"A teenage girl falls six stories, then walks away unscathed." "A man bursts into flames with no signs of burns." "One thing's for sure:" "It's getting weirder out there every day." "But the truth is spoken here." "Help me." "What?" "Smile, loser." "No need to run anymore, emma." "You're among friends." "How do you know my name?" "Wait, what's going on?" "All your questions will be answered." "Right now, time to go." "Check out these shots, adam." "Terrific." "Uplink to sanctuary database." "Shalimar, jesse, great work." "Will somebody please tell me who the hell you guys are and what this is all about." "Sorry, emma." "I'm adam." "And this is mutant x." "Emma, your assailants were members of a security wing of genome x, a biotech firm which is actually a secret branch of u. s." "Intelligence." "Now this is a visual cloak and... please don't panic." "I can't see." "It's only temporary." "So, why do they care about me?" "It's your tele-empathic gift." "Your power to sense the feelings of others and to influence those feelings." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Pretty cool, huh?" "Is that what i looked like when i first saw it?" "No, you just started crying." "Kidding." "Shalimar and jesse and you are all children of genome x." "Genome x conducted a secret human genetics program which had the unforeseen consequences of creating men and women with special abilities like your tele-empathic power." "I keep telling you:" "I don't have any powers." "Now, you're aware of these odd stories that we've been hearing about recently." "Curious events, inexplicable mysteries, human oddities." "Yeah, but i never believed those stories were true." "Yes, alright, some of them are fake, some of them are hoaxes, but to an alarming degree, it's the children of genome x that are behind such phenomena." "So, it's not all aliens and crystals and re-incarnation, huh?" "Yeah, well of course not, you've seen what jesse and shalimar can do." "There are perhaps a thousand children of genome x." "Now, some of them know who and what they are, but some of them are terrified at the changes that are happening to them." "Well, i still don't get why you kidnapped me." "Well, i prefer to call it recruitment." "So, are you one of these children too?" "No, i was chief bio-geneticist at genome x." "There were two men and one woman." "The woman, she attacked like a tiger." "One of the men seemed to be able to go from intangible to massive at will." "And the second man grabbed the girl before we were able to get to her." "That sounds like adam and his people." "Our gs agents are new at this." "Well, they have to get better - and fast, mr." "Thorne." "Yes, mr." "Eckhart." "Yeah." "Ah, good to go, huh?" "Despite your genetically enhanced abilities, the children of genome x are not super-human." "I keep telling you, i don't have any... it's widely important for you to recognize the toll that these abilities take on your body, mind and soul." "Soul?" "Soul." "There's a spiritual side to your condition too." "Many of the new mutants are under the delusion that they're god." "Now, i've designed this vdd to diagnostically calibrate your genetic enhancement and to identify any adjustment to your dna that might be required, since your new mutant dna, it's in a constant state of evolution." "Well, that was too weird." "Kind of like him myself." "Yeah, me too." "Helps me get in touch with my powers." "Well, i don't have any powers." "And i'm certainly not a freak like you two." "Freak?" "Jesse is very sensitive." "Shalimar is very territorial and very protective of the people she loves." "And that includes jesse." "Call me paranoid." "But i figure the paranoid will inherit the earth." "I thought you'd outgrown cartoons." "I'm just curious about all the stuff that's been going on ah, it's crap." "And the interactive hotline's got to be a scam." "When you two are finished, can we talk about how we're stepping up to the big leagues tomorrow." "The deal with carter's a go." "I heard about all that business last night, mason." "Sounds like adam to me." "You seem almost amused." "That you don't despise him for betraying you remains a mystery to me." "That you hold him responsible for the collapse of your immune system would have nothing to do with that, eh?" "You were always too hard on adam." "And you were always too easy, paul." "And that's how he stole your database." "Which i have nearly reconstructed." "So we can make amends for the horrific mistakes we've made." "I should have killed adam when i had the chance." "And now breedlove intends to go to the press and expose everything." "And i'll never get the chance to bring adam to the justice that he deserves." "Well, we can change all of that." "What are we supposed to do?" "Well, i can't coerce her into admitting she's a new mutant." "Fine, i guess we've done everything we can, then." "Maybe the next step is to get her out of town" " under eckhart's radar." "I'll get jesse started then." "Good." "Normal people don't want super-powered freaks next door." "I don't think they'll be too thrilled about having new mutants as covert ops either." "Well, we put them in the field as agents, no one will know about it." "Sorry to barge in like this, paul, but i wanted mr." "Thorne to have a look at security so he'd