May 11: A Soul Laid Bear

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:29 pm

In the late afternoon, Sergei knocked on Sam's office door. It would be clear to any telepath that he was nervous about something.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:41 pm

"Come in, Sergei."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:00 pm

Sergei entered, sighing as he approached.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:06 pm

"Sergei, while telepathy may bridge the gap between myself and your terse yet beautiful language of sighs, somehow I doubt that was your desired result."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:13 pm

"Are you familiar with the student Svetlana Zaytsev?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:16 pm

"Works in the library, aye?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 5:28 pm

"It has come to my attention that the headmaster of the Russian school for mutants she attended is someone I... used to work for."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:28 pm

"Am I correct in assuming this is going to be about more than just professional courtesy?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:37 pm

"Quite a bit. Because when I say I worked for him, I mean I did so as Ivan Petrenko. He made me do... terrible things... and to this day I can still feel the blood on my hands. I had thought I could leave that past behind me... but I can't keep my head buried in the sand any longer. Not while knowing he's out there corrupting a new crop of young mutants."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:38 pm

"So you're telling me you would like us to pursue this?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:44 pm

"If he's planning something, it can't be good," he nodded.

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:46 pm

"That doesn't answer my question."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:57 pm

"Yes. I would."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:55 pm

"And on what authority are we going after this man? Do we have anything that would stick?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:02 pm

"Sadly no," he sighed. "But I know where his old facility is... what's left of it anyway."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:32 pm

"And do you think the Russian government is going to agree to let us investigate it?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:44 pm

"It's highly unlikely I admit. All I can expect to come of this is that he'll be on your radar. To that end, I'll tell you all I know."

by **Samantha McManus** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:47 pm

"And that is? I'll be frank here, Sergei. You're dancing around this issue too much for my taste."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:17 pm

He sighed deeply.

"To know who he is, you first need to know my real past."

"I was born in Seversk in 1972. My real father was a nuclear physicist. But I'll skip ahead. After my mutation manifested at 16, I was recruited by the Soviet military into a secret program by run by a mutant scientist named Boris Karpov. They told us we would be serving my country. What they neglected to say was that we would essentially be lab rats. And then... four of us were selected for the good doctor's personal hit squad, murdering those who happened to be in way of his own vision of a glorious Communist paradise. The others... one by one I never saw them again."

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:22 pm

She blinked, staring at him incredulously.

"And when were you planning on telling us this?"

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:22 pm

"Until a few months ago I wasn't..."

"You have to understand Sam... I've kept this a secret for a long time. I reinvented my entire life to try desperately outrun that part of my life and I've built so much on top of that lie that I'm afraid the truth will topple everything. Only a handful of people even know I wasn't born Sergei Tereshchenko. God Sam, his parents don't even know the real Sergei traded his past away over ten years ago."

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:27 pm

"One would think that 'I'm twenty years older than I look, was part of a black ops Soviet super-soldier project, and people might still be after me' would be something we might need to know..."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:46 pm

"Would you trust people you just met with your darkest secrets?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:58 pm

"This isn't your average university job, and I rather think you know that."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:18 pm

"I do. And I've come to have a great admiration and trust of the people here, which is why I finally gathered the courage to come forward. I'm deeply sorry it wasn't sooner."

by **Samantha McManus** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:36 pm

"I have an obligation to keep these children safe, Sergei."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:58 pm

"I understand that. So if you want my resignation, you can have it."

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:04 pm

"Actually, let me tell you what you're going to do. You're going to talk to Madison about this, and tell her everything you've told me. I'm going to go by her recommendation here."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:43 pm

"Understood."

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:02 pm

"She knows the circles you've traveled in better than I do, and she can better gauge the security risk here."

by **Madison West** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:19 pm

After a minute, Madison teleports into the room.

"You rang?" Madison asks.

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:23 pm

Samantha chuckled.

"I have a door, Madison."

by **Madison West** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:31 pm

"Door's are for blowing up and kicking down," Madison says, taking a seat, "And you have such a nice door. I'd hate to ruin it."

"What's up?"

by **Samantha McManus** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:35 pm

"Tell her what you told me, Sergei. Don't spare any details."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:46 pm

He repeated his story, adding:

"In 1990 I was given a chance at freedom if I volunteered for a cryogenics experiment. Next thing I remember it was 20 years later and I was stumbling through the snow towards the nearest town."

by **Madison West** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:49 pm

"I was wondering about that bit," Madison says.

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:57 pm

"I haven't seen any of them since, not until I saw Karpov on the Rasputin College website. But...in my more paranoid moments I've felt that maybe I was being watched, or even that maybe I never got away at all and this is all just a dream."

by **Madison West** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:01 pm

Madison frowns, "What exactly do you think he's up to now? Is it possible he's reformed? Lord knows he wouldn't be the first mass murderer to head up a school for mutants."

by **Ivan Petrenko** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:09 pm

"His public persona may have changed, but his rhetoric certainly hasn't. Though I suppose anything is possible."

by **Madison West** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:39 pm

Madison pauses for a moment before looking at Sam.

"It couldn't hurt to set up a friendly visit. Send some students abroad to get a bit of international experience at a sister school."

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