Gaby, Emma, Angela, Gunn, the sisters, Alcott, and TransGenics are mine.
Rated PG-13 : Strong sexuality; harsh language, moderate violence.
"All of us are mutants. We escaped from the laboratory where we were being kept and studied, and came here looking for the mutants you fought a year ago. I took my job at Bio-Lab, and we arranged for Angela to meet Eric, because we needed information and we didn't know if we could trust you." By mutual silent consent, they had decided to tell everything, and Emma was speaking for all of them. Angela listened, but her gaze went to Eric. He was sitting quietly. His eyes met hers for a moment, and then turned away to stare fixedly at the floor.
Her own very limited power of empathy only worked with physical contact, but through her link with Emma she already knew all the people in the room, and could feel echoes of their emotions, could feel a hint of Eric's pain and anger as he started to guess part of the truth. She had expected this to happen eventually, and had dreaded it. The other men she had used her power on had never found out, and wouldn't have cared as much. But Eric's heart was so raw, and his pride was so important to him, that this might destroy a part of him.
What was done was done, and Eric would have to deal with it. She saw that Wes was paying attention, his face calm and rational. Before Emma had started to talk, Dana had worked her magic, settling his mind and removing most of the effects of the device that had been used to attack him. At least that was something good they had accomplished.
Emma was continuing. "We were engineered as part of an experiment by a company called TransGenics. T-Gen. I'm sure you know them."
Collins nodded. "I've heard that they've engaged in some unethical practices, including some questionable experimentation. But I never suspected they would do something like this."
"They did. We were created in a laboratory somewhere in South America, we're not sure where. They used eggs from South American women. Paid for hundreds, maybe thousands, and picked the best ones. After the eggs were fertilized, when the embryos had started to divide, they separated the cells to create identical siblings. We were the best set, the only one they kept. They named us Baby A, Baby B, and so on, and later gave us names based on those letters. Angela, Carrie, Dana, Emma, and Gina." She pointed to each one, including herself.
"What happened to B and F?" Collins asked.
"They died in early infancy. Side effects of the mutating treatment. We named them ourselves so we'd be able to remember them better. Betty and Fran. We never were given last names, so we made them up, like Cambiado and Mudado."
"The word 'changed' in Spanish and Portuguese," Collins murmured.
"Right. You're a literate man, Mr. Collins." Emma smiled and went on.
"When we were children, they moved us here, to California, to a secret base in the mountains. We can show you where, but they probably demolished the place after we escaped. We don't know the details of the treatment that mutated us. One of the less harmful side effects was a random change in hair color. That's why we all have different color hair, and why some of us have hair that's -- unusual looking." She smiled at Dana and red-haired Carrie.
Wes spoke up for the first time. "I knew another mutant with green hair. And one with pink."
"What they wanted to accomplish was the development of mental abilities. Not intelligence, abilities like telepathy, telekinesis, and mind control. They wanted identical subjects so they could use variations on their treatment, and observe the differences between us, knowing they would be caused only by the mutating agent."
"And did they succeed?" Collins asked.
"Yes. Far beyond their expectations. Carrie is telekinetic. She can move things with her mind, just like the Carrie in the movie. Dana can control people's minds, make them see and feel and do what she wants them to, put thoughts in their heads. I'm empathic and telepathic. I can sense people's emotions and, to a limited extent, their thoughts. Gina is psychic; she can see things with her mind and sometimes predict future events, again to a limited extent. And we have a connection, all of us can communicate mentally with each other."
"And Angela?" Eric asked softly.
For the first time, Emma seemed uncomfortable. "Angela can make people like her."
"Really? Like her exactly how?" Eric's voice had gone even softer, with a dangerous tone.
"She can make people -- feel attracted to her."
"Meaning she can make them fall in love with her?"
Angela answered him herself. "I can make a person feel a strong physical and emotional attraction, and I have a little empathic ability and a talent for knowing the right thing to say and do. I can't force a person to love me, but I can be hard to resist."
