18125/Open Office

Open Office
Date of Scene:	02 June 2024
Location:	Ops Room
Synopsis:	Returning home from a mission in space, Professor X debates the problems of the day with some of his X-Men.
Cast of Characters:	Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, Rogue, Negasonic, Forge, Marie-Ange Colbert, Jubilation Lee, Ororo Munroe, Bishop, Jean Grey

---

Charles Xavier has posed:
Charles Xavier sits. He doesn't exactly have much of a choice, not in this gravity anyway. The War Room is sleek and chrome with a few human touches. The most relevant thing right now are the screen systems; a large screen composed of the same psychoactive cells of Cerebro that allow Charles to comb through the selfsame computer system and outside networks with a thought. Currently it is broadcasting a picture of a fire in Nicaragua and their government claiming an unexpected earthquake was to blame.

There is a tight little frown on Xavier's face as his thoughts race. The Screen shifts to a distant star, and the mad eyes of a woman clad in what looks like chrome. The Professor feels a burn on his right shoulder, still healing, and turns around.

'To Me, My X-Men.'

The thought reaches out wherever you are; it might be the first time some of you are hearing that Xavier is back on this planet. There's no time table, no threat of tardiness being punished. They're adults now, Xavier reflects, and Bobby always showed up late anyway.

"I have some good news for you all." Xavier says, waiting a few minutes for the minds he felt returning the call and moving to arrive walking in. "I managed to negotiate a settlement, in the wake of the Shi'ar's abortive invasion of our system. Civil war has been avoided for now, at least."

"Though I see I've missed a few things. Please, come in, talk to me." Xavier gestures, still in his black and yellow combat uniform, looking for all the world like he's just been in a fight.

Emma Frost has posed:
Well, the Shi'Ar being cooperative is good. No one wants to get caught in another schism. They were just a petty little rim world in an unimportant part of the galaxy. "Excellent, Charles." She would droll over then. "And you've come back just in time for graduation." Or slightly past it. She wasn't that closely affiliated with the school when it came to such things.

"So now that our intergalactic affairs are stabilized for the moment, will you be taking more of a hand in the school again?" SHe would inquire casually. With Jean stepping down as Headmistress as of the last report.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is in her green and gold, her short leather jacket worn over her shoulders, and her gloved hands tucked in to the side warmer pockets. On thigh high yellow boots, she strides in to the room, her green eyes scanning around it, before inevitably falling upon that of Professor Xavier. She considers what he states, but for now simply remains quiet.

The Southern Belle finds herself a place against the back wall to lean back against, with her right foot coming up to rest up near her left knee, her right knee extended out in front of her.

As others begin to arrive, the Mississippi Bomber shows various expressions of smiles, or just upnods to the others, before she returns her eyes to that of the Professor.

Negasonic has posed:
Some were more adults than others.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead, now on the cusp of outgrowing her name, steps in. It was the middle of summer. So of course she needs to be in a shoulderless jet black top, black jeans, and an absolute ton of piercings. She was growing her hair out, on one side only, so it looked like a half-done buzzcut right now.

In spite of her... friendly attitude, she always secretely went for the Xavier side of the force, rather than the Brotherhood - even if she skirted the line more than once.

So when Xavier calls, she does come.

Even if it was with her phone out, black-painted lip tugging at her lower lip ring as she focuses in on whatever she was doing on there. She was vaguely nearish Rogue with the rest of the lurkers.

Forge has posed:
    Forge comes in from a short distance away. He was in his lab, tinkering with more ways to get information out of the Sentinels, and occasionally looking over the tech that Emma had given them, examining the new Purifier weapon, and trying to decide what to do with someone blending what looks like arcane inspiration with technological basis. He can't help but feel like someone is taunting him, bending the laws of reality for science that isn't science. Which is strangely close to what he does.

    Still, he's happy to hear that the Professor is back, and heads to the ops room quickly, wearing a vest and jeans combo that has him looking rather relaxed as he comes in.

    "Professor. Good to hear I won't have to deal with any invasions in our neck of the woods this year." he says with a chuckle. He's got... plans in case that sort of thing happens, but it'd be a pain.

    "Has anyone told you of the Sentinel issues?" he asks.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Excitement.

Excitement is the word that best describes Marie; for one who believes as strongly as she does in fate, she's worked hard for this moment. Worked to prove her worth to the people who gave her a real chance at life, rather than the horrors she'd faced back home in France... and today, she stands among the immortals. Maybe 'overwhelmed' should be added to that first word.

So, despite the fact that there are serious things to discuss... Marie-Ange Colbert cannot keep the smile off of her face. Clad in the blue and gold that signifies her new status, she strides into the room. She says nothing, but does curtsy a quick, respectful greeting to the assembled group. Right now, she's just in that state of almost wonder, combined with her innate timidness, renewed in the circumstances despite, in some cases, several years of familiarity with some of the people around her. She'll listen, learn, and speak when she feels her words can be of value.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    The dead return to life. Moon's out, Jubes' out...eventually. She was in no hurry to leave the coffin this evening. After all, the butt-shaped fruits aren't going to pick themselves in Animal Crossing. Jubilation doesn't put down her Nintendo Switch until that foreign voice invades her mind. She makes a face, hesitates for a moment, and then tosses the Switch aside.. She rises from her coffin in an overly smooth motion just like they do in the movies and gets ready. Soon, she's skating in to the meeting thanks to the hidden wheels built into her Heely sneakers. Jubilation rolls to a halt and claims a patch of wall next to Rogue. A stick of gum goes into her mouth and a spare is offered to the Southern Belle. A second spare piece seems to appear in between her index and ring fingers for Negasonic to take should she want to. The supernatural vampire dexterity of Jubilation Lee, ladies and gentlemen.

