THE ARCHETYPE ASSOCIATION
CHAPTER FOUR
Rogue was not usually an early riser, but the previous night
had been warm, and she had opened her window and curtains
before going to bed. The temperature had dropped considerably
during the night, and she woke up shivering to find that the
sun was rising. She was still half-asleep, and held an argument
with herself for a moment about whether the effort of getting
up to shut the window was really worth it. The desire for
warmth held out against the desire for sleep, and so she got
up and staggered to the window.
Rogue's window faced the southwest, giving her a good view
of Spuyten Dyvil Cove in the distance. The cove was shrouded
in mist; the sun had not yet burned away the night's precipitation.
She was about to close the drapes and head back to bed for
another hour or so of sleep when she noticed a shape moving
rapidly along the small peninsula which jutted out into Breakstone
Lake. The shape was moving towards the mansion at a good clip.
Rogue quickly shook off her sleepiness; she didn't want to
alarm anyone else in the mansion just yet. A few months back,
Jubilee had caused a major security panic when she had, while
still half-asleep, mistaken a flock of migrating geese for
a formation of incoming aircraft. Rogue had a low level of
toleration for embarrassment, so she decided to get a closer
look before sounding an alert. Rummaging through her closet,
she found the binoculars that she sometimes carried with her
when she went flying. She then turned back to the window,
finding that the shape had moved considerably past the cove,
and was nearing the docks. She held up the binoculars and
focused on the shape in the distance.
It was Archetype, running at an incredibly rapid speed. Rogue
had seen some fast sprinters before, but the only person she
had met who moved faster than what she was seeing now was
Pietro Maximoff, who was currently working under the name
Quicksilver with X-Factor. As she watched, Archetype reached
the docks, and moved back towards the mansion.
Rogue, for some reason, felt guilty about watching him. She
quickly closed the curtains, and peeked through the space
between them. As she observed, Archetype reached the patio
at the back of the mansion, and stopped just before it, jogging
in place for a few minutes, presumably to cool down. He stood
there for a moment, bent over slightly, panting.
As he stood still for a moment, Rogue debated whether or
not to reveal her presence to him in some way, finally deciding
that some covert observation would be in line with Xavier's
instructions to try to gain insight into the personality of
the new arrival.
After he had caught his breath, Archetype stood up straight
and removed the T-shirt that he had been wearing. Rogue had
to suppress a gasp. His back was covered with scars. White
tissue crossed his pink skin in a half-dozen different directions.
As she watched, he hopped up the steps of the patio, and
went to an oblong box which lay on one of the benches. He
threw the shirt onto the bench, and opened the box, removing
a sheathed broadsword. He removed the sword from its scabbard,
creating a resonant sound.
Through her long association with Logan, Rogue was familiar
with most types of Oriental weaponry. The sword which Archetype
carried was European in style, double edged, and about a meter
long. The stance which he took however, was a classic pose
in kendo. She watched him perform several katas, moving soundlessly,
seemingly in perfect balance. The sword whistled through the
air, making a somewhat chilling sound. The expression on his
face was one of complete concentration, shutting out all distraction.
As he finished the maneuvers, he removed a cloth from the
case, wiping the blade clean. He then sheathed the sword,
placing it back in its box. He picked up the shirt and box,
and went into the mansion.
Rogue decided that since she was already up, she might as
well face the day. She took her morning shower, then put on
a light blouse, jeans, sneakers, and her ubiquitous gloves.
Looking at the clock, she saw that she had taken about half
an hour. The others would start heading down for breakfast
soon, so she decided to get a head start on them. She left
her room, heading down to the kitchen.
Where she found Archetype reading the morning paper.
"Morning," he greeted her. "What would you
like for breakfast?"
"Um, good morning," she replied. "Did you
already eat?"
"No, I'm waiting for the water to boil. I was going
to poach some eggs, but there's pancake batter in the refrigerator,
and the sausage and bacon is being kept warm in the oven.
The coffee is brewing, and should be ready in about two minutes."
"I think I'll just have eggs, too. Can I have two poached?"
"No problem." He took off his glasses, got up,
walked over to the range, and put on a chef's apron. Three
minutes later, Rogue was busily eating eggs and sausage, while
Archetype cooked his own breakfast. "Are you always up
this early?" she asked.
"I tend to get my sleep in bits and pieces throughout
the day. I actually sleep a bit longer than most people, but
it's all divided up into two hours here, a half-hour there.
