Martinique didn't like the Weapon X facilities. They were filthy to start with and the living conditions were cramped. Not to mention that most of the 'Agents' as Stryker called them were men who were used to not having to take showers because no one cared. Martinique cared. She cared very much.
She looked around the room and then down at her drawing. The design for the machine that would give her family unlimited power was very simple. Building it was not. The finances and technology just didn't exist in the normal world. It did exist, however, when you convinced the government to do it for you.
Stryker had been surprisingly easy to fool. Martinique had, of course, changed her appearance to fool him. She had also figured that he would take to her more if she showed that she was overzealous in taking care of 'the mutant problem' as he called it. It had been disgusting how much it had worked.
So here she was with her own facility to extract cosmic radiation. Her argument was that it could power weapons. Since it would be extracted from mutants then there would be nothing unethical about it. Plus, it would kill the mutant eventually. When the mutant died you just got another mutant with a similar power. That meant they were converting wasted mutant power into something useful while getting rid of a mutant. Everyone won.
That was what Stryker figured anyway. Cosmic radiation could also, when emitted in certain amounts, make surrounding minds more susceptible to suggestion. That was what she was going for. All of her plans for weapons were just designed to confuse Stryker. As soon as she had procured the energy then she would cut and run.
Admittedly there were still a few bugs in the system. For the machine to work the mutant would have to emit the radiation of their own free will. In its crude state it couldn't force them. She figured pain would be the perfect stimulus for that. It was why her father had chosen her and not Regan for this mission. She was by far superior at producing pain.
Now the only problem was finding a mutant that emitted cosmic energy. That wasn't her job though. It was Regan's. Although Stryker might not care where she procured the mutant she would have a story just in case. She'd tell him that it was some niece or nephew of hers that had been stricken with the disease. Better to have them die now than go through life the way they were. Judging from the way Stryker talked about his own son then she knew he'd agree.
There was something different about Lorna. She was quiet and withdrawn. Unlike the other days Erik found himself doing most of the talking while she stared off into the distance and made noncommittal noises. Even talking about arranging a meeting with Mystique, which she had previously indicated a great interest in, didn't seem to illicit much of a response. Finally Erik couldn't stand it anymore.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
She hesitated.
"No," she said.
"Don't lie Lorna," Erik cautioned her.
"I…I don't want to just dump my problems on you…"
"I'm your father," he insisted, "It's my responsibility to listen to your problems."
Lorna gave a small smile. She rested her chin on her hand.
"Last night Alex came back to the school," she said.
He shifted; that wasn't good. If Charles got it into his head to tell Alex who Lorna's father was then he wouldn't have a chance. If she even mentioned his full name to him it would be a disaster. Alex didn't have Charles' decency or tact; he'd straight up tell Lorna who he was. Even Hank, who'd once tried to throttle him, would have been preferable. Having her become a member of the Brotherhood after that would be impossible at best.
"That's good though, isn't it?" he asked, "You said you missed him."
She shook her head.
"I'm happy to have him back, but he came back because his mother and father told him that they didn't want him as a son," Lorna said, "Him and his brother. And his father hit him before he left. His black eye looks really bad. He drove all the way from Ohio just because he couldn't stand to be near them anymore."
Erik titled his head thoughtfully. He had always thought that Alex probably had it rough at home. What else would drive such a young man to be arrested so many times? However, he hadn't imagined it would be bad enough for him to run away from home on nothing but a motorcycle.
"I'm sorry," Erik said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She didn't meet his eyes.
"Until recently I was ashamed of my hair," she said, "I've accepted myself since then, but now I look back at myself and wonder about why I felt that way."
He opened his mouth but Lorna shook his head.
"Just listen for a minute," she said, "I mean, why did I feel like I should feel that way? My mother loved me. She never ran, never hit me, never yelled at me for being what I was. The first time someone tried to hurt me because of my powers I was protected. Nothing in my life has happened that's been so bad really."
Leaning back she took a deep breath.
"So why did I feel deep inside of me that something was wrong with me? Why did I feel like I shouldn't draw attention to myself?" she asked, "I think it's because some part of me subconsciously knew that no matter how much my mother loved me that no one in the world would accept me."