    "Did I miss anything good?" she wonders in a whisper.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
Ororo's arrival didn't tend to be the most subtle. A whirl of winds carrying her back to the mansion from wherever she'd been, still wrapped in her costume. Perhaps it had been training, or some heroics...or maybe she was otherwise out within nature's embrace.

A few moments later? Storm arrives through the door, the white-haired mutant moving into place and offering a fond smile to her companions, buit not seeking to interupt just yet.

Bishop has posed:
"Sir. It's good to see you again."

Bishop's deep voice is as taciturn and rumbly as ever it was but there's a clear sense of both relief and great cheer at the sight of The Professor in the heart of the X-Men headquarters once again. Seeing that sight seems to steel him abit and then enables him to release a certain bit of tension he'd been carrying around for the past month and a half. A bit of a sigh both physically and mentally as if he'd been holding his breath for overlong.

"And yes...that's good to hear." he says, adding his affirmation to Emma's and Forge's words regarding Charles announcment of the treaty with the Shiar.

"Considering the situation at the Starport and the way the governments here were acting I highly doubt that aggressive action from someone like the Shiar would do well for calming the already frayed global nerves. It won't take much to light the powder keg that's already in place. An alien invasion would be more of a piece of dynamite to that as opposed to a match..."

He claims a seat, setting his large body down and then looking with a tight frown towards the monitors and the images Charles had been studying, "Yes..." he says towards Forge as he asks about the Sentinels, "That and much more. Things have been...busy, Professor."

Charles Xavier has posed:
"Emma." Xavier is, as always, cordial, nodding gently at his former rival. "I do have a few new ideas for the school, actually. I like to keep a separate consciousness running at all times when I'm being shot at, so I do not forget anything important. Adult education certificates, a revitalized New Mutants program." Xavier pauses. "A hidden swimming pool. But let's table that for a proper conversation with the school governors."

"I hear many things, Forge." Xavier says, leaning back in his gold hover-chair and steeping his fingers together. He takes his students, his team-mates in, looking at each of them in turn as they enter, some flicker of emotion on that harsh face. "I sense many things. Old enemies shaking off cobwebs to begin plans against the world."

The Screen shows a Purifier in full uniform screaming the doctrine of Justified Hate, men in black suits and military fatigues experimenting with what is clearly a Sentinel's standard laser arm, the faint outline of the Brotherhood's barbed Omega symbol. Little Paige Gunthriein a jail cell. Other, strange shapes ripple on the Screen, a reflection of the Professor's extrasensory perception as he probes the world for the shape of the threat yet to come.

"But what I want right now is to hear things from all of you. You've been here, directly, while I've been besotted with the stars. We face threats from every angle, and more we have yet to perceive. We have been." Xavier gestures at the report of the earthquake, his face quirked into a tight, intense frown. "Delayed. Tell me of what you've seen out there. Where the X-Men need to be."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's eyes follow Jubilee, as she rolls on in on heelie wheels. She accepts the offered stick of gun with a small smile, before her eyes sweep over to Ellie, who gets an upnod. "What's shakin', Sugah?" She quietly asked before the speaking began. She unwraps the stick of gum, with gloves on that's no small feat, and is soon to slip it between her lips where she begins to softly chew upon it. The wrapper gets balled up, and tucked back in to her jacket's left side pocket, as the various voices began to sound off.

With a moment's stare toward the monitors, and another look toward Charles in his big fancy chair, the Belle just quietly observes. She's curious about what the others have been up too, since she's been dealing with a lot of family drama related to her father of late.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would let out a sigh, "Well, we have the normal fonts of chaos about. A large Sentinel assault on the Starport, a worrying number of localized ones.." She'll let Forge elaborate over on that as the one that had been doing much of the fieldwork along wtih Quire on it.

"Extremists of our own.. Well, I suppose terrorists is better." Emma will call them that even if that's not the appropriate term. "And lovely to know we have our own series of radicals. The Friends of Humanity are being thier normal darling selves. That almost feels like it's hardly worth reporting at any point now." She would cluck her tongue.

Negasonic has posed:
It'd been a while since Negasonic had been around a lot of the people here. And even then, she tended to blend into the background a tad.

And the shorn-headed punk turns her eyes towards Rogue at first, upnodding the Southern Belle. When the vampire comes in too, Negasonic turns her eyes that way, the gift of gum able to tear her away from updating social media.

She takes it with an upnod to her. "Thanks," she says, unwrapping the gum and popping it into her mouth.

The show of vampire dexterity? That was a vibe, too.

"Purifiers hit the book signing that this author was doing," says Negasonic, tone of voice kinda distracted. "They had something that was making them all seem like... robots. You know. Guiding them. Wasn't bluetooth or wifi-based, so yeah," she says. "Maybe some psychic or demon shit," she says.

