Status: Semi-hiatus due to school, sorry about the wait!!
Shift
Chapter Four
Doctor McCoy stared at the girl sitting across the desk from him, wondering how this could possibly be the same person in the file he had read. How could this slender, catlike figure with dark eyes that showed both amusement and power, be the same sad, mysterious waif taken in by the Sterlings fourteen years earlier? Her voice was smooth and calculating, a trait no doubt picked up from her adoptive father. There was no sign of fear or hesitation as she spoke to him, a fact that both warmed him and piqued his interest. For such an enigmatic person, she seemed rather... normal, if a person with a history like hers could be referred to as such.
From what he had been able to piece together from the news articles he had found regarding Stella, she had always been a rather bright, if unusual child, amplified by her apparent lack of a past before she was found by Kite Sterling in a Manhattan alley. She had no name, no identification, and no memories. Unable to locate any leads on her identity in the international database for missing children, the Sterlings were named her legal guardians after a lengthy legal process. Their willingness to take in a street rat had surprised many people, but hadn't hurt the senator's career; in fact, some took it as a sign of his open-heartedness. In any case, Stella surely benefited from having such a warm and stable home environment, as it allowed her talents to blossom.
Although no one was sure of her exact age, a fact no doubt hampered by her status as a shapeshifter, Stella proved to be rather intelligent and adept with technology of all sorts. After graduating from high school at approximately seventeen, she obtained a degree from Culver University a few years later and from there landed a job at New Horizons Labs, designing state-of-the-art medical technology, a rather lucrative job for a twenty-three year old. But she had earned it, if her ability to create such a brilliant device at a young age that enabled her mutant status to remain hidden for so many years was anything to go by.
"The device can be adapted to cover different radii, and covers heat signatures and heartbeats, specific DNA sequences, among other things. If you connect it with a building's security system, the only people to be able detect those things will be the ones inside it. It will become virtually impossible to track its occupants- even more so if they wear the discreet bracelet version," she was explaining to him, showing him a holographic model of a building protected by such a device and the cuff on her wrist that she said could be personalized for camouflage.
Hank had been suitably impressed, as he knew the other X-men would be. His only task now was to convince Stella to sell them the device, as it would no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource if the school was ever attacked again, which it most likely would be. Xavier had told him that money was no obstacle; the device was that important. Hank wasn't sure that money was what Stella was after, but he had to ask.
Stella closed her eyes and clasped her hands under her chin as she carefully contemplated her response, the sleeves of her blouse tugged down just enough to reveal the edges of her tattoos, another thing that surprised the doctor. When she opened her eyes again, her green eyes had darkened slightly, and her voice became more serious.
"The most important thing to me is protecting my family, so my anonymity must be preserved. I don't want them to be reviled because of me, as I'm sure you understand. The only other condition is this." She pulled out a sheet of paper from her desk drawer and handed it over. Hank scanned it briefly and raised his eyebrows.
"These are some pretty rare ingredients. May I ask what you intend to do with them?" Hank gave her a quizzical look, having no idea what she could possibly want with azurthiocite, which he had only ever heard of being used in some gels, although it was a bit unstable. Then again, Stella was an engineer, she probably knew what she was doing. He hoped.
She grinned at him, revealing a rather pointed set of canines. "Just conducting a little personal experiment. I haven't been able to obtain those items on my own as of yet, but I'm sure you have your own resources." Hank nodded, knowing it wouldn't be too hard to get the materials with Charles's connections. He stood up and shook Stella's hand, agreeing to inform the professor of the deal and get the materials Stella requested so they could make the exchange. Stella gave him one of the cuffs as a gesture of goodwill, and he thanked her profusely.
As he was leaving, he got an uneasy feeling that the meeting had gone a little too well. Why would someone like Stella, who cared about her privacy a great deal, reveal the existence of her device upon her very first meeting with Logan, a perfect stranger she supposedly knew nothing about, and why had she agreed to the trade so easily? Something was very off here, but he shook the uneasiness away, though he decided to follow up on his suspicions when the transaction was complete. For now, he would just keep a sharp eye out for any other unusual behavior in his teammate's new-found friend. He hoped he was wrong; Stella might have made an excellent addition to the team.
