Illusion 6
Cindy popped up next to Tyler and said "hi I'm Cindy what's your name?" Tyler smiled at the child "Hi Cindy I'm Tyler" he answered. "So what can you do?" said Cindy. "Excuse me?" said Tyler. He sounded confused by the question. "Your excused, so what are they?" said the child. She tilted her head and gazed up at him. Reid spotted the kid talking to Tyler and sat down near her. "So what are they talking about over there?" said Reid. "And you are?" said Cindy "Reid, Reid Garwin" he said with a smile.
Cindy waved her hand dismissively "just gross stuff," said the kid. Pogue had wandered closer to the small child. His misery was temporarily forgotten in favor of curiosity. Caleb who had been talking to Pogue walked over with him. "Like what kind of gross stuff?" said Pogue. Cindy looked at him like he had done something wrong
"I'm Pogue, this is Caleb" said Pogue "Cindy" said the girl "so what are they talking about?" said Caleb. He smiled at her. "You guys and your privates" said Cindy. She made an ew yuck face."Ah huh" said Pogue he looked at Caleb "why does your girlfriend know what we look like naked?" said Pogue.
"Ah, yeah I was hoping to not have to explain this" said Caleb "well too bad, explain" said Reid "Sarah has a talent we didn't know about" said Caleb "what as a peeping tom?" said Tyler "she can go idivisable" said Cindy "she can what?" said Reid "indidvisdibl you know, vanish" said Cindy
"Wait your girlfriend is the invisible freaking woman?" said Reid. "Ah yeah" said Caleb. "Oh my god" said Tyler. The guys were looking over towards Sarah. Sarah sank down behind her friends. "Great she can heal and spy on us" said Pogue
"Hey I didn't know until she told me," said Caleb
"Great are there any more surprises?" asked Tyler someone in a lab coat chose that moment to enter the classroom area. "Everyone will you please be seated" said the professor.
The boys looked over at Sarah one last time before taking a seat. "Gentlemen welcome to the class, Sarah welcome back," said the man he was short and bald with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. "I am professor Xavier, and yes I've heard the jokes already" said the man. Reid was grinning mischievously and had been about to comment
. "Gentlemen welcome to the x project, all will be explained shortly," said the man. Once again cutting off a pending question before it could be asked.
The girls in the class had all taken seats and were being unusually quiet. Even Sarah was silent. "Now I'm sure the newest members in our group have some concerns, I assure you they will be addressed," said the professor. "Let me start by explaining why you are here, why we all are here to be more precise," said the professor
The boys just sat there listening to the professor's speech. "About five years ago, a certain genetic factor was discovered, and after further testing determined to cause certain, er talents," said the professor.
Reid started to say something "yes I know this sounds like the beginning to a movie or comic book plot, but I assure you there is much truth in some artists renditions" said the professor Caleb had raised his hand in an attempt to say something "yes go ahead young man" said the man. "That still doesn't explain why we were all kidnapped," said Caleb. "You all weren't kidnapped young man, some of you have nowhere else to go" said the professor. Sarah looked down at her lap and the child stifled a sob.
"What about those who do?' said Caleb. He looked over at Sarah in concern, he longed to get them all out of here and he knew she was one that the professor had meant. The man sighed "young man I'll have you know that we didn't make the decision to bring your four in lightly, in fact you weren't even planned" said the professor
"So why did you then?" said Pogue he sounded angry and Sarah couldn't blame him. She had warned the staff that they might not want to be involved. Even went so far as to mention the ageing factor as a handicap to using them. She had not wanted to bring them into this at all.the man sighed and looked at Sarah. "Mostly because your recruiter was unsuccessful capturing her intended prey," said the professor. Sarah frowned at him that wasn't the reason and she knew it. "Who was her intended prey?" said Tyler "ah that would have been a boy by the name of Chase Collins," said the professor
Sarah glared at him in anger she knew that wasn't why they chose to bring in the boys. Sarah had done everything in her power to persuade them otherwise.
"Well he tried to kill her," said Caleb. "That is beside the point she had a job to do and didn't do it, she allowed herself to get distracted," said the professor. He looked right at Caleb when he said it. "If you have something to say, spit it out" said Caleb.
He found himself getting angry he still cared about Sarah and he didn't like him bad mouthing her.
"Very well do you know why we brought you here?" said the professor. Caleb nodded yes "it was because we had ms Wenham bugged the whole time she was gone, we heard everything you ever said or did" said the professor. He glared at Caleb when he said it like he had done something wrong. "Then you know how I feel about her?' said Caleb.
"Yes well she wasn't supposed to get close to you she was supposed to get close to Chase" said the man "Chase was crazy" said Sarah. "All right girlfriend, about damn time" said Monica. "And that would be your professional opinion, after what degree?" said the man.
The boys were beginning to dislike this man already. "It was a field assessment that was agreed on by your colleagues, you know the ones with the degrees higher than yours," said Sarah.
"I see," said the man. He was about to say more when another man walked in. he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt under his lab coat and some Bermuda shorts and sandals. "That will be all Xavier, I'll take it from here" said the newcomer. Xavier looked pissed but yielded the floor and headed for the stairs. He handed the newcomer the stack of files he held as he left.
Sarah sighed in relief; this was one person she actually respected in this place. "Now where was he, oh yeah pissing everyone off" said the new guy. A door slammed in the corridor above the classroom. The newcomer chuckled "I'm professor Rafferty, and it appears I'll be handling your educational experience here" said Rafferty. The man looked nothing like a professor. He more closely resembled a surfer. He even had longer hair than Pogue. "Oh thank god," said Monica. "So Sarah dear how far did he get before he started attacking you dear?" said Rafferty.
"He mentioned that there was a genetic factor and that's all," said Sarah the man pressed his lips and frowned. "I see, so essentially I have a clean slate, good I hate reteaching someone else's screw ups" said Rafferty "thanks Raff" said Sarah. "Any time hun any time" said Rafferty "now where were we, oh yes the genetic code" said Rafferty "well let me see without going into a bunch of scientific details that would just lose you" said Rafferty." In layman's terms, you each have a pattern in your genes that makes the impossible possible, for lack of a better term a mutant x like factor" said Rafferty
"Thus, you can do pretty much anything, Sarah here can walk off a 747 crash, and Cindy, sweet little Cindy, here can crush a cue ball in her hand" said Rafferty "a plane crash?' said Caleb. They were looking at her funny now and Sarah willed herself invisible. The other boys widened their eyes in shock when she faded from view. "Easy my dear do come back, I'm sorry I mentioned it, I know it's a sore subject" said Rafferty. Sarah faded back into view she had tears in her eyes.
"All right everyone take five," said Rafferty. He walked over to Sarah and pulled her into a hug "its ok sunshine, I know it hurts and I'm sorry " said Rafferty Sarah sniffled "I know I'm not mad" she said softly. "Do you need a minute?" he asked "yeah if you don't mind?" she asked. He nodded towards the office at the top of the catwalk stairs. Sarah climbed them and went into the office and closed the door. She was trying to quell a rising panic attack.
She had come close to having one on the plane back. The only thing she didn't want to do, not in front of Xavier of all people. She sat down on the floor and tried to control the shaking. She hadn't noticed it as much when she had been at Spencer's or in the company of Caleb.