The next morning, Erik was up early along with the other members of his brotherhood and they went downstairs to see Stevie already awake and waiting for them, sipping coffee. "Good morning, Mr. Lensherr. Glad you see that you are so eager to get started. First, we commute to New York for you to see where you will be working from, and then you and I will be having a private meeting to discuss strategy." She didn't wait for an answer and instead began walking at a brisk pace towards the cars that would be taking them. The commute itself was mostly quiet, though Stevie was blasting music from the radio and clearly enjoying what was for her a peaceful drive to work.
They arrived at a warehouse and as Erik stepped out of the car, he realized how perfect it would be for him. It was large, reasonably private, and so bare that he could make whatever alterations he pleased. "There is a lot of metal inside," Stevie assured him with a smirk. "Now, it's time for you and me to have a chat. We're going to my office."
He followed her to the Cadillac and she drove them to an enormous skyscraper: Carson Technologies. As she stepped inside, everyone inside the building turned to her as she took on the commanding aura that he had seen the previous night. After a few minutes, they reached her office on the top floor where he saw her secretary waiting for her.
"Anything particularly important today, Rosemary?" Stevie asked.
"No, there are a few leasing issues that need to be looked at, but things are running smoothly as usual," Rosemary assured her.
"Excellent. No meetings today?"
"None."
"Great. Make sure that Mr. Lensherr and I are not disturbed. This meeting is to be kept quiet. No one is to know that he has been here." Her secretary nodded as if the request were the most normal in the world.
They stepped into her office and Erik sat on one of the chairs in front of her desk as she sat in her desk, quickly glancing at the paperwork that had been laid there for her by Rosemary. She offered him coffee. "This isn't any of that instant shit. This is high quality coffee." He nodded cautiously. As he sipped the coffee, he did have to admit that it had an excellent flavor. "I never believed in cream or sugar," she mused. "If it's good coffee, then you shouldn't need to mask the flavor with anything else." She sipped her own coffee quietly for a moment before getting to business. "Our fundamental goals are not so different, you know. We both want mutants to survive. Ultimately, that's all that matters. However, your methods are incredibly ineffective. Making a scene is not going to help your cause."
"What do you suggest? That I try to convince all the humans that mutants aren't going to harm them? That we all try to live in harmony together?" His tone was mocking, but Stevie ignored it.
"Of course not. People are stupid. They're not going to leave mutants alone until they have to, so we have to get the law on our side. If we have congress in our pocket, then we have all that we need to shape this country's policy on mutants. Other countries will follow the U.S. in their policies."
"If people are so stupid, then how do you intend to convince congress?"
"As I told you, I'm a businesswoman and have made enormous profits because of mutants. My plan is to discuss this was other businessmen and show them the profits that they can make as well – spread the wealth so to speak. American business is one of the most powerful forces in this country: if you have business on your side then you have half the battle won already. Those businessmen will hire lobbyists and those lobbyists will convince congressmen to vote whichever way we please on the subject of mutants. I also have a plan to fund the campaign of any official elected to congress who is pro-mutant. The key to winning this war is to win it before it even comes to war, Mr. Lensherr. This will be done so quietly, so secretly that before the American people are even aware of what is going on, the United States will have created a pro-mutant policy that cannot be reversed."
"You've clearly given this matter a lot of thought. You expect me to believe that you're only doing this because you are making money?"
"You said last night that mutants are the future and I believe you are right. This world is going to shit and I think that mutants offer a lot of potential solutions to all the crises that exist. From energy to the distribution of natural resources to the problems we face in the nuclear age, I believe that the issues plaguing this earth can be solved by mutants. They are the future of the human race – our salvation, so to speak. They bring problems with them, of course, but if those problems are addressed early enough, then both humans and mutants can come out of this on top."
"Why should we save the human race? We could allow you to destroy yourselves and that would leave the world for us."
For the first time since he had met her, Stevie's face softened a little, taking on a tone that was a little less businesslike. "Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but I want this to work. I can promise to you that so long as you are working with me, you and every other mutant associated with me will be safe, so long as you lay low."
"Laying low is not my forte," he replied stiffly.
She laughed. "That much is incredibly obvious, but you have to agree that my plan is a sound one. We can influence policy if we work quietly and President Kennedy is arranging a meeting next month to discuss the events that occurred during the missile crisis. I can get into that meeting and make my position to him."
He stared long and hard at her before nodding. "It is possible that this could work, but the government doesn't want to work with mutants. The government ordered that we be fired on during the missile crisis, only moments after we had prevented nuclear war and saved them from Shaw."
"I know," she said softly. "I am sorry that they chose to address the issue in such a way and I intend to prevent any such thing from every happening again. Please. If you follow my plan, things can fall into place."
"I'm going to continue recruiting and preparing," he insisted. She nodded, as if she expected that. "How long do you intend to carry out this plan?"
"I hope to have accomplished the majority of my plans before the next election."
"That's a very short amount of time," he reminded her.
She smirked. "I do very well with short deadlines. Besides, I now have a lot more free time than I used to. I mostly just hire people to do the day to day work."
"So nice that you are concerned with the mutant plight, but you have no idea what it's like to be persecuted as we are. I don't want my brothers and sisters to have to wait for freedom."
"I'm a woman running a multi-billion dollar company in 1962. You're completely right," she said harshly. "I have absolutely no idea what it's like to walk into a room where every single person feels hostile towards you." Her green eyes that had been a little soft only moments ago had now hardened – unhappy with what Erik had said. "Discrimination exists everywhere, Mr. Lensherr, and I intend to fight it. Will you be fighting with me, or making more messes that I will have to clean up as I try to obtain freedom for mutants?"
