xp_logs | Congress of Behram: A Meeting of Minds (Reply)

Lilandra, Xavier, and Bastion finally meet, and thanks to Kurt, Leo and Farouk, the dialogue results in some new ideas and potentially new allies.

The meeting room was a small one, normally used for groups of less than thirty, and it had been cleared of everything but a large round table and chairs arrayed around it. There was something almost symbolic in the shape of the table, and certainly those seated around it were not an average group. Lilandra Neramani sat quietly furthest from the door, still attractive in her forties, and her dark eyes showed a powerful intellect behind them. William Bastion sat forty-five degrees from her, straight backed in his chair, and trying to adjust to a suit as his new uniform, as opposed to that of the USAF. He occasionally snuck a glance over at Leo Samson, likely trying to determine if the green hair was part of a mutation or a midlife crisis. Across from him sat Professor Farouk, who had been jokingly referred to as a cabal of one during the conference, although each of his panels was standing room only.

There was a sound outside the door, like a subdued thundercrack, and it was opened by the blue hued visage of Kurt Sefton, who wheeled Professor Charles Xavier inside. While Xavier normally used a powered wheelchair of Forge's design in the school, he'd cunningly switched to a traditional wheelchair during the conference, to better contrast his reputation with a man trapped in a wheelchair and unable to threaten anyone. People occasionally forgot that the Professor's renown expertise in psychology was not limited to benign therapy.

"Thank you for joining me," he said quietly, as Kurt wheeled him to a seat at the table before taking his own place. "I do apologize for any inconvenience the subterfuge may have caused. A necessary precaution."

"I've had people trying to shoot me down since my first flight over Diet Minh, Professor," Bastion said confidently. "So you've got us all here, assuming no one's sneaking a bomb in with the catering. We all know each other's CVs here, let's just cut to the chase. Professor Neramani, Professor Farouk. So... who goes first?"

"I suppose I shall jump on that grenade, " Amahl smiled thinly. "Being one of the few people here not tied to an actual state agency, I am in a somewhat enviable position of being absolved of many a formality..." He shrugged, "And many accompanying responsibilities, as well. What we have here today, ladies and gentlemen is an opportunity. If we are able to reach any sort of consensus, those of us gathered in this room would have between tem a considerable cache of influence. Indirect as well as direct. Almost every faction within the mutantkind is represented here - although Mr. Lensherr regrettably was unable to attend..."

Farouk paused as a dry chuckle slithered across the room. "And, of course, Mr. Bastion represents a growing and powerful opinion bloc of our homo sapiens cousins. All of us have our conduits to the Powers and Dominations of the world. Really only a negligible afterthought is all that remains between us and the new Age of Aqarius. " Amahl pulled on his mustache meditatively. "We actually have to agree on something."

Lilandra shifted in her chair, crossing her hands on the table in front of her. "A wonderful sentiment, Professor Farouk," she said, her voice quiet but not soft, "but I admit to being a little leery of our actual ability to do so. While I am more ... amused than irritated at the subterfuge, Professor Xavier, it does not exactly start us off to a good start." She smiled a little bit, though. "I am, however, open to discussion. All things considered, it should at least be interesting."

Kurt was sitting quietly next to Xavier, paying close attention to all that was said - as well as the body language of those around the table. He nodded. "I have no ties to any official agency, but I think Mr. Bastion may know who I am. I am here for a... personal perspective, you might say."

"My purpose here is also for the personal perspective--both my own perspective, and those of my clients," Leo said after Kurt finished. He glanced around the room, pausing for a moment on Bastion, whose side-long looks had been fairly obvious. "As a psychiatrist, I have worked with hundred of mutant children and adolescents, as well as professional colleagues who are mutants. I hope I can bring to the table an understanding of how mutants are impacted by society--laws, policies, cultural understandings."

"And as you are all aware, I am not only an educator of young mutants, but I have been a participant in situations such as this for many years." Charles looked around the room. "So, we know where each other is coming from. Where to from here? My own perspective, of course is co-operation. We are all human beings, after all, regardless of our genetic status."

"An admirable stance," Farouk's eyes remained hooded. "It strikes me as somewhat theoretical, however, and unjustifiably optimistic on several levels. The existing trends indicate a tendency toward self-segregation by the mutants and the recent decade has seen a marked increase in violent confrontations between the two communities. If the birthrate of the mutants continues to increase, I find it hard to imagine that the difficulty of integration will become less."

