Do your worst. I thought to myself.
The wind picked up and the trees swayed. However, whatever blow I expected didn't come.
Magneto glared at me, a thoughtful look on his face. Then, he spoke. "Your punishment can wait," he said.
That's odd.
It just wasn't like him. I decided that he was being cruel by purposefully withholding whatever punishment he'd do to me till later. I had no experience dealing with this tactic, but I resolved not to let whatever feelings I had overtake me.
"It's going to rain, and I certainly can't train you if you're sick," he said before flying off.
There's the self serving asshole we all hate. Cynicism huffed.
I nodded stiffly and started to walk towards the castle. I'd have to take the slow route because I was out of power. But I was also tired, both mentally and physically, so the idea that I was walking to my doom didn't phase me. I knew I was, but I didn't care. I couldn't.
Once I arrived, I headed straight to my room as I didn't see Magneto at the door. After changing clothes, I looked at the drawer in the desk that carried my mother's letter and forced myself not to read it. That could wait until I knew what was going on.
I laid on my bed staring up at the ceiling, waiting. A few minutes passed in this way before he arrived. I pushed myself up and out of bed. If I couldn't win I'd do the next best thing and lose with dignity, so when I looked at Magneto I showed none of the fear I felt.
He didn't seem surprised by my calm facade. But surely he knew that it was just that- a facade.
As I had anticipated, I was yanked to the wall by metal tubes extending from the walls. Said tubes turned into tightly fitting restraints that bit into my skin. The worst part was that my arms were pinned down on either side of me by two pieces of metal, so I couldn't use my mutation. Not that it was likely that my strength would have returned to me that quickly.
In short, I was completely defenseless.
He walked over to me and said, "First, the reason why you're being punished."
Why does he have to act so calmly? If he acted irrationally he'd at least be easier to deal with.
Oh yeah- because he's actually sane. Cynicism, as usual, couldn't resist saying something.
I believe that is the most troubling thing about him. Logic said.
"I will not tolerate disrespect in my ranks." He gave me a chilly stare.
What does he expect me to do, apologize? Rebellion asked.
Magneto seems to be under the impression that I have wronged him. Well, I beg to differ. Logic said.
I calmed myself down carefully, trying to keep my expression neutral as well. "I called you self righteous, that's true. Among other things."
There was an unspoken 'and what are you going to do about it?' in that sentence. I hadn't said it, but apparently he heard it nonetheless. He lifted his hand and I braced for a punch. But instead of hitting me, he went through a motion with his hand I had never seen him do before. Why was his left hand raised, palm face up?
I didn't have enough time to figure out what he was doing. It all happened at once. A light, bright as the sun, assaulted my eyes, and then my body exploded with a strange new pain. My muscles all tensed up, and I felt as though I was on fire. I didn't understand. I couldn't. What was happening? What was he doing? But all these thoughts were forgotten as it seemed that was only the beginning and the pain got worse. Somehow, it got way, way worse.
A scream rang through the room, which I later realized was my own. Then it stopped, and the light faded, revealing the man I hated once more. But my pain wasn't gone yet. I swallowed and gritted my teeth as muscles started cramping up all over my body.
A small residual crackle of the strange light faded away. I realized it had been sent forward towards me in the line. A strange line bent into multiple places. A white, bluish line. Then I realised what he'd done.
It was electricity. The bastard had shocked me. He had shocked me. No, that's too mild a euphemism. He had electrocuted me.
I could hardly believe it. But once I did, I was angry once more. I felt in my bones that nothing could ever, ever make this man anything more than scum. I'd been hit and punched, sure. But this? Never this. Never! So, I glared at him anew.
He lifted his hand. The same hand he'd used to produce that horrible, bright, painful, energy.
The survival instincts that had gone ignored for so long asserted themselves once more. I couldn't help it. I really wanted to fight back against him, but the moment he raised his hand, it was like I wasn't in control of my own body anymore.
I flinched, and an expression of fear replaced the one of anger. It was so I could look small, frightened and unthreatening. So that he could see me, and know that I wasn't a threat to him. That I never was. That I never could be either. So that he'd hopefully decide I wasn't worth it and leave me alone. It had been so long since I had openly shown such terror, but it came naturally in the face of such a man.
He put his hand down.
Now I really wanted to curl up and die somewhere. It was beyond embarrassing for someone like me to have my real emotions be so easily made public. I was so good at hiding them. That was my strength, that was my safety. How could anyone hurt me if they didn't know what could harm me? That was what was so daunting to bullies about me, there was almost never anything that could hint at me being scared or worried. So many assumed I did not feel these emotions at all and thus, I was no fun to pick on.
Well, Magneto knew. He saw past any calm mask I wore. He knew when I was angry or scared or overwhelmed. And even worse, he knew how to make me feel all these things at ten times their normal protency. He could even force me to show all of these vulnerabilities. I had no control over the solution, nor over myself, or even how I would react. Which was always something I kept close to me. He'd succeeded where others had failed, and I felt true, ice cold terror for the first time in my life.
At some point, he opened up the cuffs and I was allowed to drop to the cold hard ground. My muscles screamed with pain, and I bit down a scream. A small noise escaped my lips. I hadn't expected it, but somehow, I could be made to feel worse.
I didn't like how he towered over me while I was stuck on the ground. But everything hurt so I couldn't get up, despite my pride.
"Disrespect will not be tolerated." He spoke so calmly, as if he hadn't electrocuted me only a minute ago. "Is that clear?" That part had just enough bite to it to hint at the dire consequences of anything but unconditional surrender.
Somehow, a small wave of strength returned. The scared, vulnerable part of me was once more booted out and I regained control. If I couldn't scare him, I could at least regain some dignity by being composed after all that. I was to look calm, completely at ease and perhaps a touch haughty. Unable to be bothered. Untouchable. I took a deep breath and composed myself.
"Very." I returned his calm demeanor with one of my own.
Magneto didn't move a muscle, but somehow he still oozed disapproval. A magnetic shield encased me. My mask once more shattered and my instincts returned, reminding me of my own inferiority. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again," I added quickly. I wanted to douse my tongue with acid then and there.
