Sapiens Foundation - Truth hurts
Sep. 27th, 2024 05:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsSooraya and Angelo reveal the truth to Ayame.
The watery sun had brought more people to the park today, but the corner where they had been meeting was still quiet. Discrete shielded by a few bushes, it had made for the perfect meeting spot and Sooraya sank down on the bench. "We're gonna destroy some of her world today, I think."
"Maybe." Angelo sat down beside her. "But sometimes you have to destroy stuff to build it back better."
"True. I just hope she believes us." Sooraya looked up, narrowing her eyes a little bit. "There she is." She rose from the bench to greet the young woman. "Hey Ayame."
The girl smiled, then got a better look at Sooraya's face. Her expression faltered.
"Is everything all right?" asked Ayame, her dark eyes flicking between Angelo and Sooraya.
Letting out a small sigh, Sooraya shook her head: "Not really, Ayame. We know you've been putting in some really hard work with Jean-Philippe and he tells us you've been doing great... but we've found out some things and we figured you deserve to know the truth. But it is gonna be hard to hear." She attempted to prepare the young woman before them.
The last of the girl's smile dropped. "What kind of things?" she asked. She made no move to join them on the bench.
“For one thing”, Angelo said carefully, “there’s some money due to come to you in a year or so. Money your real family left for you. Your parents probably would have told you, when it was yours.” If only so they could extract it from her.
Ayame blinked. "What, like -- a trust fund?" Angelo could almost see her mind working to rationalize, like a reflex. "Well, that's . . . probably they didn't see the point of telling me until I could access it."
"Do you think it might be possible there is another reason?" Sooraya continued on Angelo's line, just as carefully.. "Ayame, I haven't had the chance to meet your parents, but how would you say they feel about mutants in general?"
"What do you mean?" Ayame asked, defensiveness beginning to creep into her voice. "Of course they care about mutants. They work with the Foundation, and they took me in. Nobody else would take the risk."
"And it's wonderful they took the risk." Sooraya agreed, fighting to keep the wince of her face as she tried to make the nuance clear. "I know they work with the Foundation and that they work to help people who suffered violence because of mutants. Things do happen. But I haven't been able to get a full picture of how they want to care for mutants?"
"What do you mean? They just want everyone to coexist in peace. That's why they set up my speaking engagements. Mutants are the ones with the power to hurt people, so we're the ones that have to make the effort to show humans there's nothing to be afraid of."
"But do they let you spend time with other mutants?" Angelo continued. "You seemed surprised to see me at your event."
Ayame shook her head, a little more forcefully than the other two mutants' gentle tones called for. "They just want to protect me. There are a lot of mutants who think humans should just give us what we want rather than meeting them halfway. I get letters calling me a race traitor, a collaborator. They don't want me exposed to that."
"Ayame, I've been fighting for the dream of humans and mutants being able to live together equally and peacefully for over fifteen years." Sooraya explained, still keeping her voice gentle. "It's really difficult. But do you really think that could work if mutants have to partially hide themselves, like the Foundation wants? Or if they all would be forced to register, like one of the organizations the Foundation works with wants to?"
The girl took a step back. "What are you trying to say?" she asked. She was no longer hiding her suspicion, but now something else was creeping in. Her voice may have held a superficial tremor of anger, but there was something else beneath it. It might have been fear.
"Maybe", Angelo said slowly, choosing his words, "if it might be worth thinking about if they really have the best intentions for mutants. Or for you."
Ayame's cheeks were beginning to flush. "You don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered. "They just want to help us. I don't know what you're trying to do but I -- I'm leaving!"
Red-faced with anger and confusion, the girl spun on her heel and stormed off.
"That was about what I was afraid of..." Sooraya winced a little. "I don't think we could've brought it any easier... not in these circumstances. I just hope she'll let things sink in once she has the chance to breathe a bit."
"This was about what we expected", Angelo said with a sigh. "She's still got my card, I just hope she does think about it more."
"It is a lot when your world is being torn from the foundations." Sooraya shook her head. "Let's go back to our hotel rooms. I wanna see if I can get the local Underground to keep an eye out for her in case she doesn't reach out to us... make sure they can reach us."