Amahl leaned forward, steepling his fingers. "And leaving aside the debatable nature of the scientific claim as to our shared humanity - that thesis is hardly comforting. Humans have killed and fought each other since their inception for reasons that were far less trivial than the dynamics inherent in the present situation. Arguably the Homo Sapiens are sharing the planet with a truly competing species for the first time since the Neanderthals..."

The Egyptian trailed off, leaving the obvious conclusion of his thought unsaid. Last time the two species shared the globe, one ended up extinct.

"I think I would argue that, Farouk, because I strongly believe our shared humanity is what binds us together. Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens did not share common languages, cultures, or religions. Are we really saying a child born mutant is a different species than its mother? Shall we also say a sister born with red hair is unable to love a brother with brown hair?" Leo shook his head, his brows furrowed and his face intent.

"I acknowledge your point that we are faced with complex dynamics and very few solid answers, and I acknowledge that humans have shown throughout history an ability to make war on matters both trivial and meaningful. The Civil War divided America in the manner you speak of, turned brother against brother, family against family. There is no question our current situation has the potential to do the same, but that is the purpose of meetings like this. We have the chance to choose another course, to find strategies that will utilize the strengths we all have, and create policies that work towards a cohesive society."

"I feel obliged to point out," Bastion replied, leaning forwards over the table, "that Yankee Jim and Johnny Reb back in the Civil War couldn't lift a battleship with their bare hands or read your mind. Put as much a shine on it as you want, that's going to scare people. And damn well it should."

The former soldier stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Scares the hell out of me. Right now, the public associates mutants with Srinagar and New York. Destruction, terrorism, something to fear and thus, hate. I've heard a dozen proposals this weekend on how to contain the 'mutant situation', but those are stopgap measures at best. I've yet to hear anyone talk about changing it."

"That is where education comes in, providing counter examples of the benefits mutants can provide to their communities," Charles replied. "Not only schools or classes like the Mutant Studies program running from the Institute, but programs such as Red X. Young mutants working alongside their human peers to provide assistance and help."

"Education is all well and good, Professor," Lilandra chimed in, leaning forward, "but without financial backing, it will never get off the ground. Or at least not in time. Studies are showing that the mutant population is on the rise - any bigot, will take those numbers to fan their own flames. In order to fight against the growing number of people who will become scared or intolerant, you would probably need a concentrated effort: financial backing, political backing and in some countries, religious backing. Bastion is correct about the stop gap measures; those that wish to contain the 'mutant threat' are not the only ones putting up band-aid solutions. We need something long term, something tangible."

She sat back and smiled wryly. "Gentlemen, I do not believe we will unearth those golden ideas today, in this room. But maybe we are, finally, on the right path." Or they were simply another group, pondering this problem and their results would end up as flat as the rest. Lilandra was willing to trust but only so far.

Kurt sat forward in his turn, yellow eyes intent. "There are several great minds in this room. I do not see why the golden ideas could not arise. As for the perception of mutants... even if the terrorism stopped tomorrow, there would still be accidents. Children manifesting destructively bring as much fear and intolerance in some quarters as deliberate acts, and it is not something, in most cases, that can be foreseen or prevented in advance. Education is the only way there."

Amahl suppressed a sigh. "Existing models of education - such as Institute or even Red X are an interesting example - specifically of the trends I mentioned earlier. Both programs present communities of mutants cocooning themselves in the nearly autonomous environments filled with homogenous populations of being exactly like them. " He nodded slightly toward Xavier.

"I expressed these concerns to Charles before and he has spoken about them during this conference so I won't belabor the point. Suffice it to say that I do not see the segregatory nature of the current institutions as a necessarily bad thing in and of itself. Perhaps peaceful separation IS the answer. Certainly with a multitude of still untapped powers lying dormant within the mutant community entire swathes of the globe could be opened for colonization and settlement. Perhaps even space itself."

Farouk shrugged. "The danger of the present educational institutions lies, in my opinion, in the sense of false expectations that they engender in the subjects of their indoctrination. Such model societies are making significant strides in nurturing the beginning of a new culture, a new language and a new way of perceiving the world. That's arguably inevitable - a psi will have an inherently different outlook on the universe as will a feral. Yet it would be dangerous to persist in an illusion that existing programs promote the case of integration. We are standing on the brink of a New Age - and it is still unclear whether the existing markers of identity will survive, or whether the genetics will topple the structures based on the nation-state, ethnicity and religion."

