Chess & Civil Conversation

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Erik mind processed Charles' words as he spoke them, outlining his expectations. Despite them, Magneto stood by what he said and felt; that Charles would be incapable of turning a blind eye. He would not condone his violence. He knew only glimpses of Magneto's determination, and the rest was heard about through the news. But alas, Magneto remained silent. Not about to spark a debate on a topic that was not being explained right now. He knew that Charles was able to more effectively find mutants with Cerebro. It had been incredible to see how the machine and Charles' powers worked together to track down mutants. But, the objective of tracking them down would differ. For now it would be only to offer them a safe haven, and not to offer them a chance to fight a war against humans. Which was what Magneto hugely stood for, and as Charles further explained his proposed compromise, Magneto feared that his goals and objectives would slowly be pushed aside until it was solely about saving mutants, and not taking the appropriate steps to stop the threats. It would be a cycle of constantly saving mutants, without stopping the root of the problem.

There was also the fact that humans would be here as well that caused Magneto great hesitation. Those within the Brotherhood despised mutants, as many of them had been victims of their actions, enslaved by them and their persecution. How could he ask them to come here and redirect their objectives to only saving mutants, and not fighting a war against humans? For in Magneto's mind, that was what it meant. Though still, he said nothing, not yet willing to totally reject Charles' idea. He was still in the process of considering everything. "The distrust I feel for humans is not unshared. All those within the Brotherhood are victims of humankind." His tone continued to be calm and composed, void of any anger or defiance. He was merely having a conversation, trying to make a point. That this wasn't just about him, but that it was also about the rest of his fellow Brotherhood mutants. "They will not like the idea of associating with them, and I do not blame them. Nor am I different in their mindsets." Magneto did not trust humans and was unsure how safe and comfortable he would feel with them about. "I have always admired your faith Charles, but I do not share the same faith in humans." It was the main cause of their disagreement.

They could agree on the importance of saving mutants and doing everything within their power to aid those who were in danger . . . but Magneto did not trust humans, and thus, in his stubbornness, refused to do anything that acknowledged he remotely trusted them or placed any mutants in their care. Especially ones that he had appealed to and made promises to . . . only to bring them to an environment where there were humans and furthermore, limit their attacks, re-shifting part of their focus. "There is no choice when it comes to saving mutants or destroying those who held them captive. The two are related. For who is to say that they will not do it again? How can we save mutants if we do not permanently eliminate the threat?" It was why whenever he broke mutants out of a experimental facility, he destroyed the building; thus destroying all the research and the humans within it who performed such crimes. "Are you really so willing to accept my actions when it comes it destroying the source of these crimes against mutants?" Scientists. Experimental facilities. Politicians. Not all of them, just the ones who worked against mutants. Magneto had his targets for a reason. So now, he was re-questioning Charles' ability to allow him that freedom, or whether he would never be able to condone it -- or as he said, turning a blind eye.

[x]

“The distrust I feel for humans is not unshared,” Erik warned. “All those within the Brotherhood are victims of humankind. They will not like the idea of associating with them, and I do not blame them. Nor am I different in their mindsets. I have always admired your faith, Charles, but I do not share the same faith in humans.”

“As is your right,” Charles assured. “I am not asking you to trust them or have faith in them. All that I ask is that you do not treat the humans who teach and work here as the enemy. Many of them have mutant relatives themselves; our mathematics teacher is married to a mutant and they have a mutant son who is a student here. Our history teacher is the human child of two mutants and has a mutant brother who works for a logging firm in Washington state. A number of the children attending have human parents who care deeply for them. The humans here mean no mutant any harm, and all I ask is for you and your followers to acknowledge that.”

Already a great deal of mistrust had grown between humans and mutants; it was something that would have to be addressed and dealt with as quickly as possible if mutant rights were to ever get off the ground in the legislature.

“This is no choice when it comes to saving mutants or destroying those who held them captive. The two are related,” Erik insisted. “For who is to say that they will not do it again? How can we save mutants if we do not permanently eliminate the threat? Are you really so willing to accept my actions when it comes to destroying the source of these crimes against mutants?”

If it will save you from becoming the man who would willingly sacrifice a mutant child for your cause, then I will accept whatever I must, Charles thought as he drew in a breath.

“Destroy the facilities if you must,” Charles offered, “but if you utilize bloodshed and murder, then what good can we possibly hope to achieve? How can we convince the rest of the world that we are not monsters to be feared but people as deserving of freedom and respect as anyone else?”

Charles was willing to accept Erik’s intimidation of those who wished mutants harm; it was the man’s tendency to blame all humans for the actions of a few that was their biggest disagreement.

