Project 26
by Verbum
Author's Note: I still own all of the original characters in here, but I own nothing in the X-Men. Please excuse the violence in this chapter; I used it to convey a sense of hopelessness that is so prevalent in this story. I hope you enjoy, and please review!
Today was a multi-person test, something that didn't happen very often. This time, it was Aquarius, Switcher, and Matrix. An odd combination, really; Matrix's unusual power of being able to bond with machines wasn't all that usual, nor was Switcher's ability to augment or switch (hence the name) a person's powers. Aquarius stood in a glass shell hooked up to a machine, leaning against its sides and waiting for the boring lecture-talk to end.
"The purpose of this test," Dr. Blevins was saying to the graduate students assembled around her, observing the procedure, "is to view the sheer scope of subject 9727135's (she pointed to Switcher) powers, using Aquarius and Matrix over there." Aquarius rolled her eyes, receiving a small shock from her suit.
Let's just get this over with, she thought, scanning the room. Matrix, still scarred from yesterday's testing, shook a little bit at her post. The lights dimmed with the sound of electricity moving from one system to another, and Aquarius was immediately pinned up against the side of the machine, which was slowly filling up with water. She nervously glanced at Switcher, whose hands were glowing with a silver light. His powers were taking effect, making him start to twitch. The water crept up to her knees.
Switcher felt the electric sensation of the power buildup inside of him, and shuddered. The Blevins woman was still yammering on to the students, who were hurriedly taking notes. Matrix was paling more and more by the minute, and Aquarius was stuck. Switcher's breath caught in his throat; she was up to her waist now. The power surge grew greater.
Matrix screamed, even though she felt no pain. The machinery around her buzzed in her ears, and Aquarius, from what she could see, was frantically trying to free herself from her bonds unsuccessfully.
This should have worked! Aquarius thought, trying to command the water to her bidding. They must have power dampeners in here!
Why isn't she using her powers? Matrix thought. She put her hand to the machine nearest her, and closed her eyes, melding with the metal and making its circuits hers. She stopped moving and felt the gentle hum of the current flowing through her as she looked around. The machine she had just entered was directly behind her, and Aquarius was a couple feet away. She could see the pipes supplying the water not even three feet away. Matrix felt her away around the circuitry, and came to a switch.
"This is too easy," she said to herself, as she examined the board. If Aquarius was still struggling, it couldn't be heard now. She flipped the switch. The lights all around her blacked out, and the sound of screaming grad students filled her ears, but something else caught her eye. A panel had come up, and was scrolling words across its inky surface.
Vasquez, Amalia. Codename Matrix: 1342790. Alpha class, top priority; Weston, Michael. Codename Micromass: 2674938. Alpha class, top priority; Scott, Jeffrey. Codename Switcher: 9727135. Alpha class, top priority; Kim, Leilani. Codename Aquarius: 8530701. Alpha class, top priority; Constangelakos, Paul. Codename Nova: 3520. Alpha class, top priority. Taylor, Penelope. Codename Psion: 1. Alpha class, top priority.
Matrix shook with excitement. Whatever this was, it was huge. Suddenly, however, She lurched forward with the onset of a violent bout of nausea. Water shot from her hands in a jet, hitting the machinery and causing short circuits. The steam was rising inside of there. Frantically, she looked for a way out, and, with a burst of effort, she forced herself out of the machine. The graduate students were still screaming, and Dr. Blevins was still attempting to calm them down. Aquarius was coughing on the ground, next to the broken machinery, sopping wet. There was no sign of Switcher, however.
"What happened?" Aquarius asked softly, from the ground. Matrix collapsed on the floor next to her.
"It was Switcher," she said, examining the cuts and mild scalds she had received as a result of the switch. Aquarius grunted from her face down position. The lights came back on, and 2 armed guards took them away.
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Amalia Vasquez, Matrix thought to herself in her bunk later that night. She was no longer burnt and bruised, but was now under strict surveillance at all times, except after lights out. I have a name.
