Log: Forge

[x-dominion.livejournal.com]

Forge has his first meeting with Minister Robert MacDonald, and it's nothing like what he expects.



The lobby outside of Minister MacDonald's office was typical for Parliament;
dark, heavy wood, thick red and gold trimmed carpets and smaller than
Forge's bedroom back at the mansion. The secretary had been chattering away
on the phone in French when he and Kane had come in, and the Canadian
switched languages fluently to talk to her. After a brief rapidfire exchange, Garrison had turned and sat down.

"She says you can go right in, Forge." He picked up a MacLean's and started
leafing through it. Forge paused briefly at the door before entering the office.

It was almost a stereotypical British Commonwealth style office, from the
large antique desk to the picture of the Queen on the far wall. Against the
wall, a Canadian flag and a Quebec provincial flag, with the blue back,
white cross and fleur-de-lis, hung limply from a floor stand pole. Behind
the desk, in a large chocolate coloured leather chair sat MacDonald. As his
photos showed, he was a florid man, likely strong and good looking in his
youth, now rendered more expansive by age. He looked up and an easy smile
crossed his features.

"Ah, Mister Forge. I was expecting you. Please, come in, come in." He
said, his English slightly accented with a touch of French-Canadian.
"Have a seat. Did you want something to drink? Margerat! Water, coffee, juice?
Margerat!"

"Water's fine, sir. I have to admit, this is-" Forge's greeting was
interrupted by MacDonald's secretary arriving with a tray topped with
a water pitcher and glasses of ice. The woman was practically a blur
of efficient motion as she exited the office as swiftly, jarring
Forge's train of thought completely off the tracks.

"I, well, thanks for seeing me. I understand that Inspector Kane
informed you as to the concerns I'd had?"

"Oh yes, oui. Of course." MacDonald poured a glass for Forge and
himself before taking a seat behind his desk. He seemed very affable, and
just a bit dim from first glance. "Obviously we want to be sure that you're
aware of what research we're currently involved in that includes your
technology."

MacDonald paused. "Pastry? Margerat! You'll love these. There's a little
shop outside of Duval that has the most exquisite- Margerat! - exquisite
pastry. I get them delivered once a week."

"Uh, sure." Forge felt a bit steamrolled by the force of MacDonald's
bluster, but cleared his throat and opened the portfolio he'd brought.
"It's more a matter of curiosity than any real litigious concern. My
main interest is..." He withdrew a blue folder, tapping it on the
desktop. "This is the process documentation on a cybernetic neural
translation chip I designed and patented in 2005. The patent was then
licensed to... Stane Orthopedics for use in prosthetic limb design.
Stane was fully within the boundaries of U.S . import/export laws to
sublicense the patent to your Department H, as the chip's not a
designated controlled technology."

He folded his hands, pausing as Margerat briskly delivered the
requested pastries, taking the opportunity to sip at his glass of
water. "I'm sure you're aware of all of this, or you've got people
whose jobs it is to be aware. And I know how the chip's been adapted
for Inspector Kane's... 'enhancements'. I'm just looking for a
reassurance of your Department's purpose in developing and adapting
this technology."

MacDonald paused for a moment, two fingers against his bottom lip. "Let me
guess. What you want to know is whether or not we're attempting to make
bionic soldiers or something?" he smiled and shook his head. "I'm not really
fluent on the technology side. That's something that Dr. Hudson will have to
answer, but I know that it's the... what's the word? Process! Oui,
the process of your chip that the lab duplicated."

"I don't know how much Kane's told you about me, sir," Forge began,
leaning forward, "I'm sure you're aware that my ability with invention
is a result of my mutation, it's just something that comes naturally
to me. It's a rather unique gift, as I understand it, and it comes
with a correspondingly unique... sense of responsibility, I guess you
could say. Having had direct experience with people who've tried to
exploit what I can do, well, I like to keep a close eye on how my
inventions are being used as time passes. I've no desire to be the
next Sam Colt, or worse, Robert Oppenheimer."

