Xaviers!

She'd let her temper get the better of her again. She had excuses, good ones even. Being a clairvoyant precognitive in a place where dimensions and possibilities were bubbling around like so much chili in a pot was part of why her head was hurting. But excuses were just that... excuses. The choice was always hers. She leaned on the railing at the top of the lighthouse, trying to regain her composure, trying to see a good way out of this mess. But it wasn't coming. Only dark futures and incomplete pictures presented themselves for her to look at and she wasn't about to get swallowed by that again.

((Open))

"Geez, it feels like a grump elemental is floating over the lighthouse over here. You doing alright, lady?" a rainbow-haired girl asked, coming Miranda's way.

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances, I think," Miranda says, turning her head to face the newcomer because that was the polite thing to do, right?

"That upset about everything going screwy? Did you leave the oven on in your place or something?"

"It is... a long and complicated, and somewhat confusing, story."

"I'm fairly sure that's the motto for the university," Ayami laughed.

"Which variation of the university are you from?"

"London. It's too quiet out here for my tastes."

"Maldon has its own charm and with both the university and the institute, it's rarely truly quiet."

"Mmm. Maybe. It just seems so much smaller, from everything I see and hear as they come together. Nine-story dorm towers, a teaching hospital, modern facilities...not a musty old house in the middle of nowhere."

"There's more than 'a musty old house' where I'm from. It's a nice place for people to learn."

"I suppose if you've lived here, that's what it must feel like.

But, no, maybe I'm being too harsh. Tell me about it."

"It's... well... it's home. The only real home I've ever had. There's a new section on the mansion for the Institute kids. I live in an apartment there, helping them out. There's the Point and all the neat facilities under it. There's the student union and the rec center. And Maldon's grown a bit over the years."

"The only home you've had? You've never spread your wings?

...I immediately regret that phrasing."

"Not really? When I finished university, I really wanted to give back."

"Me, I couldn't wait to get far from home. Strange to think people have come here from all over the world, and you've just decided to stick."

"It's a place I feel loved. It's where my family, weird as it is, lives. Everyone wants different things. That's what I want."

"Well, with that kind of drive, I'm sure clearing up your confusing story won't be too hard, yes?"

"I don't know," she says doubtfully. "Maybe it'll all work out, maybe it won't. I can't really tell."

"What do you mean, 'you can't tell'?"

"I can sort of see the future. Most times. Short term it's pretty handy. Long term is... open to a lot of interpretation. Visions and metaphors, that sort of thing."

"Then, are we all going to get out of this one? Everyone back where they belong, and all that?"

"I don't know for certain. That's one of the possibilities I see. There could also be a complete dimensional collapse. Sorting that out doesn't look pleasant."

"Well, shit. Guess we have to count on the all-mighty X-Men to dig us out of this one, which is probably a mess they caused in the first place," she grumbled.

"I don't know about your X-Men, but I'm a member of our X-Men and we didn't cause this."

"Oh, they're always poking at hornets nests over here, at least."

"Seems like it's more often that people throw hornet's nests at us."

"And then you knock the down, and continue to poke at them!"

"Hey, I'm part of the team that protects the university and the institute. Don't blame me that there are super villains looking to make their mark by doing something awful to the school."

"You guys are a beacon for trouble more often than not, I find."

"Then why attend?"

"Because my brain's broken, and experts in how to fix that come here?"

Miranda has to restrain her immediate impulse to help. "I'm sorry to hear that. About your brain being broken, that is."

"Curse of the X-Gene. I suppose sticking all the broken people together is the best overall plan."

"The X-Gene doesn't make you broken. It doesn't make any of us broken."