Meeting Professor X

Posted on Sun May 21st, 2023 @ 10:18am by Charles Xavier & Aurora Summers

2,878 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 2: Northern X-Posure
Location: Xavier’s school
Timeline: August 7th, 1990

{ON}

Aurora approached the door to Professor Xavier’s office, she wasn’t sure whether she felt nervous about this meeting with the professor or not. She politely knocked on the door and awaited an invite to enter.

The large oak doors parted on command. Professor Xavier was seated behind his desk. "Please, enter," he said as he removed his hand from the door control hidden in a drawer. "Aurora, isn't it? I hope you slept well."

Aurora nodded as she entered the room. “Yes, thank you Professor.” She looked around the room taking in it’s ornate detail. Looking back at Xavier she gave him a curious gaze. “You... you’re like me aren’t you? You’re a telepath?”

~"That is correct"~ His voice was inside her mind more clearly than if he had spoken audibly. ~“How long have you been aware of your abilities?"~

Aurora was surprised at first, she hadn’t conversed with anyone telepathically before. ~“My telepathy, for as long as I can remember. The voices have always been there. This...~ She held out her hand and a pen from the Professor’s desk floated into it. ~”I’ve had since I was young, but I can only lift lightweight things without hurting myself. As for fire, that’s new, I can’t control it yet.”~

The revelation made Professor Xavier cock his head to one side. Telepathy, telekinesis, and psychokinesis all in one mutation? That was fascinating indeed. "You are welcome to remain here for as long as you desire. I would be pleased to help you reach the fullness of your abilities, to acquire control and the dignity it brings." Pausing for a moment, he asked a more probing question. "Do you recall how you came to be in the Canadian facility?"

Aurora nodded. “I was taken from the streets, the ones who came for me knew all about me. It wasn’t a random grab, they wanted me, but why?” She gave Xavier a curious look. “You said you can you help me? Can you tell me where I got these... abilities?”

"Yes... but let's address one question at a time." The Professor nodded in understanding. "Your kidnappers would seem to be in the employ of government officials, but I doubt the trail ends there. Further time and investigation will be required to turn over every stone." Tilting his head, he said, "As to your other question, our mutant powers are emergent abilities resulting from the X-gene which separates us from the homo sapiens branch of humanity." He made a grimace. "One of my former colleagues branded it as homo superior, and I'm afraid the nomenclature has stuck. Mutants and humans can live together in peace, though, a dream which we have prepared ourselves to defend. It is for this reason that while we seek to bring evildoers to justice, we nonetheless would prefer to win over our oppressors. Peace is the only path to lasting victory."

Aurora nodded. “I’ve spent my life hiding away in dark corners, and hidden places with other mutants. Those afraid to show their faces in the daylight for fear of persecution, or worse. Then these... people show up, dose me and take me to this place. I don’t even know what they wanted!”

The Professor closed his eyes and pondered how to address the young lady's concerns. An epiphany came over him so suddenly that he wondered why he had not considered it immediately. "Aurora, there is something I would like to show you. But it will require a venture into the unknown. Would you like to take a brief yet vast journey with me?"

Aurora gave Xavier a curious look, before she nodded. “Yes, I would. What do I need to do?”

"Close your eyes. Relax. And concentrate." As he spoke, the Professor did exactly that. "Become aware of your surroundings, isolate them, and then shut them out. Focus solely on the totality of your own mind. Give it form. Imagine your thoughts as your body and internalize your physical sensations inside that incorporeal form. Only then, when you are ready, reach out from your mind to mine."

Aurora took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Closing her eyes, she concentrated following Xavier’s instructions. She imagined herself, an empty shape of her own form, and placed her consciousness into it. Once she was sure of it she reached out her mind to Xavier.

"Well done."

The Professor's voice echoed as it had inside her mind, but this time the voice was external as if she could hear his thoughts audibly. When she opened her eyes, the Professor was no longer in his wheelchair. Instead, he stood on two feet with a light shining from his eyes. Gone were the walls of his office, replaced by an ultraviolet translucent outline of the Mansion. There was no sun or stars, just a universal twilight that emanated from everywhere like the surface of the moon.

"Welcome to the Astral Plane. It is no small feat to come here, and you accomplished it on your first try." The Professor smiled and offered his hand. "Come. What I have to show you is far from here."

Aurora was amazed, what she was seeing was so far beyond anything she could ever have imagined. Reaching out her hand she took hold of Xavier’s, amazed that it felt so real. “This is... amazing!”