be able to be ready for you when you go public." "That's a wonderful idea." "Since i'm going to the press next week with full disclosure of what's been happening here since the inception of this program." "At least call me first." "Have to approach this with finesse." "I'll give you a heads-up." "Thanks, paul." "You should come down and visit us more often." "A week doesn't give you much time." "Wooh." "So i got here a little early." "Thought i'd take her out for a little test drive." "What?" "You took it for a spin?" "You got any idea what we could get for this at a chop shop?" "What do you mean "we"?" "Unlike you, i set higher goals for myself than grand theft auto." "Right on time, i see." "Mr. Carter, you remember brennan and tony." "It's a beauty." "I bet it takes the curves at 120, huh?" "I meant the hickman and wrightson securities building." "Now, you understand that you have only a hundred and twenty seconds once the alarm is cut to get in and get out." "When you picked my pocket this morning, you got your hands on this." "The vice-president has the twin." "These two keys need to be activated simultaneously." "Not to worry, mr." "Carter, we won't let you down." "Yeah, see that you don't." "Because there's always somebody that wants your place on the food chain." "You." "You got stones of steel, dog." "Taking a joyride in the client's car." "Nice." "Yeah." "So, now you see why a chop shop isn't an option." "What's up?" "I don't know." "I've been hanging around." "This way." "Well, i'll say one thing." "This must be one hell of a book store." "You have no idea." "Adam... and a pretty girl." "It's almost ready." "Good." "Emma, say hello to ruby." "Yes, the place is a mess, but i am spotless... trust me." "Your mind, it's an open book to me." "Ruby's a telepath." "I prefer esper, it just sounds... sexier." "Oh adam, you told me she was special." "You didn't tell me how special." "Well, come on, let's go." "Just like in the movies." "Allison, vince, this is emma." "What's up, adam." "Adam." "Hey, girl, what's up." "What is this place?" "This is a new mutant safe house." "Safe from what?" "Your assailants last night, they were the tip of the iceberg." "So, what's your power?" "I don't have any powers." "Ah, power of denial." "So, you ready to leave tomorrow?" "We're going to get you out of town." "We're going to give you a new identity, a whole new life." "Well, what if i don't want to go?" "Well, the people we rescued you from last night will try again." "And they're nowhere near as friendly as we are." "Why don't you show her around." "Yeah." "It's too bad about emma, huh?" "Yeah, no kidding." "Adam had a lot of hopes for her." "Now it's still just us." "Well, we've both seen that kind of denial before." "You okay?" "Fine, why?" "Well, she was pretty nasty to both of us." "Yeah, she was also scared out of her wits." "Still, it would have been nice to have another woman on the team." "I'm with you on that one." "I thought she would have made a good fit." ""When genome x was conceived, we saw ourselves as pioneers in a new frontier of knowledge." "Men and women with the power to remake the world." "The power to play god with the genetic code." "All of us at genome x feel enormous guilt for the harm we have caused in manipulating dna against the laws of nature. "" "Speak for yourself, paul." "And what's that supposed to mean?" "I don't share your guilt." ""The government owes enormous reparations to the victims of genome x for the horror inflicted on these innocents. "" "Can't put the demons back in the box after they've been released." "There's no need for them to suffer without compensation." "The only thing this compensates is your guilt." "You create these anomalies and then make it better by apologizing, and let someone else clean up after you." "Perhaps if you recognized adam for the criminal that he is, you wouldn't be so self- deluded." "Mr. Thorne." "Before you went off the deep end you should have consulted with one of your innocent victims." "What?" "That's right." "Don't have to apologize to me, dr." "Breedlove, because i'm a child of genome x and, quite frankly, i wouldn't have got this job if i wasn't so special." "If only you'd kept your mouth shut, everything would have been fine." "But you had to beat yourself up with guilt over the mess you've made." "And now i have to use your lemons to make lemonade." "It was nice of him to rebuild the database before he died." "It will make tracking these anomalies that much easier." "So much for the paper trail." "Your new identity." "Everything you need." "Hey." "Tell jesse i'm sorry for that "freak" crack." "I didn't mean it." "It's already forgotten." "I got to tell you, girl, i understand your decision completely." "What decision?" "Not to join mutant x." "I mean, it's not like every new mutant's a hero." "Did everything go as planned?" "Five hundred treasury certificates, each worth ten grand." "For a total of ten mil'." "Oh, well, actually that's twenty million." "Since the certificates belonged to you already, that's ten million and another ten from the insurance company." "Smart boy." "A thief who knows his investments." "I'd keep an eye on him if i were you." "What, he pays us chump change and doubles his ten mil'?" "That's the nature of the business." "Hotline." "Can