"Psyche," Erik began "please find Pyro. I'd like to talk to him."

"If it's about the cereal, it's really no big deal. He doesn't really care. I think he was mostly just making conversation."

"It's not about the cereal, Psyche. Like I said, this isn't a school. You're not in trouble. He's not in trouble. As I explained to you, people knowing my past can either be to my advantage or to my disadvantage. I'd prefer to keep it as an advantage."

Rachel nodded and left to go find Pyro. He was in his room.

"You alright, Psyche? Was he angry?"

"I wouldn't say he was angry. He was bothered. He doesn't like remembering all that stuff."

"Can't blame him for that."

"Yeah. Well, he wants to talk to you."

"Wait, why? Did you tell him I complained about the cereal?"

"Relax. You're not in trouble. And he says it's not about the cereal. You just might be in for a bit of a lecture."

"Isn't that what being in trouble is? I thought leaving Xavier meant no more stupid lectures."

"No more stupid lectures doesn't mean no more lectures," Rachel said with a smile.

"Only a nerd like you likes lectures."

Rachel sighed. He had always called her a nerd while in school. He was only joking, but she didn't like it. They got along fine, but they didn't always understand each other. She always wanted to learn different perspectives and ways of thinking. Even if she disagreed with a person, she still wanted to hear their point of view. It made a lot of sense to her that she was a telepath. Pyro was different. He only really cared about his own opinion. Manipulating fire was the perfect power for him, too. He acted too much on impulse and emotion, and could be hot headed.

Rachel had always wondered if someone's power could affect their personality. The reverse was true to an extent. Your mood affected your strength. Xavier had taught them that. Erik had told them about finding the place "between rage and serenity." Pyro said it sounded like the same mumbo jumbo Xavier would talk about, but Rachel always figured it must work. Whether you were on his side or not, you had to admit Magneto was powerful, so whatever technique he used to focus his energy clearly worked. Whatever it was, it was undeniable that mood affects power. But was it plausible that powers can affect the personality of the mutant who has them? Rachel didn't see how this would happen, but it seemed like it was true.

Erik had the most charismatic personality of anyone she had ever met. He drew people to listen to him like a magnet. Professor Xavier was sympathetic and smart, both common traits for telepaths. Mystique was good at pretending to be something she wasn't, a necessary skill for using her ability. Rachel knew her telepathy had made her more sympathetic and willing to see both sides of an argument. She figured if more students at Xavier's school were telepaths, Magneto would have more recruits. If people were more willing to look past his reputation, Rachel believed they would see he was right. Between Magneto's followers and Xavier's, only Magneto wanted to get anything done.

She didn't have anything against Xavier. That was another difference between her and Pyro. Pyro didn't like Xavier, and she didn't really get why. His school had saved Pyro's life, regardless of whether Pyro admitted it. Rachel thought Xavier's school was really good at being what it was meant to be: a school. It was a good place for mutant kids who didn't have any other place to go. It was a good place to figure out how your powers work. She understood what it was like to be a homeless thirteen year old mutant who barely knew how to control her power. She had been there a couple years ago. She was thankful Xavier's school helped her out. She had learned how to turn on and off her telepathy before then, but Xavier helped her unlock her full potential with it. She learned to look at memories, instead of simply what someone was thinking in the moment. She learned to look through minds to find specific pieces of information she was looking for. She would always be grateful for what Xavier did for her.

What she didn't understand was why he couldn't agree with Magneto. If Rachel had her way, Xavier and Magneto would be a team. Xavier would train young mutants and provide a safe place for mutant children who were too young and/or unprepared to fight, and then they could join Magneto's team to fight for mutant rights.

She understood why it would be hard for Xavier. It was hard for telepaths to fight against something. They tended to be too sympathetic. He could see that the average human meant well and was just swept up in the hysteria surrounding mutants. Every mind a telepath reads shows a human being, not so different from you. A human being with a family, a past, a future, people they love, people who love them. From that point of view, it was hard to consider killing someone you didn't need to kill.

Rachel agreed with that point. She couldn't imagine killing someone without a good reason. The difference with Rachel was that she thought Magneto only killed those he needed to kill. Innocents getting caught in the crossfire was a necessary price to pay. She didn't relish the idea of innocents getting caught in the crossfire, but she thought it would be necessary. If they lived in a perfect world, Xavier's method of nonviolence would work. Well, if the world were perfect, there wouldn't even be an issue. People would see mutants as exactly what they were: slightly advanced people. Nothing more, nothing less. But if the world were better (still not perfect, but better) they wouldn't need to use violence. Homo sapiens might have their prejudices, but Xavier's method of nonviolence would work. But these weren't times when nonviolence was the answer. This was the time to get something done. Rachel wanted to protect her fellow mutants. She knew something bad would happen to mutants. There was already so much hatred against mutants. All it would take was a leader, a president or even a senator, to do some serious damage to mutants.

Rachel thought you had to be in serious denial to not see it. Every mutant she had met had some experience with anti-mutant hate. Not everyone had been kicked out of school or harassed by their town like she had, but there were also worse stories. At least her family still loved her. Not all mutants had that luxury. And that was something she couldn't sit idly by and allow to be a reality. You shouldn't have to wonder if your family would still love you if they knew you're a mutant. Kids shouldn't have to worry about whether or not they'll be abused, kicked out, or possibly even killed (it had happened to mutant children before) because of a mutation. The type of world Rachel wanted was one where everyone reacted the way her sister had: feeling happy for you if you told them you're a mutant. The world wasn't going to get that way overnight. She knew that. But it would never get that way if mutants didn't do something about it.