The field disappeared and Magneto left my room, satisfied that he'd broken my facade, punished me, and extracted an apology.
The door closed behind him, and I let out a breath I didn't realise I was even holding. The adrenaline quickly wore off and I realised my muscles were burning worse than ever before. I winced, and gritted my teeth, but there was nothing I could do. I was sure that if I allowed myself to rest now, I wouldn't be getting up for hours. I steeled myself and stood up gingerly. Leaning on the wall, I did a quick assessment of the damage.
I knew how much damage to a body electricity could do, so I checked myself first. My head and body were throbbing from the pain but nothing seemed seriously wrong with me. I figured I would probably be fine. I didn't even have any scars from the burns. Somehow, though, that was even worse.
The fact that I was hurting like hell and yet not permanently damaged once again showed how outmatched I was. The control he must've used to prevent me from sustaining permanent damage meant that he wasn't giving it his all. No, he beat me without any difficulty. It stood to reason that any other fights I'd have with him would end in a similar manner. Resistance truly felt futile. I knew I feared the man, but never had I felt anything like this.
Still, that doesn't mean I can just avoid him.
Of course I still had to go to training if I didn't want to anger him, and he was usually present there. But I wouldn't even be able to avoid him outside of training. In practice, my whole day was scheduled, and if I didn't show up wherever I was expected he'd come looking for me.
And even if that wasn't the case, I was sure Magneto wouldn't take well to me not showing up to breakfast, for instance. He might force feed me should I refuse to eat- no, revise that, he would definitely force feed me if I refused to eat. Knowing him, he'd do it with a metal tube being shoved down my esophagus. The thought of angering him so soon after what had happened, was more than enough for me to completely dismiss the idea of skipping breakfast.
Besides, I didn't want to seem any more childish than I had before. Hiding from Magneto out of fear or even anger would only undermine my point. It just seemed too similar to the parts in TV shows where teens slammed their room door and refused to come out due to their parents forbidding them from doing something or seeing someone. I tended to side with the parents in those kinds of scenes, even as a young child. I never understood how anyone could be angry to have parents that so obviously cared. It seemed wonderful to me. Such an easy life: do chores, go to school, follow some rules. They didn't even have to worry about finding food to eat on weekends or during school holidays.
I'll admit it. I probably drove a lot of adults to frustration when I was a teenager. I rarely behaved like what you'd expect from a normal child. I wasn't very talkative and generally kept to a close set of friends. I spent most of my free time away from them, alone, and I didn't speak much in class. I also had a glare that made most people back up a few paces.
No, I wasn't some cringy edgelord who thought he was better than everyone else. I merely wanted to be left alone most of the time. I loved quiet and peace, and other children and school were anything but these things. This raised a lot of red flags to some adults, since there was a whole stereotype about quiet kids being school shooters, so I was watched. But nothing serious came out of it though.
I did help a few of them get their GED at my program though. It was nice to see some of the boys turn their lives around. A lot of them are on the right path now. Still, I'm very glad I was so tiny and weak-looking as I didn't have to worry about anyone attacking me for not joining one. You can recover from being robbed, but a criminal record is much harder to erase.
I had to contend with real issues. For example, my mom almost stabbed me with a kitchen knife during a very scary disconnect from reality. After dealing with something like that, I couldn't connect to the teens on TV. Honestly, my life before the Brotherhood was such that had Magneto not threatened my mom to convince me, it wouldn't have seemed so bad. I probably would've gone of my own free will, too, though it would have taken longer to recruit me.
But I was certain to never ever say such things. That would be agreeing with him, however slightly. Unacceptable. I would simply have to keep on ignoring how I didn't feel so tired now that I had proper nutrition. It may seem like nothing to you, but to me, anything that Magneto had done to keep me comfortable so far threatened to destroy my will to escape. Especially since I was so scared of what the man would do if I ran away, but was discovered. That was dangerous and couldn't be allowed. And if I started thinking maybe things weren't so bad, I might decide to stop trying to leave altogether. I couldn't let that happen either.
I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked around the room. Thankfully, Magneto didn't leave a trace of the restraints. The walls were flat once more. There wasn't anything to clean up, apart from some papers that had fallen off my desk during the commotion.
I got to breakfast on time and acted like nothing had happened. It was easy, so long as I didn't look Magneto in the eyes. I wasn't sure if I could still keep up the charade while looking at him. So I averted my gaze and said nothing unless essential. It wasn't as if my muscles had healed yet, either. No, I hurt like hell, I was just great at distracting myself from it. Hiding my pain was easy, hiding my fear of Magneto was far harder in comparison. But it could be done. It had to be done, I didn't want anyone else to know my shame.
Now as long as Magneto says nothing.
Wait, we're relying on Magneto keeping quiet? We're done. Cynicism said.
Surprisingly, the prediction didn't come to pass. The man gave me a knowing glance, but didn't speak up.
Unfortunately, I still had to train that day. It was supposed to be mutation training, but I'd pushed my power far past its limits. I couldn't help but hope for no training… for about a fraction of a second, that is. I had to do physical training with Mystique instead. You can guess how fun that was. As soon as I got onto my bed, I fell asleep.
I didn't read my mom's letter until the next day. I was very relieved when I read the familiar and elegant Coneria Script. She said she was reading Exodus, which matched her usual yearly routine, and the writing style was clearly hers. Unfortunately the letter was unmarked and thus there was no way for me to figure out where she was from the letter.
Thankfully, my period of numbness didn't last long and I soon recommitted myself to my goal of escaping Magneto's grasp. How did that happen when I had no reason to believe I could actually escape? I'm not sure. I'm just not the type to roll over and let other people control my life.
Understanding the movement of the members of the Brotherhood would certainly take careful observation and since I had just fought the strongest person on the island alone and lost, I resigned myself to the fact that it would probably take a while.
I could figure out Magneto's schedule pretty quickly at the very least. Close observation plus the sheer amount of time we spent together made it impossible for him to hide everything from me. I could figure out when groceries arrived at the island and cross reference that with what Magneto normally did and when. If the groceries arrived when we were training then I'd easily know he didn't do the shopping.