I'm usually up before sunrise. How did you like my performance
this morning?"
Rogue choked slightly on her orange juice at that, quickly
regaining her composure. "How did you know I was watching
you?" she asked him.
"My vision extends into the infrared, remember? I saw
your heat signature through the window."
"Oh." She resumed eating. "Are you done with
the paper?"
"Yes." He took his eggs out of the water, then
sat down to eat. "What's the usual schedule around here,
barring an emergency?"
"Well, training sessions are scheduled throughout the
morning, and most of us take the early afternoon off. That's
when we get any business in town or in our private lives done.
We review our information files for the day from three to
five, eat around seven, and hit bed around ten or eleven.
As long as we don't bother anyone else or miss our training
and duty time, we pretty much can come and go as we please.
If you want a leave of absence, you ask the Professor."
He nodded. "All right. I'll keep that in mind. Good
morning, Miss Munroe," he said, as Ororo appeared in
the doorway leading to the front hall, clad in one of her
dashikis.
"Good morning. Have you two been up long?"
"I just came down," Rogue replied.
"And I've been up for a while," Archetype added.
"Would you like some pancakes?"
"Yes, please."
Archetype pulled a large bowl of pancake batter from the
refrigerator, and started pouring some into the greased pan.
While the pancakes were cooking, he took a small pitcher from
the cabinet, filled it with maple syrup, and placed it in
the pot of boiling water where he had poached the eggs earlier.
"Will breakfast be like this every morning, or are you
trying to bribe us into accepting you?" Ororo teased
him.
"To be honest, a little bit of both," he admitted
with a wry smile. "The truth of the matter is that I
love to cook, and it's been a long time since I've done it
for anyone but myself. I'd forgotten how enjoyable it was."
He flipped the pancakes, glancing over at Rogue. "Will
the others be coming down soon?"
"Yep," she replied. "The main wave should
be down any minute."
"Would you be kind enough to take the bacon and sausage
out of the oven, then?"
"No problem." As she did so, Bobby and Logan came
down. "What's with the spread?" Logan asked.
"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security,"
Archetype replied.
"Will we eat like this every day while you're doing
the cooking?" Bobby asked.
"I suppose I could arrange it."
"Consider me lulled. Somebody pass the pancakes."
"How about you?" Archetype asked Logan.
"Can you manage a Texas one-eye stack?"
"Coming right up." As he placed another pan on
the range, Warren came in. "What is this, The Frugal
Gourmet?"
"I have a bit more hair than he does," Archetype
replied. "Sit on down and dig in."
"What's a Texas one-eye stack?" Ororo asked Logan.
"A stack of flapjacks with a sunny-side-up egg on top."
"Sounds good," Bobby observed.
"Haven't had one in a long time. Last time was during
the road trip I took with Alex."
"Alex?" Archetype asked, with a puzzled look. "Have
I met him?"
"He's not based at the mansion anymore," Betsy
supplied as she walked in, dressed in a dark blue robe.
"Ah. Onward and upward?"
"He works for the government," Ororo supplied.
"A government operative? Val never mentioned him."
"There are several things about us that Val did not
mention," Xavier said from the doorway.
"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," Bishop yawned
as he came in..
"I'm not quite here yet," Henry said sleepily from
behind Xavier. "Let me get some coffee into me first."
"Any final requests for breakfast before I close up
shop?"
"No sir," said Henry, "I shall be more than
happy with the banquet which has been laid before me."
"Thank you, Doctor McCoy," Archetype said, bowing
slightly.
"Are you ready for your Danger Room session today?"
Xavier asked him.
"As ready as I suppose I can be. What time will it be?"
"You're scheduled for ten. We're setting your session
at a low level of difficulty. You'll be perfectly safe."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Charles."
Everyone turned to see Scott and Jean enter the kitchen. "The
man is immortal, after all. What could happen?"
"Quite a bit could happen, Mister Summers," Archetype
replied. "It's true that I have not yet been in a situation
where I have been permanently injured. However, I would say
that it's a safe bet that you will be able to find many more
imaginative ways of snuffing out my brief candle than I can
even think of. Part of my reason for being here is to determine
just what my limits are, because I could wind up being very
dangerous if my other abilities go haywire while I'm injured.
