Magnetic Personality- Part Four by: Moongoddess “What did I just do there?” She asked quietly, as she stepped from the cage. Walter fished out the lump of copper and set it on a scale. “Well, Lorna, it looks like you somehow reduced its mass,” he frowned for the first time that morning, “and unless you vaporized it, then I think you affected the metal on a molecular level. Lucy, you and Lorna go take off those electrodes and go to lunch,” he looked bemusedly at the lump on the scale with Leonard and Sheldon looking over his shoulders, “Gentlemen, we are down the rabbit hole.” Sheldon kept his mouth closed for once.

Author's Note: A Retroactive Continuity, or Retcon if you will, is the altering of previously known facts in order for the universe to conform to new story lines. This Retcon universe belongs to Lilith Langtree, and I thank her for allowing us to play in her sandbox. Thanks to Donjo for beta reading and edits and to Misty for her okays on certain elements. This is a retcon of Polaris in the Marvel Comics Universe. Marvel Comics owns the character and all rights associated with him/her/it. All other characters that appear are copyright their creators / re-creators and only used with permission. Image copyright by artist.
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Chapter Ten
“‘Endurance is patience concentrated.’ Thomas Carlyle”

To say that both Lorna and Lucy were a little shaken would be an understatement. They walked to the dining room together in silence, holding hands and exchanging small glances. The corridor between the lab and the mess were empty so they didn’t have to encounter anyone until reaching their destination. They took their seats and gave their lunch orders to the waitress. Lucy waited till Lorna was ready to speak.

“What have I become Lucy?” she began after a shaky inhale, “I could hear them talking, during the experiment as well as after. I know what petahertz means, at least the prefix and Walter was hinting that I somehow broke the molecular bonds in that piece of copper. Am I even human anymore?” a tear rolled down Lorna’s cheek, than another followed.

Lucy came around the table and pulled a chair beside Lorna’s. Taking the table napkin, she began to wipe Lorna’s tears away, “yes you’re human love,” Lucy soothed, “if you weren’t, then your annoyance with Dr. Cooper would have ended very differently.” Lorna smiled a little and sniffled, her eyes still wet with unshed tears. She wiped them with the back of her hand,

“Oh him, He’s lucky his damned cage worked,” Lorna laughed brokenly, “I’ve never met anyone that made me that angry, that quickly, at least not in real life. I used to get mad like that when I was arguing in the online forums but there were no real world consequences.” She took a long sip from her water as her tears started to fall again.

Lucy wiped Lorna’s cheeks and eyes again, “Isn’t that why we came here Lorna? To find your limits and learn to control them?” she smiled, “so you could live a normal life with me?” Lorna wrapped her arms around Lucy and started sobbing into her shoulder. Lucy took the taller woman into her embrace and let her cry. Lorna needed this release.

Presently, Lorna’s sobs became ragged breathing and her trembling eased a little. She lifted her head to look Lucy in the eyes. Lucy wiped Lorna’s face again using a dampened hanky and let her blow her nose. Lorna smiled gratefully and rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sting of her tears, “Thank you Lucy,” she began shakily, “wow, I must look quite the mess… I never cried like that before.” Lucy took Lorna’s hand and held it tightly,

“You needed to cry like that my Darling,” Lucy looked into Lorna’s eyes, “look at what you’ve been through in the past 7 weeks. All that upheaval in your life, changing sex, losing your very identity. Of course you doubt yourself and the abilities you gained, that would cause anyone to wonder about their humanity,”she paused for a moment, “you have been so strong, hiding your fears and pain behind your sarcasm, almost like a little child, afraid to cry. I was worried about you love, keeping it all bottled up might have driven you crazy.” Lucy squeezed Lorna’s hand, “I just found you my love, and I’m not going to lose you now.”

Lorna looked deep into Lucy’s blue eyes and saw only love and truth there, “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but now I’m with you, I’m not going anywhere,” she leaned in and kissed Lucy softly. An eternal moment later, the two women broke the kiss and the embrace, “I love you Lucy.”

