MD: 11/2/04
Time: 21:45
Location: Local Park, Atlanta Georgia; TTI Building, Atlanta, Georgia
ON:
The rain started to fall lightly, but Natalie didn't worry about
it.
In fact, she chose to start wandering the streets. Not to go looking
for someone to talk to, but because she just didn't want to sit
at the
hovel any longer.
Natalie wandered the downtown area and kept looking for a place to go.
Being later in the evening, there were not a lot of places a young
girl could go by herself. Also, the fact that she didn't look
like
anything but a homeless girl, it was even harder.
Natalie walked into a small park and sat on a bench. She looked
around, but had not seen anyone in the general area for a while. She
sat on the bench, again looking at the healed finger.
"What is going on?" she wondered aloud. "And who can I
talk to?"
"I'd be happy to talk to you about it," a man said as he
sat down next
to her. There hadn't been anyone there a moment ago, nobody
anywhere
close minutes ago as she approached the bench. He was well-dressed and
wore a white satin cravat under a navy-blue pinstripe suit. His silver
hair was held back with a silver coil of strange design and tumbled
down to mid-back. He carried a silver-headed cane with strange sigils
on it made of some dark wood and capped in silver. "I'm
Travis and
you're Natalie, right?" he smiled and his posh British accent
lent him
an air of friendly kindness.
Natalie was surprised to hear a voice from beside her. She was even
more surprised when a gentleman sat down next to her. She listened to
the voice and noted its more sophisticated accent. British, if she
thought correctly. Natalie suddenly realized that this person knew
her name. She moved down to the other end of the bench, wary of the
fact that no one was around and a stranger had started talking to her.
"How do you know me?" she asked, subtly trying to stand and
run. "And
where did you come from?"
"Calm down Natalie, if I'd wanted to hurt you I could have
done so
already right?" he asked, shrugging and is something like that was
beyond him. "I teleported in, at least that's what most
people would
call it and I know your name because I see the future and you just
appeared in it as a mutant."
Natalie realized that what he said about hurting her was true. She
had learned over the years on the street that people that are angry
with the world and want to hurt you will. And those that are somewhat
genuine will be kind to start. But Natalie was still wary of this
stranger.
She then listened to his explanation of where he came from.
"I'm a
mutant?" she thought to herself. "You must be mistaken,"
her mind's
voice responded. She finally said something to the gentleman.
"You
can see the future?"
"Yes, as part of my gift I can see possible futures and you just
appeared in most of them as a publicly recognized mutant," he
replied
with a slight frown. "Your abilities are quite unique. The only
mutant
to display similar abilities are quite powerful and a well-known Xman.
Her name is Rogue."
"Rogue? X men? I don't know if I really understand what you
are
talking about."
In her head, Natalie could understand what the guy was saying, but she
didn't want to admit it. Not to him and, most importantly, not to
herself. She was unsure if she was ready for that kind of rude
awakening – to realize that she was a mutant. The events with the
mutant the previous day still haunted her mind. If that was how
people treated mutants, Natalie was not ready to be one.
"So, Mr. Future," she started cynically. "How can you be
sure that
I'm a mutant? How can you be sure that I won't turn you in
to the
government for money? What makes you think that I even want to listen
to you?"
Natalie stood up and started to walk away from Travis.
"Because you started healing faster, you're more perceptive
than you
were, stronger, faster," He replied, ticking them off of his
fingers.
"When the old mutant died you absorbed his abilities, his
strength,
everything." He sighed and raised his voice, "Because I know
you want
off the streets and you're fiercely independent, because
you're not
the kind of person that takes advantage of people and you're
afraid
that you really are a mutant, and what it means after what you've
seen." He paused when she did, "I'm right aren't
I?"
Natalie stopped. He did know her. Somehow, he knew her. Maybe he
had seen the future. Maybe even her past. Somehow seen the years of
solitude and loneliness, but also seen the times of true happiness.
Natalie wasn't sure what to do. Her head was racing with a lot of
thoughts. Some good, some bad. She just didn't know which was
which.
She turned around and he spoke again.
"Because in a possible future you and I are great friends,"
he replied
softly, a faraway look in his eyes. "We're like family and
you mean
the world to me. That's a future I would prefer to see you in
than the
alternatives."
Natalie heard his words and suddenly broke down crying. She slumped
to the ground and covered her face. "Family," she thought.
Memories
of friends that were like family appeared in her mind. She sobbed for
several minutes, unaware of Travis or anything that he was doing. Was
he pitying her for being scared? Was he going to scold her for not
paying proper attention to him? She didn't know. All she knew
was
that Travis was right – about everything. She did want off the
streets. She was afraid. And she didn't know if she could trust
Travis with her life.
She looked up to him. "What can you do for me?"
