Polly

> Take care of my baby, promise me you will.
>
> Polly's last request to Dr.Brandyworth in Invincible: Atom Eve

**Polly** is the name of Samantha Eve Wilkins biological mother who was a test subject for Dr. Elias Brandyworth. She appears in the prequel story of Atom Eve.

Polly had died during the birth of Samantha forcing Dr. Elias to preform a crude C-section to deliver Samantha alive, to prevent the infant from being found he swapped Samantha with the Wilkin family's stillborn daughter.

## Background

   Much of her early life unknown, Polly found herself living on the streets alone and pregnant with the unborn child of an unknown partner. Down on her luck, Polly was panhandling until she met Dr. Elias Brandyworth who slips an enormous amount of cash into her jar.

## History

Taking the money he offered her, Polly agrees to take part in an experimental procedure for the Pentagon's clandestine Department of Superhuman Research.

Under pressure from the Department's leader Eriksson to create a living weapon that can alter reality, Brandyworth attempted to make that possible by having Polly reproduce superpowered infants.

   In the lab, Polly was subjected to the experiment by altering the amniotic fluid in her womb to trigger a sort of mutation to her unborn child. This process involved flooding Polly's system with rapidly decaying particles. During the lab sessions, Polly grew close with Brandyworth.

She became filled with hope that her unborn child would have a bright future and not in a lab to be used as a weapon for the government. Even more so when she broke down in tears as Brandyworth showed her a USG scan photo of her developing fetus inside her. Brandyworth then confided in Polly that he would make arraignments to have her moved out of the lab and disappear.

Months later, this would be done when the lab came under attack by the Lizard League who were somehow lured to come by Brandyworth. They would come into conflict with Omni-Man as well as the Guardians of the Globefounding members.

While this happened, Polly went into the early stages of labor at an accelerated rate despite not being due in two weeks. Brandyworth assisted Polly out of the lab and carried her through the hallway as the battle with the two forces came under way. Feeling the pain of labor intensifying, Polly apologized for letting Elias down.

   Although Brandyworth tried too assure her otherwise, a groaning Polly gets taken by surprise by what happens next: A surging wave of the developing atomic energy charges inside her body with beams of purple light emanating from her eyes and mouth. Screaming painfully with this energy, Polly falls writhing to the floor. She alerts Brandyworth that these waves are in sync with her oncoming contractions. Helping her up, Brandyworth continues to escort Polly out of the facility. Once outside, Polly is lead into his car.

    Terrified, Polly believes she won't make it. Brandyworth lets her know that he'll take care of her child should the worst come to pass. As the two drive off, Omni-Man is the only one who notices the couple drive off, but pays them no heed and continues fighting the Lizard League. En route to the nearby general hospital, Polly cries out as she has another atomic surge that signals her unborn child moving further down her birth canal. This time the sensation causes her to momentarily pass out with Brandyworth clutching her hand in support.

Brandyworth had luckily transported Polly to the hospital, but by the time the doctors were preparing to safely help Polly, she let's out a piercing scream as she released one last pulsing shockwave that knocks back everyone and Brandyworth. The immense strain of the atomic energy surging in Polly's body ended up causing her apparent demise. Devastated, a tearbroken Brandyworth is left with only one choice in a c-section to save the unborn child.

### Legacy

While the child was saved, it was assumed Polly died before giving birth to her child, it turns out Steven Erickson had retrieved her corpse, and was able bring her back, but was rendered to an inert state due to extensive brain damage. In a way, she was alive, but placed in a stasis chamber, where Eriksson utilized the same DNA and amniotic fluid that was used for her first child to create new offspring's called Phases: 2, 3, 4 , 5. All of which weren't as perfected as Atom Eve. Eventually Atom Eve discovers her mother still lived albeit hooked to wires and stuck in a chamber, but however she was killed following a stray bullet from a struggling confrontation with Brandyworth and Erickson, with the latter killing the former with his gun.

When Eve returned home to a missed birthday party that ended in a confrontation between her foster father, she found a portrait of her adopted family. In her grief, she created a brand new family portrait with Polly, Brandyworth, and humanized versions of the Phase children saying they were the only family she had.

## Trivia

* Polly's hair and eye color could be a reference to atomic molecules that Atom Eve summons when activating her molecule abilities.
* Polly's brain damage form was more darker in the comics.
* Polly also has a similar hairstyle to Atom Eve.