"This is only the beginning." The Professor smiled and gave her hand a firm squeeze. While it seemed as though they stood still, the world around them streaked by in a blur. It was only the blink of an eye. The world returned to normal, or what passed for normal in this starlight environment, with Xavier and Aurora standing atop a small island floating amongst clouds that illuminated them with soft, silvery light that offset the indigo hues of the floating island itself. "The Astral Realm is a place of pure thought. Only beings possessed of great will can take form here. Most who touch this place manifest only flashes of being that reflect latent impulses and bursts of conviction."

From the high vantage point, Xavier extended his arm and began pointing into a crystal sea beneath them. Waves rolled like diamonds ground into fine powder and stacked into turgid dunes tossed by the wind.

"Each glimmer that you see is a mind. Our universe is truly teeming with life." He isolated one of them and summoned it toward them. At least, that was the appearance. The reality was probably more than they were drawn toward it. "Here is the President of the United States."

Suddenly their island transformed into the Oval Office full of ghostly outlines of people speaking in fervent tones that somehow didn't translate through the dimensional veil. Flashes of emotion ignited from the glowing silhouettes like small fireworks.

"We'll allow them their privacy," Xavier said. Soon the Oval Office reverted back to their celestial floating island.

“How is this even possible??” Aurora was astounded and it came out in a million questions. “How does someone become a mutant? What determines our abilities? Our strengths? Our weaknesses?” She looked at Xavier. “How am I able to hear the voices? To lift objects with a thought? Or to burn things with this new ability?”

With a wave of his hand, the brightest lights in the diamond sea below them shifted from silver to red or blue. "We are born mutants. As I said, humanity is entering another stage of evolution. My studies as a geneticist have led me to believe the impact of mutantkind will be greater than when humans first appeared in the time of the Neanderthals. Humanity totally displaced the Neanderthal, whether through conquest or interbreeding. Natural selection removed the Neanderthals from the board altogether. But we can be better than our ancient ancestors. We can give humans the respect and dignity that were denied the Neanderthals. We can foster a peace during this evolutionary transition."

As he talked, the blue and red recombined to form a beautiful violet rather than the previous silver.

"We can accomplish this through the X-Gene I mentioned before. It is what gives us our powers and abilities. Diversity is the secret sauce of nature, the elixir of the gods if you would forgive my penchant for waxing poetic, and through it we can avoid catastrophe." Looking away from their vibrant surroundings and directly at Aurora, the Professor said, "All of that begins with you and others like you. Learning to control your gifts, and perhaps even discovering new ones, is the path to a better world."

Aurora nodded as she listened. “Can you... teach me how to use my abilities? To help others like us, and those who need us?” The images around them changed as she took Xavier to see just where she’d spent her life so far. Dark, damp, cold sewers replaced the beauty of the previous images. Replaced by mutants huddled away in the squalor. “This was my life, growing up in hiding, learning to stay in the shadows.”

More shifted in their environment than just the surroundings. Professor Xavier kept a wary eye in every direction. "Aurora, I am very sorry for what you have experienced." There was a tremendous risk to being here, so close to... No, it was best not to even ponder it. An idle thought could be a beacon to things best left undiscovered. "I reach out to sequestered communities high and low as and when I am able, but the security of my home and sanctuary always comes first. If you ever wish to search out any of your old friends, that is something we may be able to arrange."

Aurora hung her head as the images faded away back to a calm scene. “I didn’t have friends, at least none that survive anymore. I... I’m alone.” Sadness turned into pain, pain into anger, and anger into fire as her astral form lit up. “See... this is what I become! It’s not safe for anyone to be around me!”

Before the Professor could respond, an eerie voice came upon the empyrean air.

"Aur...ror....aaa..."

The glowing light behind the Professor's eyes intensified into smoldering infernos. Beams shot out like lasers and began scanning the shadows. "We should go from here. Your memories have brought us too close to danger. There are predators who stalk the unwary."

"Aaaaaaaurrrrrrooooooorrrrraaaaa..."

What appeared before them looked neither predatory nor infernal, but like a small waif of a child clad in threadbare clothing and years of grime caked on his face. Toes poked out from the ends of his shoes which were held together with rags tied into knots. A small bear hung from one hand as he stared at them with hurt and betrayal in his eyes.

"Why did you leave me, Aurora?"

Xavier stepped between them. "Don't listen, Aurora. That is not your friend."

"I'm falling, Aurora! Help me!"

Aurora was frozen with fear, the flames that surrounded her had died away, as she backed away. “No! You... you died!” She closed her eyes. “You’re... no friend of mine!” She looked towards Xavier.

A pale face with pointed ears and glowing green eyes replaced the form of the orphan waif. "We aren't friends? Why, I just don't think I can bear that, Aurora..."

