2014.04.21 - Sister Talk

The Academy of Tomorrow.

Dormitories.

Right outside The Five in One's room.

To be honest... Hope hasn't spent a lot of time with her 'sisters' as of late. But with rumors starting to go around claiming that they're being a bit strange... Well, stranger than usual, she ended up feeling bad. Thus she started to try and seek them out. Checking here. Asking there. Looking around campus.

Before finally...

She ends up at what should of been the most logical place to check. Their room. Unfortunately the teenaged redhead just sort of stands there, starring at the door, not even knocking, as she frowns, her feeling obvious to anyone who could see.

"Hopefully you guys are in there." is finally said, just barely above a whipser, before there's a single, simple, knock.

The Cuckoos have undergone some rather big changes in the last couple of days. Discovering the truth of what they are and what they were meant for. As a result of this they had literally turned their hearts to diamond, cutting off their emotions and individuality. Not because they thought it would save them from what their fate seemed to be, but because they couldn't handle it emotionally.

So now they didn't feel anything anymore, they didn't act differently anymore. Their unique connection was all they had. And seemingly all they wanted.

When the door opens all five of the girls are standing in the door way, gone is the love of fashion they had been showing, they wore no make up, their long blonde hair was pulled up in to practical buns, they all wore simple plain t-shirts and track shorts. Practical clothing. Any of the usual subconscious ticks and movements that made the individual girls recognizable in their group is gone as well.

When they see Hope they don't smile, they don't hug her, they don't seem upset at her for not being around. They simply... are.

And when they speak, the melodious tone of unison is gone, replaced with something almost robotic, "Hello, Hope. We knew you would come to find us eventually. You are welcome to come in."

They stand aside at once to make room for her to come in.

There are things that Hope has been told. And then well...

There's this.

As she looks at the girls, her 'sisters'... As she notices what is here, and more importantly what isn't...

On some subconscious level, she is unnerved. She tries not to show it, but...

But, as she enters, she shudders slightly. And frowns. Her gaze not at anything in the room. But instead, its occupants as her eyes drift from one Cuckoo to the next.

"Are we going to beat around the bush, or are you going to cut straight to the point, tell me what's up, why you're like this, and why you think I'd stop by? Or should I start with small talk, and work up that way? Or maybe mimic you guys to find out that way...?"

The girls give Hope a curious look for a moment and say together, "We knew you would come because you care for us. It has been our experience that when the behavior of a person that is cared for changes, those who care stop by and ask 'What is wrong."

The girls close the door, and stand in front of it, non moving, like the creepy robot girls everyone thought they were, but anyone who knew them knew they weren't, "As for what happened, we discovered the truth of our origins and decided to distance ourselves from everything. We would prefer it if you do not mimic us, sister. We recall being afraid of what would happen if you did."

"Possibly because adding someone else to your link might snap you out of what ever you've done to yourselves." Hope says in a near deadpan. That is before she moves over to a seat, all but flops down into it, and rubs her temples.

"But you're right. I do care. And you are acting strangely. But you still haven't said 'why'."

What the girls say next is so matter-of-factly, so coldly stated that it is unbelievable that a real person could state this, "We discovered our origins. We are Weapon Fourteen. X-I-V. Created by the same project that created Weapon Ten, aka Wolverine and Weapon Ten Twenty-Three aka X-23. We are the genetic daughters of Emma Frost, created from ova harvested from her when she was sixteen years old and committed in a mental institution. Our designed purpose is to be placed in an environment as sleeper agents and then to use our telepathic might to kill everyone in said location when activated. And since been in the Academy we've been activated twice."

They pause for a moment before continuing, "The rest is speculation on our part. We believe the only reason we were able to detect this fact is by connecting our mind with yours, that allowed the Weapon Fourteen protocols to be detected in our mind. We also recognize that connecting our mind with yours makes our telepathic powers so powerful that we could, very literally, turn off any mind on the planet."

This whole time the Cuckoos have barely moved a muscle not required for speech, just standing there like near-robotic beings, "We were afraid, back when we could still feel afraid, that if you joined with us again, Esme would be activated for that exact purpose. Perhaps even to turn off our own minds since we have discovered this secret."

