One could practically hear the gears turning in Madeline's head as she processed what Jennifer was saying. The doctor cringed slightly, worrying that Madeline might think she was delirious, or having some kind of bad dream, or that some practical joke was being played on her. But she was a smart young lady, and her faith in the blonde was soon rewarded as her green eyes lit up with excitement behind her glasses, jaw hanging open slightly. "If you've been... changing... then the retrovirus... it works!"
She ran a hand through her hair, a massive smile growing on her face. "W-we have to reverse whatever's happening to you, of course, but... if it could do something like that to you..." She gestured to the doctor's chest, clearly much larger than before even with multiple layers to bind it down. "I-I mean... well... assuming it's not just some allergic swelling, or a similar effect..."
Jennifer shook her head. "They've uh... they've been... producing material." She swallowed audibly. "H-honey. They've... they've been producing honey."
Somehow, Madeline's jaw managed to drop even lower. "Repurposing existing organs! Oh my god!" In spite of the underlying horror of what was happening to her mentor, she seemed giddy with excitement. "Then the adaptivity we tried to introduce, it's working! That's incredible!" She rushed forward, gripping Jennifer's arms with both hands. "Oh my god - Doctor Xiao, the potential applications of this - this is the next great leap forward in genetics!"
"Uhhh... m-maybe..." She awkwardly shrugged her way out of Madeline's grasp. "But for right now... please, I just... I just need to make sure I don't become a monster from this."
The concern in Jennifer's voice seemed to bring her student back down to reality. "Oh... right, of course, I'm sorry!" She straightened out her hair quickly, trying to regain her composure. "We'll uh... we'll need to observe more of the process, then, while... well, while we start trying to determine how we can return you to normal." She hurried over to grab a notepad and pencil.
"Alright... thank you," the doctor said, making her way over to lean against the counter. Just as her hand hit the edge, however, she found herself pausing, as something churned in her gut. Almost instantly, she could feel herself sweating... and she swore that she could feel that pain from before, rippling across some other part of her body now. "Oh god..."
Madeline snapped aroud, rushing over to put a hand on her mentor's shoulder. "Doctor Xiao? What's happening?"
"I... I think... something else is..." She trailed off, breaths growing heavier as she wondered what new hell she was about to experience.