xp_logs | Genosha: For Free Trade - The Ambassador (Reply)

Charles receives a visitor. And a proposition.

The long black car with diplomatic plates pulled up in front of the school. While both the driver and the bodyguard were armed, they were aware that it wouldn't do them any good if attacked here. The power of the mutants that lived inside was beyond measure, which meant a normal weapon was of no use. But guns weren't the only weapons available, and in this case, it was a briefcase that would act as sword and shield. The electric wheelchair hummed slightly as Charles moved out onto the front drive to meet the visitor. His usual hint of a smile was gone, leaving his expression stony, his eyes shadowed and deep-set. He waited as the driver alighted and opened the rear door, allowing first the bodyguard and then the Ambassador himself to alight. "Good afternoon, gentlemen."

His voice was tightly controlled, lacking its usual avuncular warmth.

The bodyguard didn’t reply, having entered that peculiar focus-relaxed state of concentrating on an entirety of unfamiliar perimeter, letting the subconscious take in the data and process it without over-burdening it.

The man who followed him out of the car, however, had different priorities. Tall and ram-rod straight, a no-nonsense haircut silvering at the temples, the carriage that had the indelible stamp of a once career soldier, the Genoshan ambassador presented something of a paradox. His country, like many of the former colonies, made something of a fetish out of its often exaggeratedly Anglicized manners and fashions. Its emissary to the United States, however, had an unmistakably Prussian air about about him.

Exiting the vehicle with a peculiar grace of a man marked by a life-long martial training, he dipped his chin in Charles's direction, almost masking the instinctive apprehension-disgust of being in such physical proximity to a cripple. "Professor Xavier. Bennett Creighten-Hayes, at your service. "

"Indeed." Charles wasn't actively scanning the man - there was no telling what failsafes might have been placed in his mind against such an action - but the Ambassador's distaste for Charles' condition was clearly visible at the top of his thoughts. "You said you had information regarding our missing people? My students and staff?"

The Genoshan stared down at Xavier for a brief moment and snapped his fingers. As the driver passed him an innocuous looking beige folder, he shrugged. "I believe the message was garbled somewhat in the transmission. My government has authorized me to familiarize you with the dossier we have on a group of recently detained individuals suspected of plotting to carry out a terrorist act against my country. We believe some of them may be connected to this... establishment. As an act of good faith and a measure of the long standing ties you have with some of our most valued citizens, I have been instructed to share this information with you."

Charles was acutely aware those left at the school - mostly X-Men - were listening in with increasing outrage. The calculations of the impact of a front-page story in tomorrow's Times about a Genoshan ambassador lynched in his front yard began to run through his mind with an unhappy clarity.

"Those individuals your people abducted from a legal protest on American soil are not terrorists," he retorted, taking the dossier. "Most of them are teenagers, students at this school." He emphasised the word slightly. "The rest are staff and graduates who were with them in a supervisory capacity. Given those circumstances, I am not remiss in demanding that your government release them immediately, unless they want this to become an international incident."

Creighten-Hayes' brows arched in clear amusement. "Your staff supervised a gaggle of ill-mannered brats all way into a public disturbance and imprisonment. In your place I would concern myself less with international politics, Mr Xavier, and more with things closer to home."

Especially after its use in the introduction, the omission of the Professor's honorific seemed, and was, a calculated slap.

"I am not an American..." (thank God, went unsaid, but clearly implied) But I would imagine that the story of a supposed pedagogue using his underage charges as cannon fodder in a political vendetta against my small country, struggling to weather the economic woes with dignity and industry, all the while staying out of the harm's way himself..."

The Ambassador tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I just don't see it playing well with local public opinion. Do you? Not to mention the repercussions it would have on the already... fragile situation that you people are managing between humans and mutants. Child soldiers are such a trendy topic these days."

The Genoshan's smile had a hungry and vicious glint to it. "And in an election year, no less. It probably wouldn't take much for these jackals that call themselves journalists here to create a cross between Manson and Kony out of you. Reputations - as they say - take decades to build, and just moments to lose."

Leaning back against the car, the Ambassador sighed deeply. "And all that pales in comparison, of course, with the unpleasantness of enduring detention itself. It can be quite taxing even on adults. Perhaps, I could prevail upon you to forego your political aspirations for a moment and give some thought to achieving an equitable compromise that would bring the children entrusted in your care, back home - as quickly and safely as possible."

Charles' eyes narrowed - not at the disrespect or the lack of the honorific, but at the threat. "And what 'compromise' would that be, Ambassador?" he replied, an edge entering his voice.

The Genoshan spread his arms in a genial gesture. "Nothing too onerous, I assure you. My government would simply prefer that you refrain from interference in the internal affairs of Genosha from now on. As you can imagine the revelations of intrigues by the foreign citizens make it considerably harder to navigate the already byzantine process of prisoner release. I am told that the proceeding have already began to repatriate your students and employees. However, it is a very delicate situation, and I am afraid that any farther hint of American intervention in our political process would considerably complicate the situation, and prolong the stay of the detainees."

The man's meaning was clear. Any action against Genosha in any form would result in his people remaining in prison. But there were still options, Charles told himself. "And should I agree to this, you'll free all of those you have taken?" he reiterated, to be sure there were no loopholes.

"Absolutely." the predatory grin flashed whitely again and the Ambassador nodded at Xavier in farewell. "Please keep the file."