Introducing the Technopath

Posted on Thu Feb 29th, 2024 @ 5:33pm by Scott Summers & Bobby Drake & Jean Grey & Hank McCoy & Warren Worthington III & Mara Ricci & Alex Summers & Lorna Dane
Edited on on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 1:19am

Mission: Episode 0: X Lang Syne
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: August 5, 1988

It was almost a month before Mara was set to return to the mansion. Hank had volunteered to pick her up at the train station on Friday evening and return her to it on Sunday afternoon. He didn’t often go out in public on his own simply because he still was not accustomed to the stares, but the chance to be alone with Mara again was too good to pass up.

He was still not ready to admit to himself that he had a crush on her, but he did admit that he liked her- as a friend, of course. That was all he would ever get from her, so he had to be content with it.

The train arrived in the station and Hank was so focused on it, he didn’t even notice the teenagers giggling at him. He watched carefully for Mara as the passengers exited the train, finally spotting her as she stepped onto the platform. His face broke into a grin as their eyes met and to his surprise and delight, so did hers.

She began making her way through the crowd towards him, dodging the few people who had gotten off with her. “Hank!” she said as she approached. To his surprise, she actually gave him a one-armed side-hug in greeting and he had to remind himself that it was just between friends. “I expected Scott again.”

”I volunteered this time,” he explained, returning her hug briefly before pulling away. “I don’t get out enough, according to Jean. Thought I’d make her happy and come pick you up myself.” He quickly took her bag from her; his parents raised a gentleman, after all.

“Jean,” she repeated pensively as they started heading out of the station. “That’s the redhead who sticks close to Scott, right?”

“That’s the one.”

“I don’t think I met her last time,” she commented. “You commandeered me most of the day.”

He chuckled. “Yes, I certainly did,” he replied. “You were a good distraction from boring duties. I’ll make sure to introduce you to everyone this time.”

“I didn’t mind,” she replied. “You’re easy to talk to.”

That made Hank grin. She’s just a friend, Hank, he told himself. That’s all she can ever be. “I’ll be sure to pass that compliment along to my mother,” he said half jokingly. “She’ll be so proud.”

Mara laughed, which thrilled Hank. “Be sure to also pass along that she raised a gentleman and a scholar,” she told him. “That should puff her right up.”

“If it puffs her up half as much as it did me just now, she’ll explode,” he said, beaming. Don't read too much into it, he told himself.

Mara grinned. “She sounds like my mom,” she said. “She doesn’t happen to be Italian, does she?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Hank replied.

“Well, I’m sure all mothers like to hear they’ve raised a great kid,” she allowed. “Er… adult. You know what I mean.”

He chuckled. “Yes, I do,” he said as they reached the car. He opened the trunk and stowed her bag inside. “Your mother is Italian, I take it,” he said, opening the car door for her.

“”Thank you,” she said as she got into the car. But then she had to wait as he rounded the car and got into the driver’s side. “Both of my parents are,” she answered as he started the car. They came to America about a month after they got married.”

“Any particular reason?” he asked. “You know, like work brought them here or something.”

“Nothing like that, no,” Mara replied. “My parents are both orphans and decided that studying medicine in the US was a good idea. So with nothing keeping them in Italy, they came to America and did exactly that.”

“Fascinating,” replied Hank as he pulled the car onto the road. “I always find it interesting why immigrants came here, especially if it wasn’t because their jobs forced them to. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of someone coming on a whim, though.”

“It’s definitely unique,” agreed Mara, but she didn’t know what else to say.

There was a pause that went on much too long for Hank’s taste. She’s going to think you’re boring! he told himself. But he couldn’t think of anything to say.

Mara, of course, didn’t mind. She was perfectly comfortable with silence. Besides, Hank was driving. Some people needed to concentrate on driving and didn’t like talking. Plus, the drive from the train station wasn’t a long one.

Soon enough, they were pulling up to the mansion. ‘I still can’t get over how huge this place is,” she commented.

”That makes two of us,” said Hank as he cut the engine and they climbed out of the car. “And I’ve lived here for years.”

Mara grinned as he retrieved her bag from the trunk. “That has wheels,” she pointed out as he carried it towards the stairs.

“It isn’t heavy,” he replied with a grin. “We’ll get this stowed in a guest room and then I’ll introduce you to the others.”

---

Since it was nearing dinner time, Hank took Mara to the kitchen. He was sure they would find at least some of his friends there, and he was not disappointed. “Good evening, everyone!” he said cheerfully to them.

“Welcome back Hank, I’m glad you finally got out of the house for once.” Jean returned his greeting with a smile, she knew the real reason behind his motivation was to hang out with Mara, the butterflies were impossible to ignore.

