Agatha watched the deceased faceless woman get wheeled off on the cot with pity and shock as Prometheus returned to her side looking stern. He had given his and Agatha’s statement to the police who also left.  

“It was Maria Auschwitz. According to the findings, nothing was stolen and while she did put up a struggle, the only significant damage was the removal of her face.” Prometheus informed her. 

“But... why her FACE?! Who takes someone’s face?!” Agatha lamented. 

“The same kind of people who steal someone’s forearms, rest Mark’s soul.” Prometheus explained. 

Agatha’s eyes widened “Prometheus, is there something you’re not telling me?” 

“I have... a theory, but no proof yet. “Perhaps we should go to Albert’s.” Prometheus advised and guided her to walk. 

“How can you even think of delivering groceries to papa right now? Also, there’s more to this. It’s written all over your face!” Agatha took her arm back looking mildly angry. 

“I think I should escort you to your father’s and you should stay with him for a while because it's clearly not safe for people to walk the streets at night alone, Agatha.” Prometheus was concerned. 

Agatha softened “... But there is more to this, isn’t there?” 

“Yes, there is and that's what I was about to tell you. I think that Baron Frankenstein’s body modification treatment is just body part replacement. Specifically, he steals body parts from people and then puts them on high paying patients. Lord Stein’s right hand was replaced with Mark’s.” Prometheus spoke to her quietly. 

“That... That’s impossible.” Agatha shuddered. 

“I saw the demarcation, I also noticed Harold Hahn also had a demarcation on his leg and take a good look at me, Agatha. Do you really think everything you see is really from the original me?” he pointed to his multi-shaded face. 

“... Yeah, whatever bad blood you have with Frankenstein, it’s justified. That doesn’t explain why Lord Stein mutated or why that poor man at the farmer’s market did. If body part replacement did that, why are you still fine?” Agatha questioned. 

“It could be that I'm an anomaly.” he stroked his own beard thinking and got a dark thought “... Or... Maybe I’m already a monster.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You may be unusual, but you are NOT and never will be a monster, Prometheus, and I don’t need medical knowledge to be sure of that. “Pacifist” ought to be your middle name. You’re probably just an enormously-uh.... anonymously... You’re just a special case.” she reassured him sternly yet warmly as she took his hand stroking it. 

He smiled “Thank you, Agatha.” 

“Just do me one favor, don’t EVER keep me in the dark ever again whether they’re for better or worse. The DeLacey family took you in, so we’re in this together.” she pointed her finger in his face. 

“Deal. Now, let’s get you to Albert’s. I’ll tell you everything else on the way.” Prometheus chuckled and they walked together. 

Meanwhile, in the lab, Igor was testing the chains and restraints he put on a potted daisy in a cage. The daisy was sickly and drooping. Ghost remained up on the shelves watching as the lab floor was littered with up to six broken plant pots and the blackened outlines of mutated plants that once occupied them. In one hand, Igor armed himself with a hand axe and in the other, he took a dropper containing the green glowing liquid. He drew a deep breath and quickly put one drop in the soil of the daisy’s pot before slamming the cage door shut and locking it. Then he took several steps back brandishing the hand axe. Like with all the other sick plants, at first, the flower recovered and looked more beautiful than ever, but then mutated so that each petal now had a tooth and the center looked like a throat with the leaves having glowing green veins. Even the formerly white petals now looked slightly green. The mutant daisy snapped at Igor, but the chains along with the cage kept it contained and under control. Igor sighed in relief while still clenching the hand axe while Ghost refused to leave the top of the bookshelf. 

“What is that?!” Prometheus gasped at the site of the disarrayed lab and the monster flower. 

“I was testing what that green stuff does and that is the result of it, Prom. Apparently, it heals the sick and injured, but it also mutates them into carnivorous creatures.” Igor explained while removing his mask. 

“What exactly is this potion?” Prometheus asked looking at the jar of green liquid. 

“It’s liquified meat. Specifically, it’s blood, muscle, bone, amniotic fluid and neuroglia in the form of a potion. It is also laced with electricity and an element I can’t identify yet.” Igor went on as Prometheus to peek into the microscope “According to its chemical properties, it can only be contained in specific materials like glass and cloth, and it must be condensed not spread out or it disintegrates. When mixed with water, it turns to acid.” 

Prometheus stepped back looking pale “... Igor, according to Mr. Hahn, his brother and all of Frankenstein’s other patients who undergo body modification bathe in this bio-chemical substance... And your findings explain why the hand we found in the lab’s remains was still ‘alive’. It also explains why bathing in this liquid is necessary after undergoing body modification. It’s to preserve and keep the replacement body part alive.” 

“This doesn’t explain why living things that absorb the stuff into their systems either through skin or something eventually mutate into monsters. We need to get a sample of our deadly daisy. Somehow.” Igor hummed while they both looked at the monstrous flower that continued to snap at them. 

Prometheus thought about it and took the watering can, filled it with water and mixed some crushed sleeping pills into it. He showered the daisy with the spiked water and after a few moments, it yawned wide and closed its blossom-jaws up dozing off. He then took a pair of long tweezers and collected a fallen petal. 

“It’s not disintegrating...” Prometheus noted and looked at it under the microscope, then turned to Igor “You didn’t make the bed yet where the ill Mr. Hahn laid, did you, Igor?” 

“No. Why?” Igor scratched his head. 

Prometheus speedwalked up to the room and checked the bed pleased to find a hair left behind by Mr. Hahn. He returned to the lab with the hair and examined it under the microscope. 

“Aha... This explains the glowing veins. This stuff stays in the system at one point and takes over it. In fact... I see no dead cells in the petal. No dryness, no withering or anything. It is like it is still attached to the plant. The tissue remains alive or rather, it is kept alive thanks to the green liquid which almost seems to be alive within itself. Look!” Prometheus informed his assistant while holding up the strand of hair. 

Even though he remained perfectly still. The hair would twitch and wiggle like a worm. 

“That implies so many disturbing possibilities... It suddenly explains why that monster beneath the ground was still alive. This stuff was probably keeping it alive... but it still doesn’t explain why they mutate like they do and why they become carnivores.” Igor pointed out. 

“I don’t know either, but I think the answer lies in the mystery element. Let's put our chemical skills to the test and take this green stuff apart, Igor.” Prometheus suggested. 

“lifeblood.” Igor corrected him “I vote calling it lifeblood for obvious reasons.” 

“By the way, don’t go out at night alone tonight. Agatha and I found a deceased woman with her face missing.” Prometheus advised. 

“Damn..." Igor cringed.