Elijah inspected Samuel's arm and said, "Amazing, your body was able to replicate the devil dog's claws… this must be what my father meant by 'hope of humanity."
Samuel looked at his arms and claws, then back at Elijah in confusion, "How did I get these claws?"
Elijah scratched his head and nervously laughed, "Well… I might've fed you some while you were asleep."
"You did what!?" Samuel widened his eyes and gagged, 'I ate an infected dog!?!?'
"That's disgusting!" Samuel added.
"Well, first of all, it was to maybe save your life, second of all, don't worry, a devil dog only looks similar to a dog, genetically they are incredibly different," Elijah reasoned with him.
"And also, shouldn't you thank me? Do you know how hard it was to catch one that wasn't with its pack and within a small time frame?"
"Well, thanks, I guess, but what do you mean by maybe 'save my life', and what did you mean by 'hope of humanity'?" Samuel was curious about how Elijah revived him.
"Before my father disappeared, he left me a note talking about you. He told me where you were held and about how you were the hope of humanity." Elijah stared into the ceiling, recalling his father.
"I took a calculated gamble and guessed that you had immunity to the virus based on my father's words and what I've heard before," Elijah shrugged casually, but in a split second, he suddenly got excited.
"I overheard him talking about a test subject with the same name as you before, and then, later on, in his letter, he told me about your location," Elijah told Samuel.
"Nah, might just be a coincidence, my treatment was for my lung cancer," Samuel shook his head at Elijah's words, 'Unless…' His eyes furrowed.
"Unless my father lied to you about your treatment..." Elijah finished Samuel's thoughts.
'What did Dr. Rittenhouse do to me?' Samuel's chest felt empty from anxiety. "If the treatment was a lie, then does it mean I still have lung cancer?" Samuel's mind was anxious and on edge.
"Well, if it is still there, then it's still there. We kinda have no choice right now anyway, seeing as how we are in the middle of nowhere, and who knows, we might both die tomorrow." Elijah shrugged at Samuel's concerns
As Samuel was deep in contemplation, Elijah snapped him out and asked, "Can you try transforming back?"
Samuel looked back at Elijah, then at his own arms. "Can I really do that?" He focused on trying to transform back.
"Hmm… Let me try…" Samuel imagined what his arm used to look like. A few seconds passed, and nothing was happening.
Samuel frowned and looked at Elijah. "Are you sure I can make my arms go back to normal?"
"I don't know, just… Just try harder…" Elijah uttered in frustration.
Samuel stared at his arms once again. "Alright, I'll try again." He breathed in deep and closed his eyes, and for a moment it felt normal, until his skin felt itchy again, and this time the tissues beneath his skin felt like something was pricking them.
"It's working! Just keep focusing…" Elijah exclaimed.
Samuel glanced at his arms for a second before closing his eyes again to focus until his arms went back to what they used to be. "Something feels wrong. I just can't pinpoint what it is right now," Samuel's eyes furrowed.
"Hmm, I see… I see, I get it." Elijah paced around the storage room, deep in thought,
"It could be genetic instability! You see… Our DNA works like a blueprint. I am assuming that when you eat a mutant, your body stores its DNA and fuses it with yours, but we have to see what will happen next," Elijah explained, proud of his deduction
"Wait, if I eat more than that, do you think I would be able to absorb more DNA?" Samuel asked after listening to the explanation.
'Ugh, I'd have to eat even more infected dogs,' Samuel thought in disgust
"Hmm, it's a possibility. I didn't think about that. Perhaps we should try," Elijah thought about it for a second, then called out for his sister, "Erina, can you bring me the devil dog's meat?"
"Okie dokie," Erina brought the meat on a plate they found.
Samuel took the plate, and as he took a whiff of the meat, he suddenly gagged, 'There is something wrong with this piece of meat.'
Samuel looked at the reaction of the siblings, but the three of them had no reaction. "You guys don't smell it?"
The three of them just give him a confused look.
"Ok, just me, I guess," Samuel pinched his nose, then took a bite of the meat.
'There is definitely something wrong with this meat!' Samuel spat out the piece of meat. It was way too bitter.
Seeing Samuel's reaction to the meat, Elijah asked, "Are you ok? What happened? That meat should be fine for you."
"I'm gonna be frank with you, it tasted like shit!" Samuel complained as he tried to scratch the flavor off his tongue.
"You tasted shit before?" Erina asked with a blank face, serious about her question.
Ethan giggled beside her.
Elijah shook his head at his sister's question. "Hmm, what could be the reason…" Elijah scratched his head in confusion.
Erina, who sat near the door, said, "Brother, you forgot about the toxins."
"Ohh right, right, my bad. I thought his body was able to process it like a mutant," Elijah facepalmed at his mistake.
"Wait, so you're telling me you almost fed me these 'Toxins' you are talking about?" Samuel looked at them in disbelief, 'Someday these siblings will get me killed accidentally.'
"Sorry, I automatically assumed your body was the same as the infected," Elijah apologized awkwardly, "It looks like you can only eat a small amount of infected meat before your body reaches the critical amount."
"Well, this ability is still incredibly useful and powerful," Samuel said optimistically,
'So if I eat a piece of that creature from before, I can get his mutations?' He thought about the menacing creature from before, when suddenly he froze in shock.
Outside the door of the storage room was light that shone incredibly brightly.
The siblings also noticed the bright light.
The four of them went out of the store to see what was going on.
As they looked up into the sky, a giant pillar of light was piercing the heavens. The light suddenly pulsed and pushed the clouds away.
'What is that…' Samuel watched in awe when suddenly his body shouted at him to run.
A roar echoed throughout the city, "TEMPLAR, YOU DARE INVADE OUR TERRITORY!?"