The cafeteria
Shortly after
Trask secured food and drink, then collapsed into a chair. Doubtless the Sentinel would act to prevent the others from entering; he would be on his own.
Was he wrong to cooperate, however reluctantly? He knew it would not kill him; he was, after all, purely human. It had no logical reason to kill him - and therefore he had better not give it one.
Mutants were still a problem...but so were the Sentinels. But it would be watching him for any sign of treachery.
And then a desperate strategy occurred to him.
Xavier was known, via Stryker, to possess some telepathic means of tracking mutants. But...could he track humans as well?
Could Trask think his way out of this situation?
The Sentinels could not, yet, detect thoughts; science still wasn't sure exactly what thoughts were. Could he somehow contact Xavier, even at this distance? What, precisely, was the range of a thought?
It was worth a try.
Professor Xavier, can you hear me? I regret my situation is somewhat desperate and out of my control. The Sentinel is proceeding entirely independently of myself, requiring an upgrade. I have bought some time by requesting refreshment and a break. But I have no more than an hour. I...may have been wrong.
Xavier's School for Gifted Children
At the same time
At that moment Xavier was debating what to do next, with his X-Men. Logan suggested, "Use Cerebro to track Trask."
"He may have taken that possibility into account," Xavier shook his head. "Doubtless he has shielding; I will be unable to find him."
Logan sighed in exasperation. "Y'know, tech ain't all it's cracked up to be. If you can't track him, then find him indirectly - he said himself he ain't the only member of his team. So find someone else, they might know where the facility is. An' he might not have thought to shield them."
Ian chuckled. "I thought I was the genius here. Nice one, Logan."
Xavier's eyebrow rose. "Hmm. I confess even I had not thought of that. I -"
He broke off with a look of astonishment. Of all the people...!
"I don't believe it," he breathed. "I must go to Cerebro at once!"
Cerebro
Shortly after
Xavier soon established a link between his own mind and those of ordinary humans. So many of them...but...
Yes. There.
Professor, I repeat: can you hear me? I don't have much time.
Well, well, Xavier remarked mildly. Dr. Trask, no less. What can I do for you?
You can prove your lofty principles, put aside our enmity for the moment and help me, Trask retorted. My situation is bleak.
Your situation, Xavier pointed out, is at least partly of your own creation. And I do not necessarily regard you as an enemy. You are misguided, nothing more. You admire mutants for what we can do. You understand us. You do not fear us. Why, then, do you seek to destroy us?
I had thought you intended to supplant us, as my species did to the Neanderthal.
Current evidence suggests that my original Oxford thesis was incorrect, Xavier admitted. The two species may in fact have interbred. It did result in our dominance, but that may have been an unintended side-effect. We do not intend to dominate you. We ask only that for the first time, Mankind must find in itself the capacity to share the world. But I suspect this is currently irrelevant to you. May I read your mind? If would be quicker than your telling me. He mentally chuckled. I give you my word that I shall not subvert you in any way.
Very well, but please hurry.
Xavier soon learned of the Sentinels' logical rebellion, and that 01 required an upgrade. He also learned there was very little time.
Dr. Trask, I suggest you continue to do 01's bidding, but not necessarily as rapidly as before. Should it query this, plead increasing fatigue. It will harbour the AI equivalent of contempt, thus underestimating you. Meanwhile my X-Men will mount a rescue - and, sir, you must not object to the total destruction of the Sentinels. I reiterate that they are not needed. Again, perhaps you and I cannot live together. But the next generation shall succeed where we have failed. My school offers proof of this. I invite you again to visit.
I can bluff it, but only briefly. I strongly advise you to hurry -
The Sentinel entered the cafeteria. ALLOTTED TIME HAS EXPIRED. RETURN TO WORK.
"Very well," Trask conceded, and rose.
He could only hope the X-Men would arrive soon.
Xavier's Study
"You have got to be kidding."
For once Xavier was actually angered by Logan's attitude. "I have said all along that we need not be enemies - and this is the ideal chance to prove it, by rescuing the very man who would see us exterminated! We can only win from this, Logan! The Sentinels will be destroyed once and for all, and no new ones will be built! The President will almost certainly pass legislation to that effect! We shall, finally, have peace!"
Logan shook his head, incredulous. "Damn...you really are a peacenik, ain't you?"