"Fine. I will join you, for now. What is our first objective?"
"I have three things I'd like to accomplish before the year is out, and let me remind you that it is now November. First, I need to get on the list for that meeting next month that President Kennedy has arranged. Second, I need to begin speaking with my fellow businessmen about my objectives with the mutant community. Third, I need to break into Trask Industries and see what they're up to. I may need your help with the first and third objectives."
He nodded. "My team can do that."
"Alright, other objectives will only be created once we see how these go. I have no idea what we're working against right now and I can guarantee that Trask will be at that meeting with the president."
"Why don't we just kill Trask? It would be neater."
"But then I don't get to see the light leave his eyes as his business is destroyed and pro-mutant legislation is passed in congress," she said, with a slightly sinister gleam in her eye.
"You are a ruthless one, aren't you?" Erik didn't want to say it out loud, but he was very impressed with her and he was beginning to think that she may actually be a pleasure to work with.
"Ruthless and proud," she declared. "I can't be anything but ruthless if I want to be taken seriously and given respect. The second I show any weakness I will immediately lose everything that I have worked for. Now, get on your assignments, so that we can accomplish something
"Mystique, how would you like to break into Trask industries?" Erik asked.
"I would love to. I just need to know why we're working with that woman. She's not one of us."
He nodded. "I know that this isn't ideal, but she has good plans and she is trying to help mutants so at this point we cannot afford to be choosy."
"Fine," she said irritably. "What do you want from Trask?"
"Everything you can find. Anything that could be considered useful to Ms. Carson so that she can destroy Trask. Look for anything that could be considered a threat to the mutant community." Mystique nodded and left to find the necessary information. "Azazel and Emma, I need you two to look into a meeting that will be held at the Whitehouse next month. It is concerning President Kennedy's policy towards mutants and Ms. Carson needs to be on the list of those attending." The other two nodded and Azazel teleported away with Emma.
He turned to Riptide and Angel. "I'm afraid that your talents are of little use, for the time being. Ms. Carson intends to use stealth to obtain our objectives."
By the end of the business day, everything Stevie had asked for from Magneto had been accomplished and he supposed that he should share the information with Stevie. As he and the others left the warehouse, he saw her black Cadillac waiting for him.
"Take the other car back. I'll be speaking with Ms. Carson." He quickly stepped into the Cadillac, leaving his teammates a little dumbfounded that he would not be joining them.
He turned to the brunette. "The objectives have been accomplished. Care to hear what we know about Trask?"
"Yes," she said with her signature smirk.
"Trask is working on machines for hunting mutants, just as you said. Currently, he has a device capable of identifying those with the mutant gene, and that's about it. It looks like it will be about ten years until the technology is viable."
"Anything in his personal life that could be used to ruin him?"
"Mystique believes that his children are mutants, but we're not sure."
Stevie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "The irony is killing me. However, I was thinking more along the lines of ruining his reputation. Has he killed anyone?" she asked casually.
"Not that we know of."
"Damn. I could have used that, for sure. Am I on the list for the meeting next month?" He nodded. "Excellent. We are going to make an amazing team, Mr. Lensherr." She gave him one of the first genuine smiles – not a smirk – that he had seen since for meeting her and he had to admit, it would somewhat dazzling.
"What is the plan now?"
"Well, for now there is nothing we can do to ruin Trask in the near future, but I will take care of him if it is the last thing I do. I've arranged for a meeting with some other businessmen next week to discuss mutants, so our goals after that depend entirely on how that meeting goes. Tomorrow I intend to spend most of the day planning my pitch. So, for the time being, you can do whatever the hell you want."
"That includes recruiting from those who live at the mansion?"
"If you so choose, but most of them aren't interested in fighting. Most the mutants who pass through just want to be safe from humans and blend in with a secure job and a good life."
"They want to be accepted by the humans," he scoffed. He made no attempts to hide his scorn.
"Fear can make people do a lot of things. But I see no shame in them wanting a happy, normal life, though I myself would never choose that."
"You don't want a happy, normal life?"
She shook her head adamantly. "That's boring. I want to live an exciting life and I think I've done a pretty good job so far. I'm not about to change that. Thank you for being so efficient today. Things are beginning to slip into place."
"You can thank me by keeping mutants safe."
The rest of the car ride was spent in complete silence, but Erik was beginning to feel comfortable working with Stevie. She was pleasant to work with and didn't believe in bullshit, which he appreciated. Beyond that, he couldn't help but feel a little surge of respect for her and her accomplishments. When she was talking about her plans, he began to almost feel a glimmer of hope for mutants and hope was a very foreign concept to him.
It was dark now Erik stepped out of the Cadillac. Before he left, he turned to Stevie. "Thank you, Ms. Carson, for taking this matter so seriously and for the time you are putting into it." He was not used to thanking people, so it felt awkward for him to say.
"You can thank me once I've actually accomplished something. The meeting next week is going to be tricky. And call me Stevie. Everyone else who lives in the house does, at least to my face."
"Alright, Stevie. You may call me Erik, if you like."
"Alright, Erik. I won't be seeing you again until after the meeting next week, but I promise that as soon as I've done that, I will contact you to let you know what is going on."
Erik continued to watch as the Cadillac pulled out of the large driveway. He was very eager for the next time she would contact him and he was not entirely sure that it was only because she would be telling how the plan was going.