A raven nation scientist develops a weapon that will kill GUA and not humans. He secretly Injects Foster with GUA DNA to make him stronger then gets killed before he can reverse it. Eddie and Jordan must now face a terrible decision.
Tropes:
- And I Must Scream: Jordan is horrified by the idea that Cade is awake and trapped inside a mutating body controlled by a Gua personality. Gua!Cade taunts her that it's true.
- Body Horror: As Cade mutates, patches of Gua tissue burst through his skin. It looks really painful.
- Catapult Nightmare: When Cade dreams about killing Jordan, he wakes up in a shock.
- Flashback Nightmare: Cade remembers the scientist injecting him as a flashback. He quickly realises it wasn't just a nightmare.
- Forced to Watch: Gua!Cade asserts that Cade is watching helplessly from inside and that he's going to kill Jordan while he watches.
- Humans Are Special: Joshua says that human DNA is unpredictable in a way Gua scientists haven't been able to quantify, thus he can't predict how Cade will mutate. This may also be the reason the mutation is undone.
- Mercy Kill: Cade asks Jordan to do this if he can't be cured. Eddie is angry when he finds out, insisting that it's his decision and no one else's. He's eventually forced to shoot Cade, who then just gets straight back up again.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Cade has flashbacks of being strapped down and injected with something. That turns out to be Gua DNA.
- Too Dumb to Live: The scientist, who has just developed a way of targeting Gua DNA while leaving humans untouched, decides that injecting Cade with Gua DNA will give him the titular "edge".
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Raven Nation scientist who injects Cade with Gua DNA truly believes he's making him stronger for the Second Wave.