Xavier turned gentle, his anger fading. "You of all people should be against war, Logan. You have fought in too many of them."
"Whether we like it or not, an' some of us don't, it's the way we are, Charles."
"Perhaps it is. But need it always be so? Perhaps not." His voice turned low and soft. "Perhaps we can change. This is our chance to do so, Logan. Do you see that, my friend?"
"Shades of Star Trek," Alison quietly observed.
"And you have long been a fan, I know. But Gene Roddenberry had a point. If we are ever to master the stars, first we must master ourselves. Let it begin here, now, with us...and with Trask."
"Do you have the coordinates?" Scott asked, and Xavier nodded, passing them to Scott. "Okay. X-Men, suit up!"
Classified Military Facility
Soon after
They soon arrived, to be confronted in a narrow corridor by a large, forbidding door. Alison winced as she felt the damping field. "I can't sense anything. They might be in there...but I can't tell. Can't pick up Trask, either."
"Alright, stand back," Cyclops decided, "I'll make short work of -"
"No, Scott!" Andrea warned. "The metal's reflective - your beam will just bounce off." She sighed. "For some reason I can't use my telekinesis, either - probably the damping field."
"I assume a telepath won't help, the field notwithstanding," Alison observed. "This is a physical problem."
"Nor can I," Kurt sighed, "if I cannot see vhere I am going. Doubtless zer Sentinels know zis."
"Then perhaps the power of Nature might help," Storm suggested. But it was Ian who shook his head.
"Won't work. Lightning will be conducted away, and in this confined space, any wind powerful enough to take out the door will do for us, too. The combination's too complex even for me to crack in a hurry - seems to be a fractal encryption code. Whoever made it - Sentinel 01, probably - knew about us, I think. Well, most of us. There is a solution, though."
The last member of their team growled, "You got any technical advice, bub?"
"Oh, yeah," Ian drawled, "very technical, most complex and highly specific." He indicated the door with a jerk of his head. "Give it all ya got."
The claws flashed out. Wolverine snarled in approval, "Now you're talkin' my language." With that, he began attacking the door.
As he worked rapidly, Ian mused, "I've always advocated brain over brawn. But when it comes down to it, what do we do?"
The door soon gave way to slashes from adamantium blades and a kick, and fell in with a THOOM. Wolverine nodded in satisfaction, growling, "Same as always: we do what works."
Ian sighed. "Utterly uncivilised, primitive and barbaric as always. Yet his logic is impeccable. Infuriating, isn't it?"
Andrea just chuckled, as did Alison. That's Logan to a T, bless him.
Cautiously they entered. Sentinels appeared, firing, but Andrea found she had enough power to throw up a telekinetic shield despite the damping field. It was selectively filtered, however...while it stopped Sentinel fire, Cyclops' force beam passed through just fine. One Sentinel, then another, was trashed. A third was transfixed by Logan as he jabbed his claws through it. Kurt vanished, appearing on the back of a fourth, and ripped at its wiring. It proved unable to dislodge him before expiring. Then he found and disabled the damping field generator. "Got it! Zer field should be down now!"
Nor did Andrea's field stop Storm's lightning bolts; billions of watts of electrical power, fuelled by Nature, entered and destroyed critical systems. Then Andrea herself took a hand, yelling with joy as she unleashed the full power of her telekinesis. She'd never felt so charged as she now did, exulting in her sheer, raw power, rivalling even that of the former Phoenix. Andrea was almost in a state of sexual ecstasy, thoroughly enjoying herself as she never had before.
01 noted that even its new forces were being annihilated. It deduced: TRASK, BOLIVAR - THE SENTINELS ARE STILL INADEQUATE. LOGIC SUGGESTS YOU HAVE SOMEHOW INTERFERED. The X-Men were still destroying Sentinels, the confined space acting in their favour; as each Sentinel in line advanced, they engaged and destroyed it.
"No!" Trask protested. "I did everything you demanded -"
It interrupted: ILLOGICAL - SENTINELS ARE STILL FAILING! THEREFORE THIS UNIT WILL DESTROY YOU!
The Sentinel never realised it had advanced further than any previous AI, or that its reasoning was as human as it was illogical. Nor, in its analogue of rage, did it much care. As the penultimate Sentinel fell, 01 took aim at Trask. But before it could fire Alison divined its intent of revenge and cried, "No!"
