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Everyone's in a buzz about it. The mutant community as well as the human. There's been a rumour for a while now, of the Brotherhood planning something. And while it's been years since they've resorted to physical and destructive ways of gaining attention to their cause, people are still kind of holding their collective breaths, expecting the worst while hoping for the best.
It's almost surreal when the press conference does start. They're all staring up at this young man who looks like he's not a day over twenty five. He's wearing a dress shirt, black trousers and looks quite relaxed as he stands there, hands in his pockets.
Behind him stands the heads of the Brotherhood, and while the newcomer demands attention, everyone's eyes keep straying to Emma Frost and Erik Lehnsherr. There's nothing in their faces that give them away, all stern and simply watching the press corp and interested onlookers flocking in front of the platform.
There's a murmur going through the crowd when someone catches sight of the inhibitor collar around the young man's neck. Why would he be wearing that? Frost and especially Lehnsherr have spent ages railing and raging against the use of, what is generally seen as, the handcuffs of mutants.
Then the young man clears his throat and starts speaking and everyone's eyes are riveted to him.
"Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming. My name is Charles Xavier, some of you may have heard of me, but for those who haven't, I have been asked to act as the spokesperson for the Brotherhood of Mutants." He waits for a moment, then goes on. "I am here to share the organization's future goals, short term as well as long term."
He carries on speaking of the need to be able to share the same world. The differences between humans and mutants - which as he puts it 'negligible'. He has a presence and passion to him that makes everyone pay attention. He tells them that he's seen the dark side of both factions, and fear is not something that is limited to one or the other.
After ten minutes, he has the entire crowd in the palm of his hand, and more than a few reporters are beginning to see that especially Lehnsherr isn't taking his eyes off him for even one moment. They're all still wondering who talked Lehnsherr into allowing someone wearing an inhibitor collar to front the group, though.
Eventually, Xavier gets to the end of his passionate speech and there are few who would argue that he is not a gifted speaker. It's not just the words, it's the tone of his voice, his appearance. While Lehnsherr has proven in the past that he can rally the masses, Xavier makes everyone listen and think about what they're hearing.
Xavier pauses for a moment, then smiles softly. "I'm well aware that a lot of you are wondering about the inhibitor collar that I am wearing. I had to fight tooth and nail," and here he chuckles and turns his head a little in Lehnsherr's direction. There's a moment where Frost looks like she wants to cover the quirk of her lips as well. "Well, let's just say I had to be convincing to be allowed to wear it. I do not do so because of the way people sometimes fear mutants. Nor am I wearing it because I need to in order to function normally. I am in full control of my gift. However, I wanted you all to meet me unbiased. So know, that although I am a telepath, I have been incapable of influencing you for this session, something that I would never consider in the first place. That what I have said up here has not been accompanied by any mental pushing. However," and at this his voice firms, becomes sterner.
"This will also be the one and only time you shall see me with one of these. We are human beings like you, your brothers, your sisters, your parents, your children. We are not animals to be kept on a chain, we are not an enemy to fear. We are like you all, some are good, some are bad - some do bad things - sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad ones. We hope the future will bring understanding and acceptance on both sides. I'll be answering questions in a moment, but please, allow me to do so as I am." He turns his head again. "Erik?"
Lehnsherr steps forward, a lot closer to Xavier than anyone has expected. Lehnsherr has always been standoffish with everyone, at least in public, but he seems perfectly at ease with Xavier. He puts his hands almost gently around Xavier's neck, then moves them outward, taking the collar apart and away from the skin.
Xavier closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them again and takes a deep breath. "I want to tell you, before you ask your questions, what it feels like to me to wear that. Imagine you're wearing earplugs that keep all sounds out, that you're wearing a blindfold, but seeing a movie on the inside of your eyelids. You can see the people, but they don't feel real to you, because there's no sound, no smell, no presence. The collar does this to a telepath. We're not reading your minds, we'd go mad with all those thoughts in our heads, but because we're used to feeling the presence of minds, not feeling them is scary, as if the world has stopped and no one is alive anymore. Each mutant will experience collars differently, but it will almost always be an extreme sensory deprivation of one or more senses or in some cases like losing a limb."
Lehnsherr holds up a hand and the fragments of the collar circle above his hand. He's still standing right behind Xavier, his eyes on the crowd, as if daring them to speak.
As a diametral opposite, Xavier asks the gathered to bring forth their questions that he'll do his utmost to answer, if he can.
The video goes viral within a few hours. Those who claim that the collar didn't work in the first place are met with arguments that even watching the footage on youtube is compelling, makes the viewer listen and think. It creates a wave of debate and attention that keeps rippling across all social media for much longer than any of the Brotherhood's previous press conferences and more than any of Shaw's attacks had in the past.
The questions show Xavier as someone who will not back down from tough questions or heckling. The Brotherhood is literally entering a new era, one where people will listen, no matter what side they're on. Whether it will herald a better future is anyone's guess, but no one is going to be able to ignore the arguments and facts forever. That the future will change, one way or another.