Farouk pulled on his mustache in slight frustration. "Much of the dilemma before us can be defined by the lack of concrete statistics, lack of full picture in terms of demographic and social situation. Certainly research in those areas could benefit from the influx of funds and a more centralized organization. Too much secrecy as mutants are still seen as potential weapons. Perhaps we could start there, with simple gathering of the new and codification of the existing data?"

"Certainly the Institute has the resources to support such research - indeed, the Muir Island Research Facility provides many statistics on the more medical side of mutation." Charles' tone was firm in the face of Farouk's opposition. "It is something of a chicken and the egg scenario. You say that we need to make major societal changes in order to change the perception of mutants and encourage integration. I counter with the fact that those changes can only be achieved through education of the general population regarding mutants. And such education can only be provided if mutants have somewhere to learn and control their powers and thus no longer appear threatening. It may interest you to know that many of the previous students of the school have been integrated into regular school programs in the past year, since the Institute's formation and the scaling down of the School for Gifted Youngsters."

Lilandra nodded thoughtfully when the Professor finished speaking. "That is interesting and very heartening. But what, if anything, is being done on the other end of the spectrum? How many regular schools are teaching their children how to mingle, safely and wisely, with mutants?" She held up both hands as if they were a scale, one dipping while the other one rose. "Without balance, my friends, there can be no accord. The mutant population might be rising but are not in the majority and will not be for some generations. Bigotry and hatred cannot be simply wiped out; I am not so naive as to think that hatred will ever be eliminated but it can be lessened. It just cannot be one faction doing all the learning and bending."

Bastion tapped a pen on the table impatiently, watching the intellectuals bat words back and forth like a political tennis match. "Both sides got a lot of inertia to overcome," he said with finality. "During the last administration, the United States government uncovered a number of programs to do just what Professor Farouk's talking about. From observing and registering mutants all the way to weaponizing them for the common defense. Lot of folks might say that your Imperial Guard's no different, Professor Neramani. America's trying to make strides with programs like Red X, training young volunteer mutants to help with humanitarian relief. It's a hundred-eighty degree turnaround from drafting them into military service, and that's a fact."

The veteran pilot twirled the pen in his fingers as he looked across the table at the three academics, then to Doctor Samson and over to Kurt. "Education's certainly got to play a part," he said in response to Kurt's earlier assertion, "but you can't change the world from a classroom alone. People have to be shown, not told. Sixty years gone, and you still ask anyone in the West what they think of when they hear the word 'German' and they'll tell you 'Nazi'. When people hear the word 'mutant', they think 'Magneto', 'Apocalypse', 'half a million dead in Srinagar'. What makes you think you can make the world change any faster?"

"Mr. Bastion, I would certainly agree with you that many people would associate Germany with Nazis--certainly my mother, whose family escaped Auschwitz, would make that association. But just as many would respond with Einstein, Beethoven, Brecht or Levi Strauss." Leo grinned, "Actually, if you asked that question of several of my adolescent clients, their first response would be Claudia Schiffer. It's a question of perspective," Leo continued, "And the change that we will see in the world is going to come from those different perspectives. I was born in a world where mutancy was just beginning to be understood. My newest niece will be born in a world where discussions of mutants are commonplace. Change occurs in multiple ways--in individual people, families, in neighborhoods, in cities, in states, in countries. It occurs over a lifetime, over the course of generations, or in an instant.

Leo leaned back in his chair. "Education doesn't occur simply in a classroom. In New York City there is free clinic that performs multiple community outreach programs, some of which include teaching and education, and others that engage mutants in local neighborhoods to work with communities to repair damage from Apocalypse. There is a play group for parents of children with mutants that regularly meets with local human community children. There is a group of high school students who are mutants that go from school to school talking about what it is like to be a mutant. One of my colleagues is working with to form a mutant-human student alliance at a Bronx high school. One of my friends from medical school is working in a small town in Rhode Island, and wrote that the city council added a section in the budget to provide funding for mutant children whose mutations cause medical difficulties--and they've been able to fund this due to a mutant working in construction whose power generates concrete. They were able to reduce their road maintenance budget by half."

