Illusions of a Prodigy (Ben)

[ben]

"Let's go right now. I pretty much work everyday and it would be best for me to check out the school now or I probably won't get another chance in several months depending on the weather" said Ben knowing full well that he couldn't afford to waste a sick day. According to the police for the bike messenger company he works for, whatever weather problems that would prevent a normal bike rider from riding his bike would count as a sick day.

[tigrawill]

“Very well, my car’s just outside if you’d like a lift, I’ll bring you back afterwards if you need as well.” Emma was already standing but as she tucked the chair neatly back under the table behind her a second thought occurred to her, “Oh, whilst we’re in the school you might want to be careful who you touch. At least until you can control what powers you take it might be worth trying to keep the changes to a minimum.”

As Emma walked out of the apartment building she dropped the camouflage around the car, revealing the silvery Aston from behind its’ mask. It didn’t take long to get to the school from Ben’s, Emma was surprised that a mutant could live so close and not have been detected before now, still who knew when his power actually activated.

They pulled into the school through the main gates to reveal it in all its glory. Emma had to park a short way off however, she could hardly park in front of the main doors for any length of time, and so stopped just outside the garage. The weather had indeed improved a little, it was still overcast but the rain had relented a little at least. “Well Ben, this is it, Xavier’s Academy.”

[ben]

"I'll be sure not to touch a single person other than yourself" said Ben after Emma told him to keep touching down to a minimum. After Emma got out of her seat, Ben got up from his chair and followed her out of the apartment building. As they walked out, Ben suddenly saw a silver Aston appear out of nowhere which made it seem like it was from the future. Was it really practical to even hide it like that here? thought Ben knowing full well that there was little to no crime in the area he lived in. If it this was New York city though, a car like that would be either stolen or scrapped for parts the second it was left alone on the street.

When they pulled into the school through the main gate, Ben got a good look at the outside of the school which seemed to be like any other private school to him. However, seeing how this was a place where mutants learned how to control their powers, Ben had a feeling that there was more to this school than meets the eye.

"Seems like any other private school to me, but I get the feeling that you want me to see the inside of the school more than the outside" said Ben after she asked him what he thought.

[tigrawill]

Emma let out a slight laugh at Ben’s suggestion that this was like any other school, “Strangely Ben, that’s the biggest compliment you could give us here. You’re right by the way, on the surface we are just another Private School, it’s what happens out of the public eye that’s important.” Emma had been walking to one of the few concealed lifts in the Mansion, they had passed a few classrooms already but other than a few elaborate and upmarket decorations there was nothing spectacular about the place to someone who came from wealth anyway. Calling the lift Emma stepped inside and beckoned for Ben to follow, “Now most students aren’t allowed in the sub basement without either special permission or a member of staff present, being new myself you wouldn’t believe the hoops you have to jump through to be allowed down on your own.” Her finger tapped delicately on the button as the lift lurched into life and they descended down to the steel clad lower levels, “Oh and please, no photography.” Emma added jokingly.

“Most of the rooms down here are out of bounds to students, some are even out of bounds to certain staff members. Cerebro, for instance, boosts telepathic powers but can only be used by the most experienced of telepaths, perhaps in the future you may be able to use it yourself but that wont come for many years. There’s a medical bay, equipped to handle most ailments our hanger, and then most importantly, the Danger Room.” Emma took Ben into the viewing booth for the Danger Room, there was no one in there fortunately. “This is where most of our training is done, it might look like just another empty room but with the flick of a switch it can be transformed into any environment imaginable, most importantly however it’s safe, students practicing in here run minimal risk of injuring themselves or others. All of this is kept out of the public eye naturally. If you would like to see any other part, the dormitories, the teaching facilities then let me know. I’m sure I can arrange a meeting with other staff members too, including our acting headmistress, although that may have to wait for another day I’m afraid”

[ben]

As Ben followed Emma through the school, nothing seemed to indicate that this was a special school for mutants since the place looked so ordinary until they came to one of the sealed lifts. Ben would the beckon Ben to follow and once he was in, the door closed and the elevator headed into the sub basement. As the elevator went down, Emma explained to him that most students weren't allowed there without a staff member present and that there were a lot of hoops one needed to go through to be here down on his own. She also told him what was down here and that there was a machine called Cerebro that could amplify one's telepathy and that only an experienced telepath could use it.

