Mutant High Issue 3: Revelations

[Victim]

I've stepped into an insane world of clones, superhero wannabes, and ray guns... Okay, I knew some this stuff was out there, or in development, but I didn't expect to be involved so personally. Maybe I shouldn't have come to that school. But I can deal with worse than this. I wish I had my guns though.

Temper steps foward towards Magneto, "What kind of assurance can we have that you're the original? How were you separated from your followers long enough for the copy to win their loyalty?" Of course, both could be fakes, and Miranda discerned that this Nightcrawler wasn't involved in the earlier attacks if she's still reliable. The death of her friend hit her hard.

"It seems likely that the success of Stryker's programs would impact more than some supposed homo superior race. The military could find plenty of uses for a gene scanning combat and surveillance robot. I already know white supremacists groups have tried to steal and modify a mutant detector so they could search for 'impure' mixed race people. It's myoptic not to look beyond your own circle."

"But seriously, why would someone who hates mutants as much as he does want to build an army of them? That doesn't really make any sense unless he has a kill switch, but even he's opening himself to the possibility of being assassinated by one of his minions while he sleeps."

"Well, he's not working alone, so there'd be someone else on the kill switch. And there's been a lot of research done on behavior modification by the government for decades. Not to mention the more mundane forms of manipulation and indoctrination which would be unusually effective in this case."

"And I think that hating is less important than power and control - especially to the groups backing and funding Stryker's operations. Hatred is how normal people are tricked into backing plans that only help to maintain or promote the power of a small elite." Of course, mutants shouldn't become that elite either...

 

[Jemal]

*OOC I'm heading to bed asap, will update tommorow.. *
*Edited b/c I misread a previous post.*

 

[Shayuri]

Tess watches the students with a bemused expression.

Good Lord...do they always talk so much?, she privately wonders. I mean, I guess they need to work through a lot of new info here, but...wow.

"Well, I don't know from proof," she says patiently, "But I do have an idea for how we might try to get an insider into this 'other' Magneto's camp. But we should go in..." She gestures at the portal that Magneto had opened. "...before we start discussing specifics, don't you?"

 

[drothgery]

Following Magneto and the new girl inside with more than a little hesitance -- he really wished Prof. Xavier, or at least Prof. Summers was here -- he continued.

"Look, whoever's running this doesn't have an army of clones unless they started building it twenty years ago. Cloning people is too slow, no matter what you might have seen in the movies. And all that gets you is an identical twin a few years removed; the clone won't have his or her twin's memory and experience. So the clone would have to be taught to emulate his or her twin, and at the same time to be loyal to his or her creator. And remember that they'd be cloning some very intelligent people with powerful mutant powers; controlling them would not be easy." Quarterback said.

 

[Relique du Madde]

She enters behind Eric.

"Temper, unfortunately there is no reassurance that I'm the original Miranda since for all I know I could have been replaced by a clone before I even arrived at the school and if not then then, they could have done it as recently as this morning which would mean that as Pyro and Kitty could also be clones." She chuckled then glanced at Pyro. "As far as we know, we might be making out in a movie theater right now, trapped at their base, or standing here talking."

She glanced towards Eric, and continued. "The thing is, it wouldn't make sense to clone someone and not capture and kill them since there is always a chance that the original pop up and ruin your well thought out plans in some way. That is assuming that had the ability to capture the original, which they obviously don't since they are cloning people with super powers." She paused, "But no matter what, they would need to be able to artificial age the clone as well as have the capability to copy and implant memories for their scheme to work." She glanced at Nightcrawler and Magneto, " Which leads to one question: Have any of you talked to any malevolent telipaths or had any kind of neural scans recently?"

