Anton brings a case holding the brain of Carl Malador into his lab and shows it to Graham. He says that Carl was his mentor and teacher, and a genius, and plans to make it his. Anton hooks him up to a transfer device. The transfer starts working and Carl recites all of the data that he acquired. Anton prepares to upload Carl's memory into his, telling Graham that it's essential. Graham points out that Anton only had limited success with animal research, but Anton notes that in two hours, cellular degeneration will set in and they will lose all of Carl's information. Graham asks about Carl's granddaughter Dana, pointing out that her spinal fluid will keep the brain alive. Anton warns that there's no time and has Graham initiate the procedure, and tells him to capture Dana and have her stand by in case something goes wrong so that they can save the brain.
later, Dana arrives at the Houma Inn and Graham greets her. He claims that Anton was called out of town on an emergency, and asked that Dana would wait in Houma for him for a day or two. She reluctantly agrees, and Will is nearby and overhears them talking. Once Graham leaves, Will offers Dana a flyer for his swamp tours and introduces himself.
In the lab, Anton twitches and talks to himself, reciting Carl's data.
After the tour, Dana tells Will that she had a good time. She explains that her grandfather died several weeks ago and she hasn't gotten used to it yet. Will says that Abigail passed away recently and by talking out all of the happy memories that they had, it helped ease the pain. Dana talks about her family and how Carl was always there for her and set aside the important things for her.
Anton writes down equations, and sees Carl in the mirror talking to him. He laughs, saying that it's no hallucination. Furious, Carl demands to know who gave Anton the right to steal "their brain", and says that Anton took the light and the dark of his schizophrenia. Anton screams in agony as he realizes that Carl's schizophrenia is now his as well.
That night, Will and Dana have dinner at a cafe and Will is surprised that Carl was friends with Anton. As they leave, Swamp Thing watches from the shadows and recognizes Carl's name. Will drives Dana to the inn and she invites him to the bar for a nightcap. Swamp Thing psychically calls to Will, insisting that he has to talk to him, and Will excuses himself to Dana. He drives into the swamp and Swamp Thing tells him that Dana is in danger. The creature explains that Anton took delivery of a container the night before, and remembered that Anton was obsessed with the capacity of the human brain to store knowledge. He figures that Anton has Carl's brain and hopes to keep it functioning indefinitely using cerebral spinal fluid from Dana. Swamp Thing tells Will to guard Dana.
At the hotel, Dana is sitting at the outdoor fountain when Graham abducts her.
At the lab, Anton is ranting and raving, insisting that he did his homework and working on equations. He collapses, clutching at his head, and screaming that his brain is on fire as his eyes bleed. Carl appears and says that Anton has both halves of him in Anton's brain, and he killed himself to escape from his darker half. Even drugs couldn't stop the dark half, so Carl killed himself to silence it but Anton brought him back to life. Anton flies into a rage, and the dark half figures that Anton could kill himself but never will. "Anton" puts on a hat and coat, and the dark Carl says that he now has Anton.
Swamp Thing arrives at the complex and takes control of Graham's van as it arrives. It crashes and Swamp Thing summons a wind to blow Graham and the guards back, and then carries Dana away to safety. Dark Carl arrives, grabs a guard's weapon, and fires it into the air as the alarms go off.
Will goes to the sheriff's department and talks to Deputy Sheriff Jenson about Dana's disappearance. Jenson isn't impressed and starts to lock up, and they hear gunfire outside. The two of them go out where Dark Carl has grabbed a woman and is yelling at the crowd to back off. Jenson figures that Anton has snapped and calls for a SWAT team.
Swamp Thing takes Dana into the swamp and releases her, and he insists that he's her friend. They hear gunshots and Swamp Thing tells Dana that it's Anton and he's brought her there for an evil purpose. He explains that Anton stole Carl's brain to absorb Carl's genius, and it's now destroying him. Swamp Thing warns that Carl's soul is locked in Anton's head, but Dana doesn't believe him and runs off.
Jenson orders Anton to surrender, and Dana arrives. She runs up to Dark Carl and asks if her grandfather is okay. Dark Carl hesitates and calls Dana's name, and she tells him to think of how strong he was for her. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing cuts the power to the lights, and Will gets Dana to safety. Swamp Thing grabs Dark Carl and drags him away.
Swamp Thing takes Anton's body to the Kipp house and tells the unconscious Anton that he'll live so a greater soul can be liberated. He calls on Carl to go in peace, and Carl's soul departs. Anton reverts to normal and Swamp Thing leaves.
The next day, Dana admits to Will that Carl committed suicide. He assures her that it's all right and Dana says that she only has happy memories of her grandfather. Dana wonders how it all happened, but thanks Will and his friend for what happened.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 8, 2017