If anything happens to me that is beyond the scope of my ability
to repair within a reasonable period of time, you have facilities
here that can sustain me while I continue to heal, and, more
importantly, three telepaths who can suppress my abilities
during that time." He took off the apron, hanging it
on a hook on the wall. "Well, I'm going back to my room
for a while. I want to meditate for a bit. Hopefully, I can
get a bit more focused before my session." He started
towards the stairs, then stopped, returning to the table.
"Forgot my glasses," he said, picking them up. He
went back through the doorway, then stopped in mid stride,
turning back towards them again. "I just realized that
I have absolutely no idea where this 'Danger Room' is,"
he said sheepishly.
Xavier smiled at that. "We'll have somebody take you
there."
"Thank you." He turned around again and walked
out of sight.
"We're going to have to get used to that, I'm afraid,"
Henry said ruefully.
"Get used to what?" Logan asked him.
"Because of his condition, he has to deal with a lot
more information at any given time than an ordinary person
would. He acts on his intuition, because he almost never has
a full picture of the situation. He'll tend to forget things
easily, too. We might want to consider factoring in extra
training time with that it mind. Redundancy would be a big
help."
"Well, we have enough time to get Scott's session in
beforehand," said Xavier. "Let's get moving, everyone."
Warren knocked on the door to Archetype's room at a quarter
to ten. When he received no answer, he went in, and stopped
quickly, doing a double take.
The room had been totally redecorated. Filled bookshelves
lined all free wall space, and a huge roll top desk was in
one corner, joined with an overstuffed swivel chair. A full-length
mirror was standing near the desk. An art-deco lamp stood
beside the computer desk which had been placed in the opposite
corner. As he walked in, Warren almost stumbled into the coat
rack which had been placed beside the door.
Archetype lay on the bed, which had been moved to the only
open wall space left in the room. He was flat on his back,
dressed in a dark blue sweat suit, with his eyes closed. He's
probably resting up, Warren thought. He walked to the
side of the bed, placing his hand on Archetype's shoulder
to shake him awake.
The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, the air
had been pushed out from his lungs, and Archetype was looming
over him, his right hand clawed like a hook just inches from
Warren's throat.
A look of chagrin crossed Archetype's face, and he released
his hold on Warren. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little tense
about this test." He helped Warren up, and dusted him
off. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. How do you move so fast?"
"Some of my abilities are subconscious. When I felt
your hand on me, I went into overdrive. Instead of compressing
distance, I was compressing time. Come on. I suppose that
the others are waiting." He put on a pair of gloves that
were lying on the night stand.
As they walked to the elevator, Warren asked "Can you
move backwards in time?"
Archetype shook his head. "No. And compressing time
is a bit of a strain. I can't do it for very long, only enough
to make some sort of defensive move. It's not something that
I'd want to be dependent on in a pinch." He paused for
a moment. "Can you give me any suggestions that might
prove useful for this?"
"Not really. I wasn't involved with designing the session.
That was between Hank and the Professor. All I can tell you
is to be careful."
"Thanks for the advice," Archetype said dryly,
as the elevator stopped and the doors opened to the second
sub-basement level of the mansion complex. As they exited,
Archetype gaped at the Shiar-based technology which filled
the room, ranging from holographic displays to weapons systems.
"I'm not even going to ask where this all came from,"
he said. "I don't think I'd be able to handle the answer."
"Follow me," Warren said as they entered the control
room area of the Danger Room. Jean, Ororo, Logan, and Henry
were busily monitoring Scott, who was down in the Danger Room
proper, firing his optic blasts at a series of moving targets.
Archetype looked down through the control room window at Scott.
"Very impressive," he noted.
"The technology or the man?" Jean asked him.
"Both," he answered. "I will, however, admit
to being biased towards the human element." As he spoke,
Scott fired a blast through a set of three rings, arrayed
in a straight line, which were each rotating at a different
rate. The blast went through the openings in the rings cleanly,
without hitting the rings themselves.
"Amazing," Archetype marveled. "His ability
to predict spatial location is phenomenal."
"That's it, Scott," Xavier spoke into a microphone.
Scott nodded and entered a doorway directly beneath them.
A few seconds later, he walked through a set of elevator doors
adjacent to the control room. "How'd I do?" he asked
Logan.
"Totally clean."
"Good. Are you ready?" he asked Archetype.
"As ready as I suppose I can be."
"All right," Xavier said. "The object of this
exercise is to reach and press the red control button which
will be directly in front of you. Doing so will open the door
which will let you out."
"And the room will do whatever it can to stop me, I
suppose."
"Correct."
