8217/War is Stupid

War is Stupid
Date of Scene:	08 July 2019
Location:	War Room - X-men Base
Synopsis:	The future isn't so bright and shiny for mutants. Alex and Lorna discuss this and the failings of Xavier/Magneto along with the threats from and of the future.
Cast of Characters:	Havok, Polaris

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Havok has posed:
Alex just arrived today, not an hour ago, and he's already in the War Room. He ran into Sam upon his arrival and instead of checking in with people, he descended into the depths of the subbasement and found himself burried in mission reports on four computer terminals upon the wall. Also, he has a few other monitors illuminated with team member pictures/files as well as students, including New Mutants. He's trying to get a lay of the land without actually asking questions.

    He stands behind the circular console looking at the far wall. He's wearing his super suit of black and gold and has his back to the exit. His right hand is on the console as he's bent slightly forward and his left hand about to push a button.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna was in the adjoining rooms, changing after having taken out some stress in the Danger Room. The young woman's hair was damp, hanging in green waves about her face as she figured she'd pop into the war room and see what was recently updated regarding the Sentinels. The door opened with a gentle nudge of her electromagnetic powers, and she stepped inside, tapping away at a glass thin tablet of Genoshan make.

But she paused at the sight of someone in the room that was decided not one of the expected figures in the Mansion. She blinked in confusion and finally placed the blonde, followed by a sharp intake of breath. "Alex?" She called, surprise ringing in her tone. Her eyebrows furrowed sharply and she clicked the tablet off with a tap of her manicured fingers.

It was clear exactly what Lorna had been up to, dressed in a pair of sweats and with her hair damp, make up smudged from the shower after working out. But what was less clear to her was were had one Alex Summers been.

Havok has posed:
    He recognizes her voice on the first perfect note of sound that escapes her lips. Looking left over his shoulder, his head leads his body in turning to address her square on. His blue eyes seem pleased with what he sees, elated and happy. That expression is accentuated with the upturn of the corners of his mouth in a smile.

    There's a moment when his breath isn't caught just quite right upon the inhale, so he corrects and breathes deeper before speaking in a broken, almost pubecent shrill, "LOR-na!" Very akin to the surprise suffered when Danny first saw Sandy in Grease. Alex clears his throat and chuckles, "Hey. Good to see you." is the offered response of trying to play it cool.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna hitched an eyebrow upward at the response, but otherwise didn't comment as she stepped further into the room, and made for a computer connection. She smoothly made to plug in her tablet, an approved device, to one of the ports and let it update for her the summary mission reports and the alike. She flashed Alex a brief smile, in acknowledgement, as she tapped away her password and name for clearance before she turned to fully face him.

"Long time no see. Granted, I've been in Genosha for the past year or so. How are you?" She asked as she leaned a hip against the edge of the computer terminal and crossed her arms.

Havok has posed:
Truly not the reunion he was expecting so his sails are deflated when she walks to the terminal and starts to 'work'. He watches her movements and then shrugs. "I'm good. But princess... I know you've been in Genosha. You know, that whole mutant evacuation thing from Mutant Town to Genosha was a lot of my doing. But then again, maybe you didn't know since your father kept us working on other sides of the globe."

    Alex was an Acolyte of Magneto for a while during this last year. Ensuring that certain mutants found their way to Genosha. Alex was blind to the whole plan as Magneto was likely using him to select certain mutants, dressing them up as 'most in need'. But Alex still likes Magneto, regardless.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna laughed softly at Alex's use of the title, "Sorry, I was a little locked up in Council meetings and trade negotiations." She smiled a sort of sheepish way, and pushed her hair back from her face as she shifted her lean against the desk. A possibly self conscious movement, but one still familiar to Alex as something she did when she wasn't sure what to do with her hands at any given moment.

"And making sure the businesses that are working in Genosha don't take unfair advantage of anyone. But you probably don't need to listen to me complain about long, boring meetings." She joked lightly, and shrugged once.

"What brings you about the Mansion?"

Havok has posed:
Alex will watch her movements, listen to her words and as she unfolds her tale, he will take a seat on the edge of the console, slightly shifted toward her, but still more than 6 feet away. His face is quite clear, devoid of the mask that hangs behind his neck. The face depicts curiousity; maybe even caution as he wonders silently to himself. His eyes watch her shrug, he missed that.

