Erik Lensherr was not one to go out for coffee. He generally didn’t have the patience for it; the world where coffeehouses operated was the world of homo sapiens - one he tended to have as little contact with as possible. In fact, Asteroid M, the Savage Land, and Genosha were probably the only places left on earth that Starbucks hadn’t tried to set up shop in. However, he did enjoy the bitter tang of a dark brew, and hadn’t objected to their meeting place - a small coffeeshop in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo.
He had a feeling as to why Charles had asked for this place. He wasn’t sure that he’d like it, but he at least had a feeling about it.
He kept his fedora on his head (in reality a small psionic jammer, just in case) as he spotted the table at the far end. He raised an eyebrow at Yashida’s involvement; while he’d discovered Sunfire’s day job years ago, to see him involved in mutant affairs again was a strange twist.
One of many, he reminded himself. This was a mystery he coluldn’t solve alone - and he had a feeling neither could Charles. He walked over to the table, and sat down.
“Hello, Charles, Shiro.” He eyed them both; he knew the look of too much work on Charles’ face, and found it mirrored in Shiro’s. “You’ve been busy, I see.”
Shiro nodded. “Recent developments have forced some... additions to the school.”
Eric blinked at this news. “In other words, you’ve opened a Japanese division of the school. I had wondered why you were so busy of late...” He paused for a moment as the waiter approached, and spoke in flawless Japanese. “House brew, please, with a touch of cinnamon added.” The waiter nodded, and moved back to the kitchen.
He eased back into his chair, and eyed them critically. “Why do I have the feeling that your changes are related to my changes?”
Charles and Shiro shared a glance. “An exchange of information, then?”
Erik nodded. “That, and a truce.” He chuckled softly. “I can’t try to take over the world if someone’s trying to undermine Genosha, after all.”
Charles adjusted the position of his wheelchair. “Agreed. Shall we start with what we know, first?” Erik nodded.
Charles took a long sip of his coffee. “A little over a month ago, Wolverine was visiting here to pay respects to the late Lady Mariko and to see the sights. As these things happen, he ended up receiving a telepathic calling from a young woman who’d been kidnapped. It seemed that Mr. Sinister had set up a breeding program involving young female mutants. Using Cerebro, I was able to pinpoint their location and rescue six of them before it was too late. Those six we rescued formed the first of Yashida’s new school; seven others have since joined up under other circumstances, including a young man who escaped from a ‘brother’ program designed to develop soldier-mutants.”
Erik steepled his hands together in thought. “I see... You are certain that Sinister was involved?” The waiter chose that moment to interrupt; he placed Erik’s cup in front of him, and left.
Xavier waited for a moment, then nodded. “His technological gift and eugenics obsession is unique. He is involved in the breeding aspect of it, at least; he may be involved in only a passing way in the soldier development aspect.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Shiro could probably tell you what details we have about the ideological aspect of it.”
Shiro nodded. “We Japanese are a proud people, Lehnsherr-san. Some believe we are a chosen people, that we are superior to all other forms of mankind and that we should rule them for their own good.” He looked down. “I held that view for awhile.” He took a long sip of his tea. “From what Keitaro has told me, I believe that the ideology of the people running this program are those who would see the return of Japan’s military might - perhaps even a shogunate. They plan on making their soldiers out of our young men against their will, and forcing our young women to procreate to make more soldiers for their cause. This matches almost exactly the views that were held by Imperial Japan up to the Second World War. Japan over all. Men fight to the death to protect the women - who make the next generation of soldiers.”
Erik’s eyes widened. “Men fight...” He looked away for a minute. “Charles, my problem may be related to yours - and, if so, then we have an even greater threat than either of us have feared.” He sat back in the chair; this would not be pleasant.
“About three months ago, a mutate who’d taken the name of Michael had disappeared. His disappearance was mysterious; all we could tell was that mutants were involved. He was only the first of many; in all, fourteen mutates have been similarly kidnapped. All remained processed; all still wore the skinsuits.”
Charles nodded slowly. “You haven’t figured out who’s doing it, have you?”
Erik shook his head. “All I know is that none of the nearby countries were involved with it.” He took a hard gulp of his coffee. “How long would it take Sinister to figure out how to replicate or even improve on the mutate process?”
Shiro’s eyes widened; Charles exhaled softly. “I would say that, given fourteen mutates on which to experiment, he could come up with his own mutate-processing method - which would probably be infinitely more efficient than the old one.” Charles gripped the handles of his wheelchair. “If they have an army of mutates at their command...”
“... neither of us may be able to stop them,” Erik finished.
“Alone, that is,” Shiro interjected.
Charles drained the rest of his coffee. “We will need to talk about this further. What do we do about the soldiers they’ve created? How do we deal with the governments involved?” He frowned as he stared at his empty cup. “What do we do with soldiers who have no choice but to follow orders?”
Erik smiled. “Show them the light if you can - but kill them if you must.”
Charles sighed. “We’ll see.” He moved away from the table. “So. Besides that, how are things going in Genosha...?”
See other episodes by Nightelf
(Posted Mon, 16 Dec 2002 05:10)
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