“And I love you too Lor,” Lucy smiled gently, “do you feel more, or less human now?” Lorna giggled and wiped her eyes,

“Ohhh I must look quite the mess after all that.” At that moment, the server decided it was safe to bring the food to the table, Lorna looked at her with a half smile, “timed that well, didn’t you?”

…

The training facility differed from the rec center in that it was echoingly empty and the size of a small aircraft hangar. A running track was laid out along the perimeter and aside from various pieces of weight training and exercise equipment, it seemed unfinished. At the far end of the room was an office and small exam room. Lorna and Lucy headed in that direction as the rest of the space was unoccupied. They were greeted by the two physical trainers Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier. Jean-Paul was a former Olympic downhill skier and gold medalist and Jeanne-Marie was a sports scientist and physical therapist in Canada’s ‘Own the Podium’ program. Lorna wondered how they had become attached to the Government’s Metahuman project.

“Bonjour Mademoiselles,” Jean-Paul greeted them as he rose from the computer he was working at, “it is a pleasure to meet you for longer than five minutes.” He took them by the hands and led them into the exam room. “My sister, Jeanne-Marie and myself will be designing a training and fitness program for you Lorna, to keep you in peak physical form.” Jeanne-Marie stood and greeted them warmly as well.

“That is our goal because, although you may have acquired a nearly perfect body,” She grinned, “I intend to make sure you keep it that way. I hope you don’t mind Lorna, but we have been given some medical files and photos of the …” Jeanne-Marie hesitated so Jean-Paul rescued her.

“As my oh so polite sister is unwilling to say dear, we have seen your old self and Honey, you and exercise were not friends. Though it seems that comfort foods were.” He finished. Lorna blushed crimson and Lucy stepped up to her defense.

“I’m not about to make excuses for Larry, Mister Beaubier,” she said in a frosty tone, “But not everyone in the world can live in Olympic Training Land. Some of us have had real careers and I can tell you, as a Nurse Practioner, it isn’t always easy to watch your diet and get in enough exercise!” Jeanne-Marie covered her eyes and started chuckling, while Jean-Paul started laughing. Jeanne-Marie spoke first.

“She’s got you there brother; it’s different out in the real world,” she stood and took Lucy and Lorna by the hands, “I went from studying Nutritional science and fitness at McGill University to a job at Health Canada and couldn’t understand why Canadians weren’t looking after themselves. It was that I had no real world experience, much like my brother. It wasn’t until I started doing actual field work that I saw how much the daily lives of ordinary people kept them from looking after themselves and when I saw that the worst foods available for human consumption were also the cheapest, well that’s when I resolved to make a change and a difference.” Jeanne-Marie sighed, “However I was one voice, shouting in the wilderness. When I had the opportunity to leave the bureaucracy and join H, I jumped at the chance to work with people who could be role models for ordinary Canadians.” Lorna looked at the raven haired beauty in awe.

“That’s amazing Jeanne-Marie, really!” she pointed at Jean-Paul, “So how did he get in here?” Jean-Paul laughed again.

“My dear sister got me the job of course!” he smiled winningly, “how else would an out of work athlete land a sweet gig like this? Seriously though Lorna, I was being blunt for a reason. As an ex Olympian, I know how easy it is to lose your peak fitness.” Jean-Paul picked up a piece of paper from his desk, “this is Dr. Mike’s preliminary report on you, according to this and the records from Sunnybrook; you haven’t started to drop from your peak.” Jeanne-Marie piped up.

“Though your caloric intake is still very high for a woman of your height and age, but our current theory is that your abilities use a lot of energy. Reports from STAR labs in the United States seem to confirm this, but there is still a lot that is not known about Metahumans in general.” She smiled, “You seem to be disproving a lot of scientific theories by just existing young lady, and you certainly have the hard science team in a tizzy.”

Lorna had to smile as the sibling’s natural good nature seemed infectious, “OK coaches, as you said, exercise and I were never friends. How do you intend to make us BFFs?”

