7585/A Little Fresh Air

A Little Fresh Air
Date of Scene:	22 May 2019
Location:	Backyard - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Beast frees Xavier from the wellness center for a turn about the grounds. They discuss the future of the X-Men's vision of human and mutant integration.
Cast of Characters:	Beast, Professor X

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Beast has posed:
It's a bright and beautiful day in Westchester and for the first time since the shooting, Xavier's jailer, ahem, doctor, has allowed him outside for a bit of air. That selfsame doctor coming with him to enjoy the day as well.

"Ahhh, my mother always said sunshine was the best medicine," Hank remarks with a broad grin on his blue face. "Of course she didn't have degrees in biology and medicine, but it sounds nice," he remarks with a warm chuckle. "And it can't hurt the spirit!"

He stretches then, looking skyward, and breathing in the fresh spring air. "Goodness knows I needed some time outside. Tending to your wound has been about the only break I've had in trying to counter those power inhibitors."

Professor X has posed:
"A bit of physician heal thyself?" Xavier teases with a chuckle. "The sun is lovely, though. My overprotective physician has kept me indoors all this time. Imagine!"

Charles waves to a trio of students sitting on the grass between beds of rosebushes, carefully cooperating to levitate a hose, watering can and pair of clippers to tend the plants.

"Have you made any progress on the inhibitors?"

Beast has posed:
"Something like that," Hank smiles, waving a blue and furry hand at the students himself, taking a moment to turn and show off the t-shirt he's wearing declaring: Science is like cooking (just don't lick the spoon). Mouthing thank you to one of the students, causing the hose to shudder in midair before righting again.

"Shiela got it for me on her trip to the Smithsonian," he explains about the shirt. "Always a challenge to find them in my size, but thank goodness for America's fixation on fast food!" ensuring there were at least some 5x and 6x shirts to be found in the world that could fit over Hank's odd frame.

"And yes, you're doctor is a horrible tyrant, and that blue fur! I am certain it's a violation of several medical protocols!" he chuckles.

His mood dampens slightly at the mention of the anti-inhibitors, "Slowly, power inhibition is a tricky science to begin with, after all there are myriad princples at play behind each power, countering them is do able but slow, I've two working units and I'm trying to build more. I may have to go so far to enlist Mr. Quire's help. Despite his somewhat abrasive personality, his ability to multi-task and assemble things through telekenesis would speed up the process."

Also he'd be one of the few on campus that would understand how the damn things worked.

Professor X has posed:
"Any positive engagement with him would be appreciated," Charles says with feeling. "Perhaps somewhere along the way he will understand he has a real stake in all of this. You heard about his action during the attack? He did very well, very well. So much potential," Charles adds with a slight shake of the head.

"I can imagine those devices are very difficult to replicate. Tell me, what do you think of them?"

Beast has posed:
"Indeed, he did very well I'm told," Hank agrees of the young Mr. Quire. "Though his attitude..." he sighs as every member of staff has done about Quentin at one time or another. "Leaves much to be desired. Stll, I'll tap him for this task because he's needed, though I'll have to have Jean block that from my mind before I speak with Quentin, if he knew we actually needed him he'd be impossible to live with!" he jokes but only slightly.

"The inhibitors or the anti-inhibitors?" Hank asks the professor. "The anti-inhibitors are a necessary counter to a very dangerous weapon," he says. "If frustratingly hard to build. The inhibitors... are a double-edged sword, on one hand devices like those are a boon to people like Rogue, who's powers provide a real hinderance to their daily lives and who ought to be able to enjoy a break from it from time to time. On the other, they're a dangerous weapon, which can leave the best of us vulnerable and violated. They also put us in an arms race of sorts, they figure out how to inhibit our powers, we figure out how to block them, they figure out how to defeat the block... and on and on it goes."

Hank sounds tired at the thought. "Honestly, I wish the things had never been invented," he says.

Professor X has posed:
Charles drums the fingers of his right on hand on the armrest of his chair. He is quiet for a moment.

"What if... What if we /shouldn't/ be having this arms race?" Charles asks and holds up a hand to forestall any objections for just a moment.

"We preach integration and acceptance, and that mutants should be welcomed in society. And we of course take our stand against mutants who threaten society. But yet, we are fighting to keep ourselves unaccountable, unassailable. To have the right to act in place of government, police and law. Perhaps early on we argued with some reason that there was nobody else, but now... Even the Avengers have become responsible to the government, and through it to their fellow citizens."

Beast has posed:
"Ah," Hank says as Charles posits a very deep question.

Hank strokes his chin hair as the gears turn inside his head. "Eventually, that should be the goal, the X-Men taken public, or disbanded to have help other existing groups to defend the rights of all people, human and mutant alike, but I would posit, given the welcome given the Sentinels that now might not be the time. It might seem impiossible to imagine Senators Creed or Kelly in the White House today, but there are no shortage of scared and bigoted people who might vote for them if they thought they could sleep safely at night. We're not out of the woods yet, not when it comes to the hatred of our kind."

He pause to muse those dark things in this bright setting a moment.

"I would say, for now the arms race and X-Men are still needed. We are a product of the times we live in, but times will change, they must, and when they do the X-Men and our mission will change with them."

Professor X has posed:
Charles listens to his friend and nods thoughtfully. "I think we will be needed for some time, but consider the issue from their side, being charitable. Would anyone tolerate an armed group of such power on US soil carrying out law enforcement actions without government sanction? Wouldn't it be outrageous? Wouldn't it galvanize the country if that group was actively suppressing tools that could be used to police them, just as anyone else is policed? Not the Sentinels, but the inhibitors. Is it right to deny their use to police? Yes, they make us vulnerable, but everyone is vulnerable in a country where the government has the monopoly on force. The average citizen is vulnerable to gunfire after all, and we expect the police to carry guns for that reason" Charles muses.

