Cerebro Scans: Seeds of Change

## Characters

* Charles Xavier
* Moira MacTaggert

## Location

* Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters - Headmaster's Apartment
* May 10th, 1995 - Late Night

## Scan Transcript

* **[Start Memory Reconstruction Protocol - 2 Participants]**
* **[Memory Synchronization: 94.4%]**
* **Charles Xavier:** Can you tell me what a mutant is?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it's an individual, organism, or genetic character arising or resulting from mutation.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** According to what my sources have to say about these black ops "Sentinels," a mutant is a super-powered sociopath hellbent on nothing less than the absolute destruction of the entire human race.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** [sigh] The truth, like most things, lies somewhere in the middle.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** Charles-
* **Charles Xavier:** Please, let me finish.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** My own definition of that six-letter word is just an ordinary person with extraordinary talent.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Why we have these gifts is impossible to say.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Speculation ranges from "holes in the ozone layer" to "nature preparing us for life in the third millennium," but no one really knows the answer.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Not even me, dear.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ... [chuckle]
* **Charles Xavier:** [chuckle] All we know is that these talents make us different and those differences make people nervous in these strange, uncertain times.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** [papers shuffling] You can call me Professor X. I am contacting you as I want to alleviate your fears. I want to tell you about a school I founded where these extraordinary talents are being very carefully cultivated.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Personally, I've never understood why individuals who exhibit mutant abilities are regarded with suspicion when every other form of excellence is lauded by society.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Are songwriters persecuted for the power of their lyrics? Are quarterbacks hounded for the accuracy of their arms?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Of course, I don't mean to diminish the biology of the situation. Genetics do play a role here. But aren't we all slaves to our inherited genetics? After all, some say music or genius runs in families and others clearly born with an aptitude for sport.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Are mutants singled out for alienation because our talents can extend to freezing raindrops and leveling mountains?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Is our world-shaking potential the reason so many young mutant teenagers choose suicide rather than live in a world where they'll be different from the socially accepted norm?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** [sigh, papers shuffling] I argue that this raw power you fear is precisely the reason that these young, terrified mutants must be embraced.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Can't you imagine their potential for good with the proper guidance and teaching?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** One of my students, let's call her "Marvel Girl," is a perfect example. She has telepathic powers, that is to say she reads minds. When I found her, those formidable psychic powers of hers were so unfocused that she was unable to distinguish between voices and thoughts.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Through careful training, her abilities were suppressed and now, over time, are being gradually reintroduced. When asked recently what career path she would consider following, she cites an interest in helping the mentally ill or consulting with police investigations. She can save lives.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** I have also been in remote discussions with another mutant for several weeks. I hope to one day bring her to this school, perhaps with your help that will be possible. This young woman has no formal education but after I telepathically connected her to another brilliant student of mine, she gained a better understanding of meteorology and horticulture. This knowledge enabled her to use her atmospheric manipulation to reinvigorate a farming community ravaged by drought. The locals now call her Storm.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Of course, there's more to education than traditional academics. My syllabus also includes pop-culture studies, conversational arts, and self-defense classes, too. My student Cyclops is a fine example of a mutant who excels in leadership, tactical analysis, and combat application of his mutant ability. As an orphan he appreciates the importance of a solid and dependable role model.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** When we first found Iceman he was traumatized and frightened as any other thirteen-year-old schoolboy in his unusual situation. He nearly died as a result of his abilities. But his warm heart and sense of humor have been a source of strength to everyone lately; particularly in the recent late-night compassion exercises he has organized with other students, where they deliver sandwiches and good cheer to the local homeless.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** The same holds true for our most sensitive and intelligent student ironically called Beast. He has a right to despise mankind for the bullying he has endured, but his passion for research remains undiminished. His latest project is a breathtaking alternative to the expensive pharmaceuticals required in third world countries. Although, I must confess, I do worry about the amount of time my prize student spends working in the school computer lab sometimes.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** But perhaps the development I'm most proud of is not found among my students at all. I speak, of course, of Wolverine. You remember him, don't you? He has truly reinvented himself these last few months.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Though it seems by all accounts that he was raised in violence and misery, he now spends his days trimming rose bushes and unclogging toilets, not to mention filling in as a substitute teacher or chaperone on field trips. Furthermore, he seems content in this quiet role.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** It is no complete transformation. He still gets that itch to feed the beast inside him, but he no longer drowns that beast with alcohol or by engaging in regular bar fights. No, when he sneaks out at night now it is to search for hard-luck stories and unsolved crimes, prowling the streets of the city from dusk until dawn in search of people who might need his particular kind of help. While I am not a violent man, I do understand that those skilled in violence are often the best protection against violent men.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** Now I realize it would be naïve of me to suggest that the mutant influence on our world will be an entirely positive one. Already I am aware of mutant communities on the fringes of society who have begun to fashion anti-human sentiments born out of being labeled "inhuman freaks."
