Foundations Chapter 6
[New Sanctuary]
Adam analyzed the latest readout from his additions to the new mutant database. Earlier that morning, he had sent the team out to collect the remaining members of the experimental student group. Once they were back there, it was a simple matter to scan each of them in turn and input the data into the computers.
Just as I suspected. They are a powerful group indeed. I'm glad that we got to them before the GSA could. Walking over to the table where Samantha Cooper, the last of the group, laid waiting for her results, he smiled at the possibilities for the young mutants.
"So how am I doing, Adam?" she wondered, running her hand through her blonde hair nervously.
"You're doing fine, Samantha," he assured her. "I'll be eager to see how you progress with your abilities. Thanks for letting me do the scan."
"No problem," the elemental told him, climbing off the table. "Do you mind if I cool myself off?"
"Go ahead," he agreed, observing her carefully.
She took a deep breath and concentrated. From her hands, a small yet powerful wind gust blew into her face, drying the sweat from her forehead. For a few seconds, she kept it up before tiring. "Whew."
"Impressive. How long have you been doing this?"
"For about a year now," she replied. "I wish I had more stamina."
"That will come. Just be patient with yourself, Samantha, okay?" he advised, allowing a warm smile to crease his features.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll try not to let you down," she promised.
"I'm sure you won't. Now, let's go join the others. We have to be in Tucson in about 25 minutes," he told her.
She furrowed her brow. We're almost 250 miles north of there. Even in the plane, it'll take us longer than that to get there. What's he got up his sleeve? Following his lead, she descended the stairs to the living area where Mutant X and five others waited for them.
"How did she make out?" Jesse inquired.
"She did quite well. As everyone did," Adam replied, suddenly turning serious. "Okay, everyone, we'll be leaving soon. Does anyone have questions?" Seeing a hand raised, he indicated, "Michael."
"I thought we were going to the university. Why did we come here first?" Michael Riley, a tall and bulky man wondered.
"I wanted to make sure you were all okay before you started down there. Besides, it never hurts to keep the database up to date," Adam informed him. "Don't worry. We'll be on our way soon enough."
"How are we going to get there?" a Chicano male probed. "Can your plane go that fast?"
"Where we're going, we won't need the Double Helix, Sebastian," Shalimar replied. "We're going to get some help in that regard."
At that moment, the Native American member of the entourage turned to the corner. "There's something there."
"Where?" Samantha asked. "I don't see anything, Martin."
"There's something there," Martin Littleclaw insisted, watching the area carefully. In addition to his own shape shifting abilities, he was a trained shaman and healer.
"Indeed," a disembodied voice affirmed from the gathering mists. Stepping out of the cloying cover, Deirdre and Max surveyed the group and smiled. "Hi, everyone. Welcome to Arizona. I'm Deirdre, your conductor of sorts."
"Hey, guys. I'm Max," Max added, managing a smile for her fellow enhanced companions.
"Is everyone set at the university?" Adam inquired, putting his jacket on.
"We're all waiting for you," Deirdre indicated. "Shall we?" Seeing the others' reactions, she stated, "I assure you, it's quite safe."
"We've done the express route a couple of times ourselves," Emma added.
"Okay, are there any other questions?" Adam asked. Seeing none, he continued, "Okay. Then everyone into the mists."
Martin stepped through and used his own trained senses to survey inside of the portal. "It's okay, guys. Let's go."
Having received affirmation from their new friend, the others followed him. A minute later, Mutant X stepped through and Deirdre sealed the portal behind them.
****
[Social Sciences Building, Campus]
About half an hour earlier, Dave sat in his office waiting for the time to tick down to noon. After breakfast, he had wandered back over toward his office, taking a while to look at the campus and allowing himself to adjust to his new role. Well, it's not really a new role. You're back to playing peer advisor again. Get it through your head, Dave. You can do this.
["Ah'll say," the Child concurred.] In the corner, the familiar ebony form with the orange corona appeared.
["Yes?" the medievalist asked, setting the book he was reading down on the desk. "What's up?"]
["Nothin' much. Ah jus' wanna meet th' new recruits," he replied. "Don't worry. Ah'll stay quiet."]
That would be a first.
["Ah heard that!"]
The professor smiled in spite of himself. "Just testing."
["Ya'll like livin' dangerously, don't ya?"]
