Chapter 19 – To Plan and to Plot
"Now Ms Pryde, you really should rest," the Professor began, but Kitty waved aside his concerns with her hand, and indicated the television screen once more.
"I'm fine," she said, "I keep telling everyone that I'm fine now. We have to concentrate on defeating that robot, and I think I might be the only one who can do that."
"I think the Professor is right," Kurt began uncertainly, "I don't know exactly what happened earlier, but you were unconscious for quite a while, I really think that you should rest."
"And how exactly can I rest when I know that there is a giant robot out there, which might get free at any moment?" Kitty asked. She sighed slightly, "Look, I know that you are all concerned about me, which is really sweet, I do appreciate it, I really do. But the doctors and nurses and other staff have been looking after me really well here, and even they say that they are only keeping me in here over-night just to make sure."
"If they believe that you should be kept in over-night, even if it is just a precautionary measure, then I would listen to their professional judgement, if I were you," said the Professor calmly, "however, I must admit to being curious as to what you think should be done in order to stop that robot. Perhaps you would be prepared to enlighten us, Ms. Pryde?"
"It's really quite simple," Kitty began, "see that robot over there?" she pointed at the television screen.
"Indeed," replied the Professor, giving her a small smile, "it is, I believe we will all agree, rather difficult to miss."
"Well, I've been watching it for a while now," she gave the Professor a small smile, "I've had little else to do, having been kept here in this bed with the doctors and nurses fussing over me every hour or so. Anyway, I think I know how that robot works. If you look at the head, at those glowing eyes, you can just about see inside the mechanism of that machine. Its central processor appears to be in its head."
"Central processor?" asked Kurt.
Kitty shrugged, "Think of it as the mechanical, artificial intelligence equivalent of its brain," she said, "because that's essentially what it is. Stop that thing from working, and you can stop the whole robot."
"I have no doubt that you are correct in your assessment, Ms. Pride," Professor Xavier said, "however, knowing the theory of how something works, and by extension how to stop it from doing so, is a very different matter from actually being able to stop something from working in the real world."
"Yes," Kitty began, "but it's a pretty good start. You could spend hours trying to destroy that thing, but unless you go for the central processing unit, you will only be making superficial damages."
"But what do you think can be done to damage this central processing unit?" Kurt asked, "I've examined the robot that that thing was based on, and believe me, it's pretty tough."
"So don't waste time chipping away at its covering," said Kitty, giving him a small smile, "go inside the central processing unit, move a few wires around, and that thing will stop. The best part about that is, it won't be obvious what we have done, and therefore we will leave the HDL scratching their heads in confusion."
"But how do you actually damage the central processing unit? I mean, what do you intend to do, how do you intend to reach these wires?" Kurt persisted.
Kitty grinned at him, "That's where my mutant power comes into play," she said, "I just have to phase my arm inside that machine, unphase my fingers when they are inside the central processing unit, move a few wires around inside it, and then we have one non-working robot."
"You can do that?" asked Kurt uncertainly, "you can have part of your body phased and another part unphased?"
Kitty grinned at him, "Part of being an X-Man," she began, "is learning to push the limits of your mutant power, to experiment, to learn. So that you don't get any unpleasant surprises when, for example, you try to teleport someone, and they end up unconscious because of it."
Kurt sighed, "Point taken," he said.
"Regardless of what you eventually intend to do," said Professor Xavier, "For the moment, I would advise relaxing, at least for today. The doctors have ordered you to rest, and I respect their judgement on this matter. Besides, the HDL and their giant robot will still be there tomorrow."
"Oh, all right," said Kitty, folding her arms, "but I still think that you are all worrying needlessly."
They watched the television screen in silence for a long moment. "What I don't understand," said Kurt eventually, not taking his eyes away from the screen, "is why the HDL hate us so much. I thought they just wanted us to get registered, I didn't think they wanted a robot to go on the rampage exterminating us!"