_______________________________________________________________________________
A tall figure bent over a computer console, a lock of sheer white hair curling over his forehead. The room was dark, only illuminated by the screen in front of him. His body was tense as he tapped away on the keyboard. When a shadowy form suddenly appeared behind him, he didn't even bother to look up before he spoke.
"I hope you're right about this." His voice was cold, but there was no menace behind his words.
"It was necessary to move forward with the program. Besides, by the time they figure it out, it will be too late to stop us." The other figure spoke calmly, with no sign of fear. Moving forward to stand beside him, the faint light outlined their distinctively feminine features. The man gave a half-smile, his reddish-pink eyes showing a flicker of warmth.
"The cure is coming along well. With a few more tweaks, we should be able to start testing it on the rats soon. We just need the extra serum to complete the formula. Have you spoken with the supplier about our next target?"
The girl nodded, pulling out a map and laying it on the computer desk. "This warehouse here stores a variety of old rejected auto parts from the car factory down the street. What they want with them is anyone's guess, but our objective to is obtain several motors of this model." She showed him the slip of paper she had written the request on earlier, and his eyebrows shot up, but he didn't bother to remark on the fact that he seriously doubted there were more than a hundred of those old motors left worldwide. His companion probably already knew that, and she had a penchant for accomplishing the seemingly impossible.
"Have you alerted the others?"
The girl nodded again. "We'll strike there in two weeks, once our other transaction is complete." With that, she walked to the workshop at the back of the makeshift lab and soon the room was filled with the sound of her blowtorch and hammer. She had never been one for a lot of conversation.
The man smiled as he watched the girl crouched beside the old motorcycle, lovingly restoring it to its former glory. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration, but he could see that they still held so much pain behind their cold mask. He wished he could take the pain away, but he would just have to wait for their mission to be fulfilled so she would have a chance at being happy again. Then perhaps he could have a life again, preferably with her in it.
For now he busied himself with putting together the order she had requested. She had given her assistant the night off, so it was just the two of them in their underground hideout. He didn't mind the extra work, though. Not if it meant he could spend just a while longer with the girl who had saved his life before she risked it again for sake of the other people she cared about. Once again he found himself wishing he had a family and someone else to care about him, that he hadn't been declared dead from a freak 'accident' five years before, and that he wasn't entirely dependent on this girl for his survival. Sighing, he turned back to his work, preparing himself for another long night.
From what he had been able to piece together from the news articles he had found regarding Stella, she had always been a rather bright, if unusual child, amplified by her apparent lack of a past before she was found by Kite Sterling in a Manhattan alley. She had no name, no identification, and no memories. Unable to locate any leads on her identity in the international database for missing children, the Sterlings were named her legal guardians after a lengthy legal process. Their willingness to take in a street rat had surprised many people, but hadn't hurt the senator's career; in fact, some took it as a sign of his open-heartedness. In any case, Stella surely benefited from having such a warm and stable home environment, as it allowed her talents to blossom.
Although no one was sure of her exact age, a fact no doubt hampered by her status as a shapeshifter, Stella proved to be rather intelligent and adept with technology of all sorts. After graduating from high school at approximately seventeen, she obtained a degree from Culver University a few years later and from there landed a job at New Horizons Labs, designing state-of-the-art medical technology, a rather lucrative job for a twenty-three year old. But she had earned it, if her ability to create such a brilliant device at a young age that enabled her mutant status to remain hidden for so many years was anything to go by.
"The device can be adapted to cover different radii, and covers heat signatures and heartbeats, specific DNA sequences, among other things. If you connect it with a building's security system, the only people to be able detect those things will be the ones inside it. It will become virtually impossible to track its occupants- even more so if they wear the discreet bracelet version," she was explaining to him, showing him a holographic model of a building protected by such a device and the cuff on her wrist that she said could be personalized for camouflage.
Hank had been suitably impressed, as he knew the other X-men would be. His only task now was to convince Stella to sell them the device, as it would no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource if the school was ever attacked again, which it most likely would be. Xavier had told him that money was no obstacle; the device was that important. Hank wasn't sure that money was what Stella was after, but he had to ask.
