xp_logs | Operation: Xorn: Meeting

The staff of Snow Valley meet with Dr. Essex, and discover his reason for being there.

"Good afternoon." Doctor Nathaniel Essex was standing at the front of the Snow Valley board room, looking far more at place there in his excellently tailored suit and crisp business-like manner than most of the staff. Behind him was a white board, already covered with his careful handwriting, and numerous formulas that made little sense to them. "For those of you not aware, my name is Doctor Nathaniel Essex. I am a genetic research specialist of no small reputation, and a former staff member of both the Muir Island Research Center and Xavier’s. For those of you that do know me, this is the point in which you can express any wry assaults on my nature. Please, do so now because we will not be able to afford interruptions later."

Mark eyed the two women sitting to either side of him. He didn't want to even consider what was going through Betsy's head, and though Angie sat apparently calmly, he felt an air of aggression and vile distaste for this doctor who was speaking to them. And though the temptation to joke to relax the crowd was great, the last thing he wanted was to be on the receiving end of women's wrath. Especially since his health insurance didn't cover sai injuries.

Mark's knowledge of the events surrounding Essex was purely academic.

Doug, on the other hand, had seen too much of the fallout firsthand. His eyes flicked to where Betsy sat, then moved to linger for a long second on Marie-Ange. He couldn't imagine how they must feel, sitting in the room with the "good doctor". He turned his eyes back to Essex, his stare flinty.

Over beside Wanda, Amanda made a surprised noise. "Wait, you're Essex? Big bogeyman of Xavier's, uses students to do his dirty work? I was on Muir for his piece of handiwork that New Year's. What the fuck makes him any different from that Nazi bloke we shut down?" Her tone was belligerant, mainly on behalf of her friends - Sarah and Marie-Ange had been duped by him, not to mention what he'd done to Betsy and what had happened as a result... "And why the fuck are we even bothering to sit here and listen to him?

"Amanda." Wanda shot her assistant a disgruntled look, her tone not harsh but clipped. "There is a reason he is here, that he came to us. And unless we let him talk, the longer he will remain here. I doubt there is anyone here who is jumping for sheer joy at this situation but right now we need to figure out what is going on." Turning her head back, she raised an eyebrow, hands folded in her lap, and returned to listening.

Amanda muttered under her breath but folded her arms across her chest and sat back, just the slightest hint of a mulish pout on her face.

"Now that everyone has that out of their systems." Essex tapped his laptop to start the presentation program, while he withdrew a retractable pointer from his pocket. No one had missed the flash of confusion when Amanda had mentioned Muir, but he'd covered quickly. "The reason we are here is that sometime in the next week, the Chinese are going to attempt to execute a man name Xorn. Their efforts will lead to the immediate deaths of close to ten million Chinese, a further twenty or so over the next five years due to radiation poisoning, and quite possibly the death and or permenant catatonia of every active psion on this planet."

Sarah, mildly confused, sat with her bony fingers clicking against the tabletop. "Apparently, I missed the 'Everybody hate Dr. Essex' party. Somebody might want to fill me in on it later." She glanced around the room, adding "However, it sounds like he's got a valid problem to me."

"I...agree with Sarah," Wanda said, sitting forward with her hands flat on the table. "Why is Xorn scheduled to be executed by the Chinese would be the first question."

Marie-Ange help up a finger. "And why if he is executed, will he cause a nuclear explosion?" She was troubled, not just by the doctor's prescence, but the fact that she had not seen -anything- of this. Not their involvement, not the return of Essex, not the event in China. It was very troublesome to her.

"Because - and please try not to laugh out loud, boys and girls - he has a small star for a brain." Pete's expression remained deadly serious. "That's a simplification, but it's essentially true. Imagine a talent a bit like Jono Starsmore's, only when this guy loose his grip on his powers, it's a planetary scale disaster instead of some damage to the front lawn."

"It's a crude simplification, but it conveys the essential elements, yes." Essex tapped part of the board. "Xorn is a psionic singularity. His power extends beyond the ability for human comprehension of any real nature. There are analogies we can use, but they are poor references at best. He is the Teilhard Omega Point in a very real sense, having migrated into the emerging noosphere as a matter of existance."

Blank looks greeted him. "In plain terms, Xorn is what we'd normally define as God. He exists in the minds of every human being on this planet simultaniously, and cannot filter that input. As in any case of hyperstimulation, he's essentially shut down the core of what we'd consider consciousness. His most basic and submerged instincts are the only reason we know he's in danger. Not only would his death shatter the containment of his physical structure, unleasing a small supernova on the region of China he is imprisoned in, but his death would send a psionic shockwave over the noosphere; the shared psychic unconsciousness that is shared by all human and mutant life. At best, it could render comatose or cause fatal sideeffects in the psychically sensitive. But the consequences could be much larger, and worse. Xorn's nature makes it impossible to theorize effectively."

Silence greeted Essex's words, broken at last by Amanda. "So we're going to rescue God. Right then." Her tone wasn't incredulous, more stunned-sounding. "This'll be one for the books, that's for sure." Then realising a useful contribution might help here - and still not trusting Essex - she continued: "So, if the Chinese have got this bloke locked up in some arse-end province of China, how did you find out about this?"

"Xorn manifested in a SoHo club in 1976 that I happened to be attending. Along with Mister Wisdom, in fact." Essex tapped his laptop, and the screen flashed up shots of a young man in a suit that could have only come from the seventies. "Kim Ye-Xorn was the grandson of Sir Henry Ye-Xorn, a succesful Shanghai born merchant who moved to Hong Kong after the Second World War. He was sent to England to complete his schooling. His manifestation at a time when mutants were even rarer than they are now only avoided causing more comment because it happened in a small and chaotic location."

