I13DT - Mendel's Nightmare

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 8:07 am

A young man from X-Corp knocked on Nailah's office door. His name, given when he'd made the appointment, was Aaron Breckenridge. He had a small, soft-sided briefcase in one hand and was dressed in a suit that was probably a little out of fashion, but still managed to look professional.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:12 pm

"Come in, Mister Breckenridge." she says, vaguely annoyed because they had refused to tell her why they were so set on bothering her instead of the usual X-Corp liaisons.

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:14 pm

He opened the door, shutting it behind himself once he was in the room. "Thank you for agreeing to see me, Miss Weaver," he said. His accent marked him as being from the London office. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but this is a rather sensitive matter."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:36 pm

"Apparently so, seeing how this couldn't be discussed over the phone."

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:43 pm

He took a seat and opened his briefcase. "This is in regards to Miranda Savage. When dealing with a missing person case like this, X-Corp works closely with the facility on Muir to conduct genetic testing of the individual in hopes of finding possible ethnic origin and to look for possible mutation anomalies that could pose a threat to the individual or give us some sort of family relationship. Muir has a somewhat extensive research database to this end, which is why we work with them."

Having finished his opening speech, he pulled out a piece of paper labeled "Miranda" and passed it to Nailah. Some points were highlighted such as 'X-Gene: Positive' and 'Expressed X-Gene: Positive'. "Using the testing, we confirmed that she does indeed carry an active X-gene."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:47 pm

She glances over it, then looks up at Mister Breckenridge again.

"Amazing, you've determined that she is, in fact, a mutant. That really couldn't have been handled over the phone."

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:52 pm

Breckenridge looked a little hurt, and pulled out some more pieces of paper. "The other tests are where the wheels fell off. In that testing, we discovered that, like everyone, her DNA is a combination of her two parents, but Muir already had her parents in their system." He handed over another piece of paper with the several more sections highlighted. This one was labeled "DNA Comparison Testing Results":

Code: Select all: Parental DNA comparable to the following: Nailah Weaver (Mother) Samantha McManus (Father)

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 12:59 pm

"Okay, couple of things that don't make a lot of sense right there..."

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:05 pm

"I understand that. It didn't make sense to use either. Which is why I had Muir rerun the test and then we ran a couple of tests in our own labs to verify results. Granted there are some other genetic modifications, we're 99% certain of this result at this point. I wouldn't be here if we weren't."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:10 pm

"Okay I know for a fact I have never been drunk enough to forget about something like this! Besides, our tests have told us that she's about 16 years old!"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:15 pm

"As I said, there are some other genetic modifications of the sort we usually find with engineered organisms or individuals. I typically hate to guess, but if I had to guess, they accelerated her growth in some manner and then reverted the changes once she'd reached..." He flipped through some other papers. "Effective Age 11 or 12, though the margin of error on that determination is uncomfortably large. Doing that would have wildly unpredictable results and it's likely a fluke that they ended up with a well-formed human being at all."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:18 pm

"You're telling me they grew her in a lab somehow?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:22 pm

"That is the most likely thing. They somehow obtained genetic material from you and Miss McManus and have managed to cobble together not only a functional human being but a functional mutant. It would be a fascinating development if it weren't handled in so ghoulish a manner."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:31 pm

"Yes. Fascinating." she deadpans. "So you're telling me that Miranda is my and Sam's biological daughter, no ifs or buts?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:33 pm

"Well, the test isn't perfectly 100% certain, but we're 99.99% certain that yes, that is the case. You can see now why I didn't want to address this over the phone."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:50 pm

"Oh yes, I do." she says, picking up her phone and dialing Sam's number.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:52 pm

She picks up on her office phone, recognizing the caller ID.

"Hello, love?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:53 pm

Breckenridge fidgets uncomfortably in his seat, but otherwise waits politely.

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:54 pm

"Hi. Say, do you have a moment? There's somebody in my office who has something rather important to tell you."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:55 pm

"Should I come in person?"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:56 pm

"Oh absolutely, yes. This isn't something you'd want to address over the phone."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:57 pm

"I'll be right over then, love."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 1:59 pm

"Just a moment." she tells Mister Breckenridge with a forced smile as she hangs up the phone.

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:01 pm

"That's fine. I can appreciate that this is a lot to take in."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:09 pm

A short time later, the headmistress pokes her head through the doorway, dressed in her usual professional attire.

"Shall I be sitting down for this?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:14 pm

Breckenridge stood up when Sam stuck her head in. "Aaron Breckenridge. I'm with X-Corp's Research Division," he said, extending his hand.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:16 pm

"A pleasure to meet you," she says, stepping into the room and shaking his hand. "A bit of an odd venue, isn't it?"

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:28 pm

"You probably do want to sit down for this."

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:28 pm

"Alright then," she says, taking a seat near Nailah's desk.

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:31 pm

"So as I was telling Miss Weaver..." He said before launching into his speech again.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:34 pm

"...it didn't occur to you to perhaps start with 'we think you have a daughter'?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:36 pm

"Well... I'm a scientist. I can't make such a pronouncement without laying out my reasoning," he said, maybe a little too defensively. He obviously wasn't used to presenting findings like this.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:41 pm

"I trust X-Corp's research, believe me. It's simply... that's the part we have to cope with, aye?"

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 2:52 pm

"I... yes. I understand that."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 3:45 pm

"Is that all Mister... Scientist Guy?" she asks, looking a little pale by now.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 3:51 pm

"...I'm certain if there are any more developments, Mister Breckenridge will keep us posted."

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 4:34 pm

"We will, of course. Our investigation will continue, but we thought it important to get these findings to you." He pulled out a card and put it on Nailah's desk. "If you need something or have questions, you can call the number on the card and I'll do what I can to answer them."

by **Nailah Weaver** » Fri May 30, 2014 4:41 pm

"What I need is an extra strong drink..."

by **Narrator** » Fri May 30, 2014 4:43 pm

"Um, I'll leave you to that then," he said, excusing himself and exiting.

by **Samantha McManus** » Fri May 30, 2014 4:44 pm

"...why is it that whenever we find out we have a daughter, she's already a teenager?"

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