Scott arched his brow over the rims of his sunglasses. "Who put a quarter in Hank?" he whispered to Jean. "Hi, Hank."

~* ’He’s sweet on her.’ *~ Jean telepathically replied to Scott, helping confirm what Hank’s nervous energy was all about.

"Whoa! Who's the babe?" Bobby blurted.

“I’d like you to meet Mara Ricci, she’s the Professor’s computer consultant,” he told them. “Mara, this is Bobby and Jean, and I believe you’ve met Scott.”

”Hi,” she said shyly to the others.

"Welcome to Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters," said Bobby, sidling right up to Mara. "That would be moi. I am quite gifted."

“Hm, really?” she replied cheekily. “I had no idea that gifted youngsters meant gifted youngsters.”

“Bobby,” said Hank, half exasperated, half amused. “Were all gifted. Including Mara.”

“Hi Mara, it’s nice to meet you..” She briefly waved a hello from her position in the kitchen, the ponytail of scarlet red hair that fell down her back was more than enough to identify her without an introduction. Jean continued to smile at Mara, there was an effortless sort of beauty that radiated from the young woman that made people want to be near her.

“You’re just in time for dinner if you’re hungry and if you eat meat.” While Jean was busy preparing a salad there appeared to be more meal preparation going on.

“Warren is outside grilling steaks, they should be done soon.” She looked over her shoulder at Scott as she finished that statement before casually pointing the tip of her knife at him. “Don’t start.”

"Easy now," Scott said, biting back a smirk.

“There’s more than enough if you’d like to join us.” Jean said with continued hospitality.

"Yeah, Lorna and Alex hit the road so we've actually got two extra settings," Scott said.

Bobby pretended not to hear and turned almost too excited. "So, Mara, how about that Betamax? Pretty nifty!"

Mara grinned, unable to help herself. He was trying to sound techy even though he wasn’t actually techy. “It actually was pretty cool,” she replied. “Sadly, the expense has killed it. I think they’re still making them, but I wouldn’t know where to find them. I have one, but I also have a VHS player.”

"Yeah, they're rad," Bobby agreed. "I saw a cellular phone one time. That was rad too."

Shaking his head, Scott had heard enough. "Hey, Bobby!"

"Yo!" Bobby replied without looking or stepping away from Mara.

"Little help?" Scott held up a place setting with silverware wrapped in a napkin. From the look on his face, it wasn't a question or suggestion.

"Pfft. Fine." Bobby disengaged from Mara age helped Scott set the table, leaving her to Hank's devices.

Mara stifled a giggle. “He’s adorable,” she said.

“I’m not sure I’d use quite the same word,” confessed Hank.

“Oh come on, he is,” she argued. “I mean, at least he attempted to talk to me about my interests. Fell flat on his face, but he tried. That’s gotta count for something.”

“If you say so,” laughed Hank.

“Oh where are my manners?” said Mara suddenly. “Do you need any help?” she asked Jean shyly.

“You’re fine Mara, there are so many of us that it all goes rather quickly. Besides you’re our guest.” Jean dressed the salad before picking up the bowl. “Bobby tries harder than anyone else I’ve ever met. He means well.”

Her green eyes momentarily drifted towards the back of the house, almost as if she was listening to something in another room. “Warren is done outside. Come on, we’ll catch up to him in the dining room.”

Jean led Mara to the dining room that was adjacent to the kitchen. It was a grand space with cathedral ceilings and the same dark woodwork that filled the rest of the mansion. The dining room looked like something from another era and the dinner laid out across the table didn’t seem to suit it. Baked potatoes wrapped in tinfoil along with fixings for them, pitchers of ice tea and water, along with the salad Jean set in the middle.

“Looks like I’m just in time.” A rich male voice said as an absolutely beautiful man holding a tray of steaks entered the room. His features were classically handsome and his tan skin and long blonde hair only added to his statuesque physique. But the feature that added to his ethereal appearance was the pair of elegant white wings on his back that extended above his head and down to his calves.

His blue eyes focused on the newcomer almost immediately and a plastic smile appeared on his face. “Hello, I didn’t know we had company tonight.” He set the tray down on the table before offering a hand to shake. “I’m Warren, Warren Worthington III.”

Mara grinned. He was cute. And friendly. She took his offered hand. “Mara Ricci,” she said. “I’m here to set up the computers.”

“Ricci, that’s Italian isn’t it?” Warren continued to provide his charming smile. “l'Italia è un paese bellissimo con gente meravigliosa.” He pulled out a chair for her at the table, offering her a seat. “Computers you say, I’m glad to hear the school is keeping up with the latest technology. It sounds fascinating.” Warren sat down in the seat next to Mara as everyone settled around the dinner table, his focus solely on her.