"Brotherhood killed a lot of them, too, so, that was a thing too."

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie bites her lip for a moment, unsure if she should interject as she listens to everyone speak their pieces... but the Professor did say that he wanted to hear from all of them, and even if fate hasn't allowed her to play the biggest role in world events, especially compared to some of the others... well, there is at least one thing that she's not sure any of the others is aware of.

Bowing her head slightly. "I apologize, Professeur, my circumstances have not allowed me to bear witness to world events in the way that some of the others have, and..." There's a look over towards Forge, "...there are things, such as those," cue a brief shudder. "Sentinels that are beyond my understanding in many ways..." She takes a breath, "But a former student of the Institute has returned to the, if any of you remember Mademoiselle Stavros?" Who Marie was inseperable from in their early days at the Institute. "Certainly not an issue of world security... but she is in better spirits than the last time she was near and in the company of Madame Quinn and... those others."

Emma, especially, likely remembers Deadpool's visit to the school a while back.

Forge has posed:
    Forge nods to Emma. "The Sentinels are... problematic. I've been tracking them as they attack in New York, and its surroundings. We managed to track them to a warehouse, and recovered their server. They seem to be almost self led at this point. No sign of any human interaction at all, but the files indicate they're working on producing a new Master Mold. They've been quiet since then, but..." he shrugs, and waves to Bishop and Emma.

    "The Purifiers seem to be using tech that is... bending reality. Emma and Bishop know more than I do about it, but the technology they've shown me is not the work of human hands. A mutant, or some other skewing of technology and magic." he says the word 'Magic' with clear distaste in his voice, his own distrust of the stuff showing through. He shrugs slowly. "Every story that I'm reading in the technology says that our enemies are aligning against us. You may have prevented civil war among the stars, but..." he lets that trail off.

Ororo Munroe has posed:
"I have been called elsewhere till recently Professor," Storm offers, her own arms crossing under her bust as she listens. "My news is limited, aside from events Rogue could freely tell you more about. What time I have spent here has mostly been with the students, though I too am here to offer what support I can."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "/Terrorists/," Jubilation agrees, adding her two cents about it as soon as Emma Frost says the word. She rolls her eyes from behind her dark Ray Ban sunglasses, unapologetic in her disapproval of the Brotherhood and its methods. Her gum-chewing picks up the pace a bit, making her opinion even more obvious. Negasonic's comment about the Brotherhood and its recent activity draws out more of the vampire's ire. "Typical..." she mutters, shaking her head.

    Jubilation folds her arms across her chest and just listens, at least at first, until Marie-Ange apologizes for not having more to share. She raises her eyebrows a little and leans up onto the balls of her feet, as though doing so might increase her presence among the more tenured X-Men.

    "I've got something," she admits. "But, uh, it's a little different from all this stuff, so, like, I'll wait." She lowers back down and glances up at Rogue and shrugs.

Bishop has posed:
The Security Enforcer nods his head, frowning as he hears Negasonic details matters and then again as Forge chimes in.

"I'm afraid we don't know more then you, Forge. That's why I brought it to you. In fact, what you're saying is more then I knew. Based on the security footage and what was described I suspected that the tech was more then what even you, Henry and I were speculating on. It's too advanced to suggest it's the work of one of the suppliers we know and too mass produced for it to logically be the work of any of the others we mentioned such as AIM. It has all the hallmarks of adaptoid technology or a sentinel and yet on that scale? To be able to withstand strikes from The Blob or the powers of Exodus? Negasonic may well be right. I haven't ruled out something time displaced either..."

Bishop frowns and leans forward, "And the Mutant Liberation Front as well...not to mention the fallout from the Sentinel at the Starport or the smaller unrelated Sentinel like machines that attacked Mutant Town... I mean no offense to the rest of you and to the faculty of the school but it seems to me we are losing focus. Talent shows and grading papers is fine but perhaps the X-Men need to be less reactive so that groups like the MLF and The Brotherhood aren't becoming the face of mutant response to these incidents? Maybe a harder line between faculty and those for X-Men duty is needed? It will be a mistake to let these other factions take the lead and we're already seeing the results of the X-Men not standing in the gap. Paige Guthrie went willingly with the MLF leader beause she felt her peers weren't doing enough....even falling for those terrorists tricks to gain the peoples trust. We have the numbers. We can handle these issues if we work together."

Negasonic has posed:
"Think there were other factors to Paige doing what she did, actually," says Negasonic.

She doesn't expand on that thought, however. Now she was chewing on gum, provided by Jubilee. There goes the upnod again. "Oh, I'm doing alright. Living life, staying out of trouble. You doing good, Rogue?" asks Negasonic to Rogue.

That was a nice, normal response. She must like Rogue.

"Might as well throw it out, Jubes," she says. "There's enough of us here that someone will glom onto it, I think."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Uh, hold that thought, Negs. I gotta open my big mouth real quick.."

    Jubilation's eyebrows rise over the top edges of her dark sunglasses as Bishop comments about the school employees doing their school-related work at the school. "Uh, Bishop, this is a school..." she replies, rising up on the balls of her feet again to increase her presence beyond just 'the kid one.' She steps forward from the wall and gestures around the room. "I mean, like, obviously not, like.../this/....But, uh, Bishop, we're /below/ a school. When the school year is in session, we've got stuff we have to do. Classes, field trips, and, yeah, even movie nights and talent shows and even the Crocodile Mile out on the lawn. There are a few hundred kids who depend on us to give them something close to normal lives...."

