isn’t actually switched on. The Professor isn’t impressed at being made to look incompetent and, fuming silently, he tells the doctor to get on with it.
Later, the adamantium cell binding process experiments are about to continue. Stress and engram blocks are in place. Hines taps away at a control panel to begin the process. Cornelius suggests to the Professor that he avoid any directives to the patient at this stage. It might affect his psychological state. Suddenly, as Hines taps away, the panel sparks and a loud alarm sounds. It’s an overload, and Logan’s body writhes on the bed. She manages to stop the overload, and they turn to see images appearing on the screen. Hines explains that they’re getting some sort of internal feedback. The imaging is so powerful it’s burning the circuits.
On screen, a skeletal figure appears courtesy of Logan’s hallucinations, and begins to build itself into human form. Cornelius asks Hines to shut it down and check the data-preps, but finds she is unable. On screen, a half-formed skull appears with wires fed into its head. “I… hurting…” it says. “Pain! What have you done to meee!” The face looks at its own body and sees spikes popping out of it all over. The Professor finds all this unbelievable and orders Cornelius to shut it down. He replies that he can’t. They’re not sending, just receiving. Hines is unable to a thing either.
Suddenly, Logan’s hand raises itself as he sits up and it reaches for Carol’s throat. She shrieks for help as Logan opens his eyes and speak with her directly. “You! Pain… to… me,” he growls as he maintains his grasp. Cornelius calls security as Hines pleads for her life. The Professor attempts to use his connection with Logan. He orders him to release the girl. “This is your master. You are a beast in my control,” he demands.
Logan takes no notice of his commands, but lets Carol go as he sits up on the bed in order to approach the Professor. The Professor puts his hands out and orders him to stay back. Security bursts through the door, and the leader orders his men to tranquilize Logan, now! They shoot as Logan grabs the Professor by the throat, and he collapses backwards in pain. Cornelius asks the Professor if he’s all right, but his boss is in both pain and a certain amount of shock. He gasps for his breath, and righting his glasses, demands that they kill Logan. He is a wild animal and they can’t control him.
He tries to take a gun off the security guard, but he won’t allow a civilian to take it. Cornelius tries to calm the Professor down, as Hines also catches her breath. Cornelius orders security to get some medical staff in there. Hines notices a claw emerging from Logan’s hand and alerts the doctor. He assures her that it’s fine. He’s totally sedated. It’s some sort of impulse; a reflex. He adds that it’s a good thing it didn’t happen when he attacked the Professor. He then notices the screen. Logan’s skeletal image has been replaced by the Professor’s. He looks dead, with his glasses shattered by three claws and blood splattered all around him. The Professor is horrified, and Cornelius guesses they’ve had enough for the day, asking Hines to turn off the monitors.
