Where to go from here

[Lindy Rudd]

Lindy thought about what she read for a moment. A professor, in a chatroom? She was expecting students, but never one of the teachers. Ever curious, she went back to typing.

wvgirl11: Oh, ok. I'm 11 years old and a girl. I live in West Virginia, in a town called Monongah. It's not very big, but that's ok. I like it.

Thinking a little more, she typed in another line.

wvgirl11: I don't really want to say what my power is, since my dad told me not to tell anyone. But he has powers too. He can heal quickly.

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Hereditary strains? Vipul rocked back in his chair and thought about it. Usually the X-genes didn't actively express themselves in parents and children alike. This was an interesting case.

Tamillionaire2000: Wow that is very special. Very few mutants have parents who are also mutants.

Taking another bite of soup, he continued.

Tamillionaire2000: Are you planning on coming to visit our campus?

[Lindy Rudd]

At that Lindy frowned.

wvgirl11: I don't think so. My dad says that private school is expensive, and so is the gas to get to New York. I'd like to visit sometime, just to look around, but I don't think he would ever agree to that either.

wvgirl11: He said earlier that he wonders if there is a cure for his power at Cullen's. The school doesn't do that, does it?

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Vipul thought about it for a moment, and began typing again.

Tamillionaire2000: Actually, our school is funded by donations. We are very fortunate to have people with us who are very helpful to mutants everywhere.

Also, if you're having trouble making the trip, we can take care of your travel needs. If you decide to visit, let us know and we can help.

Vipul's smile faded somewhat at her other line. He continued to type.

Tamillionaire2000: Your dad is worried about his powers. A lot of us were, and some of us still are. That's okay. The changes that happen to us are very strange and are sometimes really scary. It's not wrong to want to go back to the way you were.

Right now, there isn't a way to do that, but we help people who are scared to cope with themselves too.

[Lindy Rudd]

A sigh, and she cast a look about before going back to her conversation.

wvgirl11: I don't think he's scared. He just said he doesn't want to be different.

Truth be told, she didn't know of any time that her Dad had ever been scared of anything.

Well, except for when her Mom died.

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Tamillionaire2000: That's very natural. In fact, that's why so many of us are here at Cullen's Institute. It's tough sometimes when you're the only mutant you know in your home town. At the school, we're sort of all a big community, and its easy to find people who share what you've gone through.

Vipul finished off the soup, setting the empty bowl aside as another track played.

Tamillionaire2000: If you're not quite ready to make the trip, I can come and talk to you and your dad as well, if you like.

[Lindy Rudd]

Even though the conversation was taking place over the internet, Lindy balked at what he'd written. Him come here? To Monongah?

wvgirl11: I don't think that's a good idea. My Dad would get angry.

She knew the professor meant well, but odds were good that her Dad wouldn't take kindly to the sudden arrival of some stranger from New York showing up on their doorstep and trying to convince him that going to Cullen's was a good idea.

wvgirl11: Thank you though.

It was kind of him, but she knew it'd probably be best if he stayed right where he was.

[Vipul Chandrashekar]

Vipul shrugged. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

Tamillionaire2000: That's ok. If you change your mind, feel free to email me. Were their any other questions you had about the school?

[Lindy Rudd]

She looked over at the wall-mounted clock, remembering that her Dad was going to be returning shortly.

wvgirl11: I can't think of anything to ask. I was just curious about the school, since my Dad had heard about it on the radio and mentioned it.

Reaching over, she gathered her printouts together, then returned to the chatroom window.

wvgirl11: Thank you for talking to me. It was fun.

Her Dad was due back very soon, and without any further farewells, Lindy closed down the chat and exited out of the internet browser.

She folded her new reading materials carefully so that no names showed, and getting up from her seat, she started for the front of the Library.

[Randall Rudd]

"You ready?"

Randall waited on her in the library's lobby. He smiled at her, but looked burdened and a bit preoccupied. Fred had finished up his work, and the results were in a felt pouch, tucked deeply in Randall's pocket. What he was going to do with those results was now the hard part.

[Lindy Rudd]

Giving him a smile, Lindy quickened her pace and gripped her folded papers a little more tightly.

"Yeah."

As she came up to him, she took hold of his hand.

They stepped outside, and Lindy looked up at him as they headed for the truck.

"What did Fred say?"

[Randall Rudd]

Randall waited until they were back in the pickup, and closed the door. Making sure Lindy's seatbelt was fastened, he cranked the car and shifted into reverse to back out onto the thoroughfare.

