Enigma meets Caveman

Posted on Fri Jun 2nd, 2023 @ 11:42am by Aurora Summers & Connor Bruin

2,359 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 2: Northern X-Posure
Location: Xavier’s school
Timeline: August 8th, 1990

After what they’d been through on the blackbird, Aurora wanted to properly introduce herself to the man who’d practically saved her life by jumping in front of Deadpool. Connor had gotten himself hurt because of her so she wanted to thank him for what he’d done. Tracking Connor down in the common area, she offered a warm smile as she approached him.

“You’re Connor, right?” She smiled warmly. “I’m Aurora.”

Connor had been waving his spoon over the sun's reflection off the window. The light was distorted in a way that would be expected when transitioning from one medium to another, such as from water into air, but aside from the polarization effect of glass, no such distortion should be taking place. The wavelength of the light was unaffected, hence the lack of refracted colors, nor had the brightness diminished much, hence the blinding quality. So... what was different about it? Perhaps it was the equilateral delta of the angle of incidence relative to ...

He heard his name.

"I'm Aurora."

At first Connor snapped his head to fully look at her, but only as one might a foghorn blast or a train wreck. Once he made eye contact, it became too overwhelming -- her mane of crimson hair the color of sunsets, the emerald pools for eyes with shifting black ovals that adjusted from the light ever so slightly, the loose strands of hair that jostled as her speech moved her head, the curve of her pert lips which spread into a smile. The emotive values of all these micro-expressions and nuanced motions were like a loud vaudeville act for Connor.

"Ah!"

Turning his head to one side, Connor briefly gave Aurora a sidelong glance and then grinned. Peripheral vision was better because it filtered her radiant face like tinted glass on a window. Ultimately, though, he looked down and fumbled with the speech-generating device which hung around his neck.

"HI. AURORA." The words were stilted as Connor typed them out one letter at a time. His next sentence was selected from among several preloaded statements. It was an almost normal cadence, but the device could not duplicate natural inflection perfectly. "MY NAME IS CONNOR. I AM CLINICALLY NONVERBAL."

Aurora smiled and nodded. She wasn’t going to treat Connor any different simply because he didn’t speak. “I understand, I don’t know what your abilities are, but if it helps I’m a telepath among other things.”

Despite his lack of speech, Connor expressed clear skepticism. He sharply turned his head to the other side and stared at her with another sidelong look with narrowed eyes.

~If she were truly telepathic, then she would know that I am distracting myself from her divinely beautiful visage by calculating the ratio between the wavelength and frequency of the red light reflecting from her fiery hair~ Connor scrunched his nose as he became lost in his calculation. ~Approximately 72 trillion to 1~

Aurora didn’t pry into people’s thoughts if she could help it, but Connor was concentrating so hard on what was he working out that he was practically screaming it at her. “That’s in hertz over nanometers, whatever that means” She grinned. “I’m sorry your mind is practically screaming your calculations at me.”

"OH!" The sheer surprise made Connor's jaw fall agape. ~You really are a telepath~ he thought just as strong. ~Like the Professor~ He immediately wondered what else she may have gleaned from his thoughts and immediately tried to suppress the more incriminating ones. ~Can you hear me now?~

Aurora nodded. ~Yes, I can hear you. You communicate so much easier this way.~

The effort Connor put into not blushing was entirely futile. If anything, it only reddened his cheeks more. ~Yes, the Professor has aided me in overcoming my attention deficit challenges through regular mental exercises. If only everyone were telepathic, or if I only I could be. I do find it the most efficient form of language expression~ He paused for a moment to still his auto-stimulating hand gestures. Giving up, he ultimately shoved them into his pockets. ~I apologize if you 'overheard' anything untoward. I am told I can be quite brutal in my honesty, even more so than in my physical gestures~

Aurora was the one who blushed this time. ~I was trying not to eavesdrop on what you were thinking, but...~ she gave Connor a bashful look. ~I’m not annoyed that you find me attractive. I’m honoured, I really am.~