    When her question is posed, he does his best to answer in a softer tone. More along the lines of considerate conversation than that of an excited schoolboy. "No idea. Just figured it was time to come back. And it's good I did... I've been told that the Professor is still in recovery from being shot. Scott and Jean have taken over in his place. I was just going over files to see where things stood before talking to Scott and seeing where he needed me."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna nodded once, listening to what Alex had missed before she settled more firmly against the side of the desk. More or less sitting on the top side, than anything by now. "It was awful, the Professor getting shot. He'd just put me in charge of the situation with Sebastian.." She paused and nodded to the computers. "An advanced Sentinel from the future. He's part of what was going on in regards to the massacres happening here in the States. He was pretty horrible. My father and I visited the Professor in the hospital before he had to take time away. I was worried it might end with Genosha going to war, but thankfully that didn't happen." She pursed her lips together, drumming her fingernails against the sides of the desk as she fidgeted.

"For now the Sentinels are quiet, and there haven't been much in terms of updates. There's some spidery robots about now.. And issues with the usual suspects. Scott had me looking into a bit of a situation at a bar a few days ago. I got hit on by some dude-bro that wanted to touch my hair so I knocked him out.. But that's more or less it."

Havok has posed:
    There are so may questions he wants to ask. So many points to touch upon. But all of those are trumped by her saying that there was some guy hitting on her and she had to knock him out. Even as she laid out the story, his eyes became hard, protective. But the moment she lists that she knocked the guy out, that hardness turned into a smile. "Sounds like par for the course. I mean, when I'm not around to protect your honor and knock guys out for you." - surely he's joking, or at least he finds their mutual past something to cling to.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna snorted and laughed, shaking her head she rolled her eyes, "You miss the possible future invasion of the Terminator, and the thing that sticks out is that I knocked out a guy at the bar." She snickered softly again, still shaking her head as she grinned. She rubbed the bridge of her nose as she glanced at him side long. "Besides, I didn't knock him out with a punch to the throat, the cook told me I should've. All I did was remove the screws of his bar seat and he toppled over and knocked himself out." She still grinned though as she described it and shrugged lightly with a roll of her shoulders.

"You should've stopped in before, particularly if you were working out of Mutant Town. You missed the cook out at the lake."

Havok has posed:
    He smiles, happy to see her smile/grin and to hear her snicker. But that is interrupted with the whole 'flash back to reality' moment of her saying that he should have come back earlier.

    There's a moment of silence as he comes up with the words. Instead of blurting out stuff, he is thoughtful as he shares, "Ever since the other reality, I really just needed to sort stuff out. Be off on my own. Have a... different cause. But I'm glad you found your way back here, too. It was weird, the whole Genosha thing and you being so far away." - he may not be talking physical distance, but responsibility or attention distance.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna's smile faded as Alex spoke of his time spent else where and she nodded once as she glanced away. Rachel had spoken of issues in terms of travel, dimensions... futures.. The fact that Alex had returned at all, was amazing and incredible. It shouldn't have been possible, but he had. She exhaled a breath and glanced back at her tablet as it ding'ed an update and she reached over to unplug it.

"I'm still bouncing between here and Genosha. I have responsibilities there that I don't have here, and every time I come back to the States it's like I'm playing hooky or skipping out on what I'm supposed to be doing." She smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"People over there rely on me to be their Princess. For good or bad."

Havok has posed:
    A glance to the ding distracts him for a split second and then his blue eyes return to her own green hues. He hears her responsibilities and gives a nod of acceptance. Then he redirects and asks, "Why can't Wanda or Pietro handle these things? You know, take turns as crown princess and prince. Give you a little time off. Rather, a lot of time off."

Polaris has posed:
Another twitch of her lips followed and Lorna shook her head, "Pietro barely gets along with my father for more than five minutes before they're arguing. Wanda is still.. well, she's still figuring out.. herself. She was working with a few people here to set up a protection spell. But that was the last time I spoke to her. She was all about wanting to spend time together as sisters but.." Another shrug.

"And I'm not Crown Princess. My father has yet to announce anything like that." But that hardly stopped the rumor mill or speculation. In Genosha it was impossible to miss how people treated //her//. Impossible to miss how they spoke of the youngest of Magneto's children and who the people considered to be 'their' Princess.

"Besides, they're both off being Avengers anyways."

Havok has posed:
    "Well, at least the responsibility falls upon the best looking shoulders." Alex says with a glance to her shoulders beneath the damp hair. Then there's a pause as he realizes that he probably shouldn't continue talking. At least along that thread. He looks into her face for a moment and then looks back to the monitors that have the students files displayed.

    And offering a segue, "You been around long enough to see if any of these students show promise?" - he's asking about potential X-Men in the making.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna hmmed, her lips twitching with a barely restrained smile. "You're not biased at all. Though if you said Pietro was the best looking, I mean, I could always give you his number.." She teased, wiggling her eyebrows as she shifted over to the work desk where Alex was leaning over the monitor to click through a few student profiles. She glanced at them, 'hmming' under her breath as she eyed what was written there.