Jean-Paul rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Therein lies the problem Lorna, to properly design a fitness program for anyone, their level of fitness and endurance must be measured.” He eyed her seriously, “and for you, it is that much more difficult because we have no established upper limit for you. So the next week or so, you are unfortunately going to curse the Beaubier name as we push you to find your baseline and establish the limits of your endurance.” Jeanne-Marie continued the thought as if the twins shared a telepathic link.

“We will be observing all of your physical habits mon petit, I am sorry, but I do mean all of them.” Lorna looked at her blankly for a moment then turned a lovely vermillion and looked pleadingly at Lucy who had turned slightly pink herself.

“I’m sorry Lor, I understand why they need this information for the same reason I told Dr. Mike about us this morning. It doesn’t make me feel any better, but if it keeps you healthy a…and…” Lucy stammered slightly, “and in the long run happy, then we have to do it. We don’t necessarily have to like it though.” Jean-Paul looked at the couple with an air of embarrassment.

“I suspect that none of us is really happy with the intrusive nature of this part of the program.” He sighed heavily, “Ms. Caplin, I would like to request that after the rather intensive nature of these next two weeks, that you join Lorna as her exercise partner, to provide the kind of moral and emotional support that will make her and exercise, how did you put it Lorna?” he quirked an eyebrow and Jeanne-Marie chimed in.

“BFF’s my dear brother, BFF’s”

…

‘It’s a damned good thing’ Lorna thought for the 100th time in the last two and a half hours, ‘that I’m too exhausted to start throwing barbells at those two.’ She was currently on a treadmill running at a steady 40KPH on an uphill grade with a breathing apparatus taped into her mouth and several meters of cables attached to her. This was hour two. The first half hour was involved in prepping her for the torture that had lain ahead. The Beaubiers’ could not believe that she had managed to maintain the pace and grade for a half hour, let alone the two she had run. They finally called it quits and started detaching the breathing tube and cables. Lorna felt winded, but nowhere near the exhaustion that she felt she should have. Lucy was looking at the readouts of Lorna’s heart rate and respiration.

“My goodness Lor, you barely got to a normal exercising heart rate! It looks like you were jogging for twenty minutes not running the equivalent of just under two marathons in two hours, uphill. I’m going to have to take some blood dear… Dr. Mike will want a blood chemistry panel.” she busied herself getting the vials ready.

“What did you think Jean-Paul?” Lorna asked, “Getting a baseline yet? Shouldn’t I be panting and dehydrated by now?” she wiped her face with a towel and grabbed a bottle of spring water, “I feel like I could have gone on under the right circumstances.” Jean-Paul looked up from the notes he was furiously scribbling.

“I would say that your stamina is incredible, but I would be understating things,” he spotted the water bottle in her hand, “no water yet please Lorna,” he handed her a sterile container, “we need another kind of sample as well.” Lorna threw her towel at him and stomped off to the washroom. Jeanne-Marie watched her in amazement.

“Most people who do a half hour can barely walk, let alone stomp. I wonder what her EM field looks like right now. I bet cher Walter would give his right testicule to be able to measure that.” She shook her head, “speaking of which, I wonder why the electronics of the test equipment survived.” She made a note to ask Walter, later over dinner perhaps.

Lorna came out of the washroom and placed the specimen cup gently on the counter. “May I have my water now JP?” she asked sweetly. Jean-Paul looked confused for a moment then grinned.

“Mais naturellement ma fleur,” he tossed Lorna a cold bottle, “refresh yourself, and I thought you would be calling me worse things than JP by now.” She drained the bottle.

“I’ve been thinking those for at least an hour, Mon ami insouciant.” Lorna tapped her head, “I do speak un petit pas en francais.” and then it was Jean-Paul’s turn to blush. Jeanne-Marie saved him.

“Let Lucy take your blood Lorna, then get showered. You have to see Monsieur Judd next,” she said very seriously, “and he will make all this seem pleasant by comparison.” She turned back to her notes.

Chapter Eleven
“‘Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it.’ Seneca”

Lorna approached the closed door to her next appointment with some trepidation. Lucy had told her after her shower that Mr. Judd had asked her not to attend their session in no uncertain terms.

