maskormenacelogs | Catchall for July

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Catchall for July

WHO: Charles Xavier, Charles!clone and You!
WHERE: A bit of everywhere.
WHEN: July
WHAT: Meetings, powers training, random encounters, clone-a-rama.
WARNINGS: TBA, Charles clone is likely to use telepathy without IC consent. Here is my telepathy permission post if you want to opt out of that.

MEET CHARLES

a. home, still at Nonah
Charles lives in Nonah, in individual housing with Erik, Jean and Wanda. It's a two story building but with no stairs at the front and no thresholds that would make it hard to navigate with a wheelchair. If he has invited you into his home, he'll be waiting with a pot of tea and a tin of cookies. But if you're a chance visitor, he will welcome you just as warmly.

He's gathering his bearings finally and actually made a home for himself in the bedroom that used to be his, claimed some space around the house by piles of books often forgotten onto the tables and good scotch in a reachable cupboard in the kitchen. He's no longer red as a lobster what was going on after the beach episode of Swear-ins and Erik finally convinced him to have a haircut. Gone is the mullet and back is the 60's floppy hair-do. You might even catch him wearing a t-shirt, maybe with an X-men logo on it or a silly slogan, he got a few of those from Fanport.

Let's have a cup of tea or a game of chess, or just good conversation.

b. powers training at the danger room / Maria-Francis Foundation
The Maria-Francis Foundation building resides in ~~Nonah~~ De Chima. In the basement there is a wide space that Erik has been working with all month to get up and running as a powers training centre. The building is modern and tall, and Charles has taken a habit of waiting the people he's made appointments with at the front lobby.

He's excited to get the actual training started, get those hours in and grind some practice into people who have contacted him.

If you're not here for powers training, you can find him in the office, going through the Foundation's paperwork. You're damn right he's snooping on his own business. What of it?

c. interview, wherever seems convenient
Perhaps you're meeting him in a cafe or a park, he'll even agree to go the beach if that's convenient for you. What he's interested in is learning about what you have to say after all. Charles is very curious about what has aspired in this world before his time and how to put the details together into a cohesive picture in his mind.

He's quick to greet you with a smile and a warm handshake. Please, sit down. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee first? Do you mind if he makes some quick notes while you're discussing?

d. wildcard
Would you like something else? Perhaps run into him in the library or find him feeding pigeons one fine morning in the park? Maybe he was supposed to come to you? Are you having a dinner out? Are you one of the people he keeps an eye on and something is going awfully wrong? He would find a way to contact you. Throw me a bone, I'll run with it.

MEET THE CLONE

e. random encounter
Charles, the clone, looks and sounds exactly like the original but he doesn't have the stylish wheelchair with big X-symbols on the wheels. A big giveaway? Maybe not. His flippant attitude is probably the big neon sign that you weren't expecting. Wherever you meet - cafe, library, school, even the Foundation building - he's going to greet you with a sunny smile and a warm handshake, introduce himself if necessary and especially if you're a pretty brunette, he will flirt playfully while falling short with playing the caring and concerned game that Charles excels at.

He's going to be a little bit impatient, unlikely to avoid using his gifts even if you ask him to and multitasking to the max. Good luck catching all of his attention at any given time. But he's new to his powers, and easily overwhelmed.

f. for those he's interacted with before
As time goes by, he will start targeting Charles' friends and family. He'll find them at their work places or stage a random meeting elsewhere. Once or twice he'll even wander into the house in Nonah. You might find him at the kitchen having a cup of tea and leafing a genetics book, or perhaps wandering around, looking at pictures and fingering everything with curiosity. Or rolling into your workplace with a sunny smile and a suggestion to grab an early lunch.

g. wildcard
Something else you had in your mind? I'm an open book, come at me, bruh!

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Charles would come back with how he was happy to see Tony as well but the clone just gave a smile, a little eerie how sunny and sweet it was, yet so completely hollow. "It was on my list of things to do," he said in a way that left more questions than gave answers.

Tony, Tony, such a busy head you have. The clone was not as comfortable with his powers as Charles is, this beehive of a mind was giving him a headache. He was tempted to try his hand at it. Something Charles had distinctly avoided doing. Fascinating. Now, here was a man who seemed to reach for his potential and not just flap around placidly like the rest of the population seemed to be inclined doing.

