17497/An unwelcome idea.

An unwelcome idea.
Date of Scene:	27 March 2024
Location:	Hank's Lab
Synopsis:	Are bomb mutations real, can they be remotely triggered?
Cast of Characters:	Henry McCoy, Kitty Pryde, Negasonic, Monet St. Croix, Patty Sloan

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Henry McCoy has posed:
Its late. Maybe you couldn't sleep. Maybe you don't sleep. Maybe, you were thinking about sleeping when someone grabbed your arm and dragged you down to Hank's lab. Maybe it was the smell of fresh baked cookies and the promise of good company. The doctor had baked them within the hour, they were still warm, he'd pied piper-ed his way down to the lab with them in a little wicker basket blanketed by a paper towel. He'd sat them down and waited to be joined by the best and the brightest, or at least the hungriest. He smiled as each of the gifted adults and young adults shown. He's pointed toward the basket, offering silently, and rested against a long table, arms folded in satisfaction and the joy of seeing the students creep in, prowling for chocolate chips.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde had been down in the X-men base doing some work, and was on her way back up when the telltale scent of cookies being baked caught her attention. She continued back upstairs as she had to drop some things off in her room. But once that was done, Kitty headed back down again.

On the way she ran into Patty Sloan. "Hey Patty, have you met Hank yet? Dr. McCoy that is? If not, I think I smelled cookies coming from his lab down in the base and I'm on my way there now if you want to come along and meet him. And, filch cookies," she says with a grin.

If that's agreeable to Patty, then soon enough, Kitty and the student are rapping on the doorframe of Hank's door. "Oh Haaaaaank?" Kitty calls in.

Negasonic has posed:
Does Negasonic sleep?

Has anyone actually seen her sleep?

What might have brought her down here was the light seeping through the door. And the smell of cookies.

Mmmmn. Cookies.

Well, Negasonic was dressed *for* sleep, by the look of it, even if she was prowling in the lower levels, for her own nefarious purposes. Band t-shirt, sweat grey sweat pants, and all of her makeup was off. And yes. She had coffee.

(And her phone, but that should be expected). She sees the cookies, sees Hank looking pleased with himself... and takes a sip of coffee. "... is this some kinda trap?" she asks.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix rarely sleeps that much. It leads to nightmares. And she's had too many times where she's woken up screaming and breaking things. So she does not sleep. She meditates for short periods. Enough to get what is necessary into her system. But she spends far more time ensuring that she looks perfect (not that it takes much effort) in front of a mirror. So when she hears others downstairs, she goes to head on to investigate.

No sounds of monsters, no sounds of rampaging things pursuing after said cookies..

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty was actually on her way to her Dorm. The prospects of cookies and of meeting the reputed Hank McCoy was definitely enticing so she fell in line behind Kitty. She happily makes her way to the Elevator and down to Dr. McCoy's Lab. The smell of the fresh baked cookies was intoxicating. "Mmmmm Cookies..." So much for her seeming intelligent in the least. But hey, she's an airy sort so it all balances out.

The thing that catches Patty's attention more quickly than the cookies however is the sight of Dr. McCoy and suddenly, she understood why he couldn't play football. "Bluuueee..." She blinks a few times and blushes trying not to draw too much attention to the fact that she is shocked by the very blue Dr. McCoy. "Sorry. I've not met anyone like you before, Doctor."

Henry McCoy has posed:
McCoy pointed a remote at the display basin, lighting up the holographic display with its initial program load, which quickly transitioned into a beautifully highlighted and colorful display of a double helix floating in the space between them.

Hank waved each in, bid them partake of cookies, and when enough were munching or at least attentive and assembled he nodded toward the display. "Lets have an informal discussion, in the round." he proposed. Indicating the display again, he zoomed it and panned it, showing off the breath-halting detail of biological process. "This is the process of transcription, where RNA is synthesized from DNA, via a process called transcription. This is something we call Genetic Expression." he let his words hang, let the students watch the miracle at work. "What's the relevance of Genetic Expression to people like us?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty moves inside the lab and greets Henry McCoy with a big smile. "Hey Hank, smelled something good when I was passing by earlier," she says, and then commences with a sweet, bashful smile like a girl begging a treat.

She breaks into a bigger grin then, and looks to Patty. In a reassuring voice she says, "I don't think anyone can beat my reaction to first seeing Kurt, when it comes to making an ass of myself over someone's appearance. Thankfully he forgave me readily enough when I realized what a brat I had been," Kitty says.

She moves over to grab a cookie then as Hank launches into the scientific explanation.

Negasonic has posed:
Negasonic had one word that slipped through her mouth as the display of the Science starts.

It started with an F.

Turning around, the girl starts trying to leave much the way that she came... but luckily (or unluckily), others were coming in, so she was kinda forced to try to interact with the surprise ambush lesson in the night.

"It's just genes," she says, deciding that, if she was going to suffer, at least it was with a cookie. She moves to linger near Kitty a bit. "... everything does it, so what makes us different is the ones that do or something," she grouses, following that answer with a bite of the cookie.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would sigh, and then go to add, inaccurately or not for the students to see how much they were paying attention, "Genetic manipulation and adjustment. How a cellc ould mutate over time and thus lead to the generation of powers via the process of mutation." Her tone is flat. She might be right, she might be completely wrong here. It's something of an evaluation for Patty. She would also say for Ellie, but Ellie's already make it clear which end of the spectrum of inquiries she's over with.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty blushes and quietly steps forward and gets a cookie. She then goes and sits down. Listening, her head starts to spin at the sheer amount of knowledge that was being unleashed. She blushes and speaks out... "Genetic Expression... That is what says blue eyes or green eyes. Or in our cases what causes our powers to be what they are. Its all an expression of our Genes." She looks down. "Yeah." She tries her best to downplay what she said.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Hank smiled to Kitty, "Help yourself." he offered politely, which had a way of smoothing his savage features. Then he pointed sharply at Patty with a claw. "Exactly." he clicked through a few animations of a model human growing from embryo into young adulthood. "For many of us, perfectly ordinary children became extraordinary children somewhat unexpectedly." the display zooming in on an enlarged pituitary gland positioned behind the forehead of the model, pulsing waves of red aura as the model began to exhibit abilities, and grow new features.

