Rayne dropped her stuff at the foot of the bed, and plopped down. She took a closer look at her phone. Because she was always traveling, Rayne had spent extra money to get a top-of-the-line phone, basically a hand-held computer. Chip had said that he’d ‘improved’ it, but it looked pretty much the same, except for the extra....well....it looked like an extra monitor, of sorts, at the bottom under the number pad. Except it was less than half-an-inch in size and round, and shiny like a cd. He’d said it was a hologram generator, and that it worked with a new program he’d installed.

“Trust me,” he’d told her. “You’ll love this. It’s a Mutant Power Analyzer and Trainer Hologram, or MPath for short. It’ll help you train when you don’t have access to the Danger Room. Kinda like a personal trainer.” Then he made a face halfway between a cringe and a grin. “Uh, I tried to make her real teacher-like, but she came out with kinda an attitude. I may need to tweak her some more, but I’ll let you try her out first.” Rayne had smiled and nodded and thanked him, wondering the whole time why he kept calling the program a ‘her’.

“Well,” she said aloud, “only one way to find out. Menu, media, videos. Activate program MPath.”

“Activating,” the phone replied in a soft monotone. Several seconds passed, and then the extra ‘monitor’ lit up. The air seemed to shimmer, and a life-size image of a woman appeared out of thin air. Rayne’s jaw dropped. It was almost a mirror image of herself, down to the blond hair and grey eyes. Even the hairstyle was the same. Her hands rested on her hips, and the expression on her face was one of boredom, as if she was waiting for someone. The image stared back at Rayne, unblinking. Rayne, for one, didn’t know what to say. Several moments of silence passed.

Suddenly the image rolled her eyes, and sighed in irritation. “So, you do know that you can’t beat a hologram in a staring contest, right?”

Rayne nearly jumped out of her skin. “End program!” The image disappeared in a flurry of fireworks and sparks, further startling Rayne. She grabbed the phone and headed out into the mansion. She needed Chip to do a just a bit.....no, make that a lot more explaining of this.....program.

Chip grinned as Rayne told him what happened. “Told ya she had attitude.” He was obvious pleased with his work. Considering he was only thirteen, Rayne had to give him credit. The kid was a genius, in every sense of the word, and he proved it by explaining the workings of this MPath program. “I made her look like you, ‘cause everyone keeps tellin’ me to learn from my mistakes. So I figured you could learn from your mistakes too, except the other way ‘round. You know, she’ll see your mistakes, and tell you how to not make them again. Sorta.” He scrunched his face as he tried to explain. Rayne tried her best to keep a straight face. She couldn’t believe how practical this kid was. “She was trying to get you to, you know, like, talk with her, ‘cause she’s interactive. Kina like a video game. If you’re quiet too long, it’ll prompt you to make a move before shutting down. You know? Next time, just talk back.”

He showed her a few other features, explained a couple other things, then handed the phone back to her. She thanked him, and left, and he went back to.....well.....whatever it was involved several tools floating in the air, so she decided not to ask.

Back in her room, Rayne took a deep breath. “All right, let’s try this again. Activate program MPath."

“Activating.”[/b] Again Rayne's mirror image shimmered into existence, this time looking extremely bored. She looked at Rayne. “Shall we try this again?” she asked sarcastically. Rayne stood and walked around the image. She swept her hand through, and the image shimmered. “Sorry, girlfriend, I don’t shake hands.”

Rayne shook her head. “Amazing.”

“What’s the matter? Never seen a holographic image before?”

“Hmm.”[/b][/color] Rayne raised an eyebrow. “Chip was right about the attitude.”

“What can I say? Kid’s a genius.”[/b][/color]

Rayne couldn’t help but smile. “I feel so odd, talking to myself like this.”

“Odd? Hello You’re a mutant. Odd is normal for you.”

“Hmm. Good point.”[/b][/color] Rayne tilted her head. “So, Chip designed you to help me train, huh?”

The image sighed. “Yeah, I suppose he did. Of course I have yet to see what you can do, so ‘train’ isn’t exactly the right word.” It was the hologram’s way of asking for input on Rayne’s powers. Or, at least, she thought that’s what it meant. Or, what ‘she’ meant. Well.....

Rayne shook her head. “Okay, I’m going to have to get used to this. First off, what are you called?”

“I’m a Mutant Power Analyzer and Trainer Hologram, also dubbed MPath.”[/b][/color] Now that sounded like a computer. Rayne frowned.

“Ah, that’s too......well......Ah, maybe we should come up with a different name.”

“Whatever.”[/b][/color]

Rayne thought for a moment. The image was just like her, except with a bit of an edge. Rayne with a bite. Like ice. “Mmm....How about ‘Crystal’?”

