Thank you, Karrin said.
Butterss voice was weary. Yeah, he sighed. Sure. Karrin . . . can I tell you something?
What?
This thing hes got going with Mab, Butters said. I know that everyone thinks its turned him into some kind of superhero. But I dont think thats right.
Ive seen him move, she said. Ive seen how strong he is.
So have I, Butters said. Look . . . the human body is a pretty amazing machine. It really is. It can do really amazing thingsmuch more so than most people think, because its also built to protect itself.
What do you mean? she asked.
Inhibitors, Butters said. Every person walking around is about three times stronger than they think they are. I mean, your average housewife is actually about as strong as a fairly serious weight lifter, when it comes to pure mechanics. Adrenaline can amp that even more.
I could hear the frown in Karrins voice. Youre talking about when mothers lift cars off their kid, that kind of thing.
Exactly that kind of thing, Butters said. But the body cant function that way all the time, or it will tear itself apart. Thats what inhibitors are built forto keep you from injuring yourself.
What does that have to do with Dresden?
I think that what this Winter Knight gig has done for him is nothing more than switching off those inhibitors, Butters said. He hasnt added all that much muscle mass. Its the only thing that makes sense. The body is capable of those moments of startling strength, but theyre meant to be something that you pull out of the hat once or twice in a lifetimeand with no inhibitors and no ability to feel pain, Dresdens running around doing them all the time. And theres no real way he can know it.
Karrin was silent for several seconds, digesting that. Then she said, Bottom line?
The more he leans on this gift, Butters said, and I could picture him making air quotes, the more he tears himself to shreds. His body heals remarkably, but hes still human. Hes got limits, somewhere, and if he keeps this up, hes going to find them.
What do you think will happen?
Butters made a thoughtful sound. Think about . . . a football player or boxer who has it hard and breaks down in his early thirties, because hes just taken too damned much punishment. Thats Dresden, if he keeps this up.
Im sure that once we explain that to him, hell retire to a job as a librarian, Karrin said.
Butters snorted.Its possible that other things in his system are being affected the same way, he said. Testosterone production, for example, any number of other hormones, which might be influencing his perception and judgment. Im not sure hes actually got any more real power at all. I think it just feels that way to him.
This is fact or theory?
An informed theory, he said. Bob helped me develop it.
Son of a bitch. I kept quiet and thought about that one for a minute.
Could that be true? Or at least, more true than it wasnt?
It would be consistent with the other deal Id worked out with a faeriemy godmother, Lea, had made a bargain to give me the power to defeat my old mentor, Justin DuMorne. Then shed tortured me for a while, assuring me that it would give me strength. It did, though mostly, in retrospect, because I had believed it had.
Had I been magic-feathered by a faerie again?
And yet . . . at the end of the day, I could lift a freaking car.
Sure you can, Harry. But at what price?
No wonder the Winter Knights stayed in the job until they died. If Butters was right, they would have been plunged into the crippling agony of their battered bodies the moment the mantle was taken from them.
Sort of the same way I had just been rendered into agonized Jell-O when the Genoskwa had shoved a nail into me.
I worry, Butters said quietly, that hes changing. That he doesnt know it.
Look whos talking, Karrin said. Batman.
That was one time, Butters said.
Karrin didnt say anything.
All right. Butters relented. A few times. But it wasnt enough to keep those kids from being carried off.
You pulled some of them out, Waldo, Karrin said. Believe me, thats a win. Most of the time, you cant even do that much. But youre missing my point.
What point?
Ever since youve had the skull, youve been changing, too, Karrin said. You work hand in hand with a supernatural being that can scare the crap out of me. You can do things you couldnt do before. You know things you didnt know before. Your personality has changed.
There was a pause. It has?
Youre more serious, she said. More . . . intense, I suppose.
Yeah. Now that I know more about whats really happening out there. Its not something influencing me.
Unless it is and you just dont know it, Karrin said. Ive got the same evidence on you that you have on Dresden.
