I13DT: An Undisclosed Location

[Narrator]

Miranda would regain consciousness securely fastened to a table, lying at an angle in a room filled with all sorts of scientific-looking equipment. Will, wearing a lab coat, was over by one of the workbenches, talking tersely at one of the scientists there.

[Miranda Weaver]

There was a brief moment of panic as old nightmares tried to reassert themselves. Then she thought of Mom and Mum and schooled herself back to calm. "So what'd you do to Will?"

[Quentin Watson]

"Oh, he's not available at the moment, I'm afraid," 'Will' said, turning around.

"We've met before, though you may not remember it. My name is Quentin. I'm your father."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Well, show your actual self and I might remember you, but my genetics say something a little different about my parentage."

[Quentin Watson]

"Oh, I'm quite familiar with your genetic patterns--I designed them myself. You are my greatest work of art.

And you don't need to see my wrinkly old face. I've temporarily overwritten this subject's mental pathways so we can have this talk. You have no idea the trouble we've had to go through to bring you back home."

[Miranda Weaver]

"I also object to you characterizing this as my home," she said, "I believe the location you abducted me from is my home." She started prodding telepathically at "Will's" mind, trying to figure out what was going on.

[Will Stanton]

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but it doesn't change anything," Quenton shrugged.

Miranda's telepathic abilities would essentially detect no one home--like someone in a very, very deep sleep. There was no really signs that Will was aware what was going on--it was almost like the thinking wasn't actually taking place in Will's consciousness.

[Miranda Weaver]

"On the contrary, it changes everything," she said, delivering a hard psychic slap to Will. With her inexperience, it probably wouldn't do much, but one has to try something. "You see, if I didn't consider that place my home, I might be inclined to help you. Actually, I take that back. I wouldn't help you assholes ever."

[Quentin Watson]

The psychic slap didn't seem to do anything--at least, not overtly, and not at first.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Quenton sighed. "That doesn't change the reality, but I was hoping that we could do this with a minimum of fuss."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Can you blame me? You haven't exactly treated me with the height of respect. Especially for your 'greatest work of art'."

[Quentin Watson]

"Well, I was hurt that you left with those riff-raff. Don't you know you're going to save humanity?"

[Miranda Weaver]

"Those 'riff-raff' brought me to my mothers, who care about me," she said. "And I'm all ears while you explain how removing my eyes and messing with my memory is going to help me 'save humanity'."

[Quentin Watson]

"Certainly.

Mutants are a threat to society. They have abilities that put them at an unfair advantage over normal folk. They threaten our national security at it's highest level--you know, of course, of the exploits of Magneto. Mystique. Madelyne Pryor.

We've been able to replicate a great deal of them, or come up with countermeasures, but the powers of your genetic donors are some that we've been as of yet unable to crack: telepathy and precognition."

[Miranda Weaver]

"So I'm a guinea pig to test your new countermeasures on?"

[Quentin Watson]

"Not at all! No, we'd never use you for that. We're not monsters here, Miranda."

[Miranda Weaver]

"You might tell that to my eyes."

[Quentin Watson]

"An unfortunate, but necessary adaptation to work with the system. We'll have to directly wire your optic nerves into the machinery for it to work properly. Don't worry, it should be entirely painless."

[Miranda Weaver]

"And... none of that sounds painless," she said. "I'm still not buying your higher calling. You're condemning an entire group for the actions of a few."

[Quentin Watson]

"We've been experimenting with a nerve-translation technique which should make the experience well within tolerable levels, especially when the machine isn't in action.

You see, the machine was built for you. And you were built for the machine."

[Miranda Weaver]

"And we're right back to guinea pig. And 'well within tolerable levels' is far different from painless." She slapped Will psychically again.

[Quentin Watson]

No response. Wherever he was, he was buried deep.

"Well, ideally we'd take time to fine-tune it, to be sure, but your departure has forced plans to change. It is not my intention to hurt you, and we'll continue to make fine-tuning tweaks over the years to improve your situation, but I'm afraid you reap what you sow, young lady."

[Miranda Weaver]

"You should be prepared to have a heaping helping of that medicine as well, because, no matter what happens to me, my mothers will find you. And when they do, you will reap what you've sown. And I doubt it will be pretty."

[Quentin Watson]

"They probably will find this place, you're right. We were as stealthy as possible, but we were forced to tip our hand going to get you.

By the time they get here, however, you'll be wired in and we'll be gone. Once that happens, your genetic donors won't be able to surprise us any more."

[Miranda Weaver]

"You are, of course, making a wild assumption that I'm actually precognitive."

[Quentin Watson]

"Miranda, sweetheart--I polished your genetic code myself. Everything you are, everything you can be, everything you will be--that's my doing. I know you better than you know yourself.

You're going to do great things, and I'll be here to help you every step of the way."

[Miranda Weaver]

"The only times I've shown even precognitive hints are in the presence of Nailah Weaver," she said, lying like her life depended on it.

[Quentin Watson]

"Well, if that is true, we can sort that out. We'll just adjust the rods so they enter the proper portion of the temporal lobe, and that should stimulate the ability. It's all really quite simple--there's no risk to you."

[Miranda Weaver]

"You keep using words that make no sense together, like 'rods in the temporal lobe' and 'no risk to me'."

[Quentin Watson]

"I promise you, Miranda, you will live a long and fruitful life.

If you have any questions, I will do my utmost to answer them for you."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Long and 'fruitful', so long as I like being wired into a machine doing whatever you ask. The main thing I want to know is why? And don't spin me that story about bad mutants. What made you into the sort of man that thinks experimenting on a teenage girl is acceptable?"

[Quentin Watson]

"You're not a teenage girl. You were created for a purpose."

[Miranda Weaver]

"And Charles... or Will? Neither of them were created. That's what makes you the monster, Quentin. Far worse than any of the mutants you want to 'protect' humanity from."

[Quentin Watson]

"Caliban and Ariel have their own parts to play, Miranda. Neither of them are even as close to being human as you are."

[Miranda Weaver]

"Well, you seem to be an expert on not being human," she said.

[Quentin Watson]

"If you're trying to attack my ego, keep in mind it's many, many miles away at this point."

[Miranda Weaver]

"I'm pretty sure it's inflated enough that I can see it from here," she said, before lapsing into an unresponsive silence.

[Quentin Watson]

Quenton tsked. "You'll understand some day, Miranda," and turned back to his work bench.

[Quentin Watson]

_________________________

Sometime later, "Will" rolled in what looked like a giant purple ball, which opened up to reveal a seat on the inside. He continued to talk, despite Miranda's insistence on not looking.

"Now, once we've hooked you up in there, we'll be able to use these readouts to observe and guide your telepathic and precognitive inputs and outputs. We can help guide your powers through these boosters, here, which should allow your powers to be amplified a hundred-fold. It's not unlike your Cerebro, or so we imagine from the fragments of plans we've managed to acquire over the years."

[Miranda Weaver]

Miranda flooded "Will's" mind with the mental image of an obscene, middle-finger oriented gesture even as her own hand made the same gesture. It was difficult to tell whether the mental flood was intentional or not.

[Quentin Watson]

"Boy, your 'parents', as you call them, sure raised you right."