By this point, Vek's energiser ring had been revealed to have more abilities – he could also levitate him, project force fields, as well as other abilities as the script required. Vek had also been humanised to quite an extent – still staying at Mrs Souster's boarding house, he had almost become "one of the family" enjoying friendly banter with Mrs Souster and being a father-type figure to her sons Pete and Mike, however they were still hypnotised into seeing him as Eric Plumrose (Alan Grant described this "softer side" as "surreal" and "his Coronation Street-type soap opera existence").