"No, what?", confused, Lily stood up and stared at the claws glinting back at her.
"What's going on? How can this be?", her voice rising in anger.
"I have no idea", Logan answered quietly.
"Did you have something to do with this? Did you do this to me?" Lily started yelling.
"No! Absolutely not! I want answers as much as you do!" Logan replied, sheathing his claws, taking a cautious step towards Lily.
"Then what the FUCK is going on?!" Lily demanded, stepping away from Logan to start pacing in the gardens. She began shaking and her breathing became ragged as she worked herself up.
Logan, recognising the signs of rage, took another cautious step in her direction.
"Lily, you have to calm down, we're gonna figure this out, but first you need to control yourself."
Lily looked towards him with pure menace in her eyes and lunged.
Her claws barely scratched his chest, slightly tearing his flannel shirt, as he manoeuvred expertly out her way. He was surprised that she had the agility to even get that close to him, but his years of experience allowed him to quickly subdue the young girl by getting behind her and crossing her arms across her chest, holding her by her wrists.
She struggled against his strong position, and actually managed to break free by headbutting him and yanking out of his grip, using the element of surprise to launch another attack. Logan was astounded at the skill she had just displayed and questioned how she could possibly have attained the knowledge to be able to escape from his vice grip. Lily's second attack was more focused as she used her speed to her advantage, feinting one way before attacking in the opposite direction. Logan was just able to keep up, not wanting to pop his own claws to defend himself. They continued to spar, Lily making little contact as they traded movements.
Logan tried to reason again, "Lily I'm not going to hurt you. You need to understand that I had nothing to do with this! You need to stop."
"Liar!" she screamed, attempting again to stab the cause of her problems once more. Her vision had once again turned red, just like with in the incident with the bear, however this time, she was using her rage to fuel her instead of fighting against it. She found she was able to maintain her agility and sharp reflexes despite being blocked again and again. How was she was able to do this quickly crossed her mind before it exited again as her tirade continued.
"You know I'm not lying", Logan calmly replied, "If you can smell as well as you say you can, then you know I'm being honest."
This caused Lily to stop for a second and stare and Logan, panting. She refused to believe him, but again, she couldn't deny her nose, the new sense she had come to rely so heavily on.
"What am I supposed to do then?" Lily said, resignation tainting her words, claws retracting once more.
"We figure this out together, trust me" Logan responded, sticking out his hand.
Lily, still panting, searched his eyes, trying to find a solution. She stared down at his hand and after hesitating a moment, she shook it, the anger and red vision dissipating in this action.
"Well then, I reckon it's time we check on the Professor then," Logan reckoned, looking at the sky to see the pink and orange hues of sun creeping over the horizon.
He led her back through the giant, oak double doors into a large entryway. Two set of stairs hugged the walls on either side of the doors to lead up to a second floor with a balcony overlooking the entryway. Through the middle of the two stairs was another hallway where she had come from earlier, she knew if she followed some stairs down that hallway, she would find her way back to the infirmary. However, instead of following the corridor down to the end and descending the staircase to reach her hospital bed, they stopped at the first door on the right. The large wooden door was still closed but Logan didn't hesitate at all as he opened it up, standing back to allow Lily to enter through the doorway first. She was surprised to find a few lamps were on and a fire was crackling softly in a large fireplace, decorated with a large marble mantlepiece. Most of the walls were actually shelves teeming with books and centred in the middle of the room were a few soft-leathered, maroon armchairs. Sitting in one of these armchairs was an old man with a very bald head. A wheelchair sat close to the armchair. He didn't look up as they walked in and Logan gently closed the door behind him, but sat with his eyes closed.
"How have you been going with this Professor" asked Logan, as the old man finally addressed his visitors.
"It is early days Logan, and so my answers are limited. However, I have just come to a realisation that I will share with you soon. But first, let me introduce myself."
Turning and now facing Lily, the Professor exclaimed, "My name is Professor Charles Xavier, and you must be Lily." He nodded his head courteously and smiled warmly.
Lily could only feel comfortable in his presence. She walked toward him to shake his outstretched hand and smiled back, realising it was the first time she had smiled since waking up in the woods.
"Hi there" she replied, not really sure what to say.
"So what have you got for us Chuck?" asked Logan, seating himself down in one of the other plush armchairs, wanting to move the conversation along.
"Lily please take a seat as well. It is best you are comfortable," he began and Lily too, seated herself in the large armchair.
The fire crackled on, giving a subtle soundtrack to the conversation. Charles stared into a moment longer before he began again.
"Lily," he started, staring deeply into her eyes.