“His exact words were ‘You would be a distraction, eh?’” she smiled, “hand to god, he said ‘eh?’” they both giggled, but now Lorna felt very alone and very exposed in the Lycra workout clothes. As far as she was concerned, anything that wasn’t a sweat suit showed far too much skin. She pressed the door buzzer and the panel snapped out of the way exposing what could have passed for a dojo from a Hollywood movie. She was about to step onto the woven mat on the floor when a voice chided her.

“Please respect the tatami and remove your shoes and socks, eh?” the voice was deep and slightly gravelly, but Lorna did as she was instructed. She stood and went to step onto the ‘tatami’ but was stopped again. “bow.” She flushed.

“Bow? Why?” she looked around for the source of the voice.

“To show respect for that which will be breaking your falls for the foreseeable future girl.” The voice seemed to be first one place, then another. Lorna bowed deeply from the waist. There was a tiny breath of air and the voice was behind her. “Hmmm I see I have my work cut out for me, eh?” She jumped. He walked slowly around her, “no focus, and no discipline.”

Lorna stared; Eugene Milton Judd stood at just less than five feet tall and was built like a professional wrestler, yet he had moved with such stealth and grace, Lorna had not seen him until he decided to be seen. He continued to examine her like a thoroughbred he intended to buy.

“You are in fair physical shape and the twins will maintain that. Your health is excellent according to our medicine man. There is an echo of grace, but you move with great hesitation, as if your yin and yang are tangled. Your mind lacks calmness, serenity and until we fix these things, you will never have the control that will give you full access to your abilities, both natural, and Metahuman.” He looked up at her with bright eyes under thick bushy eyebrows and suddenly grinned, “My sensei used to call me Puck, after the character in the Shakespeare play, for my mischievous nature.” He poked a thick finger at her face, “You will call me Master.”

He led her to the center of the room and pointed at the ground. “Sit and I will attempt to help you unlearn what forty five years of western civilization has taught you.” She hesitated and Judd performed a leg sweep that had her on her ass so quickly, she barely saw him move. “When I tell you to do something, you do it immediately, eh?” she caught her breath.

“Yes Master,” she mumbled. Judd began to handle her like a piece of meat and quickly folded her legs into a lotus seat.

“Lotus Position, remember it. Straighten your spine and neck, hands palm up on your knees.” He forced her into the correct posture, “good… now hold that position. Look at the tip of your nose without focusing. Now I will teach you to breath. Hear only my voice and clear your mind, think of nothing. If a thought crosses your mind, acknowledge it then ignore it. Breathe in… hold…hold…breathe out…hold…hold…breathe in…hold…hold…breathe out…hold…hol…”

…

“Come back Lorna… come back…” the voice seemed incredibly distant, “its ok Lorna, wake.” Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw that she was still sitting in lotus, but it seemed very relaxing to sit that way. Her vision focused on Master Judd, who was seated in a very similar position. He looked at her, “you went very deep, very quickly. How do you feel?”

Lorna looked confused, “what do you mean I went very deep?” he smiled at her.

“Lorna, you were in a deep meditative state for the last two hours. I’ve never seen anyone achieve that as quickly as you did.” He chuckled deep in his throat, a velvety sound. “But I asked you a question, eh?” she blinked slowly.

“Yes…how do I feel…? I feel tranquil, at peace Master” she blinked again, “I haven’t felt this calm in the last two months, I honestly don’t think I’ve felt this good in a long time.” She smiled.

His smile matched hers, “I think that’s enough for one day, chaton. There are many tomorrows ahead. Now scoot home to that lovely lady of yours, I’m sure she thinks I’ve been beating you senseless.” He grinned wickedly, “That comes later.”

She rose to her feet and bowed without thinking. As she was leaving the room she thought she heard ‘there’s hope for that one yet.’