“Whatever. Now can we move on? Let’s see what you got.”[/b][/color][/color]

Rayne removed her shirt and turned her back to the image, Crystal. Ten dime-sized circles, different colors, were arranged on her back in three circles, like an archer’s target. Red, orange, yellow, green and blue in the outer circle, violet, black, white and colorless in the inner circle. The bull’s eye circle seemed to change colors under the light, becoming all colors at once. Imbedded in the blue, violet, black, white and iridescent circles were matching jewels. Crystal raised an eyebrow.

“Interesting body jewelry.”

Rayne looked over her shoulder. “That’s exactly what a friend of mine said. But I can’t take this jewelry off. Each jewel gives me a different power, and changes my personality a bit.”

Crystal stepped forward, and leaned in to take a closer look. Every now and then she blinked, the hologram’s version of capturing and storing an image. As she looked she began asking questions. “What kind of powers are we talking about? This one kind of looks like ice.” She pointed to the blue stone, just above Rayne’s right shoulder blade.

“It’s an aquamarine. And it is the Ice Stone. It let’s me create ice objects. Thinks like daggers and shields.”

“How strong is the ice?”[/b][/color]

Rayne shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve sliced through metal though. By accident, I mean.”

“Accident? Sure.”[/b][/color] Crystal snorted skeptically. She pointed to the purple gem. “And this one? What’s it do?”

“Liquid control.”

“Creation?”

“No, just manipulation.”

“Does viscosity matter?”[/b][/color]

Rayne looked confused. “Viscosity?”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “Thickness, duh! Does it matter how thick the liquid is? Didn’t you take science in high school?”

Rayne’s blushed slightly. “No to your first question, and yes to the second.”

“Uh huh. And the other three?”

“Onyx gives me sight in the dark, and Gypsum gives me sight in brightness. The opal....”[/b][/color] Her voiced trailed off.

“The opal....” Crystal prompted. Rayne shrugged, and turned around.

“I don’t know what the opal does.”

“You’ve never used it?”

“No. I mean, not that I can remember. Sort of.”

“Well that’s informative.”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Whatever.”[/b][/color] Crystal crossed her arms. She had a knack for looking bored. “So, how do these things work anyway? Do you just ‘wish on a stone’ and POOF You’re a power princess, or what?”

“Um, not exactly. I have to...well...um...”[/b][/color] Rayne sighed. “It’s actually easier to show you.”

“Then quit yappin’ and start showin’.”[/b][/color]

<“Definately going to have to get Chip to tweak her personality,”> Rayne thought to herself as she closed her eyes. She concentrated, seeing the aquamarine in her mind’s eye. Her back began to burn and her shoulder itched.. Then her hand began to itch. A cold chill swept down her spine, and she shivered. Opening her eyes, she looked in the mirror above the dresser. Her blond hair had turned an icy blue, as had her eyes. Crystal blinked, and walked over, examining Rayne closely.

“The stone on your shoulder is gone,” she announced. Rayne nodded and held out her hand. The blue gem sparkled in her palm. Crystal leaned in close to look. “Matter transference,” she remarked without looking up. “Interesting. So, I’m guessing that it goes back to where it was when you’re done?”

“Yes.”

“They all work that way?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Does your hair and eyes always change, too?”[/b][/color] Rayne nodded. Crystal tilted her head to the side and made a clicking sound with her tongue, something that Rayne often did when she was thinking. Chip must have picked up on it earlier, and added it into the program. She leaned back. “Show me the other ones.”

“Well, I can’t. At least, not right away. Sorry. My body has to...well, I guess rest, before I can switch. Sorry.”

“How long do you have to wait?”[/b][/color]

Rayne shrugged. “I dunno. Five, maybe ten minutes. I think. I’ve never really timed it. Sorry.”

“I see. Since we’re talking time limits, what’s the limit on each power? Is it unlimited?”

“Well, actually, no. I think it only lasts an hour or so. I think. I haven’t timed that either.”[/b][/color] Rayne flushed a bit. “Sorry.”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “So, in other words, you really don’t have a clue what you’re capable of. Right?”

“Um, no. I-I guess not. Sorry.”[/b][/color]

Crystal blinked. “Okay, you’ve apologized four times in the last two minutes, for nothing. You said these gems change your personality. I’m guessing this one makes you overly self-conscious.”

Rayne shrugged and looked down. “Sorry.”

