Cerebro

[367]

USING CEREBRO

Emma Frost has had enough.

With the situation continuing to escalate, as the marks change and spread, and magical forces emerging as a potential cause of their current circumstances, they're in need of answers more than ever. Answers about the still mentally missing Charles Xavier. Answers about the entity that had supposedly branded them with otherworldly magic. Answers about what's happening to herself and her friends. And she intends to find them.

She passes through the metal doors with Kitty Pryde -- who will be monitoring Cerebro -- and Manuel de la Rocha -- who will be monitoring her -- shortly after classes end for the day, prepared to put on the helmet and interface with the device that will magnify her mental powers exponentially. The metal doors close and seal behind them and the trio prepares, getting to work while the rest of the team waits somewhere outside.

This day is a long time coming.

As Cerebro comes to life, her telepathic awareness swells, reaching across miles and miles as she begins her search. For a long time, there's nothing but the cacophonous noise of thousands of minds that are within her reach but which must be ignored as she continues forward. Her mind expands further and reaches farther as Kitty adjusts the sensitivity of Cerebro. Minutes roll into hours and the device hums and Emma's telepathic ability is beginning to buckle under the strain. It seems like there may be nothing to find.

Until...

The familiar sense of Charles Xavier's mind. Muted and impossibly far away from her body, but near to her mind. Close enough to reach out and touch. But the man's focus is turned from her and she finds herself a passenger as he attempts to navigate (or guide?) the mind of something else. Something vast and powerful and...confused.

Something that, unfortunately, notices her before Charles does.

Suddenly, her telepathic awareness seems to turn on her and the only mind she sees is her own reflected back to her in endless, distorted, disorienting patterns. She tries to withdraw but her mind is reeling and there's a mounting sense of panic. She tries to break free instead, wildly, ferociously--

Then the helmet is pulled off and she comes slamming back into her body, breathless. Manuel is at her side, the helmet still in his hands, and Kitty rushes over to join them, asking if she's all right and pressing a tissue under Emma's bleeding nose.

Whatever had happened to her, it seems to be over now.

THE AFTERMATH

In total, Emma Frost spent a little over two hours utilizing Cerebro. Even for Charles, this would've been an unusually long time to make use of the device. But she'd been determined to find something. She will spend several days after plagued by an intense migraine. Whether this has to do with her encounter or just her use of Cerebro is unclear. Either way, she may've overdone it a bit...

Unfortunately, Emma is unable to determine a precise physical location where she had encountered Charles' mental presence. Given his disembodied status, this would be a difficult feat. The other entity, however, seemed to have been tethered to something physical and something quite far from them. She didn't get a clear enough read to pinpoint them, but is fairly confident she could given more time and less psychic interference.

The following day, Kitty Pryde(*) and Manuel de la Rocha(*) discover that their marks have also changed. Kitty actually catches her mark in the act after feeling a faint pulsing on the back of her neck. She'll have a brief opportunity to glimpse it in the mirror or find someone to be her eyes and watch it for her. Regardless, the silvery substance seems to gather together before spreading out in deliberate lines like something is writing on her skin before it settles in again. It's done in a matter of seconds.

USING CEREBRO ⮾ THE AFTERMATH ⮾ OOC

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