4th October 1995
13:24 GMT -5
"…several minor irregularities in their accounting, but…" I shrug. "Honestly… I'm not sure that we want to help them recover funds from people trying to embezzle money from them. Though…" I smile a little. "It would be kind of funny if you
did."
Professor Xavier smiles back. "I'm inclined to agree, but I think that perhaps our efforts could be more effectively focused elsewhere."
"There's
also a load of violations of weapon control laws, but…" I gesture with my right hand to Scott's face, Logan's hands and my ring. "Pot, kettle."
"My face isn't a gun." Scott sounds unimpressed.
Henry looks uncertain. "No, but it could well be argued that you were -as a mutant- privileged in your ability to own a highly dangerous weapon while attempting to use the law as a tool to deny equivalent weapons to your political opponents."
I nod. "Again, getting a Supreme Court ruling which overturned all U.S. weapon ownership restrictions would be
amusing, but I doubt that they'd thank you."
Jean nods. "But you do have something?"
"Yes." I press a button and bring up a series of crime reports on the screen. "I've been studying the statistical links between crimes and sentencing. Now, particular groups of people getting longer sentences for the same offence doesn't
prove prejudice, as a fairly wide range of injuries can be covered by the same law. But it was a place to start looking. And in these cases we have three x-gene-possessing assault victims who were hospitalised with-" I bring up the police photos. "-injuries including stab wounds, severe bruising and broken bones, and whose attackers received surprisingly light sentences. Reading the judge's sentencing, there nothing that stands out as
openly biased, but she did receive a donation from Friends of Humanity during her last election campaign. Now, if we could demonstrate that her ruling was due to underlying anti-mutant prejudice that
might get her removed from her position, but there isn't anything else I can do remotely and I'm.. not a mind reader."
Anne-Marie frowns. "There ain't nothin' bettuh?"
"Not that I can find through statistical analysis." I shrug. "While I'm not trying to argue that the Friends of Humanity are harmless, the mutant population is relatively small, hard to distinguish from people who got superpowers in other ways, and a lot of illegal discrimination doesn't rise to the level of crimes, or go as far as generating criminal convictions. To be honest, this requires a large outreach effort whereby areas of concern can be identified by people on the ground, and we could perform investigations once that identification had been made."
Professor Xavier nods. "So what do you suggest?"
"Major cities usually have places where people with powers get together. The best information I have is that about three quarters of them should have the x-gene. And if we can't find them by asking politely, there's always Cerebro. Find community leaders, make sure they have our number."
The Professor nods. "I have had a few local organisers reach out to me in the past. But for the most part they were very…
Angry people who wanted to pursue a more
confrontational approach than I am comfortable with."
Remy actually looks up from the cards he's playing with. "When people scared, they jus' listen to whoever got de biggest
mouth."
I nod. "I realise that it will take more work, but convincing people with superpowers to stay calm and rational and -where practical- obedient to the law will make it much easier to identify bad actors in the judiciary. If people with the x-gene are
actually more likely to commit crimes then we're on a hiding to nothing. As for countering the Friends of Humanity
generally… I think it might be an idea to expand the Institute's education program." I look around the room. "I mean, it's basically just Jubilee and me training at the moment, and in my case it's just mindfulness lessons and the occasional telepathic check-up. Each of us are easily capable of mentoring a few children with powers..."
Remy looks
decidedly uncertain at that point. "I ain't sure they need
mah kinda lessons. 'less you
wan' the other bébé t' go home without dheir wallets."
Logan snorts. "Sounds like a valuable lesson t' me."
Henry raises his eyebrows. "Perhaps it would do less to encourage criminality if you limited yourself to card tricks? I'm certain that would find those just as entertaining, and it would be something which they could show their parents afterwards."
Kevin nods. "Ah, okay, mutants having better self control is
good, but what are we doing with the
regular kids? Mutants aren't getting beat up by other mutants."
Scott fans his hand out. "Why not invite them along? My best friend growing up was-. Didn't have an x-gene."
The professor thinks for a moment. "Because while I understand the value of exposure therapy, children without powers do not require special lessons in using powers which they don't have. Also, on a more practical level, Hank and I are the only people here who are licensed to teach children."
I nod. "Yes, I considered that. My thoughts were that offering a summer camp doesn't require the staff to have teaching qualifications as long as the activities are described as 'activities' rather than 'classes'. We
all know enough about camping to oversee a camping trip, and I'm sure we could all find
something to keep them entertained. If we encounter a child having control issues we can help them with that, and maybe suggest that they stay on a week for focused training. Of course, if the Institute did become a full-on
school-school, then the rest of us are going to have to get qualified because I have
no idea what the U.S. curriculum is like."
"Problem." Logan tilts his right hand slightly and extends a claw single claw. "What'd'we do when someone shows up t' trash the place? Or when we need t'go trash someone
else's place?"
I shrug. "Summer school is… A week or two long? I'm sure the world can survive for that long without us actively fighting someone. And if we
did desperately need to deploy while there were children on the premises, then one or two of us could stay behind and organise a safe group activity. And we'll obviously need an evacuation plan for if we were attacked here, but… Sad to say, most regular schools have those now. Supervillains are a fact of life in a lot of places. And.. our.. defences are a lot better than what most places have, especially including our exotic abilities."
The Professor nods. "I… Think that a summer school is something that we should be able to organize. Hank, perhaps you and I can put our heads together?" Henry nods. "Scott, please take the rest of the team and follow up with this judge. And Paul, while you're there, if they have any remaining injuries-."
"Of course." I nod. Abnormal physiology can make medicine difficult, but simple things like organic damage are easy to fix.
"Make sure that you make a record of their severity first. A defense lawyer might try to claim that we're exaggerating their extent."
"Certainly."
He looks around the table. "Then.. unless there's anything else..?"
There doesn't appear to be.
"Dismissed."
Scott stands first. "Get your things and then meet up in the hangar. Jean, can you tell Ororo?"
Jean raises her right hand to her forehead for a moment, then nods. "She's on her way."
A sensible precaution when everyone else is busy: someone gets to sit by a console to decrease our reaction time. And with Lilandra acting as an advisor with S.W.O.R.D. in exchange for a green card, Ororo drew the short straw. But with the meeting over, that's no longer so much of a concern. Anne-Marie and I glance at each other when we get out into the corridor. I don't think we really need anything-.
"Fergetting something?" Kevin looks at me expectantly, right hand held out.
I nod, a
folder appearing from subspace. "Friends, family, local Friends of Humanity members and professional colleagues. Please don't do anything too creepy."
He shifts into-. Director Nicolas Fury, as he takes the folder. "How about you leave the spying to the professionals, huh?"
"As well as not being teachers, none of us are licensed as private detectives."
"In that case…" He shifts into… A cartoon character I don't recognise. "Let's go commit some federal offences!"
I nod. "Again."
