Riley Finn. AKA Agent Lucas: April 7th 2022 - recordingThe recording given with the files that were handed over to Dr McCoy on Saturday th 31st of March 2024...
The screen flickers to life, Riley sat facing the camera, his image on the flat screen staring back at him, a small breath taken in an unusual state of anxiety, though it attempted to be covered as he steadied his breathing. A glance at the silver watch that sat on his wrist showed it was almost time for something, and his hands moved over the files in front of him, placed neatly across his desk in an orderly fashion in what seemed fit to Riley. It was obviously about the time he first arrived, from the start Riley had always been a difficult person to keep confined to medlab and once he was fit enough to move around he’d been allowed to leave as long as he kept his activities down and took things easy.. This meant there had been a visible cut still on Riley’s right eyebrow for a few weeks that had been rather nasty when he first arrived, the worst of which had been healed by Hank’s alien machinery. It had been a rocky start to his relationship to Hank because Riley had vanished for a few nights after initially demanding to be released from Hank’s care, insisting he was fine and that he needed to get home. He had been difficult and stubborn and refused to give his name or explain what had caused his injuries, obviously Hank had refused to let Riley just up and leave till he had healed more adequately. When he had returned a few days later apologetic for his behaviour and attempting to explain how he was new to the city and just found the whole situation rather overwhelming, he’d heard and seen only negative things about mutants and he let that influence him in his state of shock.
Of course, making nice with the teachers was a must if he intended on getting the information the government had wanted from him, though initially it was all an act to charm his way into their world and see what it was about. As a guest in the school, with nowhere to stay till he got all his cards and personal documents and identification cards replaced (as he seemed to have lost them all the night he was originally taken into Hank’s care), he had originally asked to be able to sit a few classes just to pass the time, and soon enough was assimilating into the school and it’s social society. It seemed with time Riley just seemed to... stay. This particular day of the recording was supposed to be his last, there was a backpack stuffed with some clothes and items that had been packed previously. The red shirt that was worn been a gift from Dawn for his birthday, she had given it to him in class the first year he was here and while he had been flustered he seemed more surprise no one was upset about the random distraction from work. Especially as she was telling Connor and Angela in class with them about how she struggled on choosing the right colour for him. Slightly sweaty palms rubbed against the fabric of the jeans Riley wore, a beeping drawing his attention to the screen as an alert popped up requesting him to accept an incoming call. A smaller box appears on the corner left hand side of the screen, with a formally dressed military official sitting on the other end of the line, his hat removed and placed on the desk.
"A moment to make sure the connection is secure," He stated, as he had done so the previous times they had spoken briefly in lead up to this day, another beep signalled confirmation that no one else was picking up the transmission. "You seem to be recovering well Agent Lucas," The slight curve of Riley’s lip barely made rank of smile but he was never used to pleasantries and he had to admit he had liked being referred to as Riley once again, the use of his acquired name just reminded Riley that all this was coming to an end. "Yes sir, you were right about the Doctor here, he does know what he is doing," Hank, after all, was hardly a secret to the world, he was famous, known for his brilliance, even if he kept to the school most of the time.
"Never a doubt, all we need to know is if what he is doing is dangerous to us or not, what else have you discovered about Xavier?" A pen seemed to have appeared in the official’s hand, poised ready to take notes for himself as Riley spoke... a slight hesitance on Riley’s part broken once the other man looked up and peered directly at the youth. "I have learned a lot sir," Came Riley’s reply, and the Official gave a tap of his pen, following which Riley continued as if the tapping had been some unspoken order to continue on. "You were correct in your reports of Xavier training his students... you were just wrong on the reasons for it," He stated bluntly, receiving an ‘I see’ from the other on the two way video call. "The students at this school who you have tagged as mutants are here to train in their abilities, following the reports of the students you were most concerned about I have discovered that these students are under the most strict of training in order to learn how to control their abilities so that past accidents do not repeat themselves," With a pause Riley watched as the other jotted down some of what Riley said so that he had something in short form to go along with the report Riley would send to him. "I believe it would be a mistake to close down this school, by force especially, there are some here who need the training to function in society, there are some who need to be told just because they can do it doesn’t mean they should do it, this might be the only place they have that is able to realistically do that," The official looked up from his notes and seemed neither bothered nor amused by Riley’s statement, which considering the difference in rank and seriousness of the matter some could say Riley had stepped a little over his mark.
"How deep are you in there... what are your sources, how can you be sure that you know what really goes on?" It was a fair question really, but how did Riley reply to that? Because if he said he was deep enough to know that the school was forming a team of mutant superheroes then he was betraying Connor’s trust in him, and Connor had really put himself out in order to get his father and the other students to take Riley into consideration for the ‘honour’. Past training experiences helped him ease into the novice squad and Connor keeps saying the way Riley was going he’d progress in no time and maybe they could be on the same team together. Dawn was also telling him all about the different teachers and which ones were easier and which ones were pure nightmares... only to realize Riley seemed to be one of the few that found Wolverine’s class and training schedule a delightful challenge.
"I’m a Special Agent of the agency’s finest soldiers sir, if I was not trusted to be able to get the information required, I would not have been asked to return here," The question was avoided, leaving the Official to chew over the words thoughtfully, "If I was suspicious at all, given all the technology at my disposal to aid me in my search, I would have requested more time. I am however certain this school is doing the sort of work you would want done in order to protect the people of this country, you always said education was better than war." The Official gave a soft laugh, he always liked it when people turned to diplomacy and what better form of it then using one’s own words against them! "Very well Marc, send me the files and your report, if what you say is true I’ll not pass on my findings as agreed, it’d be safer not to advertise this, but if I so much as get a bleep on my radar that something’s off I will open the case again, and you will be called in for questioning," The hat was picked up and placed on the Official’s grey streaked white hair, his stern expression seeming chiselled through the whole conversation, regardless of his change in tones. "Good work Agent, I’ll send you a message once you arrive back to the base, safe travels," With that the other’s image blinked off from the screen, leaving Riley’s own features staring back at him. He didn’t look thoroughly impressed at that point, spending a moment to divide the files and reports, a few sheets were pulled out, stared at thoughtfully, and then scrunched into balls. It wasn’t like they needed to know about the danger room... or the advanced medical room... or anything outside the core basics that made the school what it really was.
A knock Riley’s door interrupted the agent as he was about to switch off his laptop, causing Riley’s body to stand and vanish off towards the door but he didn’t open it, Connor’s voice was heard replying to Riley’s request of who was there, Dawn’s louder voice excitedly inviting him out to the Dying start to listen to one of their friends, Angela, singing with her band. Riley’s form could be seen hovering back into view of the recording camera, looking uncertain at his bag and then at the files on his desk. "Just a minute!" A phone appeared his hand as he moved to the bag, picked it up in mid- dial and then moved towards his desk. "Joan, hey something’s come up... could you cover my shift tonight? I’m not sure, could be something, might be nothing, I’ll see how it pans out, see you in class tomorrow though," Another call from Dawn, followed by Connor saying; "Come on Riley, I’ll be deaf before we get there," Which caused Dawn to protest it seemed as Riley shoved the two sets of reports away, one into his desk, the copy, and the original into his bag. "I’m coming, geeze, you know there’s a biology test tomorrow,"
"Exactly, we’re escaping the stress... we also have a fitness test with Logan, not that you two are sane enough to find that scary," With that comment from Dawn, a hand reached for the laptop screen, shutting the lid down and causing the recording to end. To those who thought back, Riley had missed the biology exam that following day, amongst most of the classes for the week, due to what he stated being a family emergency with his adopted folks.
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