A week later, training was very odd. Not odd as in easy. Magneto and easy should never be in the same sentence. Just… odd. Like, I had to find a needle in a haystack, odd. No, seriously. I had to find a needle in a huge haystack that was at least 8 feet tall. The size of the magnetic field generated by the needle was nothing compared to the size of the stack.
You've gotta be kidding me. You've given me an impossible task. Why?
I considered the idea that it was in response to something I had done. That would be something he'd do- let an impossible task wear down my resolve. Well, I wasn't having it. My stubbornness decided to show up again.
Bring it on. I'm certainly not letting you win.
I stretched out my senses and of course, found nothing. I moved my search area a bit to the left and focused on another part of the stack. Again, I found nothing.
I pushed my senses as far as I could, unconsciously holding my breath as I focused on what I felt. Magneto didn't exist. I wasn't trapped on an island with a madman- it was just me, the haystack and the needle. I was just about to exhale when I finally felt a very small sliver of metal.
I quickly yanked it out.
Magneto blinked. "You- found the needle." He sounded surprised. I was elated at the fact that I did something he didn't expect. That meant I'd finally beat him at something.
"So you did set me up with a task you expected me to fail." I spun around so quickly that my head felt dizzy as I made the accusation.
He smiled, the smile sharks have before they eat fish. "While I didn't expect you to find the needle as fast as you did, the point remains that you found the wrong one."
I did not expect that. "What- the wrong one?"
"The needle I sent into the haystack was copper. The one you have is steel."
Because of course.
"And you didn't mention this because..." I said.
"If you ever bothered to pay attention, you'd have already noticed that copper and steel feel completely different," he replied incredibly smugly.
This is one of the many reasons why I think that besides being a very powerful mutant Magneto's also a troll.
Copper and steel felt exactly the same to me at the time. He might've developed the ability to discriminate against these things, but I certainly hadn't. Plus, it simply wasn't very reasonable to expect someone who had had my powers as long as me to be at that level already.
But remember what I said earlier? Magneto has not and never will be a reasonable man. He expected results, but eventually? He'd usually get them, too. He'd push you off a bridge, but at the end of the day you'd learn to fly.
And if I thought the haystack was bad, it really only got worse. I had to get one specific copper needle out of a large pile of other, steel needles for the next task. This of course made the first task look like nothing.
Forget a needle in a haystack, let's try to find a needle in a needlestack. That was just as much fun as putting a needle in your eyes and just about as painful too. I had to push my power beyond my limits to even search the surface of the steel haystack. On top of that I had to somehow find a trait that made the copper needle stand out.
I eventually had to give up, and Magneto somehow managed to look disappointed and smug at the same time.
After this was over, I rested for a while before working on exploring the castle some more. I specifically wanted to find where they kept the plane after it landed. I figured there was an underground hangar, but I just couldn't figure out where it was. I kept some paper and a pen with me so I could draw my findings for later.
I kept poking around and found an ornate looking double door in an otherwise ordinary hallway. I turned the knob and found it was locked. I noted the door's lack of a keyhole. It felt like someone put a dollop of steel where the keyhole was supposed to be, filling it in.
What an odd combination.
I briefly wondered if I should pick the lock with my powers.
The door swung open, yanking me out of my thoughts.
"This is my office." Magneto was sitting at a silvery white desk, while I tried my very best to calm down my heart, which had just gotten a very unexpected workout.
Cynicism cursed. That took a full year out of our life expectancy, I swear!
I was very glad that I decided not to break into the room. I walked inside and looked around. Something grabbed my attention immediately.
You'd think he'd have a way to at least lock it from the inside. This is his office, Logic said, then frowned. No, wait, what if...
I said, "No key holes on the front, and nothing to lock the door with here either, just a handle."
The older man didn't even look back from his paperwork to see what I was talking about. "I don't need them."
I noted the nearby cabinets that also lacked keyholes. I was sure the inside mechanism worked fine. All Magneto needed to do was manipulate the position of the tumblers inside the lock to get in.
That was interesting. A cabinet without keyholes is unpickable. Anyone who wanted to get inside would need to melt through the cabinet's steel shutters, which would probably damage whatever paperwork was inside.
So simple yet brilliant.
I mulled over the new information quickly before my eyes scanned over the steel bookshelves. I noticed a book that covered Calculus One.
Apparently he saw my glance, because he told me to take the book, as he already knew calculus. I did and flipped through a few pages.
A few minutes later he put away his paperwork and asked me, "What do you know about magnetism?"
I paused for a moment before rattling off everything I knew about it. At one point, I sat down in the chair in front of his desk, opposite of him. Often he'd ask, "Are you sure?" in between statements. I always said "Very." in response to this because I -rightfully- assumed he was trying to mess with me. After I had scraped out every possible fact I could think of I ended with a "Done."
There was a pause. He seemed a bit unhappy with my admittedly simplistic idea of magnetism. But when I think about it, I understood it better than many other people who'd graduated high school. So I was really doing great in comparison. A fourteen year old who understood electromagnetism was well ahead of the curve.
"So would your mutation work on ferrous and non-ferrous metals?" he asked.
I pursed my lips. "Well no, it wouldn't make sense for non-ferrous metals. They aren't magnetic."
He frowned slightly, but I barely caught it. I wouldn't have noticed it had I blinked at the wrong time. "Wrong. Some non-ferrous metals are magnetic when you add electricity."
I cocked my head. "But where would I get the electricity from?"
He looked at me as if I had just asked him what 2 plus 2 is.
He sighed and combed a hand through his hair. "You really have no idea how our abilities work, do you?"
The idea was ridiculous. How could I not know about something that affected me as much as my mutation? I thought for a moment.
"Not the specifics, no." I begrudgingly admitted. Sure, Magento shocked me, but I was certain that had to be something specific to him. I'd never made any electricity myself, so I figured I couldn't. Mutations are always a bit different for each person.
"I'm surprised that, given how intelligent you are, you'd be so profoundly ignorant of this," he said.
I took great offence to that comment.
I frowned.