Jean briefly made eye contact with Hank before her eyes directed him to the chair on the other side of Mara. Silent directions without the aid of telepathy.

The redhead sat down in her usual spot next to Scott. ~* ‘Let the games begin.’ *~ She commented to him as Warren and Hank both took their respective positions. ~* ‘As someone who’s been in the hot seat already, I don’t envy Mara in the slightest.’ *~

“You speak Italian,” replied Mara, surprised. “And better than I do.” Her eyes narrowed and she said slightly haltingly, “non ci sono mai stato ma ho sentito storie. Ugh. My dad would be so disappointed.”

Hank, meanwhile felt his jaw tighten. Why had he thought it was a good idea to introduce her to everyone? And how had he forgotten that Jean was a telepath? Of course she knew. But really, what did he expect? It’s not like he had any claim on Mara. And anyway, why did he suppose she would ever choose him over Warren? Stupid perfect Warren and his stupid perfect wings! He forced himself to relax and put it out of his mind. It had been a nice little fantasy, but he knew it couldn’t last.

Scott slowly slid his hand underneath the table and gave Jean's knee a troubled squeeze. This was rapidly becoming a trainwreck with no way to stop it in sight. At best, they could just endure the awkward night without any total derailment.

"If you liked that..." Bobby said, taking a deep breath for an antic.

~Kaboom~ Scott thought toward Jean.

"Erethay'say away aceplay inway Ancefray erewhay ethay akednay adieslay anceday ithway away olehay inway ethay allway erewhay ethay enmay ancay eesay itway allway!"

Bobby ended his performance with a salacious grin.

"Ugh..." Scott lowered his head in shame enough for them both.

Mara blinked. She couldn’t translate pig Latin quick enough for all that. “What?” she said, confused.

Hank, meanwhile, had facepalmed, but was grinning. “Still think he’s adorable?” he said in an aside to Mara.

There was a brief pause and an awkward silence in the dining room before Warren snorted a laugh from out of his nose. He laughed at him not with him. “Sometimes I think you’re from another planet, Bobby.” Warren shook his head before his grin returned and he began to place dinner on his plate.

“As for fathers…” Warren’s conversation returned to Mara and her last comment. “They’re always disappointed in you no matter what you do, so I wouldn’t let that bother you too much.”

Jean glanced over at Bobby, whether he intended to or not, he always made himself the butt of every joke. She offered him a small, supportive smile not necessarily one of encouragement for more grand gestures but one that let him know that she saw him and she understood that he was trying in his own way.

~* ‘Kaboom indeed.’ *~ Jean affirmed Scott’s statement as she poured herself some water. ~* ‘At least Warren is unphased by all of this, then again he’s used to it.’ *~

“So Mara, tell us about yourself.” Warren angled himself in his chair so he could still face her while eating. If there was one thing he was good at, it was making a woman feel singular and special, even if it was only for a fleeting moment.

“Oh, uh…” said Mara nervously; she hated open-ended questions. “Well… and Hank already knows most of it, so apologies to him for this boring bit of information.”

Hank felt himself gloating a little and reminded himself to behave. “I didn’t think it was boring the first time,” he replied.

“Well… okay,” she said, shooting him a grin. “But it might be the second time.”

“Nonsense!” he replied half-jokingly.

Which made Mara laugh. “Do you want to tell it, then?” she asked, also half jokingly.

“Very well,” he said with a laugh of his own. “She’s the daughter of Italian immigrants who are very supporting of her and her older brother- Marc was it?”

“That’s right.”

Hank nodded. “Who is also a mutant,” he continued. “Lie detector, which would come in very handy to anybody. Uh, let’s see… she grew up in Maine, where her parents still live and she attended university, although I don’t remember where, where she studied computer programming. Did I get that all?”

“That’s about it,” replied Mara. “I’m impressed!”

That pleased Hank and he had a hard time not showing it.

"Yeah, Hank is the biggest know-it-all ever," Bobby said to Mara. "Now I feel like I've known you forever!"

Scott couldn't hold back the sigh any longer. "Well, Mara, it's great to have you back with us. Just out of curiosity, though, did you just work on the computers on the ground floor or, you know, all of them?" He was fishing without giving anything away, wondering how much she knew about the mansion.

“Well, work on is only sort of accurate,” she replied. “I really just got them set up and learned what Professor Xavier wanted them to do. Tomorrow I’ll be installing the programs I’ve written. But I got them all set up last time, though they’re mostly useless until tomorrow.”