“Yeah. We’ll work on that part later.”[/b][/color] Crystal inhaled deeply, and sat down on the bed, arms and legs crossed. Even though she had no weight or matter, her imaged bounced, as if she’d actually plopped down on the bed. “All right, then. Show me what this ice jewel can do.”[/color]

Rayne looked around the room. There was a lamp on the nightstand by the bed. She held out her hand and blew onto it, her breath forming mists. A multi-faceted crystal of ice formed in her hand. She concentrated, and shaped it into a small version of the lamp, and set it on the dresser. She moved around the room, making miniatures of all the furniture, until she had dollhouse-type room of ice sitting on the dresser. Crystal bent down to examine it closely, taking and storing images in her memory. She snorted satirically.

“Bravo. You’ll be able to blind your opponent with your sculpting skills.”[/b] She stood straight. “I’m assuming you can do more than this.”[/b]

”Well, I can form weapons, but I’m better at throwing than fighting.”

”Hm. How good is your aim?”

”Nearly perfect.” she answered with more than a little pride.

”Show me.”

”Um...well...,” Rayne frowned slightly. The last thing she wanted to do was get into trouble for destroying her room. Perhaps it was time to take this session outside. ”Hang on a second.” She picked up the phone and headed out of the mansion, recieving more than a few stares as Crystal seemed to float beside her. The temperature was in the teens, and Rayne had left her jacket indoors, but the cold didn’t affect her at all. She clipped her phone to a tree branch, so Crystal would still be accessible. Crystal looked around, then pointed toward a tree trunks several yards away.

”Can you hit the center of that trunk?”

Rather than answer, Rayne formed a thin ice dagger in her right hand, and tossed it, seemingly without aiming. It landed with a hollow thud. Crystal nodded.

”Not bad. Can you do that with the other hand? Rayne answered with a left-handed throw, placing a second dagger just above the first. ”So we know your ambidexterous. Let’s test this a little further. C’mere.” Crystal instructed her to move her closer to the tree so she could observe, then instructed her to carve a bull’s-eye into the trunk, like a dart board. She then had Rayne move back to her original spot. ”When I start callin’, you start throwin’. Got it? Rayne nodded. Crystal began firing off different shots; overhand, underhand, bull’s-eye, outer rim, 6-shot line up and sideways, and many others. After a few minutes, Crystal nodded. ”Forty-two out of fifty makes eighty-four percent accuracy. Improvable, but not bad. She gave Rayne a sly look. ”Now, can you call them back to you?”

”Sure. Rayne held out her hand, but Crystal stopped her.

”Huh uh. Call them back, without moving your hands.”

Rayne blinked. She’d never tried that before. Using her hands was just a natural habit, so she could visualize what she wanted the ice to do. Still, it shouldn’t be so hard, right? She concentrated, hard, trying to move the ice. It refused to budge. She frowned, and tried again. It was odd. She almost felt as if she couldn’t get a hold of it, like it was too....slippery?

Crystal watched, clicking her tongue, as Rayne struggled. Her computer brain took in every detail of the session, her ‘eyes’ captured every moment. Already she was analyzing Rayne’s powers, finding the strengths and weaknesses, both in execution and in the ice itself. Chip had also given her a biological scanner, so she was able to scan Rayne’s physical body for signs of weakness and change. Already she’d noted some.....oddities....in Rayne’s makeup that did not completely match with the typical X-gene mutation. Of course, more study would be needed to confirm it.[/color]

Rayne finally gave up. She just couldn’t seem to connect with the ice without gesturing with her hands. Crystal waved her failure aside.

”No matter. This is merely an exploratory session. Besides, you can’t expect an ametuer like you to to be an instant master.” Rayne was still a bit surprised that, at times Crystal sounded very computer-like, while others she sounded almost real. And real annoying. ”All right, let’s test the strength of that ice. Let’s move to that wall over there.” She pointed to the brick wall that encircled the mansion grounds. Rayne shook her head, knowing what Crystal had in mind.

”No way. No destroying of the property. Tricity will kick me out, for sure then..

”Hrmph.” Crystal snorted. ”Details, details. How do you expect to improve if you won’t push yourself?”

”I’ll glady push myself. Just not at the expense of the school.” Rayne shook her head. ”We’ll finish this in the Danger Room. After I rest for a while. It’s been a long day.”

Crystal rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.”Fine. After all, I’m not the one who needs to practice.”

”Thank you for your warm encouragement.” Rayne ended the program, uncliped her phone and headed inside. Just before reaching the front door, she paused. She glanced back toward the tree, where her ice daggers were still imbedded. She frowned, concentrating as hard as she could. She felt a slight ripple of a chill in the tips of her fingers, which hung still at her sides. But nothing happened. With a sigh of frustration, she deactivated her power, and turned to go back inside.