"A. textbooks don't tend to have a section labeled 'Understanding Your Mutation', and B. the texts I read about magnetism do not go into much detail because I don't read college texts."
Instead of accepting my perfectly good explanations for why I didn't know a lot about magnetism like an ordinary person, Magneto asked, "Why not?"
Yep, one thing I really hated and secretly liked about the guy was his no excuses accepted attitude. I did appreciate that someone didn't automatically assume that I was intellectually incompetent thanks to my background, but his extremely high expectations annoyed me.
His expectations created insecurity where it didn't exist before. I learned information at my pace and on my own terms. I certainly knew enough to keep myself out of trouble until I could study it in more detail when I got to college.
"They're expensive. I barely managed to get the material needed for my CLEP test."
Plus, I lack the mathematical background needed to understand the text on my own.
As if I'd actually tell him that though.
It's quite surprising how he apparently doesn't know about this. I thought he knew almost everything about us? Logic frowned.
I knew quite a bit about general magnetism and its applications, like in making compasses, but nothing about the specifics of how my powers worked. I simply lacked the equipment needed to do an extensive test of my abilities.
But besides that, do you know what happens when Magneto finds someone who has potential who doesn't use it the 'right way'?
He throws knowledge and training at them until they do.
"You read them now."
I barely managed to dodge the textbook he hurled at me. Yes, I meant 'he throws knowledge at them' literally.
"You threw a book at me?" I was very surprised. Magneto was a terribly strict teacher. He demanded absolute obedience and all of my attention whenever we trained. Think of the strictest teacher you've ever had, one who somehow always knew when you were off task, and take that to the tenth power. Though he never inflicted violence on me without having some sort of reason.
Since the loss I suffered last week, I hadn't given him any reason to do anything to me since.
"I was confident you'd dodge it."
I call BS.
I didn't bother hiding the skepticism that practically oozed from my face.
Ironically, the only reason how I dodged that book was because of my training with Mystique.
He smirked before saying, "The proper term for our mutation is Magnetokinesis. It allows us to manipulate the magnetic fields around us and use them for things like flying or creating a force field."
He talked for a moment and while he did I started to combine the new information given and the information I already knew in my mind to come to a conclusion.
"Well, that explains how I could manipulate non-ferrous metals." I said.
He looked at me with an expression that meant he wanted me to explain what I meant.
I paused before saying, "Well. I could use my control of magnetism to cause an electric current in a non-ferrous metal. That causes the non-ferrous metal to become an electromagnet."
He nodded. "Exactly. Read chapter one by next week, you'll have a much better idea of how they work."
I am very sure that Magneto didn't require Sabretooth to understand his mutation in such painful detail. No, he was probably far more focused on slash, slash, death with him.
I looked through the text and found that chapter 1 had to be at least 50 pages. Also by taking into account the extraordinarily small font, the amount of text that chapter 1 had shot up to 100 normal pages.
I seriously doubted I'd be able to understand all the text by then.
"Just a week, that's-"
"Another word and I'll give you three chapters instead of just one," he deadpanned as he went back to his paperwork.
I shut up. I knew he'd do it and I certainly didn't want to deal with whatever consequences he'd have for me for not passing whatever test he'd have for me in a week.
You know those sweet dollops of free time I used to explore and further my escape plans? Yeah, those quickly vanished, because unlike my teachers in public school, Magneto knew exactly how long it would take for me to understand what he gave me.
After training, eating and studying the blasted chapter that was as hard as it was fascinating, I really couldn't do anything but sleep due to exhaustion. It took six days of reading, rereading and when I was feeling particularly desperate, asking Magneto questions, before I truly understood the material and another day to go over what I knew.
No, there wasn't a choir singing, but by understanding how my mutation worked it felt like a veil had been lifted off my face. Things made so much more sense afterward. Amazingly, I actually managed to learn all the material. When he questioned me about what I'd learned, I answered as best as I could. He was pleased with my performance.
Guess what I got for doing that? That's right, more work.
I almost regretted staring at the calc book in his library because apparently that was assigned to me too.
I'm not pleased with the fact that we have so little free time to further our plans. Logic said.
Free time, what's that? Cynicism grumbled.
Free time is defined as... Logic started. Not at all grasping the priors obvious sarcasm.
That was my life. Honestly, I really couldn't understand why he cared whether my brain died a slow death due to lack of use.
He also had the very annoying habit of telling me in detail which problems I was wrong on if he found any of my papers. As if I couldn't go to the back of the book and find out myself. I get that it's helpful to get feedback, but if I really wanted any I'd just ask him for it.
Magneto kept giving me texts that were beyond my level, and the work assigned was infuriatingly hard. There was no way I'd be able to figure it all out on top of my ordinary training without his help, so I ended up in his office often.
One day, after all my questions were answered, he challenged me to a game of chess. I was interested immediately. After all, chess was something that I actually had a chance of beating him at. I sat down and put all of my focus onto the game.
Magneto set up the board. We wordlessly chose our colors, and began our game. We weren't even two moves into it when he shifted and glanced at me. "Besides your mother, what is your view on humans?" he asked thoughtfully.
Ah yes, talking during chess, one of my biggest pet peeves. After all, if you're talking, you're not giving 100% to the game itself.
Well, at least he's straightforward.
We had a rather odd way of dealing with each other. There was some unspoken agreement between us that cut out BS with extreme prejudice. I couldn't lie to him so I didn't bother trying and he knew I was smart enough to see through his lies as well.
I kept my eyes on the chess pieces as I moved one, then replied, "Humans, like anyone else, can choose to do good or evil. There are about seven billion of them on Earth, so it's a bit unfair to generalize."
"And if I were to specify, what about the humans who wrote the Mutant Registration Act?"
I looked up at this. He met my eyes, game abandoned.
"You're familiar with it?" he asked, as if he didn't know the answer already.
I recognized the attempt to get me emotional from miles away. I couldn't win this by arguing on his terms. No, only cool and strong logic would work.
"I read every page- familiar doesn't cover it." I paused, then said, "They're afraid and that's what caused them to write that bill." I tried to keep my words and tone as neutral as possible.
