2014-01-15 - A Talk With Magento

The quarters appointed for Mr. Keller are spacious for the island nation, well-decorated. The unconscious young man had been placed on the bed in the room until he awoke. A handwritten letter rests on the stand beside the bed, beside an ewer of water, a glass, and a light snack of fruit, cheese, and crackers.

The note itself simply says, "You are not under guard. You are a mutant, like the rest of us, and you have access to anything on the island you wish. Trying to leave might be painful, however, so I do not advise it. If you wish to speak with me, I am sure any of the constabulary will be pleased to help you find me. --Magneto."

Julian sits up sharply as he realizes he's in unfamiliar surroundings, a flicker of energy surrounding him as a force-field goes up. But it fades after a few moments, as no immediate threat makes itself known. No, just far more insidious threats. Julian considers a moment as he reads the note, bringing it to his hand with a light dose of TK. He sets the note aside, moving to the side table pouring himself a glass of water and gulping it down, before consuming the snack unhurriedly, pouring himself another glass of water and moving out to the balcony nearby, looking out to see what kind of view he has. He does mutter quietly to himself as he goes though:

"Well, it's a hell of a lot nicer than the last time I was kidnapped..."

The main city stretches out around the building Julian has been housed in. He is on the fourth floor, commanding a decent view of the structures and people around him.

The cityscape is normal, if normal was a mid-sized European city, and all the people were mutants. Some could pass for normal, but many had obvious physical mutations. Children ride by on bicycles, or run by kicking soccer balls between them, whooping in glee. Couples, young and old, stroll through the streets. Workers tend to fixing and doing of all the little things that are needed for running of a city.

It's disturbingly idyllic.

Somehow, Julian isn't precisely surprised. Magneto doesn't strike him as the kind of guy to allow things to get "out of place" if he can avoid it. He glances down to his costume, shrugs, and finishes off the last bit of fruit and a second glass of water before he takes in a deep breath, plucking up the note again, and stepping outside the door to track down one of those "Constables" and show it to him, asking to see Magneto...rather politely, really.

One isn't hard to find. Police are easy enough for the average person to spot. The young man who Julian speaks with is polite; friendly, even. He directs Julian to the main government building a couple of blocks away, and even gives him a couple of pointers on where nearby to grab a good burger. Nice guy, even if he is a strange orange color.

The government building is reminscent of an old Roman senate, with towering pillars in the front and a set of wide marble stairs leading up from the lawn into the building itself.

Magneto is not hard to find; he is standing in the main foyer of the building, on his way out, it would seem. He is speaking to a young woman with delicate, pixie-like features and waist-length snow-white hair with large, expressive indigo eyes. She nods to what he is saying, smiling a bit. He spies Julian, however, and he smiles, waving the young man over. "Ah. Julian. I had hoped you would come by."

The girl glances over at Julian, her cheeks a touch pink, but she does not say anything yet.

Julian glances to the girl briefly, but where a few weeks ago he might've grinned or introduced himself, instead he just offers her a brief nod and a quiet, "Excuse me." His attention turns to Magneto, and a smile appears that's purely polite, neither bearing mockery nor genuine happiness, "I did say I'd sit down and have a conversation with you, and I'd like to think I'm a man of my word." He glances back towards the hotel, "Can't say I'm thrilled about the means that brought me here, but it's pointless to complain about it now."

"Of course," Magneto says simply. "I do apologize for the methods employed to bring you-- I would have much preferred it not have happened this way."

He glances to the girl. "Fiona, my dear, would you be so kind as to send word ahead that Mr. Keller will be joining for dinner? And make sure everything is in order?"

The girl nods silently, her eyes half closing, and a small indigo aura flashing around her for a moment. She nods again to Magneto, and smiles shyly at Julian, before the aura forms again and she lifts into the air, flying off towards the center of the island.

"If you don't mind, Julian, I think we should walk. It is not far, but I think it would do you good to see what we have built here." and he begins to step towards the door.

