Log: Cain in the Danger Room - Walking on Eggshells (Saturday morning)

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Cain runs through the infamous Eggshell Scenario one more time, with expected results, and an unexpected outcome.



Cain stepped into the Danger Room, adjusting the straps on his dull
gray trainee uniform. The oversized garment was studden with sensors
and electronics, allowing the observers in the control room to detect
just how much force he was exerting during the exercises. Three times
now, the computers had to be recalibrated for his strength, causing no
end of swearing from Cyclops.

But his strength wouldn't be useful in this drill. The infamous
'eggshell' scenario. Dazzler's own personal hell she'd designed for
him. Thirty-three times he'd run the scenario, thirty-three failures.
Four in one day, even. The scenario itself was simple enough -
scattered urban encounter site, superhuman opponent. Subdue opponent
within a given timeframe, that alone was easy. But the team leaders
had added in the 'eggshell' factor. A number of red-outlined
silhouettes that moved around seemingly at random during the exercise,
and would shatter like glass at the slightest exertion of Cain's
strength near them.

It had frustrated him for months now. How to stop an opponent if he
couldn't use his strength. He'd read the scenario writeup over fifty
times until he could recite it by memory. It was a simulation,
preventing casualties both from the opponent's rampage and the
collateral damage Marko himself tended to cause. He'd tried every
stratagem that came to mind, from direct confrontation (a
record-setting three-second failure when the first punch caused a
shockwave that 'killed' the two nearest 'civilians') to inaction
(failure in fifteen seconds when the simulated opponent went straight
into the crowd).

But today, Cain Marko walked into the Danger Room with a plan.

***

"Begin."

Marko stepped forward, hearing the leather gloves creak as he flexed
his hands into fists. His eyes darted around quickly, counting the
'civilians' and noting their locations. Over his earpiece, he heard
the simulated voices of the other X-Men, only the clipped cadence
revealing that the voices were computer-generated, another factor to
add to the realism and chaos of the exercise.

The target came out from behind a building. Cain smiled. Two city
blocks away gave him fifteen seconds, from experience. Forty
civilians, beginning to move along their randomly-chosen paths,
simulating fear and panic. "Hydrant on site," Cain spoke into his
communicator, beginning the required mission recording. "Civilians in
area. Engaging target now. Hydrant offline." The last part was a
change from protocol, one that was certain to give the observers a
conniption. Smiling, Cain turned off his communicator and stepped into
the street.

***

By the time Cain had bounded up the street to engage the
eight-foot-tall robot that was covered in the red-tinged synthskin
meant to look like an out-of-control mutant, he'd already glanced over
his shoulder to see the civilians gathering in alleyways for cover.
Stupid mob mentality, he thought. One explosion or big chunk of debris
or even a large enough shockwave could kill them all at once. In the
simulation, the silhouettes would shatter, and he'd hear Dazzler or
Cyclops or Storm over the intercom telling him he'd failed.

Not today.

He met the target at a run, lowering his shoulder and bearing the
android to the ground. At first, he'd charged in with a full-strength
punch, shattering the robot's chest. Failure in twenty seconds, plus a
lecture from Cyclops on "X-Men don't kill" and another from Hank about
how expensive training robots were. Trampling the threat and taking
the fight to ground bought him extra time, Cain figured.

Once on the ground, the robot brought a few surprises, however.
Splitting itself in half with a slurping sound of synthskin tearing,
it rolled around Cain's body, reforming itself behind him and running
for the crowd of civilians. Cain kicked out his legs, his feet
scissoring one of the robot's massive ankles, sending it falling
face-first onto the street. They rolled forward, and with a series of
light blows, Cain judged the resistance of his opponent. It wasn't
unlike sparring, having to gauge the minimum amount of force necessary
to subdue a target. But he didn't have the luxury of time. It would
take split-second decisions.