Stella closed her eyes and clasped her hands under her chin as she carefully contemplated her response, the sleeves of her blouse tugged down just enough to reveal the edges of her tattoos, another thing that surprised the doctor. When she opened her eyes again, her green eyes had darkened slightly, and her voice became more serious.
"The most important thing to me is protecting my family, so my anonymity must be preserved. I don't want them to be reviled because of me, as I'm sure you understand. The only other condition is this." She pulled out a sheet of paper from her desk drawer and handed it over. Hank scanned it briefly and raised his eyebrows.
"These are some pretty rare ingredients. May I ask what you intend to do with them?" Hank gave her a quizzical look, having no idea what she could possibly want with azurthiocite, which he had only ever heard of being used in some gels, although it was a bit unstable. Then again, Stella was an engineer, she probably knew what she was doing. He hoped.
She grinned at him, revealing a rather pointed set of canines. "Just conducting a little personal experiment. I haven't been able to obtain those items on my own as of yet, but I'm sure you have your own resources." Hank nodded, knowing it wouldn't be too hard to get the materials with Charles's connections. He stood up and shook Stella's hand, agreeing to inform the professor of the deal and get the materials Stella requested so they could make the exchange. Stella gave him one of the cuffs as a gesture of goodwill, and he thanked her profusely.
As he was leaving, he got an uneasy feeling that the meeting had gone a little too well. Why would someone like Stella, who cared about her privacy a great deal, reveal the existence of her device upon her very first meeting with Logan, a perfect stranger she supposedly knew nothing about, and why had she agreed to the trade so easily? Something was very off here, but he shook the uneasiness away, though he decided to follow up on his suspicions when the transaction was complete. For now, he would just keep a sharp eye out for any other unusual behavior in his teammate's new-found friend. He hoped he was wrong; Stella might have made an excellent addition to the team.
_______________________________________________________________________________
A tall figure bent over a computer console, a lock of sheer white hair curling over his forehead. The room was dark, only illuminated by the screen in front of him. His body was tense as he tapped away on the keyboard. When a shadowy form suddenly appeared behind him, he didn't even bother to look up before he spoke.
"I hope you're right about this." His voice was cold, but there was no menace behind his words.
"It was necessary to move forward with the program. Besides, by the time they figure it out, it will be too late to stop us." The other figure spoke calmly, with no sign of fear. Moving forward to stand beside him, the faint light outlined their distinctively feminine features. The man gave a half-smile, his reddish-pink eyes showing a flicker of warmth.
"The cure is coming along well. With a few more tweaks, we should be able to start testing it on the rats soon. We just need the extra serum to complete the formula. Have you spoken with the supplier about our next target?"
The girl nodded, pulling out a map and laying it on the computer desk. "This warehouse here stores a variety of old rejected auto parts from the car factory down the street. What they want with them is anyone's guess, but our objective to is obtain several motors of this model." She showed him the slip of paper she had written the request on earlier, and his eyebrows shot up, but he didn't bother to remark on the fact that he seriously doubted there were more than a hundred of those old motors left worldwide. His companion probably already knew that, and she had a penchant for accomplishing the seemingly impossible.
"Have you alerted the others?"
The girl nodded again. "We'll strike there in two weeks, once our other transaction is complete." With that, she walked to the workshop at the back of the makeshift lab and soon the room was filled with the sound of her blowtorch and hammer. She had never been one for a lot of conversation.
The man smiled as he watched the girl crouched beside the old motorcycle, lovingly restoring it to its former glory. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration, but he could see that they still held so much pain behind their cold mask. He wished he could take the pain away, but he would just have to wait for their mission to be fulfilled so she would have a chance at being happy again. Then perhaps he could have a life again, preferably with her in it.
For now he busied himself with putting together the order she had requested. She had given her assistant the night off, so it was just the two of them in their underground hideout. He didn't mind the extra work, though. Not if it meant he could spend just a while longer with the girl who had saved his life before she risked it again for sake of the other people she cared about. Once again he found himself wishing he had a family and someone else to care about him, that he hadn't been declared dead from a freak 'accident' five years before, and that he wasn't entirely dependent on this girl for his survival. Sighing, he turned back to his work, preparing himself for another long night.