“There are humans who will not accept us, and I understand this. It would be impossible for me not to. But violent threats and intimidation will only take us so far. Surprisingly enough, such humans can be as stubborn and single-minded as any of us.” Charles tried to lighten his voice with the last part. It wasn’t exactly something to joke about, but he didn’t want to send off the wrong impressions to Erik; if the man thought they were in danger of treading down old arguments, what hope would there be for the continuation of their discussion?

“For the sake of mutants everywhere, we need to balance the militant with the coercion,” Charles added. He hated the word “coercion,” but the only other term he could think of was bribery and that sat even less well than coercion.

[Erik Lehnsherr]

Charles was trying. He truly was. Attempting to find that compromise that Erik had never considered before. But he was asking Erik things that he was unsure he could do; to trust humans and have faith in them. Not all of them of course, but the ones who worked within the school. Erik wasn't sure he would ever feel fully comfortable being among humans, and he was unsure he could ask his fellow Brotherhood mutants to trust them as well when he himself could not. But Magneto remained silent, still hearing Charles out. Not about to dismiss everything for he did have a logic associated to it. He was even saying that if he must, to destroy the facilities -- is that what he meant by keeping the violence and causalities to a bare minimum? Would it always be a source of tension and dispute every time he returned from a mission and Charles discovered that he had killed humans? Could they really peacefully coincide and accept one another's views and methods of achieving them?

"The world already perceives us as monsters. My objective is to deter their actions and attempts to eradicate us." He knew what Charles was going to say. Something about how they should prove themselves to be the better ones; that they should not reinforce these misconceptions by proving them to be true. Magneto did however give a half smile as Charles spoke of how such humans could be as stubborn and single minded as them. Erik did not often put humans on the same level as mutants. For he believed them to be the superior race. Far more powerful than humans . . . that was after all why homo sapiens feared them. "Freedom and respect will not just be given to us. We must fight for it." He firmly believed that; that waiting would do nothing. That letting time pass so that they could prove themselves to be a peaceful people was time where mutants continued to suffer as humans experimented on them, uncaring of having any sort of legitimate motive. And the fact that their own government approved projects that enabled this . . . well, it left very little hope in humans for Magneto. Hope. That was what this was all about. Hope for a better future. Hope for humanity. Hope for acceptance. Hope for mutants.

Erik did not wish to start an argument. He did not want the conversation to turn into a heated debate, as their last few encounters had entailed -- particularly the one on the plane after he'd been freed from imprisonment. Erik slightly leaned forward, knowing that he could not say anything that Charles most likely did not already know. He did not want to merely say that he felt it would be difficult for them to find a common ground. He wanted to show Charles. Erik then raised his index finger and placed it on his temple, lightly tapping it a few times. "If you can find anything that allows you to believe we can reach that common ground and work together as a single team, then I will accept your offer." Because he knew that his views would always differ from Charles. For in his mind, there was no hope of making peace with humans. He was currently targeting humans who were a threat but he also believed that there was no hope. That they could not peacefully coexist . . . that he could not simply stand back and allow them to live if they got in his way during a mission, or even toward those who made themselves to be the enemies. He would react to their attacks; something he had been unable to successfully do in the second world war. He would not let mutants face genocide. And Trask's sentinels, proved that the government himself, was willing to let that happen. In order for this to work, Erik had to have hope for humans, just as Charles did. But his mind was void of that. So unless Charles found something in his head that could convince him that this would work . . . then Erik feared they would always be on opposing sides.

He also knew that he was willingly telling Charles to search his mind. It was not something he often -- if ever -- did. It was partly why he had the helmet. Yet he had not brought it with him today. His mind was left vulnerable to the telepath and not only that, but he was now encouraging him to delve into it. It was a risk, for them both. For in his thoughts were the actions of the Brotherhood, what they had done, the facilities they had destroyed, the mutants they had saved . . . and so much more. The last time Charles had delved so deep into his mind, he had pulled out thoughts of Erik's mother; precious memories that Erik had not know he had. Ones that brought tears to both their eyes. And it had been the key to unlocking his powers. He knew that just as easily, Charles could alter his mind and make him see reason . . . but oddly enough, Erik trusted him not to do so. He only hoped that this naivety would not cause him to regret his words of permission. Though, he was also very aware that if it was Charles' intention to change his mindset, then he could have easily done so by now, at some point during their entire conversation thus far. "Go ahead," he added, in a low voice, bracing himself for whatever the response would be to his words. Maybe Charles would do it or perhaps he would not. Now was the time to find out.