Scene 34 - October 26th

Interior Cell Block, Continuous

Quinn Kaufman

I was directed to Legion’s cell, where I sat on one side of a table which seemed to pass through a forcefield, allowing her to sit on the other side. She was currently in the shape of the director, which I couldn’t help but comment on. “I thought you couldn’t copy people without absorbing them.”

She shrugged in slow-motion. “Perfectly? To the point of fooling DNA scans and fingerprinting? Yes, I need to absorb them. But I can fool the eye with just a visual reference. And as for vocal mannerisms and body language, that’s just practice.” Her body suddenly morphed and I was looking at Canaveral. “Would you prefer to speak to a hero? Whatever makes you comfortable, Quinn.”

I frowned at her. “I think I’d rather speak to you in your real form. If you even remember what it is.”

She chuckled - it was exactly the same as the chuckles I had heard from the actual Canaveral. “A brave one, aren’t you?”

“I try.” I try very, very hard.

“Well that’s not an option, I’m afraid. My real form is reserved for the original me. But if you’d rather, I can make something completely new for you.”

“Please.”

She changed again, returning to a suit much like the director’s but with a more curvaceous figure beneath it. Her face became sharp, her ears slightly pointed, and her hair curled up around her ears. Every part of her took on a purplish tint - so deep it was nearly black for the suit, so pale it was nearly white for the hair, and every shade in between. Even her skin had a lavender cast to it. “Better?”

“Good enough,” I said. “A fan of purple, I see.” She shrugged. “So why do you want to talk to me and dad?”

“I have a message for you.”

“From who?”

“Laura Kaufman - your mother.”

I glared. “Don’t talk about my mother, Legion.”

She held up her hands placating. “I don’t mean to poke at old wounds, but I must deliver this message. I promised her, and I owe her everything. I know it sounds hard to believe, but-”

“What the hell do you know about my mother?” I snapped. “How could you know anything! I barely know anything! She’s been gone for 15 years!”

“From you, perhaps,” she said quietly. “I only lost her two years ago.”

“...what are you saying.”

“Your mother didn’t die, 15 years ago.”

“You expect me to believe she just left?” I had to laugh at the very notion. “That’s ridiculous. She would never do that to me - to dad.”

Legion shook her head. “It wasn’t by her choice. Can I give the message?”

“I’m not sure I want to hear anything you have to say anymore,” I said, standing.

Then she opened her mouth and spoke in the voice of my mother - a voice that I could only barely remember hearing, outside of recordings. “Tell Quinn... tell them that I never wanted to leave them,” said my mother. “Tell them how sorry I am. How much I love them. Tell them... tell them that I’ll be watching over them.”

I didn’t respond. How could I?

“I paraphrased a little, I’m afraid,” Legion said, quietly. “She never had a chance to learn your real name, to see who you are. But I’m certain that Laura would have been proud of the person you’re becoming.”