Rayne opened up her phone and activated Crystal’s program. The blonde hologram shimmered into existence, sitting in a cross-legged position.

“About time,” she snipped at Rayne. “It’s been nearly thirty-two hours since your last session. I hope you were practicing?”

<“How can an could something so unreal have so much real attitude?”> Rayne thought to herself. Aloud she vaguely replied, “Sort of.”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “Well I hope this little face-to-face means we’re actually going to get some training done this time. You’re never going to be able to push your limits if you don’t know what they are.”

“That’s why we’re here.”[/b][/color] Rayne motioned to the darkness around her that was the Danger Room. Chip had made a slight modification that would allow Crystal to interact with the DR’s computers; Rayne didn’t ask if he’d obtained permission for that or not. She was probably better off playing dumb. “We can train freely here. I think.”

Crystal quirked an eyebrow, giving her an air of skepticism. “All right, let’s try it out. First of all, activate one of your powers.”

“Which one?”

“Doesn’t matter. Whichever you’re more comfortable with.”[/b][/color]

Rayne bit her lip. She wasn’t comfortable with any of them. But if she had to choose.....

In a moment her hair washed from blonde to blue, and her skin took on a faint blueish tinge. Even though Ice made her feel as if the world was watching her, she preferred that to the sluggish feeling of Water. Crystal acknowledged the change with a nod.

“All right then, Ice it is. Let’s run through some drills first.” With the DR computer’s help, Crystal had Rayne perform some random tasks; creation of various objects, using the ice to lift random weights of objects, checking how much weight Rayne could handle herself, and the like. Eventually Crystal began to call up various substances for Rayne to demolish, starting with wood. She formed a pike, her second weapon of choice, and slashed it into splinters easily. Next came stone, then metal, both of which she sliced through fairly easily, although it did seem to catch slightly in the stone. Crystal clicked her tongue in thought.

“‘kay, so now we know the ice is stronger than normal. Your will must give it an extra kick, of sorts.” She leaned in to examine the slash through the metal. “Hmm. Your aim may be good, but your follow-through is sloppy. See here?” She pointed to the top of the slash. “You start out deep and true here, but then you slow down and pull away too quickly, only causing minimal damage.” She glanced at Rayne, and made an odd thinking face. “Gonna have to get you some decent combat training.”

“Sorry.” Not that she was. Rayne didn’t have any desire for any fight training, except defensive. She firmly believed she didn’t have to hit her opponent to win; she just had to keep them from hitting her. But that could be dealt with later.

“All right, let’s try something else.” Crystal’s words distracted Rayne’s thoughts.[/color]

“Computer, set up melting point experiments.”

Rayne’s expression betrayed confusion. “Melting point? I can’t melt anything, only freeze it.”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “So I’ve noticed. Melting point and freezing point are almost the same. You didn’t like science as a kid, did you?”[/color]

Rayne’s expression went from confused to slightly irritated.. Crystal’s personality reminded her of herself when her liquid power was activated; tact was an unknown concept. Rather than answer, Rayne turned to examine the pedestals that seemed to rise out of the floor. An unpleasant odor reached her nose, and she winced.

There were ten in all. Atop each one was a either a glass of some liquid, or a block of something solid, all labeled. One looked to be an empty container. An imaged of a chair appeared next to Crystal, which she turned backwards and sat in. Still looking bored, she motioned toward the pedestals. “Okay. Freeze ‘em all.”

“Okay...” Rayne let her voice trail off, not sure what to make of such a simple request. It was so....’un-Crystal-like’. She moved to the first container, which was simply water. She shrugged. Barely a touch froze both the water and the holder, and the top of the pedestal. Crystal snorted.

“Nice. Now try just freezing the liquid, not the containers. And I wouldn’t actually touch the next one if I were you.”

Rayne agreed when she read the next label: Ammonia. That’s what smelled so awful. Holding her nose with one hand, she reached out with the other. An icicle formed on the end of her finger, extending until it touched the ammonia. A layer of ice formed over the top of the liquid, but it did not freeze all the way. Rayne leaned in closer, somewhat surprised.

Crystal clicked her tongue. “That’s weird. According to the data I picked up, you just added water to the ammonia.” She uncurled from her chair and walked over to take a closer look. After a brief examination, she motioned Rayne to try again. She did, and another layer of ice formed atop the first. Still the ammonia remained liquid.

“Computer, cancel experiments.”[/b] The pedestals vanished obediently. Crystal frowned at Rayne. “Have you ever frozen anything other than water?”[/color]

Rayne opened her mouth to answer, but paused. She tilted her head, clicking her tongue reflexively. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure. Sorry.”

