ax_main | Trowa and Tessa - The Welcome Wagon

Tessa is asked to help a new student acclimate to the school. And then the day holds a second surprise...

It was an unusual request, assisting a new student with his school orientation, but Tessa was quick to jump at any opportunity to prove herself useful to the Professor. Still, she could not help but wonder what special circumstances might be involved, for him to have called upon her, and not any of the other students of a more personable or outgoing demeanor. But she suspected the answer would be revealed once she'd actually had an opportunity to interact with the new arrival.

And so, she found herself in the boys' dormitory--not so different from the girls', in most respects. She watched the numbers engraved in plate on each door until she reached the designated room, the one which housed the student Tessa was to guide through his initial days at the school. Without hesitation, she rapped sharply on the door to announce her arrival.

There was a pause a few seconds, then the door opened to reveal a tall, lean boy. He wasn't dressed for the season; his dark turtleneck and jacket were suited to much cooler weather. His coarse, light brown hair was cut newly short, save for his bangs, which draped stiffly over his left eye like an overgrown forelock. His visible eye widened slightly at the sight of her, though his face remained expressionless otherwise.

"I know you."

Tessa's strong emotional controls kept her from visibly starting as an individual she had considered deceased suddenly appeared to be occupying one of the school dorms, but her brows did rise slightly. "Indeed. It is agreeable to see you again, Nanashi. Though the probabilities in opposition to such a reunion could be described as astronomical without significant exaggeration." She studied his face, inexpressive as her own, intently. "It has been some time since Budapest."

"Sofia." He nodded as her voice jogged his memory. "I'm going by 'Trowa Barton' here. The Professor thinks my old name would be regressive." After a moment, he stepped out of the doorway to meet her, closing the door behind him. "I'm guessing you're not how he managed to find me."

She shook her head. "Had I been aware of your survival, I would have spared no effort to locate you. Professor Xavier has his own means of locating mutants, a means I have not quite been able to uncover, as yet." She stepped back, gesturing down the hall for them to proceed into the common areas of the school.

"I am called 'Tessa' here," she told him as they started off. "It is a fresh identity, free of complication. More appropriate to this setting. I am surprised I was not able to perceive your augmented genetic status. It is rare for such things to escape my notice."

"That's what you call your 'mutation'?" Trowa took point down the hall. He moved with a precise fluidity, but there was nothing relaxed in his stance. His eyes flicked from door to door as they walked, and, in truth, he looked as if he would have been far more comfortable with a rifle on his shoulder. "Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. No one else ever noticed. Besides, we had other concerns in Budapest." A pause. "Did we complete the mission?"

"We did," said Tessa, with a crisp nod. "Orbán and Kuznetsov will not be selling any more children into slavery. Though I was obliged to leave the status of the orphans and kidnapped in the hands of the regular authorities." They reached the stairs and began to walk down into the foyer. A beat passed, and then, "I would have looked for you, had I known. But your chances of survival seemed so remote, I judged the most expedient course was to move on."

"You don't owe me anything. You didn't know me." Trowa's voice was utterly flat, the only inflection coming from that blended accent that belonged to no particular region of East Europe, and was influenced by places further away still. "You said you wanted an identity free of complication. Don't change that because I'm here." He started down the stairs. "All other questions I have concern the present, not the past."

"You are not a complication; if anything, you are an enhancement. Few of the others see the world as I do. As you do. Your presence will be of incalculable benefit." She led him down to the entryway and stood, palms folded behind her back. "Would you prefer to reconnoiter the interior or the exterior of the school, as a start? I am familiar with both, and would be pleased to share the most strategically-relevant locations."

That perked his metaphorical ears up.

"I want to see their security," he said. "This place can't be as poorly defended as it looks. Not with the soldiers Xavier is acquiring."

"I see," said Tessa, considering. "This way." She led him toward the main doors to the modified manor-house, and back down the drive through which he had entered.

Trowa maintained his ready alertness as they walked the long drive, turning his head as if to catch sounds only he could hear. "Could I have a sidearm here?"

She considered that a moment, then shook her head. "I have considered making that request, as well," Tessa told him, "but I do not think it would be well-received--at least, not at this time. I believe the Professor wishes to establish this place a school first and foremost, and visible sidearms would, in all probability, prove disconcerting to both the other students and the civilians of Westchester. However, there is a secure training area on-site, which we may be able to requisition for periodic firearms training. Perhaps we would also be allowed to train some of the others in marksmanship, safety, and maintenance, as well--if they are willing." She stopped when they reached the wall surrounding the campus.

