BIOGRAPHY - Page 7
Moira returned to a rebuilt Muir Island center in order to devote her time more fully to the Legacy virus research. Colossus had defected to the Acolytes after his sister’s death, and Charles believed it was in part due to a head trauma in his metallic form which was never treated. 
Members of the X-Men and Excalibur came to Muir and baited a trap which brought Piotr down from Avalon. Moira’s equipment successfully focused Cyclops’ optic blast into a “repulsor scalpel” to fix the damage to Colossus’s skull, but he still chose to return to the Acolytes on his own volition. Moira’s medical response facility on Muir had inspired Nightcrawler, though, and as team leader he asked permission to relocate Excalibur to Muir Island full-time as an extension of her efforts. [Excalibur (1st series) #71]
Moira picked a good time to welcome Excalibur to Muir Island. Mister Sinister learned the genetic matrix of Proteus still existed in Moira’s files, and he wanted it for his own collection. He contracted Siena Blaze of the Upstarts to recover the data disc. The callous murderer wasn’t prepared for Excalibur and toyed with them while taunting Moira to hand over the disc. Moira was prepared to shoot Siena in order to salvage Kevin’s data, but Phoenix proved to be more than Siena Blaze could handle, and the Upstart fled empty-handed. [Excalibur (1st series) #72-73]
Moira’s work on the Legacy virus was assisted by Professor Rory Campbell, a genetics researcher recommended by Xavier who joined the team on Muir Island. [Excalibur (1st series) #73-74] When Cable visited Muir Island to speak with Rachel Summers, Moira took the opportunity to get Nathan on her diagnostic table. She had a theory that Cable’s clone Stryfe may have encoded some secrets of the Legacy virus into their shared genetic code, but this line of research proved fruitless for the time being. [Cable (1st series) #9] Isolation aside, Moira’s research continued to be complicated by outside concerns. Wolverine’s health had continued to fail after his encounter with Magneto, and he came by Muir to see if Moira could offer any help with his degradation. This 
also prompted a battle with the insane Cyber, who was hunting Wolverine. Cyber was eventually enclosed away in Muir’s holding pens. [Wolverine (2nd series) #81-82] Tragically, Jamie Madrox was the next victim to fall to the Legacy virus. Moira and Charles visited with X-Factor to mourn for her former lab assistant and friend. Moira also took the opportunity to reconnect with Wolfsbane, who had mercifully overcome the Mutate process afflicting her when last they spoke. Mother and foster daughter put aside the harsh words from their last meeting in their grief over Multiple Man’s passing. [X-Factor (1st series) #101-102]
The research into the Legacy virus led to one dead end after another. Moira and Rory were unable to find a means of curing, treating or even predicting the spread of the virus. Charles Xavier left Westchester and traveled to Muir Island to assist Moira daily in her efforts to better understand the virus. Unfortunately, the next “breakthrough” they had in charting the virus’s growth was a tragic one. Moira revealed to Charles that the Legacy virus had mutated along a different pathology, and it was now spreading to the human population. The initial shock of this revelation kept Xavier from asking the obvious question. Once Moira began to isolate herself, 
however, she admitted to Charles the source of her data – Moira MacTaggert was the first human case of the Legacy virus. With Moira’s research taking a sudden, personal twist, Charles brought her back to Paris where they once vacationed as a couple. They even flirted with the idea of renewing their relationship but found that those good memories were in fact just memories. Still, they renewed their commitment towards finding a cure for the Legacy virus and Moira’s condition together. [Excalibur (1st series) #78-81]
[Note: Moira’s diagnosis with the Legacy Virus remains one of the more questionable aspects of the Moira X retcon. At one point, Excalibur observed a holographic projection of 
Moira’s genetic code and the absence of an X-gene in her DNA sequence. The idea that the Legacy virus was spreading from mutants to the human population was a major turning point in the disease’s progression… except that, since Moira was a mutant, it did no such thing. Public panic and at least one death could have been prevented if Charles and Moira came forward and admitted she was a mutant. The only explanation seems to be Moira’s past life experience told her remaining silent about her true nature was a better long-term strategy.]
