The X-Project

Peter, Charles;

If you want him removed from the school, we can discuss that. However, I am his teacher, his therapist and his guardian, and I hope you will allow me to discipline him as I see fit.

At the moment, the punishment that springs to mind involves grabbing him by the hair and tossing him down the staircase in the main hall. But I will reflect on it a while, before I do anything too hasty.

It is possible that I may be able to think of a much larger staircase.

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I don't want him out of here - I think if he's made to fuck off, we're only going to have to end him later, and I can do without that.

And as much as he's earned a trip down the stairs, I'm happy to leave that part to you, provided I get photos...

Longer term, though I think we need to be able to assure the rest of the students them he's not a danger to them, and if we can't manage "will not fuck them over for cheap laughs" than is there any way short of leaving him locked in the psi-damp lab for good, that we can manage "*cannot* fuck them over" at least until you certify him as mostly house trained?

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The first thing that springs to mind is some sort of psi-monitoring, perhaps using Cerebro to allow us to monitor all psionic activity in the mansion. Of course, there's no way of doing that without picking up an awful lot of background noise. The students' private thoughts - and the teachers' - would be left vulnerable.

In exchange for the students' security, we'd need to compromise their liberty. How does that sound to you, darling?

I'll see what else I can come up with. Jono's containment suit works with psionic energies, but I don't know if one could make a psi-damp version that would leave Manuel headblind, and frankly the idea makes me a little sick.

This is the world today, Peter. Psions are dangerous. The only way to wholly eliminate the threat is to eliminate the psions.

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I've been compromising liberty in the name of security for years, but I take your point. The rest of them haven't earned that.

And yeah, stripping him of his gifts is a bit barbaric, but at this point, I'm less worried about him than I am about the rest of the kids. I'm not suggesting that it needs to be 24/7 or for good, but I think we owe them a bit of short term security so that they can get through all the traumas of the last few months without second guessing their emoitions, or having someone complain about the way they feel. And hell, maybe it's the short sharp shock he needs.

It's not that he's dangerous that bothers me - most of us are. It's that he's dangerous and doesn't care...

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x-rogue.livejournal.com

I don't know if it's that he doesn't care, Pete, or that he doesn't know how to. He's a serious mess. I can't believe he's irredeemabe, though, or at least I agree with you when you say we don't have much of choice about trying because of the long term consqueneces if we don't.

Honestly, as horrible as blocking off his abilities may seem, if there's a way to mitigate it so that it's not too traumatic to him, it might not be a bad thing in the long run for him either when I think about it. There are days I'd put up with a hell of a lot not to be swayed by emotions and reactions that don't belong to me. I can't imagine what it must be like for him to be at the mercy of everyone else's feelings most of the time.

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And yeah, stripping him of his gifts is a bit barbaric, but at this point, I'm less worried about him than I am about the rest of the kids.

Taking a machine gun away from a crazed postal worker who's shooting his co-workers isn't barbaric, and neither is locking up someone who can fuck with people's heads like this kid does. Plain as that.

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Your analogy doesn't work. You'd need to be chopping the machine-gunners hands off, rather than taking away his gun - we're talking about removing a part of someone, something he was born with, and didn't ask for, to preventing him doing harm.

Which isn't to say I wouldn't do it if I thought it'd be the best thing to do, but this is why we're talking about it - to work out what the best thing is...

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Bullshit. Normal people get along just fine without it. You're assuming he has a right to fuck with people's heads just because he was born with the ability. If you folks can't fix him, which you ain't made any progress on, it seems - then have Chuck go in and MAKE his brain work right. I mean, if he can go in and lobotomize this "Kwannon" because she's a threat, don't hold the double standard here.

Ain't a damn one of those telepaths can be trusted, and you can quote me on that.

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Mate, your argument ain't with me.

I don't fucking like it much, either, but I'm living here, so I'm playing by the rules of the house...