Trowa paused, looking the brick wall and wrought-iron fencing, hands on hips. He did not seem reassured.

"There must be more."

"If there is, I have been unable to find it," she said. "And I am very thorough. The electronic security here is quite robust, but physical countermeasures are extremely limited. Again, I suspect that is equal parts need for concealment, and to put the students' minds at ease. Their understanding of the world is quite different from ours."

Tessa appeared to study the wall for a moment, and then offered a shrug. "Perhaps the Professor feels that his telepathy is sufficient to secure these grounds. Or it is possible that the purpose of the training we undergo is not merely for our own safety and protection. I do think there is a greater purpose at work here, but I have not yet been able to ascertain its nature."

"Tessa." He tested the name. "You know what the butchers of the world would do to get at this place. What the Orbáns and Kuznetsovs would do to get their hands on the children here. Isolation, a few cameras, and..." He gave the wall a look that spoke volumes despite his lack of expression. "...a wall with holes in it aren't going to stop them."

"No," she agreed, "they won't. But we can, if we are prepared." She looked back toward the converted mansion. "I think the others deserve a chance for as much normalcy as can be practically afforded. It will end, eventually, but it will also afford them a greater frame of reference and a set of ideals, beyond simply being effective soldiers. Protecting them from the threats they cannot anticipate will fall to us, in the meantime, Nanashi. I do not believe the task beyond our capabilities."

"Call me Trowa. I need to get used to it as much as they will." He nodded at the other students off on the lawn. "And you're right. I think we can guard this place."

"Certainly," assented Tessa readily. The fact that it was as much a fiction as his previous identity was irrelevant; she understood as well as any the occasional necessity of creating a persona from whole cloth. "You will, I hope, forgive me for occasionally utilizing the name by which I previously knew you in private. My understanding is still incomplete, but it seems that sobriquets of a personal nature is a phenomenon one often sees between friends."

"If it means something to you." Trowa shrugged, gave the wall one last dismissive look, then turned his attention back to Tessa. "What about you? You said you can sense other mutants?"

"When they are in near enough proximity, yes--physical contact is ideal," she explained. "Unless they are aware of their genetic enhancement; in that case, my telepathy alone is typically sufficient. I take it you have only recently come to understand the actual nature of your abilities. I would have detected them sooner, otherwise." And done more to keep him close, and safe, but that did not bear dwelling upon, at this juncture.

"I can sense animals. Sometimes, I communicate with them or see through their eyes. I thought I was hallucinating for a while. Mostly, I ignored it. I didn't realize how strange I had become until after we parted." Meaning, after he'd been swept into the river. "You were right. The river should have killed me. But somehow, I was able to pull myself out of the current."

"This once, I find it difficult to be displeased my calculations were in error," Tessa admitted. "And you are no more strange than any other student here. Far less so than some." She glanced back up the path they had come. "Since we are already outdoors, perhaps you would be amenable to my showing you the more tactically-relevant portions of the grounds. In the event we should be required to make use of them."

He nodded by way of agreement. "Are there any others here who are thinking in term of defense?"

"Not in the systematic way I take you to mean," she said. "But there are some who show promise. They simply require their interest in the school's security to be channeled along the most productive possible lines."

"We can start by talking with the staff, I guess." Trowa sounded dubious. "I don't know if they'll take us seriously, but we'll be able to get a sense of how far we can take things before we have to be clandestine."

"A prudent initial step," Tessa replied with mild approval, "if largely a formality. My impression of the faculty thus far suggests that they are extremely conventional in their views of the roles appropriate to adolescents, despite the singular nature of this school. The most significant exception is the Professor himself, and he appears to wish to avoid even the appearance of belligerent intentions on our part."

"That's smart. But our existence is going to lead to the assumption of our belligerent intentions," Trowa pointed out. "We need to be prepared. Show me what we have to work with."

"As you wish," she nodded. "Though I would advise you to keep your expectations to a minimum. There may be some secret defense apparatus of which I am unaware, but so far as I have been able to determine security on the grounds and within the school is less than could be boasted by some public facilities. Still, we are both of us well-equipped to achieve our objectives despite limited resources. It simply means we will have to improvise, and be flexible in our strategy."

"Understood." Trowa straightened up, what little slack there had been in his posture vanishing. "I agree; we're up to the challenge."