“Are you ever sure about anything?”[/b] Despite the sarcastic tone, Crystal did not expect Rayne to know. Otherwise Chip wouldn’t have programmed the MPath the way he had. It was Crystal’s job to discover Rayne’s limitations. And although she was doing so, she was also gathering more and more information about Rayne’s genetic makeup. The more Crystal learned, the more she was coming to the conclusion that Rayne’s mutations were, for lack of a better word, unusual, even for Mutantkind.[/color]

Some time later Rayne finally collapsed, briefly blacking out as her ice gem deactivated itself. Her head spun a bit, but she was relieved that the feeling of being under a microscope was gone. Crystal blinked, leaning on her chair.

“Welcome back.” She glanced at her wrist, as if looking at a stopwatch. “Seventy-one minutes exactly. Just like the others. The time never varies. And if you hold true to pattern, you should be up and running again in four minutes, adding up to seventy-five minutes. Interesting.”

Rayne inhaled deeply, and let it out in a tired sigh. She rubbed her temples; her head was hurting again. She’d never used her mutation as intensely as she had recently, and a headache seemed to be her constant companion as of late.

“I wonder why they chose seventy-five minutes?”

Rayne opened one eye and looked at Crystal. “They?”

Crystal shrugged. Since her findings were still unconfirmed, her programing responded by ignoring the question, and answering a slightly different one. She stood, vanishing the chair with a snap of her fingers. “Based on what I’ve gathered so far, your creation of ice is actually more of a temperature control. This part of your mutation lowers the temperature of the of the atmosphere immediately around you, thus resulting in the foggy breath and frosted skin.” She had taken on what Rayne called her ‘teacher tone’. “Naturally the moisture around you will freeze first, and expand. How you are able to create so much ice at once, without depleting the moisture in the air, I can’t explain yet. But once a frozen crystal forms, you are able to expand it further, and mold it. At the moment, it seems that you simply stop lowering the temperature once you’ve frozen water. If my findings are correct, however, you should be able to lower the temperature even further, thus allowing you to freeze other objects and liquids besides water. Theoretically.”

Rayne frowned thoughtfully, but not necessarily because of Crystal’s explanation. Her mind was still stuck on her earlier comment. Who were ‘they’?

“Shall I put that in dummy language?” Crystal asked dryly, reverting to her usual demeanor. Rayne shook her head.

“No, no. I got it. Just...digesting it. Kind of.” She bit her lip and clicked her tongue. “So, how exactly am I supposed to do that? I never concentrate on being cold. It just happens...kind of.”

“For starters, you’ll have to change your thinking. Focus more on freezing than manipulation. It shouldn’t be that hard, even for you.”

Rayne rolled her eyes. “You know growing up I always wanted a brother or sister. But I’m beginning to be glad I didn’t. End program.”

Crystal disappeared in an eruptions of sparks, but not before sticking her tongue out at Rayne.

After such an intense training session, it was no surprise that Rayne went to bed early that night.

Not long after midnight, Rayne’s cellphone lit up with a silent alarm. The tiny holo-screen glowed slightly. With a shimmer Crystal appeared in the air. She looked at Rayne’s still form and blinked, her bio-analyzer checking to be sure the blonde was sound asleep. Once assured of that, the holo disappeared from view. Accessing Rayne’s web browser from inside the phone, the holo-program launched herself into cyberspace.

Chip had made the MPath program compatible with quite a range of other systems, as well as making the program itself semi AI. In other words, Crystal was capable of reasoning on a matter, making her own decisions, in a limited way, and able to carry them out. And after working with Rayne for a while, Crystal had decided that she needed a bit more information about her ‘student’.

Crystal began a systematic search, starting with the Ranch’s website. Rayne’s bio page was sketchy at best, and the first six years of her life were unaccounted for. Crystal began searching local hospital records for a birth certificate, which required quite a bit of hacking. It was probably a good thing that Rayne didn’t know Chip had outfitted Crystal’s program with that capability. The search came up empty, and Crystal moved her inquiries to the state level. When that search came up empty as well, she paused, analyzing the situation. In the United States it was nearly impossible to get any form of ID without a birth certificate. Even for those that required Social Security Numbers, you needed a certificate to be issued the SSN. Yet Rayne had a driver’s license, credit cards, and an SSN, but no birth certificate. While the situation was obviously possible, it was highly unlikely that it could happen without a bit of tampering on someone’s part.

