Fenrir44: Hn.

Sabby: Of course you get a mention! If you review me, I'm grateful, so I say 'hi!'. I like that you like this chapter, I re-wrote the start several times because it stank like an out-house, and you didn't get an odd look for 'yee-haw', you got a snigger. Enjoy no da!

ShadowCat: Yes, as soon as I thought about that bit, I instantly thought 'that is so him' and used it to sorta break up the tension. ICE BREAKER! *pulls out ice-pick but is restrained by her muse* Heh… sorry about that… I've been downloading Hunter X Hunter manga off the internet and lemme just say, three hours straight of Gon is NOT good for your sanity. (BTW, if you stumble across this manga or anime, for the love of mike, read/watch it! It's soooooo good! A little gory though, but seeing Killua rip out someone's heart is just part of the fun! But don't let that put you off, you haven't seen them try to make sushi… *snigger*)

Dreams of Magic: Aah! *anime recoil* Okay! Okay!

Going Postal

I was infinitely happy to be in school again, even though all my friends treated me like I was made out of tissue paper and that I'd crumple if they breathed on me. After school was infinitely different though, I was picked up as soon as the bell rang, then ferried straight back to the institute for testing. I was scanned, poked, prodded, tested, gave blood samples, talked, argued, and all the while attempted to do my homework. All I can say is that it's a good thing that I'm left handed- there was a drip in my right, which would have made writing hard. I was fed rather bland (if not extremely healthy) stuff, and seemed to loose even more weight because of it. I had to take three pills morning, noon and night that were supposed to help, and felt like some sort of cancer patient on a bad day. There was almost always someone in shouting distance when I was taking a pill, and sometimes I had to forcefully keep my books out of someone else's hands if they thought the pile was getting too big for me to deal with.

It's like having a psychotically protective family after you, and I told them so several times, and each time, one of them would laugh, or smile good-naturedly and pat me on the back. It got old very quickly.

I sat one afternoon watching the guy fooling around outside the window. Rogue and I were sitting in silence as usual, and both of us were watching awith longing as Scott got Kurt in a brotherly strangle hold, and started giving him a noogie until he 'poofed' away. Rogue sighed.

She was longing for the contact that the others could have with each other.

I was longing to be able to move freely like the others.

We were somewhat alike, but at the same time, opposing forces. It was like our gifts were the complete opposites of each other. Hers siphoned off the energy of others, and mine used that energy against them. She was a black hole, and I was a super nova.

Something inside me clicked as my bored metaphors started to get worse and worse.

"Rogue, can you do something for me?"

Rogue blinked and turned to face me. "Yeah… what?"

"Come with me to the library?"

*~*~*~*

"So what's this about?"

"It's all rather simple." I removed one of my gloves, another similar trait to Rogues, and concentrated. "What I'm doing is letting down my mental barriers around my arm." Thank heavens I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. "This means that if anyone touches me… they're gonna loose an appendage. Just take off your gloves, and try touching my arm."

"What?! What if…"

"Please, just try it. even just brush a finger against my hand. I've just got this theory. And if this theory is right, we should expect something fairly drastic to happen…" I wiggled my eyebrows good-naturedly at her, and she rolled her eyes. Rogue approached.

I met her half-way, and out finger tips delicately touched each other.

There was an explosion without sound, and we were instantly thrown to opposite sides of the room.

"Oowie…" I rubbed the back of my head where there was now a book-spine shaped dent in it, and coughed weakly.

The door to library burst open, and Logan swept in (disobedient student sense tingling!) like a cloud of thunder.

He checked Rogue, who was in a similar state of groaning and rubbing her head, but with no real harm done, and glared at me.

Why do they always assume that it's my fault?

"What happened?"

"It was just a little experiment… I wanted to see what would happen if we touched hands… I didn't expect this though…"

My ears were ringing, and everything sounded muffled.

"What was that noise? It sounded like an explosion!" Jean pushed into the room, her red hair flying out behind her.