"I see." is said before... Hope rolls her eyes?!?

Yeap. She rolls her eyes.

"Not to down play what you're facing, since it is a /BIG/ thing, but you guys definitely need to look at this from other points of view. Possibly multiple other points of view. Worse... Turning off your emotions, and I won't even ask /HOW/ you did that.... Is /NOT/ going to help you in the long run."

And yes, as that's said, the redheaded teen just sits there. And she /doesn't/ look afraid. Heck, it's almost as if for some odd reason, she looks somewhere between annoyed, and.... Amused...?!?

A slightly confused face on the Cuckoos again, "We admit, that was not the reaction we were expecting."

Then returning to their stoic look, "When we told Ms. Frost she drank heavily, cried a little and tried to hug us. Then became angry at our lack of emotion."

"Could you possibly explain what different viewpoints you believe we are missing," the girls ask Hope, that same toneless voice of theirs, "We have been communicating on this subject for days at the speed of thought. We have looked at it from every angle we could conceive. We turned off our emotions so that we would not betray the people we care about, because we will not care."

There's a bit of an amused chuckle, before Hope speaks up...?

Yeap.

"Maybe. But you're looking at it from what you know, based on your experiences. I mean... You know things about me that no one else does. You know large chunks of the future I've seen. About how /SOMETHING/ wipes out pretty much all the mutants all at once. About how after that there are no more mutants until I'm born. That in a future where I didn't go back to when I should of been, there were no more mutants. Period. Or even people with powers. You know how I spent my whole life before coming here on the run, with a mad man out to kill me. About how he slowly killed off the entire planet as I was sent farther, and farther into the future to get away from him, until finally I saw the last sentient life on Earth... The as of humanity... Killed off."

"So now you're here, acting like you have no heart, and maybe a little curious as to why I'm not afraid of you? That's why. In some ways, I've seen worse. Dealt with worse."

"Plus between people you guys know, and people I know, I'd like to think that if you guys did try to do anything bad, or if you needed someone to stop you telepathically, we could set something up to keep you, and others, safe."

The Five-in-One stayed silent for a little while thinking about what Hope had told them. Everything she had sad was factually true. And they didn't want her to be afraid of them. The thing they didn't believe was the idea that they could be stopped.

"We have done some research on other members of the Weapon Plus program and their capabilities. Fantomex is a world class thief who is an expert of infiltration and has evade capture from even military forces. Wolverine is known to be an unstoppable warrior capable of defeating and killing any foe. Captain America is a literal super soldier who has even managed to come back from the dead and is considered a fighter with out peer. The program does not make weapons that can be stopped."

"We are Weapon XIV we are quite possibly the most powerful telepathic mind on this planet, more so when linked with others of similar brain chemistry and powers. If we were making us, there would only be five."

And that was the terrifying moment for the five sisters, the moment when they decided they didn't want to feel emotion anymore. When they realized that there was more than likely other 'sisters' out there waiting to be connected to the hive. And why they were sure they didn't escape like Fanotmex had suggested to them, but rather planted here to be used against the Academy. And they couldn't bare the guilt of that.

"We do understand your desire to make this seem more manageable to us, but we have already managed this situation. Your efforts are appreciated but unnecessary," the girls continued, "We would expect no less from our sister. An intriguing aside: Your alternate grandmother, Jean Grey and our genetic mother, Emma Frost are apparently in a physical romantic relationship. Ms. Frost often as very sweaty thoughts about Ms. Grey when she is teaching."

"With maybe /ONE/ exception, they all were stopped one way or another in the future I saw. Even if I don't know how." is said as Hope... Chuckles?

"So don't think that you can't be stopped. Especially not if we did half the things I'd consider doing."

Then... There's a shrug.

"And trust me. I'm not afraid of you. If anything, I think, even like you are, you guys are too afraid of yourselves."

As for the bit about Miss Frost and Jean...

"Oh really? I'll have to remember that. But Jean isn't exactly my Grandmother biologically. I was adopted by my 'father'. I.... Don't know who my biological parents are."