The screen changed to more photos, mostly of a man in crude diver-like helmets. "The British government planned to keep Xorn for extensive study, but his grandfather's influence demanded the young man returned to Hong Kong first. Not surprisingly his family wanted him close. The plane carrying him home was thought lost in a storm over the Pacific." Essex closed the file. "I have kept an eye on Xorn's case since I have been able. When the CIA discovered in the late 80s that the plane was likely not lost, but hijacked by Communist Chinese agents, there was a fury of activity to try and determine what Xorn was capable of. I advised that committee. Since then, I still receive information from normally restricted channels."

"And so the plan is to just go in and rescue him from the Chinese, where we'll be outnumbered and under-trained? And if we fail Very Bad Things happen?" This was just another day at Snow Valley. Sarah shrugged, then grinned. "I'm in."

Staying quiet throughout the exchange, Betsy, whose back remained painfully tense and rigid, finally spoke. "Why come to us? Why not bring this to the Others?" Referring to Xavier and his troupe. "Considering the scope of what is at stake, I'm sure they would set aside past grievances and be more than willing to help."

"There are many reasons not to involve Charles or the X-Men, the most important of which is that should they be identified during such a mission, the full weight of the Chinese government will call for their extradition to face charges of terrorism, which the United States would find itself unable to refuse. More to the point, Mr Wisdom's group contains most of the resources needed and he himself has been involved with Xorn in his past." Essex pointed to the complex itself. "Since the Chinese attempts over the last thirty years to weaponize Xorn have ended in failure, they find themselves in an increasingly tenuous position. The longer they keep Xorn, eventually, someone will discover that fact, or Xorn will no longer be able to be contained."

"Which would mean China goes boom." Amanda looked thoughtful. "Um, small issue, but won't the Chinese government be guarding this place like a nun's virginity? You're basically wanting us to invade China here. It's a bit of an ask." Especially since top-secret projects were never in the middle of an urban centre, which meant no power source for her again.

"No, it's not." Pete's voice was level. "Yeah, if we're caught, it's going to be bad for us. Big fucking deal. There are ten million people who might very well wind up dead, if we blow this. If you can think of anyone else you trust to do this right, and not risk it becoming an international incident, then I'm all ears. If not, well, this is the job we came here to do, folks."

No matter how tumultuous her emotions were on this matter, whenever she saw Essex, she couldn't help an internal gut reaction to act, to hurt him the way he'd hurt her and she knew it was making her careless. Weak. Betsy squeezed her hand into a fist, holding it under the table. The pain and Pete's reproving look both kept her from reaching across the table and slamming Essex's head into the wood but not by much.

Amanda subsided, biting her lip. Do the job, whatever it took.

"Thank you, Mr Wisdom. Now, I have formulated a basic plan in which to reach Xorn, but it is no small matter. As I said, Xorn is a psionic of unprecedented levels. Just talking to him would be like an ant trying to get your attention in a tropical storm. The same for basic telepathic communication." Essex brought up a new page, and several members of Snow Valley found their names listed in what looked like an organization chart. "However, there may be a way around that. Mr Ramsey's power is pattern recognition and translation. If he could be utilitized as a conduit, a sufficently powerful telepathic bridge could allow the group to at least have the possibility of understanding Xorn. Ms Braddock's formidable powers are a start, but we will need at least one more telepath. I assumed, with Emma Frost listed on the benefactor section of your webpage, she might be availed on."

Essex clicked over the page. "Once that connection is made, we require a dampener for Xorn to allow him to filter the input at will. We had rough designs for something similar at Muir while I was working with Moira there. I'm told that you have an artificer of note at Charles' school. Perhaps he could be convinced to modify the design. As well, the one to speak with Xorn will need to have experience with abnormal psychologies, almost to the point of alien strangeness. I note that your staff psychologist appears to have an association with the Behavioural Science school at Quantico."

“That would be correct,” Sofia finally said, having otherwise kept silent but to Betsy, who probably couldn’t have missed the loud clicking of her brain organizing the actions and reactions around her; sarcasm held off as she filled in the holes of the history she had on Essex within the files of the people sitting around her alone. “I will speak with him. I’m surprised you aren’t insisting on doing it yourself.”

"Xorn is too unpredictable to be approached by the unschooled, Miss Mantaga-Barret. A clumsy attempt to reach him could potentially be as dangerous as the Chinese' ill concieved choice to eliminate him." Essex replied.

Eyebrow and a corner of her mouth quirking up simultaneously, Sofia let her gaze rest on Essex for a moment. "Ms," she finally said out loud, although, something else had clearly already been pointed out. "Thank you."

"Of course." Essex had already flipped to the next side. "There will be considerable disruption if you are successful. It appears the Chinese actually use Xorn as their local power plant, so his absence will be immediately missed. If the dampener is successful, it should allow Xorn a limited control over the stimuli he receives. In turn, my hope is that the more human aspect of his personality will be able to re-assert itself in a limited fashion, and prevent any unfortunate accidents."

Essex finally closed the laptop. "Mister Wisdom has copies of the details I have explained here. I will be in tomorrow to speak with you all on finalizing the methods of contacting Xorn. If you need to reach me, my contact details are with Mister Wisdom." Essex gathered up his things and gave them one final look before walking out the door.