I could hear the disbelief in his next words.
"Just fear? You honestly think that they don't hate us? That the fact that the Senators pushing this bill are also members of The Friends of Humanity is just a coincidence?"
He leaned forward, snatching my knight off the board when he captured it with a pawn.
"No. What I'm saying is that their fear is what's really relevant. There are Senators who hate African Americans, but guess what, their personal hatred isn't going to bring back segregation. No, discriminating against African Americans isn't in." I looked down at the board, considering what my next move would be.
Magneto scoffed. "In? You make it sound like a fashion trend."
I shrugged. "A good portion of politics is just that. It's nothing new. One party making the other party look as bad as possible by vilifying them. One party working to discriminate against a minority to gain political power by exploiting the fears of the majority. Now the flavor of the day is mutants and we get these guys in congress."
Ironically, racial relations are probably the best they've been ever. Common enemy and all that.
I shook my head. "Anyway, the Congressmen's fears are just symptoms of a bigger problem. People are afraid and willing to support bills and politicians that blatantly ignore mutants' rights because of that fear." I moved another piece after saying this,
"And you don't believe that most humans hate mutants," Magneto stated rather than asked.
"No, we haven't gotten to that point yet. Or Assaults on mutants would be far more common otherwise. It seems like the news has been very bad at making monsters out of men for once. You've got just as many people saying 'help those unfortunate people' as 'kill them all'. This precarious balance is the reason we aren't in a civil war right now."
"And to which side do you think the scale is tipping?" He looked directly at me, as if he already knew what I'd say.
I frowned. He got me there.
"Hate. One way to turn the tide..." I fell silent for a moment as I collected my thoughts. "I'm not saying this is the only way, but this is what I've been thinking has a high probability of happening: One of the sides will probably come up with a martyr. Someone people resonate with emotionally. They'd be able to stick their face everywhere, stir up conversations and all that. Say this is justice for whatever person they decide to rally around and push their own ideas of what that entails."
Magneto seemed to be thinking over what I said.
Great, I'm giving the guy ideas. Well, in for a penny..
I stared at the board absentmindedly "Most mutants are peaceful and have harmless powers, thus there haven't been mutants who are unaffiliated with the Brotherhood that the press could write off as complete monsters successfully - not that they aren't trying."
I glanced off to the side as if I were daydreaming as I said, "The Brotherhood is seen as an extremist group. That means that most people don't think you're the norm. The Mutant Registration Act would be passed without question if they did, with a civil war as result."
I picked up my queen, deep in thought. "Like an accumulation of gas. It'd only take one spark of the right size and in the right place to set it off. A really powerful mutant who loses control of their abilities in a crowded place, instance." I stopped, wondering whether I was doing the right thing by saying all this. I couldn't clam up now though, Magneto wouldn't accept it. I tried to act as naturally as possible and continued. "Maybe someone would even purposefully use their powers in an evil way. Combine that incident with the fact that the person seemed like anyone else and everyone will be riddled with paranoia. The Mutant Registration Act would get passed in no time. We're all walking on eggshells here."
I moved my queen. "Checkmate."
Magneto looked very surprised at the loss. I was feeling rather confident and challenged him to another game.
He accepted his loss and the invitation graciously. Again, the board was set up, but this time he didn't wait to start up the conversation again. "If you already know what's coming, then why didn't you join us in the first place?"
I paused before speaking. I thought every word out. Magneto was excellent at destroying flawed arguments.
''You plan on making humans subordinates to mutants rather than equals."
It seemed like a good sentence to start with. There was no way he could deny that it was true.
"Because they are. We are the future, not them," he said in a tone that would prevent most people from disagreeing. But I've never been a normal person.
Only tyrants forbid people from disagreeing with them.
"We're different because of the X-Gene, but superior?" I shook my head. "I don't believe it."
He looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and disbelief.
"And what do you call my ability to stop a hundred trained human soldiers with a flick of a hand?"
I had a response ready.
"Different. Humans and mutants are sentient life forms and thus should be treated as such. The actual physical or mental capabilities of that person don't matter. Don't disabled people deserve to be treated with decency? One could argue that the same thing applies here."
I mentally gave myself a thumbs up for that argument.
"Disabled people are equal on paper, yes, but most still have problems seeing them as such. According to them, if you are capable of more things than someone else, you are better. They might not realise it, but that's what they have grown to think unconsciously. Why do you think mothers-to-be test their unborn child for Down syndrome? People say all manner of rosy things in public, but their actions betray their true thoughts." He continued.
"Besides, how do you plan to get to that point? The fact of the matter is still that mutants are seen as animals by a lot of people. Dreaming idealistically isn't of any use when you have no idea of how you can reach that ideal."
I could almost hear my argument deflate under the weight of that pesky thing called reality.
I frowned.
"You reject my plan when you're unable to think of your own," Magneto concluded.
I had to recover. "Civil rights movements-"
"A situation that nowhere near compares to the scale of what we're dealing with," He chimed in. "African Americans didn't have the power we have, of course. But would you have faulted them for using it if they did?"
I wouldn't have been able to. Slavery and the systematic discrimination that followed prevented many from achieving their full potential, and ruined the lives of even more. In my mind, it was just plain disgusting and wrong. I couldn't hate someone who lashed back at those who oppressed them.
He pressed on. "Don't you think it's unnatural that the strong are being hunted by the weak? You are part of the reason they get to do that."
So now I was the bad guy. I couldn't mask my shock at the turn of events and asked, "And how am I doing that?"
He didn't react to my surprise and kept his focus on the board. "You see the injustice and react by turning a blind eye. By not doing anything you're part of the problem." In other words, if you decide you want to live a normal life, you're part of the problem. If you chose not to work for me, you are part of the problem.
I choose not to say anything after this. There is no arguing with this type of logic. My experience with my mother taught me this. You can't argue with those who push very narrow ideas of what constitutes a good person. I ended up losing the second chess game.
We played another game and while it was dreadfully close, I ended up pulling through.
After the pieces were put aside, I started to walk out the room. Magneto stopped me just before I reached the door.
