Meanwhile on Earth 534834
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Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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30th September 1995
18:39 GMT -5
Peter gestures back towards the counter of the Chinese restaurant we're in with his left thumb. "You sure you don't want anything? We're coming up on rush hour."
"No, thank you." We head over to a side table to wait for his order. "We usually eat together as a team, personal schedules permitting. But if this place has your recommendation then I'll definitely bring Anne-Marie here sometime."
He looks around, and… "I'm not sure it's really a date kinda place."
I follow his gaze, and suppress the desire to clean and repair the place. And the desire to check the kitchens. "Is the food good?"
He shrugs. "It's cheap."
Ah, right. The few Spiderman-related comics I read took place long after he stopped being an part-time photographer for the Daily Bugle, but here that's still his sole source of income. If I try asking for good restaurants he could probably tell me what the Bugle's restaurant critic likes, but I've seen critic-food, and… No.
"You know, you really didn't have to come. I'd have been fine getting home by myself."
I shake my head. "No no. New York has a truly impressive crime rate, you're under the weather and… There's that web-slinging menace to society to consider."
That gets a wry smile.
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"I guess? I might not wanna answer…"
"Have you ever..? Have you ever thought about how.. what you've learned about your own genetics..? Does it affect your decisions about..? Dating, or having children yourself?"
"Huh." He sits back in his chair. "That is pretty personal. And heavy." He glances at where my right hand rests on the table top. "Are you and your wife having.. problems?"
"Anne-Marie's power drains the life out of anyone she touches."
"So-." He blinks as he immediately realises the significance of that statement. "Oh. So..?"
"Mutant powers don't work on genetic relatives… Some of the time. As far as we can tell, she should be able to carry a child to term as long as they're a mutant too."
"And what happens if they're not?"
"Ah… Rough guess, the fertilized egg would be drained the moment it touched the uterine lining. In the normal run of things we wouldn't even know that she'd been pregnant."
He frowns slightly, looking down. "I guess that's… Better than…"
"Draining them continuously while they tried to grow? Or giving birth and not being able to touch them? Maybe. But we can easily do I.V.F. and make sure that they're a mutant… Except there's a good chance they'll get an ability similar to hers and that's not exactly a lot of fun either."
"Does it happen like that every time?"
"Have you heard of Magneto?"
"Everyone's heard of Magneto."
"He's got three children, and one of them inherited his exact power. The other two have powers that are completely different. Cyclops and his brother both fire energy beams, but from different parts of their bodies."
He half-grins. "Do I wanna know?"
I roll my eyes. "His hands. Though in theory there could be a mutant out there who fires beams from other places."
He nods. "So… You wanna know if I've thought about it? Passing on… What I have to my kids?"
"Yes."
"Not really. Mostly I just try and work out how to get to the end of the week. But now you've made me think about it… It's not like they'd need to put on a mask."
"Your thing happened a few years ago. Things might be different if someone had it from birth. And I doubt that a child would know to keep quiet about it."
"I guess not. And that's not even thinking about all the ways it could go wrong." He sighs. "I don't think this was covered in health class."
"You'd think it would be by now, given the increase in the number of people born like that. Though I suppose it doesn't usually become an issue until adolescence."
"But you decided to go ahead anyway?"
I nod. "Anne-Marie and I. I'm pretty sure that the popularity of the Friends of Humanity is a short term panic response, so I was going to wait until things were a little calmer. She-." How to put it? "I have a lot of respect for Professor Xavier, but sometimes…" I shake my head. "I read an article once where the author demeaned a charitable foundation set up by a famous actor. The actor in question was paralysed after falling off a horse, and the charity was for people with spinal injuries. The author said that campaigning for something that will improve your own life isn't really charitable, and went on to compare that to an actor he admired who spent time and money working with a charity he supported which didn't do anything relating to him or his life."
"Okay? So you don't think he'd have done anything about mutant rights if he wasn't one?"
"He talks-. No, to be fair, talked, about x-gene mutants like they're a different species. He doesn't do it so much since I pointed it out…"
"Really?"
"You've got to remember that him and Magneto used to be good friends. They don't really disagree on the situation, just the best solution."
"What's Magneto's deal, anyway? I don't see how going around destroying things is supposed to make people like mutants more."
"He grew up in a Nazi concentration camp." I shrug as Peter's eyes widen. "He thinks a race war is inevitable, because he lived through one, and this time he wants to be on the winning side. If you ever see someone from the Friends of Humanity, just imagine the armband has a swastika on it and your family name is 'Goldstein'."
"Okay… But has someone pointed out to him who he sounds like when he calls mutants 'the superior-'."
"Yes." I nod. "Yes, I did. Do you want to guess what his response was?"
"Ah…" He raises his eyebrows. "'But I'm right'?"
I smile broadly. "You heard it before!"
He bows his head for a moment. "So what was that about Professor Xavier?"
"He still fairly clearly regards x-gene mutants as a natural… Group, separate from people without the x-gene. And as if talking to someone from the same time and place as you is the same as.. international relations between two potentially hostile countries."
"That's… Pretty weird. I haven't thought of myself as… Part of a different culture since I-" He looks around, but no one's paying us any attention. "-got mine."
"Right. I mean, I joke about being the team's token baseline human, but you don't see him inviting anyone with powers who doesn't have the x-gene coming to study how their powers work, and that's after me prodding him about it for years."
He smiles for a moment, and then takes on a more serious expression. "I guess… Kids… It's something I should look into before… Before something else bad happens. I have to work out how to stabilise myself at least."
I nod. "It's a sensible thing to do, and I'll pick the Professor's brain to see if there's anything he can do to help once he gets back."