He was already there, crouching, offering her a handkerchief of
silvery gray silk and nearly sitting in the dirt. His eyes were sad
with her pain and he looked like he wanted to hug her, shield her from
whatever was going on inside but knew he couldn't. "I can
help you
find out what it is you do. I can help you train it so nothing happens
by accident and I can provide you with an environment where other
young people who are just discovering themselves will be
training." He
offered her his hand.
"I can offer you safety and freedom, friendship and if you'll
have
them, a lot of other people that need family as well."
Natalie took the handkerchief from his hands. She wiped her eyes and
looked back at Travis. "I don't know what to say," she
started,
sniffing. "I haven't had a home in a long time. I've
been living on
the street for just as long." She stood up. "Thank you,
Travis," she
said and stared up at him. "I need to think about it. But I
think
you may need to prove some things to me also." Natalie walked
back to
the bench.
"I'm not sure if I trust you, but I haven't run away yet,
so it's a
start. It's a baby step. A big step for me actually."
Natalie started to fold the handkerchief and handed it back to
Travis.
"Its that very nature of yours that whatever your gift, you remain
able to adapt and to try to be positive," Travis told her with a
proud
smile. "Do you want to see the Academy and the others?"
Natalie hesitate for a moment. Like she said, she hadn't run
away,
yet. This was a big risk that she was taking. "Okay," she
said
quietly. "Let's see what you've got."
"Try not to be startled when I teleport and if you wish, close
your
eyes," he told her seriously, pausing for her response.
Natalie had only heard of teleportation in Sci-Fi books and movies.
She had never seen it. She wondered if all mutants could teleport and
she just hadn't figured that part out. She closed her eyes
instinctively, not wanting to see the world fly past her at such a
fast rate of speed.
"Ready, steady-," and the air quality changed, in a blink the
sounds
of the park and the distant sounds of people disappeared to be
replaced by the hum of air conditioning and distant electronics. Where
it was chilly it was now warm but not uncomfortably so and distantly
she heard animated conversation and laughing.
Natalie felt a rush of wind and then calm. She did not know where she
was, yet was still afraid to open her eyes. Slowly, she opened one
eye – to see where she was. Seeing that she was now in a
building,
with Travis next to her, she opened the other eye.
They stood in what appeared to be a recreation room of some sort, with
back commercial carpeting with a huge gold section crossing it. A
glass and steel snack bar stood at one end with an espresso maker,
commercial blender, microwave/convection oven, a small fryer a cook
top, commercial sink and a small collection of cooking pans and
serving platters, a huge double-sided glass faced commercial
refrigerator chocked full of packages and food. A plasma-screen TV
about five feet across hung on one wall surrounded by interactive play
systems, stereo equipment, DVD/VHS players and surround sound speakers
were mounted all around the huge room. Beanbags, chairs, sofas and
table in bright deco colors dotted the room as well as tons of floor
pillows and mats. And behind them, the entire wall was glass and
looked out on the back of the high museum/colony square from twenty
stories up.
Natalie was aghast at the complexity of the room. It seemed cavernous
and yet small. She turned around and noticed everything in the room
individually. She had never seen so many playthings or a television
that large.
Natalie caught her breath and spoke. "Is this my room?" she
asked
innocently. "Because I could get used to this."
Travis chuckled a little, "No this is a common
`play-area' the
students share. There's another one just like it through those
doors,"
he pointed with his cane to a set of double doors on the wall with the
TV. "Dorm rooms are down each of these doors, "he pointed to
each end
of the room left and right, "with another set on the other side
of the
building too. Let's go this way," he indicated to the left and
gestured for him to precede her, "and I'll show you your
rooms."
Natalie was a little surprised when Travis said "her room".
Natalie
looked up at Travis as he led her down the hallway. "You mean I
get
my own room?" Natalie had never had her own room. During her
time in
the orphanage, she shared a room with nineteen other girls.
As they continued down the hallway, Natalie noticed that each room had
a name on it. Some of the doors were empty, but several others did
have a nameplate. Then they stopped at a door that was labeled,
Natalie.
Her rooms were next to someone named "Brier", the wooden door
with the
institutional handle and no lock but some sort of label.
"There's a
switch on the side that changes this to show `privacy'. We
don't have
locks on the doors, we use mutual respect to assure privacy compliance
and for some of us, our powers mean respect is the only way to assure
privacy." He opened the door for her showing the wood-clad floor,
the
high ceilings, the far wall enshrouded in heavy curtains but showing
floor to ceiling glass windows. A queen-sized bed on the left of the
room dominated the space, set on a red cedar platform with built-in
headboard and side stands with brushed chrome lamps and an alarm
clock. A Lucite and brushed chrome desk stood on the right wall, next
to a small bookshelf and covered with slots for DVD and CD cases. A
Sony VAIO docking station and laptop sat on the desk, the screen
displaying "TOUCH ME".