"That's not true," Erik said hotly.
She smiled sadly and gripped his hand.
"You're right. That's not what I meant. I guess that I should have phrased that better," she said, "Not no one in the world would accept me. Individuals have not only accepted me but loved me."
Her lips pursed in thought.
"I guess a better way to say that would be that the world wouldn't accept me," she settled for, "And my hair is such a little thing. Even if I can't dye it it's no big deal. I've seen people with animal ears, wings, and claws. But even now people are staring at me because of my hair, because I don't fit into what their idea of normal is."
He looked around. True enough a few people in the park were giving her lingering glances. As soon as they saw his glare they turned away, but it made his blood boil.
"At school the Professor taught me that we were the next stage in human evolution," Lorna continued, "And I figured that meant it was on us to make sure that there was a peaceful transference as the world shifted from them to us. Coexistence until such a time when there were no humans and no mutants; just people."
Silently he scoffed at his friend's ideas. Charles' beliefs read more like a prayer to him than a plan. Now he had taught it to his daughter.
"I still think that," she said, "But…Rahne was abused badly before she was adopted. Just for being who she was. Sean's too scared that Maeve will reject him to tell her that he's a mutant. Hank will never be able to lead a normal life because people are too close-minded to see him as just another person. And now there's this thing with Alex."
Lorna laughed bitterly. It was such a contrast to her normal lightness that it made Erik hurt to hear it.
"It's just…sometimes I feel like coexistence isn't going to happen," she admitted,"You once asked me why I needed thier understanding. I took it for granted that I did so they wouldn't fear me. Now...I don't know. Do I want people like Alex's parents, like the guy who raised Rahne, to be near me, let alone understand me? I just don't know anymore."
The hand on her shoulder twitched. Could he really be being handed this opportunity? Had Alex, the boy who'd made it the clearest that he rejected everything Erik stood for, have given him the gift of his daughter? His mind raced for the right words to say, words that would ensure that she could come with him. She wasn't just another crowd to orate after all. She was his daughter and a different approach had to be taken.
"Lorna," he said, "Look at me."
She did so, her eyes moist with tears. He put both of his hands on either side of her face.
"Your mother was an exceptional woman. And so was this Dr. MacTaggert. And her niece, who's married to one mutant and mother to another is too," said Erik, "In the darkness points of light can show through. No one is debating this."
For a moment more he pondered his next words.
"But you have to remember that the darkness is still great, still much more powerful than those little pinpricks of light," he said, "I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this, but the world is a dangerous and often lonely place for our kind."
Slowly he removed his hands from her face. He used them to push up his sleeve so she could see the numbers tattooed on the inside of his wrist. Her eyes traced them.
"They took me and my family, and they didn't even know that I was a mutant then," Erik continued, "That was just for being slightly different. I never told your mother what I was, because I was afraid of what would happen. You see, the reason I was afraid was because they found out in the camp what I was. They dragged me away from my parents and tested and prodded and explored what I had so they could use it to their benefit. To them I was less than an animal."
The moistness in her eyes had been converted to tears. A horrified look passed over her face.
"I said you should never cry for me Lorna," he said, "And you shouldn't. But the fact of the matter is that I'm not an animal. I'm more than that, more than they were. And deep down they recognized that and they feared it. Just as they will fear you and all of your friends. And if we don't know this, don't recognize it and fight back, then I fear we will all be led like lambs to the slaughter."
With a sad smile he pulled her closer. He bent down and kissed the top of her head.
"But I'll never let that happen Lorna," he said, "As long as there's a breath left in my body, I will fight against it. Yet, above all, I want you with me for that. Us against the world."
She looked up at him.
"Now, I'm saying we give it a try for a month. And I'm not saying you can't go back to school, because the school is a lovely place," he said, trying not to frighten her, "But I want to be your father and for you to come with me. Just think about it."
"I will," Lorna said, sounding hushed, "But…all those other things you said…"
"Lorna, it's a sad truth," he said, "One day you may realize, as I have, that the only way for us to survive is for them to cease to do so."