| An Unsettling Reveal | |||||
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| What: The Five in One Reveal to Emma their big secret. | |||||
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It's been four days since the Stepford Cuckoos found out what they were, and what their purpose was. Two since they tracked down Wolverine and asked him about his own experiences. Now it was time to tell Emma Frost.
If the girls were feeling normal, they more than likely would have come to her first. The respect and admiration they felt for her would definitely put her higher on the list. Unfortunately, the girls are not themselves.
So when they arrive inside the Headmistress office, in the middle of the day, when they are supposed to be in class, with no announcement from her assistant, and in fact Emma couldn't even tell they were there until they spoke, it was going to be an odd experience.
"Hello Ms. Frost," the girls said at once, while still in unison, the melody of their voice is gone, as if the spirit of themselves is missing almost.
Emma was facing towards the window with a Bluetooth headset on. When she head them speak Emma jumped slightly and held up a finger, "I understand your concerns, but we have a deadline. Find a way to make it work. Double the normal overtime amount, it will be well worth it. Call me again with better news."
The headmistress that day was dressed semi-casually that day, in a white blazer with a silver corset underneath and a white miniskirt with very tall silver sandals. She smiled to the girls, "Darlings, you know I adore you but in the future I need /some/ sort of warning when you are going to visit. It's courteous. Plus I could have been with someone, privately."
"Courtesy is a social construct based on emotion and social norms," The Stepford Cuckoos say together, coldly almost distantly, "They do not concern us at the moment."
Their mannerisms were different, even though Emma had spent so much time with them now she couldn't tell them apart anymore. There were none of the subconscious little clues they give here and there. The ticks that show off their personality. Those things were all gone.
"We spent days discussing how we would tell you this," the continued in their emotionless tone, they hadn't sounded like this since the first day Emma encountered them, "And for us, days is like lifetimes. We remember finding you very attractive, very smart, very respectable, and we desired to be like you."
There was a pause in the air before they continued, "That is why we wanted to find a way to inform you of this in a way that would not hurt you, even though we no longer care about such things. It is a... courtesy."
"Girls." Emma moved in front of her desk and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her eyebrows lowered in concern, the girls were 'odd' to everyone but Emma. She knew them as well as anyone could (well perhaps not as much as their adopted sisters, but she didn't like to dwell on that). So she knew with absolute certainty that something was wrong.
She searched between their faces, no differences today between them. And with their damn gifts Emma can't rip the truth from their minds, as she often might from others. "What's wrong?"
|"You know that will not work Ms. Frost"| the girls think to Emma |"Our minds are too perfect for you to be inside it without out our allowance. But you should take pride in that fact, Ms. Frost"|
Slowly, all five of the girls turn into a diamond-organic form, only their clothing staying normal. They say aloud, "Because our minds are just the genetic perfection of your mind... Mother."
"I'm going to need a drink now." As Emma promptly walks over to the mini bar area in her office. First she moves to make a martini, but then just takes a shot of the fine gin. Then a second. After all of this she finally makes a martini.
There was silence. Defaning silence, and for the girls these seconds could have felt like days. Eventually she speaks, softer then she normally does, "You are all my...clones? Is that it?"
"Clones would be inaccurate, but in layman's terms, yes." the girls answer promptly, "Daughter's of yourself is more accurate. There are differences."
The girls only change their heads back to flesh, the rest of their bodies are still made of organic diamond, "We are natural blondes for example. And can control our diamond form so that it only effects certain parts of us."
"Our most educated guesses suggest that when you were put in a mental hospital by your parents due to you 'hearing voices' that your ova were extracted and used for a genetic weapon project called Weapon Plus," the girls state, they are so cold and matter-of-factly... just like Emma gets when she turns to diamond, they just don't have her sas.
"Clearly." In regards to the diamond form. At the moment she would quite like to turn to diamond, look at this all rationally. But no, she wanted to remember this invasion, especially if it was done during one of the single most worst moments of her life. Emma needed to feel the emotions going on right now, anger, sadness everything.
Someone was going to pay. You thought Lannister's were bad? Try a Frost.
Emma moved to the couch and crossed her legs, "That or when I went under for surgery, either is plausible. But remove the diamond form, girls and come sit. Now."
"Clearly." In regards to the diamond form. At the moment she would quite like to turn to diamond, look at this all rationally. But no, she wanted to remember this invasion, especially if it was done during one of the single most worst moments of her life. Emma needed to feel the emotions going on right now, anger, sadness everything.
Someone was going to pay. You thought Lannister's were bad? Try a Frost.
The Cuckoos meant no malice or shock in telling Emma any of this. They hadn't felt anything in four days, and unlike Emma, it was going to catch up with them. And it was going to hit -hard-.
They do however turn off their diamond forms, at least as far as Emma could see, most of their internal organs were still diamond, including the metaphorical seat of all emotions, the heart.