"I don't know in terms of anything academic, but Hambone has been through a few things in the last few months and held up fairly well, if that's what you mean. He was kidnapped, saved, nearly blasted a few times."

Havok has posed:
    "Hambone... what a name." Is commented as Alex shifts to stand along side of Lorna and look at the screen in question. "But what I'm getting at is this; we all have a shelf life. Not all of us are going to be around or come back from the dead over and over. The next generation needs to be prepared for the eventual future. You know that future. We've been warned over and over by people that come back. We've seen things, fought things from a future that's just not pretty for any of us. I've lived in a world where the future was made real, way worse than what we've seen here. So far. I guess what I'm getting at is, we need to be training people that have the will and the abilities to fight that future."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled an amused breath at the jab at the poor kid's nickname. But it had stuck, and frankly he was the only one that came to mind when Alex asked after the students. "I don't teach here, I don't have the mindset for it. You'd have better luck asking someone that works with them every day." Her smile faded though as Alex spoke of the future, of the danger it brought. How badly things could go.

"But is it right to go picking kids out of high school and trying to decide who might be able to handle that sort of fight? I'm not saying you're wrong, they do need to learn how to survive. They won't have a choice when they leave here. The world certainly won't care that they're kids." She murmured softly, her gaze held low and her eyebrows furrowing together as she spoke.

"I just have issues with how everything is run here. Come to school, we'll teach you in an inclusive environment and give you hope that the world might change. And show you how special you are and your powers... Just sign up to join the para-military organization run by the alums if you have what is deemed a 'useful power'." She sighed and rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping.

"Do you think the Professor found us and brought us in because our powers are useful?"

Havok has posed:
    "I do... He probably programmed parameters into Cerebro when he went mind-trapsing across the globe to find the most powerful of mutants that the world had to offer. He found us, didn't he? You can move the friggin moon. Scott can blast it in half. Jean can ... well, we all know what Jean can do - eat a star. So yeah. That's just a few of us. Of course he did. And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying don't give them a choice. Because they all need to have choices. But find the ones who will make a difference. It's really not much different than how the Acolytes are chosen from the Genoshan populace. Strongest, most adept. Your father knows what he's doing, even though sometimes his focus is shifted off from the main threat."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna exhaled a breath, "My father tried to hide me away so no one could find me for most of my life. Then the Professor changed all of that. Have you considered just how many plans and plots those two have made over the years and how many lives it's impacted?" She muttered, shaking her head as she peered down at the computer monitor. She made a half hearted attempted at looking over the notes on the students before her gaze returned to Alex.

"My father has so much going on inside his head that he never tells me. He was suddenly absent in Genosha for like a week when the Sentinels were off killing mutants here in the States. I still don't know what he was up to. He claims its plausible deniability, if something should happen, and I'm left to answer questions." Her features twisted with no small amount of irritation.

Havok has posed:
    There's a slight sigh as Alex nods in agreement. He comments as he glances over to her, "They have been up to a lot, collectively. And I often couldn't help but wonder if they were in cahoots in some of their plans as it worked out pretty conveniently in the grand scheme of things. I don't always agree with them on either front. I think a lot of times they think outside of things we can see or maybe they're just doing it for their own egos. I don't know. All I do know is the future isn't so bright and sparkly for mutant kind. I'd like to make a difference and not just be the pawn in this grand scheme. Which is why I came back. I'm hoping that something can be done to right this ship. Hoping that Scott can get us all on the right path toward whatever salvation is available. Because I know it ain't gonna come from Magneto or Professor X."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna grimaced and she nodded at Alex's supposition that maybe Magneto and the Professor had been in cahoots for all their dramatics about one or the other side being 'lost' or 'wrong'. They certainly did seem to come together an awful lot. Lorna figured it had something to do with the 'old friends' part. They were more alike than they were different in that regard at least. She sighed, turning away from the computer screen and plucking up her Genoshan made tablet, tucking it against her side.

"The future has never been bright and sparkly for any mutant it seems. Why can't we have someone come from a happy future to tell us we're doing it right or something?" She grumbled, and rolled her eyes. She pushed her hair back again, as she turned her gaze back to Alex.

"I don't put my faith in any one person or ideal being our salvation Alex, to do so is just... problematic. Do I have hope Scott might do some great things? Absolutely.. But your brother has never been one to rock the boat." She smiled thinly, dropping her gaze once more.

Havok has posed:
    "Maybe I'm hoping he'll finally grow out of his Xavier made shell and become the Scott I met in the other reality... Maybe. If not, then there's always X-Factor." and he'll step away from the console as if he's about to depart.

    His tone changes, voice becomes softer, more invested, "I'm glad you're here, Lorna. It's always nice to be around you." and he'll make for the door.