What Just Happened?

Posted on Mon Sep 2nd, 2024 @ 8:19pm by Iris Walker & Charles Xavier

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: X-Mansion | Xavier’s office
Timeline: October 23rd, 1990

Iris glared at the table before her. She had tried countless times this morning to get her hand to pass through it, but no matter what she did, no matter how hard she concentrated, it never worked.

She had to want it, to really want it. She closed her eyes, balled her fist and thought very hard about not existing. Not here, not here, not here! she shouted in her mind, and then slammed her fist down —
...
— and hit the table. The sound of the resulting thud echoed through the empty dining hall.

She sighed, frustrated.

What had Mr. Richards said? Something about uncertainty. So, she was both there and not there. She couldn’t see how that would help, though. Maybe she needed to let him do his scans. Maybe that would give her some answers.

What had happened in DC? Her life had been threatened. She had wanted to be invisible so badly, and then the missiles or bullets or whatever it was had passed right through her. But how?

Wait. She hadn’t wanted it; she had needed it. Life in danger, she had managed to be both there and not there at the same time. Perhaps that was the secret. Need it.

So she went back to work. Not here, not here, not here! she thought, concentrating on not being there again.

BAM! She hit the table again.

Undeterred, she tried again. And again, she hit the table.

Again. BAM! Again. BAM! Again. BAM! Again. BAM! Again. BAM!

Angrily, Iris made to shove herself away from the table, but she could not find it with her hands. Looking down, she saw her arms buried in the table just above her wrists, her fingers poking through the top, as if to push it away.

At once, she jumped back from the table, passing right through the chair in her haste. She looked at her hands, turning them back and forth to make sure they were okay. Everything seemed okay, so she looked at the table. It seemed fine. Tentatively, she reached out a hand—
...
—and touched the wood surface of the table.

She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. At least now she knew she hadn’t imagined it. Now she knew it had actually happened.

She needed to talk to the Professor.

Before she even realized what she was doing, she had arrived at his office door and rapped gently at it.

"Yes, Iris, please come in." The Professor's voice was softer than usual, but still just as welcoming. Double French doors opened to allow her free entry into his office. "Forgive me while I finish my tea," the man said with a wince and a hand to his temple. "It's... been a morning."

“You’re telling me,” replied Iris wearily as she entered the office and chose a chair opposite the Professor. “And unfortunately, I don’t bring good news. Well, it’s not really bad, either, just… puzzling.”

Setting his teacup down, Xavier made ready to give Iris his full attention. It was clearly no idle matter on her mind. "Oh? Do tell me of this puzzle. Perhaps we may solve it together."

“It first happened in DC,” she told him. “I… I don’t know how to explain it. A sentinel shot me. I was desperately trying to be invisible and… the shots just sort of went through me. I felt them going through me. And then they hit the ground in front of me. I was too stunned to think about it. And I spent all morning trying to duplicate it. I went through a table and a chair.” She paused for a moment. “Is… does this mean there is more to my powers?” she asked.

"Perhaps it does," the Professor said with a thoughtful rub to his chin. "Secondary mutations are not unheard of. You have been developing your abilities for some time now, you were in a stressful environment, and you had a clear intention for your abilities to manifest. We could attempt to duplicate the scenario in the Danger Room, but that you were able to perform them outside of a stressful situation is most curious indeed. Think carefully and tell me if there were any other details which were different at the time."

Iris had to think about that for a moment. In DC, she had been terrified and just a few minutes ago, she had been frustrated. But what else? Was there a common thread? And then it occurred to her. “When the Sentinel shot at me, I had accepted that was going to die,” she said. “I was terrified, but I knew there was nothing I could do. And just now, I was frustrated, but accepted that it wasn’t going to work. I was about to give up.”

"In other words, you yielded to it," the Professor summarized. "It may seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the greatest force of will is accessed through yielding. The precipitation cycle of water which gives us rainfall sees the states of water do that very thing, alternatively yielding to forces of evaporation, condensation, buoyancy, and gravity. If your power is one that must act upon you rather than be acted upon, you will find most success in yielding to it. And I would say that since your default state for so long was to remain unnoticed, that would almost certainly be the case."

Iris nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “Just let it happen. Looks like I’ve got some practicing to do.”

"Connor has taken to his duties as team leader quite spectacularly," the Professor said, "and he has had a knack for programming the Danger Room since he first arrived. If you want to pursue this, I recommend utilizing the Danger Room whose computer can monitor every detail and add it to your file."

“He’s a good leader,” agreed Iris. “I’ll have to go talk to him.” She paused a moment, then said, “when I went to see Bobby a few days ago, he was visiting Reed Richards. Mr. Richards said something about… something or other uncertainty principle. Hindenburg or something. He said it could explain my powers. Maybe learning about it would help?” she suggested.

The Professor smiled at the suggestion. "I would suppose he referred to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, a fundamental concept in Quantum Mechanics which essentially states the more accurately one property is measured, the less accurately another property can be known. When you track an object's momentum, you must be less precise in its location, and vice versa. That is a novel perspective on your gifts indeed." He continued to rub his chin in thought. "We may need to consult with Hank, Moira, or even Connor on this theory. As brilliant as Mr. Richards may be, he is the least experience with mutant research out of all of us."

“I don’t know,” joked Iris with a gleam in her eye. “I think I might know a little bit less than him.” She grinned impishly. “I’ll talk to Mr. McCoy, though. And Connor, of course. Heisenberg,” she repeated. “I knew it started with an H and ended with burg. Hindenburg is the blimp. Heisenberg. Heisenberg,” she repeated, committing the name to memory.

"The library contains a copy of his book, 'The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory'," the Professor offered, ignoring her joke save for a fond smile. "Although perhaps you would enjoy the original version 'Die Physikalischen Prinzipien der Quantentheorie'." He smirked at her, knowing her interest in the German language. "Copies of both are available in the science section."

“I might grab both of them,” she said with a grin. “Although something tells me it’ll be over my head no matter what.”

"Perhaps," Xavier said, "or your mutation may give you a profound insight. One never can tell with these things."

“That’s an exciting prospect,” agreed Iris. That she might be able to understand quantum physics because she was inadvertently practicing it was strange to think about, but thrilling all the same. “Well, that’s all I really wanted,” she added. “I’ll let you get back to work. Thanks, sir,” she added before leaving the office. She had to go find Connor.