"I highly doubt I'll ever become experienced enough to use Cerebro. I mean with all of the different powers I can mimic, I'll probably be spending more time learning to control each ability than mastering a single ability" said Ben who saw his power as making him a jack of all trades than a master of a single ability.

She would then take Ben to the viewing booth of the danger room which appeared to Ben to be a normal room with nothing in it. Emma would then explain to him that the this is where they do most of their training and that it can transform into any environment imaginable.

"I know this is a bit off topic, but how exactly did you know that I was a mutant when I didn't even know that fact myself?" asked ben.

[tigrawill]

As Ben mentioned his divulgence into other powers Emma managed to suppress a slight scowl by her naturally callous outward expression. Although she knew the best thing for Ben was to learn to control as many powers as possible to a basic level she had to admit the prospect of a telepathic student at her own calibre was exciting, the few other telepaths they had around the place were barely able to read a even guinea pigs’ mind. Then as he asked her about how she had located him she started to ponder the best way of replying deciding the truth was the best. “Forgive me Ben I should have explained earlier. As I said Cerebro boosts telepathic powers from a local to a global level, which if you can imagine the pain you had with a single apartment building, is no easy feat to manage. However Cerebro has another interesting feature, it allows us to differentiate between human and mutant minds, I have a vague understanding of the mechanics but I couldn’t tell you exactly how. Obviously it is unusual for us to send a member of staff to meet with every mutant we find however with you being o close it seemed a waist not to. I admit I took a personal interest as I couldn’t siphon the nature of the power from your thoughts, undoubtedly because you were unaware yourself.”Emma had tact, that was certain but she still had an awful lot to learn about equality, it never once occurred to her that probing around within someone’s head might offend them in some way. She was however slightly worried Ben would blame Emma for ruining his life as it were, hopefully he would know that if it hadn’t been her then it would merely have been another mutant later down the line, possibly in a far worse situation. “I would show you how it works but... well technically even I’m not supposed to use Cerebro on my own, it’s just safer if someone else is there, one slip up and the pain is almost unbearable.”

[ben]

When Ben first heard that Emma read his thoughts while using Cerbro, Ben felt angry at the fact that she did that and afraid of the possibility that she found out about his family. After all, Ben had secrets in there that he wouldn't want to tell most people, especially the well kept secret that his father is a crime lord.Despite the fact that Ben was afraid, his physical features indicated mostly anger with his eyes glaring at her, his eye brows raised and both fist clenched into a fist. "How could you read my mind like that? You could have just went over and asked me what my mutant ability was. How would you feel if I read you mind and saw through all of your dirty secrets?"! said Ben with his voice being louder than usual, though not enough to be considered shouting. A part of him actually wanted to hit the beautiful older blond, but he kept that side of him in check so that Emma wouldn't reveal his family secret in retaliation.

[tigrawill]

Emma was shocked at Ben’s reaction, naturally she hadn’t gone deep into Ben’s mind but of course there was no way he could know this. “Ben I apologise, I assure you I only looked for thoughts on mutation, I never once pried into anything you may have locked away, any secrets you may have are still very much your own. Surely you understand we can not simply ask individuals about mutation. With the current political agenda being slanted against mutant terrorism we can hardly afford to fly a mutant peace flag, this school is a haven and to remain so it’s true nature must remain a secret. Cerebro identified you as a mutant but it is not fool proof, there are many ways someone experienced enough could tamper with it, the only way to be certain is to be armed with as much background information as possible.” Emma had to admit she was now intrigued, if Ben was so protective of his mind then that meant there was something to hide hidden away in there, she didn’t pry however, if Ben wanted to keep his secrets she would let him. Her natural instinct screamed at her to telepathically calm Ben down but as he currently held her abilities it would be pointless, he would either notice her intrusion or block her completely. “There is only one way I can prove to you that I didn’t delve where I didn’t belong. You would need to read my own mind, if you like I will allow you to but you might not like everything you see. Telepathy is a powerful gift Ben but it can also be a powerful curse, you never look where you do not need to, there are something’s in life it is best not to know.”