    "We're not gonna flip the sign to the 'Sorry We're Closed' side just because things suck right now. That's when they need us the most."

Charles Xavier has posed:
Xavier listens. His eyes widen a bit at the story of the helmets that steal your mind. Two distinct patterns of Sentinel attack. Paige falling for Stryfe's lines. It's a lot.

"Marie-Ange." Xavier says, "I have found that small issues can become large ones if neglected. The purpose of these meetings is to keep the flow of information free. The same goes for you, Jubilee. If there is a concern, please, express it-or if you feel it is private enough that you'd prefer a one in one meeting, we can arrange that."

"I think I should take a look at this equipment personally, Forge." Xavier says, frowning a bit. "I'm worried about anything you cannot identify immediately. As for the Sentinels, I think our first step should be figuring out what the Brotherhood knows."

"Localized earthquake." Xavier says, sneering at the news report. "The region isn't even on a fault line. You can see the burn markings. Erik might as well have signed that. Which means whatever information in that facility is being analyzed on Genoshia as we speak."

"My fear is that these two Sentinel strains are entirely unrelated. That is the horror of those machines: the are more than a corporeal threat, but a deadly idea. As long as they are cheap and reliable to manufacture, someone is going to think they can keep the Sentinel problem under control." Xavier says.

Bishop makes his point. Xavier nods, slightly. "I want to get into that, actually. I think." Xavier pauses. "I think it's time to go public. The X-Men as a shadow organization has run its course."

Rogue has posed:
"Ups an' downs." Rogue quietly fired back to Ellie, showing her a playful grin to accompany the words. She continues to chew on that tasty piece of new gum, the first few minutes always the point of enjoying a nice piece of gum, especially with friends.

At the talk of the Brotherhood, and their deeds of late, the Belle does raise her chin up ever so slightly.

"If the Brotherhood is killin' folks, dealin' death an' judgement all willy nilly, shouldn't that stop the peace treaty we've had with them for the past few years? We've been invitin' them over for those parties, those talent shows, and the return to Evil deeds, by choosin' who lives an' dies? Seems like that should warrant us not really extendin' a friendly hand to them anymore. Been awhile since I talked to Mystique one on one, but I seen her doin' security at Dane's little rally just the other day. I dunno... all in all, I got a bad feelin' about this stuff. People seem like they got an itchy trigger finger, an' are wantin' to shoot at anyone who moves first."

She drops her right foot back down to the floor beside her left, then glides the left back up in its place, adjusting her casual lean, with her gloved hands falling down to rest upon the top of her raised left thigh.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod over at Charles "And there is the possibility of the PUrifier tech being alien. IF anything the description Bishop gave undersold it. It was adapting mid-fight. WHen I was in my diamond form and hit it, it's armor grew thicker. It grew stronger to match me. They were doing so in seconds over the entire fight. I'd presume that if it had gone on longer we would have faced worse. There are some.. Remnants of the technology that Forge and Bishop have taken and hopefully had luck analysing." She's leaving hte discussion of 'X-Men' and 'School' to the others.

"I've kept some for myself to let some others look at that aren't a part of our little clique."

Forge has posed:
The X-Men going public. The idea hangs there, in front of Forge, and he can see it, like an invention waiting to take form. What would the world be like, if the X-Men stopped hiding? Would the world be any less dangerous if the X-Men were publicly known? Would it open doors for Shield and the X-Men to coordinate the way the Avengers did? Would there be a new drive for registration and control? His mind spins out a dozen possibilities, as he grunts, and nods to the Professor, a look of concentration on his face.

    "The purifier tech appears... almost but not quite arcane. Circuit lines that are arranged according to probabilistic lines, rather than any rhyme or reason, marking out potential pathways for adaptation and alteration, without committing to any of them. If they were able to mass produce this..." he shrugged again, "I couldn't. It feels almost like a blending of arcane and science. Almost as if it were a taunt aimed at me." he muttered the last, quiet, but Charles can see it in his mind, the way he takes both the new Sentinel threat, and the Purifiers as almost personal challenges to his dedication to eschew magic and focus on the technical. The Sentinels because of them representing the nightmare of a world of technology without empathy, while the Purifier technology leans the other way, almost arcane but not quite.

    "You really think we're ready to step out of the shadows? I can get you meetings with some people.." he offers his connections to the Government, who he still makes technology for occasionally.

Bishop has posed:
"Jubilation - people are dying in the streets of District X and being used as pawns for others agendas. As you say, this is not -just- a school nor are we just -for- the school. Our students have to leave these grounds and go back out into the world even though that world, 'sucks right now'. The point is how can be better organized and act in the face of all of this so that we're not just teetering one way while not using our gifts as planned to make the world better for everyone."

Bishop's dour expression remains unchanged and unmoved as he looks to and answers Jubilee though he eventually away and seems tired for a moment. Charles words seem to snap him out of that and he squints his eyes and glances to the Professor. He says nothing to the proposal itself just yet, letting others speak, but like Forge he seems to also be running over numerous possiblities in his mind. Risks. Esepcially risks.