One split-second he wouldn't have, as the robot leaped sideways,
barreling into the corner of one of the simulated buildings. Cain's
next punch landed with what he knew was knockout force against the
android's jaw, but the loud cracking turned his attention to the
collapsing building.

At this moment, he knew the situation was an example of Hobson's
Choice - any action would result in casualties. Protect the people in
the alley, people inside the building die. Brace up the building,
falling debris kills the people in the alley.

Youra, all over again.

You have a choice, he heard the echo in his mind, sounding
oddly like his brother. A wry smile crossed his lips. And he made a
choice.

Two massive hands slapped against the side of the building, and Cain
pushed upwards. The sensors in his outfit fed back data to the Danger
Room's computers, and the simulation reacted accordingly. The wall
stabilized, and the sound of debris crashing behind him and muffled
screams reached Cain's ears.

Finally, the noise cut out, and the resistance from the wall faded.
The exercise was over.

"Hydrant. Evaluate exercise. NOW." The voice over the intercom was
terse and cold, masked enough so that Cain couldn't tell which of the
evaluators had been watching over the exercise.

He found himself unconsciously assuming a parade rest stance, looking
up at the dark glass of the control booth. "I made a field decision.
Allowing the building to collapse, that woulda killed everyone inside,
lot of people outside, and god knows how much collateral damage." He
looked at the shattered silhouettes at his feet, counting six. "I
couldn't control all the options, I see that. So I had to do what I
could. Six instead of six hundred, six thousand? It ain't a fair
choice... but there ain't no fair choice sometimes. That's my
evaluation."

The windows of the control booth wavered, the simply system keeping
the glass from being easily seen through durnig exercises fading to
reveal three people standing there, apparently glancing at each other
in contemplative silence. It was a break from the previous routine
which had been established at the end of those exercises, however.

As was the door to the danger room sliding open after a moment, in the
time it might take one to go from the control booth to the hallway
below, perhaps, to reveal a fourth person.

The chair wheeled forward smoothly, skirting the still present
'debris' as well as one of the prone forms on the ground, until it and
its passenger came to a stop before Cain.

Cain looked down at Charles, raising an eyebrow. "Well, ain't this a
surprise," he remarked finally, trying to discern any clue from his
brother's impassive expression as to why Xavier had made his way into
the Danger Room. If this was going to be his thirty-fourth failure,
maybe Chuck had gotten fed up with the whole trainee thing. If so,
well, Cain figured this wasn't going to go well.

When Charles gave no reply, Cain looked up at the control room where
Dazzler, Storm, and Cyclops all looked down at him, black leather
uniforms in perfect condition, all standing before the glass. He
cocked his head in mild confusion before Alison broke the stoicism
with a small smile and a barely perceptible wave, then a nodding of
her head.

Confused, Cain looked down to Charles, who held up a small box to him.
Gingerly, Cain took it from his brother's hand and opened it.

On red velvet, two simple pins lay. Two black circles, crossed by a gold X.

"Welcome to the X-Men," Charles said, finally giving a satisfied
smile. "Ororo, Scott, Alison and I have been looking forward to this
moment."

Cain took a step back, brow furrowing in a mixture of relief and
consternation. "Wait a minute," he added. "Ain't there some psycho
evaluation I gotta go through, you checking if my head's in the right
place for this, huh?"

"You just passed it," Xavier responded. "Cain, when you expressed a
desire to use your abilities to assist the X-Men, you had come back
from a situation that you had not experienced since your time in the
war. And I am aware of your desire to use the gifts you have to save
lives. And as you have discovered, there are times you cannot save
everyone."

"I did what I could," Cain said quietly. "And that was it, wasn't it?
Seeing if I'd make that decision. Lesser of two evils. Yeah, I get the
point, Chuck. Ain't much consolation to those six casualties."

"And that is why the X-Men are a team, Cain," Charles replied calmly.
"What one cannot accomplish alone, two can make a reality. And
together, with your help, the next choice will not have to be simply
the lesser of two evils."