Chapter 66: Tampered Timeline 

Midtown High, New York

Bolivar Trask had made it to Washington, D.C, unmolested. Trask Industries was a robotics corporation responsible for creating various anti-mutant weapons, including the infamous Sentinels, during the decades following the Vietnam War. His Boas drones hadn't detected anyone tailing him, but there were times when he was positive an agent of some kind had passed him by.

'Hmm. The Whitehouse is almost tamper proof.' Cole backed the Boas away and increased their altitudes, their optical camouflage revolutionary, but they were huge; technologically superior drones a decade, he presumed head of what others had, maybe that wasn't the case, H.Y.D.R.A., and S.H.I.E.L.D who had alien technology and the minds to bridge most gaps. 

Unbothered. Cole's hands strummed across the hardlight keyboard that materialized before him. He swapped wavelengths, utilizing the multitude of visual optics his drones had. Kord Tech had improved on what Todd had made; Cole expected the tech to be some lost project of Wayne R&D. It had nosey Batman codded in its data. Even Alfred thought so.

Tranfixed as he was at the Task, he didn't notice the slight ripple. Before the long overdue meeting could take off, inside an expansive room, the world had slowly dulled. Cole later realized he could only sense the meeting because of the system. If someone alters the timeline and it affects him, he will end up in a world devoid of color. 

Once again, the powerful system warned that it wouldn't be tampered with. He felt sweat roll down his back at the thought of the system dousing his lights to protect its knowledge. He had an idea, but it didn't catch hold like it should. What if the system made him rationalize, not spilling his secrets? 

Out of his depth and incapable of stopping the sealing of space-time, he drew a steady breath before the world came to an improbable halt. It is a surreal experience to be stuck in a world where everything is frozen. He has yet to determine how much time has passed since he left the timeline and entered a new one that diverged from the original.

He couldn't correctly name the feeling of timeline tampering. Still, he remembered that Kitty Pride had sent Wolverine back to 1977 to thwart Trask. Still, Another trigger-happy extremis had foiled Mystique's assassination attempt. Cole suspected Sinister. He blinked, and the divergence occurred again. 

Bolivar Trask tortured and experimented on mutants for their D.N.A. These experiments eventually enabled him to create technologically advanced robots called Sentinels, whose sole purpose was to carry out his goal of wiping out all mutant-kind. 

Among those he experimented on and killed were Azazel, Angel Salvadore, Emma Frost, and Banshee. Since the four were still alive, Wolverine succeeded in altering their timeline. Emma Frost was the problem. She was now the White Queen. She had overcome her father and succeeded him in obtaining Frost Industries. 

The world colored itself again. His new teacher finished opening the door. "Sir, it is only you who remembers everything. I've checked with those in your inner circle."

"But you remember, right?" He asked. 

"The System seems to safeguard products of its making. Everything that was summoner and created from its resources is secure." Alfred answered matter of factly. 

In his booth in the school, Cole's face scrunched. Anne had sat across from him. Her face was impassive as her own H.U.D. had been activated; he was sure the others were as well, and no, he didn't allow everyone access to the growing secure network; the operative had a simple heads-up display to communicate but nothing that could be leaked to others as only their team leaders were under his contracts. 

Cole ate slowly as he continued his work. He had to update everything. I am thankful he had the capabilities. 

'What do I remember about the old timeline, and what could be different? If I'm not mistaken, it should only be centered around the mutants and Trask Industries.' He thought to himself. 

Trask had also attempted to use Havok, Toad, Daniels, and Ink as test subjects. Still, before they could be shipped into his custody, Mystique saved them from Trask's minions and got them to safety. At some point soon after this event, Mystique discovered what Trask had been up to and plotted to assassinate him as revenge for slaughtering her comrades and using their bodies for science.

His hands thrummed across the keyboard, each keystroke a splash of hardlight coloring; he grimaced; Angelica had added that feature. He had unearthed top-secret documents. The man in black and Division X came to mind. But wasn't that related to the Hellfire Club? He was stomped. The system didn't help him recall the timeline, but it did help him recall if he grasped the information. 