"Lorna is the one that brought us the intel about The Purifiers.." he says, eventually, glancing towards Rogue, "I trust her. I don't trust Mystique. That's a problem, yes..."

Jean Grey has posed:
With a woosh, the door opens and Jean ambles through, in her quasi-uniform black 'X' sweater getup, sans coat. She glances around, a little sheepishly. "Sorry! I was out by Jupiter doing a thing."

A likely excuse.

After scouting out a bit to see who all is here, gives a little lifted hand and finger-wave hello across to where Charles is set up running things, before finally going to make her way over to where Rogue is standing. There, she leans in, with a low voice. "Fill me in on what I missed? Or, better- can I just fill myself in?" Telepathy is helpful for cheating at lots of things. Tests, job interviews, and in this case, missed briefings.

"Hmm... oh, going public? Well, we've discussed it in the past. Could be dangerous for the kids, but it's hard to say without a full vision of what that would even mean."

Charles Xavier has posed:
"The unfortunate reality right now is the Brotherhood of Mutants are the de facto special operations unit of the nation of Genoshia." Xavier says, nodding to Rogue's moral outrage and Bishop's pragmatism. "And they are angry. They are angry that the governments of the world have allowed Sentinel technology to be resurrected. They are angry that terrorist groups like the Purifiers and Friends of Humanity are not just allowed to persist, but to thrive. At the experiments, the exploitation, the fear."

Xavier leans forward, his eyes hooding slightly. "At the fact that they do not rule a world so many of their core members believed they are owed because of a genetic manifest destiny. The duty, the purpose of the X-Men is to both ensure a future for mutantkind outside of the collar or the grave, and to ensure mankind does not suffer a similar fate. I still believe, as I have always believed, that we are a core component of the future. A transitional state of humanity. Mutations, reactions to an age of Marvels that will be the bridge of who we are to who we will need to become to face the challenges of the future."

"And I have seen those challenges, my X-Men. The stars are full of enemies, and worse, hungry eyes and greedy mouths. Tomorrow comes sooner than you think. And so we must do away with the decadence of yesterday. The indulgence of genetic warfare in the streets." Xavier looks up, feeling the familiar touch of his first student's mind. Professor X smiles. "This is my fault."

"I didn't trust you all. I didn't trust the world. The world needs to know there is a better way, one suited to this age of Marvels. We need to reach out to our colleagues. The other super-heroes. We must retain an open door to the Genoshians while not allowing the Brotherhood to fully descend into barbarism. We must stop temporal threats like Stryfe or wherever the Purifiers's horrible new weapons come from. We must face a task nearly insurmountable, and thankless, to save a world that hates and fears us. Fortunately I know a group of people entirely capable of such heroic feats."

"I call them the X-Men. It is time we face the world on its own terms, and prove our thesis for the future correct."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would cross her armsover while glancing over at Jean for a few moments. Her expression over is very, very thoughtful as Charles does a lovely inspirational speech. And Emma goes to just gently survey the room. Not telepathically, but just to see where moods are settling. Confusion? Agreement? Discussion? Resistance? She goes to nod while maintaining a neutral expression.
    She is a friend and an ally of the school. Butultimately it is not her place to speak on such a thing. These people are all family to one another. And she does not necessarily feel she has the right to do so. So what the consensus is.. She will support. This flickers over her face and is simple enough to read.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Yeah, save your lecture for someone who needs it! Maybe you've forgotten, /Bishop/....But...I'm pretty sure you were /at/ the last talent show!" Jubilation suddenly shouts at Bishop, instinctively baring her fangs as tensions rise. She stares across the room at Bishop and blindly reaches out for Rogue's arm, anything to keep herself grounded and in control of her monstrous nature.

    "I'm not saying that stuff you're talking about isn't important. But I'm not gonna ditch my responsibilities to this place just because you want more firepower!"

    Jubilation's hand begins to taptaptaptaptap Rogue's forearm, perhaps as a way to signal that she desperately needs some help in keeping her vampire nature under control. Taptaptaptaptap.

    "Things are bad out there, we all know it, but that's all the more reason we gotta make sure things are good /in here/!"

    Suddenly, Jubilation breaks her stare-down of Bishop and takes a few aggressive steps towards the door. It's just a bit of motion to distract herself from her dark curse and what it's urging her to do. She lets out an aggressive, predatory hiss before hitting the nearest wall with the flat palm of her hand. She presses her face against the metal for a few seconds and turns to face the group again. Jubilation closes her eyes and rubs them with her fingers.

    "I'm sorry, Bishop," she mutters.

    Jubilation falls quiet, focusing on the Professor's speech instead of dwelling on how close she came to losing control.

Rogue has posed:
With Jean's arrival, Rogue's eyes sweep over to the redhead. She shows her a faint smirk at the excuse given, but lets it slide without response. The coming question gets the Belle to raise her left hand up to tap the side of her head, giving Jean the cue to feel free to peer inside her mind, she's been in there more than most other telepaths afterall.