"You don't drink?" he asked, mild disbelief in his voice. Seriously? "I do, though." Charles sipped. Usually something expensive and rather rarely. "If you have any scotch, that'd be lovely."

"Scotch it is," he said, and then poured it, a bit on his fingers when he pulled the carafe away, but he didn't wipe it off, simply brought the glass over to him, before he moved to sit down. "And no, I don't. Alcoholic. It's a bad idea," he moved to sit behind his desk, his fingers hovered over his bottle, before he took a sip.

Refreshing.

"So what can I help you with? Anything in particular?"

"Bad idea, how?" Charles asked, brows arching as he gave it a small sniff, twirling the alcohol in the glass. It had a nice earthy scent, definitely not bitter. "Thank you."

He took a quick sip and made a pleased sound at the back of his throat. It was nice.

"I admit that I came here mostly out of curiosity, just to see how you have things set up. But I must admit, you are rather fascinating man, Tony Stark." It's awful how much of a shameless flirt can be in those blue eyes when Charles wants so.

"What is your secret against telepathy? Is it just the way your mind works or something else?"

"Oh no," he waved a hand, and smiled. "Why would I give away my secret to the guy who can get around them if he knows them?" he asked, his eyebrow rose, and his lips curled into a smile. Sharper, meaner than normal. He just... couldn't help it sometimes, letting that part of him out that he kept hidden at the moment. Why would he?

"Is it that interesting?" he asked, after a brief pause. "I mean, Emma taught me, so that should give you cause for concern. I hear she's...competition in the telepath regard."

It was interesting to the clone. Charles didn't really bother thinking about it that much. He didn't mind. The clone, however, found it inconvenient that he couldn't lift out details about Tony's and Charles' interactions. What a bother, he had to actually think his way through this.

"Perhaps you'd find that easier than having me figure it out myself," the clone suggested lightly. Not quite a threat but not far from it either.

It's also hard to navigate through complex ideas about Emma Frost. He doesn't mention that Emma is dead. They might have talked about that before. It would give him away easily. "Emma did have an interesting reflective ability."

"Really?" he asked, and lifted an eyebrow. "Charles, don't tell me you've decided to turn over a new leaf and start abusing your powers? What would the children think? Or Erik?"

He looked absolutely unconcerned. Charles Xavier could be an awful person sometimes, but he still held to his principles for the most part. He didn't really change, didn't compromise, and he didn't think that the man would actually do it, and if he did...

Well, he'd get loads of code and numbers. He knew Xavier was smart, but perhaps not that smart. The layers of defenses were built for specific reasons, not that he worried about telepaths most of the time. They were all so... principled.

"Abuse?" The clone gave a laugh that sounded so very much like Charles, high and delighted. "Heavens. Isn't that a little dramatic? Do you really think Erik would find using the powers I've been given as something he could judge?"

After all, he had these gifts and why wouldn't he use them? Such a waste.

Charles would never compromise his ideals for an easy fix. But the clone didn't have the same kind of moral codes to follow.

"Aren't you even a little bit curious?" he asked, something awfully still in those blue eyes. He was curious. Maybe Tony Stark would provide a challenge that he had been craving for.

"About?" he asked, and leaned back in his seat.

Something was wrong with Charles. Something was off. Where normally he didn't push, normally he didn't even ask like that, this one wanted something. he wanted to see in his head, and Tony... while normally not apt to give him anything, suddenly stood up, and made his way to his liquor cabinet.

If he was going to gamble, he wanted something that tasted better. "Curious, that you're pushing so hard, Charles. If you want to try, I suppose... there's nothing stopping you, now is there?" He asked, and turned, a highball in hand, before he moved to sit down, although his posture was more relaxed, less... restricted.

Like he'd fallen back on being himself. "Go on, I'm waiting."

Charles definitely wouldn't push or even have any desire to break anyone's mental barriers. He might feel frustrated at times but it was comparable to someone not being able to communicate their point in a discussion rather than wanting to own a private highway to everyone's headspace.

The clone was a different matter all together. He had a power that he was eager to use. He just saw absolutely no reason not to.

Which was why he gave a delighted chuckle when Tony obviously invited him to do exactly what he wanted.

"Perhaps I'm feeling extra vigorous today," he said into his drink before pushing it down onto a table and lifted two fingers onto his temple.