Julian shows no particular objection to using his own two feet, falling into step beside Magneto as they move. For the time being, he keeps his thoughts to himself, but his eyes are clearly attentive as they go, taking in the details of their surroundings, and yes...assessing.

Magneto does not mind that at all, in fact, it was what he wanted. His island nation was a utopia for mutantkind. He took them all in, no matter how powerful or weak they were, no matter how beautiful or ugly. What Julian sees as they walk is a community, vibrant and caring for each other, a city alive with color and possibility, an island where those who were different-- superior, in the minds of some-- were protected. Safe.

He smiles and greets many of those on the streets as they pass. Some that come up to the two, to shake their ruler's hand, or speak to him personally of mundanities, Magneto introduces to Julian. He knows them all, their names, and he asks personal questions-- of their children, or their work, or something similar. If there was someone whispering that data into his ear, he'd be a politician. But for all it seems, the man genuinely knows and cares for his subjects.

Julian gives no sign of surprise at this. He greets those he's introduced to politely, but a touch standoffishly. Much like a thousand parties he's been to at the behest of his parents...the ones where he behaved himself. He continues along with the older man, watching, greeting, walking. When they find a moment without others around, Julian notes, "I'm not going to lie, Magneto. It's all very impressive." He considers, "How many humans live here?"

"Maybe a dozen," Magneto says after giving it some thought. "Spouses of some who have sought sanctuary here, seeking it themselves." He shrugs. "Not many homo sapiens wish to live among us, in a place where our differences are cherished, not at best tolerated."

"Better than none, I suppose." Julian says more quietly, "So you wouldn't object if there were more? As long as they followed whatever laws you've established here?" He queries as they move along, hand swinging lightly at his sides as they move. "Did you go out and rescue all these folks yourself...or did some of them just make their way here?"

"As long as they were to abide by the rules of the community, like the others here already do?" Magneto shrugs. "I don't see why they would bother. Like I said... the few that are here are here because the married a mutant. Where else could they go?" He sighs. "But if you are asking if your Clara would have been welcome among us, had I got to her in time..."

He looks older. Saddened. "She would have been." He gazes out over the city as they begin to move up the hill to his manse. "Some we rescued. Some came. Some sent word to us that they wished to come, but had no ability to do so-- when that happens, we try and send out someone to bring them home. That is what Genosha is, for our kind, Julian. It is a home." He sighs softly. "We do not always make it in time. I would spare you the tales of what we find-- it is truly heartwrenching what the lesser humans will do to us if given a chance." He himself had seen too much of the violence against mutant kind.

"I'm not naive. I've read some of the stories, and seen what Newt does in the long term firsthand." Julian notes with a grim expression. "Thing is, people have been doing this to each other long before we came along. Do you really think that we're really -that- much better? if your vision comes to pass...if mutants inherit the earth...you think we're not going to fall into the same patterns? What happens when some other mutant decides he and his group should be the top dogs instead of you and yours?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Magneto says as they arrive at the front door of his home in Genosha. "Perhaps we will fall back to the same old patterns, Julian. Or perhaps we can begin something better, more civilized. But the day homo superior truly inherits this world is sadly far off. Until that day, we must stick together, and protect our brothers and sisters who would otherwise fall to the teeming masses of so-called humanity."

He opens the door. "Please. Do come in, Julian."

Julian gives Magneto a nod as he steps inside, giving another look around when he passes within. "Maybe. I understand the concept of safety in numbers well enough." He turns and looks to Magneto, "Not all of humanity is against us, Magneto. There's a big chunk of them now that don't consider mutants any different from any other metahuman. They don't even really -have- a name for mutants, even if they used to have people born with powers."

Magneto nods, at least willing to listen to Julian's opinion, even if he doesn't agree with it. "Perhaps. But there are enough that want to see mutants-- including those who cannot defend themselves-- destroyed."