Jubilee's response to Bishop, and insistent motions of needing Rogue's help, draws Anna-Marie's eyes to dash back over to her friend. She puts her right hand upon Jubilee's shoulder, her immense strength a pillar of support when it is needed to help anchor someone back from their would-be-wrath of Vampiric emotions. When Jubilee seems to draw herself back from it, Rogue releases her, but keeps an eye on her all the same.

She does give a look toward Bishop. "The X-Men haven't been sitting on their hindquarters, Bish. We've been dealin' with threats foreign-- as in space, and local. I've fought aliens on other worlds, and Sentinels in dank run down factories back here on Earth. We're all over the place, I'll give ya that. But we're not inactive, even if the Brotherhood may be angry murderin' anti-mutant folk."

And then, her green eyed gaze goes back to Charles. She'd absorbed what he'd just said, and with a slight raise of her chin, she puts her hands back inside her jacket pockets.

"Bein' angry, doesn't give ya a license ta kill..." She softly says back to the Professor, the person she respects more than anyone else in this world.

Forge has posed:
Forge reflects that Charles has always been... inspirational. Able to tell a story that the world wanted... No... Needed to hear. A story of hope and pride, rather than fear and arrogance. Still, that story always hinges on those willing to step out of the shadows, and take a stand.

    "If you take us public, I'll follow." Forge says quietly, an affirmation that he's with the professor even in this gamble.

    As for the debate of School vs X-Men... He stays out of it, for now.

Negasonic has posed:
Negasonic, for her part, stays quiet throughout most of this, lingering somewhat near Jubes and Rogue in the midst of it all.

When the hissing vampire stuff comes out, she quirks a brow, her attention going to Jubilation at that point.

She had shifted back to looking at her phone, and she does so now, even, as Jubilee seems to get herself going. "Cool," she says to herself.

"Lorna's alright," she says. Although she did seem a little more withdrawn. The observant will note that she got super-quiet about the time that it was revealed that the Brotherhood was an arm of Genosha. Her face scrunches up, though, and at the Professor's speech, she does look that way.

Bishop has posed:
"Jubilee..."

Bishop's deep voice is calm as he looks at her in the aftermath of her outburst and The Professor's speech. A speech that makes him grip his chair more firmly and sit up slightly more.

His dark expression ..remains dark however as he looks to her.....but then his expression finally softens a touch.

"I was there...and I cheered Patty Sloan on and encouraged her before she performed. And won. "

He pauses in thought and then says softly, deep voice rumbling gently towards Jubilee, "Then, a few hours ago, I worked with her in The Danger Room along with Allen-James in the interests of mastering their powers... because they want to help others like them. Because they want to become X-Men one day and help their kind and help the world. I didn't mention the Talent Show as a slight to you or your efforts to make these kids feel safe and welcome...but it's not -just- about the kids in here. My point...was that it's past time for a refocus. We can have the school. Nobody is saying to shutter it...but we -also- have to remember the road we're on. I've seen where that road ends. I come from that world. You don't want that world. Trust me"

With that, Bishop nods and looks towards the southern belle, "And yes, I know Rogue - but I agree with the Professor and the need for us to do more. Thor was -just- here a handful of days ago, delivering information because he believed that working together to share intel on threats and to protect one another was more important then factionak lines and secrecy. The kids will always be in danger. It's on us to protect them. I don't think change is supposed to be easy but I do think it's necessary. You -don't- want a world where The Brotherhood is all that is seen when expectations of the best of us are brought up."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean may be lacking a bit of context for some of this. A brain download is convenient, yes, but it's a bit of a rough way to go through things in any detail, when you get all that conversation, minutes or hours of time, compressed into the blink of an eye. She looks over at Jubilee, who seems agitated, but then back at Charles, who is apologizing. "I dont think you have anything to blame yourself for, Charles. We've faced a lot of things the last few years, amd I think we've acquitted ourselves pretty well." Glancing aside at Rogue as she recounts some, she nods along. "The Brood assimilating all of humanity staved off... twice. Peace with the Shi'ar, rather than intergalactic war -- and that's one where you share the credit, for working with Lilandra. And a lot of smaller personal victories here and there, people saved, one at a time."

She's rarely one to focus on criticism, where there's an upside as an alternative. Although, she DOES have to wonder: "What's wrong with talent shows?" Her nose scrunches up and she focuses for a moment, digging through the data. "Ah. Bishop... I know that you come from a time of war, but this world, this time, isn't that. The people here aren't soldiers, especially the children. Maybe some will learn to be, sure. But people need that other side of life to understand what they're fighting for. To live, to understand that it's worth something."

Then, for a moment, she looks past Rogue toward Jubilee, tilting her head, looking on with concern for a brief moment, before turning back. "As for things like Sentinels and racist militias, those are old, familiar threats turned resurgent. I was at one of their attacks in Mutant Town. Different from what we've seen, but nothing we couldn't handle. And I understand our tech minds are working through the details, after we got our hands on one to study."

"As for the Brotherhood, I never trusted the truce to last forever. Mystique wanted to -teach- here, and I always suspected that was a ruse." She shakes her head. "But we've had dialogues with Magneto," she glances to Charles at the name, knowing how close the two are. "And Lorna is hardly someone I'd call an outright enemy. So I think those are channels of communication we'll want to exhaust, before things get... confrontational."

