How many criminal acts are excused by saying they're at war...?  (Especially lately...)

Besides, Soul/Lore can zap Flickerflame through control of his nanites.  Lafferty's cooperating for now...but he's not liking it. 

Lore thinks he's humanity's only hope, and if he has to use hard or extreme methods to save it, so be it.  Sort of super-powered Dick Cheney. He thinks he's a good guy, a hard man for hard times, who gets things done. Sound familiar?

Yeah, Lafferty's still one hundred and sixty pounds. Since muscle weighs more than fat, the pseudo-Heidi form  is probably a lot more muscled underneath the skin than the REAL reporter/blackmailer, since Hedi looks one hundred ten, or one hundred twenty. I expect he can make part of his mass more compact---but there are limits. Minor adjustments can be made in shape, but he still can't turn into just one mouse---or one elephant, though. (Unless he wants to become a REALLY heavy mouse, or a really LIGHT elephant...)