"You know me. Never a dull moment," Dave deadpanned, glancing at his watch. "Speaking of the kids, it's almost time. See you soon, okay?"
["Right," the Child concluded, disappearing into the background.]
"Great. Time to go face the music," he sighed, walking out of the office and out the side door. There, he saw Steve and Natalie approaching him. "Hey, what's up?"
"Everyone's set over there," the agent told him. "Let's go."
The trio quickly made their way into the Student Center and up the stairs to the Faculty Club. There, he saw Karen waiting with Mika, Clark, and Lana. "Hi! How was your morning?"
"Great," Karen assured him. "They got to know each other and I took them on a tour of the city. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," he told her. "I'm glad you did that. Thank you."
At that moment, a portal formed, allowing Cybelle to step into the room along with Miri. "Hello. Sorry I can't stay, but there's urgent business back in Althanor. I wanted to bring Miri for the big event. Dave, can you have Deirdre bring her back later?"
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Is everything okay?"
"Uh huh. Just need to keep an eye on some things," the priestess indicated, stepping back through the mists.
"Thanks, Auntie," Miri expressed.
"My pleasure," Cybelle accepted before vanishing from view.
"Who was that?" Clark asked.
"That's my sister, Cybelle," Dave explained. "She's a priestess like Deirdre."
"Ah," the young man stated, filing that information away for later thought. Then he asked his former classmate, "How's it been going with your Dad?"
"We've been catching up on lost time," she replied pleasantly. "It's been nice to see him and my grandmother again." She walked over and hugged her school chums, aunt, and uncle. "So when do we get started?"
"As soon as Deirdre and Max get here," Dave informed her, ruffling her hair.
"Uncle Dave, come on! Bad enough that Dad does that, but you're embarrassing me in front of my friends," she complained.
He chuckled. "Okay, Short Stuff, you win."
In spite of the protest, she grinned at him as she joined Clark, Lana, and Mika. Even though technically it's not cool to let the uncle do that, I really don't mind. Of course, I would never admit that publicly.
At that moment, Deirdre popped into the room followed by Max, Mutant X, and the new mutant students.
"Hi, Papa," Deirdre greeted. "Everyone's here."
"Great. Thank you," he told her as he surveyed the five additional students. "Hi, everyone. Please feel free to take a seat and relax. We'll be starting in just a minute." As they did so, he joined Adam on the other side of the room. "Everything come out all right?"
"Just fine," the leader stated. "Their scans were okay. We've got a really special group here."
"I gathered that." the professor smiled, walking back to rejoin Eve and Max who were sitting at the front of the room. Off to the side, he saw Steve and Natalie accompanying half of the new students at one table. On the other side, Mutant X and the other students watched him carefully.
"Hi again, everyone. Welcome to the University of Arizona. I'm Dr. David Dubois, a History professor here. I'm a mutant as well. I look forward to seeing you in my Western Civ. Class. Dr. Messenger?" Dave started.
Eve stood and introduced herself, "I'm Dr. Eve Messenger, a Religion professor and expert on Eli. While I'm not a mutant, I know your type really well. Several of you are in my Religion 100 class, and I'll look forward to seeing you as well."
Steve was next. "Hi. I'm Agent Steven Petersen of the FBI. Don't worry; the Bureau's not going to take you in. I'm here to work with your profs and make sure that you're safe. Good luck with the classes."
Then Natalie got up. "Dr. Natalie LeBeau, Tucson PD. Welcome."
"You know Adam and the others," Dave noted. "Clark?"
The young man stood. "Hi, Clark Kent from Smallville, Kansas."
"I'm Lana Lang. Also from Smallville, Kansas."
Mika cleared her throat. "Michelle Montoya...although I like to be called 'Mika'. Great to see you all!"
Miri was last. "I'm Miranda Arighatto although I prefer to be called 'Miri'."
"Well, there you have it," Dave concluded. Then seeing Xena and Gabrielle enter the room, he added, "Well almost."
"I'm Xena and this is Gabrielle. Welcome, everyone," the warrior introduced herself and her companion.
"Okay, any questions?" Dave asked. Seeing no hands, he continued, "Okay, gang. We've got quite a tour ahead of us. If you have a question, please stop me, okay? Next stop, the library."
The group got up and followed him out of the room, heading outside. Once there, they waited a minute for Angie and Francesca to show up before starting the campus tour. Once that had happened, Dave started them on their odyssey of self-awareness.