"Will a weapon be required for this exercise?"
Xavier looked doubtful for a moment. "Nothing at this
setting can truly hurt you, but if you feel more comfortable
being armed, I have no objection."
"To be honest, I feel undressed when I'm unarmed."
"Will you be using that pig-sticker you were using this
morning?" Logan asked him.
"That would be my preferred weapon, yes."
"We can wait a few minutes while you get it," Xavier
told him.
"Thank you, but that won't be necessary." Archetype's
brow furrowed in concentration for a moment, and the box that
Rogue had seen him with earlier appeared on the floor in front
of him. He opened it, removing the sheathed sword that he
had used earlier, . He made some adjustments to the strap
of the scabbard, and slung the sword over his back so that
the hilt of the sword was behind his right shoulder. He looked
at Xavier again. "All I need to do is press the button,
right?"
"Right. As soon as the elevator door opens, the exercise
will begin. You will be timed."
"All right." He stepped into the elevator. Xavier
pressed a button, and the elevator began its descent.
"Think he'll try the same stunt that Kitty pulled?"
Logan asked the room.
"We've seen no evidence that he can become intangible,"
Xavier replied. "I doubt that he can."
"All set," said Archetype's voice from the
intercom. He could be seen in the monitor which displayed
the security view of the elevator.
"The test will begin in five seconds... three... two...
one." The door to the Danger Room opened.
Archetype saw the button in front of him. One.
He moved his arm forward. Two.
The button registered as being triggered. Three.
Jean looked up from her monitor, stunned. "He's done."
The others all looked at her. "What!?" they
said in unison.
"He triggered the button." They looked at her monitor.
She was right - the computer registered the scenario as over.
They heard Archetype's voice over the intercom:
"Next!"
"I don't get it," Scott said. "How did you
get through that so quickly?"
"Do we have a recording of the session?" Archetype
asked. They had all moved to the de-briefing room, after a
few arguments from Scott that there had to be something
wrong with the program.
Xavier typed a command into the interface which linked the
room with the Danger Room computer. "Coming up now."
They all saw, on the opposite wall, an image of the Danger
Room as seen from the top. "Can you modify the image
so that our point of view is parallel to the wall which I
was facing?" Archetype asked.
Xavier nodded. "Wait one moment." The perspective
of the wall shifted suddenly, showing the entrance at the
top of the screen, on its side, and the trigger button on
the bottom.
"Now play the recording," Archetype instructed.
"Look at the bottom of the screen."
There was nothing for two seconds. Then there was a flash
of black, and the button was depressed. "What was that
shadow?" asked Warren.
"Get a close up on that image," Archetype continued,
"and, if you can, show me in the elevator at the same
time." Xavier typed at the keyboard for a few moments,
and the wall became a split screen, showing the view of the
Danger Room on the left, and of Archetype in the elevator
on the right.
"Now rewind both images back and replay at slow motion."
"What speed?" asked Xavier.
"One-tenth should do it."
"All right. Playing at one-tenth speed." The image
of the Danger Room remained static. After about seven seconds,
however, Archetype's figure accelerated to a normal rate of
speed. After fifteen seconds, one of his Doors appeared about
fifteen inches in front of him. Another one appeared about
three inches in front of the trigger button. It took around
three seconds for Archetype to start moving his arm into the
doorway in front of him. His hand disappeared into the door,
reappearing at the same instant, and at the same rate of movement,
as it came out of the doorway in front of the button. By twenty-four
seconds, his hand had depressed the button, and he had removed
his hand from the doorways by twenty-eight seconds. By thirty
seconds, both doorways were closed.
"Any questions?" asked Archetype.
"How'd you move so quickly?" Logan queried.
"I folded space-time."
"Your reactions were accelerated as well." Henry
said.
"Yes. When I place myself in a faster time rate, all
my metabolic and mental functions are increased. That allows
me time to plan my actions."
"How does that affect you physically?" Jean asked
him.
"Well, I put on the gloves for a reason. If I hadn't
been wearing them, my hand would have windburn."
"You'd heal from that, though," Scott pointed out.
"True, but why hurt myself when I don't have to? If
we were in a combat situation, I'd wear the gloves, if for
no other reason than to avoid being distracted by pain."
"What about your face?"
"Doesn't seem to be as susceptible to damage for some
reason. I have no idea why."
"Can you do that while holding another person?"
Xavier asked him.
