It's All In Your Head: Part Six
by sevenall
There was a shore in the astral plane where the waters broke. A child could play there, put things together in the sand. Could see the waves wash them away, bring back new things from the deep. The child would try to make sense of what washed up on the beach.
The heart would beat, the chest would rise and fall. The lyme-grass would billow. Specially tailored molecules swam like glittering fishes, interacting with Otherworld genes, maintaining breath and life.
**Divide and conquer.**
"You must keep her under, Hank, I don't care what it takes".
"Charles, her vital signs show no indication of..."
"Don't you have any tranqualizer here at all?"
"Blue locker, to the right. But really..."
"Do what I say!"
**Divide and conquer.**
"As soon as you brought Elizabeth to the infirmary, I tried to do a routine scan. To my surprise I found that something was blocking my access. It wasn't like anything I've ever encountered. It radiated cold and menace. I had no way of examining it, I just felt its presence. Probing her had no effect. The barriers could withstand any attack. Other than that, her telepathy is intact".
"Sir.Yesterday, as Betsy and I were completing the basic module of Cerebro, it signalled her as a mutant. We laughed at it and re-calibrated. I thought we ought to tell you or log it, but she talked me out of it. I'm sorry".
"It might mean that she is possessed by the presence I felt, or that small changes are gradually inflicted on her mutant abilities. Is there anything else you have noticed lately? Warren? Anyone?"
"Nossir".
"Surely you can do better, Warren".
"..."
"She was brainwashed once".
"Yes, I will call Logan and hear what he has to say about it".
"I don't know anything about telepathy, but if the Professor cannot control her, she sounds like a threat to me".
"If we had killed everyone you wanted us to kill, there wouldn't be any people left. If we let you in, in spite of your methods, your manners and your habit of swinging a gun in everyone's face, you just might cut us some slack, too".
"Who said anything about killing? Maybe the Professor could take her powers away or mindwipe her."
"Gentlemen, my lady. This is a meeting. I know you didn't mean to offend, Bishop, but we will do nothing of that. We need more information before we can decide on a course of action".
"Do you think we should try to contact the others, sir?"
"I see no need for that right now. As I said, we need to know more before we can tell them anything. Her brother should be informed and will be so. Hank, I need the bloodwork, complete charts on everything".
"With all due respect, sir, what happens if you can't figure it out?"
"You still don't get to kill her".
**Divide and conquer.**
"So what can I say, sir? I didn't know what to watch out for. I don't understand telepathy either. Well, I know it works, but that's it".
"No one knows the exact mechanisms, Warren. It's a very complex phenomena. What I do know is that every telepath has his or hers own version of the astral plane. There are common reference points and sites of contact, but we all have different inner eyes. My own telepathy differs from Jean's, Elizabeth's even more so, since she received very little training before she came here. For example, I don't know why her telepathy manifests in a rose butterfly. It's a symbol she developed on her own, probably very early".
"..."
"You're right when you say you don't know what to watch. But I do. Will you let me try, Warren?"
"You mean, read my memories?"
"Yes. You've been close to Elizabeth these last months. If there are irregularities in her behaviour, you're the one that most likely picked them up".
"You're asking me to betray her".
"I'm asking you to help her".
**Divide and conquer.**
"Y'all serious? Bets get a headache, ya lock her up? There's drugs, there's doctors".
"I know you care about Elizabeth. So do I. But the only thing I want your opinion on is whether this is a throwback to her assassin days".
"Nope. She's still a ninja, ya know, but she hasn't got the edge anymore".
"The comp logs do point to another conclusion, Logan".
"Cerebro's just a machine, f'godssakes. If someone did do this to her he lacks Matsuo's trademark. Quality".
"Crudeness can be deliberate".
"Right. So I'll get back here next month, have another look".
"I thought you were going to stay a while. What will you be doing?"
"My business, Red. As always".
"We need someone who knows telepathy inside out. Someone we can trust. Someone with better compability with Elizabeth than Jean or me. I'll call Emma Frost tonight".
"But she's such a bitch!"
"I thought you said we needed someone we could trust".
"She's doing right by the Generation X kids".
"Emma is the best option. We need the margins on our side".
"Still think you oughtta speak to a doc".
"No doctor I know of could handle this. To make her less receptive they might give her drugs that interfered with her unique metabolism. They might perform surgery. She could well lose both her telepathy and her mind in the process".
**Divide and conquer.**
"You rang, sir?"
"Hello, Emma".
"Though it was more a get-your-butt-here request than an actual ring. Now tell me why I'm here or this butt goes straight back to Massachussetts".
"I need you to examine Psylocke's telepathy. I very strongly suspect that she may be possessed by someone still unknown".
"Now wait a minute, Charlie, possessions and obsessions aren't my field of work. I don't know shit about them".
"I know. I want to know if there's anything wrong with her telepathy. Basically, I want you to go through all of it and report any abnormalities".
"It's going to take time and be a hell of a lot of work. Any reason why I should do this for your little bimbo? No, don't give me the sermon, I'll do it. Boy, are you going to owe me for this!"
"This is our medical records and other things you need to know".
"Uh-oh. You don't think I'm going to read that. If I'm taking on this, I'm doing it my way, and more important, you're doing it my way".
"So, what's your way, Emma?"
"First, you tell me what I need to know. Then you get me some real tea. The teabags in this house are almost poisonous".
