Fear of Losing

Puck went to the roof of Department H. As he walked out he spied a lone figure sitting on the roof's precipice, drinking a cup of coffee, the wind ruffling the edges of her lab coat. She didn't turn around or even look at him as he approached and sat down.

-I see you got my message

You know how much I love to learn knew things, eh? But why are you telling me like this, why not spill the beans in council, or to the Hudsons? They are your superiors, Dr. Krypt.

-I trust you, I trust you to stay calm, to listen, to understand. I've never been comfortable around either Hudson, except professionally.

Do Guardian and Vindicator know?

-Yes, they know almost all of it. It had to be that way if they were to work out.

Start from the beginning, then. I'm listening.

-When General Clarke first came on with Department H, Wolverine was still on our side. He knew what Wolverine was, Weapon X, I'm sure he even knew about Weapon Plus, those military types always get a head start on such things.

I knew about Weapon X myself before I knew about Logan's experience, but I never heard of Weapon Plus until last year.

-Clarke went ballistic when Wolverine quit. All of the failed attempts to recapture Logan lead Clarke to extend the Weapon Plus program, with Weapon Plus only supplying technical help. Clarke wanted supersoldiers on our side, he never believed Alpha Flight could be the force he wanted.

And what was that, exactly?

-Canada had a program during World War II to create super soldiers; it had two branches. One lead to Major Mapleleaf, the other Chinook. Our allies strongly 'encouraged' us to cease and desist, I guess they wanted as little competition as possible for their own Programs.

Were you there back then? You're not that old, eh.

-I joined the government labs after the Major retired, when the effects of his treatments faded. Chinook was still around but he was kept in the closet unless big disasters happened.

Like the Gamma Ray Collector.

-Sort of. You don't really know what went on then, either.

So don't leave me in suspense.

-The Legacies at Hull House were the children of a group of mutants under study by Department H. The parents were killed by Sabretooth, so Department H kept the children and destroyed their parents' files. When Clarke came along he made sure that the Legacies had muddled identities and histories, to keep the secret safe. The Gamma Ray 'disaster' was part of the cover story.

Unus made sense, but Logan as Flex' father?

-I have no idea who came up with that one, maybe Clarke himself. As the children grew Weapon X fell apart. So many deaths, defections. Clarke went back to Department H to start the synthoids and see how the Legacies were doing. He brought Huxley with him. Huxley was fascinated with genetic tampering and RNA/DNA crossover. Clarke took the last remnants of Weapon X and created Weapon P.R.I.M.E. But then Department K was destroyed and Weapon P.R.I.M.E. was loose. Tygerstryke was their watchdog but they killed him. Clarke was not going to lose them. So he decided a new appoach was needed, that's when he gave me the Beta Project. It was floundering hopelessly and he figured a shot in the dark might work, especially knowing what time travellers said, that we'd be wiped out and defenceless when the great war came. Then he found out that Weapon Plus claimed Weapon P.R.I.M.E. as their property. 'Plus' blamed Clarke for losing Deadpool and the rest and they wanted Weapon P.R.I.M.E. in payment.

And Clarke lost it, eh?

-Weapon X and Weapon Plus were disasters to his point of view, the scientists too. He sent Epsilons after P.R.I.M.E. but they were killed by 'Plus'. The Legacies weren't ready yet, not for this big a task, although he pushed Cleric into action and caused another disaster. Of all the Legacies that kid had the most potential.

That's when he brought Heather, Madison and I in, to get the Legacies prepared, too.

-Wrong. After Cleric's death he went to you and the Hudsons. You all refused. He didn't take no for an answer. He had you mindwiped and sent out to catch Weapon P.R.I.M.E. or kill them. You infiltrated a 'Plus' facility and shot all four of P.R.I.M.E. with a 'tranquilizer' Clarke gave you. It was actually a compound designed to turn their enhancements against them. They died right in front of you.

No wonder we needed the Hudsons in charge of this mess. Any more of that and I'd be back in prison, I'd have killed most of the people here if I'd have had the chance back then.

-When you came back Clarke had you mindwiped again but he was not certain that Cyborg Hudosn could be trusted, so he tried to get rid of him and not leave a body behind. It failed miserably.

I know. So how does this all fit in with the Beta Project?

-Clarke gave me full control over all parameters. All eight of my subjects were teenagers on death's doorstep. I offered them a chance to live and be heroes, no strings attached.

Nothing but who they owede their lives to, eh?

-Precisely. Loyalty and honour, not compulsion and control. I used some of Huxley's work to enhance their biology, using RNA sequences and cell dynamics from his special bacteria to recode their DNA and give them powers. I also made sure that they could never be mind controlled.

Clake's idea, or yours?

-Both. We saw telepaths as our greatest enemy, they could take your work and ruin it in an instant. My children weren't going to face those threats. I knew enough to protect them from all of the Professor X's and Dr. Strange's of this universe.

But even all of your goodwill and honour couldn't make things right.

-Why do you say that?

Most of your clients in the Beta Project died.

-That was in no way my fault! When the Zodiac invaded they unleashed that parasite, remember? It went through my Betas, too, before it was ultimately destroyed. That parasite was one of Huxley's.

It seems that Clarke was cursed.

-Weapon Plus is cursed, and Huxley worked for one iteration of that monstrosity. But I and my staff took nothing from Weapon X or Plus, never worked for them, not even Huxley. Thank God. We're clean of that curse.

After we left you just had the two tubes left?

-I was planning on finding more clients but then M Day hit. With Clarke dead, and Department H going through another shake-up, I had no room to maneuver. Then you were almost all killed by the Collective, and with the Civil War down south everyone started to lose their heads. When Mac's cyborg systems kicked in and he came back to life, I took my Betas out for training; I had little choice but to close in and protect my Project. Then you four staged your coup, the Hudsons took charge, and the time was ripe to show off Guardian and Vindicator. After all, Alpha Flight needed members and my people were ready.

You didn't fear a backlash from the Hudsons, more abomination talk?

-Guardian and Vindicator chose to follow my lead, how could they complain? Besides, with Elizabeth becoming Shaman and Earthmover quitting they needed good news and my people had it.

Did you know all of their abilities?

-Of course. Guardian's universal sensory integration and Vindicator's psychic blasts were fully formed when I took them out for their first test drive. They were no different than if they'd have been born that way. And you've seen how good they are, especially Guardian.

I admit, although Siobhan has had her insecurities John has been impressive every time out. It's not just how he uses his powers or the suit, it's his decision making and tactical sense. But I guess when you can sense how the universe is operating down to its lowest denominators it makes such skills a snap.

-Heather's wrong. They aren't Weapons, they aren't abominations. I knew what I was doing, I had consent, I did nothing wrong.

We can't lose those two, trust me. I'll get Heather on board, I'll get Mac to listen too. I trust you. Bad idea, eh?

-I give you my word. I will never let you down. And neither will my Betas. You'll see, they'll outlast you, Sasquatch, Shaman, even Department H. When all Hell finally does break loose they'll give people like us a fighting chance, whether SHIELD, mutants, WideAwake, Apocalypse, or anyone else launches their missiles. Guardian and Vindicator will fight to protect us and our values.

Nobody learned from Civil War or the time travellers. The world will burn soon enough. And we'll be ready. Cable and his friends are mad, he thinks we shouldn't use our knowledge of the future to change history.

-Pot calling the kettle black. If we know we're going to be wiped out, shouldn't we try to defen dourselves, our survivors? Cable is nuts if he thinks we're going to go quietly into the night. Our people deserve saving too

They will be, Krypt, they will be.