Sunday afternoon, Jamie and Jane

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After the events of this log, Jane goes looking for different points of view, and finds one. And Jamie pushes himself a hair too far, but Jane is understanding.



Jane was walking around, trying to find someone to talk to. For how many people lived in the mansion, it could sure be empty sometimes. Just when she was about to head outside, she spotted Jamie walking down the hall away from her. "Hey, Jamie! Wait up," she called after him.

Jamie turned around and grinned when he saw who it was. "Hey, Jane. How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "I'm okay. And I bet you're tired of people asking you how you're doing, but... How are you doing?"

"Mostly I was tired of it because it was a choice between saying I was okay, which wouldn't have been true, and saying I wasn't, which was true but depressing." He smiled crookedly. "I really am doing better today, though."

Jane spontaneously gave him a gentle hug. "I'm glad. Anyway, I was wondering... I dunno, I just want to talk to someone about something that Angelo said. Do you have a moment? I could use some other people's persepctives."

Jamie hugged her back. "Hey, I've got nothing but free time. What's on your mind?"

"Are we human?" she blurted out. "Mutants, I mean. Angelo thinks that we aren't. He says we aren't, um, LESS than human, but that we aren't and... I... that doesn't make me feel... I don't like that idea."

Jamie frowned thoughtfully. "A lot of people think different things about that. Did you take the Mutants and Society class this last semester, or are you gonna start that in the fall?"

"No, I haven't taken it. Do they talk about this in that class?"

"Yeah, some--it's one of the big questions, see, about how we fit into society, and how people think about mutants." He paused, thinking about how best to put this. "I think . . . well, to start out with, I think we're all human--even just from a biological standpoint, mutants and regular people can have children together. There's . . . a lot of people who think we aren't, though, for a lot of different reasons. Some of them--both the people and the reasons--aren't very nice." He grinned. "Not saying Angelo's one of those, obviously. But . . . it's dangerous, I think, for us to think we're not human, or for other people to think we aren't, no matter what the reason is. It's a lot easier to treat people as things if you already don't think of them as people, you know? Which is sort of where that can go."

Jane was relieved. Jamie thought they were human, and the part about humans and mutants having children together made it sound pretty conclusive that they were, too. "But then why do people think that mutants aren't human? I mean, it seems kinda cruel."

"I dunno. You'd have to ask Angelo, maybe." Jamie tensed slightly, looking away. "Magneto . . . doesn't think of non-mutants as human. Or he thinks that mutants are better than human, comes out to the same thing. But then, I don't think he thinks of anybody as anything but things." He stopped short, forced himself to relax. "He's . . . the extreme, though. I sometimes think . . . most people are just frightened, and it's easier to justify being frightened if you can tell yourself you're frightened of the boogeyman instead of just another regular person."

"Oh! That makes sense. Because if mutants weren't human, then people wouldn't have to be afraid of themselves, right? Or something like that?" She paused and thought about what Jamie'd said. "Why does this Magneto person think that mutants are better than humans?"

"Because mutants have powers, and humans don't. And he's a complete nutcase." Jamie rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, can we--talk about this somehow that doesn't involve him? Probably shouldn't've brought . . . that end of things up, I just . . . thought maybe I could."

"Okay," she said gently. Jane thought about Magneto. She'd have to find out more about him if he was doing things to hurt her friends. "I'm glad you think that mutants are humans, anyway. Makes me feel better, I think. I know it sounds silly, but I don't want to be even more different from everyone else in the world, you know?"

Jamie smiled. "Doesn't sound silly to me. I think we need to concentrate more on the ways we're not different, sometimes. Be easier to get along with people that way." Jamie paused. "And . . . thanks. For being okay with changing the subject."

Jane smiled wryly at Jamie. "We all need to change the subject sometimes. Thank you for answering my question. It helps."