"I can't give you an answer, because I've never tried
it. If I were to test that, I think it would have to be with
someone who couldn't get hurt anyway. If I were to try to
move Mr. Drake in that manner, for example, I might melt him.
And it would have to be someone that I could lift physically,
which would place most of the male members of the team out
of contention. I can't lift something and move it at accelerated
speed at the same time."
"Maybe a weightlifting program would help in that department,"
Logan told him. "I can get you started on one today."
"Sounds reasonable," Archetype replied. "It
might be best if we fit it into the afternoon, though. I do
my daily run in the morning, and I'll need time to recover
my strength."
"That raises a question," Xavier pointed out. "Rogue
told me about your run this morning. Was what she was seeing
your maximum speed?"
"Not even close," he replied. "That was what
could best be termed my cruising speed. I haven't really been
able to clock myself with any accuracy. When I compress distance,
time becomes a little skewed for me. Everything moves in slow
motion, and by the time I approach normal time again, enough
time has passed that I can't get a proper reading. Maybe you
guys have something that can overcome the problem."
"We'll set up an electric eye, and have you do a full
circuit of the mansion grounds," Henry assured him. "Just
be careful when you're near the gate."
Archetype nodded. "I'm aware that by most rights, I
cheated. I'd like to go through that session again, using
only my physical abilities this time, so you can see just
what my combat abilities will be like. I'm aware of my weaknesses
in combat, and I'd like to work on them."
Xavier nodded. "Fair enough. If you'll head down again,
we'll restart the sequence." Archetype got up, and headed
through the door back to the elevator. A few minutes later,
Xavier was counting down to one again.
When the door opened this time, Archetype came out very slowly,
looking warily at everything around him. He took one step
forward, and slowly came out of the elevator, standing where
the edge of the elevator met the floor.
"This run is a modification of the one Kitty did, right,
Chuck?" Logan asked.
"Yes. I saw no reason to intensify the danger level
for a trial run. I've switched a few things around, but it's
basically the same program."
They continued to watch as Archetype continued walking farther
into the Danger Room. "He'll hit the coils first,"
Xavier told the others. As if on cue, two steel coils, tipped
with prehensile 'fingers', emerged from the walls on either
side of Archetype and moved towards him. Before they reached
him, however, he drew his sword with a quick motion and sliced
off the top three feet of each coil. He then continued to
move forward, safely out of the reach of the severed coils,
which continued to flail uselessly in the air.
"That went well," Logan said with a grimace.
"We'll see how he does with the muffins," Henry
replied.
"The muffins" was a nickname that Kitty had given
to the barrage of dense foam cushions which flew out from
the wall. Before he reached the trigger panel for the sequence,
however, Archetype stopped and cocked his head, as if listening
for something. He then sheathed his sword, unbuckled the scabbard,
and then lay on his stomach, placing the scabbard on top of
his arms. He splayed his arms out on either side of him, and
pushed himself along the floor. When he did set off the trigger
to the muffins, they passed harmlessly above him, with a margin
of about six inches to spare. He continued to stay on the
floor.
"He's using a standard low crawl," Logan remarked.
"I noticed," Xavier replied. "If he keeps
moving like that, he'll avoid the sandwich." The sandwich,
another term coined by Kitty, referred to the twin pile drivers,
coated with padding, which emerged from their holographic
hiding places in the walls and barreled towards Archetype,
missing him just as the muffins had. He did, however, have
a bit of difficulty moving beneath the padding, since he had
only a few centimeters in which to maneuver. He wriggled out
from underneath the padding, stretching somewhat when he stood
up. He strode towards the door confidently.
"He's not noticing the trapdoor," Scott said, with
a smile in his voice. "He won't make it."
About two feet from the trapdoor, however, Archetype stopped
suddenly, as if reacting to a loud sound. As he did so, both
Jean and Xavier made a similar reaction. They looked at one
another. "Did you hear that too?" she asked him.
"Yes," he replied. "Do you have any idea what
it was?"
"No," she replied, "but it was big."
They returned their attention to the scene before them. Archetype
looked at the door for a few seconds, then drew his sword
again. He held the hilt in both hands so that the blade was
pointed downward, raised it above his head, then jammed it
about eighteen inches into the floor. He then stepped back
about one meter, took one bouncy step, then leaped onto the
hilt of the sword, keeping one foot balanced on the crosspiece
as he continued forward, falling towards the wall. He slammed
both hands against the wall, stopping his momentum. He then
struck his hand against the trigger button. He rolled into
a ball as the door opened, tumbling into the elevator.
