Enigma, the Dominion that used to be Nathaniel Essex, watches:
He sees Moira Kinross’ childhood. She sprinkles salt on her porridge. She never eats it that way after she leaves home. It is a pleasure just for here. She kisses her mother, as she has done nine times before. In twenty minutes, her X-gene activates. She falls twitching and her life is tied to time itself. In her tenth life, she has a new plan. She steps outside. She may as well try it. She’s tried everything else.
She is wrong. There is one more thing she could try. Enigma will offer it to her. Later.
Having slipped the boundaries of space and time, he can look anywhere he wants. Enigma moves forward to a space shuttle falling. Jean Grey’s skin is flush as she faces her first annihilation, and the part of her that eats stars and Dominions steps closer.
He steps backward and sees young Scott Summers fall from the plane and reach out for parents who are gone from his life in every meaningful way. He finds new parents. Poor him.
Enigma moves along Scott’s timeline to the present where he sits as a prisoner of Orchis. A.I. and humans fight mutants for the fate of the world. It is but a footnote in Enigma’s ascendance. Scott Summers waits in his cell. He thinks Jean Grey will save him. He doesn’t know she is dying, along with the Phoenix. Enigma boasts that, unlike Scott, he can see anything.
His gaze moves to the X-Men, fighting for a future that is already lost. He sees them all… except for Xavier. Where is Xavier?
Enigma moves backward, finding a moment in time when a young Charles is fighting with his thuggish stepbrother Cain, while his stepfather Brian Marko ignores the boys. Enigma watches, studying the ways to hurt Xavier, then traces him through the years.
Near the present, Enigma finds Xavier exploring the ruins of the Moira engine the Sinister-part of Enigma made. Xavier heads back to Krakoa, where Enigma loses him. Obsessed, Enigma tries to find him.
He is unaware that Xavier is currently in a no-place – as close to nowhere as science will allow.
With him are Cypher, Rasputin IV, Rachel Summers (aka Askani) and their prisoner Mother Righteous.
Xavier summarizes that their first plan has failed. They must proceed to the second. This is somewhat difficult. They are playing hide-and-seek with something that can see anywhere that exists. Rachel interjects, “difficult” isn’t really saying how bad it is. Xavier replies he knows, but… But nothing! Mother Righteous from her prison sphere snaps. It’s won! This plan is just not going to work!
The Plan was to prevent Enigma from happening. The plan now is to interfere with Moira X, before her power activates. First, they need Rachel’s team to confirm Moira’s data. Then Xavier will travel to Moira and kill her (something Rachel doesn’t know).
Mother Righteous continues, saying she knows where they are going wrong. Let her out and she will show them the right path. They can make a deal! she wheedles. Cypher interrupts. He knows all languages including body language. And he doesn’t need his gift to know she is lying! She is already all the use she can be by being their radio! And that is useful, Xavier stresses, pontificating on their need to work together.
Disgusted, Mother Righteous reminds him she is not one of his students, so don’t patronize her. What now?
He explains they need to reach Moira before her gift activates. There are many methods of time travel, however there is one problem. There are Dominion arachno-Sentinels in the time stream, watching for attempts to reach her. They believe they can dodge them only once, so they need to decide carefully where to strike.
Cypher cynically suggests they could shoot Moira in the delivery ward. Xavier berates him for that and adds practically that they don’t know if any of what she shared is true, even her powers activating at 13 may not be true. Before he talks to her, he needs all data confirmed separately from a biological Moira. Hence her time team trying to find a timeline where Moira never went tin-man, Rachel summarizes.
Mother Righteous tries to explain that, whatever they are doing, they cannot change anything: the Dominion has escaped causality. Rasputin IV refuses to believe her, reminding her she has already lied to her. She believes Mother Righteous is afraid of hope and orders her to think. Enigma left defenses in the timestream, implying he doesn’t want them to go there. That means there is something that can be done.
Cypher suggests there may be a limitation put by Moira on the timestream too. Maybe it can’t put its defenses any earlier. Maybe it really doesn’t want them back in the 19th century messing around with him making his clones. But it doesn’t matter. This isn’t David and Goliath. This is as if fire ants got together and decided they would take down Galactus.
Xavier agrees. All they have are longshots. They take them in order of peril. This trip to Moira is the least dangerous one.
Rachel replies she has selected her team. Are they ready? they ask Mother Righteous, who is in contact with her homunculus in the White Hot Room, looking at the gun Hope aims at her forehead. The homunculus reports Askani’s team are resurrected and ready – she refers to the X-Men chosen and killed at the gala: Dazzler, Jubilee, Cannonball, Frenzy and Prodigy. Hope sends her love, she adds wryly and asks if they can order Hope to not point a gun at her when sending messages.
Xavier replies that Hope doesn’t take orders from him, then wonders how she has a gun in there. Mother Righteous reveals she has telekinetically assembled it from atoms. It is her comfort gun. Copy of the first 9mm Cable gave her.