"Excuse me?" Psion asked sleepily from her bunk. Aquarius was still in the MedWard under watch.
"I said something?" Matrix asked with surprise. Psion yawned.
"Yes, you did. Something about having a name." Psion's accent was different than everyone else's, Matrix thought. Micromass's was obviously African, Aquarius didn't really have much of a regional accent at all, and neither did Switcher. But Psion's was more... what was the word... refined.
"I hadn't realized I said anything at all," Matrix responded.
"Yes, well, we all have names," Psion responded. "You're Matrix, Aquarius is in the MedWard, and I'm Psion."
"I didn't mean that kind of name," Matrix said. Penelope sat up.
"Oh... well. Of course we do. We don't use them, that's all."
"You knew?"
"Of course I know my name," Psion said, a bit snappishly. "In a place like this, it's the best thing to know."
"Penelope Taylor."
"Penelope Lynn Taylor, if you please."
"I'm Amalia Vasquez." Psion was silent.
"Pleased to meet you," she said, lying back down. Her soft breathing could be heard in the silence of the cell.
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Switcher was alone. No one was allowed in his cell, on threat of Federal offense and capital punishment. He had been given 2 meals, and had 24 hour guards posted around his door. And all for the sake of that test. He looked up at his ceiling, and sighed. The door creaked open, and the officious looking Dr. Blevins came in, bearing a clipboard.
"Switcher," she said indifferently, like a soldier taking orders. "How are you feeling?"
"All right, I guess."
"Good. Now, you know why you're in here, right?" He shook his head.
"Actually, I don't."
'I figured," she said, never taking her eyes from the clipboard. "I take it you remember yesterday?"
"Yes."
'Good." She motioned for one pof the guards to step into the room, and handed him a black leather bag.
"Take out instrument 1," she said, her eyes still on the clipboard. The guard grunted, and took out a couple of suction cups attached to a kind of skullcap. He hooked it up to a nearby machine that Switcher had never before noticed, and handed the skullcap to Dr. Blevins, making a timely exit.
"The purpose of this exercise,' she said, finally glancing up from the board to check her progress, "is to... wipe the memory of the recipient, when they... amass too much knowledge, or to keep a mistank from happening again."
"Yut what did I do?' She took her glasses off, and wiped them on a bit of her sleeve.
"You, Jeffrey Scott, destroyed an expensive piece of machinery, then exited the premises of a test before it was finished. He knitted his red eyebrows together.
"But Aquarius was drowning."
"A sacrifice for the sake of science." She had fitted the skullcap around the top of his head, and attached the suction cups to the area right behind his ears. The guards closed the doors to his cell, and locked them as the test wnt on, among Switcher's screams.
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The breakfast table at Xavier's school for Gifted youngsters was crowded, as usual. Beast was sitting off to the side, in a quiet spot, nursing a cup of coffee and attempting to get through the latest Tom Clancy novel. Jean and Scott were sitting near the Professor, discussing President Bush's latest promises with regards to taxes. The rest of the tam was eating and joking around.
Psylocke stiffened, and lurched forward at the kitchen table, garnering stares from the rest of the team. The Beast ran over, and immediately checked her pulse. Before he had finished, though, Jean and the Professor had also suffered the same thing.
"What was that?" Rogue asked cautiously. Professor Xavier weakly sat back up.
"Jean, the other night!" She rubbed her head on the sore spot where it had hit the table.
"Do you think this is the same thing?" He nodded.
'We have to check Cerebro," he said, but he was cut off by another psychic backlash that hit Psylocke, causing her to retch and collapse on the floor unconscious. Scott ran over to her.
'We have to get her to the lab, Hank!" jean narrowed her eyes; why hadn't Scott done tha same for her?
"oh my stars and garters..." The conscious X-Men cleared the way, and Psylocke was taken downstairs.