Adam analyzed the latest readout from his additions to the new mutant database. Earlier that morning, he had sent the team out to collect the remaining members of the experimental student group. Once they were back there, it was a simple matter to scan each of them in turn and input the data into the computers.
Just as I suspected. They are a powerful group indeed. I'm glad that we got to them before the GSA could. Walking over to the table where Samantha Cooper, the last of the group, laid waiting for her results, he smiled at the possibilities for the young mutants.
"So how am I doing, Adam?" she wondered, running her hand through her blonde hair nervously.
"You're doing fine, Samantha," he assured her. "I'll be eager to see how you progress with your abilities. Thanks for letting me do the scan."
"No problem," the elemental told him, climbing off the table. "Do you mind if I cool myself off?"
"Go ahead," he agreed, observing her carefully.
She took a deep breath and concentrated. From her hands, a small yet powerful wind gust blew into her face, drying the sweat from her forehead. For a few seconds, she kept it up before tiring. "Whew."
"Impressive. How long have you been doing this?"
"For about a year now," she replied. "I wish I had more stamina."
"That will come. Just be patient with yourself, Samantha, okay?" he advised, allowing a warm smile to crease his features.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll try not to let you down," she promised.
"I'm sure you won't. Now, let's go join the others. We have to be in Tucson in about 25 minutes," he told her.
She furrowed her brow. We're almost 250 miles north of there. Even in the plane, it'll take us longer than that to get there. What's he got up his sleeve? Following his lead, she descended the stairs to the living area where Mutant X and five others waited for them.
"How did she make out?" Jesse inquired.
"She did quite well. As everyone did," Adam replied, suddenly turning serious. "Okay, everyone, we'll be leaving soon. Does anyone have questions?" Seeing a hand raised, he indicated, "Michael."
"I thought we were going to the university. Why did we come here first?" Michael Riley, a tall and bulky man wondered.
"I wanted to make sure you were all okay before you started down there. Besides, it never hurts to keep the database up to date," Adam informed him. "Don't worry. We'll be on our way soon enough."
"How are we going to get there?" a Chicano male probed. "Can your plane go that fast?"
"Where we're going, we won't need the Double Helix, Sebastian," Shalimar replied. "We're going to get some help in that regard."
At that moment, the Native American member of the entourage turned to the corner. "There's something there."
"Where?" Samantha asked. "I don't see anything, Martin."
"There's something there," Martin Littleclaw insisted, watching the area carefully. In addition to his own shape shifting abilities, he was a trained shaman and healer.
"Indeed," a disembodied voice affirmed from the gathering mists. Stepping out of the cloying cover, Deirdre and Max surveyed the group and smiled. "Hi, everyone. Welcome to Arizona. I'm Deirdre, your conductor of sorts."
"Hey, guys. I'm Max," Max added, managing a smile for her fellow enhanced companions.
"Is everyone set at the university?" Adam inquired, putting his jacket on.
"We're all waiting for you," Deirdre indicated. "Shall we?" Seeing the others' reactions, she stated, "I assure you, it's quite safe."
"We've done the express route a couple of times ourselves," Emma added.
"Okay, are there any other questions?" Adam asked. Seeing none, he continued, "Okay. Then everyone into the mists."
Martin stepped through and used his own trained senses to survey inside of the portal. "It's okay, guys. Let's go."
Having received affirmation from their new friend, the others followed him. A minute later, Mutant X stepped through and Deirdre sealed the portal behind them.
****
[Social Sciences Building, Campus]
About half an hour earlier, Dave sat in his office waiting for the time to tick down to noon. After breakfast, he had wandered back over toward his office, taking a while to look at the campus and allowing himself to adjust to his new role. Well, it's not really a new role. You're back to playing peer advisor again. Get it through your head, Dave. You can do this.
["Ah'll say," the Child concurred.] In the corner, the familiar ebony form with the orange corona appeared.
["Yes?" the medievalist asked, setting the book he was reading down on the desk. "What's up?"]
["Nothin' much. Ah jus' wanna meet th' new recruits," he replied. "Don't worry. Ah'll stay quiet."]
That would be a first.
["Ah heard that!"]
The professor smiled in spite of himself. "Just testing."
["Ya'll like livin' dangerously, don't ya?"]
"You know me. Never a dull moment," Dave deadpanned, glancing at his watch. "Speaking of the kids, it's almost time. See you soon, okay?"
