Chapter 6: New Beginnings

The X-Jet arrived at the school just before sunrise the following morning. Que would hardly call it a school though. The giant feature was more like a picturesque castle if she ever saw one. First, there was a rolling green lawn that stretched around the grounds encased by woods. A small beach could be seen on the edge of what the Professor said was Breakstone Lake. The lake was around the side of the mansion and stretched just into the treeline. To top it all off, the tree lined drive led up to a fountain proceeding the entrance of the giant mansion.

Once off the jet, the Professor excused himself, apologizing and promising to check back in later. He had to check on things around the mansion since he had been away, and Storm was tasked with showing Que around.

The duo started off on the top floor and worked their way down. At the very top of what many called the X-Mansion, were the living quarters. The girls were on one side of the floor and the boys on the other, each with their own common area. In between the sections was the Professor's bedroom and upstairs office, some laundry rooms, and a reading area.

On the girl's hall there were many bedrooms. Some room were shared with two people and had a bathroom and others were singles. Que got a corner room to herself, but she would have to use the hall bathroom. She absentmindedly wondered if this was on purpose. She had her own closet, bed, and nice large windows facing out of the side of the house. Even though she didn't have a whole lot to put in it, she had never had a room quite like this.

On the ground floor below, there were several classrooms, a library, living rooms, the Professor's main office, the kitchen, a couple of dining rooms, and of course the main entrance area.

Below that were the basements. Que couldn't believe the size of this place. It had three basements! In the first basement there wasn't much to see, just some storage, utilities, the computer main frame area, and a workshop. Que couldn't help but notice something off about the computer main frame. The computer power, memory, and processing speed for what she had seen already was a tad unnecessary. The sheer amount of hardware in the main frame could support NASA, or maybe it was for that searching device the Professor had mentioned earlier. "Where do they kept it, and how does it work?" she thought.

They moved on down to the sub basement, and it was quite impressive! There was another pool and gym, all specifically for training, and a medical room for accidents. The bio-chem. and electronic laboratories got Que quite excited, but Storm informed her, for now, she would need permission to come down to this floor. There were also dormitories for the senior staff if needed. She unfortunately didn't get to see all the rooms or the second sub basement before they returned upstairs because they were off limits.

"Where is the machine the Professor talked about? The one that helped him find me," Que asked quizzically as they got onto the elevator.

"Oh, Cerebro? No, that area is definitely off limits to students, and besides I couldn't show it to you even if I wanted to. The Professor is the only one who can get inside," Storm replied, smiling, somewhat apologetically, in response to Que's annoyed expression.

Once they got back upstairs, they headed outdoors. On the grounds, there were several features Que had missed in their dim descent to the mansion, and her annoyance instantly disappeared. To describe the estate as beautiful was an understatement. In full daylight, Que could fully appreciate the lush green trees and lawn, the spacious gardens with blooming flowers, and the crystal clear lake sparkling in the mid-morning light. While enjoying the breathtaking view by the lake, Ororo showed Que the boathouse, a courtyard with some basketball courts, and the outdoor swimming pool.

After the tour, Ororo and Que headed back inside for some breakfast. Ororo noticed Que seemed fairly at ease and even amazed during the tour, but as they headed back toward the house a breeze picked up. Storm's powers were similar to Que's, but when Storm tugged at it there was a clear difference. She found the breeze was more fluid than her own, thus she could not quite take control of it. She didn't know much about the grey eyed girl, but she did know the breeze tended to coincide with her heightened emotions.

Ororo spoke up in attempt to lighten the mood. She was one of her mentors after all. "So, what do you like to do in your free time?"

Que glanced up, "I like building things I guess."

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, I built the generators for the lighthouse. They have the capacity to store eight times the amount of energy as what you would find in most places, and they have a ground circuit where I can discharge them at will. I also like tinkering with different types of transportation. I had a motorbike in the lighthouse that I was working on. Building things is how I earned the name Que," she continued.

"Que isn't your real name? The Professor even calls you Que," Storm said astonished. It wasn't like the Professor to use just some random nickname.

"I've had it for a long time, and I guess it's really how I refer to myself now. It was given to me in reference to Q from the James Bond movies," Que explained. Storm noticed she did not offer any clues to her real name and decided it was best to let the matter drop for now.

"Wow, I'll have to introduce you to Hank McCoy first then. He is one of the teachers here, and he helped design the X-Jet," Storm responded impressed.

"You mean someone here built it! That's awesome!" Que exclaimed her breeze dying some.

The pair headed inside to the kitchen where a few people had gotten up to eat. When they walked in, there were a couple of mumbled "Good morning Storm."

Then, a tall, slender man with brown hair, glasses, and a cup of coffee in hand approached the pair. "Good morning Storm. Who is this?"

"This is Que, Hank. She is joining us here at the institute. The Professor and I just got back. Que, this is Dr. Hank McCoy. I told you about him earlier," Storm said as Que nodded in recognition.

"I hear you designed the X-Jet. It's a fine piece of work. How did you make it achieve such high ..." Storm zoned out as Que and Hank discussed the jet's ever impressive systems.

Hank was genuinely impressed and thrilled that someone took an interest in the finer workings of his jet. Most of the time people would just complement him that it was a "sweet plane."

Que was quite hesitant at first while talking with Dr. McCoy. She did not get to talk about this type of thing back on the coast. Que knew it would draw too much attention if she did. They continued their chat while Hank showed her where all the different foods and cooking supplies were stored. Que thought it was funny the amount of cereal and milk they kept, and she settle on frying a couple eggs. As she cooked, she and Hank discussed more programming, inventions, and theories. He introduced her to a few of the other mutants walking in, which wasn't many. It was Sunday, so most were sleeping in.

"Que," Storm said getting her attention. "If you are are okay and don't mind, I would like to freshen up. You are welcome to roam about the mansion and the grounds as you like. If you get lost or need something, I'm sure Hank and the other students will help you out, and I can catch up with you later."

"Yeah, I'll survive. Thanks, Storm," Que replied. Storm noted that it was the first time Que had used her code name. She smiled warmly at the youth before heading out.