The X-Project

Charles asked me to post about this, I guess since I was the one who caught them at it. Anyway. With all of the adult telepaths in the house either unconscious or incapacitated last week, the Stepfords figured they had to handle what was going on themselves. Except instead of acting out they decided to create a telepathic avatar out of all their "bad thoughts". It took the shape of another Stepford calling herself Mindee. Awfully good telepathic projection, too - I think we tend to forget the fact that individually the Stepfords are strong telepaths and there are four of them. They created her out of some attempt to clear their minds, but she sort of took on a life of her own. I know the Stepfords have never been particularly social, but she kind of takes that to the nth degree.

Charles is handling it, but I doubt it's something that's going to get fixed overnight.

I'm heading to Israel tonight - liable to be gone for a few days at least. I'll probably be in and out a fair bit over the next couple of weeks. Got a conference coming up in DC, plus a possible trip. To Mongolia. Yes, I know. But there's a limit to how much trouble I can find in the Gobi Desert, so you can all shut up.

In fact, yes, I think I will make sure I wind up in the Gobi desert. Where there's no such thing as an internet connection. Would be infinitely preferable to reading some of the crap that takes place on these journals lately.

But I'm going to teach my Russian class today, drive Angelo to the airport, and then catch a flight myself as soon as I can tomorrow. My schedule is clear of class committments tomorrow and Friday, and I've just spent forty minutes tendering my regrets to a few meetings I was supposed to be attending in the city.

I've just been pushing things a little too far these last couple of weeks, I think. I feel like shit warmed over, and the only way I'm going to make sure I get a few days of rest is to go to Muir where there's really not much I can do except play with my daughter. Besides, Moira's threatening to divorce me if she has to give me one more "This is not the way you recover from pneumonia" speech, and I think she might be serious.

So I'll be back in plenty of time to teach on Monday, but otherwise unavailable except in case of armageddon. Have a good weekend, everyone.

I need to be in Mexico tomorrow, to meet with a prospective new student. The son of an old friend of mine has just manifested with what would appear to be seismic abilities. Particularly traumatic manifestation, too. If anyone's seen coverage on the news of an earthquake in Guadalajara... well, that was Julio.

I'm going to fly down commercial first thing in the morning. It would be better if it was just me approaching in a discreet fashion, at first. Luis is an old friend, but he's not involved with the nicest people, to be all euphemistic about it. They're not-nice people with whom I have a certain reputation, however, so I shouldn't have any problems.

If he agrees to come to the school, a Blackbird pick-up would probably be best. I'll keep in touch.

Especially given how my last field trip went.

But here's the idea. I imagine that most of you know that the G8 summit in Seattle at the beginning of November has "the mutant question" on the agenda; it's been flagged in the database for the last several weeks, after all. In any case, I've gotten my hands on some schedules that haven't been released for public consumption yet - the new job is good for all kinds of things - and there are going to be a large number of NGOs and other groups interested in mutant affairs there making presentations to the summit at various events. That's not even touching upon the 'unofficial' events.

I think it would be very educational for a number of our kids, especially those with political leanings, to see just how these things work - or don't work, depending on how cynical you're feeling. I have actually been to a large number of summit-type occasions myself, and no, you don't want to know the details.

So, thoughts? It would be for a couple of days, tops, and really, I think the kids could use a break after the last couple of weeks of lockdown.

Of course, I would need chaperones. Lots and lots of chaperones.

There are not one but two babies who are very often attempting to sleep up here on the third floor. And one of them is telepathic.

Now, you'll all excuse me while I go ponder the concept of a telepathically-triggered mute button.

There was an incident at the fair with Terry and one of the Hitler FoH Youth morons we're all coming to know and love so very well. Incident. I love my own euphemisms at times. This particular charming specimen of baseline humanity decided he wanted to beat on the little mutant girl. Thankfully he didn't get very far.

Terry's a bit bruised, but she'll be fine; I sent her down to medlab to get checked over just to make sure. Bobby got there a minute or two before I did and used his powers to put a stop to things, then got Terry back to the car while I handled the little shit and his friend. No, I did not do anything to them, but I was sorely tempted.

The rest of the kids are fine - they were a bit disgruntled that the day ended early but I thought it was better to get everyone rounded up and safely home. No property damage, either, and I made sure no one noticed what happened. All in all it was a very quiet and intimate almost-hate-crime.

These two FoH kids... I feel like my brain needs a shower. I swear one of them had the basic intelligence level of a toaster. Both of them were nauseating. Hateful, twisted, sad little minds with all the ethical maturity of three year-olds.

I'm heading out of town this afternoon, once my morning classes are done. I should be back either late tonight or tomorrow morning, depending.

Or maybe it's just the precognitive hangover. Either way, I didn't find this latest prank particularly funny.

Practicing pop psychology via hair dye. What on earth are the little darlings going to come up with next?

I appear to be a more or less fully functional precog again. (Yes, that's actually the good news. Just call me our latest example of how burning out a mutant power doesn't mean it's gone forever.) This is not, however, my precognition as I knew it before May. Charles' theory is that since the Askani are here and my connection to them in the future is broken, my precognition is free to function as it should have all along. Thus, hopefully no nasty side effects like blackouts and cardiac arrest. Actually, right now, I feel kind of good. Balanced, in a way I haven't for the better part of two years. It is however going to take me a lot of study and experimentation to figure out how to use it in any sort of productive way. Like I said, this is pretty new for me.

Bad news is, this doesn't mean I can 'fix' Marie-Ange. Now that Charles has two precogs to compare, he's established that her ability and mine are polar opposites. Hers, as we're all pretty much aware, is comparatively short-term, focused on the people around her, heightened by emotional ties, and manifests in a visual and symbolic way. My precog in its 'natural' form, based on the tests and scans Charles did this afternoon, appears to be long-term, event-based, abstract, and is triggered by patterns in information and that sort of thing.

This is one of the reasons, apparently, why the meditation I've been doing with her for all this time has only helped in the most general sort of way. What works for me is not necessarily going to be any kind of fit for her. Our abilities don't just manifest differently, they function differently. Right down to the parts of the brain that are involved, according to Charles. He has a lot of new data after having gotten a good look at me this afternoon, but no solution for Angie has presented itself just yet.

This certainly doesn't mean we've given up. I did manage to help her a little last night, but that was telepathic intervention (although apparently the mental contact with her over the past few days was probably what fired my precog back up). Her visions are less horrific now than they were, but she still has no way to filter. It's an improvement, but as I said, we're still looking for the 'fix', and very much open to suggestions.