18:39 GMT -5
Peter gestures back towards the counter of the Chinese restaurant we're in with his left thumb. "You sure you don't want anything? We're coming up on rush hour."
"No, thank you." We head over to a side table to wait for his order. "We usually eat together as a team, personal schedules permitting. But if this place has your recommendation then I'll definitely bring Anne-Marie here sometime."
He looks around, and… "I'm not sure it's really a date kinda place."
I follow his gaze, and suppress the desire to clean and repair the place. And the desire to check the kitchens. "Is the food good?"
He shrugs. "It's cheap."
Ah, right. The few Spiderman-related comics I read took place long after he stopped being an part-time photographer for the Daily Bugle, but here that's still his sole source of income. If I try asking for good restaurants he could probably tell me what the Bugle's restaurant critic likes, but I've seen critic-food, and… No.
"You know, you really didn't have to come. I'd have been fine getting home by myself."
I shake my head. "No no. New York has a truly impressive crime rate, you're under the weather and… There's that web-slinging menace to society to consider."
That gets a wry smile.
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"I guess? I might not wanna answer…"
"Have you ever..? Have you ever thought about how.. what you've learned about your own genetics..? Does it affect your decisions about..? Dating, or having children yourself?"
"Huh." He sits back in his chair. "That is pretty personal. And heavy." He glances at where my right hand rests on the table top. "Are you and your wife having.. problems?"
"Anne-Marie's power drains the life out of anyone she touches."
"So-." He blinks as he immediately realises the significance of that statement. "Oh. So..?"
"Mutant powers don't work on genetic relatives… Some of the time. As far as we can tell, she should be able to carry a child to term as long as they're a mutant too."
"And what happens if they're not?"
"Ah… Rough guess, the fertilized egg would be drained the moment it touched the uterine lining. In the normal run of things we wouldn't even know that she'd been pregnant."
He frowns slightly, looking down. "I guess that's… Better than…"
"Draining them continuously while they tried to grow? Or giving birth and not being able to touch them? Maybe. But we can easily do I.V.F. and make sure that they're a mutant… Except there's a good chance they'll get an ability similar to hers and that's not exactly a lot of fun either."
"Does it happen like that every time?"
"Have you heard of Magneto?"
"Everyone's heard of Magneto."
"He's got three children, and one of them inherited his exact power. The other two have powers that are completely different. Cyclops and his brother both fire energy beams, but from different parts of their bodies."
He half-grins. "Do I wanna know?"
I roll my eyes. "His hands. Though in theory there could be a mutant out there who fires beams from other places."
He nods. "So… You wanna know if I've thought about it? Passing on… What I have to my kids?"
"Yes."
"Not really. Mostly I just try and work out how to get to the end of the week. But now you've made me think about it… It's not like they'd need to put on a mask."
"Your thing happened a few years ago. Things might be different if someone had it from birth. And I doubt that a child would know to keep quiet about it."
"I guess not. And that's not even thinking about all the ways it could go wrong." He sighs. "I don't think this was covered in health class."
"You'd think it would be by now, given the increase in the number of people born like that. Though I suppose it doesn't usually become an issue until adolescence."
"But you decided to go ahead anyway?"
I nod. "Anne-Marie and I. I'm pretty sure that the popularity of the Friends of Humanity is a short term panic response, so I was going to wait until things were a little calmer. She-." How to put it? "I have a lot of respect for Professor Xavier, but sometimes…" I shake my head. "I read an article once where the author demeaned a charitable foundation set up by a famous actor. The actor in question was paralysed after falling off a horse, and the charity was for people with spinal injuries. The author said that campaigning for something that will improve your own life isn't really charitable, and went on to compare that to an actor he admired who spent time and money working with a charity he supported which didn't do anything relating to him or his life."
"Okay? So you don't think he'd have done anything about mutant rights if he wasn't one?"
"He talks-. No, to be fair, talked, about x-gene mutants like they're a different species. He doesn't do it so much since I pointed it out…"
"Really?"
"You've got to remember that him and Magneto used to be good friends. They don't really disagree on the situation, just the best solution."
"What's Magneto's deal, anyway? I don't see how going around destroying things is supposed to make people like mutants more."
"He grew up in a Nazi concentration camp." I shrug as Peter's eyes widen. "He thinks a race war is inevitable, because he lived through one, and this time he wants to be on the winning side. If you ever see someone from the Friends of Humanity, just imagine the armband has a swastika on it and your family name is 'Goldstein'."
"Okay… But has someone pointed out to him who he sounds like when he calls mutants 'the superior-'."
"Yes." I nod. "Yes, I did. Do you want to guess what his response was?"
"Ah…" He raises his eyebrows. "'But I'm right'?"
I smile broadly. "You heard it before!"
He bows his head for a moment. "So what was that about Professor Xavier?"
"He still fairly clearly regards x-gene mutants as a natural… Group, separate from people without the x-gene. And as if talking to someone from the same time and place as you is the same as.. international relations between two potentially hostile countries."
"That's… Pretty weird. I haven't thought of myself as… Part of a different culture since I-" He looks around, but no one's paying us any attention. "-got mine."
"Right. I mean, I joke about being the team's token baseline human, but you don't see him inviting anyone with powers who doesn't have the x-gene coming to study how their powers work, and that's after me prodding him about it for years."
He smiles for a moment, and then takes on a more serious expression. "I guess… Kids… It's something I should look into before… Before something else bad happens. I have to work out how to stabilise myself at least."
I nod. "It's a sensible thing to do, and I'll pick the Professor's brain to see if there's anything he can do to help once he gets back."
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Man, sometimes my faith in humanity is sorely tested...