He cracked an old database belonging to the CIA, a precursor to the X-men, Division X. His jaw clenched, and he stared at the photocopied Polaroid. He wanted to scream, break the 4th wall, and strangle the writers of that movie. 

'Sabastian Shaw had killed Darwin. At least, I think he's dead. Can he even be truly killed with such an ability?' 

Mystique had also been captured in the altered timeline. She had escaped, and Cole's team recalled her being with the X-men when he was attacked. They recalled it differently. Xavier and Jean had attacked him relentlessly before he had gone all out and made them flee. 

'Ectokineses can be used to shield against Telepaths!' He still needed to think about the sub-groups many things fell into. It's kind of like how

Firestar flies under her mutation. Hypothetically, he should be able to perform that same feat and even maneuver around like Bobby Drake, aka Iceman. 

He refocused, compiling information. The old timeline that was now his percussor, Trask, experimenting on Mystique and Rogue, Trask's scientists eventually created Sentinels with the ability to adapt to any mutant power. Over the next fifty years, these Sentinels would go on to launch a campaign of genocide against the mutant race. Humans who also had the genes to produce mutant offspring were not spared, and as a result, humankind and mutant-kind were on the verge of extinction by 2024.

The only saving grace was he wasn't present; he didn't contribute. His interference could mean victory or defeat, and he had almost a decade to prepare. 

He sat back. He was hesitating, hitting the update. He mentally did it and closed his eyes. The sentinels were here; manufacturing had already begun, but they had the information needed to do it. 

America only needed another push, and he knew what it would be. The civil war would be more spicier. But would that also mean the creation of the Sentinels would safeguard the planet? He hadn't remembered world-level threats being on the earth. 

'Nimrod would be a problem for sure, at least the current me.' He thought. He was interrupted by a lengthy thread of what was happening in Mexico.

Bullseye: Another town has gone dark. Are you sure the X-pals can handle this?

Scorch: I've burned three nests out today already. There wasn't anything to do about the captured….

Firestar: Oh god. Are you okay, Scorch?

Bullseye: He's good. He did what must've been done. 

Scorch: It's something I expect to be done for me in that situation. 

Red Hood: This shouldn't be on your shoulders. Say the word if you want to retreat, and I'll send in evac.

Bullseye: Ha. These bugs are a little. You have to stop them from breeding.

Scorch: In there lies the problem. The more human populace, the larger their dens can grow. 

……..

…………

The consequences of their actions had altered a lot, but nothing too drastic. 

The timeline was altered by the hands of the C-men wanting to safeguard a better future that their counterparts would enjoy. Their branch had ended with the Sentinels wiping out the mutants before targeting those with the gene. It ended up killing and or enslaving all humans. 

He mentally typed. He was adding Nimrod and what he knew about the Sentinels to a must-read file. It was years away, but still, he needed to advance more. 

Two weeks have passed since the proto-goblin incident. The locals were still in denial, at least those spoon-fed by the media. The others weren't so stupid; they knew what they had seen.

It was coming upon Christmas break. The school had been the same, other than the younger generation of the X-men attending the school three out of five days. Cole hadn't met any of them, but he had felt Jean Grey's mind encompass the school. He was thankful he was safe from her scrying or whatever it was called since his Occult practice had been seen to by Kaecillus. 

Fortunately, He was still in school suspension. His teacher, a rugged man he couldn't recall, hadn't said much to him, and the students in school suspension weren't there long enough to speak or grow accustomed to him. 

Anne had told him he was the only student to serve the most prolonged in-school suspension. He suspected that it was retaliation for his action. 

His emancipation order had been held up in court. He had proven to have the funds to support himself. Another fantastic thing about the system was that it was the perfect money laundering system; the IRS did not even suspect money awarded from his system. 

As a locker slammed nearby, Cole leaned back and made eye contact with Peter Parker. The teen glared at Cole, causing his senses to heighten. He felt an indescribable pressure coming from Parker. The latter decided to turn and walk away. While observing Parker, Cole squinted his eyes, and his implants fluctuated through multiple wavelengths.