"Chris," he said, "do you think of yourself as a prisoner?"
Interesting question.
And since it was an interesting question, it deserved an interesting answer.
I turned around to face the elderly, but by no means frail man. I considered my words for a moment. "A prisoner? Perhaps. Maybe calling myself a conscript would be more accurate though. I'd say it depends on how I'm feeling at the moment."
Honestly, the question was a trap. If I said yes then he'd be unhappy with me telling the truth. If I said no he'd call me out on the lie. So I figured that if I really couldn't escape springing the trap, I could at least throw as much shade at him as I could while telling the truth.
"Interesting that you feel this way when you're around your own kind," he said. The tone he used rubbed me the wrong way entirely, which was probably why he chose it.
He was insinuating something I wanted no part in, so I sidestepped the implication. "Regardless of the fact that everyone on the island is a mutant, the fact remains that I do not want to be here, hence prisoner. The Brotherhood is a military organization, hence conscription."
My flawless logic irritated him.
If you didn't want an honest answer you should've said so.
"Don't push your luck, Alster," he said, sounding more dangerous than ever.
My heart stopped. I froze, my hand still on the doorknob. A trickle of sweat slid down my neck, despite abundant air conditioning.
I didn't say so or even act like it, but I was starting to doubt myself far more than usual. I wasn't even very confident in the first place. The fact that I couldn't do anything about my situation ate at me.
I must've shown my uneasiness because he kept going.
"Your mother is currently staying at a mental hospital," he said, that undercurrent of power never leaving his voice. "What do you think would happen if she were suddenly released?"
I felt like I was hit in the gut. I swallowed, trying to regain the ability to speak. "She'd… she'd probably get hit by a car," I said haltedly.
Worry flooded my mind, and I couldn't stop thinking up worst-case scenarios. Even if she was perfectly okay, she'd never survive on the streets!
"That would be unfortunate," Magneto said, tone ice cold. He didn't move a muscle as he stared me down.
I could hear the blood pumping in my eardrums. I couldn't even return eye contact with him. My eyes were kept focused on the door.
I didn't dare talk or even move, too terrified of damning my mother to torment. Magneto's influence hung over my mother like a sword of Damocles. It seemed like I was in the middle of a minefield, and the wrong move could get her killed.
"I must say, Chris, I'm disappointed in you. I knew, when I brought you here, how short sighted you were. But I didn't expect you to be this naive," he said, shaking his head. My blood ran cold. I'd managed to do something wrong.
"Shortsighted?" I croaked, not quite sure I heard right. I couldn't see how this was related to my mother. What did he mean?
"You, despite knowing what is to come, would rather go about your life and not prepare for the war that is coming," he stated, and tsk-ed. "Foolish."
My mind blanked as I suddenly realised he wasn't talking about my mom anymore. A wave of relief hit me. For the moment, her life wasn't at risk anymore.
I resolved to never bring my mother up in conversation again unless he did. The way he had brought up my Mom without warning, and put her away just as quickly… He was obviously using her as a tool to ensure his control over me.
Once I had calmed down enough to actually think about his words, I realised he had a decent point. My plan to live a quiet life would've solved nothing. Still, the point remained that the only one who could decide how I wanted to live my life was me. I shouldn't be forced to fight if I didn't want to.
I still said nothing. I wasn't brave or rather foolish enough to share my thoughts on the matter. Not right after he threatened Mom. And I still hadn't forgotten how he had electrocuted me.
"You're hung up on the fact that you don't want to be here- something as irrelevant as the feelings of a boy who doesn't want to go to school or a sailor caught in a storm. He can't wish himself out of it and so he either sails or drowns."
The comparison he made between a child who doesn't want to go to school and me rubbed me the wrong way.
Children have breaks from school. Children can go home after school is over. Children can switch schools. Children, if they act bad enough, can get kicked out of the school they're in. No, I find that five year olds are given far more freedom of choice then I am currently, Logic said.
I was irritated and still shaken from the threat, but I forced myself to calm down and just asked, "If I'm a sailor on a ship then you are?.."
"A captain preventing the ship from sinking by using every resource he has available. If that means dragging lazy, or in your case, unwilling sailors to their posts then so be it."
I bristled at the idea of being a resource. That was so like him, framing himself as the good guy here.
I left the office as soon as I could and went to my room. On my way there I noticed an old dartboard and scurried to the kitchen. I warped some old knives no one would miss until they were balanced enough. Throwing knives and a faded dartboard made me feel a bit better. At least the rock throwing was good for one thing: my eye-hand coordination.
He entered my room as my third knife hit the target. "Today, two mutant children were shot to death in your hometown."
I wasn't unfamiliar with how tragically common shootings of mutants were.
And the context is what?
"If the girls were in front of you as they were shot, would you be willing to help them or do you care more about concealing your identity?" I turned around quickly when I heard the question.
I had been forced in that sort of position before. It involved a very fast aluminum bike whose brakes malfunctioned, a hill, and a small child. In the end, I did not regret my decision.
"The girls." I distinctly remember people calling the little boy's sudden stop a miracle. Had he moved a few more inches he would've been hit by a truck. I had to do damage control before the people who saw (luckily only the boy's family) started spreading rumors.
I went to the boy and fixed his brakes for him on the spot and made a complicated excuse for the stop that made no sense to anyone who had even an ounce of knowledge of physics. They bought it.
It's amazing how you mention algebra or trigonometry once and people's brains seem to turn off. It's not even that hard, I thought as I went home from the almost disaster. I felt a pang of guilt for the fact that I contemplated not saving the boy for a split second, rationalizing that it wouldn't be my fault, but that excuse fell flat.
"Really?" The implications of his tone irritated me.
I decided to turn the argument back on him.
"What have I done that would suggest I would let them be killed by bullets that I can easily pluck out the air?"
"You've been here almost a month, you're still rather shy about using your mutation even around us. It stands to reason you'd freeze up before you could save them."
He didn't know it, but what he was saying did have a bit of basis in reality. I indeed hesitated when I saw the boy on his bike. There wouldn't have been time for delay had it actually been the two girls.
