"Kelly!" "Come on." "I thought we were friends." "Go to hell." "And here's a preview." "You know you haven't recharged enough to do that again." "Hey." "Now that's a big mistake." "Didn't your mother ever tell you to wear rubbers?" "We could be here all night." "Brennan." "What the hell was that?" "I don't know." "Help me!" "No." "Help me, please." "We can't just let them get away with this." "No, there's something wrong with you." "Come on." "We gotta go." "Help me, please!" "You said they were all new mutants." "Yeah, the woman in charge - she was a tele-kinetic." "And the other one was a feral, and he was incredible." "Yeah, it was nothing we couldn't handle, though." "And then brennan turns into rocket boy." "Yeah, but you said the woman in charge was a tele-kinetic - maybe it was her." "No, no, no, no." "Thought about that." "It wasn't her that made it happen." "He was jet-propelled." "More importantly, we let those bastards get away with grabbing her." "Well, sometimes discretion's a better part of valour." "When have you ever known brennan to be discreet?" "Well, there is that." "Guys, you know i'm going through something totally weird here and you're making fun of me?" "Look, if eckhart's fielding squads of new mutant gsagents, things could get ugly - and fast." "I don't think we need to make that leap from one run-in." "I still think we ought to be prepared for anything." "Absolutely." "Hey, hey, where are you going?" "Adam, you know, i'm really not in the mood for a tune-up right now." "Come on, you big baby." "Can we just do this later?" "I'll hold your hand." "Hey." "So, i heard about what happened with brennan." "Is he sick or something?" "No, i wouldn't exactly call him sick, it's... well, i don't know, let's just say that my research is preliminary - leave it at that." "Which means you know something and you're not telling." "Look, i need to know if you experience any unusual manifestations of your gifts right away." "Okay, now you're scaring me." "I mean, i finally just get comfortable with one kind of weirdness and now you're telling me that there's more?" "No, not necessarily." "Well, what is that supposed to mean?" "Well, it means that brennan's power burst might be a completely isolated incident, or could be the first indication of a major shift for all of you." "Well, thanks for narrowing it down for me." "Genomex opened the frontiers of genetic science." "Right now we're lost in the middle of nowwhere without a compass." "Yeah, well, i guess i'm just a little worried about the immunity challenge." "Okay." "All the usual instructions:" "Stay off the main arteries, obey the posted speed limits, and... oh, check in with the secured website when you get to your destinations, okay?" "Good luck." "Am i late?" "Depends." "You could be early." "What are you looking for?" "I'd heard a number of us were going into the underground, and i was interested in offering an alternative." "I have all units, security officers and gsagents on full alert." "You'll have to do better than that." "The man who escaped is gabriel ashlock" " patient 0, the first child of genomex." "How does that impact on our manhunt?" "Mr. Ashlock's new mutant abilities were in a constant state of flux from birth." "That's why he was podded" " for his own good and the rest of the world." "Ms. Fortier, it might be a good idea to warn all field agents to be aware of the potential risks in his capture." "I have my a squad prepared for any eventualities, sir." "Not likely." "Gabriel ashlock's new mutant gifts are off the metre." "It is imperative that you bring him into custody immediately." "I promise you, sir, he'll be back at genomex before you know it." "Hey." "I hope i'm not interrupting." "No, i've just been trying to relax for the last hour." "Good, because the weirdest thing just happened to me at the safehouse." "And just think, if i would have had a couple more minutes, i might have been able to relax." "Ooh, i'm sorry." "I just truly thought i should tell somebody about this." "So tell us." "Okay." "I met this girl." "Why do all of your stories seem to start like that?" "It's not that kind of a story, emma." "She just showed up at the safehouse, handing out these flyers to some organization." "What, like a new mutant club?" "The strand." ""An organization of gifted men and women seeking their rightful place in the world. "" "Yeah, she's calling it an alternative to mutant x." "You tell adam about this?" "Nah, not yet." "He's behind closed doors." "We better wait till he gets out to bring him up to speed." "Welcome home, gabriel." "When you're rested, we're ready to work." "Rested?" "I've been in a genomex-induced coma my entire adult life." "I'll get all the rest i need when i'm dead." "I can't thank any of you enough." "Argh." "Brennan." "Oh my god, i'm sorry." "Are you okay?" "Yeah, i think so." "What the hell was that?" "You didn't even look at me." "I haven't got a clue." "It's like i knew you were there and every block just kind of aimed itself." "Kind of like your abilities got kicked up a notch?" "Bam." "It's kind of like i had eyes in the back of my head." "Yeah." "You might have just