Lorna padded down the hall to the elevator and got on. She punched for the residential floor and leaned back against the wall trying to remember the last two hours. It was blank, like an edit in a movie, a jump cut. The doors opened and she went to her apartment. Lucy wasn’t there yet so Lorna decided another hot shower was in order. She started the water and adjusted it to the temperature she had come to prefer and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn’t jump for the first time in two months at her reflection, instead, taking a longer look at the person who now looked back at her. Jeanne-Marie’s comment from earlier in the day echoed through her head… ‘Acquired a nearly perfect body’, she had said. Now Lorna realized that in two months, she had never really looked at herself for longer than she had had to, never really seen who she had become.

She stripped off the exercise outfit she was wearing and tossed it into the hamper and then removed the scrunchie from her hair, letting it fall back down over her shoulders. The woman in the mirror was taller than average with pale skin that reminded Lorna of a Nordic background, the breasts that had seemed huge to her, were perfect for the woman’s frame. Everything about the woman was well proportioned, a cross between an athlete and a model. Even the green hair seemed right somehow, Lorna glanced at the woman’s crotch; the green pubic triangle was cute.

Now the face, the green eyes sparkled like the other was enjoying a joke and the even white teeth between the pink lips were perfect, resting beneath a cute button nose. High cheekbones completed the beautiful oval face. Her face, her body… it wasn’t another person in the mirror, it was her, Lorna Dane. Not a stranger anymore, a woman, a human female and she was… Beautiful.

The shower was very different this time, as she allowed herself to be conscious of all of the sensations that her body was sending her. The softness of her skin was arousing her as was the input from a completely different set of erogenous zones. She had felt something similar when she and Lucy made love, but those times she must have been subconsciously rejecting the new sensations. Lorna moaned as she touched her breasts, truly feeling them for the first time. This was beyond anything she had ever imagined. She was so distracted by the discovery that she almost didn’t notice Lucy’s hands on her skin. Lorna actually purred in her throat.

“Hello my dearest heart,” Lucy greeted her, “you seem very happy…” Lorna interrupted her with a deep kiss, when they broke it Lorna laughingly told Lucy of her awakening at the mirror.

“…She’s me; I mean I’m her… I oh… this is who I am now Lucy! I get it now; something inside me was fighting this… I don’t know if you can understand.” Lucy held her love in her arms under the warm spray of the shower and kissed her again. When she spoke again it was very softly.

“I do understand my sweetest pet; I went through something very similar when I admitted to myself who I was and my brain fought me for a long time until I realized that I was still me. And always would be, oh there were some rocky days along the way, but the thing is I never changed, I just admitted the truth to myself. Pretty much like you did.” she sighed. Lorna noticed the heavy exhalation immediately.

“What’s wrong Lucy?” the smaller girl looked up at Lorna with red eyes, the tears washing away almost before they were shed.

“I just realized that your feelings for me might have changed with your epiphany. It’s selfish, but all I can think of is losing you to… someone else,” she sobbed and buried her face in Lorna’s neck. Lorna held Lucy as her mind raced. Someone else? Like who else… comprehension dawned and she shuddered slightly.

“You think I’m going to leave you for a…a” she couldn’t even say the word… Lucy looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“For a man,” Lucy said seriously, “I was…am afraid that you wouldn’t be attracted to me anymore.” Lorna looked slightly ill.

“Oh ick! Now I need mental floss, thanks so much for that image lover!” she managed a smile, “not a chance cowgirl, my heart belongs to you and accepting that I am who I am didn’t change that.” Lucy blinked and got a puzzled look on her face.

“Your heart belongs to me?” she smiled and began to cry again, “good, cause you have owned mine for quite a while now.” They stood under the warm water just holding each other and loving each other without words.

…

“Missed you at dinner last night,” Jim Hudson commented in passing to Lorna as he went to join Heather at their table, “Busy day yesterday?” Lorna smiled and nodded, he probably had all the reports on his tablet by now. Lucy came to the table and pulled out her chair. She was just heading out the door when Lorna had awoken this morning. She leaned in and gave Lorna a quick kiss.

“Hello love, sleep well?” The smile on Lucy’s face was brilliant, “I know I did.” She winked. Lorna grinned at her.