"Don't sell yourself short. You were impossible to resist." Eric's voice was bitter. "And the mugging I saved you from? Was that just a setup?"
"The muggers were real. We just arranged for it to happen with me as the victim, and for you to be there too."
Eric looked at Dana. "I guess you got me to go out to the parking lot at the right time. And you made me not see that she looks like Emma."
"That's right."
"I felt a headache and dizziness just now, when you took it off me. Is that what it feels like when you fiddle with my mind?"
"Right again."
"Now that I know what it feels like -- try it again and I swear, woman or not, I'll rip you apart."
Carrie sneered. "You wouldn't be able to do anything about it."
"It's okay, Carrie," Dana said with a cold smile. "Let him act tough if it makes him feel better."
Eric shot her a look of pure hatred. Then he turned his face away, his expression stony. "I'd like to know what the purpose was."
Emma took over again. "I had been working at Bio-Lab for several months, trying to get information about the mutants that were here last year. But I wasn't getting anywhere."
"But you could read my mind. It should have been easy," Wes said.
"It's not that simple. My telepathic ability is limited, and trying to read a mind is not exactly like reading a book. I can pick up surface thoughts, but they're usually pretty incomplete. And there's always this sort of buzz of emotions and other thoughts going on. I tried to bring it up in conversation, but you'd always change the subject and all I'd get was a few images and a sense of loss. I learned more about Jen than anything else. I couldn't afford to be too obvious about it. We needed a more direct way of finding out what we wanted to know. That was where Angela came in. She can usually get men to tell her anything."
"I'll bet," Eric muttered. He looked at her again. "Why me? Why not Wes? Why not go right to the top, and seduce Mr. Collins?"
Angela hesitated, reluctant to answer. "Are you sure you want to know? In front of everyone?"
"Why not? You might as well humiliate me in every possible way."
She sighed. "All right. Wes and his father have both been in love. They know what it feels like, and how it's different from what I do. And their personalities aren't as -- as susceptible as yours. They would have been more resistant. It would have taken more time."
"And I guess I was a real easy target."
"If it's any comfort, you never told me most of what we wanted to know." But he turned away again and didn't respond. Wes and his father exchanged an uncomfortable glance. Gaby looked like she wanted to sink through the floor.
"Maybe you could explain about what happened to Wes," Collins suggested.
Emma sounded relieved. "Of course. This is what did it." She held out her hand, with a small, obviously broken piece of electronic equipment in it. After a moment she put it down on the night table. "You might want to analyze it. Maybe you can trace where it came from. T-Gen was working with this sort of thing when we left. I'm sure they're behind this, and behind the spying attempts and the break-in."
Wes looked at it curiously. "What did it do?"
"Someone -- probably Taylor -- put it in the frame of your picture of Jen, behind the photograph. It gave off a sort of mental radiation, which must have been tuned specifically to your brain. It acted as an irritant, causing your headaches and loss of control, everything that's been wrong with you. I could sense it, very vaguely, but I couldn't be sure what it was, and I couldn't find the source."
She looked at Wes apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything about it before. I didn't realize how bad it was until the day you collapsed. After that we thought you'd be safe in the hospital, and at home. Then when Gaby told me Taylor was the spy, and he had taken the picture to give to you, it just clicked. I realized he must be bringing it here to make sure your recovery wouldn't last."
"That bastard," Collins said.
"With the device in your bedroom, you were exposed all last night, in your sleep. On top of the effects from before, it acted much faster this time."
"I've never heard of a device like this," Collins said thoughtfully. "I don't understand how TransGenics could have technology this advanced."
"We don't know the answer to that. They had a few things that as far as we know no one else has. Including the treatment that mutated us."
"But why would Taylor want to hurt me? I don't understand it," Wes asked.
"My guess is that he was hired, or bribed, or extorted into doing it by T-Gen. And from what I've heard, and sensed, from him, he had ambitions to take over Bio-Lab. All three of you would have been in his way. Under the influence of this thing, you became violent. Maybe Taylor was hoping you'd kill your father or Eric, or both. And of course that would mean you'd be out of the way too."