They do sit after that, on the floor, comfort is irelevant and they do want Ms. Frost to feel like she has some sort of control of this situation, "We realize that this is hard for you. It would be hard for us. We want you to know this has not been an easy decision for us. At first we decided not to tell you and seek solutions on our own. We even have already talked with Weapon Thirteen and Weapon Ten. We are Weapon Fourteen. Apparently we are the only three to escape to program."
Another pause, ut-oh that means they have something big to say, "But we are not one-hundred percent convinced that we escaped. We are afraid that we may have been planted here."
Emma was going to suggest that they actually sit on the opposite couch but screw it. She sipped, and her mind already was trying to sort out this situation quickly. She took another quick sip of the martini, "I understand why you initially made that decision, but it is wrong."
She leaned forward and placed her arms on her legs as Emma made eye contact with the girls. Wait was Emma slouching? This can't be good. Emma added, "Before you told me this news, you were /my girls/. You already meant the world to me. So your burden is mine. But what of these...weapons? Who made you?"
Currently Emma's best plan was to find out who directly was responsible and to call in the biggest favor of her life and have him punched into nothingness. Normally punching isn't terribly satisfying but for once it is needed.
"We do not know it's name as of yet. Mr. Logan's brain is very hard to read beyond surface thoughts and Fantomex has the mask that hides him from telepathy as well. It seems as if the project knew better than to create the perfect telepathic mind, yet leave its other weapons susceptible to telepathic attack." The girls say at once, "We only know for sure what Fantomex and Mr. Logan told us, and we question the validity of their information. Fantomex says we were raised in a place hidden in London called 'The World' he claims to have escaped from there himself. Mr. Logan was less forth coming, trying more to focus on 'saving' us. We discovered however that Weapon Ten branched off into a different project that made a Weapon Ten-Twenty Three."
A pause before they said, "We are sorry we do not have more information for you, Ms. Frost. We have been hiding this secret from you since our birthday. That we were somehow related to you. Hope tried to tell us to talk to you. Noh-Var wanted to tell you. We stopped them."
"Then I'll rip off the mask." Emma grins. Oh she's in a mood. She leans back and slides one of the olives into her mouth, "Logan, yes I've heard of him."
But then Emma's almost contant half-smile fades, even in this news she had something of a smile. Emma let out a soft laugh, "Oh, so everyone knew about it before I? I do hope you told Mr. West and Hall first as well, might as well get a good poll going."
She looked to the side, knowing she was being immature and cross. Emma let out a soft sigh, "What's done is done girls. But no more hiding on this topic. We need to get to the bottom of this. /I/ will."
"We told Hope because she is our sister. If it were not for her and Mindee and Yewie we would have never heard the Fourteen Directive in our head. Noh-Varr was Phoebe's lover before he left for space to find his Kree Empire." The Cuckoos said plainly and manner of factly, they may have shed the diamond but they were still not themselves.
"We do wish to tell you about the two times that the Fourteen directive has already interfered with this school. We believe you deserve to know that your students' safety is in peril."
Emma places her drink onto the glass coffee table and re-crosses her legs. Suddenly the drink just really wasn't cutting it. She leaned back onto the couch and touched a finger to her forehead, "The safety of my students is my number one priority, so tell me everything now please and thank you."
"We have surmised that Esme is our link to this living weapon project. There is twice that we have destroyed the harmony of this school. Both times were Esme's ideas." the girls said simply, though they were starting to stand up now, "The first the haunting. Which was harmless fun, but was not our normal though processes."
Now standing again the Cuckoos continued, "The second was our birthday party. The U-Men found the Academy because we were capable of weakening the obfuscation field."
Emma's fingers linked together as she thought, "Esme I want you to step forward."
The girls looked at Emma for a long time.. there eyes started to glow a little but then stopped. After a moment. One of the girls stepped forward. If it was Esme or not was anyone's guess.
Emma nodded once and stood next to her, "Is what they say true, Esme? Darling, I only want to help you. All of you."
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her. Emma held her surprisingly close, and nestled her face into the girls hair, "Now more then ever, but I was always there."
She moved back just a bit to look into her eyes, "This burden is now no longer just yours, all of yours."
The Cuckoo, Emma hugged did not move, did not even react. As Emma hugged this one Cuckoo they all said at once, "We know, mother. When we could still feel we would probably cry right now."
After the hug was over they said, "We will continue to look into this situation for the safety of our fellow students. We just wished to inform you of our current findings."
A very fake smile crossed all their lips and they added, "Do you require anything else from us, mother?"
"Still feel?" The look they get from Emma is one they've never seen. From day one, even when they appeared on her doorstep Emma was only affectionate and understanding. She understood their lives were a mystery and only wanted to help. But this just, cold emotion?
Emma is the White Queen. The Ice Queen. But she is anything but. And this doesn't help anything. She knew living computers, she knew life as a diamond. But this wasn't the time for that, grave news like this needed...some sort of emotion. Emma was disappointed, "That will be all girls. Go to your classes I'll email an excuse promptly."
"No need Ms. Frost" the girls said in unison as they headed out the door, "Our teacher still thinks we are there."
And then they were gone. And Emma could be alone with her thoughts, or could she?