[ben]

When Emma told him that he would need to look into her mind to see if she was telling the truth, Ben's anger died down a little as he became rather hesitant about doing this. Sure he could hear the voice one uses when they think. but one could easily lie with that voice leaving one alternative, looking into ones memories. Since Ben hasn't tried it before, Ben wasn't sure if he should even attempt it or he might find something that was one of Emma's personal secrets or something he would never want to see like she warned about earlier. After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Ben said "I believe you seeing how a person that is lying wouldn't want someone to read their mind"

[tigrawill]

Emma couldn’t help but feel relieved that Ben didn’t want to probe further into her mind. It wasn’t that she was hiding anything about her thoughts on Ben in there but what else Ben might discover would worry just about anyone. “A wise choice, it shows a sense of responsibility, one that it takes most many years to develop.” She decided it best to keep it to herself just how lon it had taken her to develop such a trait.

It didn’t take Emma long to regain her useual compose, it was rare enough that she let it slip at all. “Ok Ben, if there’s anything else you want to see then that’s not a problem but I’d like to give you a psychic dampener as I promised earlier, it’s a device that helps keep your mind inside your own head. It might not be something you want to wear on the street but it can be useful to block out some stray thoughts every now and then, at least until you shake the telepathy.” Emma was rummaging through one of the many stainless steel storage units and eventually pulled out a crown like object of her own design. “Now whatever you want to do in regards of the school is your choice, I personally recommend at least attending for a limited time. In your case we will quite happily pick up the fees.” Emma wasn’t technically in a position to offer a full scholarship but her company could easily support the fees of one student.

[ben]

"Really? You would think that there would be some people out there that would consider these powers like a gun and only use them when you have to. But then again, this country does have the most gun related deaths in the world, so that's probably a bad example" said Ben after Emma told him that it usually took many years to develop that sense of responsibility. But then again, Ben was trained in Jeet Kune Do , so he knew when he had to fight and when he didn't. Emma would then tell Ben a psychic dampener to keep him from reading other people's thoughts. After looking through a stainless steel storage unit, she took out a crown and recommended that he should stay here for a limited time.

"I think I might enroll in this school then. Just be sure to give me the paper work and I will give it to you ASAP" said Ben figuring that it would be better to learn how to control his powers than wearing a crown for the rest of his life. And the possibility of getting a scholarship would also help him in the long run.

[tigrawill]

“Ah Ben, unfortunately the world has already seen such people, mindlessly using their abilities to better their own lives, without thought of the consequences.” Despite the obvious connotations Emma was not referring to recent mutant terrorist activity but her own prior to joining the x-men. Emma couldn’t help but smile as Ben said he would enrol, “Excellent, if you’d like to come with me to my office we can sort the paper work out immediately, I’ll then put you in touch with our head of school and take you back to your apartment. You will no doubt want to take some time to sort out what you need and make arrangements to start here.” Emma then lead Ben back upstairs to her private office. It wasn’t very big, far smaller than it ought to be, Emma felt she had been given a smaller room due to her history with the x-men. In truth it was simply because she was so used to a larger working space. She had already got an enrolment form ready in case Ben decided to sign up today and so knew exactly where it was in the filing cabinet and it didn’t take her long to hand it to Ben. “There you go, I’ll give you a few moments to read it through.”

[ben]

Ben would then follow Emma upstairs and went into her private office which was average in size. After entering her office, Emma would hand over the paper work to Ben so that he could look through it. As Reven looked through the paper work, he noticed two prices, one for just attending the school and another for room and board. Wow, it's a lot cheaper to live here and go to school than living in my apartment and going to school thought Ben figuring that it would probably be better for him to live here so that he'll have an easier time saving up for college.

"Before I sign anything, is there anything you can tell me about the rooms students live in?" asked Ben.