"Taylor tried to turn me against my dad. Pretty successfully, too. I still can't believe the things I did." He turned to his father. "I'm sorry for everything, Dad."
"It wasn't your fault, Wes. When I get my hands on Taylor... I've never felt like killing someone before. But I do now," Collins said grimly.
"You won't get the chance, if I get to him first," Eric said.
"Taylor's just a hired gun. The real enemy is T-Gen. We need to get evidence against them," Emma said.
"But you're the best evidence. Why haven't you gone to the authorities and testified against them?" Collins asked.
All of the sisters smiled. "How are we supposed to trust human authorities?" Carrie asked.
"And we don't much like the idea of the whole world knowing we're mutants. We'd be considered freaks. Dangerous ones. What kind of life would that be?" Emma said.
"There was a group of mutants right here, a year ago. They disappeared, apparently off the face of the earth. What happened to them? How do we know the same thing won't happen to us if we come forward?" Dana asked.
Collins, Wes, and Eric looked at each other. "What do you think?" Wes asked. "Should we tell them?"
"Under the circumstances, I'd say they have the right to know," Collins said.
"What the hell. They can just force us to tell anyway," Eric said. "I'm surprised they didn't do it already."
"I put thoughts in a person's head, or create illusions. Forcing a person to do something against their will can do damage," Dana said coldly. "And contrary to your opinion, we're not completely heartless."
"Yeah, right."
Collins turned back to Wes. "What about Gaby?"
"She's in this pretty far already. She might as well stay in. Emma trusts her, and I guess she should know," Wes said. The other two nodded.
Wes faced the sisters again. "The mutants who were here a year ago were from the future. The year 2200. They were engineered as soldiers, most of them. A couple were mistakes, genetic improvements that had gone wrong. They were criminals, part of a mutant underground that wanted to start a war with the humans of their time. They came here to change history, to eliminate their enemies before they were created.
"Four law enforcement officers followed them here. I teamed up with them, as the Power Rangers. Eric joined us later. It took us a year to capture all of them. My friends took them back to the future, to stand trial. That's why they disappeared."
The sisters exchanged looks. "He's telling the truth," Emma said. They all looked disappointed and unhappy. "I was hoping so much we could find them. But I guess we're the only ones. There just aren't any more mutants."
"I don't think you would have wanted to meet these guys anyway," Wes told her.
"Maybe to you they were criminals," Carrie said hotly. "But they didn't ask to be created the way they were, any more than we did. Maybe they were just trying to defend themselves."
"You remember what this city was like a year ago, after those mutants finished trashing it?" Eric said. "Innocent people died. The city still hasn't recovered. I don't care what kind of cause they were fighting for, there's no excuse for what they did."
"All right, it won't do any of us any good to fight each other," Emma said forcefully. She looked at Carrie and Dana. "That goes for you too."
"Right," Collins said. "We appear to have a common enemy. And you helped Wes. You said you thought we could help each other. What do you want us to do for you?"
Emma took a deep breath before answering. "We have a problem. Besides being afraid T-Gen will track us down. We found out things from the scientists at the laboratory where we were kept. They never really realized how far our abilities had progressed. I could pick up some information from them, Gina sensed things, and Angela got a few of them to talk to her. Finally Dana tricked one of them into telling us everything, thinking he was reporting to his superiors."
She paused before going on. "Another side effect of the treatment is genetic instability. They were searching for a way to correct it, but they hadn't been able to find anything. Our DNA is unstable. We don't know exactly what to expect, but we've started to feel some symptoms already. From what they told us, in a few years we'll be dead.
"That's probably something T-Gen was looking for when they attacked you. They want a way to stabilize the effects of their mutating process. They must have thought you had information they could use."
She looked out over their faces. "We were hoping you had engineered the other mutants, or could lead us to whoever had. We thought maybe we could find someone who could help, at least tell us exactly what's going to happen to us. But now... unless you have some way to contact your friends in the future..."