"Anyone can be stopped, of course, but how many will we kill before that? We have already been activated twice. We believe them to be test runs of sorts. The first time was when Esme overwhelmed the gestalt and made the Academy of Tomorrow think it was haunted. The next time was three months later when Esme weakened the obfuscation field around the school and allowed the U-Men to find it," the girls state, "No one died in those events true, but it does show that we are compromised. We have already been working on a telepathic solution, but at current simulation models will also erase our memories and possibly damage our unique connection."

"Knowing who your biological parents are is overrated." the girls say almost kindly, but not quite, "Trust us, we know. That is why we call you sister, we would rather pick our family rather than have it forced upon us. Being adopted does not make your father any less than your father."

With a faint smile, Hope says, "If you think of me as your sister, then trust me. There are ways. Odds are there are people who know how to make it so you can't be controlled, but keep who you all are."

"As is, I'm considering doing something... Well.... Stupid to help you. That is if I can get certain.... Other people to help as well. But hopefully it'd help before you have a chance to kill anyone."

"And if you're compromised, so am I. Considering what I could try, and won't... Do."

That actually gets the girls attention, "We don't want you to put yourself in harm's way to help up. We do trust you, when we could still feel you were one of the most important people in our lives. Even when we didn't see you, we could feel you. We can even feel you now."

"We believe in you, as we always have. But we don't want you to do something stupid, especially if it can hurt you. That is why we don't want you to link with us, even though we know your unique perspective would probably lead us in new directions." There was actual concern in their voice, perhaps just a practiced fake version, or maybe their emotions aren't connected to how they feel for Hope, "Be careful in what you do for us. We do not want you to die because of us."

There's a bit of a snerk, before Hope says, "If you guys don't start to wise up, I might not have much of a choice."

And then, well...

There's a shrug.

"And I'm always in harms way anyways. The only diference is I'd be doing it to help you, rather than to try and keep myself alive."

"We would say we appreciate it, but that is an inaccurate statement," the girls say, "But we respect your decision and will not try to stop you."

And then the girls add, "If you ever face danger, we will always be there to help. Just because we are students does not mean we cannot handle ourselves. Especially now that we are capable of transforming into diamond. It makes us rather impervious to harm."

"Diamond can still be shattered, broken, and otherwise destroyed." is said after Hope takes a deep breath, which she lets out slowly.

"But thank you. And you guys know I'm there for you. Even if right now I think you're dealing with this the wrong way, and I want to copy you guys just so I can mentally try to smack some sense into you."

Then there's another, slight pause.

"Of course I also envy you too."

"It's an attractive prospect, not being able to feel." the Cuckoos said in unison, "And it has been a liberating experience. There are things we miss about being about to feel emotions, but the benefits of our current state out weight what we miss."

"Perhaps one day we'll stop, but for now this is what we need to do. We were too afraid of what we are, and we know that if we go back, that it will overwhelm us." The girls state that quite clearly. Hope is now the only one who actually know why the Cuckoos made this decision. With others they claimed that it was to be able to think clearly and work a solution, the truth is that they were so scared of what they were feeling, it was easier to cut it all off forever.

"We have... respected our time with you today, Hope. But we need to return to our meditations, we have to come up with a solution to our problem so that things can return to some semblance of normality for ourselves." One of the girls opens the door, "But you are welcome to return whenever you wish, our door is always open to you."

Despite the opened door...

Despite the fact that Hope gets up...

Despite all of that...

The redhead looks directly at the nearest of her 'sisters'.

"You're running from your fear by doing that. It won't help. In fact, it'll just make things worse for you in the long run. Trust me on that. I've done it myself before..."

And with that said, she starts to leave.

"And that's all the more reason why someone needs to knock some sense into you."

"We do believe you may be right, Hope." the girls tell her, "But we have also made our decision on this topic. We hope you can respect it, even if you do not agree with it."

Unfortunately there's pretty much no one as stubborn as the Five-in-One, well except Hope probably. Another reason they get along so well more than likely.

The girls will probably come to agree with hope in time. But right now, their minds are not going to change. But now that seed has been planted and they will think on it, and that thought will grow in strength and eventually knock some sense into them.

And if it doesn't, there's a couple of 'battering rams' (metaphorically speaking) that Hope could, and would use.

But until then, she leaves. But once she's outside, she takes a deep breath, and starts to reach for her cell phone. Even as she heads down the hall.