"Ah, right," says Wells. Then he leans forward to see the scar, brow furrowing a little. "Bit like the tattoo I got to commemorate my first real campaign in the desert, I think," he says, "only with more importance?"

He rolls up his sleeve to show the 'desert rat' tattoo on his upper arm just above his vaccination scar. "Only that was for fighting my own species, 'cos there's only been us on Earth so far as I know. That-" he gestures towards Spoon, indicating the places where there used to be scars. "-means a whole fucking lot more. Well done."

Not like the Iraqis could've melted him without resorting to Sarin or VX, after all.