They make their way through the house's first floor. It is stylishly maintained and decorated, but by no means opulent. The white haired girl from earlier steps out through one of the arches leading to the dining area. She nods slightly, gesturing inside towards the set table.

Julian regards the girl a bit more intently now, offering at least a bit of a smile when he passes, stepping into the dining area, eyes still watching intently. And yes, he does take in what kind of spread's been laid out, if any. "Enough to condemn the whole? I don't buy that, Magneto. If we want them to give us a chance, that has to cut both ways. Yeah, there's always going to be people that will hate us and want us dead just because of what we are, but those guys would have a lot less traction if...certain people...didn't seem to want to give them all the fuel they need to fan the flames for the folks on the fence." Perhaps out of courtesy, he does not mention Magneto directly in front of his followers. "Can I propose a hypothetical scenario for you to think about, Magneto?"

"Of course, Julian," Magneto says, moving to his seat at the head of the table. The meal set out is fairly simple: a minestrone soup, freshly baked bread, a salad, and a roasted chicken. The girl takes a seat as well, and once Julian sits as well, there are still three chairs left open, one of which has a plate in front of it.

Moments later, the door opens. And, a sublime figure graces the room, moving towards the dinnertable. A lithe woman, whipcord muscle and grace that's been perfected nearly a century, if not more. A femme fatale if there was ever one, as beautiful as she is terrible, skin cast in the deepest blue. Yellow eyes. Blood red lips, and hair. Sharp nails. A sleeveless top of white, that exposes her trim stomach, a belt of small shrunken skulls holding up a loincloth of white, and white boots to match.

She smiles, widely, at Magneto at first, then to Julian, dipping her head, without so much as saying a word. The predatorial, cat-like shapeshifting mutant moves to the open chair, and smoothly seats herself.

"What do you think the state of affairs for mutants might be...if the first mutant most of them had ever heard of -wasn't- someone trying to steal a bunch of nuclear missiles and basically declaring himself his own nation in as loud and proud a way as possible?" Julian glances towards Mystique, glancing over her for a brief moment before turning back to Magneto, "You're one of the most powerful guys on the planet, Magneto. Maybe -the- most powerful mutant. Did you ever think about whether you could've made a difference being a hero to -everyone- instead of just mutants? Don't you think if people saw you standing alongside guys like Captain America and Reed Richards and that Superman guy...that they might start realizing that we can do a lot of good instead of just scaring the ever-loving hell out of them?"

Magneto looks amused. "Ah, yes. Charles and I have gone back and forth on this idea so often, my son, it is something I can easily answer."

The utensils lift, beginning to slice and dip and serve the plates as if of their own accord, as he continues. "Such a thing has happened, has it not? With Charles's institute, his X-Men? And we see how well that has done... despite all of his best intentions, mutants are still loathed and persecuted."

Fiona blinks, blushing suddenly, and as if to hide that fact, is surrounded by a faint blue aura. Two bottles of wine float from the wine rack, one settling on the table, the other floating around, deftly avoiding the serving knives and forks as it fills all four of their wine glasses-- first Magneto, then Julian's, then Raven's, and lastly, Fiona's own.

Mystique lifts her glass of wine, before half-lidded eyes slide towards Julian. Her voice, smooth as her motions, inquires mildly, "People like your parents? Did your playing 'hero' change their minds at all?" Her inhuman eyes shift, to regard Fiona briefly, then flicker to Julian. "Does Kurt go out in public without disguise, yet?" She refers to Nightcrawler, of course. "Or does he still hide, because he is that people see him as a demon? Ask Callisto if she thinks that heroes have helped her cause, any. Or has Xavier or Tony Stark not told you about the Morlocks?"