She dived forward and was in its line of fire when it blazed away. The bullets entered and ruined her body. As Trask watched, horrified, she jerked and fell, blood spraying. Logan roared and skewered the last Sentinel. It squawked, sparked and expired, its AI finally giving up the ghost. But Logan, still roaring in a berserker rage, kept at it until it was in pieces.
Kurt caught his arm. "Mein Freund -"
Wolverine whirled, snarling, and just barely refrained from slashing at him.
"It is over, Mein Freund. It is over." Somehow he reached Logan through the latter's rage...and grief.
As Alison lay dying, Trask made his way over to where she lay. There was blood everywhere.
Human blood, he realised now, with a shock. Being of dwarfish stature, he had never fought in Vietnam or any other war. The only blood he had seen until now was that of James Grant and Dean Williams. But her blood, he saw, looked exactly the same as theirs had.
But then, what colour had he been expecting? Green?
Bewildered, uncomprehending, he whispered, "Why? You could and should have let me die. I am human, the ostensible enemy."
With blood on her lips, she tried to smile. "That was...our point. You're not...our enemy. We don't hate you. We...never...did."
Trask looked up, desperate. "Can you help her?"
But Logan had seen too many dying people not to recognise the signs. She'd lost too much blood, she was sweating and her eyes were too bright.
He was gonna lose her.
As he'd lost Kayla, an' Jean.
No doubt a lot of people would say at her funeral that she'd died bravely, selflessly. All true.
But she'd still be dead.
"We'd have to get her to a hospital, or the Institute," Logan answered quietly. "There's no time."
"I can take her -" Kurt protested.
But Alison whispered, "Sorry, Kurt, but...I'd never survive the...trip. Teleporting...would be...too much...stress. Trust a doctor...to know...she's...dying." Her eyes briefly cleared. "Sherry...please be there for her. She'll...need you."
"I will," he swore, and bent to kiss her one last time.
She gulped and faltered, "Logan...I...I..."
"Hush, darlin'," Logan whispered gently, his voice full of pain not even his healing factor could cope with. Andrea, too, was crying.
But there was something Alison knew she had to get out. Over the time they'd known each other, she had at first feared him and, as was typical for her, had been attracted to him as a result. As Charles had said, however, there was much more to Logan than the berserker beast. Gradually she had come to see this for herself.
Now she knew why she got wet even though she wasn't scared. He'd won her over.
Logan was the first man since John ever to win her heart. With her dying breath she tried to tell him.
Her last whisper was inaudible even to him. But he was sure she'd said, "I love you."
He gently closed her eyes. "Love you, too," he murmured, then screamed, as he had when he found Kayla apparently dead, and when he'd killed Jean to fulfil her desperate plea. Then he rose, and walked to Trask past a sobbing Andrea.
"I do not expect you to believe this," Trask murmured, "but I am truly sorry. She saved my life, at the cost of her own. I...was mistaken about mutants all along, I see that now. She died for her beliefs."
"Hey. ‛She' had a name. Alison." He popped his claws; Trask eyed them uneasily, but he would not even attempt to resist should Logan use them on him. "I should kill you. But...she wouldn't. I'll let you live with your screwup. For Alison." The claws retracted.
"This is not the first time you have lost someone," Trask observed.
"No. An' it never gets easier."
"Nor should it. Death is always a tragedy." Professor? I believe I will accept your invitation after all. I realise this is hardly the best time.
Xavier's Study
No, Xavier thought as tears rolled down his cheeks, it is not. But do you see now the futility of our enmity?
I am beginning to, Trask admitted. May I speak at her funeral? I owe her my life. I should pay tribute.
Very well. I must break the news to the Institute.
Classified Military Facility
Gently Logan picked Alison up, not that gentleness mattered to the dead. "Let's get her back to the Institute. Andrea, can you fly us?"
"Sure," she answered brokenly.
When they got back, Logan carried her body to the dug grave. Sherry looked stunned, frozen. The students were in tears. Xavier pleaded wordlessly with Logan, who allowed him to caress her hair and cheek.
Once she was buried, Xavier addressed them. "Alison was known as a Star Trek fan. But in fact I discovered that she was also a fan of Honor Harrington. A race of people, the Graysons, had a funeral rite where everyone who knew and loved the deceased would remember an occasion with them. They were often happy, sometimes not. But I felt it would be a lovely tribute, and so I invite you all to speak."
