At the Arcane complex, Graham comes in and Anton shows him a rejection article from the academy about his article. He cuts his hand smashing a bottle in angry, but shrugs off Graham's attempts to minister to him. When Anton complains that his intelligence is ignored, Graham gently pulls the pieces out of his hand as Anton, sobbing, says that he doesn't give a damn.
Later, Graham runs in and tells a depressed Arcane that an editor from Modern Science magazine is there to see him. Anton isn't interested until the editor Katherine St. James, comes in. He's intrigued by her beauty, and immediately assures her that he has time for an interview. Katherine says that she expected an older man, knowing all of the contributions he's made to genetic development. She knows all about Anton's work and assures him that she has a degree in microbiology.
Graham takes Katherine's wallet from her case and examines it.
Later in the lab, Anton asks Katherine why she didn't phone for an appointment. She says that he would have turned her away before meeting her, and being aggressive helps her get what she wants. Katherine tells Anton that his work is bold and dangerously original, and wondered if the man would be the same. She says that her article would be a chance for Anton's work to be introduced to millions of people, and flirts with him as Graham listens.
Anton shows Katherine around his complex and then calls Graham and tells her that Katherine will be staying with them and she should be made comfortable. As Anton prepares for dinner, Graham points out that it's suspicious that Katherine just showed up and readily agreed to stay, but Anton dismisses his concerns.
In her room, Katherine searches through her suitcase and confirms that the hidden contents are there. She then goes to dinner with Anton and says that her reasons for seeking him out are private for now. Anton compliments her on her beauty, intelligence, and mystery, and she secretly doses his wine with powder. Katherine then pulls back, saying that she has professional ethics, and they share a drink. After drinking his wine, Anton collapses unconscious.
Back in her room, Katherine takes a pistol and explosives out of her suitcase. She goes to the lab and blasts open Anton's file cabinet, and pours acid on his files. Katherine then plants more charges throughout the complex. She then goes back to the dining room, wakes Anton up, and takes him to the lab to see the destruction of his work. Anton wonders who paid her to do it, and Katherine says that it's personal.
Swamp Thing gets an impression of Katherine drugging Anton, destroying his work, and planting the charges.
Katherine drives Anton into Houma and says that he'll have a nice view from there.
Swamp Thing runs to the complex and pulls out the explosive charges attached to the radioactive waste pipes that will destroy the swamp if released.
Katherine triggers the bombs, but only one goes off due to Swamp Thing's efforts. Meanwhile Anton takes advantage of Katherine's distraction to attack her. They fall into a nearby window diorama of Houma of the future, and he figures that it's a hallucination and Swamp thing is responsible. He warns that Swamp thing is angry due to her poisoning the swamp. Katherine breaks free and runs off.
Fires burst out throughout the empty town. Katherine attacks Arcane, knocking him down, and says that her real name is Katherine Sunderland, General Sunderland's daughter. She hits him with a pipe, but Anton shrugs off the fatal blow and laughs in amazement. Katherine insists that her father was a good man, but Anton tells him that he conducted illegal experiments for the U.S. government and used mutant children as laborers. She doesn't believe it and tries to slap Anton, but he easily stops her. Katherine remembers her childhood, and Anton says that Sunderland killed his wife and almost killed him. Katherine breaks free and runs off, and Anton goes after her.
Toxic waste spreads from the complex and the staff evacuate. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing seals the leak with his hands but realizes that some of the waste is draining into the swamp. He goes to the drainage pipe and blocks the pipe, and then tries to absorb the wastes that are already in the swamp rather than let them contaminate the swamp for generations.
Katherine finds nothing but mannequins throughout the dream town. She enters a home and catches a glimpse of Swamp Thing. Backing up, Katherine ends up in Anton's grasp. He puts a knife to his throat and says that Sunderland never mentioned that he had a daughter. Katherine admits that her father's work came first so she rarely saw him. Unimpressed, Anton kisses her and says that he's going to cut her throat. The dream town shakes and Katherine runs off through the streets. She sees the toy carousel that she admired as a child and then Sunderland killing a man who has failed him. Sunderland comes over and says that it's just business, and gives her the pistol.
Anton finds Katherine and Katherine aims the pistol at him. However, remembering her father killing someone, Katherine tosses down the gun and walks off. As Anton picks it up, Swamp Thing arrives and says that it was Katherine's lesson to learn, not Anton's. Anton finds himself back in the real world just before Katherine triggered the explosives. Katherine is there as well, holding the pistol and the explosive remote. She tells Anton that destroying everything he loves is too easy, and she'd rather he suffer not knowing when the end will come. Katherine promises that it will come and walks off without triggering the explosives.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 3, 2017