driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Charles Xavier + You
Broadcast: Video
Action: SS Heron
When: Right now!

[ The video starts with Charles sitting on his wheelchair, his hands neatly folded on his lap. He rubs faint circles on his legs for a few seconds, the only real sign of tension. ]

Hello. My names is Charles Xavier. I am a geneticist graduated from Oxford. I -- [ ran ] -- run a school in Westchester for the Gifted. Mutants. People with abilities. My focus is the training and control of abilities we do not always fully understand, abilities that are gifts but can often run amok.

[ He pauses, catching his second wind before continuing on, poised. ]

I am also a telepath with a full set of abilities in aiding the mind and extremely . . . proficient. I do not read minds without permission, because honestly, I really don't care.

[ Charles pauses again, wondering if he should say more and dismisses it. People can ask him if they need details - which they will. ]

If anyone would like to make use of my abilities and skills, they are certainly most welcome to. Confidentiality, of course, is key and you need not make anything public if you do not wish to. If you have any questions for me, the floor is open for you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ew. Vash really doesn't like learning about himself. Usually he finds something he doesn't like.]

So, sounds like you haven't come across an ability someone couldn't eventually control then.

[It at least sounds hopeful to him for the abilities that show up in Charles's world.]

For the most part.

[ Give it ten years and Scott Summers to appear. ]

Many abilities are destructive. Unstable. I don't like the idea of children being forced to hate themselves over something they can't control.

Yeah. Even accidents can have lasting consequences. Nightmares that should never haunt kids.

[He would never wish what he had done on a child. He hadn't even considered it before now as he and only one other person on his plant could do what they do.]

I'm glad then, that you have found a way to help them.

Of course.

And do you need any help?

[He really should have known that question would eventually come. He's still quiet for a few moments. If this had been his world he would have probably not even spoken up.]

I-- I don't know. My, ah, ability, I don't know of any safe way to learn to control it. [But there must be. Isn't there? Knives seemed to have some sort of control and half the planet wasn't missing. Then again, Knives wouldn't have cared if anyone got hurt in the process.]

Do you want that to be a fact, though?

Doesn't it get tiring to see yourself as a danger to others?

[Yes.] Have you ever run into an ability that can easily destroy a moon before? [Because unless the answer is yes, Vash isn't sure he'll want to try.]

[ He smiles faintly. ]

I know a man who could control metal. Any kind of metal. Can you imagine what he could do to the Fleet? To weapons?

As for me, I'm extremely destructive and powerful. I can read minds. I can control them. With the right tools, I could control an entire planet.

Does that make me a horrible person?

No, but you still need the right tools, right? While you were learning your control, if you made a small mistake could it have ended a whole city in an instant? [Not that he's trying to belittle anything Charles is saying. He just can't let what happened to the city of July to happen again. To have control would mean he could do that. Know for sure it would never happen again, but it wouldn't be worth it if the learning did more damage.]

[ Bluntly. ] Probably. My range is 250 miles. I could make people stop breathing. I could wipe out their personalities, their memories, their essence.

[ These were things Charles rarely voiced. People got scared of him. Then the rumours would start. He could be destroying his tentative trust with the Fleet right now.

But someone needed this. ]

I knew a boy who could shoot beams from his chest and raze entire fields. He would lock himself up in a room. But he learned.

And so can you.

I-- I don't know. [He didn't think of controlling mind as doing something like that.] I mean, I've only even managed to use my ability when I had a tool and someone else triggered it. That tool and those people aren't here.

[But he knows it's still there. Deep down the ability to destroy (and to create if he only knew) is still in him.]

Then perhaps I can make sure you don't lose control.

Wh-How?

[ Charles gives him an exasperated look. ]

I did say I can control minds, correct? So I should be able to control your ability at will.

Oh. Yeah. Hah, sorry, I've not had a lot of experience with mind control before. [Body control, yes, and never one offering to help.]

That's normal. But tapping and controlling your ability before it gets out of hand should be possible.

If it ever comes to it and things are out of control it probably wouldn't hurt. Just be careful. The last person who tried to control my ability ended up losing control and got hurt.

[Okay, partly due to Vash shooting him, but still...he started it and wouldn't have been shot if he hadn't lost control.]

I'm usually quite good, if it helps.

I just don't want anyone getting hurt. [Again.]

[ Charles looks at him quietly. ]

Getting yourself hurt should be counted as well.

Well, yes, I'd rather not get hurt, but if it was a choice between getting hurt and keeping someone else safe it will never be a hard choice to me.

That's not what I meant. There's more to hurt than simply the physical wounds and regrets.

It's the guilt you have to keep holding on, and the fact that you can't let it go.

Who are you protecting with that choice?

Everyone. As long as I don't forget what happened in the past then it will help me learn my limits. [And guts to break his usual silence to speak about himself.]

No. You're protecting yourself. You don't want to feel that pain again.

But you also owe to the people you've hurt to learn from it. So it can never be out of control. What if something comes along and makes you lose it? Do you trust yourself enough to say it'll never happen?

No.

Not at home. [Here without his brother and his 'friend' around is a different story.]

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