That was true -- with the kinds of resources Landel seemed to have, it wasn't a stretch to think that the people who served under him could have a decent amount of fear toward him. Especially if they were being coerced into all this somehow. But to act like the I.R.I.S. system wasn't even running? Talk about weird.

Then again, he couldn't even name a single thing about this place that wasn't weird, so maybe that was just par for the course. Still, Apollo couldn't help but frown at the speculations about brainwashing some kind of super-powered army into obedience -- because while it was definitely pretty out-there, it was downright scary to contemplate, cheesy or not.

"Well, whatever he's up to, it can't be any good," he said. "With some of the technology he's got, I wouldn't be surprised if he had world domination or something equally insane in mind." That seemed like the sort of thing a mad scientist would be aiming for.

"Sorry if this is a really personal question," Apollo added after a moment, "but do you have any special abilities, Mr. Hanekoma? I've met at least two healers since I've been here, and I've been curious about the percentage of patients with 'powers' ever since."