ataraxion | video. { a crown of gold, a heart of stone }

[ Perhaps it a bit too late for this sort of conversation, but Erik necessitates its need anyway; the Tranquility has nearly always been a bastion for acceptance and tolerance, and the idea was constantly perpetuated throughout his previous stay here, something that deeply unsettled him. He's in a deserted room, particularly one that Alex Summers might be familiar with from their training sessions long ago, but his reason for being there is more along the need for silence. ]

For those of you who remember my face, I can assure you, you're not mistaken. [ He pauses for a moment, because while it needs to be said, it still angers him that he's back here. ] The ship has brought me back since then. For those of you who don't, [ welllllll. ] I expect we'll be acquaintances soon enough. [ But not really. ] In the meantime, you can call me Magneto. [ Except the fifty billion people that still call him Erik. ]

No doubt all the lectures have made it clear that the ship is not, in any way, safe, and this is hardly any different. I won't speak on false pretenses that unity is what matters, but my issue at hand is this: if you are non-human of any sort, vampires, werewolves, mutants, what have you, I urge you to seek solidarity only among your own kind. It is our strengths that will allow us to survive, our own inherited abilities, and we must use these to secure the ship against its ongoing threats.

We must defend ourselves by striking out towards the enemy and to an equal degree, protect the sections of the ship we have acquired. While the Security team has this under control, the ship's size makes this difficult. [ Considering Erik is on SEC, this is just asking for double protection. ] Your offense is our best defense.

PRIVATE » Alex Summers [ All that he gets is a ping to notice this, because the location should be familiar to him: its where Alex and he had trained a while ago and there are some things better discussed in person than over these. ]

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The enemy.

[ there's no intonation, but given his narrowed eyes this is fairly clearly a question, not to mention a possible lead in to part two of arthur's total inability to make friends and influence people once he reveals he's a magical racist. ]

[ The moment Erik finds out that the Arthur he grew up reading in his favorite novel turns out to be a racist is the moment everything falls apart. ]

The ship. [ As if that answers everything in the single statement from Arthur, but Erik knows it doesn't, which is why he elaborates: ] Smiley, the monsters on board, the threats both past and present. All of them contribute to a single enemy we must band against.

[ it's a good thing he clarifies, since arthur is on the verge of pointing out that the ship is a ship, not an enemy. but then, he doesn't quite believe that it could be autonomous in any way. ]

I'm not sure which direction you intend to strike out in, but it's a valiant thought and I commend you for it, Magneto.

[ he considers asking if he's roman; doesn't. goes one better: ]

Are you a non-human of any sort.

[ Despite Arthur's belief, Erik is fully under the assumption that the ship is, in some way, autonomous. It comes mainly from what he's seen before, and the way the ship tends to behave with constantly getting lost here and there. It's nothing he can explain, being from a time period where this makes no sense, but it helps ease that little bit of transition. ]

As always, your support is appealing. [ He speaks dryly, as if Arthur's words really do mean something to him, though he hesitates at the question. It's not that Erik will outright lie about it, but there are so many implications that come with it, a nod back to the questions he was asked as a child (are you a jew) that he stills momentarily. ]

I prefer mutant, someone who carries an inherent ability that renders them superior to the average human.

[ arthur's eyes narrow, but he doesn't immediately cry sorcery and let slip the dogs of war. not everything on this ship is, after all. ]

An inherent ability. I was taught that magic was a thing learned.

[ he doesn't mean to put so much steel into that word, magic, echo the intonation of his father's disgust without quite the same vitriol behind it, but nevertheless, it's there. ]

This is not magic, [ Erik says, shaking his head. There's enough to be said about the ignorance that comes from humans, but this type of ignorance is a new low, one that offends him more than the question that was previously asked. ] I was born like this.

[ brb resisting urge to crank out lady gaga. ]

[ Rather than engineered, rather than manipulated like Shaw had done to him, it's the concession Erik had come to terms with, that it was okay to be born like this, rather than converted like Jenna had been, or the odd others that came from different backgrounds but were still superior. ]

Not everyone hails from the same background as you might be familiar with.

[ Just a slight bit of condescension there. ]

Believe me, I'm well aware.

[ arthur gives a brief widening of his eyes along with a grimace, because he's already learned just how different some people's homes could be. ]

This isn't Camelot. I've accepted that. But if it's not magic...

[ he thinks of toasters, and jump drives, and grav couches, and medicine: ]

Is it science?

[ It's more complicated than that, and while Erik gets it, explaining it is a whole 'nother can of worms that someone like Charles, or perhaps someone else in the Science department is better at explaining. ]

Science, if you will, is not entirely inaccurate. [ As frustrated as he is about this whole thing, Erik sighs, drawing a hand through his hair as he tries explaining. ] My ability is inherent in me, so you'd be apt to call it a branch of the subject, rather than science alone. The term would be genetics, instead.

Genetics.

[ doesn't exactly ring a bell. ]

I suppose I've encounters creatures born with magic, or of magic, though I'm not sure if they were intelligent. Unicorns and the like.

[ are you a unicorn, erik? ]

[ he most certainly is not a unicorn, arthur. if anything he's a lot more ruder than one. case in point being the evident distaste at the implication that anyone who uses magic is considered unintelligent. ]

You don't strike me as someone who's met a substantial population of magic wielding creatures, then.

video. { a crown of gold, a heart of stone }

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