The X-Project

Charles, fellow staff;

I briefed Scott last night as soon as we got back, and I'll brief the rest of you in the staff meeting room tonight at 6pm, but I'm sure you've all heard versions of the story by now.

The important thing is that Alex is back with us. However, he's going to be extremely fragile, both emotionally and mentally, after what Selene has put him through, and I don't know what sort of effect she's had on him physically.

I'm sorry it came to this. The party was never intended to place anyone in any danger. I rather suspect we've made a new enemy in Selene, which makes my position in the White Court all the more vital, and I will be looking to name a White King to fortify my standing in the club.

Scott, I think word of Alex's return has spread already, but I'll leave it to you to make a formal announcement about it.

Emma.

Enough of the cheerleading. Charles; colleagues; I'm on my way home, and I'm bringing company. A young man by the name of Manuel de la Rocha, and an old 'friend', Shinobi Shaw.

For the past month, I have been a prisoner of Sebastian Shaw. He has been using a team of telepaths to attempt to steal information from me for the construction of new mutant-location technology for use in his Sentinel programme. I don't know how much information Shaw was able to get, but I do know that I'm still alive, so he can't have got everything he needed.

The telepaths who were working on me have been disposed of, with the exception of Manuel, a young empath who was being forced against his will to use his powers to break down my psi-shields. While I'm not normally the forgiving type, if it weren't for Manuel I might never have escaped, and I have read his mind closely and believe he is worth saving. His father is a member of the Hellfire Club, but Manuel is an innocent. I hope we can find room for him at the school. I will take responsibility for his guardianship.

Shinobi is the son of Sebastian Shaw. Poor Peter is being deliciously paranoid about that little detail, of course, but I don't think we have any cause to worry. We met Shinobi as we were conducting our escape and made use of his vehicle to facilitate our escape. During the journey, I made a full reading of the younger Shaw's mind. He is not in league with his father. He hates the man almost as much as I do. Shinobi and I have much to discuss, and to that end, he will now be my guest at the school for a little while. I trust we will make all reasonable efforts to accomodate him.

Physically, I am well. Mentally, I don't know if any lasting damage has been done. The persons responsible for this indignity have already begun to pay, but we're not done yet, not by a long shot. Shaw and his Sentinel programme will be destroyed, and to that end, I fully intend to wrest full control of the Hellfire Club from my enemies. Let this serve as notice.

I am Emma Frost. I am the White Queen. And I am Hellfire. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to make this world a better one for our 'generation X'. I will not be caught unprepared a third time.

It's early, but as always I'm awake anyway at this ridiculous hour, so I might as well get this out of the way.

Prior to the summer term, Hank, Betsy and myself attended the unveiling of Sebastian Shaw's new mutant sensor hardware, one part of what he said was a government mandated attempt to 'address the mutant issue' once and for all. He made it quite clear in his television appearances at that time that his methods for addressing the mutant issue might easily be termed a 'final solution'. (Lest we forget, Shaw is himself a mutant, though not openly.)

At the same time that Shaw unveiled his new hardware, Stryker was leading an attack on this school, the direct outcome of which (among other things) was a confrontation between Charles and the President, which in turn led the President to spike the Shaw contract, at least officially.

Unofficially, Shaw and the Pentagon were still very much in contact with regards to this matter, as my own investigations made clear. When Ms Pryde turned up files containing schematics for these robotic weapons called 'Sentinels', it fell into place. Shaw is creating mutant hunters. I needed confirmation, and my contact at Shaw Industries was going to provide it for me. After weeks of digging and amassing information, he turned up dead the other week, which was all the assurance I needed that - and I - had been on to something.

This weekend I went directly to the fountainhead. Haroun, Betsy and Jono were good enough to help me conduct a little light subterfuge at Shaw's New York offices to get the information we needed, and from there it was a matter of some urgency to get our hands on concrete evidence before Shaw could bury it. If necessary, I would have gone ahead with just Peter and Betsy at my side at this point, but Sarah and Jono were both willing to assist, and in my view as their guardian, it was appropriate for them to participate.

What we have discovered is that Shaw is working with the Pentagon to create machines that can locate and destroy mutants - and we have proof, including photographs and final design and weapons schematics. We must accept this as an absolute fact. What we do not know is whether the government is aware of the project, whether the government will sanction this project, or how this project might be implemented.

My suspicion is that these Sentinels will be used to enforce mutant registration, should the act ever be passed. However, it is conceivable that we'll see Sentinels in action before that time, either in tests, or in special 'anti-terror' actions authorized by Homeland Security. We must act before a reason can be found or fabricated to put these Sentinels into use. The machine we saw was not complete, but we have no reason to believe it was the first of its kind.

Jono and Sarah acquitted themselves admirably in unforeseeable circumstances. I would never have placed them in a position where I did not think they would be capable of handling themselves, and I strongly believe that among all our students, they are among the best equipped - both mentally and physically - for field operations. Indeed, if we don't put their potential to use, then I fear they'll find other channels, just as Mr Allerdyce did.

Well, I can't say the jetset lifestyle is all glamor. One night in Monaco, and then it's straight back to the misery of Geneva. Of all the dull gray cities to get tied down to; Why does it have to be those dreadful Swiss who have all the best tax laws?

Anyway, you don't want to hear about my dancing with Prince Ranier and taking carriage rides along the Monaco coast, do you? You want to hear my news.

Shaw Industries has been holding meetings with the Pentagon. Nothing unusual about that, of course; Shaw Industries is a defense contractor and the Pentagon is its number one client. It's what's being discussed at these meetings that's of interest.

According to my sources, Sebastian is turning race traitor and trying to persuade the US to invest in its new Sentinel development project. As you'll recall, I know all about Sentinels from my days at the club, and I can assure you, if this project gets off the ground, we could be facing the biggest threat to mutantkind we've ever imagined.

So you can see why I didn't want to mention this in front of the students.

Shaw intends to go public with his project in the next few days, in the hope that anti-mutant public opinion will sway the Pentagon to approve the funding. He's already booked in to several talk shows next week, so that's when you can expect an announcement. Henry, you're handsome, you're erudite, you know the science; see if you can get yourself on to some of those shows. Let's at least make it a debate, not a whitewash.

And just in case I've not been clear: This is very serious. Try not to get into any more trouble until we've had a chance to address this.