["Right," the Child concluded, disappearing into the background.]
"Great. Time to go face the music," he sighed, walking out of the office and out the side door. There, he saw Steve and Natalie approaching him. "Hey, what's up?"
"Everyone's set over there," the agent told him. "Let's go."
The trio quickly made their way into the Student Center and up the stairs to the Faculty Club. There, he saw Karen waiting with Mika, Clark, and Lana. "Hi! How was your morning?"
"Great," Karen assured him. "They got to know each other and I took them on a tour of the city. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," he told her. "I'm glad you did that. Thank you."
At that moment, a portal formed, allowing Cybelle to step into the room along with Miri. "Hello. Sorry I can't stay, but there's urgent business back in Althanor. I wanted to bring Miri for the big event. Dave, can you have Deirdre bring her back later?"
"Absolutely," he agreed. "Is everything okay?"
"Uh huh. Just need to keep an eye on some things," the priestess indicated, stepping back through the mists.
"Thanks, Auntie," Miri expressed.
"My pleasure," Cybelle accepted before vanishing from view.
"Who was that?" Clark asked.
"That's my sister, Cybelle," Dave explained. "She's a priestess like Deirdre."
"Ah," the young man stated, filing that information away for later thought. Then he asked his former classmate, "How's it been going with your Dad?"
"We've been catching up on lost time," she replied pleasantly. "It's been nice to see him and my grandmother again." She walked over and hugged her school chums, aunt, and uncle. "So when do we get started?"
"As soon as Deirdre and Max get here," Dave informed her, ruffling her hair.
"Uncle Dave, come on! Bad enough that Dad does that, but you're embarrassing me in front of my friends," she complained.
He chuckled. "Okay, Short Stuff, you win."
In spite of the protest, she grinned at him as she joined Clark, Lana, and Mika. Even though technically it's not cool to let the uncle do that, I really don't mind. Of course, I would never admit that publicly.
At that moment, Deirdre popped into the room followed by Max, Mutant X, and the new mutant students.
"Hi, Papa," Deirdre greeted. "Everyone's here."
"Great. Thank you," he told her as he surveyed the five additional students. "Hi, everyone. Please feel free to take a seat and relax. We'll be starting in just a minute." As they did so, he joined Adam on the other side of the room. "Everything come out all right?"
"Just fine," the leader stated. "Their scans were okay. We've got a really special group here."
"I gathered that." the professor smiled, walking back to rejoin Eve and Max who were sitting at the front of the room. Off to the side, he saw Steve and Natalie accompanying half of the new students at one table. On the other side, Mutant X and the other students watched him carefully.
"Hi again, everyone. Welcome to the University of Arizona. I'm Dr. David Dubois, a History professor here. I'm a mutant as well. I look forward to seeing you in my Western Civ. Class. Dr. Messenger?" Dave started.
Eve stood and introduced herself, "I'm Dr. Eve Messenger, a Religion professor and expert on Eli. While I'm not a mutant, I know your type really well. Several of you are in my Religion 100 class, and I'll look forward to seeing you as well."
Steve was next. "Hi. I'm Agent Steven Petersen of the FBI. Don't worry; the Bureau's not going to take you in. I'm here to work with your profs and make sure that you're safe. Good luck with the classes."
Then Natalie got up. "Dr. Natalie LeBeau, Tucson PD. Welcome."
"You know Adam and the others," Dave noted. "Clark?"
The young man stood. "Hi, Clark Kent from Smallville, Kansas."
"I'm Lana Lang. Also from Smallville, Kansas."
Mika cleared her throat. "Michelle Montoya...although I like to be called 'Mika'. Great to see you all!"
Miri was last. "I'm Miranda Arighatto although I prefer to be called 'Miri'."
"Well, there you have it," Dave concluded. Then seeing Xena and Gabrielle enter the room, he added, "Well almost."
"I'm Xena and this is Gabrielle. Welcome, everyone," the warrior introduced herself and her companion.
"Okay, any questions?" Dave asked. Seeing no hands, he continued, "Okay, gang. We've got quite a tour ahead of us. If you have a question, please stop me, okay? Next stop, the library."
The group got up and followed him out of the room, heading outside. Once there, they waited a minute for Angie and Francesca to show up before starting the campus tour. Once that had happened, Dave started them on their odyssey of self-awareness.