Professor Xavier sighed, "I have to admit, I am partly responsible for that," he said, "I have met up with their representatives, to discuss any compromise that could be reached, to try and reach some common ground. Ironically, initially the Human Defense League and the X-Men essentially wanted the same thing, although they were approaching this from opposite sides. We both wanted mutants' abilities to be controlled, developed, so that mutants would not be a danger to innocent people. Yet it remains a sad fact that the HDL did have a valid point, at least initially. They claimed that mutants were a danger, that their powers needed to be registered, and controlled in some way, so that innocent people would not be harmed by these powers. Yet, despite our shared goals, we disagreed about how those goals should be reached. The HDL wanted all of those with mutant powers to be registered, but I told them that that would not be practical. There are maybe half a billion mutants in the world; the legislation alone with getting that many mutants registered would be administratively a huge challenge, without even considering the many and various ethical issues involved. After all, forcing mutants to register their powers, when they have otherwise lived exemplary lives, seemed fundamentally unfair, especially if this involved making the mutant a criminal if their only crime was failing to register. Then there are mutants whose powers have only just manifested; how soon after this manifestation did they expect them to register, taking into account that the initial manifestation of a mutant's power can be an exceptionally stressful time, especially as this normally coincides with puberty, a stressful enough time for the young mutant, without the additional worry of having to see about registering that power. Also, there are ethical issues about forcing a mutant to be publically declared as such, since there is, sadly, still a degree of stigmatisation involved in being recognised as a mutant in society, and therefore potentially negative social consequences when previously invisible mutant abilities are revealed for all to see. There are also an admittedly small number of mutants who do not even realise that they are mutants, their powers only being activated when they are, for example, asleep. How would registration work with these mutants? And there are tribes that have little contact with the rest of society, who are mistrustful of those outside of their tribes; how could we expect mutants from these tribes to be willing to go along with our procedures?"
Professor Xavier sighed, "This is, I am sad to say, only touching the very surface of the issues involved with mutant registration. For example, last week I met with a Native American tribe, and told them that there were groups that feel that mutants from their tribe should be registered, in order to promote good will between our communities. The representative of their tribe gave me a very long look, and then told me that his tribe had always respected the mutants born into his tribe, felt that they were in spirit much like the Two-Spirit people of his tribe. Then he said that the white man had come to his land, had stolen this from him, had slaughtered his people, forced his tribe onto a reservation, had completely destroyed his way of life. Then he stared at me for another long moment, and asked, very quietly, why in the world he would want to promote good will and fellow feelings between our two communities after having endured all of that," Professor Xavier sighed again, "I have to admit, he did have a very valid point."
"So what did you do then?" asked Kurt.
Professor Xavier sighed once more, "I told him that I could see his point of view, and asked him to reconsider, but I doubt very much that he will do so. Then I returned to the HDL, told them what I have told you, and tried to reach some kind of compromise. I suggested that there should be an entirely voluntary registration that mutants could agree to sign to promote good will between our communities, although there would be no way in which a mutant could be forced to sign this if they chose not to. Of course, the HDL claimed that that was not sufficient, that there would still be mutants who would be a danger to them. I pointed out that the mutants who were likely to be a danger to them were the same mutants who were unlikely to agree to sign this anyway, since criminals are, let us remember, noted for their tendency not to obey the rules, so an obligatory registration would do little or nothing to stop these minority of mutants from abusing their powers. I pointed out to them that all this registration would really achieve would be providing the relevant information if a previously law-abiding mutant were to go rogue, so that we would be able take measures to stop him or her, and there would be little difference in this case whether the registration was obligatory or voluntary. After a long, and I have to admit, decidedly heated conversation, they eventually agreed that I was correct, and that the mutant registration requirement would in and of itself be insufficient to prevent mutants from being a danger to those who lack mutant abilities." The Professor shook his head, "Of course, I was well aware that they would not accept defeat that easily, fanatics never do. That is where young Oliver McCann and the other spies for our cause come into play, as they were involved in trying to find out what the HDL were planning. Of course, there were spies for the HDL as well, there has been a lot of espionage, sneaking around, trying to access covert information, bluffing and double bluffing involved. At least one good thing can be said about that giant robot rampaging the city, which is that their plans are out in the open now, we know what they are planning, and can therefore make our own plans to defend ourselves."
"And that's where I come in," said Kitty, "I'm sure Oliver and all of those other spies are really good at what they do, and are really useful in getting information, but I'm also fairly certain that I'm the only one that can stop that robot, and I'm sure that that is the next stage of our plan."
"Not until tomorrow," Kurt said, "remember that the doctor's want to keep you in over-night."
"Oh very well," said Kitty, "but as soon as I'm let out of here, I'm going to stop that thing, before anyone else has to get hurt."