"Back off, Fear Lord," said a voice that was more hoarse whisper than audible speech. It was uttered by another gigantic visage that seemed amorphous--glowing red eyes and far too many jagged teeth dominated an otherwise featureless azure face. "This one is mine."

Xavier placed a steady hand on Aurora's shoulder and guided her backward step by step.

"Nightmare does not share!" shouted the first floating face.

"Shadow King does not yield what is mine!" retorted the second.

"Far past time for us to be gone," Xavier said. His eyes flared again, this time collapsing the terrain into a bubble that protected them from the warring demon-like entities that fought for to claim them. The bubble inverted into a new landscape. "Be careful. We are still near the Nightmare domain."

They stood in an alleyway of a major city in North America. Crowds of people line the streets in protest. Fighting broke out. At first it was the tumult of brawling, but soon the hissing of flames, the echo of gunshots, the shockwave of detonations.

"No..." whispered Charles.

Aurora watched then looked at Xavier. “What is it Professor? What’s going on?”

"This is my nightmare..." The Professor stared in abject horror as humans and mutants began fighting one another. Their violence stretched beyond the assembled mob and down side streets, destroying infrastructure and laying waste to lives like a swarm of locusts in a wheat field.

“Professor... we can’t stay here, we have to get out of here!” Aurora looked around them. “You said you’d help me learn more about who I am, how I can do what I do, so show me... please.”

Xavier closed his eyes and concentrated. "Yes..."

He raised his hands and then lowered them. When he did so, they were taken away from the volatile mob and set inside an enclosed room with shag carpeting and dark wall paneling. A box television sat prominently before them and displayed the very scene they had been participating in a moment ago.

"Forgive me. The onslaught of nightmares is not always deflected with ease." Xavier had taken on a slightly more youthful appearance and stood on two feet despite no longer appearing strictly ethereal. "But as you've seen, the potential for wanton violence between mutants and humans is primed to explode." Indicating the violence on the screen, the Professor said, "We will discover who you are together as we stand against the tide of fear and hatred that is destroying lives every day." Looking at Aurora directly, he said, "As for who you are? That is an enigma that you must unravel for yourself. I can only show you the way."

Aurora nodded. “Anything you can do to start me on that path will be a help Professor.” She looked at the screen again. “They really do hate us don’t they? Why can’t they just accept us for who, and what we are?”

"They need a teacher," the Professor said. He turned pensive. "Perhaps that is enough for today." His eyes rolled back into his head for a moment as he guided them back to their bodies. When his eyes opened, he saw the tangible environment of his mansion office.

"I must apologize," the Professor said with his physical voice. "The Astral Plane is always a potentially dangerous place, but that visit was particularly more dangerous than most."

Aurora nodded. “So what happens to me now? Can I stay here? Become one of your pupils?” She looked at Xavier hoping he’d say yes, from what she’d seen of the school and it’s students it was a place where she’d feel more at home.

While he had been building up to the offer, it seemed Aurora just came out with the request. The Professor's face split into a kindly smile. "I would love nothing more. You may claim a spot in the girls' dormitory at your leisure. And, when you're ready, there are a number of gifts that I believe I can help you explore. "

Aurora smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Professor. As for being ready, I’m ready whenever you are. I want to learn just what I can really do.”

"There will be plenty of time for studies," the Professor replied. "Why don't you get more acquainted with some of the other students? I have found that friendship can be the second greatest teacher in this world."

Aurora nodded. “I’ll do that Professor, thank you” She smiled warmly. “Ohh one more thing, your students they have code names? What about me? What would you call me?”

"That might be premature at this time," the Professor said diplomatically, "for a number of reasons. Codenames are reserved for field missions and it may take time before I can confidently deploy you into a dangerous situation." Then his smile returned. "But perhaps a codename for training purposes would be beneficial. It's a deeply personal choice that reflects not just a skill set but an entire identity. In Hank's case, his codename of Beast reflected the mastery of his intellect over his physique through intrinsic irony. Warren wore his wings as a heavenly badge of honor with the name of Angel. For an enigma such as yourself, though, it may take time before your inner identity becomes revealed."

“An enigma?” Aurora smiled. “Then what about Enigma? At least until that inner identity of mine shows up.”

The suggestion made Professor Xavier chuckle in delight. "I think that sounds rather apropos. The dark sayings of a riddle are not dispelled by the discovery of their answer but rather enhanced by it. Enigma, welcome to the X-Men."

Aurora smiled the biggest smile yet, she finally had a place to belong.

{OFF}

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