Log 0007

[keeps_a_cool_head]

[In Zero, Scorpius does what he does best: he plans. Giving him space and time to think through what he wants and how to get it is one of the unintended gifts of his cell space, and he appreciates every moment of it.

After several days, he addresses the Barge]

A question to my fellow shipmates;

When an inmate commits a grievous crime, who is to blame for it? Obviously the inmate must share some, but what percentage is attributed to them and what percentage is attributed to their warden, who may be unfit to command them? A warden may fail just as easily by not admitting to something that could be most assuredly out of their control.

And what of inmates who aren't paired and no one has taken the time to explain to them the rules?

My apologies to Alex Summers. While it was certainly my intent to hurt him, he had done nothing to harm me and was simply in the correct place at the correct time.



[Private to Crichton]

Of course, John, we all know that you are the one fully to blame.

More like Alex will follow. You cannot hope to save them all.

In a few days' time they will be forced to release me. What has changed between the time of my entering this cell and the time of my leaving it? As a deterrent towards behavior, Zero leaves much to be desired.

I am willing to entertain ideas of a deal between us.

Comments

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[wedonot]

How familiar are you with Earth's history? Specifically the mid twentieth century.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

I don't know any Earth history, save what I gleaned from Crichton's brain; even then, there are only flashes of memory.

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[wedonot]

[Then this is going to be a long ass story. u__u]

About thirty years ago, a powerful political leader named Adolph Hitler instituted a plan that he hoped would secure him and his country complete dominance over the rest of the globe. One of the tactics he and his followers hoped would secure them a more perfect world order was to eliminate any minority that didn't fit into their image of the perfect man - religious and ethnic minorities, homosexuals, political enemies. The Nazis systematically stripped them of their rights, rounded them up and committed government sanctioned genocide. Millions of people were killed. I don't know if that means anything to you, but it's the most heinous act of violence ever committed in human history.

My closest friend was fourteen years old when he saw a man fatally shoot his mother because he couldn't move a coin the same way he'd bent the gates of the death camp when they'd tried to separate him from his parents. He spent the next year being tortured and experimented on by the same man, all while watching people like him starved and beaten and disposed of like garbage, after years of watching the escalating violence, the denial that things could go this far, and the way neighbors and friends turned a blind eye to all of it. After the camp he was at was finally liberated, he devoted his life to hunting down the man responsible for his mother's murder and killing the others responsible for what happened to his family and people like them.

I met him years later while he was still hunting for the man responsible. He hadn't realized there were other people out there with gifts like his, because the existence of mutation - having a supernatural ability like my telepathy, or his ability to manipulate magnetic fields - isn't commonly known in our world. People tend to react with fear and alarm when presented with something "unnatural" like that, so most of us spent our lives in hiding, feeling alone and consumed with fear about what would happen if someone were ever to find out of what we were capable of. Discrimination didn't end after the Holocaust, and if people were willing to commit murder over worshiping a different God than theirs, or for having a different skin color, what would their reaction be to someone born with wings, or the ability to walk through walls? Erik was afraid that humanity would react in the same way the Nazis had, and after he killed the man responsible for the death of his mother, he almost instigated a war between us and humanity. A war which we would have had no hope of winning, and would only have made matters worse for anyone out there like us.

Fortunately, [Although there's some amount of irony in that, because he's still vaguely torn about saying being here had been a good thing. The outcome was better than he ever could have hoped for when he'd been bleeding, injured and abandoned on a beach wishing things had turned out differently, but he's still got the scars to prove that this hadn't been anything close to easy.] We were both brought to the Barge, and once Erik graduated, we returned home and were able to lay the foundations for a much safer future for people like us, and the world in general.

I never held his fear or concerns against him, [And it's obvious that he means it. It's also blatantly obvious that this is someone Charles loves, supports and understands no matter how different their philosophy was.] But he let revenge almost destroy his life and the lives of countless others. He'd effectively become what he'd spent so long hating, and once he was able to let that go, we both had opportunity to do everything we can to prevent that sort of thing from happening again in our lifetimes.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

[Scorpius listens with an attentive, calm patience that doesn't allude to the darker turmoil brewing underneath.

Because he hadn't realized how old a story it was. A conquering regime bent on annihilating anyone not specifically of use to them. Systematic torture and experimentation. Being an outcast for gifts or traits you were born with. The desire to instigate a war to prevent the atrocities from ever happening again.

The death of a mother.

In some ways their stories are different, but the fundamental underlying principles ring true, and not for the first time does he wonder if Charles was lying to him when he said that Zero inhibited his telepathic ability]

Do you think his chances for letting go of his revenge would have remained the same if these Nazis were still in power? Or if they were on the verge of taking over your entire world?

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[wedonot]

That depends on a number of factors, especially considering there's a difference between revenge and doing what's necessary to stop injustice or protect those who can't protect themselves. But honestly, I think it would have just made it more difficult, not impossible.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

I think I should have liked to know your friend. We seem to have had a few things in common, despite the radical difference in our species and upbringing.

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[wedonot]

He's an exceptional person. There are a few new arrivals I think he would have liked to speak with.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

What did he do after his graduation? What were his plans for the men who were still responsible?

