Rogue sighed and tucked her white-striped hair behind her ears. "I wasn't going to hide it," she told Todd quietly, but not concealing the words from the others. "It's just a lot to explain." But it was best to just bite the bullet, rip the bandaid off, that sort of thing. Just get it over with.

"Colonel Sheppard," she said in as even a tone as she could manage, "I introduced myself to you as Rogue because that is my mutant codename." McKay looked ready to jump all of that, but she continued on to cut him off. "On my Earth, at least a third of the human population has developed a genetic mutation that results in physical changes or enhanced special abilities. I've met mutants with powerful telepathy, control over atmospheric elements, the ability to fly, and mutants with green skin and blue fur and prehensile tails."

Rogue looked down at the table then, at her gloved hands resting there. "My mutation allows me to absorb the life force of other people through skin-to-skin contact," she told them, a hint of a tremor in her voice. "When I touch someone, I take their energy, their thoughts, memories, emotions... With mutants, I borrow their abilities for a short while."

She glanced up at Woolsey, who did not look the least bit pleased by any of this news. "And are you able to control this... mutation?" he asked her, his voice tight.

A shake of her head was all she could manage.