"Just an experiment…"

A line that I soon became famous for.

I sat up, still rubbing my head.

"Can we try that again?"

Rogue looked at me like I should have been locked away in a padded cell. "Are you kidding?"

"No, we just have to try harder…"

Rogue looked sick. "Maybe later?"
"Pleeeease?"

Sometimes I'm too cute for my own good. For someone of about the same age as Rogue, you wouldn't suspect it. I must have looked like a skinny little ten-year old with my puppy-dog eyes, but it worked as she sighed.

On our third try (which had gained quite an audience), our hands stayed together for a few seconds before we both, instinctively pulled them apart.

The look in Rogue's face said louder than words, 'you haven't passed out!' and I must have had a similar one that said 'your hand hasn't turned to ash!' from Logan's raised eyebrow.

"I TOLD you it would work!" I exclaimed, grinning like a loon. "Our powers eventually nutralise each other's! Yes-a!"

With that, I collapsed again.

I awoke, once again in the white that I identified as the med-bay.

"You over-extended yourself again."

"I could easily agree with that…" I groaned, rasing a hand to wipe down my face.

It was held half-way by the strange feeling of the drip in my hand being reaching the end of its tether. 

"What this time?" I turned to look at the bag, and was surprised by what I saw.

"A blood transfusion? Am I really that bad?"

"This blood has been supplied by Logan,"

Eeeeeww.

"In hopes that it will build up your system again."

Oh great, things had gotten desperate when they brought in the guy with healing powers. I couldn't help but feel… unclean.

*~*~*~*

"Dude, that thing just prolonged your life."

"Yes, but how would you feel to know that you had Logan's blood flowing through you?"

There was silence in the conversation between Spyke and I as he thought it over.

"Point taken. See ya!" Spyke disappeared down the hallway as the first bell rang, and I was left on my own.

School again. It comforted me to have something solid in my life, something that I knew would be something that I could bury myself in before the white world of tests.

I found comfort in my lunch-time mandarin, in the shiny metal of the desk legs, and even in the almost constant contempt of the brotherhood.  It was wonderful to have squeaky linoleum beneath my feet, and the rancid smell of failed science experiments when I walked past the science block.

One thing I couldn't rely on though, was my past coming back to bite me in the butt every once and a while.

I arrived back at the institute in the afternoon, and left my bag next to the door, crouching down next to it to extract my homework.

"Selwyn?"

"Yes, Storm?" I asked, glancing up briefly.

"There's a letter for you."

I left my half-empty bag, and walked over to Aurora.

The envelope was plain, with a window that showed my address from the top of the letter. It had no return address.

I opened it cautiously, and pulled out a one-page letter and small piece of plastic.

'Experiment 3146, Aka Selwyn K.A.I, the following is a description of your compensation for your participation in the Kinetic energy Artificial environment Intelligence program. Your pin number is 8973.'

A few lines down was a number. A large number. A seven-digit number.

"Holy…." I refrained from swearing in front of an elder, and quickly sat down on the stairs.

"Selwyn, what is it?"

"Do they really think that money will make up for keeping me in a cage for most of my life?!"

I balled up the letter and threw it down on the ground.

There was a fury building up inside me that I didn't know that I could have possessed. My whole life had been an experiment, and now I was practically dying, and they expected me to forgive them and be grateful? Never.

I buried my head in my hands and tried to stop the headache I could feel forming, the card still held loosely in one hand.

I stood up abruptly and stomped off to the med bay, where I clutched the card during the entire procedure, and scowled.

I scowled through my homework, and then scowled at the ceiling as I tried to sleep.

Some day, I'd find out who ran that experiment, who authorised it as humane, who ran the company, then serves their asses up on a platter. If I survived that long.

*sniffle* Well, he may not be happy, but he is rich… which will help fund something later *insane laughter*… *coughs* anyway, next chapter, stuff happens!
Avalan:… And hopefully Soulsearch grows a brain.
I have one… I just forget where I put it… ^__^'