"Okay..." Scott sort of caught her meaning but he wasn't entirely certain. Computer science was a burgeoning industry that he didn't fully understand yet. "So... you're just doing the school computers, like the library and the study and... and so on. None of the Professor's personal and private hardware."

“Just the school computers,” she confirmed.

Bobby's eyes grew wide and he grinned mischievously. "Ohhh!"

Scott reached his long leg below the table and kicked Bobby in the shin.

"OW!" Bobby gasped. Seeing the stern look on Scott's face that he wasn't messing around, he said, "Thorry... I bit my thongue..."

Catching on to what Scott was hinting at, Hank quickly covered with, “so which university did you say you attended, Mara?”

“I don’t think I ever did,” she replied. “But it was Wellesley.”

“Now I know you didn’t,” replied Hank. “I’d have remembered mention of a girls only university.”

“Most people do,” she agreed.

"Ooo la la!" Bobby exclaimed. "Bet Warren and I could clean up somewhere like that, eh, Warren?"

Another snorted laugh from Warren as Bobby attempted to classify them as one in the same. “I do just fine in the city Bobby.”

“So these programs you’ve written, what makes them different from everyone else’s?” Warren asked while he cut his streak, each bite perfect and uniform. “We’ve been using a computer system at Worthington Industries for a couple years now, could someone from my company work on your programs?”

“Some of them, sure,” she replied. “I mean, there’s a general word processing program that basically turns the computer into a typewriter with a screen. Anybody could use that. But, the grading program for the teachers is probably not useful unless they want to track employee stats, but that’s sort of demeaning.”

“Oh sure.” Warren said with a shrug, she hadn’t really answered his question, at least not to the level he was hoping for but he moved past it quickly. He had been hoping for a more technical explanation to her program development, despite his pristine smile Warren had a sense for product design.

“So, Mara.” Jean attempted to redirect the conversation “What do you do for work when you aren’t setting up school computers?”

“Oddly enough, I set up banking computers,” Mara replied with a grin. “Specifically Bank of America. They wanted to be sure their network was secure and paid me to make sure. My job is to basically look for and close flaws in the system. Even better- they know I’m a mutant who can talk to and control computers, so they paid me a signing bonus to do it.”

“That’s incredibly progressive of them and actually quite surprising that they would incentivize something like skills related to your mutation. Considering the registration acts they are trying to pass against mutants, that’s a slippery slope.” Jean paused for a moment and took a sip of water. While they all had their niche areas of Xavier’s work that they fell into, Jean’s was political and public speaking. “I’ve seen civil suits over wrongful termination due to being a mutant, but to use it as a hiring opportunity. That’s a one is new.”

“I think it’s my ability to intuit computers more than anything,” Mara replied. “At the risk of sounding like I’m bragging, I don’t think anybody in the world could do what I do at a faster rate- if they could even match me. I mean, I literally wrote an entire system for a school in a month. From scratch. In my free time. And as long as I’ve done it correctly, it’ll easily handle a couple thousand student records before it needs updating.” She grinned. “Sometimes I don’t even believe I do all of this,” she added fairly. “I guess that’s worth something to someone who needs it and needs it quick.”

The backdoor to the garage opened at that moment. Sounds of shuffling feet and swapping spit echoed up the hallway into the dining room.

"Oh my gawd, Alex, you're so hawt..."

"You are, Lorna."

"No, you are."

"No, you."

One rotation at a time, the young couple rolled down the wall until their bodies found the open door to the dining room and nearly stumbled onto the floor. Realization and subsequent embarrassment set in once they saw six pairs of eyes staring back at them.

"Alex..." said Scott with the chiding tone of an older brother. "I thought you two were out for the evening?"

"Yeah... about that..." Alex suppressed a nervous grin in attempts to emulate his brother. "We, uh, decided to get takeout."

Bobby found something very interesting in the other side of the room.

Several images flashed unbidden through Hank’s mind, all involving Mara and him in similar positions. He glanced nervously at Jean to make sure she hadn’t noticed.

Mara stifled a giggle. “Well,” she said cheekily. “I suppose that’s one way to introduce yourselves.”

"Sorry..." Alex mumbled beneath the weight of varying degrees of disapproval. "Didn't know we had company."

“We’re like totally sorry, we had no idea we would be such a buzzkill.” The girl with shocking green hair who had come in with Alex added, the Valspeak in her voice impossible to ignore. “It’s just like, we changed our minds and stuff, so we came home.”

“Don’t be a total caveman Alex, say hello and junk.” She elbowed him in the side to help enforce the suggestion before taking a few steps forward. “Hi, I’m Lorna.”