Butterss voice was weary. Yeah, he sighed. Sure. Karrin . . . can I tell you something?
What?
This thing hes got going with Mab, Butters said. I know that everyone thinks its turned him into some kind of superhero. But I dont think thats right.
Ive seen him move, she said. Ive seen how strong he is.
So have I, Butters said. Look . . . the human body is a pretty amazing machine. It really is. It can do really amazing thingsmuch more so than most people think, because its also built to protect itself.
What do you mean? she asked.
Inhibitors, Butters said. Every person walking around is about three times stronger than they think they are. I mean, your average housewife is actually about as strong as a fairly serious weight lifter, when it comes to pure mechanics. Adrenaline can amp that even more.
I could hear the frown in Karrins voice. Youre talking about when mothers lift cars off their kid, that kind of thing.
Exactly that kind of thing, Butters said. But the body cant function that way all the time, or it will tear itself apart. Thats what inhibitors are built forto keep you from injuring yourself.
What does that have to do with Dresden?
I think that what this Winter Knight gig has done for him is nothing more than switching off those inhibitors, Butters said. He hasnt added all that much muscle mass. Its the only thing that makes sense. The body is capable of those moments of startling strength, but theyre meant to be something that you pull out of the hat once or twice in a lifetimeand with no inhibitors and no ability to feel pain, Dresdens running around doing them all the time. And theres no real way he can know it.
Karrin was silent for several seconds, digesting that. Then she said, Bottom line?
The more he leans on this gift, Butters said, and I could picture him making air quotes, the more he tears himself to shreds. His body heals remarkably, but hes still human. Hes got limits, somewhere, and if he keeps this up, hes going to find them.
What do you think will happen?
Butters made a thoughtful sound. Think about . . . a football player or boxer who has it hard and breaks down in his early thirties, because hes just taken too damned much punishment. Thats Dresden, if he keeps this up.
Im sure that once we explain that to him, hell retire to a job as a librarian, Karrin said.
Butters snorted.Its possible that other things in his system are being affected the same way, he said. Testosterone production, for example, any number of other hormones, which might be influencing his perception and judgment. Im not sure hes actually got any more real power at all. I think it just feels that way to him.
This is fact or theory?
An informed theory, he said. Bob helped me develop it.
Son of a bitch. I kept quiet and thought about that one for a minute.
Could that be true? Or at least, more true than it wasnt?
It would be consistent with the other deal Id worked out with a faeriemy godmother, Lea, had made a bargain to give me the power to defeat my old mentor, Justin DuMorne. Then shed tortured me for a while, assuring me that it would give me strength. It did, though mostly, in retrospect, because I had believed it had.
Had I been magic-feathered by a faerie again?
And yet . . . at the end of the day, I could lift a freaking car.
Sure you can, Harry. But at what price?
No wonder the Winter Knights stayed in the job until they died. If Butters was right, they would have been plunged into the crippling agony of their battered bodies the moment the mantle was taken from them.
Sort of the same way I had just been rendered into agonized Jell-O when the Genoskwa had shoved a nail into me.
I worry, Butters said quietly, that hes changing. That he doesnt know it.
Look whos talking, Karrin said. Batman.
That was one time, Butters said.
Karrin didnt say anything.
All right. Butters relented. A few times. But it wasnt enough to keep those kids from being carried off.
You pulled some of them out, Waldo, Karrin said. Believe me, thats a win. Most of the time, you cant even do that much. But youre missing my point.
What point?
Ever since youve had the skull, youve been changing, too, Karrin said. You work hand in hand with a supernatural being that can scare the crap out of me. You can do things you couldnt do before. You know things you didnt know before. Your personality has changed.
There was a pause. It has?
Youre more serious, she said. More . . . intense, I suppose.
Yeah. Now that I know more about whats really happening out there. Its not something influencing me.
Unless it is and you just dont know it, Karrin said. Ive got the same evidence on you that you have on Dresden.