"As Logan has recently told you, I am a telepath, one of the strongest there is in the world. I tell you this not to boast, but to give you an idea of my capabilities and what I am prepared to do to help you find your answers. Consequentially, it was of little trouble for me to overhear that you said you were 17 years old. Is that correct? Born the 20th of September, 1995?"
"Yes…. That's right" Lily answered, not sure what this had to do with anything.
"Well, due to the circumstances you have found yourself in tonight, it did not surprise me when Logan revealed today's date, you did realise the gravity of the situation. The year is 2018, and if you were born in 1995 as you say, by this year, you will be 23 years old, not 17," explained Charles.
Lily didn't say anything for a little while. Staring first from the Professor, to Logan (who looked back at her warily), and then to the fire. Multiple emotions were streaming through her mind. Confusion, sadness, worry, anger. As she processed each of these, she could feel both pairs of eyes on her, waiting for her response. Not wanting another breakdown, Lily took slow, deep breaths to ensure she had a hold of herself before she replied.
"How can that be?" is all she managed to let out. She didn't look up from the fire, as she found that the dancing flames had a somewhat calming effect and did not want to risk looking away from them.
Hesitantly, Charles explained his theory.
"Well, I can only surmise at this stage, that with your experienced memory loss, you were 17 years old at the time of your abduction and ultimate transformation."
At this news, both Logan and Lily looked up at him with alarm.
"What are you talking about?"
It was Logan who had asked as Lily found herself stunned, searching the Professor's face for some sort of deviant behaviour, but only found sincerity and honesty.
"It brings me no pleasure in delivering this news to you Lily, but when we brought you back to our infirmary this morning, we gave you a quick work up to see if you needed any immediate medical attention. During this process, we took some blood, as is routine. As a part of our school medical protocols, we check for the X gene. It may or may not come as a surprise to you, but you are X positive."
"Why would that be a surprise that the kid is X positive?" Logan asked again, "We all saw her claws pop in and out again. I don't know many humans that can do that."
Lily agreed with Logan. Of course her recent behaviour was definitely that of a mutant. Although the thought of being a mutant did still feel weird to her. Could this be why the Professor thought she might be surprised?
"Well Logan, we can undoubtably say that Lily is indeed a mutant, now. But she was not always one. Lily was born completely and 100% human."
Lily continued to stare at the Professor for a little while longer before turning back towards the fire, mind whirring at a 100 miles and minute. As absurd as what the Professor was saying, it did make sense to her. This unfamiliarity with her own mutant being. Her senses of her past life, brief memories of a family.
Finally she spoke, "How do you know this?"
Both Logan and the Professor were somewhat shocked by her demeanour, the calmness she was expressing. Logan could hear her slow heartbeat, her steady breathing.
"The blood test did indeed test positive for the X-gene, but not the same X-gene that could be found in myself or Logan here. The gene detected in your blood, Lily", she looked up at him now, "was manufactured."
"I believe it was conducted by isolating the gene from a mutant's blood, then morphing it with an extremely aggressive virus. The X-gene is then incorporated into the virus's own genetic makeup and was introduced into your own bloodstream. The virus then goes on to do what virus's do, taking over the organism's healthy cells, and creating its own."
"The reason you thought you were still 17 years old, Lily. The disparity in your time I believe, was due to the fact that the virus would need an incredibly long time to overtake a whole human being's genetic code and replace it with its own mutant hybrid. This process, I believe, would take anywhere up to four years if current research on animal models give us any indication. I'm extrapolating of course to apply this theory to a human being as of course, nothing like this has ever been conducted before. As a result, my own theories can explain only so much. However, I do believe I can extend our thinking just a little bit further."
Logan was shocked and furious that such an experiment could have been conducted on a then, 17 year old girl. He looked across at her, listening carefully again. Her heartbeat had risen slightly, her calm façade slightly dropping as the reality of what the Professor had just proposed hit her. She continued to stare in to the fire, but her eyes began searching the flames now, looking where she could for more explanations.
Realising that she would not speak up yet, Logan asked the question he knew Lily was thinking.
"So Chuck, you say you know the gene was forged and mixed with a mutant's DNA. Do you know which mutant?"
Logan asked the question already knowing the answer but still vocalising it for his own sake and the sake of Lily.
Charles turned from Lily to Logan. He knew they both knew the answer, and he did not want to reveal his final suspicions. However, sensing the need to reach his final point, he looked sadly at Logan, and proclaimed, "It was yours Logan. And what's more, I believe that the people that did this to Lily are known to you Logan. Your experiences are very similar. They had your blood Logan. The people who took Lily, who experimented on her, are the very same who did it to you."
"The Weapon X program is back."