Return to Alkali Lake

[ECKS]

(Located in Canada, Alkali Lake is home to a great many things. Among those things, the X-Man Logan, or Wolverine. It was here that he was given his Adamantium skeleton so many years ago. It is also the birthplace of the entity known as the Phoenix, reborn in Jean Grey after her apparant death. And for another man, it seems somewhat like home, too. ECKS was also created here. Created to be the next Weapon X, to have his powers used for evil. But he escaped his fate and now uses his abilities to help others like him. And to protect the world from others like him who do not share his perspective of what the world should be. It is for this reason that he has returned, to use his past as a means to help him decipher what lies in his future. After pulling his bike to a stop on the side of the road, he hops off and walks to the lake's shoreline.)

ECKS: "This is 'bout as close to home as it gets for me. The only home I remember, anyway. I spent so much time inside the Weapon X Facility that I'd forgotten how beautiful the scen'ry is 'round here."

(He removes a small pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket, takes one out and places it between his lips. The puts the rest back and takes out a lighter. He sparks the fire and takes a long drag, letting the smoke out slowly after inhaling. He stands in silence, going over all that's happened to him. Trying to figure out where to go next. A question he knows only he can answer.)

[ECKS]

(Finishing his cigarette, ECKS flicks it away and turns back to the lake. He walks to the edge of the water and drops to his knees in the snow. He closes his eyes and lowers his head.)

ECKS: "What am I doin'? I'm tryin' to help a bunch of youngsters with their problems and here I am, still not even over all my problems. Theirs just so much that I wanted before I started all this. For a long time I thought all I really wanted was to find Ana again. Now I found her and I still want something more."

(Almost as if hearing a voice in his head, a voice so familiar, he opens his eyes and looks around. He gets to his feet and struggles to find the origin of the voice, a troubled look on his brow. Then it comes to him again.)

??: "You were always so puzzling, Chris. So complex. First you spend your life looking toward the past instead of to the future. Now you have the one thing you've wanted most in your life and still you want more. You have a woman who loves you, students and team mates... friends who respect and will follow your every command. What more could you want? Maybe you should worry more about keeping what you have and being satisfied with it than to worry about getting more."

ECKS: "Never really thought of it that way. When you put it like that I have a lot. More than most people. And if I don't focus more on that... I might lose it."

??: "Or worse. You may end up losing yourself. And I know you'd rather that not happen a second time. If I were you I'd go home and be with the people who care about you. They are the only things you really need. Good bye and good luck, Chris. I know you'll do the right thing."

(The voice fades away and the feeling leaves ECKS. He smiles as he thinks of everything he's just been told. It was true. He had everything he really needed at home waiting for him.)

ECKS: "Thanks... Professor."

(ECKS looks to the sky as a slight snow starts to fall. He decides it's time to go back home. To the people who need him. His new family.)