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[wedonot]

We returned home to found a school for mutant children so they have somewhere they can learn to use their abilities safely, without fear of being harmed for what they're capable of. That's been our primary focus, but there was some talk of tracking down the others and making sure they're made an example of.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

But for him, there was no longer anyone to protect. The threat was over before he arrived.

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[wedonot]

That's not true at all.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

Not entirely.

But the man and the regime that killed his mother were both gone. Their threat to the world had ended.

That he took his prejudice and applied it to others similar in nature does not discount the fact that he still attained his revenge and that threat was neutralized.

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[wedonot]

That specific threat, maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that there are people out there who want to do to us what was done to his family, and he could have made the choice to eliminate the threat by assuming every human felt that way, but didn't.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

That specific threat is everything.

There are other ways to solve conflicts for other threats. You can experiment with peace, with treaties, with mutual assurances.

But for something that personal and intrinsic to who he was, there was only one way. His way.

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[wedonot]

You're welcome to think that. But you're still wrong.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

I suppose I could be, having never met your friend.

[But he really doesn't think he is]

I am thankful and oddly envious that he was able to grasp his revenge prior to arriving on the Barge.

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[wedonot]

I'll be happy to say I told you so if and when you do graduate.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

If I graduate. Which may be a very long time in coming.

Is giving up my revenge necessary for me to graduate?

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[wedonot]

Quite possibly. I wouldn't be able to make a definite statement without getting to know you better.

[But yeah, that is definitely something you're probably going to have to do.]

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

[He nods, sitting back down on the cot at last. The arrogant self-assured persona seems to loosen just the smallest bit, in place of uncertainty and, strangely, sadness]

I too am under this impression.

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[wedonot]

[It's probably stupidly easy for someone with similarities to Erik to slip past his defenses, but with the reminder of how he'd targeted Alex when he was vulnerable and specifically looked to hurt him to upset someone else, it's easy to keep his emotional distance.

Still, it's also easy to feel the tiniest bit sorry that there's another person here with the same story, facing the same reality that they've effectively chosen to ruin their own lives, as much as they might like to try and cast the blame on someone else.]

Can I ask why you're so intent on revenge?

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

I feel as though I have been recounting this story many times today, and may recount them for days to come.

But the short version, aside from lives saved and planets kept safe, is that once I was a child very, very similar to your friend.

Imagine if your Nazis were working to perfect their genetic experimentation to create children with extraordinary ability, like yourself and your friend. Imagine that they were accomplishing this by kidnapping and impregnating women whom they believed would give them what they wanted.

Imagine that the genetic strands were incompatible and that these women and their offspring died by the dozen. Imagine that of the hundred or so attempts, there was only one surviving child in the entirety of mother-child pairs.

Then imagine that child being raised by those who had created it, fed lies and forced into experimentation to develop its gifts and punished when it did not perform as expected.

Imagine all of this and you will have a grasp on why my intent for revenge is so strong that it transcends even my death.

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[wedonot]

[Charles listens, takes his time before answering. He does feel a fair bit of sympathy for him, and wonders if John would too, if he'd known Scorpius's reasoning. He'd said he didn't know, and the telepath would like to believe that he's telling the truth. He certainly hadn't seemed like he was lying, anyway.]

Well, first of all, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: anyone who tries to say that you don't have a right to be angry with them or want them dead for what they've done to you doesn't have the right to tell you anything, as they clearly aren't anything close to emotionally intelligent. I can also promise that your being here doesn't mean that their actions are somehow justifiable, because they aren't. [He'd also like to think the reason he's never seen or heard of one of the ones responsible on board means the Admiral feels the same way - that some things can't be forgiven - but he also wouldn't put it past him to give it a shot. Hannibal was here, after all.]

You're not here because they're right and you're wrong. You might not even be here because Commander Crichton is entirely in the right, and if what you've told me is true and I believe that it is, I don't think you'll be expected to surrender total control to the Scarrans and allow them to choose the fate of your universe. You might just have to make some compromises on how you plan on combating their more hostile intentions.

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[keeps_a_cool_head]

[Charles' answer surprises Scorpius. He's long since gone under the assumption of being perpetually misunderstood and misjudged, and likely is under the impression that if Crichton knew of his deeper motivation, he wouldn't care. That Charles is taking the time to validate Scorpius' concerns is a treasured thing. He closes his eyes to briefly state;]

Thank you.

[Back to the present moment. Eyes now open, he observes Charles in a new, more curious light. He seems to have a boundless sympathy to him, this creature. Is this what telepathy will do to you?]

And next I expect you wish to turn more towards the topic that injuring Alex Summers will in no way benefit me.

[Even if it does make Crichton squirm]

I have no interest in pursuing more harm to your offspring.

[His point's been made, after all]

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[wedonot]

Not exactly. [He's been finding the conversation interesting, as sad as it is in a lot of ways. There are too many people out there like this, and it isn't fair to them to be made to feel like their suffering doesn't matter because their methods and life goals could do with some tweaking.

And although he's deeply relieved to her that in a lot of ways - Alex has had a bad habit of winding up in the wrong place at the wrong time recently - the information is still largely unnecessary.] As glad as I am to hear that, I wasn't especially concerned that you did. You've presented yourself as a fairly intelligent individual, and going after him would be exceptionally stupid. But thank you for the reassurance.