~Attraction is difficult to quantify~ Connor seemed genuinely confused. ~My observations were of a more definable nature. Your appearance bears a natural symmetry that goes beyond koinophilia into the gematria of artistic expression~ While his inner voice explained his meaning, the stream of consciousness summoned images of sculptures from the Acropolis of Athens, portraits from Le Louvre in Paris, even the famous mural of the Sistine Chapel. ~Were I a person of artistic disposition, I would likely be inclined to immortalize you in one of my works. Alas, I am but a thinker~ Not realizing Aurora had been blushing all this time, Connor misinterpreted her blushing cheeks as illness related. ~Are you not well? You appear flushed~

Aurora gave a bashful look. ~ Ohh no err...it’s just no one’s ever compared me to fine works of art before! Has anyone ever told you how charming you are? Because you are. ~

~Charming?~ Connor was incredulous. ~Never. The qualifier with which I have been most often described is 'challenging', a cruel irony for someone with diagnosed physical challenges when you really think about it~ Abandoning his peripheral stare for a direct gaze, Connor widened his eyes and cocked his head 45 degrees like a bird, searching for context clues. ~Am I vexing you? I apologize for any offense~

~No offence taken, it must be difficult and frustrating for you around those who can’t share your thoughts~ Aurora smiled. ~It’s nice to be able to talk to you like this~

~It's a pity that homo sapiens did not evolve telepathic communication eons ago~ Connor mused. ~Perhaps there would have been fewer wars because we understand one another~ A dark frown took over his face. ~Or perhaps there would be more wars if we understood one another perfectly. We are all at war with ourselves, after all~ His feet propelled him in the air with three quick involuntary hops where the balls of his feet barely cleared the ground. ~Case in point?~

Aurora nodded. ~I guess people fear us mutants because we’re the next step in the Human evolutionary chain. I guess I’d be afraid to, not that I’d treat people any differently.~

~Why wouldn't they fear us in principle?~ Connor mused. ~Old links get displaced by new links all the time. The most peaceful example of this would be through interbreeding, but more violent means involve passive conflict like the monopolization of resources or even displacement through aggressive force. The Professor is as much of an intellectual aberration of nature as he is a genetic one with his dream of peaceful cohabitation between humans and mutants. We are twice fortunate to be under his tutelage~

~We are indeed~ Aurora nodded and smiled. ~This is as much of a home as I’ve ever had. I’ve gotten used to living on the streets, and in sewers with other mutants who hide away from humanity. I want to learn just what I can do, and use it to help others.~

Connor balked at that. ~You already know what you can do. Or is your mutation more than telepathy?~

Aurora nodded. ~I can do this~ She looked for a light item to lift and used her telekinesis to gently lift it and put it back down. ~I can’t lift heavy things yet, I get nose bleeds if I put too much effort into it. I also flame on, as one of the bad guys put it! That’s pretty new, I don’t have a lot of control over it yet.~

~Telepathy, psychokinesis, and pyrokinesis...~ Connor pressed his point fingers against the sides of either eye as he focused on the conundrum. ~What an unusual combination of mutant expressions, unless...~ What was one inner voice became a cacophony of different trains of thought running concurrently through Connor's mind. Several phrases sounded louder than others as the different thought processes overlapped.

~...double slit experiment...~

~...quantum superposition...~

~...wave-particle duality...~

~...collapse the wavefunction...~

~...observant zero-point field...~

~...modulating condensate of zero-point field...~

~...resultant phenomenon...~

As he came to his conclusion, Connor stared at Aurora wide-eyed. ~If you can affect matter with your mind at the quantum state, then perhaps you are catalyzing a spontaneous emission as noted in Quantum Field Theory. If so, then you are not creating fire in terms of combustion but compelling the vacuum between particles to produce virtual particles that are super-charged into the form of plasma, the state of matter beyond gas. That would explain the immense difficulty~ Connor was rapidly slipping into his inner world of unlimited possibilities. ~We could test it if we put you inside a vacuum chamber... or perhaps outer space...~