Julian frowns just a touch, reaching up and rubbing at his forehead a bit, but his eyes are still turned towards Magneto when he speaks. After his glass is filled, Julian does lift the glass, half-smiling even if there's not much joy in it, "Well, here's to civilized conversations, at least." After he takes a sip, he shakes his head, "I respect what the guys at the Institute try to do, but think about it: Half the time they're out there fighting you or other mutants that are scaring the hell out of people or worse yet trying to just outright kill them. How easy is it to spin that into something that makes both parties look guilty?" Julian waves a hand, it clearly being a rhetorical question, as they've all seen how easy it is firsthand, "The X-men still hide. I get why...they've got a school of kids they're looking out for and can't afford to be loud and proud because the same kind of people we've already been talking about. Hell even then sometimes it's -still- not enough." Julian notes.

Julian looks to Mystique and shakes his head, "No, it hasn't, not yet, but ultimately that's not the point. They didn't try to kill me, either, and they got taken in with the Newt bullcrap...if they'd known it'd kill me in the long run they'd have never agreed to it." He listens to Mystique quite intently, then looks back to Magneto, "See, that's the difference. I'm not naive enough to believe that change is going to come quickly. I also don't entirely agree with how the X-Men do things. I chose to be out there...loud and proud, like I said, and try to show people the good one of us could do. I don't wear a mask. I don't hide. Yeah, I know that paints a big fat bulls-eye on me." He taps a finger right between his eyes to indicate that target, "But I don't expect to change the world by myself. But I I can change a few minds...and someone comes behind me that changes a few more...and then maybe some like Kurt or a Morlock shows up and does the same thing..." He shrugs, "You probably think it's naive, I get that. Don't blame you. But I can't do things your way. Or the X-Men's way...You chose your road, and I've chosen mine."

"Those who oppose us think the same way," Mystique notes to Julian, quietly. "If I kill only one, someone else will come in behind me, and kill a few more. And pretty soon, there will be none left. They used to stake us out in the desert. Or hang us, in lynch mobs. Burn us in our homes." A thoughtful perspective, then. "Or, try. The mentality has not changed. It will not change. Simply their means are getting more clever, and insidious, to try and trap us, and end us." She catches the look from Magneto, to Fiona, and her eyes move to the young girl.

"Some of us understand the way things work. Others, in time, are given reminders. The enlightened shift their positions to survive." Then, she's looking back to Julian, speaking conversationally. "And if they are not trying to kill us, they are trying to use us. Manipulate us. One has only to look to Logan and Victor, as proof of that. You must, of course, choose your own course. All of us, here, have done so. For our own reasons." She looks to Magnus, then, pointedly, and perhaps meaningfully. Who, afterall, has been more loyal to Magneto than Raven Darkholme?

"I can tell you this much, Magneto. If there ever comes a time that I think you're doing the right thing for the right reasons -and- in the right way, I'll back your play 100 percent. I'm convinced enough of the second part of that triangle to say that. About halfway on the first. It's that third one where you and I start to disagree." Julian looks to Fiona for a moment, giving her a brief, silent nod before turning to Mystique, "That sounds an awful lot like a threat, Mystique. I thought we were having a friendly and civil difference of opinion here. I also don't think we win by becoming more and more reactionary to the worst that humanity has to offer. Not saying we shouldn't protect ourselves when we have to, but there's "defense" and there's "defense through overwhelming show of force" which, no offense, you two seem really fond of." He looks to the girl seated across the table and tilts his head, "Fiona, you've been awfully quiet. I'd be curious to hear what you think about all this, if you're willing to share?"

Raven's words bring a pale, haunted look to the girl's face, and Fiona shifts in her chair, putting her fork down. She looks to Magneto.

"No, Fiona. You will stay," Magneto responds as if she had spoken a question to him. A metal pitcher of water floats in from the kitchen, pouring into the empty water glass at her setting. "Drink this." The pitcher moves and fills the other water glasses as well, of course, then sets down at the end of the table.

The girl drinks her water, looking back at Magneto, her eyes pleading. "I said no. I understand that you--" he pauses, realizing that Julian might be confused. "I apologize. Recall earlier how I said when mutants call for us to save them, we try and come? And of course, Raven's comments on what the humans do to us?"

