X-Men #4 Dangerous Revelations (Danger Room Training)

 

The construction crew begins setting up and getting ready to work on the damaged Danger Room. The men, blue collar working fellas, comment on the posh palatial estate. They Marvel at the antique furniture and they gasp in excitement at the advanced technology comprising the amazing room where the X-Men train. A piece of the wall has been cut out with what appears to be an acetylene torch. Computer consoles have been ripped apart. Scorch marks mar the metal walls. And there’s something interesting that one of the construction workers notices and secretly slips into his pocket. It’s a mechanical eye. Based on what looks human, but glowing red, like a machine. It must have been part of an animatronic man meant for training exercises. Certainly nobody will miss it.

Another construction worker walks from the Danger Room to the control room; from the control room to the hallway, and in the hallway he stops and looks at the locked door to his right. “Hello,” says the man. “Who do we have in here?” He turns to his left and goes back into the main hall of the mansion. He holds his hand out and an envelope materializes. He pulls a letter from the envelope and places it on the table in the meeting hall.

My Dearest Moira.

There is so much to tell you. So much has happened. Discoveries in leaps and bounds. I could tell you of Logan. He’s made such progress. His memories are still mostly blocked, but his emotions are much more controllable. I’m thinking he’d make a fine teacher for the new Physical Education program, once more students come to the school. I could tell you about Alex. He’s learning to fine tune his power to the point of using his plasma blast as a delicate cutting tool. He’s also a great field leader. He favors talking over fighting and is not above using his own physical skills over the reckless unleashing of his own deadly powers. But that’s not even the most amazing thing I want to tell you about, Moira! I have, no, we have discovered a new mutant life-form! There was a glitch in the system due to a power surge and the Danger Room drones that combined with the damage created by my students, and the fact that I built the program using actual mutant DNA imaging. This created two sentient robots. Both tried to escape. One recognized me and immediately tried to attack me. Which means it felt hate, anger, rage! But understand, Moira, that this is no mere creature. This is a sentient robot. A mutation like we have never seen.

That robot was quickly destroyed and the other, while Alex was battling it, saw its twin and stopped struggling. Grief had set in. We talked to the robot. Reasoned with it. We let it know that we acted out of ignorance and that we were sorry. It spoke back to us, and even though it wasn’t vengeful, there was a pain in that computerized voice. And then it said something that I will never forget the sound of. It said, “I do not want to die.” What a discovery. One of my students suggested I contact Reed Richards, noted scientist and now leader of the Fantastic Four. I called him and explained my discovery. He’s coming to the mansion to look at our new friend as well as what’s left of the other one. It seems that the new mutant uses pieces of discarded electronics to make itself better and has effectively “cannibalized” pieces of its twin to grow.

Don’t mock me when I tell you this but the robot (and I feel that is not an appropriate moniker) asked if it should wear a uniform. We also gave it a name. Alex suggested Jim, short for gymnasium. I am as thrilled by this find as I have ever been about anything else. But that isn’t all I wanted to tell you about.

The door. The secret that I hold in my mansion’s walls. I shared that with Wolverine and Havok. These people look to me for guidance. They put their trust in me, hoping that I could help them control their powers or bring back their memories, or in some cases, to help them forget their past. My own guilt was getting to me. I took them down the hall, opened the door, and that is when two tons of burden was lifted from my shoulders. And though my methods are not good, my reasoning is well meaning and righteous. Both of my students were understanding and were good enough to give suggestions on how we might deal with this.

And that is the light in the middle of this long tunnel I’ve decided to traverse.

Moira, this letter is being mailed on my way to the airport. I have to go to Washington DC to meet with Fred Duncan. He’s the FBI agent that brought me Cyclops. We’re hoping to make the X-Men more official by getting the government to lend Fred as a liaison. The encounter at Cape Citadel has certainly made me think that military getting involved in mutant affairs is more dangerous than not, and having jurisdiction in everything mutant related should belong to other mutants.

Following DC I’ll head to London Airport and then on to Muir Island. Please have a cup of Earl Grey, hot, waiting for me and a nice wool blanket for my legs. I know the draft on that island can be insidious.

Yours truly in love,

X Charles X

PS. Tell me you’ve picked out the wedding dress. The big day will come sooner than you know.

Of course, the students find the letter, but do they give it to him before he leaves? Do they talk to him about it? And since Reed Richards is on his way to the school, will they have time before the professor leaves for Washington DC?

Find out next time on...