**Divide and conquer.**
"I've thought this over. You'd be better off with someone like Doc Strange".
"I know what I'm doing. Just name your working conditions".
"As you want. You're not going to like them much. I'm not touching her as long as she has any drugs in her system. Another matter is that Shi'ar med unit. I want her completely free of it. I also want to hypnotize her".
"Is it really necessary?"
"Wouldn't be if she hadn't taken that fall. Concussion is a hazard in these circumstances. Hell, I wouldn't even be going in there if I had any sense".
"Alright".
"You can put in all the surveillance you like, but I work alone. Everyone in the house has to give me working space. You tell them. Make it an order. If you want to take part in the entertainment, I can let you can do the hypnotizing part".
"I...don't think I want to. She might put up resistance".
"Because you scanned Warren, right? When it comes down to it, your ethics are as bad as mine. That little nimbo is damn more independent than most of your other students and I think this action of yours is going to backfire one of these days".
"We'll compare students in ten years, Emma".
"Yes. But I can walk".
**Divide and conquer.**
The place wasn't the astral plane, but the resemblance was close. Mist and grey smoke. Elizabeth felt a little disoriented, tried to get a fix and failed. "Hello, Psylocke. I'm Emma Frost. You're under hypnosis. Don't fight it, just go with the flow. As Professor Xavier told you earlier, I'm going to enter your mind and examine your telepathy". Emma's voice was cool and precise. No fuss. Elizabeth liked that. "The transition will be less smooth than you're used to, I'm afraid. Your concussion didn't improve matters". The mist swept her off her feet, spinning like a tornado. Emma swore, somewhere in the distance and a cold wind ripped the tornado in two. "Sorry about that. Catch your breath". Elizabeth felt Emma move in her mind, easy and naturally. "Try to open up. Relax, girl. Don't be shy. I'm not going to touch anything but your mutant power. Good. Good. Tell me if it hurts". Snow brushed over her, chilled her, but there was no pain. "You may experience some discomfort now. I'll have to take this apart". The sensation of cold increased. Frostbite burned her. Every nerve screamed, synapses fired randomly, overloaded and burned out in the cold and the numbness took her. Time passed as she lay motionless in this peculiar, passive state. Snow fell through her. Layers of ice built up around her. Time passed. "I will withdraw now". Tired voice. Ice turned to water around her, became a dark sea with no shore in sight. "Follow me to the surface and you'll wake up". "Where? Where? Emma!" There was no answer.The sea rumbled, dark ice shutting out the light. Water closed over her head.
**Divide and conquer.**
"I'm not taking this from any ninja-wannabe! Wake up, damn you!"
"What's wrong?"
"She's gone into shock, that's what. Your goddamn professor in his fucking hurry, I'll break his neck! Stay out of my way, McCoy, I'm going back in".
Something jerked at her. It hurt, in a body numb beyond hurting. Another jerk, and Emma was there, pulling Elizabeth by the arm through the dark waters until they both broke the surface. Elizabeth became aware of the room again. Time and space. She tried a breath, started coughing instead. A furry arm helped her sit up. Hank. "Emma?" she whispered as soon as she could spare the air. "I'm here". Emma had a blanket around her shoulders and her teeth were chattering, but she looked well enough. "My, you're deep waters, aren't you?"
**Divide and conquer**
"That was a close call".
"A bit cold, even for me".
"You were in there for more than thirty-six hours".
"If you say so, Charlie. Are you interested in the results or not?"
"Of course I am, if you're fit to tell me".
"Don't you bloody patronise me, I'm fit. What I can say right off is that there is nothing wrong with her telepathy. I turned every stone, double-checked and triple-checked the most sensitive areas. No irregularity at all".
"So what went wrong? I monitored you very closely and you did nothing to set off a shock reaction".
"Yes, that was what I was thinking I'd have your skin for. You never told me she had epilepsy. Do you realise your little omission could have killed us both?"
"She doesn't have epilepsy. I assure you that we have run every possible check on her physical health".
"Well, that's what happened, anyway. A minor seizure, thank God. Take a look at the log. Random flashes. No sense in the patterns. You know I'm right, Charlie".
"Possibly it could be the entity masking itself, a response to intrusion, designed to scare off..."
"Oh, for God's sake, spare me. You have spent too much time in space lately. The episode in Danger Room was a seizure. It appears to have caused some internal damage as well as some changes. Deal with it, Charlie".
"Any other observations?"
"Yes. You've really been rubbing her nose in the Kwannon thing, haven't you? Now this. Everyone suspects her, even her flapping boyfriend sides with you. I gather she is useful to you. If you want to get some use out of her, you'd better unlock her door or you're risking a quite fragile mind".
"Listen, Emma..."
"No, you listen. You've trained her. Lots of time, lots of money. She's not the best telepath around, but a fair one. An asset, I'd say. Are you going to waste her?"
"I can understand why you're being so emotional, Emma. A session this long and intense drains the best of us. I'll go through the Cerebro log and then I'll decide. Thank you for your help. I owe you one".
"Hmm...maybe you could help me crack Monet's mind?"
"Emma!"
"You did say you owed me, Charlie boy".
**The error had been made twice. The first time had been caused by poor judgment and greed. Responsible parties were punished by being heavily selected against. The second time was another matter. Four different minds in the physical space made for one was crowded. The attempt to terminate two of them had been appropriate.**