Henry raised an eyebrow. "What was his time?"
"Just under four minutes," Logan replied.
"Still a very respectable time for a neophyte,"
Henry concluded. "For someone who hasn't received any
formal training, he did very well." As he finished, Archetype
came out of the elevator.
"Just what the devil was that noise?" Xavier asked
him before he was out of the elevator.
Archetype looked shocked. "You mean you heard it, too?"
"Psionically, you made as much noise as a thunderclap,"
Jean informed him. "What was all that about?"
He shrugged. "It pretty much added up to one word. No.
Like I told you last night, I tend to be an intuitive thinker.
I sometimes get flashes of insight, telling me whether something
is a good idea or not. I was about to step onto that plate
when I realized that what I was about to do was incredibly
stupid. What was on that thing, anyway?"
"A trapdoor," Henry answered. "You would have
fallen into a holding cell below."
Archetype looked thoughtful for a moment. "That does
make a bit of sense."
"You just lost me," Scott told him. "What
makes a bit of sense?"
"I've developed a few theories regarding my abilities.
I'm still working my way through them. I'd rather not discuss
them until I've had some more time to think about it."
He looked at Xavier. "Maybe some practice in learning
how to make my abilities quieter is in order. If I made as
much noise as you say I did, that could be a liability during
an operation."
"We'll fit it in," Xavier assured him. "Why
don't you go wash up?"
"I'd be glad to," he replied, "just as soon
as someone directs me to the showers."
"I'll do it," Warren offered. He and Archetype
left the room.
"Well?" Xavier asked when Warren had rejoined them
in the de-briefing room, next door to the Danger Room control
area.
"Well what?" Warren replied.
"It was meant as a question for everyone, Warren,"
Xavier told him. "What did you all think of his performance?"
"He's never received any military training?" Scott
asked.
"Not as far as Val could tell, and she has some of the
best sources on the planet."
"Of all the weapons he could use, why a sword?"
Jean asked.
"Probably because swords have been used for thousands
of years. Guns have only been in use for about five hundred.
If he draws on the collective conscious for his abilities,
he has a greater pool of knowledge and experience to draw
from if he uses an older weapon."
"Makes sense," Logan grumbled. "We'll have
to train him on a firearm ourselves, then. I'll take care
of that, along with the weightlifting program."
"While Jean and I take care of helping him find some
way to reduce the amount of psychic noise he creates,"
Xavier said. "I wonder what kind of defenses he has."
"The fact that he's so difficult to scan could be considered
a defense in itself," Jean mused. "That's only a
passive defense, though. We'll have to work on active ones.
What's he doing now, Warren?"
"He's back down there," he replied. "He wanted
to get some of his own training time in, so I set up a pile
of breaking blocks for him. I left him alone. He doesn't seem
to be used to working with an audience."
"Well, we don't have to disturb him," Xavier said.
He typed on the keyboard, and the wall showed an image of
the Danger Room again. Archetype was setting up a stack of
seven concrete blocks in front of him. He stood still for
a moment, closing his eyes and breathing slowly. When he opened
his eyes again, he took a step forward, inhaled deeply, and
struck swiftly, breaking all seven blocks. There was a slight
flickering of the screen as he did so, like a burst of static.
"Nice form," Logan remarked. "What's with
the scars?"
"Rogue had noticed them earlier," Xavier said.
"They look like burn scars."
"Remnants of his injury, maybe?" Warren suggested.
"Could be," Henry said. "There's something
I wanted to mention to you, Charles. He indicated to me earlier
that he's very shy. I doubt we're going to get much from him
in a formal briefing."
"Maybe," Xavier admitted. "It may be a good
idea for some of us to talk with him outside the mansion."
He tapped the intercom button on the panel. "Rogue?"
"Yes, Professor?" her voice answered.
"Would you and Robert be opposed to taking Archetype
out for dinner tonight?"
"No problem," she replied. "Any
agenda in mind?"
"Just see if you can get him to open up a bit. The more
we know about his personality, the more we'll be able to help
him learn about his abilities, since they seem to be mental
in nature."
"All right. We'll take him out to the usual place
for the traditional X-Men welcoming feast. See you later."
Xavier looked confused for a moment. "The usual place?"
The others looked at one another with a twinkle in their
eyes, then back at Xavier.
"Harry's," they said in unison.
Continued in Chapter
5
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