Aurora nodded. ~A vacuum chamber...okay, but outer space! How on Earth would we do that? Are you telling me the Blackbird can fly into outer space?~ She looked at Connor curiously. ~Plus how would I breathe? Any suit I’d wear would go up in flames!~

~Blackbird? Outer space? Of course not. The Blackbird is a stealth jet, not a space shuttle~ Connor started giggling at the thought of the Blackbird getting launched from a rocket. ~Maybe we can work something out in the Danger Room, but the Professor won't let me program anything by myself yet~

~That’s not surprising; you’re a student, not a teacher.~ Aurora smiled. ~We should run these ideas past the Professor anyway, just to be safe. I’d rather have his approval especially as I’m new here.~

Connor nodded vigorously. ~Indubitably. The Danger Room cannot be accessed without his permission anyway~ Cocking his head to the side again, Connor stared intently, looked away, and then stared peripherally as he did before. ~You smile a lot. Why?~

~Why?~ Aurora shrugged her shoulders. ~I guess it’s because I’ve finally found somewhere where I feel I truly belong. Living underground in the sewers there wasn’t really much to smile about. Now look at me! Look at this place, it’s amazing!! Plus the Professor is going to help me to learn to control my abilities, life is good!~

~Sewers?~ The look on Connor's face was that of utmost revulsion. ~How could a person even live in a sewer? It is inconducive to habitation for even rodent-sized creatures. Have you been checked for diseases? Hepatitis can be fatal!~

~They cleared me when I got here~ Aurora offered a wry smile. ~I mainly used to try and hide away in the storm drains except for in storm season of course. You’d be surprised how many mutants hide away underground out of fear of persecution~

~Someone should help them~ Connor's altruistic passion turned sour when he looked at the gash in his shoulder that had been mostly healed by the advanced autodoc machines down in the Mansion's secret infirmary, but he knew it would take several weeks of stretching and exercise to get back to normal. ~But I suppose one of help themselves first~

~They don’t trust outsiders Connor, no matter how much they come with good intentions.~ Aurora offered a worried glance. ~Are you healing alright? That wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t saved me.~

Connor shrugged at both the insight that the sewer folk wouldn't trust outsiders and her statement that he may not have been injured had he not intervened. ~It was the swordsman's intention to maim and kill us all. The probability of him attempting to impale me was not significantly affected by my intervention~

As he considered possibilities, though, Connor began to imagine the different outcomes. ~Had I not intervened, then you would have been struck down. We would not be talking now. Your smile would no longer outshine the sun~

Connor's mind was overcome a morose daydream of standing over a burial site with a deceased Aurora laying in an open coffin. Storm clouds swirled overhead as a bolt of lightning, heralded by a peal of thunder, split the clouds and sent torrential rain upon Connor's uncovered head. Somewhere a sad bell tolled.

~Fortuin unto the world that you remain to brighten it~ Connor's daydream shifted to a field of wildflowers where Aurora skipped along with starbursts streaming from her face. ~I have injured myself before. Were I to suffer future wounds, would they be for such a grand purpose and not from clumsiness~

Aurora couldn’t help but smile. ~You speak like a true romantic Connor, you’re very kind thank you. I guess I should let you get on with what you’re doing.~ she said it almost reluctantly, she was enjoying Connor’s company.

~I'm clinically nonverbal~ Connor reminded her. ~It leaves me to puzzle out mysteries that go ignored or even unobserved by most people. Hence my study of the light on my spoon~ He pulled it back out of his pocket and examined its curvature, assessing the angle of the beveled edge and wondering how it could model the spacetime...~ Pulling himself back from the brink, Connor remembered he had been communicating with Aurora and tried not to get frustrated with himself. ~ Sorry... I got distracted. But it is a delight to communicate in this way. Contact me anytime that I am not in private seclusion such as the bathroom~

Aurora nodded. ~Of course, it’s been nice getting to know you Connor. Anytime you need a friend, you know where to find me.~

~No, I don't~ Connor looked at her with a puzzled expression. ~Where would I find you?~

Aurora grinned. ~Of course! I’ll be right here at the Mansion, I’m staying on as a student. See you around Connor.~

{OFF}

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