"I remember," Sherry began, in tears. "I remember when she asked me to stand jigger for her while Steven Jameson screwed her; I thought she was losing her virginity, and so did he. I say ‛losing', more like she was happily giving it away." Somehow she smiled. "She was 17, and a randy bitch even then. But she was a randy bitch on her own terms. I loved her, and she loved me. I'll miss her so much."
Surprisingly, Logan spoke. "I remember. I remember when I first met her. She was scared shitless when I popped my claws, but she had a funny flaw: anythin' that scared her attracted her, too. She smelled really good. I fucked her that same day. She was insatiable. She really liked the beast in me. I'll miss her."
The students all shared memories of her. Then Trask spoke. "I didn't know her. When we met, we were ostensibly enemies - mutants and humans. Yet she never saw us as enemies. I only truly understood that when she took bullets meant for me. I wish now that I had known her. She sounds as if she was a fun person to know." He looked sad. "In truth I have known little fun in my time; I have always been dedicated to my work. But I promise that will change. Alison deserves no less. Thank you, Alison, for my life."
Outside, two Secret Service agents arrived, with a warrant for Trask's arrest. He was charged with the violation of U.S. citizens' rights, i.e. mutants, and with attempted murder of same. There was also mention of a Congressional committee to discuss the Sentinels - with a view towards banning them. Trask did not protest in the slightest. He testified willingly, but his final sentence - life meaning life - was not mitigated. Again, he did not protest.
The facility was destroyed by none other than Sherry, who coldly requested to activate the explosive charges. The request was granted; the President knew via Hank that the two had loved each other. For you, darling, she thought, and mashed the button. The destruction was complete.
Legislation was brought in to dispel prejudice against mutants, ratified by the UN. The Sentinels became nothing more than an historical footnote. Students at the Xavier Institute and the new Alison McEwan Academy for Young Mutants were taught about them. One Sentinel mockup was built to depict them.
Xavier's School for Gifted Children
A week after the Alison McEwan Academy is opened
"I hate to say ‛I told you so', Erik, but -"
"- but you did," Erik chuckled. "I never thought I would see the day your dream would be achieved. I hadn't thought it possible. But now...we have, finally, been accepted. A mutant has recently publically married a human, and is happily pregnant with his child. Even regular schools are accepting mutant students and even teachers in their midst. Ororo has found a new career bringing storms and water to drought-plagued regions, and sunny skies to wet ones. The war I long feared has been averted, Charles. In another generation it will be unthinkable."
"And in another, both sides, if that is the right word, will forget that there was ever even the prospect of war. By accepting that we are just as human, it has been defused. Mystique has found happiness with an artist, of all people. He insists, as you once did, that her natural form is by far her most beautiful. He even drew her once as pregnant, and called it ‛Future's Hope'. It sold for nearly six million Euros, to a human collector."
"Hence her new ski lodge in Switzerland," Erik smiled. "What of Logan?"
"Oh, he found a way to have the adamantium removed, and then he accepted the treatment. He is now ageing slowly yet normally, and is quite sanguine about the prospect of his eventual death. ‛Just call me the Bicentennial Man', he once quipped. He has left his old life behind, and in fact he has found a young lady who is related both to Kayla and to Alison; she is a redhead, yet she resembles both. Apparently Karen has a wicked wit."
A group of children ran past, playing catch. They didn't seem disconcerted in the least that one had four arms and was throwing and catching four balls at once, or that another had green skin and eyes like a gecko (she could climb walls like a gecko, too). The other kids were pure human, but that didn't matter to them.
One mutant with two heads, Tina/Terry Jones, was making a fortune as a one-woman double act. She wasn't/they weren't a conjoined twin; she really had two heads on one body. Tina was brunette, Terry blonde. Tina was the ‛straight man', while Terry was the comic. They often held friendly debates, on opposite sides. Her/their husband Andrew laughed, "It's fun kissing two different people who are also one person!"