Still, more distractions continued to rise up to stymie the Legacy research. The Phalanx, techno-organic lifeforms once considered next-generation Sentinels, had forged a hive mind and goals of their own. Excalibur was joined by a rogue drone named Douglock just as the X-Men were kidnapped by the Phalanx. Xavier and Excalibur fled to the French castle where the Acolytes once imprisoned Moira, meeting with X-Factor and X-Force to stage a counterattack. Acting on his own volition, Douglock took several of their teammates to pursue the Phalanx independently. Moira was forced to reactivate the memory tank she was once tortured in, using it to scan her allies who had previous contact with the techno-organics of Warlock and Douglock’s races. Once they found the appropriate techno-organic pattern, Doctor MacTaggert was able to direct the united X-Teams to the Phalanx’s hiding spot. [Phalanx Covenant crossover]
Back on Muir Island, Excalibur was upended once it became clear Kitty Pryde had inherited the Soul Sword of Limbo during the death of Illyana Rasputin. It corrupted her personality and sent Shadowcat invading Moira’s privacy in her personal quarters. Kitty confronted Moira with her storage of cigarettes and the clothes of Joe MacTaggert, which she still maintained despite everything. What might have passed as uncharacteristic rudeness turned dark when Kitty put out 
her cigarette on Moira’s arm and punched her across the room. Other contenders for the Soul Sword also arrived on Muir, including the body-hopping Gravemoss of the Winding Way and the sorceress Shrill, with the Promethium metal eye. The invaders were defeated and Kitty resisted the corrupting influence of the sword to pass it on to Daytripper, who left it with her and Nightcrawler’s foster mother, Margali Szardos. [Excalibur (1st series) #83-85]
Moira was initially put out when Brian Braddock used his engineering experience to heavily modify her personal hovercraft into the Midnight Runner, a hypersonic transport for Excalibur. She came around, though, when he explained it was a prototype for a second design, a medical rapid response vehicle, the Moonlight 
Flit. It was a happy distraction before Nightcrawler confronted her about the Legacy virus. Moira and Charles hadn’t chosen to reveal the source of the data to the others, but Kurt had reasoned out on his own who the human infected with the Legacy virus must be. He pressed Moira to be open with him and the team, and she agreed to confide in them from now on. [Excalibur (1st series) #86]
The decision would have been taken out of her hands in a few weeks, regardless. Information leaked to CBNC led to a primetime broadcast by Trish Tilby, revealing the existence of the Legacy virus to the world. She confirmed for her viewers that the Legacy virus initially targeted mutants but was now moving to the human population and had a 100% fatality rate. She even knew about Moira’s condition and revealed that as well. [X-Men Prime] Moira was furious about the leak and had to fend off calls from the World Health Organization while investigating the data getting out. She and Charles conferred, and reasoned that the modem link between Muir and Westchester meant the leak could have come from either end. Furthermore, the devastation done to the X-Mansion in the Phalanx attack had knocked mansion security offline, leaving the data effectively wide open for 
any hacker. Unable to reasonably narrow down the suspects any further, Moira returned to her research. While sharing the holographic genetics data with Excalibur, Moira received a curious report from Meggan and Douglock. As an elemental, Meggan was uniquely sensitive to the patterns and cycles of nature. As a sentient techno-organic, Douglock had exceptional understanding of logic systems. And yet, according to the available data Moira possessed, the Legacy virus’ transmission and infection vectors followed no pattern. It seemed to be purely random chaos whether it targeted humans or mutants. [Excalibur (1st series) #87-89]
The X-Men tried to do damage control in the public eye regarding the Legacy virus. Charles Xavier and Hank McCoy staged an argument before a World Health Organization conference to push back against the “potential epidemic” label used by the media. Their verbal jousting drove home the lack of information and verified cases to alleviate fears that Legacy was the next "doomsday virus". [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #326] Moira still had to deal with the personal impact on others caused by her contracting the virus, though. She had an awkward call with Sean Cassidy, now headmaster of Generation X, over why he had to hear about her illness on the news. [Generation X Annual ‘95] Closer to home, Moira was soon visited by Wolfsbane, who quit her membership in X-Factor to come be closer to her foster mother during her time of need. [Excalibur (1st series) #90]
Excalibur provided Moira with a support network as the side effects of her condition came and went. Shadowcat and her new boyfriend Pete Wisdom convinced Moira and the others to step out for a drink, and Moira brought them to the Chalk & Cheese pub on Kinross land. Jack Crossan still managed the pub ever since Lord Kinross sold it to him, so the night out was like coming home for Moira. Jack knew Moira was an ugly drunk ever since she got into her daddy’s patch of whiskey 
when she was thirteen, though, so he kindly cut her off when she tried to drown her sorrows a little too much. [Excalibur (1st series) #91] Moira was forced to sober up quick when Colossus arrived on Muir and irrationally attacked Wisdom when he saw him with Kitty. She barely kept Wisdom alive with emergency medical treatment using Shi’ar equipment, and only reluctantly accepted Nightcrawler’s decision as team leader to allow Colossus to serve his penance with the group to make up for his immature actions. [Excalibur (1st series) #92-93]
Charles Xavier encountered a young mutant of incredible power named Nate Grey, but their 
meeting went poorly and now Nate wouldn’t trust him. Shortly after Charles alerted Moira to Nate’s existence, Rogue phoned Muir Island with a similar story and told Moira she had directed Nate towards Doctor MacTaggert and Muir. Nate Grey met with Moira and told her he had been suffering power spasms with his telepathic / telekinetic abilities, and he feared he may have contracted the Legacy virus as he saw on the news. Nate submitted to Moira’s testing, and the raw power at his fingertips reminded her uncomfortably of Kevin or the Phoenix. Her readings confirmed Nate did not have the Legacy virus, but his powers were more than his body could handle, and he would likely burn out and die before he turned 21.
While wandering Muir Island, Nate encountered the Acolyte prisoner Spoor, who manipulated him into believing they were nothing but test subjects. The brash and impulsive Nate confronted Moira and forcibly entered her mind. In the worst way possible, he learned about his “expiration date” and that she had been collaborating with Xavier without telling him. Nate lashed out with his powers, which initially frightened Moira. However, she realized he wasn’t hostile and this was the equivalent of a temper tantrum, prompting Moira to push back against Nate’s bluster. With the 
power he commanded, no one had ever actually called Nate on his attitude before, and he didn’t know how to react. She pressed him to actually read Spoor’s mind, and Nate learned the Acolyte had been murdering people for fun since he was a child. Moira next allowed Nate a deeper read of her mind, and he experienced her triumphs and pains, the loss of her son, the depth of her feelings for Charles and the trepidation of contracting the Legacy virus. Moira and Excalibur successfully talked Nate Grey down, and he apologized for his poor behavior. [X-Man #11-12, Excalibur (1st series) #95]