A/N: rating is PG-13 just now, but it may need to go higher as the story gets a wee bit nasty in places later on.
A/N 2: DISCLAIMER: I don't own the X-Men or any of its Marvel characters. I only claim ownership of the following:
Oculus, Gaia, Shapeshifter, Shock, Crusader, Gladiator, Gemini, Aqua, Helios, Vertigo, Cassandra, Atlas, Acceleratus, Phobia, Turtle, Chronos, Recyclo, and any others I've forgotten to list.
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TEARS OF THE INNOCENTS
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Prologue:
Many of you may not believe the story I have to tell. Some of you will simply not allow yourselves to listen. Some of you may find it too improbable to be true. But there will be those among you who will hear my words and listen to what I have to say. It is to that minority, no matter how small, that I address these words.
How many years has it been since mutants were first introduced into the human population? Certainly more than my own lifetime. When the first mutants were identified they were met with a variety of reactions. For the most part they experienced uncertainty, mistrust, and no small amount of hatred. With nobody to learn from or to use as a guide, they struggled to forge their own place in a hostile world.
Has anything changed since then? Has humanity's attitude towards the growing mutant population changed at all? Is the world any safer or friendlier a place for a young mutant to grow up in? Is there hope for a future in which there is no strife or conflict, in which both humans and mutants can accept each other and live together in harmony?
In a way, humanity's attitude towards mutants is understandable. Everybody fears what they don't understand. Some mutants are born with incredible powers, which could result in the deaths of thousands or even millions if used wrongly. I think that, above all, is what people fear most. We fear that which could harm us if not controlled responsibly. Of course, we fear people using guns, knives and bombs to harm us, but we have police and other authorities to protect us from those threats. There is no protecting force to keep us from the dangers of mutants misusing their powers. That is the first problem we face.
From the mutants' point of view, things are different but just as bad. Children are born with amazing powers that none of their friends or family share, and naturally this singles them out. Mistrust and suspicion will be their constant companion throughout their childhood and adolescence. What you must realise is that people do not choose to become mutants. Mutation is an accident of birth. We have no more choice over this than we have over who our parents are, or over the colour of our hair, our eyes, or our skin. Hating and discriminating against people because they were born mutant is no different from hating a person who is a different colour from yourself.
Once a mutant reaches adulthood, it is already too late to lead anything resembling a normal life. Driven to desperation, many of them will use their powers to protect themselves in any way they can, with disastrous consequences. Their problem is simple. They have nobody to guide them through life, nobody to act as a moral compass and show them which way they should go, nobody to teach them how to control their emotions and to use their powers in a responsible manner. With the mutant population still relatively small, it is unlikely these young adults will have come into contact with anyone else like themselves. They are alone, alone in a huge and frightening world that seems intent on persecuting them relentlessly, simply because they possess mutation, something they did not choose and cannot change. That is the second problem we face.
I stand before you today as a representative of a group who can provide a solution to both of these problems. Yes, as some of you may already have guessed, I myself am a mutant. I am part of an organisation known as the 'X-Men'. Our goal is to promote peace and coexistence between humans and mutants and put an end to the atmosphere of hate and mistrust that divides our two peoples. We run a school specifically for the education of mutant children and young adults, to provide them with an environment where they can grow up together with people like themselves, without being feared or hated and without having to use their powers to protect themselves from the misunderstanding of those around them. We teach them how to control their extraordinary abilities, and perhaps more importantly, when and when not to use them.
As I said before, people are afraid because there is nobody to protect them from a mutant using his or her powers to cause harm. We hope to allay that fear. We are that protecting force. We monitor the actions of our fellow mutants around the world, and we are ready to step in and protect innocent life whenever it is threatened by the conflict that exists between our two peoples. We do not claim that all mutants are blameless. It is well known, and unfortunate, that many of our kind do not share our desire to coexist peacefully with our human neighbours. Do not think that all mutants are the same, and that all mutants follow the same beliefs. We are as varied and complex as yourselves. We all follow different paths. Ours is just as I have explained to you. We are the solution to what you call 'the mutant problem'.
Of course, the obvious question now is: why should you trust us? Why should you trust that we are who we say we are, that we believe what we say we believe, that we will do what we say we will do? Is there any proof of our sincerity that we can offer? Our reply would be: yes there is. We are the ones who developed the cure for the Plague virus. A simple enquiry at your nearest Plague clinic will confirm this. We are the ones who stopped the Plague from destroying all human life on the planet.
We do not seek gratitude or any kind of reward for what we have done. We ask only that you trust us to bring about a peaceful solution to our current strife. We seek only to live in a world where we and our fellow mutants are treated as an equal part of humanity's ever more varied and cosmopolitan population. To live in peace, without being treated as outcasts, to have the chance to raise our children and make our contribution to society, that is what mutants really want, and it is no different from what the rest of humanity wants. Of course, there are exceptions, but these are to be found in every walk of life.
Our only future is in harmony together. Mistrust and suspicion have kept us apart for too many years. Nobody can tell what the future may hold, and surely our only choice is to face it together, hand in hand, human and mutant, one and the other, together – forgetting our differences, concentrating on what brings us together instead of what sets us apart. We cured the Plague because we believe that there is a future worth striving for, a future with peace and friendship between our two peoples. Please listen to what we have to say, and please help us to bring about that future.
Thank you.
(taken from a draft speech to be delivered to the United Nations by Neil Rosiçky, July 2019)
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Where there is chaos, we bring order;
Where there is anarchy, we bring leadership;
Where there is ignorance, we bring enlightenment;
Where there is weakness, we bring strength;
Where there is doubt, we bring certainty;
Where there is conflict, we bring uniformity;
Our power lasts through the ages;
We are the Eternal Ones.
(source unknown, circa 2019)