This is another explanation chapter! More details! More is coming up soon, and it will be more interesting than this, promise.
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Scott, Jean, and Pietro wandered into the room, laughing about something one of the kids had said. It was an odd sight to see, Pietro conducting himself and being treated as an equal. None of the three felt at all as if it was forced. Pietro fit in.
"Glad to see you all enjoying yourselves. Please, take a seat, we have much to discuss." Scott and Jean immediately reverted to their serious persona, sitting down on the couch opposite of the Professor. Pietro silently leaned on the wall by the couch, looking confused at the situation. Not yet used to the routines of the X-men, he just looked at the four situated around the room.
"Hank and I have discovered something very interesting about the children. Obviously their minds as children still retain much of the information they had as adults, but there are some… shall we phrase them as psychological hindrances, that are missing."
"Professor, you mean like prejudices? We're adults, you don't have to sugarcoat it," Jean asked.
"Yes and no, Jean. It is more complicated than that. Have you noticed Logan has not been protective? He lacks his fear of loved ones getting hurt. Have you also noticed that Remy does not speak in third person? As an adult he often lacks a connection to his own life, but he is very connected now. Do you see what I am saying?"
"The Professor and I have been doing some tests, and as far as developmentally and mutation wise, they are technically fully grown adults." Hank pulled out some charts and passed them around. "In fact, the brain function in every child is much higher than that of their adult counter part."
"But that doesn't make sense. Professor, what does that mean? These kids… they aren't their adult counter-parts. They are so different, I don't really get where you're going." Scott leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his face on his intertwined hands.
"Scott, the Professor and I were running our tests and we came to the same frustrations you are coming to. These kids retain much of their former selves and yet lack so much. We then took a different route. We started observing the other variable in the situation; Jean." Everyone looked from the blue mutant to the red-haired one, looking guilty. Pietro had been filled in on how Jean had done it, but obviously was still missing some points like everyone else. Pietro mostly just wanted to thank Jean for this opportunity, but he knew how guilty she felt having talked with her earlier.
"Jean, we believe you tapped into the power of the Phoenix in your frustration. With this power, we believe it is fully within your potential to reverse the natural aging of the human cells. That is how the matter of the physical age came about."
"Wow, I am SO glad I switched teams. You can seriously do some damage if you get pissed!" Pietro had dropped his crossed arms in shock and while the Professor and Hank laughed a little, Jean just put her head into her hands.
"Professor, this is all my fault," Jean mumbled into her hands. "How are we going to fix this?" Scott put an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her close to him and trying to comfort the girl.
"Jean, it is quite alright. No damage has been done. In fact, because of this we have learned quite a bit about each of the children and their mutation. We have learned things we never would have learned had this not happened. We may even have found a way to get Rogue to control her powers."
Everyone stared at him in shock. They all knew that as a 5 year old, Rogue had some serious control over her powers, but none of them had really thought about what this meant for the older version. It was impossible to imagine a 22-year-old Rogue who could touch and enjoy exposure. She had long since grown out of her gothic phase, but she still tended to lean towards colors that weren't pastel, as well as things that covered all of her skin.
"You see," Hank stepped forward, "these children aren't actually children at all. The bodies can be explained, but the minds are more difficult. The Professor did some research and found that the minds, well, the minds are the same, they are just using different parts.
"These children are actually reflections of an alternate psyche!" Hand was grinning from ear to ear. The idea that any of this was possible opened up a multitude of options for science and it had the doctor wound up in excitement.
"In my own endeavors, I have found that each person retains a desire to stay a child forever. What this means in the mind is that a small version of themselves is created that, in simplest terms, stays a child forever. For most people, this aspect of themselves is hidden away in the recesses of their minds, never to resurface again, unless of course it has some… coaxing. Sometimes this coaxing is a traumatic even, a vivid memory, or, as in our case, deliberate coaxing from a telepath or other source."
"So, these kids in front of us, they are literally just a… a different version of themselves?" Pietro, who was knew to the science and general effects of telepathy was still trying to understand a lot of what went on in the conversation.
"Yes, Pietro. For example, it seems that in your sister's psyche, she desired to have a caring brother, and for those around her to not be cruel in any way. Can you understand why?" Pietro nodded at the Professor. He knew Wanda wanted simple things, but he never thought he would ever get a glance into her mind like the one he was getting now. It was frightening because Pietro knew that he had been part of the reason she needed a child-psyche to begin with.
"But I don't really understand what that says about Rogue, or even Piotr! Why was he always sleeping? Did he not have a child psyche?" Scott ran his hands through his hair. All of this was a lot to take in. It all made him feel very uncomfortable. These psyches had been hidden away for a reason. These psyches were the last thing most of their counter-parts had in the way of hope. These psyches were the reason all these people were X-men. These psyches, well, they had to have been the most vulnerable part of every single person. If something were to happen to any of the kids in this state, heck, even Scott couldn't blame them if they went nuts. These were the last parts of their minds that were completely untouched by the world. These parts still had hope.
"Scott, calm your thoughts. You have very valid points. If these parts of their minds get affected negatively in any way it could mean disaster. The child-psyche in all of us is the one thing that always keeps hopes and dreams. Without hope we lose a piece of our humanity. Scott, Piotr was a special case. Because of his mutation, there were extra barriers guarding his psyche that did not get broken down when Jean broke the others. He was sleeping all the time because he was between psyches, a very dangerous place to be. We are lucky to have caught it fairly quickly. Without a psyche there is no personality or thought process. All of that is directly linked to your psyche, and without it, you become a vegetable."
"Thank goodness the Professor and I were working hard to understand our children."
"Okay, so then what about Rogue?" Scott still maintained his previous fears, but tried to keep them quiet.
"Rogue's psyche lacks the many blocks she has as an adult. There are no big fears and no reasons to cause her to be timid in most situations. As her child-psyche, her powers are fully developed. When they are fully developed, she has complete control over them."
"Her brain functions are incredible. She has more potential as a mutant in her child-form than she ever did as an adult. Because of the freedom her child-psyche provides she can essentially pick and chose which strand of the person she wants to take. She could take their memories and thoughts, or she could take their powers, or she could just flat out take their energy, rendering them unconscious, instead of always taking all of them." Hank was so excited about this discovery. As he spoke, his eyes lit up and used his hands as much as his words to explain.
The conversation went on for a bit longer before they all headed to bed, agreeing to check in with Forge the next day to see how the effects could be reversed to bring back the X-men in their true forms, preventing any damage to the psyches before it was too late.