oo1. video.

[forgodssake]

I'm sure you must all see a lot've messages like this.

[ The man who appears is one who has appeared on the network before -- soft-faced and earnest, anxiety tested in the lines next to his eyes and a direct sort of stare that manages not to miss the tiny camera embedded in the device he's holding. Still, he smiles, just a little.

His address is slow and not exactly formal, just considered. ]

My name is Charles Xavier, and I'm newly arrived. You'll have to forgive me if I ask any questions you've heard before, though I'm doing my utmost to gather what I can on my own. I believe I've got the basic picture, although any advice is of course appreciated.

What I would most like to know is how many are here that had some sort of... [ He hesitates. ] ...gift. A natural ability of some kind, beyond the usual human faculties. A conversation would be of great interest to me.

Thank you.

Comments

[thebreakingwave]

Hullo. I'm Harry Potter and, well, I'm a wizard. That is, I can do a certain sort of magic.

[He wrinkles up his nose, annoyed at sounding like he's come to an AA meeting.]

video; 1/2

[redhotsummers]

...[First Erik, now Charles.

So just give him a moment.

Or two.

Or three.]

permavideo;

[redhotsummers]

Charles?

[Third one. This one doesn't seem to remember this place, either. But that's fine, that's okay. It just means--he isn't alone.]

[forgodssake]

A pleasure to meet you, Harry. I might need you to define magic, please, it isn't entirely my area.

[thebreakingwave]

Right. Well, usually I use a wand - a piece of wood with a core made of special material - and speak in Latin to cast spells or charms, or whatever. There's all different sorts of spells that can do pretty much most things. There are, of course, pretty firm exceptions - like you can't make nutritious food from nothing, you can't raise the dead, and so on.

Would it help if you saw an example?

[forgodssake]

Alex!

[ Unabashedly glad to see someone familiar to him, he smiles into his communications device. ]

Good god, when'd you get here?

[redhotsummers]

I've been here for almost two years.

[He shrugs, ducking his head slightly.]

Yeah, I know that sounds crazy.

But welcome to the Tranquility.

[He's going to need a drink or three after this conversation. But he has to try and hide the swell of warmth he feels at seeing that stupid smile, at knowing Charles is happy to see him.]

[forgodssake]

Right!

[ He sounds-- delighted, to be honest, perhaps a touch disbelieving, but not in any especially cynical way. He possibly has his own uninformed conclusions, but they're kept to himself. ]

It would help me a great deal, if it isn't too much trouble.

[thebreakingwave]

[Harry props his comm up and once the video is set up to his liking, he places a glass on the table in front of him and taps the rim with his wand.]

Ad harena.

[The glass wobbles for a minute, the sides shimmering before it slumps into a pile of sand.]

[forgodssake]

Oh. Thank you.

[ Two years? Mirth and gladness seem to evaporate in place of confusion. And worry. ]

It sounds impossible, actually.

[forgodssake]

[ Charles is patient, politely attentive, his smile small when the demonstration is complete, as is the laugh that goes with it. ] That's remarkable. Have you always been able to...

[ There's a lingering pause as if trying to decide how to phrase it. Gives up. ]

...to do magic?

[redhotsummers]

I know. But it's not.

[He holds his arm so the tattoo is showing. the 006, specifically.]

That was my first jump. 20 months ago.

Go into my mind, if you want to.

[thebreakingwave]

Yes and no? When I was young, I didn't mean to do it and my guardians tried everything they could think of to stop it, but I couldn't really hold it off. I didn't know what it was.

[Harry isn't bothered by this in the slightest. It's just normal.]

Later, I was taken to a school for people like me and learned how to control it.

[forgodssake]

And they all wield a similar sort of ability, or are they quite unique?

[ --Xavier actually had a totally divergent point to his posting, to be honest, and he might yet get to it -- but his fascination to both points of difference and similarity is getting away with him. ]

[thebreakingwave]

Yes and no? Most everyone can do the basics, but each person has their own preferences or skills. I'm rubbish at divination. Couldn't read a tea leaf if my life depended on it --[Har. Har.]-- or soothe a mandrake, but I've friends that can.

[forgodssake]

[ A line draws between Charles' brows, obviously given to believe him, but--

--the invitation is accepted all the same. He touches fingertips to temple, and reaches. For a few seconds, nothing happens, but his eyes close and he needles his focus, and there is that light touch of psychic presence, urging Alex's mind to open to him like a book. ]

[forgodssake]

Right. [ Another almost laugh. Mandrake. Of course. ]

Well, thank you, Harry, that was very interesting. I won't inundate you with too many more questions, but I'd love to have a chat about this school of yours sometime, if you'd be willing.

[thebreakingwave]

Sure. I'd rather talk in person anyway.

Let me know when and where you'd like to meet, and if I'm not working, I'll be there.

[forgodssake]

Yes, as would I.

Before you go, I did wish to ask: is your magic more difficult to perform, here, than it was when you were home?

[thebreakingwave]

The magic itself, no. But I don't have access to all the supplies I'd have at home. There are things I can't do without them and substitution can get very dangerous.

[What he wouldn't give for a nice pensive.]

video;

[uncurse]

You do realize how sketchy a broadcast like this sounds, right?

video;

[forgodssake]

Well, no, apparently not.

[ :)? ]

But do enlighten me.

video

[inafadingcrown]

A curious inquiry for a new arrival. [She leans slightly forward, just enough to show interest.] Most ask first of their surroundings or if their kith and kin have also found themselves here.

[redhotsummers]

[There's a lot in there. A place called Promenade, where he watched Charles die, and gathered scars that still reside on his legs. Then he got shipped off here. There was another Alex, Charles, Erik. But they all left, until another Charles came, another Erik. They left, too.

But all the while, Alex has been here. Making friends, teaching others to deal with their powers; getting used to his own. Those are the good memories. But there are the bad ones, too. Losing friends to death, to insanity. To the memories slamming into them recently, knowing that some horrible thing was happening, but he couldn't do anything.

He's grown a lot, in those two years. But he's still Alex. He still just wants to be apart of something bigger. And he missed Charles. A lot.]

video;

[uncurse]

All right, here's the thing. I'm gonna take a guess that in order to believe in this ... superhuman crap that you read a lot. Comic books, maybe. Watch a lot of sci-fi, who knows. So thinking about whatever you read that gave you these ideas, [ ideas is said with a little ridiculing roll of her eyes, ] when has it ever worked out in favor of the people who can do what you're asking when people come around asking questions?

[ greg and tamara are too fresh in her mind right now. the minute they'd believed themselves safe from the outsider, he'd stolen regina's magic, tortured her, and kidnapped henry. not a mistake she'll be making again. her family and friends were right to panic when he'd come into town, and that lesson hangs heavy around her now. ]

Because last I checked, that's a road that history says leads to experiments, cages, and freak shows. [ literally, that is how freak shows became a thing. ] If anybody on this ship could do something like that - and as far as I can tell, even the idea is just ... crazy - you just painted a sign on your forehead that made sure none of them would come find you.