Burning Off Steam

[Null]

"I would never have thought of it as paradise -- but this does feel like a dystopia, from time to time."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"It does, doesn't it?" Aiden asked before changing subjects. "How exactly did you get here then?

[Null]

"Line of duty. Fighting a guy who could crate black holes, and, well, he did. Got everyone else out, and I...think everything was safe. I assume things went fine, but...it ripped a hole in the dimensional...whathaveyous.

I'm fairly sure he was ripped apart molecule by molecule, but I...well, I went through. And found myself here."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"And you decided to stay?" Aiden asked.

[Null]

"Not much of a 'decided' about it. It was..." he paused.

"It wasn't just a blast through dimensions. It was a blast through time as well. I found myself, floating in space. No black hole to go back through, no way to return home. Nowhere to stand, nothing to breathe, nothing to do.

I went quite mad."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"How long were you floating in space?" Aiden asked the idea of being trapped and alone with nothing to do being rather terrifying.

[Null]

"I'm...not entirely sure. Thankfully, I don't remember much of it.

Carbon dating has been inconclusive, so it's probably longer than 50,000 years. That's all I can say with certainty."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"That's a very long time to be alone," Aiden said, "And then what you crash landed onto the Earth and somehow found yourself at a mutant school leading an X-Man team all over again?"

[Null]

"Err....well, nooo," Null hedged.

"I crash landed in Antarctica in the '50s, where I was discovered by the US Military. I spend most of that time period, uh, disguised in their common room, before they re-discovered me a few years ago."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"And you didn't start your own religion? Seems a wasted opportunity," Aiden joked.

[Null]

"I wasn't exactly in full grip of my senses," Null explained. "I wasn't even really aware I was a person until the military sold me to the university, and Samantha later pried open some private spaces in my head."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"And now there are two of you," Aiden said.

[Null]

"Now there are two of us," he sighed. "As annoying as that is."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Your other isn't up to snuff then?" Aiden asked.

[Null]

"Do you have any brothers or sisters? Especially younger ones?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"I have three younger sisters," Aiden said, "The Triplets."

[Null]

"Do they ever try to coast off of your reputation? Or try to live up to what you do, and fail miserably in the process?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"More the latter," Aiden said, "My parents want them to join other parts of government service, but all three insist they want to be Praetors instead of officials. Sometimes they try to prove they can do it, but it usually goes poorly. It would be funny if it didn't take weeks to fix the damage they did."

[Null]

"Then, you have some idea what I'm up against here.

Everything I've ever accomplished? That's due to me; my determination, my drive, my commitment. He's a bundle of everything that's ever held me back; it's like he's....he's playacting as me. Like a sick parody.

And he gets to keep the name, because he's got friends in high places."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Sounds rather more frustrating than the Triplets mistakenly lighting our family arbor on fire," Aiden said, "Well, with a different name doesn't that mean you're separated now? He will have to prove himself on his own now, no coattails to latch onto."

[Null]

"You're not wrong -- but Will Stanton is a...a brand I built up. It's a reputation I've put time and effort into honing.

It's like a hostile takeover of my life."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"And he'd have brought it down eventually if he's as weak as you say," Aiden said, "Now that the chaff is gone you can build something stronger."

[Null]

"Glass half full type, aren't you? Rose-tinted glasses and sunshine shining out of your ass and all that?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"You're an X-man, so I thought you'd prefer the idealistic option," Aiden said.

[Null]

"And what would say to me were I Genoshan?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Remove them," Aiden said, "The Triplets are young and malleable and youth brings forgiveness for many trespasses, but if it was my parents I'd have them retire."

[Null]

"And retire is a euphemism for...?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"It can be peaceful. They step down from power gracefully and find some activity that doesn't affect the family or have any influence. Or it can be violent and they're put in the ground or some dark hole somewhere," Aiden said, "These aren't house politics though and this isn't Genosha. I imagine people don't turn a blind eye to people vanishing even if it's done discretely."

[Null]

"Mmm. Yeah, no, that's more or less terrible. I don't want the guy to suffer.

I want people to know just what he is, and what he isn't. If some people still like that and make him happy, that's great! That's fantastic! But I want it to be because of what he is, rather than what I am.

I imagine, to most, he'd be a figure of ridicule, but I am also very much OK with that.

And, as you say, he is malleable. He just has, you know. Influence."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Sounds like you need to find him something to do," Aiden said, "Something he's good at that doesn't affect you."

[Null]

"Working on it," the boy said. "But there's little I can do directly -- I can't just give him orders. For a number of reasons."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Because of the fight? Or because his powerful friends dont let you? Or a bit of both?" Aiden asked.

[Null]

"Because he's property of the university. Because his friends already don't trust me as it is.

And because, you know, he's his own person. I can trick him, I can prank him, I can tweak him some. But outright control? That makes me one of the black coats."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Property of the university? Seems a bit out of character for the X-Men to own a person," Aiden said, "Does that mean you both are then? Property I mean."

[Null]

"It's...unclear. It may just be him, technically, now that we're split -- if I'm considered a....I don't know. Spin-off.

When I arrived, neither the military nor the university considered me a person, nor did I consider myself such. As I said, I was...somewhat damaged by my ordeal."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Ah, and now you're still possibly property," Aiden said, "Seems like maybe the Headmistress of this school should amend that. Though I suppose being an extra-dimensional immigrant would make your legal status here complicated."

[Null]

"Yeah. And it's never been...cleared up, shall we say.

Add in the fact that I'm a mutant, and gaining legally recognized status is...tricky."

[Aiden Mitchell]

"You could become a Genoshan citizen," Aiden suggested. "You'd probably need a sponsor given the... uniqueness of your situation "

[Null]

"Mmm," the boy frowned. "What's your stance on non-mutants, again?"

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Only the old guard believe the nonsense about war and turning human cities to ashes," Aiden said with a dismissive gesture. "Current police has settled on admittedly violent intervention when needed and waiting for the inevitability of baseline humans vanishing or becoming irrelevant."