He looks over at his assistant. "She cannot answer you, son. She was nearly killed. Raven was the one sent for her when she called, and when she mentions burning us alive--"

The girl flinches, looking away. Magnus reaches over, taking her hand gently. "I'm sorry," he murmurs, then turns to Julian. "Her TK field was all that saved her long enough for Raven to bring her out. She has not spoken aloud since, to my knowledge."

Raven gives Julian a benign smile, "Not a threat. A fact. One you realize when you have the misfortune of being in Fiona's position." Mystique inclines her head towards Fiona, and the 'threat', if there was one, seems to have passed. "There are a certain amount of people who will only understand, respect, a show of force of power. Placation, talk, do nothing to sway them. Magnus understands that a show of power is far better than acting as a terrorist. It is an art. Much as retrieving information. Do not be so naive to think that we do not act unobtrusively, and without subterfuge. Our hand has many fingers. I have had a hand, let us say, in stopping more than a handful of laws that were designed to create animosity, and hate amongst our kind, Julian." She shape-shifts into Senator Kelly. Smiles, vaguely, at Julian. And, in Kelly's voice, states, "Your friends want to sit down to tea with those who have already solidified their hate, and their choice. We are merely the lever that applies enough force to make the necessary changes to ensure we do not suffer anymore at those hands." Then, she's Mystique again in a smooth, seamless transition. "There are others, along the way, I have saved. As has Magnus. Genosha is, for now, the only place we have that is truly safe. And that, Julian, is only kept safe by the knowledge we -will-, and -can- protect ourselves. And with tenacity. And passion. We are defending our home. Xavier's flock seem at times little more than flag-wavers, for a cause." She opines, "You, however, seem to hold potential."

Julian flicks a glance to Magneto. On the surface, it's a completely benign glance, but there's a flicker of recognition in his eyes, something that might well say "Clever" if it were verbalized. It's a damn shame when you know people are trying to pull your strings and you find yourself reacting in exactly the ways they probably want you to, but even that awareness doesn't prevent a look of genuine sympathy from settling onto his features when he looks to Fiona, "Sorry Fiona, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I thought you were being left out of the conversation and I didn't think that was right." Apology made, he looks to Mystique, not even showing the merest bit of surprise when she shifts to Kelley, then back again, "A certain number, sure. But you two aren't really talking about a certain number. You keep talking about "humanity." Because you already know where taking that road goes, even if you don't want to come right out and say it. You kill these folks that were involved with the Newt business. Fine, great...justice is served. And now all the people that were friends, spouses, children, and siblings for these folks hate us just as much as they did. So a year from now you have to kill them too. And again, and again, and again. Tell me Mystique, if I joined up with you, how far down the list would you have to get before you'd be asking me to kill my own parents? Or before you slipped in and did it yourself without me knowing about it? How long before I'd have to watch you kill my non-mutant friends because they have a problem with you abducting and executing people en masse? Where does it end? You probably tell yourself you don't want to kill all the humans. You might even tell yourself that once you've scared them into submission with these "shows of force" that there'll be peace. Now tell me who's naive here? I don't normally buy into the slippery slope fallacy, but if you think there's a way that going down this road doesn't end up being committing genocide to prevent genocide, then please enlighten me." He looks to Magneto once more, "I -know- you've thought about this. You've toned down your rhetoric from the early days, but the topic of "inevitable war on humanity" crops up an awful lot in your old speeches and writings." Which it seems Julian has indeed studied. His voice throughout this monologue does not grow angry, though perhaps a touch of frustration does finally start to lace through it.