Charles Xavier has posed:
"No, Rogue, it does not." Xavier agrees, "And I have no interest in letting those Brotherhood members only interested in violence getting their way. But to prevent radicalization, situations like our own Paige is going through, a clear alternative must be presented. This too is a weapon. The people of Genoshia are fellow mutants, many who have studied and trained in these halls, and more importantly they are people. We can oppose the excesses of mutant terrorists without leaving our friends with only their way to resort to. We must at least try."

Xavier looks at Jubilee and Bishop. Jubilee might, if she's paying attention, feel a cool blue thought touching her mind. But she regains control of herself on her own, and there is simply a golden glimmer of the Professor's pride in this before he disconnects.

"I think you both have excellent points. I have no intention of endangering the civilian students any more than they already are in this world. What I propose is bringing the team, the X-Men team into the light. Those of you that wish to retain secret identities can easily enough. Hell, the Avengers manage it somehow." Charlies smirks a little, looking very Upstate New York for a moment. "If you feel your calling right now is more in teaching, I encourage it. I believe the mission of the X-Men, as a project, is inherently educational. We are simply broadening our curriculum."

"To summarize, we have the Purifier weapons, the Starport Sentinels, the District X Sentinels, understanding what the Mutant Liberation Front is up to and trying to retain detente with Genoshia." Charles says, "And my proposal. I intend to post it on the board in case members who couldn't make this meeting have serious objections to the X-Men team admitting their existence to the public." Xavier takes a long sigh. "And my admitting to them that I am a mutant."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would let out a sigh, "You've lived this way long enough, Charles. It's your decision on the matter. But this way of life has worked for you this long, is there really any reason to stick your neck out further?" She would speak to the nonagenarian. "But ultimately whatever the rest of you think is for the best here. The school and the team can be completely separate entities." They had to be.

Taking a breath, "But, ultimately regardless you are going to need an excellent PR team. That means getting ahead of the stories and controlling the narrative. If you go public then you have the ability to shape it. But you need to have the knowledge to be able to do so. That means having professionals. Hope and dreams is one thing." That was her cynicism speaking through once more.

Rogue has posed:
The world of geopolitics is not exactly the Southern Belle's forte, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her thoughts about the major players in this world, and those they ally with.

Her eyes are on Jean, as she relays a little more of past events within the recent handful of years, which has her releasing a soft snort of a noise. "Yeah, the Savage Lands... not gonna forget that place. Fightin' hungry dinosaurs, infected by alien parasites? I'm lucky I can get a wink'a sleep at night at all..."

She trails off then and there, listening to Bishop's response, Charles' own, and then the small comment from Ellie. Rogue had started biting her bottom lip in thought throughout the responses, but she just drops her left foot down to the metal floor with a little thud of wedge-heeled boot upon its surface, then nods once toward Negasonic.

"Genosha. Everyone is runnin' to Genosha like it's the best thing for Mutants since sliced bread." She has to shake her head side to side softly a pair of times. "But, with it allied with the Brotherhood, with Mystique... an' with its rulers gettin' a shred'a power, an' now insistin' that everyone call them King an' Queen? I can't get behind that. It feels off to me. The world doesn't need more people declarin' themselves Kings an' Queens. It needs a new kinda order. It needs progress, an' that kinda leadership seems archaic, at least t'me. So, nah. I'm not allyin' with Genosha, an' I don't think anyone else who believes in Mutants beein' free from oppression should either, cause t'me, it feels like a power grab. Just more pawns bein' moved around on a world-sized chess board..."

Forge has posed:
    Forge considers things for a while, staying quiet, listening. After a while, he speaks up.

    "I haven't bee.... as active here as I perhaps should have been. I tend towards hiding out in my Nest, and watching the world pass me by. If it weren't for some dreams, I'd be there now, and you all could send me samples and I'd send you back analysis like I usually do." He pauses, not really sure where he's going with this.

    "Genosha is a story of Fear and Hope at war." he decides to change the subject. "Fear of persecution. Hope for a better world. Genosha may not be what we want for ourselves, but you can't deny the story that it tells to the world, that there is a place for mutant kind, that they are that hope for a better world. Whether we ally with them or not, going public would show that there is more Hope out there than just an island to flee to."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation returns to the discussion, avoiding Bishop's eyes as best she can. In fact, she avoids making eye contact with everyone, especially Jean and Charles. Several moments of silence pass -- the longest she's kept her mouth shut this whole time -- and then Jubilation weighs in on going public.

    "Okay, but I'm not wearing a uniform," she warns.

    "And I'm not going to Genosha. That's where you go when you wanna give up," Jubilation adds, nodding along as Rogue expresses her own displeasure with the mutant nation.

Jean Grey has posed:
"Oh, there's... one other thing," Jean pipes up, at the end of Charles' long list of outstanding (one might even dare say LOOMING) threats. And then, leaving everyone in great wonder and suspsense, she proceeds... not to say what it is.

Dot, dot, dot.

"Ah. Well. It's a little abstract." She reaches up, brushing some hair back behind her ear, glancing back and forth around the room, among a few people who may know what she's talking about - Bishop, Emma, Rogue? "I only bring it up because it's the sort of thing I might need to handle myself. So if I end up vanishing here and there, its probably that. Space stuff."