The watery sun had brought more people to the park today, but the corner where they had been meeting was still quiet. Discrete shielded by a few bushes, it had made for the perfect meeting spot and Sooraya sank down on the bench. "We're gonna destroy some of her world today, I think."
"Maybe." Angelo sat down beside her. "But sometimes you have to destroy stuff to build it back better."
"True. I just hope she believes us." Sooraya looked up, narrowing her eyes a little bit. "There she is." She rose from the bench to greet the young woman. "Hey Ayame."
The girl smiled, then got a better look at Sooraya's face. Her expression faltered.
"Is everything all right?" asked Ayame, her dark eyes flicking between Angelo and Sooraya.
Letting out a small sigh, Sooraya shook her head: "Not really, Ayame. We know you've been putting in some really hard work with Jean-Philippe and he tells us you've been doing great... but we've found out some things and we figured you deserve to know the truth. But it is gonna be hard to hear." She attempted to prepare the young woman before them.
The last of the girl's smile dropped. "What kind of things?" she asked. She made no move to join them on the bench.
“For one thing”, Angelo said carefully, “there’s some money due to come to you in a year or so. Money your real family left for you. Your parents probably would have told you, when it was yours.” If only so they could extract it from her.
Ayame blinked. "What, like -- a trust fund?" Angelo could almost see her mind working to rationalize, like a reflex. "Well, that's . . . probably they didn't see the point of telling me until I could access it."
"Do you think it might be possible there is another reason?" Sooraya continued on Angelo's line, just as carefully.. "Ayame, I haven't had the chance to meet your parents, but how would you say they feel about mutants in general?"
"What do you mean?" Ayame asked, defensiveness beginning to creep into her voice. "Of course they care about mutants. They work with the Foundation, and they took me in. Nobody else would take the risk."
"And it's wonderful they took the risk." Sooraya agreed, fighting to keep the wince of her face as she tried to make the nuance clear. "I know they work with the Foundation and that they work to help people who suffered violence because of mutants. Things do happen. But I haven't been able to get a full picture of how they want to care for mutants?"
"What do you mean? They just want everyone to coexist in peace. That's why they set up my speaking engagements. Mutants are the ones with the power to hurt people, so we're the ones that have to make the effort to show humans there's nothing to be afraid of."
"But do they let you spend time with other mutants?" Angelo continued. "You seemed surprised to see me at your event."
Ayame shook her head, a little more forcefully than the other two mutants' gentle tones called for. "They just want to protect me. There are a lot of mutants who think humans should just give us what we want rather than meeting them halfway. I get letters calling me a race traitor, a collaborator. They don't want me exposed to that."
"Ayame, I've been fighting for the dream of humans and mutants being able to live together equally and peacefully for over fifteen years." Sooraya explained, still keeping her voice gentle. "It's really difficult. But do you really think that could work if mutants have to partially hide themselves, like the Foundation wants? Or if they all would be forced to register, like one of the organizations the Foundation works with wants to?"
The girl took a step back. "What are you trying to say?" she asked. She was no longer hiding her suspicion, but now something else was creeping in. Her voice may have held a superficial tremor of anger, but there was something else beneath it. It might have been fear.
"Maybe", Angelo said slowly, choosing his words, "if it might be worth thinking about if they really have the best intentions for mutants. Or for you."
Ayame's cheeks were beginning to flush. "You don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered. "They just want to help us. I don't know what you're trying to do but I -- I'm leaving!"
Red-faced with anger and confusion, the girl spun on her heel and stormed off.
"That was about what I was afraid of..." Sooraya winced a little. "I don't think we could've brought it any easier... not in these circumstances. I just hope she'll let things sink in once she has the chance to breathe a bit."
"This was about what we expected", Angelo said with a sigh. "She's still got my card, I just hope she does think about it more."
"It is a lot when your world is being torn from the foundations." Sooraya shook her head. "Let's go back to our hotel rooms. I wanna see if I can get the local Underground to keep an eye out for her in case she doesn't reach out to us... make sure they can reach us."
