Touch and Go

[Ash Addams]

It was a little over two weeks since Ashley Addams had arrived Dr. Cullen's Institute for the Gifted. Since then, not a lot had changed. The room that Professor John Rhee had given Ash had become his sole sanctuary. Aside from the occasional hallway or cantina run-in, Ash had barely spoken to anyone. To say that he was at ill-ease around mutants would have been a gross understatement.

More than anything, however, he was anxious about exposing himself to others. He had no idea what he could do, what was becoming, and it was terrifying. Locked away inside all day, with the curtains drawn, his only company had been a computer. Some well-meaning student or teacher had a newspaper or magazine outside of his bedroom door each day, but it had only taken a moments touch to turn them to dust.

The unfortunate truth was that he couldn't hide forever. There were conditions he had to comply with, targets that had to be met. They were the only reason that he was dressed, that he'd bothered to get up before mid-day and shower. Today was the day of his assessment with John Rhee.
Ash arrived outside the Professors office. He lifted a hand to knock on the heavy wood door but hesitated at the last moment. Instead, he lent in closer to the paneling, cleared his throat and said:

“Uh, hello? It's Ash Addams.”

[Dragon]

Professor John Rhee looked up from the paperwork on his desk and almost shouted an obligatory, "Come in!" But then he realized why Ash hadn't knocked.

A moment later, the door opened, and John stood framed in the doorway. He smiled and stepped aside. "Hello, Ash. Come on in and take a seat."

Professor Rhee's office was a unique blend of east and west. The colonial windows were covered with bamboo shades, the bookshelves were heavy with old volumes in both English and Korean, and dominating the largest open wall was a full-sized reproduction of a Joseon Dynasty ink panting. There was a sweet tang of incense emanating from a small, ornamental burner on the edge of his antique desk.

The office was far larger than John's professorial needs dictated, so last semester he'd brought in a short couch and a pair of overstuffed armchairs and arranged them around a short coffee table to make a comfortable sitting room for counseling sessions. He motioned Ash to take his pick.

"How have you been doing?" he asked, taking a seat across from the teen. It was clearly not an idle question.

[Ash Addams]

The boy sat down, giving the room nothing more than a cursory glance.

“I've been better.”

The 'school' had provided Ash with an outfit made out of a synthetic fabric similar to the prison scrubs he'd arrived in. Though a little more casual and not nearly as inconspicuous, Ash was visibly uncomfortable in the black shirt and slacks. He'd opted against wearing the gloves, after being confronted with the ludicrous mirror image of himself dressed – essentially – as a mime.

He looked down at his hands, wringing them together.

“I read the news reports on the internet... doesn't seem like people are happy I'm here.”

[Dragon]

John had read some of the same reports - Ethan had already had to deal with more than one pointed phone interview about why he was permitting a killer on campus with over four hundred students. Word had spread through the student body, too, in varying degrees of accuracy. The problem was that the rumor mill never managed to communicate the complexity - the humanity - of a situation like this.

"Some people aren't," he replied, "but they're not in a position to judge you. You can never let yourself be defined by other people's opinions."

John leaned forward in his chair, elbows on knees, his fingers meshed in front of him. "You've had some time to learn a little more about what the Institute is about. Do you see yourself being able to continue here?"

[Ash Addams]

Ash shrugged the noncommittal shrug that boys of his age were so familiar with.

“I guess... until I work out whats going on right now.”

What other options were there? One step outside and he'd be lynched.

[Dragon]

It wasn't much, but John was willing to take it. Even if Ash saw his current situation as temporary - and who was to say it wasn't - hopefully the faculty at Cullen's could find a way to help him.

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied. "Ash, you know that one of the most important things we do here that distinguishes us from most schools is that we help our students learn about their mutations. Since every student is different, that typically involves a lot of experimenting... finding out what triggers your mutation, what its limits are, what the dangers are, how to control it. I think, if you feel up to it, we're at a point where we need to start thinking about your capabilities."

[Ash Addams]

“Experimenting?”

Ash's eyes darted upwards. His jaw was tightly set.

[Dragon]

John held out a staying hand. "Not like... lab experiments," he said. "I mean just trying things out.

"I know you've probably been trying to avoid touching too many things since you've come here," he continued. "Now, I know you can make things decay by touching them. But your clothes obviously aren't dissolving. If you've used the computer in your room, obviously the keyboard and the mouse haven't dissolved. I know you didn't knock on my door, but you must have touched the metal knob on your own door to leave your room.

"Now, I have a guess at what the common thread might be... about what objects are susceptible to your touch and which ones aren't... but I'm curious about what you think."

[Ash Addams]

“I don't know.”

The words were out before Ash really had a chance to think. In truth, he had a fair idea of what he could and couldn't do. He'd noticed many of the things that John had, but having a frank discussion about his 'capabilities' felt alien.

“Nothing happens when I touch metal, plastic, stuff like that... but food and wood and-”

'People' was the next word on the list, but Ash didn't say it, stifling it with a sigh.

