Scan

__** Liam O’Rourke / "Scan" **__



__**History **__

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Liam was the son of Emily O’Rourke (a waitress) and Scott O’Rourke (a disabled factory worker). Liam also has an older sibling, Jeffrey. Liam’s father, Scott, began showing signs of Multiple Sclerosis before Liam was in school, and by the time he moved to middle school his father could no longer work.

One night when Liam was in seventh grade, he had terrible nightmares of voices screaming at him from every direction. When he woke up, soaked in sweat, he could still hear the voices. His mother found him screaming in his bed.

At the hospital, tests came back negative. Liam was diagnosed with night terrors. He could hear the thoughts of the doctors and began telling them what they wanted to hear so he wouldn’t have to go through any more tests or appointments. He knew his parents couldn’t afford health insurance and were worried about the costs.

Over time Liam learned to block out the voices and only hear thoughts when he concentrated. He began using the power on his brother, Jeff, to practice. Jeff figured out what he was doing, however! At first Jeff was freaked out by Liam’s powers, but then he realized he could use him. Since he was 18, he took Liam to a casino and played the poker tables. With Liam’s ability to sense what cards were held by the other players, Jeff made a lot of money. The casino eventually asked him to leave.

Jeff and Liam arrived home after midnight. Their mother, Emily, had returned from work early. She was furious with the boys. Liam admitted what they’d been doing – and his mutant power. Emily was stunned. She told Scott about Liam’s mutant ability and Scott was furious. He screamed at Liam, calling him a “mutie,” and threw him out.

Liam went to a friend’s house to spend the night. The next day, he realized that his friend’s father was actually a pedophile! He went to a halfway house in Baltimore and stayed there for a few nights. At that point, representatives from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters arrived. The offered Liam a place to train his ability where he would be welcome. Liam gratefully accepted.

For the rest of his seventh grade year, Liam was a quiet and withdrawn student. He met with the school counselor to deal with his emotional issues after being kicked out of his home. His favorite teacher was Kitty Pryde, his team’s advisor. In his eighth grade year, he was more outgoing, but still one of the quieter students. He got in trouble at the school for the first time for using his powers to spy on the thoughts of a girl he liked.

Towards the end of his eighth grade year, Liam was knocked out along with all the other telepaths when the Danger Room became the sentient robot Danger. Later, the X-Men left the school for an off-world mission.School’s Out / High School Never EndsShortly after the X-Men left, the remaining teachers (Angel and Nightcrawler) were put into a temporal coma by a mysterious group called the Travelers. The rest of the school’s psychics were similarly affected – all of them, except Liam. The remaining seniors took charge of the school. Not long after, Mystique took advantage of the missing X-Men to infiltrate the school. She posed as the prefect (and acting headmaster) Dane. Liam’s rudimentary telepathic abilities were not able to penetrate Mystique’s mind. He voluntarily accompanied “Dane” to the Cerebro chamber. “Dane” asked him to use the machine to find Magneto. Liam refused, scared to use the powerful machine for fear it could kill him (as Emma Frost had warned him before). At this point, Mystique revealed herself and threatened him with death if he didn’t comply. Liam began using the machine, but he couldn’t get it to work. Then the seniors broke in! They were accompanied by Iceman (later revealed to be one of Lucius’ illusions). Iceman told the seniors to let Mystique go, or she could have Dane killed (since she had kidnapped Dane to replace him). Mystique took Liam hostage and put a gun to his head. In the ensuing conflict, Lucius made Liam invisible with his light control powers and made a new, hologram Liam. Mystique shot the hologram in the head and escaped. Liam practically had a panic attack – he almost died! Due to his bravery, the seniors allow him to choose a code name. He picks the code name “Scan”.

Later Ruth (acting headmistress of the school) convinces Liam he can use Cerebro. Liam does so and finally gets the machine to work. He searches for Lucius and finds him hiding in the Morlock tunnels nearby – but there are two of him! As Liam learns, a future version of Lucius has come back in time from the future. The seniors leave to deal with Liam and the future versions of themselves.Welcome to Paradise / Hotel CaliforniaAt the end of his eighth grade year, the seniors that took over Xavier’s school were offered the chance to run a new west coast mutant school, Academy X. The seniors offered any of Xavier’s students the chance to transfer to the new school. Liam agreed.


 * Welcome to Paradise / Hotel California **

Upon transferring, Liam joins Academy X’s Hellions squad. He shares a room with a new student named Cameron LaPrue. When Cameron’s girlfriend (Dagan) breaks up with him, Liam tries to comfort his roommate. Cameron instead works through his emotions in the Danger Room.


 * My Generation / Children’s Crusade **

By the end of his freshman year, Liam’s telepathic abilities have greatly improved. He is the most skilled telepath at Academy X.


 * Valley of Lost Souls / Empire of the Damned **

When the Academy M memorial is defaced, causing a brawl between former Academy M students and Academy X students, the teachers ask Liam to scan some of the suspects. Liam eventually identifies fellow student Chelsea as an accomplice. She used her item summoning powers to get a can of spray paint and gave it to Christine, who defaced the memorial.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Later Liam and the Manh twins use their psychic abilities to keep Cordelia Frost comatose after she is rescued from her brainwashing by Hellfire Club: Tokyo. Liam realizes that, collectively, the Manh twins are now more powerful as telepaths than he is. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When dead mutants buried in the school’s graveyard began to rise during the Necrosha event, Liam sensed their thoughts. He realized that the dead students blamed their teachers for their deaths (though this was probably a side-effect of Selene’s modified techno-organic virus). Liam also discovered that his roommate, Kevin Ford (“Wither”), was missing. In the fight with the dead mutants, Liam helped by mentally paralyzing Toxin.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Liam’s telepathic abilities are needed to pull a memory from Michael “Discord” Schwartz’s head when he visits Academy X to ask for help. Liam finds the memory and shares it mentally with his teachers.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the birth of Samantha’s twins, Liam is the first to sense Alex’s telepathic abilities.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When Dagan is mentally attacked by Maya, Liam scans her to find her mind is not there. A deeper scan reveals her mind has been pushed down in her psyche so deeply that she’s almost been psychically lobotomized. The Manh twins realize that, since giving birth to Alex, Samantha is much more powerful telepath. Samantha is able to restore Dagan’s mind to her body.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During Maya’s all-out psychic bombardment at the school, Liam is paralyzed by mental agony. Later he, Samantha, and the Manh twins pool their telepathic abilities to drive Maya’s mental presence away.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bloodines / Live Forever **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The eXalts are arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. under suspicion of robbing the Old San Francisco Mint. Liam makes mental contact with David to relay his wishes to the school security officer, Matt.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Liam is later revealed to be using his powers to spy on the teachers when he learns that Doctor Doom kidnapped Meghan’s (and Dane and David’s) newborn son Davan.

__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Powers and Abilities **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Telepathy:// Liam has the ability to read minds. He’s also used this ability in other ways: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Psionic Shield:// The ability to erect a psychic shield for protection of himself and other minds. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Download Information:// The ability to place large amounts of information in another's mind. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Mental Paralysis:// The ability to induce temporary mental or physical paralysis. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Mental Sedating:// The ability to telepathically "sedate" one's victims so that, if already rendered unconscious, they remain so for as long as a telepath continues to "sedate" them. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//Mind Link:// The ability to develop a mental link with any person, which remains as a connection to that individual long after the link itself is broken.