It was true that Spock would have preferred not to have been assigned to Gabriel, and he strongly suspected his roommate was similarly inclined. The odds that their sharing a room was simply a coincidence were small enough to suspect that the institute had, for whatever reason, purposefully arranged it that way. That alone was cause to remain on guard, making Peter's warnings somewhat unnecessary in that regard. However, if there was the chance that there was more to Gabriel than what met the eye, it was beneficial to at least be aware of that possibility. Peter outwardly appeared willing to assist him in whatever way he could in the event his roommate proved problematic, though if the need to contact him ever arose, Spock knew that he would not be willing to simply leave the matter in his hands.
There was no need to voice those thoughts out loud, though, and so the Vulcan prudently allowed the subject to naturally shift toward Gabriel's supposed powers.
When Peter began to explain, Spock set his eating utensils down, neatly clasped his fingers together and listened. The concept of a genetic mutation was not a new one by any means; in fact, he had suspected that he would say something to that affect. Yet it did little to answer the questions Spock had. Was this mutation a result of experiments conducted to genetically enhance humans, such as the ones that were characteristic of the research conducted during the 1990s? Ultimately, those factors had led to Earth's final world war, but Peter hadn't mentioned any such conflicts yet. It was possible that this was an entirely different scenario than the one Spock was familiar with. After all, it was already apparent Gabriel hailed from a different universe than his own, seeing how he was somehow familiar with Spock despite originating from the 23rd century. Perhaps it was related to the Star Trek program Kirk had learned of from his brainwashing, perhaps it didn't. Regardless, it was indicative of the possibility that Earth history as Spock knew it did not apply to Peter and Gabriel, just as it did not apply toward many of the other patients he had encountered in Landel's.
Not only that, but apparently Peter was one such human who had experienced such a change. Judging by his brief pause, he appeared as though he were somewhat hesitant to openly share that with him, though he had done so nonetheless. After learning that piece of knowledge, Spock gazed at him for a brief moment. On the surface, there was nothing unusual about Peter's appearance, though it was difficult to know whether that was his natural state, or if the changes placed upon many of them since arriving here were masking something.
"I see," he said at length, neutrally measuring the other man's words without reaching a conclusion about them just yet. "Was there an external stimulus that triggered these mutations?"
no subject
There was no need to voice those thoughts out loud, though, and so the Vulcan prudently allowed the subject to naturally shift toward Gabriel's supposed powers.
When Peter began to explain, Spock set his eating utensils down, neatly clasped his fingers together and listened. The concept of a genetic mutation was not a new one by any means; in fact, he had suspected that he would say something to that affect. Yet it did little to answer the questions Spock had. Was this mutation a result of experiments conducted to genetically enhance humans, such as the ones that were characteristic of the research conducted during the 1990s? Ultimately, those factors had led to Earth's final world war, but Peter hadn't mentioned any such conflicts yet. It was possible that this was an entirely different scenario than the one Spock was familiar with. After all, it was already apparent Gabriel hailed from a different universe than his own, seeing how he was somehow familiar with Spock despite originating from the 23rd century. Perhaps it was related to the Star Trek program Kirk had learned of from his brainwashing, perhaps it didn't. Regardless, it was indicative of the possibility that Earth history as Spock knew it did not apply to Peter and Gabriel, just as it did not apply toward many of the other patients he had encountered in Landel's.
Not only that, but apparently Peter was one such human who had experienced such a change. Judging by his brief pause, he appeared as though he were somewhat hesitant to openly share that with him, though he had done so nonetheless. After learning that piece of knowledge, Spock gazed at him for a brief moment. On the surface, there was nothing unusual about Peter's appearance, though it was difficult to know whether that was his natural state, or if the changes placed upon many of them since arriving here were masking something.
"I see," he said at length, neutrally measuring the other man's words without reaching a conclusion about them just yet. "Was there an external stimulus that triggered these mutations?"