experienced your own version of what happened to brennan yesterday." "Adam!" "Adam!" "There's something wrong with emma." "Adam, what the hell is going on?" "I can't stop it." "Argh." "What the hell are you doing?" "I'm sorry." "That's alright, you did the right thing." "She's alright." "I don't know what happened, adam." "That's alright, jess." "You know, we're all in this together." "Now i got to figure out how to deal with it all." "Well, your bloodwork confirms what i've suspected from word one, which is that you're all experiencing what i can only call a... new mutant growth spurt." "A growth spurt?" "Well, that's interesting, because all of a sudden i'm rocket boy, and shalimar's got eyes in the back of her head, jesse's phasing stairwells and emma's got a mental bazooka - and that's a growth spurt?" "Yeah." "How are you staying so calm, cool and collected through all this?" "Remember when you were a kid and you were first getting a handle on your powers?" "Yeah." "Yeah, i had a few problems and... caused a few problems too." "Yeah, but then eventually - like when you learned to walk and talk - it all became second nature, right?" "Yeah, i guess i gotta take what seems like a problem and make it a solution." "And they call me a genius?" "Yeah." "How are the others?" "Fine." "Shalimar's fine, jesse and emma are sleeping it off." "Yeah." "I didn't hurt her, did i?" "See, but that's the thing:" "You used exactly the right amount of force;" "which means that you're closer to gettting this thing under control than you think." "I'm so grateful - to all of you" " for keeping my dream alive." "Eckhart has punished us." "By invading our bodies and our minds." "Now they want to use us... as weapons of destruction - against our own kind." "I'm not here to tell anyone - average or gifted" " how to live." "I'm talking about a fellowship... of like-minded friends - from gsa power trips." "No mutant x invisibility." "Just life... as it was meant to be lived." "Wow." "Nice moves." "Bad enough that you almost took me out with your back turned, but now you're kicking the crap out of silent holograms blindfoled?" "Well, isn't that just special?" "Yeah, well, i wish i could take credit for it, but it kind of just happens." "Well, that's frustrating." "I can't even get a handle on my "new thing", and you're already using yours in simulations?" "Weli... maybe you're trying to hard." "Oh." "What, are you turning zen master on me now?" "Whatever it takes." "Come on, work with me." "Promise i won't hurt you." "Really?" "I'm telling you, it's not me that i'm worried about." "Don't worry, you'll get it." "Just next time, i'm not pulling my punches." "How you feeling?" "Well, besides embarassed, foolish and humiliated?" "Well, look, you and i are going to have to have the same heart to heart that i just had with brennan." "You're going to have to start looking at this new thing of yours as an asset, not a liablility." "Did you see it as an asset when the dojo stairs phased out?" "Well, i didn't say it was going to be easy, you're just going to have to get a grip on your new powers just the way you did your old ones." "Ah, let's hope so." "Oh, i almost forgot." "I was all set to tell you about this weird thing that happened when all that kicked in, and then i forgot." "What weird thing?" "Weli... met this girl at the safehouse who was handing out pamphlets to something she called the strand." "She was calling it an alternative to mutant x." "What does that mean?" "No clue." "The more i pushed her, the more... cosmic she got." "You know, is it just me, or are there a lot of spacy women among the children of genomex, adam?" "Come on." "Alright, well, she gave me one of the flyers, but i gave the flyer to emma just before emma started brain-blasting." "Right, well, let's see this flyer." "Listen, i want you to practice, and preferably an empty safehouse, or someplace where you can do as little damage as possible." "Well, thanks so much for that vote of support." "Well, we learn by doing, right?" "Plus, i don't want anybody else taking any falls like brennan did." "Come in." "How you doing?" "Good." "I've... i've checked with everybody else, i just... i'm fine." "No headache?" "No... resentment of brennan for shocking you senseless?" "No." "Actually, this is pretty cool." "Well, glad you feel that way." "But you're surprised." "Well, yeah, i mean, you could also be pretty damn frightening." "Yeah, and pretty damn powerful too." "Oh, i see, so now you're going to go muscle the flanks, huh?" "No, no." "No new muscle." "I... i finally feel like i... i have something that makes me worthy of the team." "No, that's..." "that's crazy." "Is it?" "Okay." "Jesse, shalimar and brennan get all the action while, you know, i hang around and play with people's feelings." "Now i finally get to kick some ass too." "Well, that's one way to look at it." "For now all you have to do is get it under control." "Before you get back to practicing... jesse told me that he gave you a flyer that some woman at the safehouse gave him." "Yeah." "It's in here somewhere." "Oh, here." "Good." "The strand." "Adam?" "What?" "Ohh... what is