xp_logs | Operation: Shaboom: The Great Pretender

Remy and Wanda begin to try and figure out just what is going on in Adenville. Unfortunately for them, the answer isn't obvious.

The house was quaint. That was probably the best word Wanda had for it – it was small but cozy and very well-kept. Not a hint of chaos in sight and her fingers twitched with the desire to change that immediately. Back at home, her work space and apartment were controlled chaos in that she knew where everything was but woe to the person who tried to look for something. Instead of screwing with the décor, she sat at the kitchen table, flipping over an older looking cigarette carton. "Apparently, 'I' smoke," she observed, shaking her head.

"It's 1959. Everybody smokes. It was considered good for you." Remy said. He'd 'dropped' by the suburban style home while maintaining his cover. There was an advantage to the insurance salesman role; they tended to wander everywhere, be able to strike up conversations, and people didn't question your motives the second you talked about a plan.

In the briefcase that Remy had found in the car had been a draft of an insurance plan for Mister and Mrs Simons. Obviously, considering the small bottle of whiskey under the papers, Ray Ludlow wasn't a particularly successful salesman, and the single sale to a married couple represented an important deal for him. He'd even had the names and address circled in his datebook.

"What have you found out so far?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Wanda responded, getting up to prowl around the kitchen. "Whoever doing this is damned good, that is for sure. If this is an illusion, color me impressed. Everything seems, feels and tastes real and there is nothing, not one thing, that is not from the 1950s. I went through this house from top to bottom and everything from the spoons to the containers were made, or look to be made, from that time period."

She opened the fridge and gave it a scathing look. "I spoke to a few of the neighbors and they are all very…what was that show, something about a beaver? But they were that. Wanting to know where my husband was and if I'll be joining them at the next church function since I was sick the last time." It felt like they had stepped in to take over someone else's lives but that didn't make any sense, seeing as their physical looks hadn't changed much, outside of Remy's eyes and the various hair styles.

"Getting the same feel but... Remy not sure." LeBeau had been a field operative for a long time. Long enough to have experiences when his life depended on reading a seemingly normal situation for danger. "Dere's something dat just doesn't fit. I can't put my finger on it yet, but it's dere."

He sighed. "Marie-Ange is going to be our go-between wit' de younger members of de team. It looks like you and I are going to be de most mobile and have an excuse to meet, so we'll collect whatever dey find and run in through de laptop we've got set up on dat old house outside of de zone. If dis entire town has really been pulled back in time, dere's got to be a way to find out who is responsible."

Wanda rearranged the salt and pepper shakers so that they were out of order completely before leaning against the counter-top. "Sounds like a good plan. This Ana Simons has some sway with the church, apparently, and, thus, with most of the women around here. I will see if I cannot bend a few ears to get some information."

"Bein. Keep an eye on de others, make sure dat dey not drawing attention to themselves. If some mutant has the power to rip a town back in time, dey likely can cause us trouble if we try and stop dem." Remy sighed. "I wish I could figure this out. If it's just someone dat can move time, dat doesn't explain the identities we seem to fit. If it's a telepath of Charles level causing it, dat explains de identities but doesn't explain de fact dat we know it's not using normal telepathic control. You know anything 'bout alternate dimensions or something?"

“More than a normal girl should but less than what we need. The next time I slip out to our staging ground, I will see what I can find in the database we have been setting up. Illyana will know about Limbo but she might have more general knowledge as well – if I see her, I will ask. And if this is a telepath on the range of Xavier, that might not even explain the lack of powers. Unless there is more than one mutant or they have the technology to suppress our mutations.” This was giving her a headache. “I just wish the reason was was more obvious. What is so special about this time and this town?”