Tomorrow in a bottle

[rivera]

"Rivera Enterprises: Tomorrow in a bottle," proclaimed a poster advertising in the long, tiled hallway. Across the poster, a pretty blonde girl with long, voluptuous legs giggled as a doctor stood holding a vial of the cure for mutation, smiling as if he had won the lottery. Similar posters and flyers lined the hallways. In some teenage bombshells with thick layers of make-up and puckered up faces grinned and showed them how wonderful it was to be free of mutation. In others, hideous, deformed creatures attacking innocent women and children emphasized the dangers of staying a mutant.

The clicking of Gucci heels against cool linoleum echoed through the hall. Francesca smiled as she stared at the walls, which were covered in advertisements under her orders. The students had figured she was trying to use the school as another hunting ground for consumers of the cure. In reality, it was an intimidation tactic. Every poster, every flyer, every single piece of paper with the letters "RE" on it served as a reminder of what would happen if the X-men failed to eliminate the Brotherhood. If they refused or failed, they would be no mutants and no X-men. All that would be left would be the ashes of a forgotten race. It was a taste of tomorrow . . . in a bottle.

[Gabby Smith]

Gabby had just gotten back from an outside doctor's visit, not trusting the X-Men doctor due to an incident with his abilities a while back. It was not good news, as usual, but it wasn't that much worse. He was thankful about that one bit, as Gabby couldn't afford to be sicker due to his mutation. Gabby was sitting in a chair in the hallway of Xavier's Institute, thinking about the past. His hair was a glimmer of the bright blond it used to be- most of the hair having already gone limp and near-white. Gabby's skin was nearly translucent, the color having gone out of it as well.

In other words, he looked like a ghost, a pastel blue shirt, blue jeans, and black converse-wearing ghost, the exact example of when a mutation has too many weakness and not enough perks. He closed his bright blue eyes, not reacting to the sounds of high heels in the hallway. Gabby assumed it was one of the teacher's, or a student with high heels- it was hard to tell the difference nowadays. Gabby was too concentrated on his own memories, thinking about when a former student had gotten the cure that Rivera was selling. The student had actually confronted him about it, asking the music teacher substitute and tutor to get the cure for his health. The memory actually gave him a small laugh as he remembered how he had snapped a witty comeback at the student before going to meet one of his pupils. Gabby would never, willingly, take the cure. It was a menace to everyone, human and mutant alike, in his opinion.

Gabby gave out a cough, covering up his mouth with his bony right hand. He wondered what use he would be in this mission to eliminate the Brotherhood. Hopefully nothing violent, probably just to read people's blood to see if they were brotherhood or not. Pushing those thoughts away too, he opened his eyes, seeing Rivera looking at the cure advertisements. Gabby looked, immediately, to the floor, giving another sickly cough. He wondered if he should say hello, or something like that, towards the woman. After a few seconds, Gabby greeted the woman with an upbeat tone that contradicted his physical appearance, "'Ello."

[rivera]

At the sound of a student's voice, she stopped in her tracks and turned. A gaunt, sickly boy sat on a chair. This simply would not due. The last thing she needed was diseases spreading around like a plague. There was no way she was going to perpetrate a full frontal attack on the Brotherhood with a legion of disease-ridden mutants. Besides, she and her staff were going to interacting with them; she didn't want to catch some kind of mutant illness.

"Hello," she said softly. "Excuse me, but do you need to go to the nurse? You seem unwell." Her voice was much kinder than usual. It was better to trick the student into thinking she cared about their health to keep them healthy than have them realize that she was merely manipulating them for her own benefit.

[Gabby Smith]

Gabby looked up at the woman with a smile, responding with a kind nod, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not sick." This woman was nice, he thought, nearly completely fooled by her acting. Gabby fought down another cough, not wanting the woman to think that he was actually sick still. He didn't need to be put into the nurses' office, as there were things to do around the school. Thinks such as subbing, tutoring, and helping the rest of the X-Men to find the brotherhood. He fought down another cough, diverting his eyes to an advert about the cure.

Gabby gave a soft sigh, continuing to sit, but with his back not so forward as it had been before. Before, he had looked like he was sitting/laying his stomach on his legs. "I haven't felt better in my life, actually," he lied with a big smile on his face.

[rivera]

(( Sorry it took so long to reply. I've been busy! First week or so of school. ))

Taking another look at the person at hand, she realized he was not a student but a full-grown adult. She wondered if she should get her eyes checked. In any case, it didn't matter. What was important was to make sure the man didn't spread whatever sickness he had throughout the school. He looked a bit less sickly for a moment, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I just heard there was a new virus going around, a really nasty one. It gives you chills, fevers, vomiting and migraines for hours."

She hoped that the symptoms of the fake disease would convince him to come the nurse so that she could check if he had a real illness.