Magneto continued on as I thought back to what had happened not long ago. "I don't understand you at times. You're evasive when you don't need to be. Why keep up the facade when you have the power to end anyone who bothered you?"
"I don't fight unless provoked."
That was a rather bad choice of words.
Magneto frowned. "And you're not provoked or angry at the suffering of your people?"
"I am, I think it's horrific and wrong." I said automatically.
"You think that, and yet you'd rather watch from a distance. That's quite the contradiction."
Yes, and I'm sure you think you have all the answers. Just kill humans until they do what we want, right?
I chose not to say anything. Magneto took this as his cue to keep talking
"There will be no time for hesitation. The day will come that you will be unable to do anything but fight and kill those who would kill you."
The statement made sense and it was the truth, but it grated harshly on my eardrums.
There was a permanency in killing that prevented me from doing that even if the person arguably deserved it. I couldn't think of an offense someone could to me that would warrant such a permanent action. I despised my father, yes, but even so I wouldn't have killed him. Though I can't say I wouldn't have harmed him had he somehow risen from the dead.
A few days later I decided to go find Mystique before physical training started. The pattern for grocery shopping seems to be every two weeks. The newspaper, though, seemed to be delivered every day.
I'd already determined that Magneto wasn't the person who did the groceries, so it made sense to try and understand the movements of the other members of the Brotherhood.
Mystique was to be the person who seemed to be the most likely to travel off the island frequently. She could shapeshift and thus go anywhere without trouble. Also, she regularly vanished without a moment's notice- I'd see her at breakfast and then go a whole day without encountering her again.
On many days I just couldn't find her no matter where I went. At first, it seemed like a coincidence, but no one's movements are that erratic. If she was still on the island those times I would've picked up on a pattern by now. Then I suddenly realised Toad would also often vanish when she was gone. Once I knew this, I often caught him taking food out of the refrigerator just before they would disappear for the day.
I cut Sabretooth from my investigation because I had no reason to believe that he'd leave the island. I could always find him pretty easily. Besides, if I was right and Toad and Mystique were working in sync then I didn't believe Magneto would let Sabretooth leave often. It was frankly a waste of manpower and Sabretooth seemed to have no special skills that would help the Brotherhood outside of fighting.
Today, I couldn't find the shapeshifter anywhere in the castle, even after knocking on her room's door and exploring the island.
When I gave up on the search and walked back to the main hall, an idea struck me and I decided to try it.
I grabbed a chair and robbed one of the hallway's lights of its bulb. I held it in my hand and twisted the magnetic field below the metal stem in every way I could think of. I knew Magneto could create electricity, I'd seen -and felt- him use it multiple times. So, why couldn't I? I just had to manipulate the magnetic fields in just the right way.
Let's see… I have to make an alternating current, right? Maybe if I tried this...
I held my breath as after a few minutes of trying, the bulb flickered a soft red glow, then went dark.
I carefully repeated the shapes I put the magnetic field in to determine which shape or series of shapes created a current. With some experimentation, I was able to isolate what worked and what didn't.
I added some more light bulbs because I wanted to see if I could divert the power in multiple directions at once. I'd just figured out how when Magneto turned a corner, only to see me in a completely dark corner of the main hall with several bright light bulbs in my hand. I was too busy playing with my new ability to notice- adding more or less current to dim or brighten the bulbs I held.
I didn't see his face, but I'm sure he was surprised by my off the cuff discovery.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself."
I turned around. "It's very interesting," I admitted. I felt far more than what those words conveyed. I was in awe of the fact that I could use my own power to create electricity. It wasn't even very draining. This usually complex process could suddenly be done by me alone.
I am creating electricity, a force of nature, through magnetic induction using none of the usual equipment needed to do this. All just because I can will the shape of the magnetic field to reform around me in a certain way. This is amazing.
I had to keep my eyes flickering between the stem of the bulbs and the lit ends of the lightbulbs to reassure myself that this was real.
This marker of my power gave me such a sense of relief. Even the strongest people need a sense of stability, of permanence. It's a kind of security blanket in a way. Something that tells you that everything will be okay in the end.
For some it was their faith; and for me it had always been my ability to deal with conflict rationally. I felt a sudden increase in confidence that I'd be able to one day get out of the bind I was in. I just had to be smarter and more powerful.
"You're progressing at a phenomenally fast pace," Magneto said after a brief period of silence. I felt like my jaw would hit the floor cartoon-style. I'd never heard him say anything like that before. And was that admiration that had crept into his tone?
"Really?" I felt incredibly out of my depth here. I knew I was getting better from my point of view but he never actually praised me. He generally only ever made me feel worse about myself, reminding me that I was powerless before him. He promised that the key to changing this was to fully commit myself to his cause and teachings.
Magneto nodded and moved closer, taking a bulb from my hands without ever letting the light flicker. "Scarcely a week has passed since you learned about magnetic induction and you figure out how to power several lights simultaneously in the span of an hour."
"The only way to explain that is that you're talented." I'd never heard him say anything like that before. I never considered myself to be talented at anything. Nothing I did was that hard, anyone could learn trigonometry if it's explained right for instance.
I hadn't been called a genius by anyone I knew besides the people who did the GED tutoring and I took their opinions with a pound of salt. It's easy to think someone's a genius when you haven't gotten the chance to study algebra until your 30's. My mom didn't even call me intelligent anymore after a church leader told her that it would give me "sinful pride".
It's funny that I could handle bullies and getting robbed, had fended off a robber with a baseball bat even, but the moment someone recognized that I was talented I didn't know what to do. More specifically, being told I'm talented by someone who I knew had to be a genius himself. I was waiting for the punchline, the statement that he'd use to prove that I couldn't ever be on his level. It didn't come.
Magneto noticed my reaction. How did I know? He was freer with praise during training than usual. The change of course confused me, though eventually I stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop. It felt nice to get acknowledged for doing something right.
Another day later, after a very close chess match that I lost, I asked Magneto a question.
"Do you think I would've actually registered my mutation?" I asked, sounding offended by the obvious idiocy of the action.