To the immediate right a doorway led to a walk-in closet large enough
for her to sleep in easily and further down on the glass wall, another
doorway led to a slate-tiled bathroom. With a glassed in standing
shower with a built in bench large enough for four people, a pedestal
sink, a frosted-glass screened toilet and shelving with towels and a
terry-cloth bathrobe on a peg; it was larger than the closet.
When the door opened, Natalie could not believe her eyes. "This
is a
castle," she whispered, as if in a museum. "How many people
do I
share this with?"
"It's just for you," he told her, "each student gets
their own room
when they first come. Some have more dangerous gifts than others and
need specific things to be safe."
Natalie wondered about what sort of dangerous gifts these people had.
She wanted to ask Travis, but she thought against it.
Natalie could not believe her ears. A room all to herself. She
wandered into the bathroom and noticed the shower. It looked larger
than some of the hovels that Natalie had slept in since she ran away.
Natalie walked back to the closet and looked inside. It was empty,
but for some hangers. Natalie didn't make a comment about there
not
being any clothes for fear that she might not get any.
Natalie stepped out of the closet and walked to the bed. She climbed
onto it and lay down. As she lay there, she thought about everything
that had happened over the past hour. She had found a new life with
the help of someone that said would be an eventual close friend. She
had been given more gifts from just a door opening than she had ever
received in fourteen years of Christmas and birthdays. Natalie closed
her eyes and started to fall asleep.
"Natalie," Travis called softly, "I know that's a
comfortable bed but
let's get you cleaned up, fed and some new clothes and I promise
you
sixteen hours of uninterrupted sleep."
Natalie didn't want to get out of the bed. It had been so long
since
she had slept in a real bed. But the thought of sixteen hours of
sleep did appeal to her. She slowly got up and plopped back down on
the floor. She walked over to the bathroom and started to close the
door.
"Excuse me," she said before it closed. "You said
something about new
clothes. If I take a shower now, will they be waiting for me when
I'm
done? Or should we get the new clothes first and then I'll take
a shower?
"Let's do a snack first, then some shopping and then a shower
for you
and another snack and some bed?" he asked her waiting for her
response.
Natalie stepped back into the main room. She walked with Travis back
to the recreation room, silently anticipating food.
The "snack" that was waiting in the rec room was a sandwich
cut
crosswise with meat and cheese and a small bowl of broccoli with
cheese and a helping of macaroni and cheese. A tall glass of milk sat
next to it and Travis waited patiently for her to finish it, urging
her not to rush.
When Natalie saw the food in front of her, she started to eat fast.
Travis then reminded her not to rush, but to take her time. Natalie
slowed down and continued to eat the sandwich. She then took a large
gulp of milk and then looked at the mac and cheese. Taking her fork,
she dug into the meal and ate quietly. When it came to the broccoli,
she felt that she should let Travis know that she didn't care for
broccoli, but she didn't want him to be mad for not eating the
whole
meal. She started to eat the broccoli and winced a few times at the
taste. However, the cheese seemed to make it a little better.
Eventually, she had finished her milk and her meal and looked up at
Travis. "What sort of shopping are we going to do?" she
asked, wiping
her face.
"Clothes, shoes, coats, swimming suits, underclothes, personal
hygiene
and some personal effects to make this `your room'," he
replied with a
grin, looking at the elegant and empty space.
"Am I going to be able to get whatever I want?" Natalie
wondered. Not
that she wanted, let alone needed, much.
"Within reason," he replied and reassured her, "though
what I mean by
that is balanced between `need' and `want' and
`quality'. You'll have
an allowance for personal effects for the room and you can decide what
you want." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a silver
credit
card-looking thing with her name on it and the TTI logo in white.
"Might as well get you used to using this now."
"What is it?" Natalie said as she took it from his hands.
"Cell phone, access card, debit account and such," Travis
shrugged.
"All TTI employees have some version of this but students have the
more-enabled version."
Natalie looked at the card carefully. "This thing can do all
that?
Some card."
Natalie thought about all the things she needed, clothes wise. She
could always use more jeans and maybe a couple pairs of nice pants.
More sweaters, though she wanted to keep the one she was wearing,
maybe just launder it. She also thought about getting some movies,
but she wasn't sure if that was something on the list. She knew
she
had to get all new hygiene products and under garments. Then Natalie
thought about the "personal affects" that Travis spoke of.
She
thought for a long time and could not think of anything really that
she could purchase that would help her feel at home. Perhaps she
would be able to find something as they were shopping.
"Okay," she
said to Travis. "I'm ready to go shopping."
A Joint Post By
Natalie Rice
&
Travis
