The X-Project

For those wondering about the noise last night, it seems Topaz's empathy triggered while she was asleep and Molly reacted to it by destroying a window. We have determined the bleed was accidental and therefor will not be pursuing any disciplinary action.

The girls are fine, but as a precaution we will be moving Topaz in with Maddie to her and Hope's suite. Maddie's shields should prevent a similar issue from happening in the future.

Please contact myself or the professor if you have any further questions.

I know some of you have noticed Hope's spells seem to be getting worse, and some of her peers have expressed concern too. Today I found her passed out in the hall between classes and we had a discussion about the potential root cause of the episodes. From that conversation I was left with the impression that her manifestations are tied very closely to anxiety, unhappiness, and other negative emotions she is prone to internalizing. This is in part due to her additional course-load and complicated by certain family dynamics. She was drained after the conversation so I instructed her to take the rest of the day off.

The professor has just finished a very long phonecall to Hope's parents about giving her some space and how detrimental it would be to remove her from the school at this point. It's our hope that they will take his advice to heart and give her some time to breathe.

Please watch Hope in class for the next few weeks. If the spells continue to be frequent or worsen please tell me or the professor. Because Hope is very private with her emotions it's difficult to gauge her stress-level, so at the moment her level of control may be the most reliable way to assess her state of mind.

Does anyone know what's going on with Laurie's mother? I'm feeling better, but I've been spending most of the day dipping in and out of consciousness and it looks like I missed something. Is everything all right?

All right. I need help. The kids' morale right now is . . . not so good. I mean, Angelo had to talk Yvette out from under her bed the other day. That sums up the atmosphere pretty well.

We need to do something for them, but I don't know what. Keeping them informed helps, but it only does so much. Especially when we don't have much to pass on. They need a distraction. Not "don't pretend this isn't happening," but "this is what's going on, but we're in it together." Something to do with themselves and their teachers besides sit and wait.

Does anyone have any ideas? Anything?

I've spoken with the girl found with Marius and Jennie. Her name is Yvette Petrovic, and she's originally from Kosovo. It seems that when she manifested she was taken from her mother by people representing (or claiming to represent) the government. The last thing she has any solid memory of is being placed in some kind of creche with other children, and her mother trying to reclaim her -- then it's a blur. Given the kind of things it's possible she endured this might be for the best, at least initially. In my experience she'll remember things when she's ready, but until then, don't press her for the details. She doesn't really have any to give yet, and being reminded of that is just going to make her more distressed. With time and therapy, though, this should pass.

Yvette was able to give us the name and last known address of her mother in Kosovo; Charles is going to try and get in touch with her -- until then we can't officially name her a student one way or another. So that's still uncertain. However, after consulting with Charles and the doctors it should be noted this particular presentation of her power is probably psychosomatic; her initial manifestation seems to have been different, or at least less severe. There's a fairly good possibility the sharpness was an instinctual defense against the trauma she suffered, and if that's true -- her powers are potentially controllable, and she would benefit from the school's help. More, she wants to learn. It's unsure as to whether or not she'll end up with us, but if she does . . . I think there's the real possibility of a good result. For now, though, we'll try to get in touch with her mother and go from there.

Charles and the doctors (and I) think that it's probably better if she didn't remain in Medlab any longer than possible, and she's really not in terrible shape physically, all things considered, but her mutation makes the situation a little difficult. For a start, she's gone through her mattress, the tiles, and parts of the ventilation system. Apparently leather seemed to hold up better than cotton, but reassigning her the clothes she came here with would probably be a little, um . . . several words come to mind, but I'll settle for "inappropriate." Does anyone know of anything more durable and less likely to make the students question our off-duties even more we might be able to give her?

For those who heard the noise from the suite: Scott's all right. Without going into too much detail, he's been having a rough time lately and needed the chance to vent. He has, and everything's under control now. He'll be staying in one of the guestrooms if anyone absolutely needs to get in touch with him, but for the time being I think it may be better to give him a little space.