"I don't believe we can make the world change faster," Leo said, leaned forward, his eyes intent, "but I believe we can create change. As Kurt says, with the minds in this room, there is no reason we cannot come up with ideas. We can discuss education--adding information about mutants to school curriculum, encouraging medical school to add sections discussing mutant physiology. We can discuss policy changes--will health insurance or government program cover mutants? Can mutants be of benefit to government programs--such as the mutant helping with road maintenance in Rhode Island. If people must be shown, as Mr. Bastion has stated, then why not show them?
If a government is not the one to step forward and lead the way in acknowledging that mutants are valid citizens of a society, then who will?"

"And yet care must be taken there", Kurt said quietly. "It is not such a very big step from recruiting mutants to government programs to such things as we have seen in the past, where they are not recruited but required to take part. Sometimes even forced."

Farouk smiled, disappointment carefully hidden. He was surprised at himself, after all he never really expected concrete results to emerge from this meeting with any great degree. Most men and women in the room had, after all, arrived to their views after years of careful thought. They would not be swayed in a matter of minutes. Perhaps at all...

"I think, it behooves us now to keep in mind that all of us are fundamentally united by a desire to prevent further bloodshed. Whether through registration and increased policing," He nodded slightly to Bastion. "Or through education, " Amahl inclined his head toward Xavier.

"Yet, I wonder if our charming host and her country does not present an intriguing example that we could utilize as an example of our next step. The Imperial Guard presents a visible illustration of a mutant organization working openly under the aegis of protecting their country from the very threats that they themselves might represent to some people. Their very presence demonstrates continuing pull of the ideals of nationalism and the bond that transcend mere genetics. And a constant reminder that for every Magneto there is a Dacoit."

*We'll forego the discussion of the occasional forays into genocide that both of those gentlemen have in common, for now.* Amahl thought as he smiled charmingly at Lilandra. "In the wake of the tragedy in New York and the creation of SHIELD, it occurs to me that we have an opportunity. It would seem that the blanket disavowal of the official use of mutants in military fashion championed by the McKenna Administration and adopted by the UN has not worked entirely as was hoped. Rather it forced such programs underground, away from legal scrutiny and as such often engaging in various forms of slavery as mechanism of recruitment."

Farouk turned to Bastion again. "Perhaps if a pilot program could be instituted, under SHIELD's supervision? An integrated team of mutants and humans, presenting a model and an example. Providing a proving ground of governmental supervision of the mutants and an educational vision of the potential of coexistence and cooperation. An utter antithesis of Lensherr's vision, and one lacking secrecy and uncertainty surrounding various vigilante groups currently in operation...."

"I'm sure I wouldn't know what you're talking about, Professor Farouk," Bastion responded with a smile of practiced evasion. "But if such a program were going to go forward, it could obviously only do so with the full approval of the appropriate branches of government."

"And with confidence that the abuses of the past with such programs are avoided," said Charles. "Avoiding potential exploitation of such groups, however, requires a change in political mindsets. It is not a question of everyone having their own mutant defense force, it is the perception of mutants and humans as part of one species, the human race. And that requires change at all levels - political, legal, societal. There are some small inroads - Hungary, for instance - but we need to start pushing for change on a much higher level." He turned to Lilandra. "You yourself are aware of the need for change to come from a country's leadership, I am sure."

She inclined her head in agreement. "The people will follow their government; they look to their examples. That is not to say that is the only area that needs to work for the government is nothing without their people." Lilandra shook her head but it wasn't really a negative expression, more tiredly amused. "Gentlemen, I believe some would call our task impossible. I, for one, would welcome such a ... challenge."

For a moment, her eyes slid to Charles and her smiled widened just a little bit.

"Shall we adjourn for now?"

"Excellent idea, " Farouk nodded vigorously, "I was just about to suggest the same. Driven, I must confess by the largely mercenary motivation of making it downstairs before the rest of that marvelous brandy is completely gone."

"I believe I'll join you for that brandy, Professor Farouk," Bastion said as he stood up from the table. "If folks are done actively trying to kill me for the day, that is."

Lilandra rose as well but shook her head with a smile at the two gentlemen. "I think I shall pass, though I hope you enjoy that well-deserved drink. As for myself, though, Professor Xavier? Do you mind if I happened to walk you out? I think I would like to bend your ear for a bit." She turned a half-smile back in his direction.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure." Charles' smile was warm as he directed the chair out from the table. "I'm sure we can certainly find much to talk about."