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** But hate isn't exclusive to mutants, is it? Bolivar Trask subscribes to the belief that mutants have cruelty hard-wired into our genes. If that is not racism, I don't know what is. For that reason, we cannot let that be the narrative that gets a spotlight on the evening news when this "mutant situation" undergoes its own mutation from obscure rumor to absolute fact. The rate of mutant gene activations is increasing exponentially every six months. At the current rate, we will account for 0.27% of global population by the year 2000. That's more than 1 in 400. That's roughly sixteen million mutants in five years' time. Certainly you can appreciate that this is not a situation to be dealt with using Trask's approach.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** As we look around the world today, it's clear that violence breeds nothing but further violence. I previously mentioned my sentiments on violence and while I do feel that it can be a tool for good, it cannot be used to change the world in a positive direction. Ideas are the correct way to change the world and, as a teacher myself, I feel it's my responsibility to prove it.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** While man invented torture and cruelty, we must also remember that evolution gave us science and art and empathy as well as upright backs and opposable thumbs. Why should people think we're just a mutation of everything bad about themselves. Isn't there a chance that we could also be an evolution of man's intrinsic capacity for good?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** ...
* **Charles Xavier:** ... [papers shuffling] How was it?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** That's it?
* **Charles Xavier:** Is it too brief?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** No. [chuckle] I think it's good, but are you sure you want to do this?
* **Charles Xavier:** I do not believe we have a choice, dear. Mutants are disappearing. We have to do something about this sooner rather than later.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** What about Erik's plan?
* **Charles Xavier:** It is a temporary fix. It is a dirty bandage on an infected wound.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** But... Are you sure this is the guy you want to get into bed with?
* **Charles Xavier:** The only person I intend to get into bed with is you, dear.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [scoff] You know what I mean.
* **Charles Xavier:** Do not judge the man by his name alone. Nick Fury is a reasonable man. He'll make a fine director of Shield.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** Shield?
* **Charles Xavier:** Oh, that's what I've decided to call this organization I've helped inspire.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** What?
* **Charles Xavier:** Oh, just a little late night project I've been working on since Logan joined us and told me about the Weapon program. I've been planting seeds in the minds of key figures with the help of Cerebro.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [scoff] You've been doing what?! Charles!
* **Charles Xavier:** Nothing to be concerned about, Moira.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** For all the morality lessons you've been preaching on Jean about the ethical use of telepathy-
* **Charles Xavier:** This is not mind control, Moira. Nothing of the sort. Like I said, I've been planting seeds. I've been having nothing more than conversational debates with these men and women in a venue where my sentiments could be heard without fear of being dragged away and locked up in one of these covert detention camps, like the one Remy described.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [sigh] Charles... This is a dangerous game you're playing.
* **Charles Xavier:** Life is dangerous.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [sigh] I'm concerned... and not just about you. I'm concerned about the students' safety. I'm concerned for our boys.
* **Charles Xavier:** So am I, Moira... That's why I am doing this. This is not about me. This is about them. This has always been about them. [sigh] Moira, I doubt I will ever get to see my dream of human and mutant equality and coexistence in my lifetime... but maybe, just maybe by taking these risks and making these sacrifices now, my sons will know such a world... not as a possibility, but as a reality.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [sigh, footsteps, hand stroking cheek, kiss, sigh, foreheads touching] [whisper:] *Why did I have to marry such a great man? Why couldn't I have married some underachiever... like your average doctor, lawyer, or CEO of a multinational corporate empire? Why'd I have to marry a man out to change the world? Why?*
* **Charles Xavier:** [chuckle] Because you're shallow, dear.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [scoff, chuckle] Excuse me?
* **Charles Xavier:** I know you only married me for my perfectly shaped ass.
* **Moira MacTaggert:** [chuckle] Right... I forgot. [sigh] Well, [papers shuffling] take these notes and go seat your perfect ass in your office. I'll go start Cerebro for you.
* **Charles Xavier:** Oh, I've turned you around so easily?
* **Moira MacTaggert:** No... I still think you're a fool, Charlie. But I took a vow. You're my fool to have and to hold, for better or worse, 'til death do us part. Remember?
* **Charles Xavier:** I do.

## Trivia and Notes

* This Scan takes place in Subsidiary-Reality M, within Murum Locus.