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"I am Professor Charles Xavier, from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in New York. I would like to speak with your parents," said the elderly man in the wheelchair with a gentle smile.
Just then, Olek's voice could be heard from the living room
"Mark, who is it?"
Mark responded loudly, "Two gentlemen from New York, they say they're professors from a school."
Upon hearing this, Olek and Iryna immediately paused the television and walked over to the door.
At the moment they came into view, Professor Xavier discreetly activated his telepathic ability, scanning both adults' memories. This was a routine protocol. Every time he visited a home to recruit a student, his first course of action was to assess the attitudes of the parents.
If the guardians exhibited fear, hatred, or ignorance regarding mutants, particularly if they were unaware that their own children were mutants, Xavier would withhold the true nature of his institution and present it simply as an elite school for gifted children.
For instance, a few years prior in Boston, when recruiting a young mutant capable of generating sub-zero temperatures, he had refrained from revealing the truth after discovering that the parents held latent hostility toward mutants.
However, if the parents were already aware of their children's mutant status or displayed no animosity, then he would choose to speak candidly.
"Three of them? No, not entirely certain…"
Having finished reviewing Olek and Iryna's memories, Xavier once again appeared visibly surprised.
He had initially assumed that only one child in the household was a mutant. But now it seemed there were three, though two of them presented ambiguous cases.
The one he could confirm definitively was young Pietro, whose mutant brainwave signature had been detected earlier via Cerebro.
Pietro's younger sister, Wanda, presented a more complex case. While she displayed telekinetic abilities suggestive of mutant traits, her brainwaves did not exhibit the characteristic mutant frequencies. As such, he could not conclusively classify her as a mutant.
The third child, Mark, was an adopted son brought into the family two months prior. His status was equally uncertain.
However, Xavier leaned toward categorizing him as a mutant, based on several compelling indicators. First, the boy possessed a tail, a feature reminiscent of many mutants who express partial animalistic traits.
Second, while his normal physical condition appeared only marginally superior to that of an average child, he had reportedly intercepted a missile and discharged a powerful energy blast in a previous incident. This act echoed the erratic but potent manifestations seen in early-stage mutant awakenings.
Third, and perhaps most critically, Mark had demonstrated an inherent immunity to Xavier's telepathic probing. The absence of detectable brainwave frequencies could thus be rationalized as a defensive adaptation, a phenomenon occasionally observed in highly evolved mutants.
Wanda's case, on the other hand, remained an anomaly. Xavier could access her memories, suggesting no psychic shield, but her brainwave profile did not align with standard mutant taxonomy. Her powers seemed to have emerged naturally, without any trace of artificial modification, experimentation, or external stimulus.
Regardless of the specifics, Xavier had resolved to invite all three children to enroll at his school. Mark, in particular, exhibited a rare amalgamation of physical and cognitive maturity, coupled with combat-capable abilities. Given proper guidance, he would be a prime candidate for integration into the X-Men.
And if left unmonitored, there was a risk he might be swayed by Magneto, an eventuality Xavier sought to prevent.
Inside the living room, Professor Xavier calmly presented the details of his institution and explained the purpose of his visit.
Upon hearing his proposal, Olek and Iryna hesitated.
According to Professor Xavier, his school was indeed the most suitable environment for children with mutant abilities. The couple had long harbored concerns that once the children entered the public school system in Sokovia, their mutant identities, if exposed, could place them in immediate danger.
Xavier even provided several examples to substantiate his argument. There was no sense of deception in his demeanor. In fact, for reasons they could not quite articulate, both Olek and Iryna felt an inexplicable trust in the elderly professor. Perhaps it was a subtle result of his psychic aura.
Their true dilemma, however, lay not in mistrust but in geography. Xavier's school was located in New York, an entirely different country. The thought of sending the children so far away, with minimal opportunities for reunion, pained them deeply.
"Professor Xavier, we…" After a moment of silent contemplation, they ultimately chose to prioritize the children's safety over their own emotional reluctance. They prepared to agree to the proposal.
But before they could finish speaking, Mark, who had been silently observing the conversation, interjected
"Mom, Dad, could I speak to Professor Xavier alone for a moment?"
"Of course, no problem," Olek and Iryna replied in unison, momentarily startled.
Given Mark's exceptional maturity and the fact that he had previously risked his life to save them by intercepting a missile, the couple regarded him as more than just a child. He was, in their eyes, a capable young adult, someone whose opinions deserved respect.
Xavier, too, was intrigued. A child with high potential, immune to telepathy, who now requested a private conversation? His curiosity piqued, he agreed.
The two quietly relocated to the basement.
"Is there something you'd like to say to me?" asked Xavier.
"Professor," Mark began solemnly,
"as I'm sure you're aware, Sokovia is not a stable country. Even though the war has officially ended and the current peace holds, no one can say when conflict might erupt again. I am deeply concerned that while my brother, sister, and I are away at your school, our parents, Olek and Iryna, might face danger. Therefore, I would like to ask if you could assist them with immigration procedures and help them secure suitable employment in New York."
Mark's tone was measured and sincere
Enrolling in the mutant school was, at this point, a beneficial move for him. Remaining in Sokovia might have been safe for now, but his growth there would be slow. Moreover, the future of Sokovia was far from certain. Between civil unrest, the potential re-emergence of Hydra, and, ultimately, the nation's likely destruction, his prospects were grim.
Xavier's school was no utopia, of course, but at least it had the protection of the X-Men. Although Mark found Professor Xavier's ideals a bit too optimistic, even idealistic to a fault, he still preferred having such a person as an ally. At the very least, Xavier was someone who would not sacrifice others for his own interests.
Yes, Xavier had a tendency to emotionally manipulate people, but Mark was hardly the type to fall victim to such tactics. If an action aligned with his goals, he would go along with it. If it didn't, or posed a risk, he would decline under some pretext. Xavier couldn't read his thoughts anyway.
This placed Xavier in a more favorable light compared to Magneto. The latter, from a strategic standpoint, wasn't necessarily wrong. He was wholly committed to mutant advancement, even if that meant annihilating humanity.
However, as a teammate, Magneto was dangerous. One could never predict when he might sacrifice an ally for the "greater good" of mutantkind.
Even Mystique, loyal and emotionally close to him, wasn't spared when he deemed her a liability.
Mark, for his part, was not a mutant at all. Nor were Olek, Iryna, or even Wanda in any strict sense. Only Pietro seemed to fit the mutant classification.
Philosophically and strategically, this aligned Mark more closely with Xavier. Neither of them wished to see a world in which either humans or mutants were utterly eradicated