"In many cases we were born with these genes, no one knew. Then one day, through transcription, the genetic payload was unleashed. Its fatuous to say we became something new, but we can forgive those with less comprehension of the biological processes. What are some of the possible causes for the later expression of genetic traits?" he indicated the display, "Give you a clue." and paused the animation once it hit the pulsing pituitary phase.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde smiles as this isn't the first time she's been in one of these conversations with Hank and others. Nor even the first time on this topic. She doesn't play spoiler, but instead hops up on a counter to make a seat of it as she nibbles on the delicious, warm cookie.

She remembers what caused her own powers to emerge. And the result. Waking up on the first floor after she'd gone to bed in her second floor bedroom. Headaches. It took awhile to get those under control.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance at Patty curiously. This was now a question as to how much the girl knew coming in to the school. And it was a good way to evaluate her fluency in the topic - alternatively how quickly she could piece things together based off logical analysis. Monet is quiet but looking on thoughtfully to see how things go.

Negasonic has posed:
With a world-weary sigh, Negasonic slouches back against one of the walls, and eats her cookie, chasing it with a swig of coffee. She had the respect to not text during class, but her resting bee face was a profound work of art. And she keeps that on Hank as the class goes on.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty blushes and looks down again. As Hank continues, She looks up at the display. She takes a bite of her cookie as he settles on that image. "Adrenaline?" She asks as she looks at that gland on the display. "That is how it was for me anyway. I mean I was held at gunpoint and I started panicking. The next thing I knew the air was bearing down on the gunman." She looks around trying not to seem smart cause she really isn't that smart.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Hank nodded grimly and then advanced the next portion of the presentation. "Now I want you to brace yourselves."

A grainy video of a woman lying on a hospital gurney, but somehow her surroundings look more like a prison then a hospital. She is emitting an image from her mind by some means of mental power. She is in distress, her mouth is moving as if she is chanting or calling out. The screen splits, to show the location in the mentalists image projection: the middle of an American shopping mall. A young boy holding his head, seemingly wracked with pain, all around him people are falling unconscious. The twin images, the mentalist projecting the image of the boy, and the obvious camera image of the boy in location mirror each other.

"There is now some very upsetting data from SHIELD that suggests that genetic expression can be caused remotely. In the coming weeks I will be assembling a team to verify the efficacy of these claims in the lab and in the situ. I'm looking for volunteers for both."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde is eating the cookie quietly as she pays attention to the conversation. Her expression grows a little grim as she watches the recording. The frown growing the longer it runs, and then as she hears Hank's commentary on it.

A soft, frustrated inhalation is drawn in, and a matching sigh given. "If you need help Hank, count me in of course," she says, giving him a reassuring and confident nod. Her eyes go back to the still of the end of the video, the frown returning.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod over distantly, "Possible triggers include moments of extreme stress, sensory overload, or agitation. If the genetic predisposition is there, numerous ways to theoretically aggravate the individual to the point of overload and display of abilities is possible." At least, if her interpretation was correct.

Patty Sloan has posed:
Patty watches the display as the woman powers up. She winces and has to look away for the moment. A glance back shows whats happening at the mall and its even worse. "Oh my god." She shakes her head. The girl frowns and looks at the remainder of her cookie. Quietly she questions if she could eat the rest after the disgusting display of what could definitely be considered torture.

"If you need me Dr. McCoy, I am in." She comments as her wings just slump over the whole thing.

Negasonic has posed:
Negasonic didn't have her phone out. But she did take a long sip of her coffee, narrowing her eyes as she levels her gaze on the distressed boy.

Her lips purse tightly.

"Yeah," she says. "That's not... cool," she says, working her jaw tightly as she watches the screen.

"But I'm not wearing a suit for anything," she says. "And I'm not good in the lab, either, so... whatever," she says, wiggling her fingertips up in the air a bit.

Henry McCoy has posed:
Henry McCoy turned off the display with the remote. He allowed a pregnant pause. He nodded to Monet, because she had the thread. "In the lab we will look at the efficacy of using telepathy to cause genetic expression in controlled circumstances. These claims are central to the wider issue. In the field, we need to verify that this event occurred, talk to people who may have witnessed it and sweep the area for anything suspicious or enlightening." he lowered the remote to the table and folded his arms. "There is a lot at stake here in my opinion, but I seem to be in the minority view at the moment. Figure out where you'd like to spend your effort, and we will reconvene tomorrow after class is out."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would muse thoguhtfully, "While the ethics are distasteful, finding a way to trigger powers in a controlled environment does have potential. Given there are a great many for whom first experiences with powers often lead to destruction and collateral damage due to panic."

Patty Sloan has posed:
"Who decides who is ready to be powered up then. Just because there is the risk of collateral damage doesn't mean we have a right to force them to activate. I mean it would be different if someone were asked to trigger their mutation but without knowing..." Patty pleas to Monet.

She turns to Dr. McCoy and smiles to him. "Hey umm, Dr. McCoy? I was told to ask you about a way to hold down my wings without using belts."