Well, I sure was exhausted by the time I fell asleep last night…wait,” she feigned hesitation, “…no, this morning. Did you see the morning printout? We’re to meet with Roger Bochs, followed by the Hudsons, then lunch, the Twins and I finish up with Master Judd. Wonder why I have to meet the head of engineering?” Lorna looked puzzled by that, Lucy just sipped her coffee.

…

Mechanical Engineering was exactly what it sounded like, one part blacksmiths, one part alchemists and one part mad scientists lab. Roger was in a wheeled chair rolling between worktables, his face half obscured by welding goggles, loud Persian rock music filled the air. The women entered cautiously, afraid to even look at some of the items the wrong way. As ordered as the physics lab had been, this place was its absolute opposite. They made their way carefully towards the rooms only other occupant. Lorna cleared her throat loudly to no avail, as Roger was enraptured by whatever the pink goo sloshing in a tank in front of him was. Lucy gently touched his shoulder and Roger looked up with a start.

“Oh! Good Morning Ladies!” he pulled the goggles up to his forehead, hit a kill switch silencing the music and blinked in the light, “I was just studying these Horton Cells.” Both women gave him blank looks, “Synthetic stem cells? It was in Scientific American last month? No? Anyway, Phineas Horton manages to make these synthetic stem cells and they work well enough to encourage natural cell replacement, but he says this is just the first step in creating a synthetic humanoid, an android if you will.” Roger grinned infectiously, “I think he should just take his kudos for the stem cells personally.”

He rolled over to another workspace, beckoning them to follow him and pointed to a silvery block of a metallic substance, “This is from a friend at Carnegie Mellon in Pennsylvania; they call it a bio metal. It shows an amazing ability to transmit neuro electric voltages between cell samples. With a bit of work, I think this has some amazing applications for the disabled. Like robotic artificial limbs controlled by the nerve impulses of the wearer… incredible!” Lorna had to grin, Rogers’s enthusiasm was overwhelming.

“This is all very interesting Mr. Bochs and I’m sure all this will change the world,” Lorna gestured vaguely around the room, “but you scheduled this time with Lucy and I and we were sorta wondering why?” Roger jumped up from his chair and shook both their hands at once.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” he dragged one hand down the length of his face, “I totally forgot why I schedded you in. I’ve been brainstorming, trying to figure out a way to get you and electronics to be friends again without locking you in a faraday cage like the physics boys did,” Roger paused again and looked thoughtful, “I think for day to day applications, a sort of garment that basically does the same thing with a slow energy bleed to power it… using your own field to dampen itself.” Lorna looked thoughtful and nodded.

“All well and good for ‘day to day’ as you said, but I think my benefactors here expect me to do some heroics too. I would think that a power damper might interfere with spontaneity.” Lucy looked amused but jumped into the fray.

“Let him explain dearest, I’m sure he was going somewhere with this idea of his.” She smiled sweetly at Roger who managed an incredible range of expressions settling finally on a grin.

“I uh, thank you Lucy, I think,” he shook off his discomfort quickly enough, “well uh, going somewhere, yes and no… I have to bend some actual metal and work out some diagrams, but a memory metal mesh might work something that would spool up into a container of some sort when you needed full access? Like the guyver in reverse…” Lorna put on her best clueless face.

“The Guyver? Richard Dean Anderson?” she asked sweetly and smiled. Roger looked flummoxed and started to explain, but Lucy quickly put a stop to the charade.

“Stop teasing him Lor; you’re as big a geek as he is, if not more,” she smiled and hugged Lorna, “remember, I’ve seen your statue collection.” Roger looked like the existence of god had been revealed to him.

“So cool,” he breathed, “another collector on base! Can I see your collection Ms. Dane? I have some stuff here too and DVDs and…” Lorna joined in the conversation.

Yes and you can show me the shops, cause I’m about 8 weeks behind on my books and…” the two began talking back and forth so quickly, often finishing each other’s sentences. Lucy just perched herself in a chair and watched.

‘I fell in love with a geekette’ she thought, ‘and I guess I wouldn’t change a thing.’

End Part Four
Magnetic Personality
Next time: Lorna meets the bureaucrats for a photo op and a new challenge appears.