(Although I'd point out that normal people aren't born with it. People can get along pretty bloody well these days when they're born with limbs missing - is that an argument for chopping the limbs off healthy people, because aother can get along fine without them? But we're getting side-tracked into the kind of discussion of ethics and hypotheticals that's only fun after a few drinks...)

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And as we all know, ethics and telepaths are like oil and water. Regardless, if the kid's a threat, you deal with it. You can coddle a bomb all you want, but it'll go off and destroy things nonetheless.

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Ain't a damn one of those telepaths can be trusted, and you can quote me on that.

Including your brother?

As for the rest of it ... I find myself in a near state of agreement with Mr. Marko, which scares me tremendously.

I think I need to find out more information before I actually do agree. Something just can't be right there.

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Including my brother. Like Wisdom said - it's part of how they are. How do you trust someone who can see what's inside your head, and change it if they want to? How can you trust that your decisions are your own?

You ask me - Chuck ain't got it in himself to push people that way. But he COULD if he needed to. Hell, this whole Kwannon thing proves that. Thing is, he knows how to use his power. What do you do about an untrained kid with that much power? Guys like you, or me, or Piotr, or Wisdom - folks can run for cover or stay out of the way if someone like us goes nuts. Where do you hide from someone who's inside your head?

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Put simply, there is no hiding place.

Non-mutants have no defenses of their own.

And mutants may or may not have defenses, based on their abilities.

But we're not about hiding.

I had ... Kwannon ... inside my head, reading my thoughts. I was sending thoughts at her specifically, I wasn't trying to hide. I was trying to keep her off-balance, and it worked. To some extent.

You have to find out what works, when you can't hide.

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Some folks might take the reaction that if what's in his head starts screwing with what's in theirs, the easiest solution is to knock his off his shoulders.

But since I'm assuming that's a result this school's here to avoid - shit needs to get put under control before Manuel or someone like him goes poking around somewhere dangerous.

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He needs to be under control. NOW. Agreed.

As for the separating head from shoulders...it's a option. Not one I'd take, but I know there are others who'd like that option as their first choice.

And now, I'll be in my office awaiting the Four Horsemen. The End of the World must be approaching.

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I don't want him out of here - I think if he's made to fuck off, we're only going to have to end him later, and I can do without that.

Agreed. But we do need to find a solution, and quickly.

Emma - what is his moral sense? I know the superiority bent, and not just because of his powers. If those were gone, he'd still feel that way. But does he have a sense of "what can be done" doesn't mean "it should be done?"

One thing is for certain - we should make sure to not use any methods that were used on him while he was in captivity before. Emma, you know more about that than we do. Anything you'd recommend?

Besides the stairs, of course.

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He understands moral outrage, Scott, but only when someone implies something wrong on his part. His sense of propriety doesn't quite extend as far as his interactions with others.

He's made some progress, but he was raised by an awful, evil bore of a man who managed the clever trick of both degrading Manuel, and of making it clear to him that the De La Rochas are superior to everyone else, and that their considerations should always be placed first. Then he went to an asylum. Then he was used and abused by his father's friends. He has never had the opportunity to deal with people as equals, and the idea of equality is alien to him. I'm trying to educate him, but given his background, change was never likely to occur overnight.

As for his treatment in Paris... he was treated like an animal, Scott. He was restrained, drugged, blinkered, dragged from pillar to post, violated.

Clearly Cain would have loved it.

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x-mactaggart.livejournal.com

Emma, once you get the chance, come talk with me. I don't have an immediate solution (unfortunatly the plan I have in mind isn't near ready), but I think I may be onto something.

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I'll come and see you as soon as my classes are finished for the day. Thank you, Moira.

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x-shinobi.livejournal.com

If things get too bad, I'm up for another round of Good Cop Bad Cop, if it's deemened necessary. But only after my vacation. I think two weeks to reign in my own "Manuel + Staircase = GOOD IDEA" impulses would be to everyone's benefit.

I'll have my phone and laptop with me while I'm on said vacation, so if I'm needed back sooner than expected, don't hesitate to give a ring. If I have any epiphanies while we're away regarding this mess, I'll call someone here. Scott? Moira?

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