Yes, totally register yourself, even though you happen to share the mutation of the leader of a terrorist organization. Lovely idea. They'd of course know I wasn't Magneto but that wouldn't change the fact that they'd be very 'interested' in me.
Even if I didn't have a record and they thought I wasn't a member of the Brotherhood, I didn't think they were above 'temporarily' holding me so they could synthesise something that canceled out Magneto's powers. And after that? They'd either kill me or use me in some way or another.
There was no plausible reality where the US government both knew of my existence and let me live freely. I was just too valuable.
Who knows, maybe in another reality I still ended up in the Brotherhood except as an inside agent. When I thought of that idea I instantly recoiled. My sudden repulsed expression surprised the old man but he didn't mention it.
Even if I escaped from that predicament, I'd be running from the US government and the Brotherhood at the same damn time. No thanks.
He responded, "No, you're not that naive." He seemed to frown at the inherent stupidity of that plan as I did.
"Naive." I thought back to our prior… conversation, when he had said I was naive. Still, 'naive' was a word I never thought would apply to me.
"You're in no way stupid, so naivety would be the only explanation for why you'd register yourself," he continued. "Despite your aversion to warfare, I'm sure you would get involved in this war one way or another and would never consider registering, especially given recent events."
"Recent events like what - the Sentinel program from the 70's?" The Sentinels reappearing was fear I'd secretly held. After reading about them online,I found I couldn't sleep properly for days. I hoped my worst case scenario would never come true. I wanted things to be okay in the world for once. They were decommissioned so they stayed decommissioned, yes?
"Almost but not quite." His face told me he was hiding something.
Almost but not quite- does that mean that those monsters are still operational? That's...
He could see me connecting the dots in my head.
"The new sentinels lack metal anywhere in them and are made of plastic. More specifically plastic that dampens magnetic fields. Or rather, it makes it harder for us to use our powers on them. "
That confirmed it. They were still around.
I cautiously said, "Sponsored by the government."
I felt sick.
Going back to my old life, before I had my mutation, was starting to sound very appealing. I'd happily take back the textbooks from 1970 and the ignorant bullies. I couldn't do this. I couldn't do warfare and the possibility of my own government turning against me. That was without mentioning the constant pressure of working for Magneto in return for my mothers continued existence.
"Of course. But you already know that," Magneto said, putting away the chess board that was still sitting in front of us.
He opened up his desk using an extremely quick series of magnetic field gymnastics. I couldn't even get a read on what magnetic field shapes he used to open the lock.
This was no doubt placed there so I couldn't access what he didn't want me to see. I'd bet real money on the lock being boobytrapped somehow, too. If I made one mistake or pushed a pin in the lock too late or too early, he'd no doubt be notified.
Once the desk opened, he handed me a stack of papers. I started reading. I skimmed through useless verbiage until I got to what was useful.
In response to a new security risk, the reimplementation of the Sentinel Program will begin immediately. Additionally, the funding for said program will double from 13 billion to 26 billion US dollars...
I'm a calligrapher's son. I could tell that this was official. The paper was typed on very expensive paper that the US government used for important documents and more importantly, the paper lacked this key thing called 'spacing out your paragraphs'.
The only two groups who do that are businesses and the US government. They smashed all the paragraphs together in an attempt to save paper and prevent people from reading more than completely necessary. A clever ploy used to prevent accountants or curious assistants from noticing anything above their pay grade. Think tax fraud or in this case secret government programs designed to kill mutants.
I felt a wave of horror rise in me.
"Enough evidence for you?"
I was too stunned to speak. It was one thing to theorize, but it was another to be confronted with evidence of the lack of respect for the lives of mutants the CIA had. They even had plans that would automatically roll into action if, or rather when, the Mutant Registration Act passed.
At the moment, all mutant registration was done voluntarily (as far as the public knew) and it was used to "direct mutants to programs that help them with their condition". That was a quote from a government program that 'helped' mutants. They were really leaning into the whole 'it's not your fault' thing, but thankfully few actually took the bait.
There was also the registry kept by the FOH. They reported any 'muties' they saw and any information they knew about them. This one was not voluntary at all and they didn't pretend that it was either- they used terrible slurs on their website.
None of these registries could compare to a national registry. The FOH lacked the detail about abilities and identities of mutants because the people who collected the information weren't very scientifically inclined, or very smart for that matter. They even placed people with albinism on their mutant list sometimes, which had gotten many killed.
Also, oddly enough, mutants despite not being any smarter than the population on average tended to be very good at not revealing their powers. It honestly stunned me that more didn't blab about it on social media. People can be incredibly stupid. But no, it seems a sort of survival instinct kicks in when it comes to keeping your mutation secret.
The mutant control agency had very few mutants on file for obvious reasons. The proposed increases in funding for the implementation of the Mutant Registration Act would combine top level science and the coercive power of the government to create a dangerous combination. They already had a list of US citizens to go through, plus everyone on social media like Picbook or Twizzler. Make a test mandatory and you're good to go.
It's a very, very good thing there is a large contingent of suburban moms that would freak at the suggestion, they are probably what's stopping this. They already hate vaccinations after all but a government mass blood testing operation? No, not going to happen.
I quickly gave him back the paper. I desperately wanted to go back to my room or somewhere else isolated and think on the matter. Was I allowed to do this? No.
I normally would've loved reading instead of doing physical training, but this time the subject of reading was beyond grim.
He gave me a copy of the paper, a copy of the files the FOH had, a list of anti-mutant organizations, their leaders and locations (some of which I didn't even know about), and to top it off the new version of the MRA that was back in congress. To think they were hunting down 'rogue mutants' so much that the FBI and police completely ignored the things these people posted on Picbook! They completely ignored anti-mutant extremists and their hate speech. Justice apparently isn't blind.
I kept reading until I reached the end of the stack. I couldn't stop myself from reading certain parts over and over, unable to understand how someone could hate people so much. These people had likely never even talked with a mutant. I was silent at dinner, like usual, but my countenance was accompanied by a look of such absolute despair that let Magneto know that his plan to drain me of my faith in others was working. He didn't even seem smug about it, it looked more like he pitied me for the pain I was clearly suffering from.