"It's a diamond, sure 'nuff. Fred said jus' under ten carats, after the cut."

[Lindy Rudd]

She knew it! She knew it was real! The thought of being able to make diamonds made her grin unexpectadly, as she imagined her Dad possibly being able to not have to work anymore. Without thinking, she spoke up again.

"Is ten carats a lot? Like, will we get enough money from it to let us take a trip to New York?"

[Randall Rudd]

Still a bit shook up by it, Randall answered her excited question.

"Pumpkin, that thing's worth more'n your daddy makes in four years."

He was just as excited as she was, but equally tempered with dread. How on earth would he sell this? What if somebody else found out he had it before he did? Could he actually take the money and keep Lindy safe?

[Lindy Rudd]

"Four years?!"

Lindy stared wide-eyed out the window.

"Are you gonna try and sell it then? And if you do, what're you gonna do with the money?"

She had an idea.

"I could make more, and you wouldn't have to work anymore, and we could live in a new house... "

She gave him a sidelong look, too curious to hold back.

"... or maybe even I could go to that school?"

[Randall Rudd]

Randall drummed his fingers on the wheel, saying nothing. The silence broke after a minute.

"A'ight. I'll sell that one. Fred ought to be able to get us a buyer without us gettin' all twisted up in this fuss. Then..."

He looked at Lindy.

"...we'll go up to New York."

[Wren Baker]

The drive to West Virginia had been a quiet one, interrupted only by a few stops to rest and refuel. The radio remained untouched and silent, and the only sounds to be heard were those of the tires on the road. How long had it been since she'd been back to Monongah? More than a few years at the least. She'd always tried to visit a few times every few years, but in the last five things had been hectic; travel to the Middle East, China, and anywhere else the company had sent her to. It was only a matter of time before she knew she'd be burned out, and apparently that time had come. And now it was back to her hometown. She'd left straightaway after high school to look for bigger and better things outside of Monongah, but it seemed that life was bringing her back.

For good, she hoped.

Easing her car onto the offramp that led into Monongah, Wren Baker - her mother had been an avid bird-lover, and Wren bore the fruits of that love - lifted her foot from the gas pedal and drifted down the incline towards an unassuming stop sign. A left turn, and she accelerated once again along the overpass.

Another fifteen minutes down the two-lane county road, trees on both sides, and she finally saw the first signs of the town. It seemed like it'd not changed at all, and she smiled.

She made a few stops here and there to say hello to old friends, catching up on the town news and who had moved away or who had had children. Of course it didn't take long for the subject of Shirly-Faye to come up, and Wren's face fell at the news of her death two years previous. The two had been best friends back in high school, teasing one another about the boys that they had crushes on, sleeping over at each other's houses, and the normal stuff that teenage girls did together. The last time they'd seen each other was when Shirley-Faye gave birth to Lindy. Eleven years. It was a long time to be gone for anyone.

And so, with such news weighing heavily upon her, Wren set off once more, this time with her destination firmly in mind. It took about half an hour to reach the Rudd home, and as she pulled up the long drive that led to the doublewide, she frowned.

There were no vehicles parked. No one had said anything about Randall moving, so odds were good that he was simply out. The lights were off inside, and as she killed the engine, Wren opened the door and stood up.

She'd wait. She was a patient person; always had been.

Walking over to the front steps, Wren lowered herself to sit. Randall would be back at some point, and she would be here waiting for him.

[Lindy Rudd]

As they drove, Lindy chattered on about how neat it would be to go to the school in New York, and it didn't take long for her to unfold her printouts. As they were stopped at a red light, she held the first page up.

"It's called Cullen's. I looked it up on the internet at the library."

[Randall Rudd]

Randall took the paper, skimming it briefly before the light turned green. He didn't seem enthralled about the idea, but he could tell that Lindy was.

"What 'xactly are you gon' be learnin' there that you can't learn nowhere else?"

The truck continued down the road, as they headed up the mountain to get back home.

"I ain't gon' have you fallin' behind on yer school on account of learnin' about whatever it is we do."

[Lindy Rudd]

Lindy thumbed through her papers until she got to the one that had the school's coursework.

"The teach all the stuff that regular schools teach, so I wouldn't get behind in anything."

Her Dad was being cautious for good reason, she knew, but still. Couldn't he be a little excited?

"And the other stuff they teach, like about your powers and stuff, they help you learn about them and control them.

"That's what the professor that I talked to said."