Crystal began searching again, this time to find out who issued Rayne’s SSN and those of her guardians, Maxwell and Caroline Belamount. The same person had issued SSNs to Max and Carol, which wasn't unusual since the pair were twins. Rather than try to search out each of those agent’s past, which could take more time than she deemed necessary, she changed her strategy. She turned to the news, searching out any mutant-related articles in the year that Rayne was supposedly born. The list was enormous, and it took Crystal well over an hour to whittle it down. Apparently there had been an experimental fertility clinic, less than one hundred miles outside of the town Rayne grew up in, a clinic that claimed it could screen for the X-gene. Naturally the clinic was the center of attention for many different groups; pro-mutant, anit-mutant, and everything in between. The clinic was non-profit, adding to the controversy, and the list of donors was locked away. Crystal spent most of the next couple of hours trying to crack the list. She eventually managed to get a few names, but the majority of the list remained beyond her cracking capabilities. Interestingly enough, one name on the list matched another name in her files; Jacob Donnelley, the agent who issued Rayne’s SSN.

Another silent alarm went off in the cellphone. Sunrise was only an hour away. Having grown up on a ranch, it was likely that Rayne would wake up fairly soon. Crystal stored what she’d learned in her memory, then pulled out from her search, hiding her trail as she went.

By the time Rayne woke up half an hour later, the hologram had deactivated itself, and Rayne was none the wiser. Although she did wonder why her cellphone wasn’t done charging after a full night on the charger.

“You’re not concentrating.”

Rayne frowned, trying to ignore the annoying sing-song voice in the background as she attempted a handstand. Any other time such a maneuver wouldn’t have been a problem. But then again, any other time such a maneuver would have been performed on solid ground, not atop a geyser of water shooting up a foot above a swimming pool. The currently purple-haired girl was having a hard time keeping herself, and the water, upright at the same time.

The sing-song taunt continued from the side of the pool, where Crystal ‘sunned’ on a deck chair. “You’re gonna fall.”

“And you’re not helping,”[/b][/color] Rayne replied in the same tone, through clenched teeth. Big mistake. Rayne lost her focus, and the geyser faltered. She wobbled, then tumbled sideways into the pool.

“Told you you weren’t concentrating,” Crystal remarked. Rayne surfaced a moment later, glaring at the hologram.

“How am I supposed to focus with you fussing at me all the time?”

“The definition of focus is to pay particular attention to an object or task, to the exclusion of any and all background distractions. So how are you supposed to know you’re focusing if there aren’t any background distractions to distract you?”[/b][/color]

Had Crystal been alive, she would have found herself drenched. Instead, Rayne took a deep breath, swam to the bottom, and sat on the bottom of the pool, fuming. It wasn’t so much Crystal’s attitude that bothered Rayne; although the hologram’s tendency to always be right was annoying. This time the irritant was the maneuver itself.

She was no olympic gymnist, but Rayne could handle herself very well. She was flexible and fast, and she was capable of a fair amount of complex gymnastics. A simple handstand should have been a piece of cake. But for some reason she just couldn’t get her coordination right. True, she had to concentrate on both keeping the water flowing and keeping the water tension right, to support her weight, but it shouldn’t be this hard, and it was bugging her to no end. Although usually quiet and passive, Rayne had two things working against her; a stubborn streak and a mild case of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Until she nailed this feat, it was going to rob her of sleep.

Finally her lungs screamed at her loudly enough to force her to the surface. Crystal glanced at her over the top of her sunglasses. “Two minutes, twenty seconds. Another couple of tantrums and we’ll have you up to three minutes.”

“I’m not having a tantrum,”[/b][/color] Rayne grumbled

“Of course you’re not.” Crystal sat up in her chair. “All right, let’s take it from the top.”

Rayne rolled her eyes, but obeyed. Despite her dunking, as she climbed out of the pool she was as dry as if she’d never been in the water. She walked over to deep side and stood on the edge of the pool. She held her arms out from her sides and closed her eyes. A stream of water spiraled up and wound itself around her body, every now and then changing direction and flow. Bubbles of water began to float round about her, like the liquid in a lava lamp. Each one began to morph into various shapes, from simple shapes to complex sculptures. This continued for several minutes.

“Good,” Crystal said. “Now, step out.”

Eyes still closed and arms still out, Rayne took a step forward. A mini geyser of water erupted from the pool. The water held her weight, and she took another step forward onto another geyser. In the same manner she moved to the center of the pool and stood there, supported by the geyser. The water bubbles and snake flowed smoothly back into the pool.

“Good. Now, handstand.” Crystal then began whistling ‘It’s A Small World After All’, purposefully off-key.

Eyes still closed, Rayne cringed. The water wobbled. She forced herself to concentrate, blocking out everything else. In one fluid motion, she bent over forward and shifted her full weight onto her hands. She falted for a brief moment, but amazingly the water held.

