Stephen emerged into the hallway, nervous and confused. Based on the room he woke up in and the professional atmosphere of the building, it was most likely a school, but it was certainly nothing like his school; this place had a budget.

The more apparent it became that the bullies were not involved in his problem, the more anxious he got. Where was he? He survived in the orphanage because he knew that place well. Anything could happen here! Anyone could be waiting...

Stephen had to be strong, but the more he wandered, the more worries fell on him. "Is anyone here?" Hopefully if anyone was around, they were nice and not... well, something else.

There was a lot going on in the Mansion. No particular accidents or alarms yet, but that was just a matter of time; there was that low buzz in the air, the anxiety of dozens of mutant children, so tangible it made Gemma's hair stand up on her neck. Any time now...

>>"Is anyone here?"

Walking to the office door, she opened it to look around, and her eyes settled on the boy.

"Hey there" she smiled. He was not familiar. Which could only mean he was new. Walked in from the street?...

"How did you get in here? Are you looking for someone?"

Be nice and calm. Lost mutant children are easy to spook...

>> "Hey there. How did you get in here? Are you looking for someone?"

Stephen lucked out; someone heard his call, and she did not seem mean or evil. It was a woman with darker skin who looked young for her age, whatever age that was. He tried to be calm, but nothing made sense, and he hoped the woman could help him.

"Um... w... well, I don't... um..." his anxiety was mounting, so he took a deep breath. "Miss, I don't know where I am..."

He was confused, but so far, it seemed safe. He was not hurt, and nothing made him thing he was trapped. He would have to hope trusting her was a smart idea. "Last thing I remember, I was at the orphanage, but then I woke up in some art classroom..." The young boy adjusted his glasses, which felt larger and looser than usual. "I'm Stephen. Can you help me?"

>>"Um... w... well, I don't... um... Miss, I don't know where I am..."

Well, that was a bad start, but it was a start. Gemma guessed power activation; many mutant kids were lost and/or disoriented right after their powers manifested themselves. Extreme abilities always left a lot of confusion behind. She nodded.

>>"Last thing I remember, I was at the orphanage, but then I woke up in some art classroom... I'm Stephen. Can you help me?"

"I am sure I can" she nodded again with a smile, opening the door of her office wider to invite him in "Hi Stephen, my name is Gemma. You are in a school for mutant children. I am the guidance counselor, I look after everyone who lives here. Come on in."

Once Stephen found himself a comfortable place to sit, Gemma got down to business.

"All right, let's think about this. You live in an orphanage, right? And you just woke up here inside the building. Is it possible that you are a mutant, and your powers teleported you here?"

There was something about this kid. Something she could not quite put her finger on. For now.

>> "I am sure I can. Hi Stephen, my name is Gemma. You are in a school for mutant children. I am the guidance counselor, I look after everyone who lives here. Come on in."

The confidence that Gemma could find a way to help him left Stephen a little less panicked. He decided she was a good lady, like Sister Amanda. "Yes ma'am. Thank you."

Stephen followed Gemma into an office, taking the available seat and looking around. So it was a mutant school; the idea never occurred to him that there would be a place for kids like him to feel safe. Maybe finding himself here, while weird, was not a bad thing.

>> "All right, let's think about this. You live in an orphanage, right? And you just woke up here inside the building. Is it possible that you are a mutant, and your powers teleported you here?"

Stephen shook his head, but only to the last part. "I mean, I was in the orphanage, and I woke up here. I don't think my power sent me here... I am a mutant," the admittance felt weird in his mouth since his power was kept behind locked lips, "but my mutation controls my shadow."

Nate looked out the window, and something felt amiss. "Where is this school? Are we still in Raleigh?"

>>"I mean, I was in the orphanage, and I woke up here. I don't think my power sent me here... I am a mutant, but my mutation controls my shadow."

Shadow?...
That was not what she expected. The boy knew he was a mutant, good; at least she did not have to break it to him.
But, shadows?... She had seen that before. It did not make sense, and the feeling in the back of her mind that the kid looked familiar just kept growing.

>>"Where is this school? Are we still in Raleigh?"

"Um, no." she shook her head "Is that wehre your orphanage is?... We are in New York City. Although, if your mutation dels with shadows, I am not exactly sure how you got here. Maybe someone else's powers... this school is pretty hard to walk into without being noticed, so I doubt you arrived through the front door."

>> "Um, no. Is that where your orphanage is?... We are in New York City. Although, if your mutation deals with shadows, I am not exactly sure how you got here. Maybe someone else's powers... this school is pretty hard to walk into without being noticed, so I doubt you arrived through the front door."

New York City? So he was not even in North Carolina; he was not even in the South anymore. Stephen was growing more and more troubled by the second. "Are there really mutants who could teleport me all the way up here in my sleep?" Stephen was the only mutant he ever knew, and he would not have even known he was a mutant if not for the television coverage of others. The idea that someone could invade his world and change it like that rattled him; with powerful mutations like that, what did shadows measure up to?

Speaking of meeting other mutants, what sort of person is a counselor at a school for them? "Um, Miss Gemma? Are you... well, are you a mutant?" All terror and anxiety aside, this was a special moment for the young boy.

>> "Are there really mutants who could teleport me all the way up here in my sleep?"

"I have never heard of one" she had to admit, sitting down too "But there are some pretty strong powers out there, so I would imagine it would be possible. There are also people with abilities to boost powers; that combination would explain why you got so far from home..."

>> "Um, Miss Gemma? Are you... well, are you a mutant?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"I am an adapted. That means I have an aura that cancels mutant powers. You can't use your own when you are around me."