The telepathy he controlled was a brute force compared to what Charles would do. He had the power but no finesse. While Charles would - even in a hypothetical situation where he would want to break through any kind of walls - approach it with care and consideration, the clone threw his whole weight into it without a single thought of return.

[ ooc: LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS NOT OKAY! I'll change my tag or something! ]

It was like being hit with a sledgehammer to his head, but Stark was resilient, and other than his eyes closing, there was no physical reaction -- but Emma had taught him a great deal, and he knew that just standing stalwart, like an iron wall, would do no good in this situation.

He let Charles in. But it wasn't a human brain he found. There were no images, no thoughts, nothing stray or fleeting. It was pure, unadulterated data. An overwhelming rush and stream, most of it flowed, numbers and digits, the occasional real word buried in the programming and data, the occasional paragraph from a news article, but most of it was thrown and discarded.

What Charles found when he pushed forward was information, but not necessarily about Stark. At least at first blush, but if he pushed deeper, further into his mind, he'd find that the tone changed, an organic, dark edge to it, further into the center, where thoughts lay, alcohol soaked and sharp, the occasional fleeting calculation or thought, but deep in all that was the feeling of pure, unadulterated superiority. Like he was better than...something. Others? Charles? Himself? It wasn't clear.

Delightful, that was all that the clone could think about it. He felt elated, powerful, purposeful. Charles, for all the good he did and all the kindness of his nature, had a darker side to his personality, a hubris he struggled with constantly. How much he could do if he would put aside his moral code, he would be good, of course, he would be benevolent, naturally, a sweet dictator, a good Samaritan with the ability to decide the fates of others. He could do it.

There was a madness waiting on that line of thought, an evil of the subtle kind. An evil that the clone had no chance of detecting.

He knew they were more, they were better. Finding something that reflected his thoughts back to him with such familiarity made him delighted.

He also wasn't shy to share his agreement in the process, a wordless sending, almost hungry in delivery.

"I didn't expect that," he admitted as he picked up his glass again, took a sip, regarding Tony over the lip of the glass. Charles and his pussyfooting habits seemed to value this man. The clone hadn't expected to find that at the core of him.

"What? Finding the virus lurking beneath?" he asked, and leaned back, appraising, calculating.

The more this went on, the more he knew this wasn't Charles Xavier. The man was too forward, too pushy. Not the meek, kindly, young man he'd gotten to know. Oh, the Charles he knew back home wouldn't hesitate if necessary, but he had a softer side, a need to still do good. There was no good that came from this prying, and no finesse in the slightest. There was nothing that made him think the man was... anything other than a twisted reflection of who he was.

"And how did you come to be? You can't tell me you're something ridiculous, like a... less controlled future self of Charles Xavier," he took another drink, eyes half lidded. Not like him, he didn't think. His scans kept bouncing back, reading things like 'new', something about it wasn't right.

Deep in his mind, of course, it was an endless sea of thought, like drowning in data, and he kept it that way, too busy and distracting to get more than an impression -- important to a man who kept so many secrets.

"I won't insult your intelligence by pretending to be the genuine article," the clone said with a light chuckle and finished his drink. "I like to think myself as the enhanced version." There was no point trying to lie to this man. It would be just a waste of time.

Of course he was arrogant enough to think of himself better, though. Charles was a worn out version, bogged down by too much grime that he insisted on piling up on himself.

All the things he could do if he just let himself a permission to do it.

"But I can't give you the specifics either. However, if you would think you would benefit something of it, I am happy to let you study me or help you in other ways if you would prefer that instead." Perhaps with that brain of his, Tony could get something out of it. The clone felt kinship to this man, he didn't mind opening up whatever secrets he might hold to him. Having been blessed with an exceptional brain from his gene donor, he couldn't see how his existence would be a long lived one, if he could accomplish something in this dragonfly time of his, he was happy to do so.

"The better version?" he asked, and his lips curled into a smile. "Is the other one around?" he questioned, and waved a hand. "It's important -- for your safety -- whether or not he is. I find that people like Charles tend to... get in the way occasionally, and if you're a much more...interesting version, than we need to think ahead."

How to preserve him, how to protect this.

Because Tony Stark was certain of things. The Charles Xavier in front of him was more interesting, and less personally dangerous to him than the other one. This one had a sharpened mind, and need and a willingness to do the things that Xavier -- the second flavor Stark knew -- would never do. The kind of man he wanted around.

He didn't like the other one.