it?" "Well, it's a good thing you're ready to step up the plate and throw your weight around." "Because if this thing means what i think it means... we're all in for a dose of hell." "Hey, adam." "...this work cancelling, what's going on?" "What's happening?" "I'm supposed to be practicing, aren't i?" "Just give it a rest, jesse." "The minute he saw this, he went pale." "The strand?" "See here where it says 0.0?" "That's code for patient 0. he was the first child of genomex." "A man called gabriel ashlock." "He's potentially the most powerful new mutant alive." "Gabriel was born without a conscience." "And he considers himself a god." "Didn't you mention something about this when we first met?" "Right." "It was gabriel that i was talking about." "He's a sociopath." "Before we could stop him, he killed his parents using his new mutant abilities." "Of course, we could never prove it in court" " any judge would have thought us insane." "So... because of him i invented the subdermal governor." "And the pods." "Any regrets about leaving the gsa?" "Seems to me you had a good thing under eckhart." "What good's that compared to the good we can do?" "Save it for the ones that believe in fairy tales." "I read you like a book." "And i'm not talking about psionics." "In that case, you know exactly what's on my mind." "Oh yeah." "I know that look." "That's your I- hate-myself-for-what-i've-done" " to-these-poor-new-mutants look." "Ah, it's more complicated than that." "Well, it's as simple as "that was then, this is now"." "Come on, you protected those pods and the governors to protect the world from a monster." "Right, but i gave another monster the tools that he needed to create an empire." "Would you cut yourself some slack?" "You're not a fortune teller." "Nobody could have known what eckhart was planning" " and don't tell me you should have." "Alright, then, i'll just keep my mouth shut." "Good." "So, brennan and i are going to go practice at a safehouse." "He's afraid of breaking something here." "Huh." "I suppose i should be grateful." "So, this new mutant ashlock, you said he was the most powerful one you've ever known." "What is he?" "Elemental, molecular, feral, or psionic?" "Try all of the above." "So you better get these new powers of yours under control." "Or we're all totally screwed." "We're doing the best we can, sir." "No, i'm not seeing the kind of timely results i had anticipated, dr." "Harrison." "We have several leads, but nothing concrete as to who might have been in league with ms." "Fortier." "Yes, and meanwhile i've got a renegade number two out there, plotting who-knows-what with a potentially monstrous anomaly." "We've beefed up security at every level, at every shift." "You better pray that that is enough." "Because if you think that adam and his pack of super-powered hoodlums were a pain in the ass, gabriel ashlock gives new meaning to the term." "I heard you tried to leave the strand." "I started to think that you were never going to come back to us." "I've always had trouble with faith in what i couldn't see." "That can be a problem." "But think of it this way:" "I wasn't asleep all those years in that pod." "I was aware of everything." "That's horrible." "But faith in all of you is what sustained me through those years." "To use my power to protect the gifted few against the clueless masses." "We have to learn to live alongside the average man and woman." "I think it's time the average man and woman learned to live alongside us." "You know those years in the pod... they were incredibly lonely, kelly." "What about morgan?" "What about her?" "Am i to keep my gifts to myself?" "Just as it's selfish to keep our gifts to ourselves alone." "We have to bring all the children of genomex into the strand." "But where to start?" "I think i have an idea." "Well, one more time, there's troubles out there in the real world and we're still practicing on each other" " in here." "You're starting to get boring, jess." "Come on, you heard adam." "We go up against this ashlock guy unprepared and we're dead." "Now aren't you supposed to be practicing your thing too?" "Yeah, i'm supposed to be practicing." "But ever since the stairs incident, i'm not allowed to practice in here anymore." "Eugh... emma?" "comeon, i'm just playing around." "You have a funectomy or what?" "You know, i don't know what to tell you." "Everybody else seems to be getting a handle of the new thing and i'm not even close." "And don't tell me i'm trying too hard, because shalimar's already given me the "go with the flow" speech, okay?" "Farthest thing from my mind." "You know, the fact is i think yours is the toughest." "I mean, you have to deal with the whole world around you, right?" "And since i'm having so much fun with my new thing, i would be glad to help you out with yours." "Come on." "Come on." "You almost dodged the last one." "Yeah, you know what?" "Almost doesn't count." "Ah, don't worry." "Once you get a handle on your latest thing, we'll be even." "Lemme buy you a drink." "Who's in charge of restocking?" "Jesse." "Yeah, well, he didn't." "This is it." "Well, i'll split it with you." "As long as