"Or Erik Lensherr? Cerebro is an especially dangerous weapon in the hands of
people other than your Professor Xavier." MacDonald's immensely mild
response belied the sudden display of insight. "I read your book. It made me
wonder if you wrote it to talk about him, or to remind yourself about how
easy that path to the other side can be."

The minister took a sip of water, his demeanour changing again, mercurially
quick. "Of course, while Department H is part of the Ministry of Defense,
all of our more esoteric research and development, as well as mutant
related, flows through it. For example, the first stage of our Flight
program, which is administered through the Ministry of Health, was developed
by Department H. The same with our mutant registration system, which is
handled by the federal and provincial Ministries of Government Services."

MacDonald's sudden stab of insight shocked Forge momentarily;
apparently the avuncular politician hid a keen mind behind the
blustery, personable facade. "I've become familiar with Canada's
registration system," Forge responded, absently squaring his portfolio
in his lap. "In its tenure, it's been very effective from a health
care and quality-of-life viewpoint. It also requires a great deal of
faith in the government running it, something that you're no doubt
aware is a hotly contested issue south of the border. Canada's social
issues regarding mutants seem to be a lot... quieter than America's."

"If you can't trust your government, Mister Forge, it's not much of a
democracy. The United States has always taken a much more strident approach
to universal programs and identifications. It's always been something of a
puzzle here." MacDonald tore a small section from his pastry and ate it
thoughtfully. "I've always advocated a common sense approach. Mutants often
have different needs and abilities than your average person. Along with that
is a slightly different level of personal responsibility. By making sure
that our X-positive Canadian citizens are able to control their powers, we
can confidently say both their rights, and those of the people around them,
are equal. If a mutant uses their powers to take advantage of a human, they
will be prosecuted. If a human uses mutation as the basis for hate speech or
discrimination, the mutant will enjoy the same protections as the rest of
our multicultural citizens."

He smiled, folding his hands together. "And along the way, Canada as able to
continue to be a leader in medical research and social rights, by
understanding the emerging mutant abilities and cultures, and finding ways
to bring them together. Much like what your own HeliX advocates to
students." It had all the elements of a typical canned speech, but the
sincerity seemed genuine.

"I have faith in individuals, Minister MacDonald," Forge said with a
nod, "Which decreases geometrically with the size of the mob. Some
times people behave very much in accordance with physics - the larger
an object, the more force it takes to change its direction. I'm just
hoping over time to be part of that force. And admittedly, your
country's programs have blazed an admirable path towards a direction."

He paused, looking over the office. One photograph on the desk in
particular caught his eye, of the Minister with a young girl. Forge
suddenly recalled the story of MacDonald's daughter Kimberly - whose
mutation emerged at a young age, resulting in the tragedy of a seven
year old girl finding herself with lungs unable to process oxygen.
Robert MacDonald may be an ebullient political speaker, Forge
realized, but there was no doubt that the man believed fervently in
his stances at a very personal level.

"Well," he concluded, "I can definitely say I'm not going to be
worrying about an army of super-Mounties storming the border anytime
soon."

"Good. I doubt their budget would cover the invasion of Wisconsin."
MacDonald said wryly. "Mister Forge, a word of advice to you, especially
with your involvement in HeliX. If there's one thing that I've learned in
the last, oh, twenty years in politics. Has it been that long? Twenty
year... oui, in that time I've learned that people often reflect how
you view them. If you're cynical and suspicious of them, the 'mob' will
grant you the same view. If you're willing to trust in their ability for
good, to do the right thing... it's amazing how often they'll rise to the
occasion."

The Minister scribbled something on a piece of paper and signed it, before
passing it over to Forge. "That's your release to access documentation at
Department H specific to the technology you've developed. As well, I'm
looking forward to your presentation next month to the Ministry of
Education's new mutant student relations study group. We've taken the
liberty to clear HeliX as an allowed international student association."

"Thanks for your time, sir." Forge stood and shook MacDonald's hand,
made some quick pleasantries, and headed out into the foyer. He'd made
it a few steps before jerking to a stop and realizing what he'd just
agreed to. "Presentation? Oh, that crafty bastard..."