A curious, adoptive father and a resourceful girl, Rasputin IV opines. Hope was worshipped where she was from… although it was a strange religion…
Moving back to their topic, Rachel asks how things are generally in the White Hot Room.
Hope sees how Elixir is doing with his attempt to heal the catatonic Jean Grey from her mortal injury. He has no success at all and cries in despair. Hope puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. All in all, the White Hot Room has grown duskier.
Not great, Mother Righteous answers Rachel’s question. And why is that? Cypher asks pointedly. She tried to sacrifice the Phoenix to achieve Dominionhood, she replies. Cypher hits the sphere that holds her prisoner. He knows all the words, he shouts, and there are none he can find to express how despicable he finds her!
Professor X orders him not to bully their captive. If they are to succeed, they must pull together. He turns to Rachel. She addresses her team, telling them they have local time of activity of thirty minutes in each timeline, before they will be detected.
This is a lot of work, just to chat with teenage Moira, she mutters.
Enigma, in the meantime, has an idea how to find Xavier. Move forward in time to the point he is dragged to light! In the future, he finds a horrified Xavier, his allies dead.
Enigma realizes he grew himself a no-place that hangs out of time, nearly impossible to find. Enigma sends a group of arachno-sentinels through the timestream, watching for the slightest thrum of reality… and when they do, the hunter-killers will emerge…
The No-place:
Rachel is working, watched by Cypher. Rasputin IV takes Xavier aside. Telepathically, she asks, Rachel doesn’t know the plan, does she? Xavier confirms. Rachel doesn’t know he plans to kill Moira. Depowering her will not be enough. He observes that Rasputin talking to him telepathically means she has an open mind on the issue. He explains their final plan is the longest of shots and risks all of reality if they are wrong. It may even be worse than letting the Enigma Dominion win. Rachel believes, but he no longer has that luxury. He has to clean up the mess they’ve made, no matter what.
Does he really believe that? Rasputin asks. In her future, Krakoa was a dream of what could be. She longed to see it. Xavier reminds her she came from a hell that Krakoa birthed. And when she saw it, did she think it was a dream on Earth? Moira once told him that it’s not a dream if it is real. But it was never real, he adds sadly. It was what it was. He reminds her she is a hero. They save the world, no matter the cost. Krakoa is the cost.
Rasputin turns away. She has to think about this. Even if she agrees with him, deceiving Rachel is wrong. After Sinister and Mother Righteous, she will not be a pawn…
Suddenly, large tremors hits the no-place. Rachel shouts, it is too soon! They have only tried ten timelines. Xavier orders Cypher to move the No-place. Cypher gets to work. He plans to fire a secondary tendril, then connect it, cut off the first one and swing them to safety. But he needs time!
Rasputin promises he will have it and moves to get outward. Xavier telepathically asks if they have an understanding. She replies she has a job she needs to do.
Outside is an environment without reality, hostile to all existence, but she is Rasputin IV. She was made for this. Drawing her soulsword, she attacks the arachno-sentinels.
While working, Cypher remarks to Xavier he could see them having a good old chat. He wanted to eavesdrop, but that would have revealed what else he has loaded into this clone. A red diamond appears on his forehead. Calling him Nathaniel, Xavier orders him to put that away. He shouldn’t play games. He knows Rasputin will not forgive him. Sinister replies he knows he apparently made her and then lied to her for a few centuries - what a crybaby!
Outside, Rasputin destroys one of the arachno-Sentinels, then heads for the next one, while inside Sinister in the Cypher clone has the No-place prepped and ready to move. Xavier stresses, they need to rescue Rasputin. They need everyone. Sinister amends, maybe he can snag her with a tendril and then cut them loose. He does so and then cuts the main tendril while Rasputin is still outside. Sinister asks what they will do when she finds out. Exhausted, Xavier replies he hopes it will be too late by then to make any difference.
When Rasputin enters, he praises her and she demurs and apologizes for needing help. Rachel joins with a smile, announcing the team has done it.
Rachel takes them to the entry to the timeline they need. Xavier asks Rasputin to guard it and asks if he can trust her. She replies that she is committed to the plan. It is too late to do otherwise. Not aware of the subtext, Rachel tells them not to be so down. They’ve got this. She tells Xavier to have a word, get back and they can get on with the really dangerous stuff. Yes, have a word, Xavier echoes as he steps through the gate.
Meanwhile on Earth, the X-Men are invading Orchis. Moira X runs through the building, demanding an update from Nimrod. He tells her their human allies are crumbling. They are prepared to take the next step. He assures her she joined just in time. Soon they will be part of a god machine. AI will be the only winner here.
But Moira sees something, letters written in fire on the wall proclaiming: They don’t win. I win.
So? Moira challenges. Let’s talk! the writing continues.