 

[Jemal]

"You children talk too much by far for an old man to keep up." Magneto chuckles as he ushers you into the portal, closing it behind him and following a corridor. "And you pay far too much heed to what the so-called experts say. Did you know that a couple hundred years ago it was a scientifically accepted fact that anything exceeding a hundred miles per hour would break free of earth's Gravitational pull and be flung into space? Perhaps you should warn Nascar." Magneto grinned at Eric. People are by nature jealous and unbelieving. If they cannot do something themselves, they label it as 'impossible'. I would think that someone living at a school full of wonders such as yourself would have a more open mind." He waves his hand and the large metal door in front of you opens. "I do not know how they created this clone, but I know he exists, and that they haven't been growing him for decades, So you must forgive me if your assurances as to how clones work are rather... inconsequential to the facts at hand."
The students enter a large conference room, accompanied by Nightcrawler, Magneto, and Tess.

"As to how they got the genetic material, why I didn't interevene until now, and why they haven't captured or killed me - the answer to the first two lies in the third. They DID capture me, at least for a time. I was betrayed by someone close to me, though I haven't yet figured out who. A highly trained mercenary known as deadpool came for me and managed - with help - to render me unconscious. The days I spent there are blurred, but I remember Strykers face. I remember being drugged. I remember repeated psychic probes. And I remember the day Nightcrawler here found me and got me out, after discovering the truth." He smiles gratefully at the german mutant, who nods at the acknowledgement.

"It took me a while to recover and find out what was going on, after which I tried to recruit mutants to help me stop this travesty. Unfortunately, due to the clone's actions, it has been rather difficult. When we discovered he had started attacking the school, We tried to intervene, but were too late. The next best thing was to have Nightcrawler bring some of the survivors back here, that we may work together to stop this... imposter."

He turns to Tess then "Now, unless there are more questions - though I suppose that's too much to hope for - I believe Tessa here had an idea."

 

[Fangor the Fierce]

Spike asks the obvious question, "If you don't kill mutants, then why the attack on the school? Why go after Professor Xavier? What the heck is going on here?"

 

[Relique du Madde]

Impostor!? Miranda glanced down with a scowl. "Do you only care about how this affects your own reputation? We shouldn't only be worrying about your imposter. We should be worrying about the potentiality of what Stryker could do with his cloning machines! The bastard also wanted the Professor! If he clones both you and the Professor think about how he can mess up human-mutant relations?! He could easily set up a situation that would make the Holocaust look like a picnic!" She tried to calm herself.

 

[Jemal]

Base 1 (Spike)

"Oh don't worry about that, my boy, it's not like anybody has been seriously injured. Some who stand in our way must inevitably be dealt with, but the greater good will be served, and I have been most careful about HOW certain individuals are dealt with. Like poor Xavier. I couldn't have him interfering, so I painlessly removed him from the equation - until this is over. He'll be fine in a few weeks, and by then we'll be done." He smiles down at Spike, but something seems off.

Base 2 - (Students/Tess)
"My Reputation? Dear child, whatever this Imposter is doing is precisely what Stryker WANTS it to be doing, and it must be stopped. They won't get Charles, and if they do, they won't be able to use him. It would be too dangerous to attempt mind control on such a powerful mentalist. I have formidable mental defenses, it took them a long time to break through. Attempting to control a clone of the Professor would be... Well, we could only hope that Stryker is that stupid. Besides, According to Nightcrawler they don't want him.. or any of the psychics. They just want them out of the way, so they can't interfere."

[sblock=ooc]
Spike needs a Sense Motive Check. Also remember that he doesn't know the outcome of the most recent attack, or that anybody has been killed. Last he checked the only 'serious injury' was the comatose psychics.

Also second group, in case it's not apparent: Magneto doesn't know what happened or was said during the attacks, or the result of those attacks. If you believe what he's saying, then he only found out about these attacks too recently to do anything, and obviously didn't know what occured or he would have known about the 'second nightcrawler'.
[/sblock]

 

[Victim]

Temper follows, somewhat cautiously. "What? Sending in Nightcrawler to scout their facility since they'll hopefully recognize him as their copy Nightcrawler? It could work so long as he's not expected to use conventional security measures like keycards and if they haven't considered the reversal of their own clone disguise idea. Some kind of tag could have been placed in their copy to prevent mix ups."

"We'll also have to work something out to prevent accidents. I suggest a tiered system of markings - otherwise security footage could reveal our sign early on, allowing them to copy it in hopes of sowing confusion."