“I did it! Whoa!” she crowed. Another big mistake. Once again she tumbled backwards into the water. Poolside, Crystal sighed dramatically, and shook her head.

“Ditz.”[/color]

“Okay, time to get you some help in the sparring department.” Crystal snapped her fingers, and a simulation robot stepped out of the shadows. The robot looked like a man, about five-foot-six and slightly built, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a loose white martial arts outfit, and barefoot. Rayne eyed him with concern.

“You’re not always going to be able to use your mutation to keep others at bay,” Crystal stated. “There’s going to be at least a few times you’re going to be cornered when you’re vulnerable. A lot can happen in four minutes.”

“I don’t want to learn how to fight,”[/b][/color] Rayne told her. “It doesn’t solve anything.”

“In this case, it’s going to solve the problem you getting your butt handed to you when your gems give out,”[/b][/color] Crystal retorted. She sighed, and floated cross-legged in midair.

“Look, Rayne. The facts are that you are a mutant. The human world in general doesn’t like your kind. And you’re not always going to be able to hide from that. For that matter, half of mutantkind isn’t going to like you either, because you don’t share their superiority complex. And eventually, whether you like it or not, someone is going to catch up with you during your body’s reset time. That four-minute reset time is a weakness, and in the wrong hands, major trouble for you. But it can easily be cut in half by learning a few basic moves. You’re already a good gymnist. So all you need is to learn enough to keep your opponent away from you, then you’re golden.” Of course, it was a bit more complicated than that, but the hologram had learned by now how stubborn Rayne could be, and wasn’t about to argue with her. But even Rayne couldn’t argue with simple fact. If nothing else, she could stand to learn how to dodge better. Back flips only went so far.

Rayne took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. “All right. But only if it doesn’t involve me seriously hurting someone.” Her voice held no room for compromise, so Crystal merely nodded. She had already figured out how to push Rayne in the right direction anyway.

“All right then, let’s do this. Activate your onyx. Computer, douse the lights.”

Rayne gulped. She avoided too much use of both the black and white gems; they always ended with her in trouble. But she agreed, and a moment later the room was doused in darkness. She took a deep breath, and concentrated. Her hair turned as black as the darkness around her. When she opened her eyes, they were as dark as a void. But to her looking around, the world was as bright as noontime on a sunny day. A c0cky smirk lit her face. She stretched until her back cracked, then shook out her arms and legs.

“All right, Crys. Bring it on.”[/color]

“Very well. This is Aiden, a ‘Simon Says’ program. Basically, he will show you a move, either offensive or defensive, and the countermove. Your job is to imitate his every move. Eventually, if all goes well, you’ll be up to sparring status. I’d train you myself, but you know I loathe violence.”

A slightly mischievous-looking smile graced Crystal’s face. She called up a chair, turned it backwards as usual, and sat down to watch. In actuality she was guiding the robot’s every move, using programs downloaded from the Danger Room computers. But she was guessing that Rayne would work better without knowing she was fighting someone she knew.

The two faced off. Aiden began to demonstrate some very basic punches and blocks at a slow speed. Rayne copied each move at the same speed. The first few were fairly easy, obviously. After about five minutes, Rayne stopped and stood with her hands on her hips.

“Oh, come on, Crys. This is too easy. I feel like a kindergartner. Can’t we pick up the pace a bit?”

“If we pick up the pace, the DocProf will be picking you up, off of the floor.”[/b][/color] Crystal waved her hand. “Keep going. You’ll get up to speed eventually.”

Rayne rolled her eyes and returned to the excercise. Crystal began a silent countdown. She gave Rayne another minute, two tops.

Sure enough, right at the minute-thirty-second mark, a smug smirk lit Rayne’s face. Aiden was repeating a basic forward punch and twist-away block. As he punched, Rayne suddenly spun on her heel in a very, very badly executed roundhouse kick. Without moving from his spot, Aiden reached up and grabbed her ankle, twisted and easily knocked her flat on her rear. She sat their, momentarily stunned. Then she glared at Crystal.

“I thought you said he wasn’t a sparring program!”

“My exact words were, ‘he’s a “Simon Says” program’, and ‘Eventually you’ll be up to sparring status’. I didn’t say whether you’d be sparring with him or not.”[/b][/color]

Crystal shifted her position on the chair, grinning. “He’s also programmed to react to you. Any.... shall we say ‘unwise actions’, will be countered. Rather forcibly. Just a precaution against your head getting too big.”

Rayne grumbled something under her breath and got to her feet. Reluctantly she took the proper stance, and returned to her repetitions.[/color]

"Thirty degrees. Keep concentrating."

