"Adam, I think I found him," Jesse's standing over the computer, too energized to sit down. Wearing jeans and a tee shirt, he has the ruffled look that says 'too little sleep and too much work.' Intent is etched on his face as he pours over the screen in front of him, "look." Adam enters the room and Jesse flips the computer screen to the left so he can see the webpage currently pulled up.
"What am I looking at?" Adam bends over the screen and immediately catches what Jesse was talking about. In the middle of the page, surrounded by text, Faith is looking back at him through a picture. "What is this?" Adam's voice quivers at the thought of what could be on this page, of what Faith could not want people – especially Jesse – to know.
"I didn't read all of it because it goes on for about ten pages. But the basic is that someone is posting a website that includes pictures, descriptions, last known whereabouts and crimes that some random people have done. At least, I thought they were random until I started looking at the other pictures." Jesse brings up some more windows and Adam recognizes some of the faces from the underground network.
"Are you telling me that this is a witch hunting website for mutants?" Adam goes through some more of the pictures and stops on Brennen's.
"Oh it's more than a witch hunt. This guy is asking for information on them, wanting to know where they are, what they're doing. He's willing to pay money to find what he's calling 'dangerously armed murderers that must be stopped'." Jesse quotes the screen with a disgusted look on his face. "This guy is actually one of the worst I've heard; I mean he would give Eckhart a run for his money."
"Unless it is Eckhart, or at least someone working for him." Adam reads through some of the information on the screen trying to get a feel for their new found friend.
"Do you really think Genomex would be this bold, isn't their whole thing subtlety. You know, not letting people know we exist or whatever."
Silence fills the air as both try to work through the new information. A warm glow encases the two members of Mutant X as they seek out answers that never come.
Faith glances in as she walks by and then retraces her steps. Pausing outside the doorway, she looks in on Jesse leaning against the wall with determination carved into his soft boy-next-door features and Adam's older, distinguished eyes lit by a computer screen. The silence that surrounds the two creates one of those scenes that forces Faith to stand there, soaking it all in, one of those moments that seem to last forever and yet never long enough.
"Faith!" Adam glances at the door and sees Brennen's younger sister with a half smile watching Jesse.
The name snaps Jesse out of his trance as he looks for her, finally resting his gaze on the doorway where Faith is silhouetted against the bright lights of Sanctuary. A look Adam knows all too well passes between them and then both look away, colour rising in their cheeks.
"That's it. Adam, that's it, that's whose running the site!" Jesse stops looking at his shoes and looks up at Adam.
"Faith? Faith is running the mutant hunt site?"
"Wait, what am I doing?" Faith walks over to the computer where Jesse has started attacking the keyboard and glances at the website. "Why is Brennen on a website? And why does it list him as a murderer?" Faith begins to read the site and looks more and more distressed the further her eyes travel.
"No, not Faith. Mark – Faith's father. Why else would Brennen and Faith be on the site, and how would they know so much about them?" Jesse tries to hack the site and find the modem source that the owner is using to update on.
"I'm on the site?" Faith looks a little panicked now and tries to find her page, but Jesse's efforts have pulled up screens overtop and stop her from doing anything.
Adam stands quietly by as he mulls over the idea. "It could work, it would make sense. But I thought Mark was just interested in you, Faith, why would he have a whole site dedicated to finding mutants?"
"Well that's an easy one, though I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. Mark loathes mutants, freaks, weirdoes, anything that doesn't fit into his twisted view of reality. I wasn't allowed to do anything abnormal as a child, not even streak my hair. Call him old fashioned or whatever, but anything he doesn't understand – or even worse, can't control – scares the hell out of him." Faith turns her attention to Adam as the idea of a website hunting mutants and her father start to look more and more likely.
"But we've only seen him go after you, in the club for instance and the safe house. There haven't been any other attacks." Adam runs a hand through his hair, ruffling what little neatness it had.
"From what I can tell, my dad knew about mutants before I did. I don't even think my mom knew, but when I broke in to his office to try and get some money, his whole office was plastered with newspaper clippings, letters and website pages. It was all about strange things happening, unexplained things, that's when I knew I had to leave, that it was no longer safe." Faith sat down in the chair, legs swung over the arms and head against the back of it. "But I…I am the worst of them all. Well, Brennen might be tied with me, but I'm his ultimate goal."
"Why? What makes you so different?" Jesse was typing furiously away, trying to narrow down his search, but was still listening. "You're his daughter; shouldn't that make him not want to hurt you? Give you some kind of immunity or something?"
"Exactly the opposite. It's because I'm his daughter that he hates me so much. I think he sees it as a betrayal, you know, his own flesh and blood taking the enemy's side." Faith absently pushes against the wall with her toe and lazily spins the chair.
"It's more than that though, isn't it? You did something lately that's made him focus completely on you and forget about the rest of the mutants." Adam carefully reads Faith's reaction to try and see what she wasn't telling them.
"Well, let's just say that he thought a solution had come up and is now disappointed that nothing has happened to me yet." Faith gave a sidewise glance at Adam and read the knowing expression. "But you've already figured that out, haven't you Adam? I guess it's not that surprising since you've taken about six blood samples in as many weeks. I knew you'd see it sooner or later."
"I must say, I was a little surprised you didn't mention anything." Adam leaned against the desk and faced Faith.
"Well, I'm not really one to share that kind of news with strange men poking me for blood." She gave a little wink.
Adam noticed that Jesse had stopped typing and was watching the two of them with a very confused expression. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing babe, what's up with the search…didn't find anything." Faith nods at the screen, then quickly gives Adam a look that tells him not to go any further with that information.
"It takes time; I sent a worm out on the website that will tell me where the computer is that sends the next updates onto the sight. We have to wait for them to log on before it will find anything." Jesse caught the look between Adam and Faith but could tell that subject was one he was not going to get information on any time soon. Both faces looking back at him held a secret, and both eyes told him that they weren't talking.
An awkward quiet fell over the three sitting in the blue glow of the computer screen. Faith was still spinning herself in the chair and the squeak gave off an almost eerie sound that reverberated around the room. Suddenly a ping was added to the noise and Jesse jumped, looking quickly over the screen.
"We've got it. Someone just updated the site; the computer is networked into a server and…" Jesse trailed off as he lost himself in the computer trying to decipher the information popping up at him.
"And…and what? Is it near by?" Faith sat up straight in the chair and wheeled herself beside Jesse.
"Yup, it's being housed by the water. Probably about a fifteen minute Helix ride." Jesse clicked through some more screens and found a more precise location, "it's in a warehouse."
"Big surprise there." Faith sarcastically remarks. When Jesse and Adam both gave her questioning looks, she explained: "these things always end up in warehouses don't they? Bad people meet somewhere creepy, like a warehouse down by the docks, to create more suspense when the good guys have to go get them. It's classic horror movie magic, though someone always gets caught off guard and normally a captive is taken. Not so much good for us." Amusement plays on the corner of Faith's lips as she looks at Jesse and Adam. "Come on, it's called a life boys – you aught to try it once in a while. Now, when do we leave?"
"Right now, this server hasn't been there long. I don't think Mark will stay in one place for too long." Jesse closed the screens and headed to the door. "I'll go get the Helix ready."
"Great, now comes the suspense-filled discovery that will determine the plot for the rest of the movie. What will they find – a warehouse filled with weapons of mast destruction meant to end the mutant world as we know it, or just an old computer and an empty room? Dun Dun Dun." Faith mocks horror, throwing her hand across her forehead and pretending to swoon, the classic eerie music she hums lingers behind as she leaves, echoing Faith's life in Adam's ears.