Xaviers!

Tereza knocked quietly on Professor Rede's office door. She was less apprehensive than she had been in previous encounters, but she still had a lot on her mind.

"Come in, Ms. Romanov," Gideon said from his desk.

Tereza let herself in and moved to sit in a chair. "Is this still a good time, Professor Rede?"

"For you certainly," Gideon said kindly, "How are you feeling, Tereza?"

"A little rough around the edges. It's been kind of hard since the mission."

"Oh, how so, Tereza?" Gideon said.

"Just a lot of mixed feeling and some things jumbled up in my head. It's like... I know the person who said she was my sister, but I don't know her."

"Do you want to know her?" Gideon said.

Tereza seemed to think about that for a long moment. "Yes... and no. If she is who she says she is, I'm not sure she's the same person I would have known." She offered Gideon a mental image of the small statues she'd created in the XUB.

Gideon was quiet while he considered his response.

"I can help you get to know your past. We can brush off the memories, but once you know her what will you want to do?" Gideon asked.

Tereza was quiet for a bit herself. "I... I don't know that I can answer that. It's obvious what kind of person she is now, so I would hope for that to be the primary coloring, but I don't know what's hiding in my memories that could change that."

"That's fair," Gideon said, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't looking for justification of a vendetta. The headmistress and Ms. Kinney would likely not approve of me giving anyone the justification to go and commit what they consider righteous acts of violence."

"After seeing that place, I don't know that I necessarily need any further justification."

"I haven't received all of the details from the mission you all undertook, but I imagine that few to no places that use the type of conditioning I've seen in your mind don't deserve to be purged," Gideon said, "But those type of actions are rarely satisfying in the long run."

"So 'violence is not the answer, but it's a short term solution'?" Tereza's sense was obviously kidding.

"Quite," Gideon said, "You've healed none of your deeper psychological scars and it isn't long before the sense of satisfaction fades completely."

"So you go back for it because you feel like you need it? I've met a few drug addicts before."

"Aye, and eventually you won't recognize the person you've become," Gideon said, "Many X-Men have walked that path because of their pasts. Putting everything into the team, maybe needing to feel the rush of combat or even becoming disillusioned by a perceived lack of results."

"The smart ones get help or retire, eh."

"So why do it then?"

Tereza Rozanov wrote:"So why do it then?"

"I don't," Gideon said, "The important question here is why do you?"

She leaned back in the chair and looked thoughtful for a long moment. "I tell myself that I want to atone for old mistakes and make things better. And this feels like the only thing I'm even close to being good at." She frowned, "But I don't know if that's something I'm just telling myself."

"Have you tried finding something else you want to be good at?" Gideon asked.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin on that."

"Depends on what impact you want to have, eh," Gideon said then smiled slightly. "I decided to teach, which is only slightly less dangerous than being an X-Man."

She considered that for a moment. "Back in Russia, it was about surviving the school until the Brotherhood gave me an out. When I was with the Brotherhood, it was about being free and getting into trouble while staying ahead of the police." She frowned, "At Muir, it was about keeping my head down, doing my time, and trying to figure out where I went wrong, because I'd obviously done something wrong. Now that I'm here, I don't know what to do with myself."

Tereza Rozanov wrote:She considered that for a moment. "Back in Russia, it was about surviving the school until the Brotherhood gave me an out. When I was with the Brotherhood, it was about being free and getting into trouble while staying ahead of the police." She frowned, "At Muir, it was about keeping my head down, doing my time, and trying to figure out where I went wrong, because I'd obviously done something wrong. Now that I'm here, I don't know what to do with myself."

"The curse of having choices, eh?" Gideon asked.

"Maybe?" She sighed, "I just wish I could see where the path starts." She managed to drag her thoughts back, "But I came here to see about the things I don't remember."

"Indeed," Gideon said, "Open your mind and we can begin."

Gideon waited for Tereza to lower her defenses before touching her mind with his powers.

Tereza relaxed and dropped her defenses. Gideon found himself in the halls of the 'school' again, though there was paint on the walls in what looked like the beginnings of murals and there was quiet guitar music coming from what appeared to be a PA speaker in one corner. There was a camera with a blinking light underneath the speaker. The sign on the wall pointed the way to the principal's office and other locations as before.

Gideon looked at the mural before he decided to for now follow the arrow to the principal's office first.

The mural was still heavily abstract, though there were a few swirls of color that might be the figures of people. The door to the principal's office was still shut, but it had been painted in waves of white and blue and the buzzer system next to the door seemed to have been removed.

Gideon moved to open the door. If only to track how deep the changes went.

The place looked more like an office than the previous throne room. The construct was still present, but felt less substantial as if Tereza had been integrating some bits of it. Tereza looked up from the desk where she'd been watching a pair of monitors, "Yes, can I help you?"

Tereza Rozanov wrote:The place looked more like an office than the previous throne room. The construct was still present, but felt less substantial as if Tereza had been integrating some bits of it. Tereza looked up from the desk where she'd been watching a pair of monitors, "Yes, can I help you?"

"I was wondering how the remodeling was going," Gideon said.

"Proceeding," she said, "I don't have access to all the rooms and she hasn't exactly been the helpful sort." She gestured where the construct was leaning back in a corner.

Gideon examined the construct to make sure the restraints were still in place. The last thing he needed was it breaking free and well, running amok.

"For the best," Gideon said, "What areas do you not have access to yet?"

"There are hallways I can't go down. I try and I find myself back at the mouth of the hallway. It's more than a little disconcerting."

"Interesting," Gideon said, "If can show me the way I'd like to take a look for myself, eh."

"Of course," Tereza said, looking at the construct. "You're going to be good now?" The construct glanced at Gideon and then nodded. "Okay, this way," Tereza said, leading the way back out into the hallway. The route she took made little sense to Gideon, but she seemed to know where she was going. She finally stopped and gestured to the hallway in front of them. "Here's one of them." It didn't look immediately different than any of the other hallways.