Altered Ego
Season One
US Airdate : 16 February 2002
UK Airdate : 13 March 2002
GSA agents suddenly burst through the door of mutant Charlotte Cooke's (Emily Hampshire) apartment. One of the agents hits her friend, Skeet (Rob Stefaniuk), with his Taser, while another agent struggles to handcuff Charlotte. Just as the agents are about to flee with the two, Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) crashes through a skylight and attacks. In the chaos, Shalimar rescues Charlotte, but Skeet is hauled off to Genomex.
Onboard the Double Helix, Shalimar senses tension between Adam (John Shea) and Charlotte. When they bring Charlotte to a mutant safehouse, Charlotte states that she would like to volunteer her extraordinary powers to help Mutant X. Adam knows that her ability to manipulate moral polarity - bad to good or good to bad - is amazing, but he knows she has a hidden agenda.
At Sanctuary, Brennan (Victor Webster) informs Emma (Lauren Lee Smith) that Adam used to work with Charlotte's father, Anthony, in the biochemistry department at Stanford. When Adam discovered that Anthony was selling biological weapons, he turned him in. Anthony was convicted, but he committed suicide before the trial.
Meanwhile at Genomex, Skeet informs Mason Eckhart (Tom McCamus) and his cohort, Lynch (Joseph Scoren), that Charlotte hates Adam and was hoping to join the Mutant X team so she could use her powers to sabotage him.
Back at the safehouse, Adam refuses to allow Charlotte to join Mutant X. Enraged, Charlotte touches both Jesse (Forbes March) and Shalimar. A silvery oil-like substance secretes out of her fingertips and is immediately absorbed into their skin. Within seconds, they both become irate and begin brutally attacking one another. Knowing Charlotte caused this, Adam steps between the two until their anger subsides. When they turn their attention back to Charlotte, they realize she has fled. Adam sends Brennan and Emma out to find Charlotte, but warns them not to let her touch them. As they scout the area, Emma suddenly has a telempathic vision of Charlotte's location. The two find the girl hiding on a rooftop, but as they try to convince her to come with them, the door unexpectedly bursts open. Lynch, Skeet and three agents appear and attack. In the madness, Lynch grabs Charlotte and brings her to Eckhart, who has her demonstrate her abilities on one of his men. She explains that her powers only last a few minutes on mutants, but the effects are permanent on non-mutants. When Adam gets a call from Charlotte at her apartment, he immediately takes off alone, ignoring protests from the others. Convincing Adam that she's sorry, Charlotte affectionately touches him, and her silvery liquid oozes onto his arm. Adam realizes he's been deceived, but the effects of the liquid have already set in.
Emma arrives on the scene, and oblivious that Adam is under Charlotte's powers, turns her back for a moment. Charlotte knocks her unconscious with a bottle. Telling Charlotte that he'll see her back at Genomex, Adam drags Emma out the door. He then contacts Shalimar and tells her that Charlotte has infected Emma, and he needs for her to set up the lab for surgery.
In the Sanctuary lab, Adam preps Emma and orders Shalimar to bring him all the files on brain resystemization. Emma suddenly awakens and begins struggling with Adam, but he sedates her with an injection device. When Adam turns and realizes that Shalimar has been watching him, he goes after her. Knowing Adam is not himself, Shalimar calls for backup on her comlink. Adam shoots her with a tranquilizer gun. He then seals her, as well as Brennan and Jesse, inside a force field. The three become extremely worried that Adam is headed to Genomex to sell the disk containing the mutants' database. Back in the lab, Emma comes to and maneuvers the laser scalpel to cut through her restraints. Once freed, she finds the others and deactivates the force field, releasing them.
Back at Genomex, Charlotte tries to leave after Eckhart reveals that it was really he who blackmailed her father into selling his research. It's not long, however, before Adam arrives and releases her from the holding cell. As they head towards Charlotte's apartment, they see Brennan, Jesse, Shalimar and Emma blocking their path up ahead. Without hesitation, Adam tosses a lighter into the window of a car leaking oil, and it explodes in flames. Brennan walks through the fire, and he and Adam attack each other. Shalimar comes to the rescue, but Adam puts her in a deadly chokehold. Emma pleads to Adam that he's choking the one who loves him more than anyone else, and Adam finally releases his grip. Remorseful for what she's done, Charlotte touches Adam's arm and the silver liquid gushes out of his pores, restoring him back to his normal self.