Jean couldn’t help but smirk from the series of events and the bevy of emotions that erupted from practically everyone in the room.

~* ‘I should have made popcorn rather than dinner.’ *~ She mentally mused with Scott, the two of them the only ones not dramatically affected by the change in events.

“Do you two want to join us for dinner?” Jean looked up at Alex and Lorna “Or do you have other plans?”

Alex stood there with his mouth agape. There were other plans, of course, but Alex might not have shared them with Lorna who seemed blissfully oblivious to more than five minutes ahead of the present.

"Yeah, old buddy, old pal!" Bobby exclaimed far too loudly, having suddenly found his voice and decided to make up for his thirty seconds of silence. "Sit down and join us!"

Scott wiped a nonexistent blob of food from his mouth and let out his laughter through a pretend cough.

But Mara was amused by everything. She, of course, did not know about the history between Lorna and Bobby. She may have felt differently if she had known, but as it was, she had to stifle a giggle. “Hi Lorna,” she said, trying to keep the laughter out of her vice. “And Alex. I’m Mara Ricci.”

“Radical.” Lorna replied, it wasn’t really an appropriate statement but it seemed to pass as acceptable as far as she was concerned.

“Come on you two, have a seat.” Warren’s smile was wolfish now, making his beautiful features lethal in appearance. “There are a couple seats open down with Bobby.”

“I dunno, we kinda sorta wanted to do our own thing, you know?” Lorna’s bubbly voice maintained its positive tone despite her slightly nervous body language.

“Oh I know.” Warren laughed a little “Do you know Bobby?”

“Warren.” Jean corrected him, her tone was firm and it made Warren’s wings twitch slightly.

“I’m just fooling around Jeannie.” Warren’s blue eyes looked her over in that devious sort of way where not even a telepathy would know what he was thinking about. “We’re all friends here, aren’t we?”

“We’re supposed to be, anyway,” muttered Hank.

Mara’s brow wrinkled, confused. She had no idea what was going on, but it suddenly felt very personal. “Should I… should I leave?” she asked.

“No!” replied Hank hastily. “I mean, that’s not necessary. We’re sorry. We’ll stop being cruel, right Warren?”

"It's okay," Bobby said, pushing his plate forward. "Just remembered I got somewhere to be." He got up from the table and headed for the side door.

"Hey, Bobby!" Scott called after him. When he got no response, he shot a leveled look at Warren.

“You guys are such stiff squares, no one around here can take a damn joke.” Warren stood up as he threw his hands into the air, perpetually frustrated with the lack of humor he found at Xavier’s. “Fuck this, I’m out of here.” He said before heading toward the garage and his car.

“Bobby.” Jean said with a frown as she watched him leave. She felt his sadness and how Warren had been successful in wounding him. She placed a hand on Scott’s thigh before she stood, silently requesting that he follow her before she stood up and went to follow Bobby.

"Excuse us," Scott said tersely as he followed on Jean's coattails.

“Whoa! That was epic.” Lorna said with mouth open in shock. The dining room suddenly felt incredibly awkward and empty. “Hey Alex, let’s uh… let’s go look at that thing you were talking about.” She tugged on his shirt to express her urgency before they departed in the opposite direction of Bobby.

"Uh..." Alex wasn't sure what had just happened but he didn't want to hang around to find out. Following Lorna's lead had never seemed so good. "Bye."

And then there were two. Hank and Mara were left alone together to reflect on what just happened.

Mara just sat there uncomfortably for a moment, not really sure what to do.

Hank sighed. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Sometimes we act more like siblings than friends. Siblings who don’t get along,” he added.

“It’s okay,” she replied. “I guess that happens when you spend every minute of every day together.”

“Indeed,” said Hank.

“Well,” she said, glancing around at the almost cleaned plates. “Do you suppose it’s safe to clean up?”

“Probably,” replied Hank. “Somehow I’m always cleaning up.”

“Me, too,” said Mara as she stood and began gathering plates. “But I live alone, so who else is gonna do it? You know, other than rats.”

“I’m not so sure you’d want rats to do your cleaning,” laughed Hank, also beginning to gather dishes from the table.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Mara. “They helped Cinderella make a dress.”

“I’m pretty sure that was mice,” Hank pointed out.

“Same thing,” she replied.

“It is not!” laughed Hank.

“They’re both rodents!” defended Mara as they carried the dirty dishes back to the kitchen.

“So is a rabbit, but they’re not the same as a mouse or a rat!” replied Hank.

“Maybe they are and we just don’t know it,” she countered.

Hank laughed, a booming sound that echoes theough the hallways. At least somebody was having a good time.