Guido asks what book Layla is reading, assuming “Harry Potter” and she says it's "Atlas Shrugged." That quickly kills the conversation and the two pals head into town, lamenting how Layla does nothing normal...the cheerios Jamie saw her eating the other day weren't in milk, they were in yogurt mixed with Evian water.

Back inside, Siryn, Rictor and M are just hanging out. Siryn gets upset over J. Jonah Jameson's latest editorial in favor of the Superhero Registration Act. M and Rictor don't seem to bothered by the idea, but Siryn is definitely unhappy. Also, when Cyclops came by last issue, he seemed to recognize Layla but passed it off as nothing. What could that mean? Layla shows up and banters with Rictor before saying that finding the answers isn't always the best thing. Then she tells Siryn that she shouldn't pick up the ringing phone...but Siryn does anyway. It's Jamie and he has a new plan for Siryn, one he got from a dupe who's ranting about how all the superheroes have been lying to Jamie because they're jealous. Madrox tells Siryn to start talking to high-profile super heroes to find out what they know about the Decimation.

Siryn debates it a little with Rictor and M, then they ask an oddly quiet Layla. The little girl points out that they wouldn't believe her anyway, so she leaves. Out in the hall, she throws up in arms and says "why are YOU making this more and more difficult. I'm just a kid, for God's sake." But we can't be sure if she's talking to the people still in the room...or to someone else...Layla heads outside and runs into Jamie Madrox...one in a very nice suit. She tells him where to find the others. He remarks that she's rather odd, but Layla's pretty flippant with her answers. Alone on the front stoop, she sees someone jump off a building and says she's sorry.

Suit Madrox finds Rictor and Monet and, even though they're teasing him, he explains that he's there to register them for the Superhero Registration Act. Monet is really having fun teasing him, but then the Jamie pulls out a badge and explains that he's an Agent of SHIELD.

On the front stoop, Layla has gone back to reading her book. Then she sees the guy who jumped off the roof, now he's flying. It's one of the tough guys from before, the one she hit with a rock. He's flying again, Pietro used his new Terrigen Mist powers to give the ex-mutant his old flying powers back. Layla is shocked, he wasn't supposed to talk to Pietro. The guy hovers over her and asks Layla what she's yammering about. Layla explains that he was supposed to chase Quicksilver away, then he'd shunt into time and wind up in the path of a truck. He messed up! The guy doesn't like how she's talking, so he plans to fly down to her and mess her up...but he can't land! He zooms away, his returned mutation having gone wrong. Layla crosses her legs and frumps her head in her hands. She tries to do the right thing and it turns out wrong! This is some kind of sick joke.

In the city, Guido and Jamie have come to visit Dr. Malcolm Modern, one of Jamie's best science sources. Guido can't seem to trust this guy because his lab is a complete mess, but both Jamie and the Doctor explain that it's supposed to look like a mess because then nobody will take the guy seriously. He's hiding his true abilities by making it look like he's a terrible doctor. He's really the best in the business. He's the source that Jamie went to to analyze the blood samples he got from the Tryps. The doctor explains that Tyrp is some new kind of subspecies of the human race. He isn't mutant or human...also, Tryp Junior and Tryp Senior are the exact same guy!

Across the city, Siryn helps Spider-Man stop a gun-toting crazy guy. Siryn argues anti-registration with him, then uses her new persuasion powers on him to find out what he knows about the Decimation and, of course, the House of M.

Rahne arrives back at HQ, greeting Layla reading on the stoop. Rahne heads inside, but Layla is met by the second tough guy that chased Quicksilver. He's become some kind of melting person, but he sinks through a sewer grate before he can hurt Layla. Inside, Rahne meets SHIELD Madrox and learns that Rictor and Monet have gladly signed up for the Superhero Registration Act, Rictor even teases Monet that he's seen her naked and knows that she has nothing worth hiding. The dupe, who prefers the term 'co-original', explains to Rahne that Jamie had dispatched him to learn espionage a few years ago. He hooked up with Val Cooper and she took him to join SHIELD. He's very much a standard fed, no jokes at all. When he leaves, he sees Layla again, who's just watched the melting guy disappear. She assumes that maybe because Quicksilver is the Scarlet Witch's brother, perhaps he's harder to predict. Either way, SHIELD Madrox says that she looks so serious, like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Layla says that she does, and when he asks how she deals with that, Layla tells him that she shrugs.

In the city, Jamie, Guido, and Rahne are returning home. Siryn calls Jamie and tells him that she found out all about the Decimation, and that the X-Men have been lying to them this entire time. She's angry, but Jamie says to meet him back home and they'll sort it all out.

But Quicksilver beats them back. He finds Layla reading and he's not happy with her. They debate the nature of good and evil, and which Quicksilver is, but Layla is flippant and as mysterious as ever. Quicksilver suggests that staying out of his way would be the right thing for her to do, and she agrees that it would be the right thing. So he's happy with that and heads inside X-Factor HQ, just as Siryn, Jamie and Guido make it back.

Review: This issue is all set-up, but there's nothing wrong with that. There is something wrong with SHIELD having a Multiple Man and using him for stuff like this...but then maybe that's the kind of guy you send door-to-door to try and get potentially rowdy superheroes to sign a form. But he doesn't stick around to get everybody and it makes little sense for Rictor to sign up. Just who has to sign up for this thing? Are they anticipating Rictor getting his powers back? And what about the masked vigilante thing...X-Factor is a business. People hire them to do jobs that usually aren't superheroic in nature. But still, we'll leave the questions about Civil War for another day. I'm just happy that X-Factor gets to take part in something the rest of the Marvel Universe is doing. Granted, it's only for these 2 issues and I doubt X-Factor will show up anywhere else, but still. I guess.

I'm also bothered by the fact that Siryn and therefore everyone else learns the truth about the Decimation in this issue. It seems incredibly unlikely that X-Factor is going to be the book where all of it comes crashing down, so what the heck are they going to do? Secretly, I think this big 3-part arc from 10-12 is going to distract them long enough until Civil War can finish it for them. Then everything will work out. Either way, X-Factor is ready to light a fire so let's look forward to that.

The revelation about the Tryps is actually a bit of a let down. They're the same person...it might be shocking, if that wasn't the super power of the main character in the title, to create multiple copies of the same person. How much do you want to bet that the old guy who appeared with Senior earlier in the series is also a Tryp. Whether or not the Tryps and the Madroxes, or even the Clays from the limited series, are related is anyone's guess. I'm actually not looking forward to the idea that Madrox is in any way related to the Tryps. It would completely lessen his character if these brand new villainous yahoos with absolutely zero depth or history were suddenly thrust upon his very being. I for one hate the big twists where everything we've ever thought about a character is completely wrong in a retconned sense.

Layla was outstanding in this issue. Her dialogue has always been top notch and she's just so much fun in that Layla way. I don't even really care about her big mystery. She's just compelling without her secrets being told, definitely moreso. Her conversations with Quicksilver and SHIELD Madrox were stellar. Guido and Madrox got some good face time together, which helps to cement their friendship. I like how three completely unrelated characters upon their creation, Madrox, Guido and Rahne, would come together so perfectly into being three best friends. It's a wonderful example of how comics flow so well over the years. One of the bright shining examples of the fun of continuity.

Also, this sort of cements the idea that Calero has grown on me. His style is still a bit too 'zany snapshot' for my tastes, but he fits this series perfectly. Of course, his Spider-Man looks god awful.