you don't mind my cooties." "I'd be proud to share your cooties." "So this is where the children of genomex run and hide." "These two are members of mutant x." "Something tells me you're gabriel ashlock." "Something tells me my reputation precedes me." "I'm sorry to put you to so much trouble." "But like i told gabriel, if i'd have known he was really coming, i never would have tried to leave the strand." "Yeah, well i'm guessing that you two didn't come here to be slipped into the underground." "Oh, you got that right." "The way i see it, the worst thing we can do is hide our gifts in the dark actually, we were hoping you'd join us." "I don't think so." "No?" "That's too bad." "Because that means we're going to have to take adam's database, instead of having you just bring it along with you." "I'm finished here, gabriel." "We've got everything." "Not quite everything." "You've got to be kidding me." "Now we have everything." "I warned you how powerful gabriel might be, so there's no time for guilt." "Guilt?" "This isn't guilt, adam." "Okay?" "Alright, then you're going to take your anger and you're going to turn it into a weapon" " or it's going to turn on you." "Shai... anyway, we're not going to let him get away with it." "Been able to track her on her comlink?" "No, it's offline right now." "My guess is that it's been destroyed." "I just got a hit off of shal." "So, at least we know that she's alive and i can find her." "Okay, good, what are waiting for?" "Come on!" "No, no." "No." "We're going to wait for gabriel to make his next move." "The database is encrypted." "It's as worthless as you are." "This has nothing to do with the database." "You're just jealous of all the attention i've shown kelly." "I don't need my psionic gifts to understand you, morgan." "You awaken me for your own purposes;" "be the tail that wags the dog." "That's not true." "Don't forget who you're talking to here." "I'd get used to sharing me with the rest of the world if i were you." "If you have a problem with that, i need to know - and now." "Good." "Shalimar here is about to become a link in the strand." "In your dreams." "Genomex made me a feral" " a molecular, an elemental, and a psionic." "And when they found out just how powerful i was, they put me in a pod... for their own protection." "This going somewhere?" "Yes." "I love when dreams come true." "Ashlock's done something to shalimar." "Brennan was right, we should have gone in and gotten her out when we had the chance." "No, you don't storm your enemy's stronghold when he's got a hostage - you wait till he makes his move, then you strike." "What makes you so sure he's going to make a move?" "Trust me." "Good news, mason, i believe we've found mr." "Ashlock." "Wonderful news." "The final step is to concentrate all of our resources into bringing him down - alive if possible, dead if necessary." "Oh, i think alive is a definite possibility." "I told you he'd be back before you knew it." "And it's good to be back, mason." "Security... don't bother." "Harrison's done quite a job for me here." "Anyone on staff not loyal to us has been eliminated." "Oh, stop gobbling, mason." "I removed ms." "Fortier's subdermal governor in return for a place in the command of the new regime here at genomex." "Talk about your hostile takeovers." "Think of it as a chance to catch up on some much needed rest." "And a chance to spend eternity regretting everything." "And once dr." "Harrison has decrypted the database, we're going to show these people what new mutancy is all about." "Wouldn't get too comfortable, ashlock." "Because you're going to be joining him before we're done here." "Where gabriel goes, i go." "I need this room secure for a few minutes." "Once i've decrypted the database, there'll be no turning back." "I need more time!" "Nice going, jess." "Well, they're going to be hurting for both ends when they come to, huh?" "Like i said, scumbag, in your dreams." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Hey, shal." "It's good to have you back." "Well, it's not like i was gone for long." "I didn't mean... come on, you know... i tried to stop him at the safehouse before he grabbed you - you know that?" "No, you didn't." "Yeah, i did." "I'm sorry if i hurt you back there." "Hurt me?" "Please, come on, you never hurt me." "Hey, you guys, come here and look at this." "Ah... i'm sorry." "Yeah." "Of course i'm dissappointed." "We lost the database." "So our real work starts in earnest tomorrow." "And with all that dissappointment, i'm still very pleased." "What better place to start conquering the world from than genomex?" "Careful with that." "Don't point it my way." "Just getting a little practice in." "Well, i wouldn't worry about that right now." "You'll all get the hang of it." "I'm more concerned about gabriel ashlock." "Guy's a lunatic with a lust for an empire... and the power to get what he wants." "Weli..." "he is only one man." "And we are a team." "Please, we can take ashlock." "Put him back where he belongs." "All right, so we're all agreed?" "We'll face any challenge that lies ahead of us." "And to hell with anyone who stands in our way."