Rayne nodded slightly, eyes still closed. A thin layer of frost covered her skin, and when she moved, a bit of it flaked off and fell to the ground like snow. Her wild hair looked like a crown of cold blue icicles atop her head. Her breath came as wisps of fog. She sat, indian-style, on her bed in her room. Crystal floated nearby, watching her closely.

"Twenty-nine degrees. Keep it up."[/b]

The room was frigid, as Crystal had mentioned, yet Rayne was dressed in a short-sleeved Tshirt and capris, with no socks or shoes. But she didn't feel the chill at all. Rayne had always thought she could simply create ice, but in the course of their training, Crystal had found that Rayne's freezing power was actually more of a temperature control. She was able to lower the temperature directly around her body to well below freezing. But she was having some difficulty figuring out how to do so consciously.

A thin layer of ice formed and began to spread outward from beneath Rayne. Crystal sighed.

"Okay, hold it! Hold it."[/b]

Rayne frowned, and slumped forward a bit. "Sorry."

"Twenty-nine-point-three degrees. Just shy of twenty-eight."

"Sorry,"[/b][/color] Rayne repeated glumly. "I just can't stop the ice from forming on its own. It's like a reflex."

"Chillax Rayne. You're trying to change a twenty-odd year-old mindset. It doesn't happen overnight."[/b][/color] It was the closest Crystal had ever come to out right encouragement, without a sarcastic side comment. "All right, we'll come back to this later. Let's try the connection exercise again."

Rayne nodded again and took a deep breath. She held out her hands, palms up, fingers spread. A thin throwing dagger of ice formed on each finger. With a flick of her wrist she tossed them outwards, embedding them in the various walls. Crystal nodded.

"Good. Now, close your eyes, and sit on your hands."[/b] Rayne obeyed. "Now.... pull them back to you."

Rayne's features took on a slight frown as she did her best to concentrate.

For several minutes nothing happened. Rayne bit her lip. She could see the daggers in her mind, could feel them still in the tips of her fingers. It would be so easy to just snap her fingers and pull them back to her. But trying to control the ice without gestures, for some reason, was just unbelieveably hard for the young woman. In the back of her mind she swore Crystal was watching, and berating her for her failure. Finally she huffed in frustration, and slumped forward slightly. Her eyes opened just slightly, though she really wasn't focused on anything before her.

<"I wish I didn't feel like I'm under a microscope all the time,"> she thought to herself. <"I wish I could just feel normal. I hate that I can control my emotions!>"

The daggers shivered. Crystal raised an eyebrow. Rayne's blood pressure level had risen, just slightly. "What were you just thinking?"[/color] she asked aloud. Rayne's eyes snapped open.

"Nothing! I-I mean... um, n-nothing important. Sorry! I-I lost my concentration. Sorry, I'll try agai-"

"Chillax, Rayne. It's just a simple question, no judgement intended. I just want to know exactly what you were just thinking. It will help me help your control if I know."[/b] Crystal put a certain amount of sincere curiosity into her tone to emphasize her words. Rayne gulped, her eyes darting away.

"Um... I-I was wishing... Wishing I could control m-my, um, emotions."[/b] Underneath the frost, her face flushed red. Crystal clicked her tongue thoughtfully.

"Hmmm.... I wonder..... Did you feel threatened? If so, by what? Me? Something I said? Or something you were afraid I'd say?"[/b]

Rayne flushed deeper. In the walls, the daggers again shivered. One of them pulled away from the wall and clattered to the ground. Crystal looked from it to Rayne. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She uncrossed her legs and took up a standing position in front of the flustered woman, hands on her hips.

"What's the matter Rayne? Afraid that I might make fun of you? Of your lack of control? Or maybe I'll just think you're a total flake and ignore you, like they did in school. Why should I be bothered training a ditz like you?"

Rayne cringed, pulling her knees to her chin. The rest of the ice daggers pulled free and clattered to floor. At Crystal's last statement, one of them jumped up from the ground and shot toward her. It phased through the hologram and at Rayne, who caught it in her hand. A look of surprise passed over her face. Crystal nodded, a smile gracing her usually bored expression.

"That explains why you can't control the ice. It responds to emotion, not logic. When you feel threatened, it reacts. When you feel calm... erm, calmer.... You can make those little sculptures you're so fond of. When you're in danger or in battle, you can make weapons and other protections. But you can't force it to return to you, because there's no emotion behind your request. Just logic. So all you need to do is relax, and control your emotions to control the ice."[/b]

From the expression on Rayne's face, Crystal realized that getting the girl to relax under this gem's power might be the most difficult part of this training session.[/color]