"No," Wes said quietly. "They took everything back with them except our morphers and my vectorcycle, including their communicators. Too dangerous to leave their technology here, or to have any further contact. Even if we could reach them, they probably wouldn't want to interfere with history by helping you. I'm sorry."
They all sat silently for a few moments. Finally Collins said, "I think that's enough for tonight. We're all tired, especially Wes. Tomorrow we can start thinking about what we can do about T-Gen, and to help you."
"Good idea," Wes said. "Are we all together in this?" He looked at Eric.
"Do I have a choice?"
"There's always a choice."
Eric stood up. "I'm in. But for your sake. Not theirs." With a hard look at the sisters, he stalked out of the room.
Wes looked at Gaby next. "Whatever I can do, I'll do," she said.
"We're all in, and grateful for your help," Emma said for the sisters.
Gaby walked slowly through the main hallway of the Collins' house. She had found Mr. Collins and said goodnight, and gotten slightly lost on the way back to the front door. This house was big, and impressive. She admired a row of paintings hung along the wall. Then a shadowy form caught her eye as she passed a balcony overlooking the pool and a garden, softly illuminated in the night by hidden outdoor lamps. She hesitated, afraid he wouldn't appreciate the intrusion, but the dejected lines of his shoulders demanded that she at least try to help. She opened the glass door and stepped out, shivering slightly in the winter air.
"Eric?" He was hunched over the balcony railing. She saw his dark head lift, and turn enough for her to see his profile.
"Don't worry. It's not enough of a fall to kill me."
"I... Are you all right?"
"No."
She stood, completely at a loss for anything to say. After a few moments his voice came again, so soft he almost seemed to be talking to himself.
"Are they gone?"
"Emma's outside. The others left." When he was silent again she went on awkwardly. "I'm sorry, about what happened with your... with Angela."
"I really thought I loved her, and she loved me. What an idiot I am."
"Don't say that. It's not your fault."
"Isn't it? She was right. I was easy for her because I've never loved anyone, not even my parents."
"That's not true. I mean -- I could see how much you care about Wes, and his father."
"It's not the same thing."
"You risked your life for them. I think that's love."
His shadowed face turned toward her, watching her for a moment. "Maybe," he said softly. Then he turned away again. "Sorry, but I'd like to be alone right now."
"It's okay, I understand. Emma's waiting to give me a ride home anyway. Goodnight." She closed the balcony door, taking with her the lonely image of him leaning on the railing, staring into the darkness again.
A minute later she was outside, getting into Emma's car. She sat back and closed her eyes as they started off. They moved along the long, tree-lined driveway that wound away from the house toward the main road.
"Is Eric all right?" Emma asked.
"How did you... Oh, right. He's pretty upset. Can't blame him. And that guy's got some serious problems."
"I know. I didn't like having Angela do that. But the others thought we had to." She glanced at Gaby and paused for a moment. "Are we still friends?"
Gaby looked at her. "Were you trying to get information from me, too?"
Emma smiled. "Nope. You didn't know anything."
"That's for sure. I'm not sure I want to know everything I found out tonight."
"Poor Gaby. I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
She sighed. "I guess you had no choice."
"You're not angry that I never told you the truth?"
Gaby grimaced slightly. "I don't know. I kind of wish you had trusted me."
"I'm sorry. We're so used to hiding what we are, it's hard to be honest with anyone."
"Forget it. I'm too tired to be angry anyway."
Emma looked at her again. "There's not many humans who'd be willing to be friends with a mutant. Especially one like me. Most people would be afraid, or embarrassed, at the thought of me reading their minds."
Gaby shrugged, a little uncomfortably. "I can't say I'm exactly happy about it. But I think it must be worse for you. Knowing every mean little thought anyone has about you, or other people. Always knowing when someone's angry with you, or bored, or doesn't like you, even when they're trying to be polite."
Emma grinned. "You know, you're pretty perceptive, for a human."
"You're okay yourself, for a mutant. And to answer your question, yes, we're still friends."