[Dragon]

John nodded - he knew what Ash had left off the list. He decided to approach from a different angle.

"The clothes you're wearing are synthetic," he said. "Have you tried wearing anything made of cotton? Or wool?"

[Ash Addams]

“Not since...”

Ash's words trailed off again. He scrubbed one hand through his hair, pressing the heel of his palm into the bags under his eyes.

“I had a sweater on, before they brought me over here. They asked me to take it off, down at the station... it fell to pieces.”

[Dragon]

That was as John expected. He hated having to drag Ash through those memories again with the pain so fresh, but he had to understand his mutation - in his case it was a matter of emergency.

"This is just a guess, but based on what you've told me, I think the key difference is organic versus inorganic," he said. "Things that come from living things... food, plant material, natural clothing... respond to your touch. Inorganic matter, like metal, rock, and plastic, don't seem to be affected. Now, like I said, this is just a guess. That's why it's so important to experiment - try things out - see what sorts of things trigger your mutation. It's a learning experience. No one else can do it for you."

[Ash Addams]

There was a kind of infinite calm and patience about John Rhee that was all at once infuriating and reassuring. That he could speak so even-tempered about something so catastrophic to Ash's life made the boy want to scream, but there was something about the Professor - his serene aura, the certainty and empathy he spoke with - that silenced any outbursts. Looking up, he shrugged.

“So, how we gonna do this?”

[Dragon]

"Well, like I said - we're going to experiment. If you're up for trying a few things."

John rose from his seat and stepped around behind his desk. There was a rustle of plastic, and then he returned with with several grocery bags and set them on the coffee table.

"Now, there's not much scientific about this," he said. "I've got some things that we're probably already sure about and some things that are still question marks. But I think we can do more than just check things off the list one way or the other. I want you to feel the difference, to know exactly what it feels like when your abilities are triggered. Often mutations come with a certain sensory perception. For instance, there's a girl here who can control wind, and she always has an innate sense of how the air's moving. There might be something similar for you."

He started pulling objects out of the first grocery bag - a banana, a bar of soap, a tin can with a paper label, a strap of old, tough leather. "It's... well, not very scientific, but it's a start," he said.

[Ash Addams]

Ash sighed, a heavy breath. His hand hovered for a moment over the banana. He could feel his fingertips prickling and something inside him, like hunger, gnawed at him. At the moment his skin made contact with the outer-flesh of the fruit, it began to decay – as it might have done naturally, only at a drastically accelerated rate. Within seconds it was rotten, and in a blink it had become dust. The weight that Ash had felt, the aching in his chest, subsided.

[Dragon]

It was startling how quickly it happened - it was the sort of thing that grabbed the eyes and didn't let go until it was over. But John had forced himself to watch Ash's face for any clues about the process - any sign of intention, of instinct, anything they could seize on to give him some measure of control. But it had been over so quickly there wasn't anything he could read.

But somehow, even with something so mundane as a banana, there was a tang of decay left in the air. John tried to push past it as quickly as possible.

"One of the things we try to identify with every ability is the trigger, whatever it is that makes it active. Now, we already have an idea - that your mutation responds to organic matter. But some mutations are always active, and some can be turned on and off, either consciously or unconsciously.

"I know you don't have much experience with it yet... but do you have any idea of a way you might be able to make your ability lie dormant?"

[Ash Addams]

Ash gave a shrug and looked, with a kind of detached half-frown, at the pile of banana-dust.

“Not really. It feels like... I dunno. I just get this feeling. I need to do it, you know?”

[Dragon]

That was a curious way of phrasing it.

"You need to... like.. an instinct? An urge? Or something more involuntary than that?"

[Ash Addams]

“Feels like being really hungry... I dunno how to explain.”

Ash's face twisted into an expression of frustration.

“Like, some part of me is empty, and then I do it-” he motioned here, jerkily, at the remains of the banana, “-and then I don't feel so empty.”

[Dragon]

John nodded - he understood Ash's frustration. Mutation often brought with it whole new categories of instinct and sensation - trying to describe it was sometimes like trying to describe a completely new color.

"And you don't feel this when you touch something inorganic?" he asked. "Or, when there's some sort of barrier between you and an organic object?"

He glanced down at the other things inside the plastic bag.

[Ash Addams]

“I still kinda feel it when there's a barrier... but not if it's,” he paused, motioning vaguely then grabbed hold of the tin can. The paper label peeled away into dust, but the can itself remained intact, with the metal only giving a soft crunk as Ash's grip tightened, partially crushing the can.

[Dragon]

John watched the paper crumble and decay and saw there wasn't a mark on the can except for a few bits of glue that Ash's influence hadn't reached.

"Not if it's... what?" he prompted.

[Ash Addams]

“If it's- inorganic. I don't get that hunger when I get near something plastic or whatever.”

Ash tossed the can down onto the table. It clattered, rolling awkwardly on warp edges.

“I don't feel anything from that,” he motioned sharply at th misshapen can.

“But anytime anything... living gets near, I can feel it, I get that ache right inside me.”