X23 sat on the edge of the world. The water lapped at her feet and she idly tossed rocks out in to the waves.
He knew me. Like I knew him… She swallowed.
Please … And thank you… that helped. She had to admit.
She sighed. He's nice… to look at.
She shook the thought from her mind. Don't … She told herself. Just don't.
Logan told me… about mind-people. She reminded herself. They can hurt you.
She looked back over her shoulder towards the lighthouse. But he didn't hurt… he helped… I think.
The water was dark and troubled, just like she was. And she sat, reveling in its agitation – for lack of a way to express her own.
I know what to do. She told herself, eyeing the driveway for Kurt's return. I'll ask Kurt what to do.
And she smiled, quite pleased with herself, that she had finally figured it allout.
Alistaire smiled wildly at Kurt on the cab ride back to the lighthouse.
"Alistaire! Just stop it." Kurt complained yet again.
"I can't." He said, sounding the proper Englishman. "I'm in the presence of a hero." He smiled. "I stand amazed."
Kurt exhaled. And his mind turned to the cheering, applauding crowd. "Ja… Me too." He said softly.
"What's it like?" Alistaire asked him. "When you teleport?"
The cab driver looked back, suspiciously over his shoulder.
Kurt considered him. "It's like being slightly compressed, and vary warm, for just an instant."
"Could ummm... I was just thinking…"
Kurt sighed. "You vant to try it don't you?"
"Well, Kitty phased me earlier, and I found the experience truly astonishing." He smiled. "And I really think it's…" He hunted for the word. "… enlightening."
Kurt looked him over. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Quite." Alistaire smiled.
Kurt swallowed. "Alistaire, how many mutants are in England?"
Alistaire shrugged. "Haven't a clue."
Kurt looked questioningly at him. "What do you mean? You don't know, or .. No one knows?"
"Oh, well, it's either a secret or it's uncounted." He shrugged. "It's not on file anyplace that I know of. Maybe some private organizations are interested but… It's never been a government issue until well, now."
"How many mutant arrests? Say... In the last year?" Kurt raised his eyebrows.
"Well, Tabitha of course. But she wasn't our issue. I do recall a disorderly conduct arrest last June. Australian chap, drunk and starting fires. Passed out in the gutter."
"That's it?" Kurt asked. "What about the media, mutant issues?"
Alistaire just shook his head. "Such as?"
Kurt looked flabbergasted. "What about… Media? News footage from The States?"
"We have scientists who find every little detail interesting, but as a whole, our society likes the broad stroke of a story. The details are important, but unless it's an incident in their own back yard…"
"They… keep it simple." Kurt smiled and shook his head. "God bless them, they're good, simple people."
The cab driver leaned back. "Hey there, you're a mutant, right?" He asked Kurt.
"Sure." Kurt shrugged. It was after all, quite obvious.
"My sister's boy grew up a-jumpin' off things, big things, the car, the roof, and just last week, he started jumping up on things. Big things. Like on top of a double-decker bus and the roof of house – and it's two stories!"
He turned and looked back at Kurt. "You think that's an x-gene or is he just …"
"Jumpy?" Kurt asked.
The cabbie chuckled. "Guess not, hunh?"
"Probably an x-gene. Try to get him in to basketball. He could make some money."
Alistaire smiled as Kurt and the cabbie chatted back and forth.
He really is amazing. The society people loved him, the normal people love him. And worse yet… He's for real. He's not one of those fake types who will get your hopes up and then turn on you after an election.
Kurt laughed with the cabbie and they shared a grin.
"Only if he had a sister!" Kurt replied.
And he and the cabbie burst out laughing again. The cabbie laughed so hard he coughed.
Alistaire sat back and smiled. I wouldn't change a day. Not a minute, not a second of my life. If it got me here, working with this great man, then it was all – every agonizing minute, worth it.
Forge's eyes went wide when he looked over the lighthouse. "Oh, man, this is gonna be groovy!"
He opened the first duffel and pulled out a flat, round disk covered in controls. He pressed two keys and it extended a set of spiders legs and he put it down on the floor.
It began whirring quietly, and using itself to vacuum the floor. When it finished, it started up the walls.
He pulled out another, larger 'disk'. This one was gray in color, more square-ish and thicker than the other one had been. He activated it's voice command function. Then he stood it on end and let it go.
"Scan structure for repair scheduling." He told it.
And it 'broke' from itself, the seemingly solid piece becoming a series of rotating, stacked rings. It began to glow softly and then rose off the table and flew away.
He pulled out a tube of devices and began walking room to room, sticking one on the wall in each separate room.
"What are those?" Rogue asked, coming up behind him.
"Heaters." He smiled. "They'll warm up a room like it's nothing. I figure, you know, until I get at the actual heater…"
"And… the robots?" She asked.
"The one doing the vacuuming will molecularly modify all the dust it collects to become a polymer that will seal the cracks or holes in the walls. On a structure this size it will probably take a day or more."
He looked around. "But most of that's just cleaning."
"And the flyin' one?" She asked.
"It's a scanner that will find all the damage that needs to be fixed."
He fished three silver balls out of the duffel and tossed them around the room. They too grew little legs and scampered off.
"They'll study the wiring and see what kind of shape it's in."
A silver, football-ish robot whirred slightly and flew between them quickly as though running for it's life.
"What does that one do?" Rogue watched it go.
Forge stared on after it. "Haven't a clue." But it was already around the corner and out of sight. "It's not one of mine."