"No, you are right that we are needed, but I fear we are stoking the flames, Hank. That times are changing and we are not moving with them. We should be opposing the Sentinels, but should we be proposing the hiring of mutants into major police forces and the creation of special units? Should we be encouraging the use of non-violent tools such as inhibitors for crime fighting?"

Beast has posed:
Hank takes a moment to consider Charles' words, finding a bench he drops his bulk down pensively. "Hmm put that way, inhibitors do become a much more tricky issue, on one hand it makes our people vulnerable and indeed, takes away something which many feel is part of their identity, but at the same time is the rest of mankind any less vulnerable to us? And are they not suffering some loss of idenity themselves, finding that humanity is not alone on this planet any longer."

Hank considers it a little further. "Part of me says stuff their fears, but the other more empathetic side can see where they're coming from, even if I do not agree with it. But you're right, we cannot claim a goal of integration if we hide away and refuse to integrate," he admits. "While I admit a visceral fear of the profliferation of broad spectrum inhibitors, goodness knows the collars have been misused enough, I do see the value of mutant police officers and using mutants to police mutant crimes. We should also consider expanding integration with other superpowered teams, let the people have mutant faces they associate with protection other than fear, and also, given we're almost an election year, it wouldn't hurt to have a few mutant politicians in office."

Professor X has posed:
Charles smiles at a very young, green-skinned boy who comes running over to show Hank his latest idea for an invention. The boy, Edwin, has very neatly sketched out a time-machine powered by dilithium crystals and also has lasers, in case bad guys try to stop the time machine. Edwin beams as he shows his latest creative work to Hank, then waves and takes off running back toward the house. Charles laughs.

"Dilithium? Do you have any?" he asks and nods. "I see the path you are sketching out. We need to be so much more engaged. Perhaps even television and social media stars. And I thought I was busy already! Do you have any thoughts about who we could push to run next year? A concerted effort and working with our allies could conceivably see some mutants on Democratic tickets. It will be a lot of work. And there will be significant pushback."

Beast has posed:
Hank positively beams at the drawing, taking the time to listen to how it 'works' and offers some sage advice, "Hmm, you might have better results if you ran the power from the dilithium crystals through a flux capacitor, and hmm, maybe stun beams instead of lasers?" he offers gently. "Just in case some is just curious and isn't there to steal it." He carries on like that for a few minutes more, promising to come find him later before the boy runs off.

Hank is still smiling when he turns back to Charles, "Fresh out I'm afraid," he says with a warm chuckle. "Though I admit I borrowed the concept in developing a crystaline reaction chamber for one of my devices," he says. "Star Trek was wonderfully inspirational."

"And yes, that's it exactly," he says of his vision of integration. "New media, will be very helpful, and it wouldn't require much effort from you professor, perhaps an AMA of your own? Some tweets, oh, and perhaps filmng and putting out some lectures on Youtube, framed so the students are out of the picture, for their privacy of course, after all it worked for Peterson's bad ideas, why not your good ones? The rest I would probably put in the hands of our students, Douglas for one, Kitty another. Quire's involvement is likely inevitable as it involves attention, but, I think it could be done."

"As for who I'd consign to a life of politics? Warren comes immediately to mind, his family name and money will carry some weight, I'd suggest Scott as well, but I think the gladhanding might just kill him... as for others, we'd have to do some looking, ideally we'd want them to be charismatic, responsible and strong enough to take the pressure of the job. Like Ocasio-Cortez but with an X-Gene. Oh, Kitty might also be an option."

A thought crosses his mind. "Actually, for that matter it might be worth checkig /if/ there are any mutants currently in office."

Professor X has posed:
Charles chuckles at the mention of Star Trek being inspirational. "Wasn't it?" he agrees.

"New methods for a new generation. Ah, but it makes me feel old, my friend."

Charles steeples his fingers as he looks into the distance. "You're right about Warren, of course. It helps that he is so public, already. Perhaps Roberto would be one to groom for local politics. He has the background and the personality. And Douglas," he agrees with a nod and sighs. "Kitty? Do you think so? It is hard for me to see her for adult she has become. I still think of her as she was when she came here."

"I think we had better check into this more, and start raising money for actively making campaign contributions. While stopping Sentinels and dealing with rogue AI, of course."

Beast has posed:
"Absolutely!" Hank agrees. "Shame the later versions became more about action than the exploration and values of it's predecessors."

"You're not alone in feeling old," Hank says. "Even I don't quite understand it all the same way the students do, and it doesn't feel all that long ago that I was one!" he excalims with a shake of his head. Remembering those halcyon days when he, Scott, Jean, Bobby and Warren were the ones filling these grounds with enthusiasm and laughter. Not that that spark had gone out, but, it had been tempered by passing years and growing responsibility.

"Exactly," he says of Warren. "Yes, Roberto too," he says of the boy. "If not here than in Brazil," he says taking their plans international with a simple suggestion. "But that might be getting ahead of ourselves. And yes, Kitty, I know it's hard not to think of her as the girl she was, but she's been through a lot, professor, and she's grown considerably."

The last remark gets an upwards turn of his lips, "Yes, on top of all that," he says before sighing. "Ahh, for the days when all we had to worry about was punching hatemongers and 'evil' mutants."

Hank stands brushing off his pants. "Ready to go back inside?" he asks the professor. "Don't worry, I'll sneak a file in your cake at supper time, your jailer won't have a clue," he adds with a wink.