"Perhaps you would indulge me the study. We can see if we can... do a little something about... what is likely to be a very temporary case. And I'm very good at making sure we all stick around."

"No, he's not paying attention," the clone promised with a smile. "I've been to his house, talked with most of his friends. He's still clueless as to what's going on. He's so worried about using his powers the wrong way that it's creating a true hindrance for him. I have some plans for him in the future."

Charles is just a small, legless man without his mind after all.

"They will come for me eventually," the clone said simply. "Erik was suspicious of me already. And the others -- versions of other imPorts -- aren't being exactly subtle. I am happy to put myself in your hands for the time being. If you can get something out of it, it seems like a good cause."

He considered Tony curiously. "And maybe you would have some use for the skills I have at my fingertips." It was a gentle suggestion.

"What do you mean by making sure we all stick around?"

His smile was sharp, knowing. "Well, most of us -- those who come through events, don' last long. I've been an import for eight years now, and I can tell you that you will pass. That's a certainty. There's no way around it. There's no way you cannot. You will either be killed, recalled, vaporized, or banished in some way."

His voice was even, level. This wasn't nasty, it wasn't meant to hurt, it was simply a fact of life. Something that would happen to Charles no matter what he did. This Charles, anyway. "It's as inexorable as imports coming and going -- myself and a few other notable exceptions are the only ones that stay," he stood, then, to stand and look out the window. From behind, there were still signs that he was in the body of the person he'd been. Things that he didn't have back home, the line of ports in the back of his head, the way he turned, almost mechanical in motion, like he calculated his every movement.

"But did you know... there's a way around that? I... took myself over, in the past. The event last year... I was a temporary -- an event version of myself. But I...saved myself to file, and then..." he turned his head, and grinned. It was a sharp, mean thing. Reveling in the idea of it.

"I wiped myself."

The simplicity of the plan made the clone tilt his head curiously, interest creeping in with the hunger of a child, unhindered by any modicums of propriety. Of course he wanted to survive.

"Could you do that with me and the other one?" he asked quietly. Yes, if that was possible, he rather desired it, needed it, because Tony was right. His life would be quick and rather transient thing, as the stars fall.

What would Tony want in return? Would he want anything? Was he that eager to get rid of Charles. The clone could understood that. He would rather get rid of Charles as well.

"Not quite as easily," he explained. "I... have a few advantages to digitally overtaking my own brain," he explained, but tapped a finger against the his palm, hands clasped behind his back. "It's easy to rewrite a computer. Not so easy to rewrite a human being. Especially a psychic one. This is something that will take some delicacy and... a little more care."

Of course, he didn't doubt that they could find a way, if they so chose. If not... well, they could always go for the tried and true method of just building a cyborg.

"Worst comes to worse, I could probably clone Xavier again and fix him up with some cybernetics," he said, blasé. "Take care of him, replace him with you, nobody would know the difference," unless it was Magneto, but... they would just have to use plastic electronics. There were ways around the other mutant's powers.

"I think, at the very least, it's worth a shot. And I could...use an ally in this."

"I'm more than willing to try it." The clone looked thoughtful for a moment, considering the idea of a cybernetics and rather liked it. It might give him an ability to walk as well, which would make things quite a lot easier.

"If you can save me as you said, I would recommend doing that and waiting for a little bit for everything to cool down. No one would have any reason to believe that I haven't perished completely when that time comes."

He rather liked the idea of taking over Charles' body from him as well. He imagined he might be able to slave his mind if only he had a little bit of time to practice, who knew, it could be possible.

"Excellent," he said, and stood.

"We should make our attempt soon. I don't want to wait for this, or..." he shook his head. "Or something happen. We don't need him figuring this out, or someone else interfering when it's far too early," his lips tightened, and he looked around the room.

"Give me... a day. I need to get the supplies in order, build and program a machine... This isn't something I want to rush, even if there is something of a rush job."

"A day." With a mild chuckle, the clone unlocked the chair and rolled over to meet Tony in the middle of the room. "A day doesn't seem long at all. I will return here tomorrow, or somewhere else?"

He doubted that Charles would have any reason to look into Tony's mind but he wondered if he should offer to create mental blocks for him.

Tomorrow. He'd do that tomorrow.

Offering his hand to be shaken, he smiled, pleased with the result of this meeting. "I will see you tomorrow."

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Catchall for July

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