She/they briefly had trouble with her/their passport, before the Supreme Court ruled that she/they could carry two passports, one in each name and depicting each head. Once she was/they were playing golf, and a fellow player asked about her/their handicap. Taking a leaf out of Sammy Davis Junior's book, she/they answered, "I'm a single woman with two heads - what's yours?" A Hitch-Hiker's Guide fan suggested she/they play a female version of Zaphod Beeblebrox IV; she/they laughed and did just that. Zaphine Beeblebrox proved to be very popular - and cheaper than CGI.
Somewhere else
At the time of Alison's funeral
Am I dead? I seem to be. I'd better be, she giggled, they're burying me!
That's a complex question, and it depends on how you define death. For me the definition is mutable. But you died so bravely I thought you deserved a chance to see this. Beautiful, isn't it? They all miss you. I remember I had a funeral like this.
Who...are you?
My, you are one for the good but complex questions, aren't you? I am - or I was - Jean Grey. Hello, Alison. It's nice to meet you.
So you're Jean. Logan dreams about you.
I know. She chuckled. In his dreams I'm always naked. Not that he ever saw me naked, but he has a surprisingly vivid imagination when it comes to women. I like it. I tend to have 36Cs. He thinks they suit me better. Maybe he's right.
He's a terrific fuck.
Jean chuckled again. I don't doubt it. Did you love him?
I...I was starting to. I...think I did, at the end. I tried to tell him. I hope I did.
Trust me, you did, Jean told her gently. He loved you, too, as he did Kayla...and me.
He's a good man. However much he tries to portray the bad guy.
He used to do awful things as part of Stryker's team. But he moved past that. He's done more good than bad. He even secured justice for a grizzly bear once.
Will he dream about me?
Yes. You made some strong memories with him. You're a dirty bitch, aren't you?
And proud of it!
I never said you shouldn't be, Alison. June, your mother, was, too. That's how she got you. In a way you were part of her therapy after she was raped. He got justice, too - he tried to rape a lesbian, but she was more angry than horrified; she took his balls off and laughed as he died.
Mmm, I tried to do that. Alison hesitated. So...what happens now?
That's entirely up to you. Come with me to the White Hot Room, or to Eternity. Or...you can pass on, as most humans and mutants do.
Alison sighed. Death is a natural part of life. I gave my life willingly. So...I think I'll pass on. Unless I can go back.
Sorry, but that's the one option you can't choose. But aside from that, it's your choice.
I'm dead. I should stay that way. It's only right.
As you choose, Alison. Best wishes.
Do you do this for everyone who dies?
Yes.
Oh. If Logan's time ever comes, will you give him the same choice?
It will come.
Then...could I stick around until he gets here?
Jean laughed. Haven't finished fucking him, eh? Time has no meaning here, Alison. You can stay for what humans call a day, a week, a million years...or the blink of an eye. In Eternity it's all the same.
I'm not sure I understand.
That's okay. I used to be human - well, a mutant - and I'm not sure I do either. But I do know it doesn't really matter.
I'll wait for him, then.
Okay. A game while you wait? Sudoku in eight dimensions?
That'd be more in Ian's line. Now Alison chuckled. How about Texas Hold 'Em?
The redhead spirit laughed again. One-eyed jacks and the Two of Hearts are wild!
Several years later (in our time, at least)
After Logan's heroic death saving X-23 and the other mutants, in a parallel timeline
Told you so, Jean quipped.
What -? JEAN?!
Yes. Selfless and worthwhile, as I said.
And you're a good man, as I always said, Alison put in. Jean, mind if we fuck?
Not in the least. We're all adults. Don't be embarrassed, Logan.
Kinda late for that, seein' as I'm naked. Alison? The hell are you doin' here? Wherever the hell we are?
Waiting for you, hunk. Let's do it!
They did. Whether this was for an instant, an aeon or for eternity is up for debate.
Not that it matters. For them, it was long enough.
THE END
Mutation: it is the key to our evolution.
It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet.
This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years.
But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.
- Professor Charles Xavier
AFTERWORD:
I don't normally do this, but I felt I had to. With the exception of UFO: Practice To Deceive, my fics normally have a happy ending, or at least not a sad one. So I felt it was time. I had intended at first to kill Sherry, but it seemed more poignant to have a mutant die. As Logan and Emma said, mutants eat, drink, sleep, pee and have sex as humans do.
I wanted to show that they die just the same, too.
Hence my taking the axe to Alison. But I did at least give her an afterlife of sorts.