i help you?" "Yeah." "Is it true you're offering money for stories." "If they're interesting." "Do i have a freak for you." "This guy named mulwray, brennan mulwray, shoots lightning from his hands." "And he's a thief too." "With dr." "Breedlove's death, i have set in motion several sweeping changes in our operation." "Starting with an expanded budget that will affect all departments." "We have operated under covert conditions since the inception of this project." "That need for secrecy has been brought home by this brutal murder." "A heinous crime that was committed by a product of the program, who somehow managed to break into our archives section and burn that historical landmark to the ground in the process." "Genome x will not be cowed, corrupted or co-opted by these creatures." "Instead, i have been mandated to create the genetic security agency to protect the world from this rapacious menace." "While our pure research continues, this covert force will take these anomalies into custody under a cloak of absolute secrecy." "I know i can count on you all to do your best in this time of transition." "Thank you." "That went well, don't you think?" "Well, they seemed happy." "Don't get carried away, mr." "Thorne." "They're all just easily bought by flattery and bigger paycheques." "Status?" "Oh." "We have a lead on the electrical anomaly from our taps on the proxy blue hotline." "May i?" "Do i have a freak for you." "This guy named mulwray, brennan mulwray, shoots lightning from his hands." "And he's a thief too." "Nicely done." "Thank you." "Well, let's start performing the job that we were born to do, shall we?" "Indeed." "So how well did you know this breedlove?" "He was my mentor." "He was the guy who started genome x." "Now, with his death, everything i feared has come to pass." "Okay, the hydrofoil leaves in fifteen minutes." "Let's go." "What?" "Oh my god." "What?" "It's them." "Them?" "The guys that were after me." "Dammit." "Adam?" "Adam?" "I am so sorry." "Look, emma used her powers to ditch me." "I'll check in later." "Well, so much for denial." "We got to find her." "Yeah." "Can't let someone with her ability to manipulate the feelings of others become the tool of our worst nightmare." "You know what to do." "Bingo." "Adam, i've accessed the satellite data feed." "Thanks, jesse." "Now all we have to do is find allison's car." "On the trail, adam." "This seat taken?" "Hey, no." "Have a seat." "I was kind of hoping to see you again." "Actually, i saw into you the other night." "How did you do that?" "It's a gift." "I thought i could sense something special about you too." "Oh yeah?" "Yeah, but it's... it's not a mind thing." "You see, i found out i could throw off sparks when a kid." "You know, being that... that different was just asking for a world of hurt." "So i always felt like a freak." "No one ever saw you do it?" "No, like i said, i keep it to myself." "Same with me." "One day i'm salesgirl of the month at leverman and stokes and... you'd be surprised how persuasive i can be when it comes to misses and petites." "No, i don't think i'd be surprised at all." "Next day, i'm trapped in somebody else's paranoid fantasy." "No one wants to be friends with someone who knows how you're feeling and can make you feel any way you choose." "But i used to love to get dates to jump through hoops saturday night." "Yeah, i'll bet." "Oh, now you just use your powers for good?" "I don't think i'd call them powers." "Comes and goes, and when they're here i don't have a real good handle on them." "You know what i mean?" "Here, touch my hand." "Touch my hand." "Nice." "There's this guy, adam." "He thinks i can learn to control my powers with a little training." "Now he's going to be pissed at me." "He wanted me to join him." "I just got scared." "Woah, woah, wait, wait, wait." "You're not leaving, are you?" "The ladies room." "Sensational." "Mind if i join you, mr mulwray?" "I've got it, adam." "Halfway down the 500 block on darien street." "I'm on my way." "I tracked the car." "What can i do for you." "The question is:" "What can i do for you?" "I came here to make you the deal of a lifetime." "Fast cars." "Hot women." "All the money you'll ever need." "See, the... the opportunities for a man of your talent, they're limitless." "Talents?" "Don't be coy." "I've been watching you for a long time." "Really?" "Huh?" "You know, as... as tempting as that may sound, i think i'll pass." "I wouldn't do that if i were you." "She's headed for the skycourse." "She's not alone." "I'm on my way." "You got him." "Never used it against a person before." "Is he dead?" "I don't know." "Did you really think we'd come after a guy like you without being prepared?" "This is not good." "No, it's not, is it?" "We know your m. o., mr." "Mulwray." "Ah, do you really want to do that?" "Piss us off, because we're going to beat you senseless anyway." "You know, anytime you want to make these guys jump through hoops would be fine with me." "I can't." "I lose it when i'm stressed." "Great." "Yeah, it's great." "It's going to make mr eckhart very happy to take you alive." "Brennan!" "Stop." "Let them go." "This isn't over yet." "Adam." "I'm so sorry." "I didn't mean to cause all this trouble." "And now you understand the danger we're all in."