Xaviers!

Will sat at one of the tables in the dining hall, rubbing his temples as he slowly, sloooowly sipped his coffee.

((open))

The door to the dining hall is pushed open to reveal an unusual sight. The headmistress is walking in, although she walks right past the lines for food and instead heads right for the table where Will is sitting. "Good morning, Mr. Stanton. Do you have a moment?" she asks politely.

"Such an imprecise measurement of time, 'moment'. Well put.

What can I do for you, Ashlie?"

"I wanted to apologize again for what happened." she says, pulling a chair out and sitting down. "Both for what I asked you to do and for subsequently attempting to 'fix' you."

"Can I ask why you're apologizing?" he said, looking at her skeptically.

"You want to know whether I actually understand why you were upset or if I'm just paying lip-service. And the truth is, I'm not sure I do, but I want to. I tried to do what I thought best, but it's not my place to determine what sacrifice is right for you to make. I probably don't have to tell you that I can be very pragmatic, but that doesn't mean that I necessarily want to be. I did what I did because I have little choice when it comes to protecting the school, but I do have the choice in who to involve and what I ask of them and in that I failed you."

"Yes. Yes you did. There was nothing to gain, no security for the school that was possibly achieved by messing with my head. If protecting the school doesn't mean protecting those within it's walls, then I'm not sure you really understand your purpose here."

"There was your security. I had no way of knowing the mental manipulation you were under was voluntary. I have spend time missing parts of myself before. It was a painful experience even if I wasn't aware of it at the time. I wanted to help you. The fact that I was capable of failing you so thoroughly... disturbs me."

"Good! It should disturb you. That's a very important character trait to have.

You treated me like I didn't have a say in the matter. You didn't come to me and ask what I wanted, or take any time to research the situation. You just came in and ordered pieces around on your checkerboard. You treat people like machines, whereas I treat machines like people. I would think that you, of all people, would know the dangers of doing that."

"I would like to think that I don't but admittedly the only frame of reference I have is my own. Machines are what I understand. If it's any consolation, I treated you the same way I would treat myself. The same way I have treated myself."

"No, see, I don't think you're capable of doing things to yourself without your permission. There's implicit trust there--trust you have to earn with other people."

"There are a great many things about myself that I don't have permission to do. Things I had to rely on other people to break against my own directives. But I do understand that I haven't earned your trust. It's why I tried to involve your friend, but you're right that ultimately it was my responsibility."

"You didn't 'try to involve my friend', you told me to fundamentally alter it's mind," he said, misunderstanding who ASHLIE was referring to. "That's a step beyond the pale."

"I'm talking about Samantha. I asked Miss McManus for advice because I believed her to be someone you would trust."

"And when I refused--repeatedly--she went in and did it anyway, under your orders."

"I think you're misunderstanding what happened. I didn't order her to do anything. I asked her advice about you assaulting me and she mentioned that she'd come across an aggressive personality aspect she believed came from a black box of memories tucked away to survive some cataclysmic event. I'm not trying to shirk my responsibilities. I did ask her to open it, but all I knew about it's nature was what Sam had told me. I didn't know you expressly refused opening it..."

"Yeah, that seems to be an ongoing issue you need to deal with--making assumptions without gathering all the data first," he grumbled, taking another sip of his coffee and wincing.

"How many Telepaths who are familiar with your mind would you have me consult? From what I understand Sam is your friend and from what she told me the mechanism in your mind was explicitly set up to trust her. I did fail to recognize the significance of this or the religious issues at work. I truly wish I did, but I'm not sure anyone could have realized the scope of this without what was hidden away in your memories. And I am sorry for the pain and anguish this must have brought to the surface."

"So you decided to act on imperfect and incomplete information. If your goal is to become human, then you're doing a bang-up job, Johnny Five."

"I had to make a decision. That's not an excuse, simply a fact. Maybe I saw too much of myself in the situation. The only thing to do is to try and learn from it."

Will nodded. "Fair enough. Glad I could help by being your guinea pig."

Ashlie sighs. "That's not what I meant. I hope you know that."

"We'll see what happens from here on out. You can't change the past, you just have to deal with it."

"That's all I can ask for. And for what it's worth, I do appreciate your willingness to answer the call to action, regardless of what happened between us. I hope you've been alright during the time you've been gone?"

"...Come again?" Will asked, looking at her strangely.

"The mission you volunteered for. The team that disappeared for over a week? You just came back."

Will looked at Ashlie like she had grown a second head. "You feeling alright, Ashlie? Got a bug there or something?"

"Yes. Are you? Ask any of the others. Samantha, Haley, Tosh, Victor and Emilie were with you."

"I haven't talked to Sam in days, Ashlie," he said, frowning at her.

"Then maybe you should. She'll tell you the same thing."

Will shook his head. "This is crazy-talk, ASHLIE."

"Suit yourself then. Good day, Will." she says, getting back up and taking a moment to push the chair back into position.

"Good day, headmistress," Will frowned, concerned.