"I have killed -far- less people," Mystique notes, mildly, "Than the one named Wolverine, who calls himself a 'hero'. And others, such as he." Her eyes shift to regard Fiona, as she lets her words linger. She looks back to Julian, "Now you are being foolish. I've no reason to kill your parents. I kill whom I need to, and only when I need to. I do not seek out targets to put bullets in." She almost sounds mildly offended, if one could call it that. And then she adds, "The inevitable war against humanity you speak of, ...," she shrugs. "You were not around, during those times. The war was inevitable not because we wished it to be, but because we did not wish to be casualties before we had a chance to fight." She rises, then, from her seat, and looks to Fiona, "When you are finished, here, come to my room. We have some matters to finish discussing." She looks to Magnus, "And I've a task to see to." Finally, to Julian. "A pleasure, Julian Keller. I do hope to see you again. Soon." And with that, Mystique is sauntering in her seductive manner out of the room.

Julian watches Mystique leave, not responding to her words since it seems she's on her way out. "Fair trial? So if it turns out they're just some lab-tech that thought, however misguided, that he was "helping" us...or just some security guard that was pulling a paycheck...you'll just take 'em back to the US, pretty as you please?"

Magneto nods. "That is correct," he replies mildly. If Mystique's exit bothers him, it doesn't show.

"And the ones that -aren't- innocent? You'll just punish them yourself?" Julian tilts his head, sipping from the winecup once more, "If someone here committed a genuinely malicious crime against a human, would you be completely agreeable to humans from some other nation just showing up and carting them off for trial?"

Magneto sighs. "Those we find unequivocally guilty? They /will/ be punished." He takes a drink of wine, lifting a brow and continuing mildly, "I would like to see them try. We do not create poisons to slaughter their kind, nor do we hunt them down and kill them for being human. We would leave them alone, if they would leave us alone-- you must see that, Julian. Your comparison is fallacious."

"Not really." Julian notes, "If every mutant in the world actually recognized you as their leader, maybe, but we don't...you're pretty much entirely self-appointed in that role. "The fact of the matter is that you busting down their doors and doing whatever the hell you want just because you think you're better than them -isn't- going to make them leave us alone. It's going to make them try harder, and get more people to agree that "they" are completely right about us. You keep saying you want to protect mutants, and I believe that much, but the way you keep going about it isn't doing a damn thing to make -less- enemies...it's like it's -designed- to make the folks that are genuinely hateful of us increase exponentially. You can't win people over with -fear- Magneto. You can cow them into submission for a while but in the long run it's never sustainable. You're an educated guy, I'd imagine you know your history well enough to realize that. So...why don't you at least -try- a slightly different path?"

Magento rises to his feet, wine glass in hand, and moves towards the window, looking out over the city below.

"Believe me if you will, but I have. I have been biding my time and simply working for the good of those who would choose to follow me, as I hope one day you might." He glances back at Julian. "This was simply an issue too egregious for me to allow to pass. They were distributing the internationally as well as weaponizing it. The UN knew and sat idly by. I was forced to take these matters into my own hands."

Julian glances over towards the still (understandably now) silent Fiona, smiling slightly apologetically to her once more, then rises to his own feet, moving over to stand beside Magneto, "If you know me at all, you know I'm not all that good of a "follower."" Julian notes with a tiny trace of actual humor in his voice, "Newt needed to be shut down. Not arguing with that at all...and it -had- been. The plants were taken down, one way or another. People were brought in. SHIELD's UN, and they were involved in the raids themselves. Hell, they even took a serious political risk doing it...the drug still wasn't declared illegal and there were at least a few guys in Congress all for it." He adds, "Yeah, is SHIELD probably keeping all the data on it for themselves? Of course they are. I knew they'd probably be doing that even before the raids happened. The difference is that I don't think SHIELD's keeping a hold of that data with the intent of just using it to take care of "the mutant problem." They're holding it because they're afraid of -you- and are desperate for something that -might- work against you if they need it." He looks to Magneto, expression serious, "You can't think that the world's just going to throw up their hands and agree to let you do whatever you want, Magneto. Would //you// agree to just kowtow to some guy that just told you he was the savior of the mutant race and had enough power to make people think twice about a full-on attack? I kind of doubt it."