Madlaina Elisabeth stared in shock at the small article in the newspaper. Robots on the NYPD. She tossed the paper down and stood, pacing through the small living space. Would they never learn?

She had never really fit in at the mansion. Feeling alone and out of place, Maddy had retreated in on herself. She vanished from social life at the mansion, rarely leaving the grounds. She threw herself into her education, learning everything she could. She graduated high school a little late, but considering her background, it had been a monumental effort. She learned enough self defense and enough control over her powers by then that she just... left. No fan fare, no grand goodbyes.

She spent the next few years traveling. Figuring herself out. Now, turning 23 in a few days, she was older and wiser. More confident in herself. She moved through the world taking what she wanted and needed, instead of skittering around the edges, no longer terrified of everything and everyone. Maddy was still inherently cautious, but wasn't as naive and timid. She kept her emotions more hidden, played her cards close to the vest.

She looked much the same. Dark curling hair kept short, body petite and slim. But Madlaina's violet eyes were usually hidden by brown contact lenses, and she could speak English with only a hint of an accent. She was even passable in French and Spanish since her travels had taken her to both North and South of the USA.

Could she go back to New York, a place that held both good and bad memories?

She began shoving her personal belongings into a bag. Looked like she was leaving, and heading back to a place that was almost home. Once upon a time she had been on the cusp. Almost good. Almost an adult. Almost a friend. But fairy-tales weren't real, and Maddy sure as hell wasn't a princess. And she wasn't going to let old mistakes happen twice.

So, with a heavy heart and a hacked credit card, Madlaina Elisabeth hopped on a bus and left her temporary South American home, heading to the city that broke her heart.

After several buses, a boat, and a train… Maddy arrived in New York, Grand Central Station. Packed with people, it was the kind of place she usually avoided. So she shoved her way through, carefully guarding the green canvas bag slung across her body. In loose fitting khakis, and a few layers of shirts that had slowly piled on the further north she traveled, she hit the street.

No idea where she should head next, she turned, looking up and down the street. She had come to figure out the META bot situation. The article she had come across that sent her here had already been a few months old by the time she read it. So, she hit the streets looking for one of these bots.

With no luck. She even strayed closer to the police stations than she liked. So, with the morning turning into afternoon, it was time to re-evaluate her plans. She needed to find a place to stay before she did anything else. Maddy knew the Sanctuary used to take in mutants, so she would head there after she picked up a few things.

After a stop in a few back alleys, where she did not want to see the Cop-Bots, she had a small .22 tucked in the waistband of her pants covered by her shirt. She also picked up a few pointers about where the bots usually were.

Then Maddy headed downtown.

The subway ride downtown was uneventful, other than staring down a teen who looked like he was about to start trouble with her. She got off the train, and started walking towards the shelter.

Could she have gone to the XMen? Probably. But their ideals and her own had… deviated. She wasn’t bright and shiny, innocent and naive. She didn’t believe the best of people, and they always did.

Maddy couldn’t deal with that just yet. The perfect human loving crap… The optimism. ”Blech...”

A young woman who had been walking near her, gave her an odd look and took a few steps away. Maddy gave her a roll of her eyes and a lift of her lip. ”What?”

The woman scurried away and Madlaina looked around. Things looked different. Things looked the same. The memories that threatened to overwhelm her were her own.

After carefully avoiding a few streets, Madlaina stood looking at the doors of the Sanctuary.

The building was dirtier than she remembered, from the few times she had seen it. The doors lacked a bit of the shine of memory. Memory was funny that way, building things up to be bigger and better than they really were.

Not that she had a lot of experience with the Sanctuary, only seen it from the outside a few times, never been inside. But memory worked on buildings and people just the same. Erasing the bad and making the good seem better.

Hitching her bag a little more to her back, feeling the press of cold metal in the small of her back as it’s weight settled against the weapon. After a moment, she trumped up the steps.

With a confidence Madlaina didn’t feel but easily faked, she pulled the doors open and slipped inside.