Looking at the kid, she thought about the next step for a moment.

"All right, here is what we are going to do. I am going to check you in officially, and you can stay till I contact where you came from and have someone pick you up. Also, if you are hungry, I can get you something to eat. How does that sound?"

>> "I have never heard of one, but there are some pretty strong powers out there, so I would imagine it would be possible. There are also people with abilities to boost powers; that combination would explain why you got so far from home..."

Miss Gemma's explanation was as good as any, since explaining away a five hundred mile trip only had so many logical options. The thought was still scary, but he was feeling more comfortable with whatever happened. The orphanage was no picnic, and he spent so much time hiding his abilities. Maybe it was not such a bad thing to wake up in a new state in a school for people like him.

>> "I am an adapted. That means I have an aura that cancels mutant powers. You can't use your own when you are around me."

It was the first time Stephen heard about adapteds. He believed her, but he had to see this for himself. He looked at his shadow and tried his hardest to move it, but no matter how hard he focused, it remained stationary on the ground. He was not sure if he liked adapteds; it was like he was restricted, or an arm was bound.

>> "All right, here is what we are going to do. I am going to check you in officially, and you can stay till I contact where you came from and have someone pick you up. Also, if you are hungry, I can get you something to eat. How does that sound?"

There was an empty space in his stomach that liked what she was saying, and Miss Gemma had been nice so far. "I would like that," he said with a shy smile.

The young boy got up from his chair, ready for a new home and a new meal, when he felt a weight in his pocket shift. He disregarded the object during his panic, but now he was curious. He pulled out an unfamiliar piece of technology. "What is this?" It was a rounded rectangle with a glass face and four buttons. He hit the picture of a house and the screen lit up with an image. "Woah!" Stephen did not even know about technology like that.

>>"I would like that,"

No orphan boy has ever said no to free food. Gemma smiled and stood.

>>"What is this? Woah!"

She looked and arched an eyebrow.

"That's a cellphone. Where did you find it?"

He obviously did not know what it was, so it couldn't be his. But a strange cellphone in a boy's pocket needed explanation. He looked genuinely surprised to find it there, which mean he didn't steal it...

... this case was just getting more and more confusing.

"Let me take a look."

>> "That's a cellphone. Where did you find it?"

There was something clearly amiss. He had heard about mobile phones before, but this did not fit his mental image he had. "But that doesn't make sense... it's too small." He knew cell phones were at least an inch or two larger and a lot thicker, and he never saw a screen like this one on a phone.

>> "Let me take a look."

The boy had been looking through icons and clicked on one that looked like an envelope. There were messages with names above them, and the top one was bold.

He handed the device to Miss Gemma and pointed to the bolded name. "Whatever these are, one of them is from some person named Quinn." He noticed a <3 symbol after the name. "With a heart on it." Clearly that meant something, right?

>>"But that doesn't make sense... it's too small."

"I know" Gemma chuckled, taking the phone. These things were just getting smaller and smaller. And they were not even on the level of X-men technology.

>>"Whatever these are, one of them is from some person named Quinn. With a heart on it."

"Indeed" Gemma looked through the messages, then the contact list... and was not even surprised when she found the Mansion among them. Overtaken by curiosity, she pulled our her own cellphone; after a few moments of typing, her work phone rang. She looked at the ID.

"Now that's one puzzle solved" she smirked "This is Nate's phone. He's a mutant who works here. Now we just need to figure out how his phone ended up in your..."

Gemma blinked, and her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the boy again. Longer this time.

"What did you say your mutation was?"

Miss Gemma looked through the messages, (which felt a bit voyeuristic to the boy who had not yet added voyeuristic to his vocaubulary,) and before long she took out another small device. After some more succinct button pressing, another phone rang. (How many phones did people need?)

>> "Now that's one puzzle solved. This is Nate's phone. He's a mutant who works here. Now we just need to figure out how his phone ended up in your..."

So the phone was some man's, (possibly a teacher,) named Nate. The realization confused him, and it would seem he was not alone. The drop of her voice made Stephen worry that she was going to accuse him of stealing the phone. Stephen stole small change from bullies, but he would not steal a device like this from a teacher! That would just be wrong.

>> "What did you say your mutation was?"

Why would she ask a question like that? Was his mutation important to the implied theft? "Um, I'm able to manipulate my shadow into shapes... why?" Stephen was tense now, worried he might have to run out of the office door and into the strange new city on his own.

>>"Um, I'm able to manipulate my shadow into shapes... why?"

Gemma walked over to the computer and pulled up th database. She was quiet for a while, eyes narrowing, trying to find explanations to the suspicion that was growing stronger in the back of her mind every moment she looked at this kid.

"That's... interesting." she concluded "Stephen, can you tell me what... what the date is today?"

It was a long shot, but in her years as a mutant counselor, Gemma had seen a lot, and gave up making assumptions without testing them. Anything was possible in the mutant world...

Miss Gemma started accessing files on a fancy computer as Stephen waited in anticipation. She seemed very curious about something, and he wanted to trust her because she was nice, and adults were usually people Stephen could trust.

>> "That's... interesting. Stephen, can you tell me what... what the date is today?"

It was certainly an odd question, but between the phone and the computer, everything about the world he was in was odd. Maybe he was in a different universe? Would they have different days here? Something like Blueday or Caturday? He was better off just giving whatever date he knew it was when he was asleep. "It's April. The twenty-fifth of April, 1996. I just turned 12 last week..." Hopefully any of that information could help Miss Gemma figure out what happened to him.