After refusing to elaborate any further, she returns to the topic that seems the most dramatic of the day: going public. "I'm not against it. Big step, but I'm OK with it, I think. But... yeah, if we're going to do it, we have to figure out some way to separate the halves a bit? I still can barely forgive myself for the first time the school was attacked," by Shi'ar Death Commandos, hunting for Jean and other members of her timeline-twisted family, "so the idea of bringing more of that to them here just seems absurdly reckless. As teachers our responsibility has to be their well-being."

Which, after another brief pause, leads her to a conclusion that she makes sound like it should be all too obvious: "Can we just... set up another base? Surely the real estate is no problem. And even as advanced as we are down here, there's upgrades we could do, based on years of learning, new tech from allies, all that kind of thing. Our hangar here can't house the SR-X, it's too small - so we could make that upgrade, so we don't have to rely on the starport?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would sigh, "I'm rather wary that they're referring to themselves as royalty now. That takes away the safeguards and means they're wont to justify themselves to do anything. But.. I'm not in their position. I wasn't at Genosha." A nod is given to Ellie. "I haven't lived through that. I'm in no position to feel like I have the right to. I'm a hypocrite enough as it is." She's honest about it at least.
    "I think that keeping the lines of communication open is the most important thing. And I do agree that if there is the decision to publicize the team, it has to be entirely separate from the school. It's too much of a risk." Separately, she would turn her attention over to Jean's expression of the 'you know what it is' and give her a nod with that.

Bishop has posed:
"I'm interested in knowing why Paige really went with Stryfe, ..f you'd care to share?" asks Bishop, the bringing up of Paige's name returning his mind to that matter briefly.

"I know what she said to me, Noriko and Quentin later and so have an inkling of what may have been said to her by the MLF. I know she seemed to not want to accept the fact that the MLF was in league with a mutant whose powers forced the police to open fire on a crowd .. One that was was the culprit behind the murder that was causing the protests to begin with....that's now funding her tee-shirt business apparently?"

He raises an eyebrow and then rubs the bridge of his nose, "Granted, Quentin didn't find any signs of telepathic tampering but something is clearly wrong."

He pauses and then says, firmly, "SHe needs help."

After a pause he adds, "And there's assistance out there on the MLF front. Cable's involved."

Big problems. Bigger guns. But that's all he'll say on that.

"But . I di think the Purifier problem will bring us into ...direct interaction with Genosha and The Brotherhood. Their members were at the book signing and they were attacked as well after all. They're not going to just sit back. "

Bishop looks to Jean and nods, "I think the truce was worth a try but unfortunately we need to be prepared for the worst case scenario at all times."

Charles Xavier has posed:
Xavier listens intently.

"We'll see about the uniforms." Fashion is a hobby of Xavier's. More directly he wonders if he can design a uniform to help Jubilee with her unfortunate condition, but that'll take some experimenting. As for Genoshia, Xavier figures he made his point: he's interested in keeping a hand out to Lorna and the others instead of letting the likes of Exodus finish turning them into mutant supremacists. Rogue and Jubilee have every right to be cautious about it.

"It's not a bad idea, Jean." Xavier said, "I think after the Shi'ar attack the cat is out of the bag, but I'm not opposed to redundancies. A renewed New Mutants program to handle volunteers might help with that."

"Quinten found nothing?" Xavier said, frowning at the mention of his former student. "Stryfe is a powerful mind. Perhaps I should talk to her."

"We do have to do something about those t-shirts." Xavier says, curtly. "Before Erik starts taking them personally. If I know him he's about one public embarrassment away from throwing city buses at the problem."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue pushes her shoulders off of the back wall, both feet planted on the floor once more. She drops her hands to her sides, with one trailing up her side to hook a thumb beneath the leather belt cinched around her waist. She lets her eyes roam around those gathered, still idly chewing on that sweet gum within her mouth.

She pauses the chewing, however, and just nods her head a few vague times. "Mystique is a manipulator. She told us she was goin' straight, for good. She's back tracked on that now. Because of course she has. Once a killer, always a killer. She tried t'make me just like her. She tried to mold me in to bein' the same kinda monster in the dark as she is. I'm not gonna play nice with the Brotherhood, or anyone who allies with'em. If ya can't tell a duck is a duck, when it's got a bill the size'a Florida... then I ain't gonna help ya figure it out, neither."

She drops her hand from her hip, shifts her weight, and strides toward the doorway back out in to the X-base corridor beyond.

Jean Grey has posed:
"If mutants want to go to Genosha... that's their decision. It's hard to live under hate and oppression, and while some will want to fight for something better, there's no shame in choosing a safer life. Not everyone's built for it, and it's unfair to demand it of them." This is a topic that is far less clear to Jean, with none of the obvious answers that spring to mind, as in the case of the school, so it takes her some thinking aloud to work through it.

"But it's not a universal solution. I'm from, well, -here-. I'm not gonna run to the other side of the world and call someone Queen." Americans are, famously, not fans of the snooty monarchy business! "And that's without worrying what things might turn into there. I think I trust Lorna. I think, in a way, I even trust Erik. But some of the others..."

Of course, if any of them has a more well-informed view on this topic, it's Rogue. Many of the rest of them have had the experience of fighting the Brotherhood, in the years before the truce. But she lived with them, grew up with them. And her harsh evaluation of her adoptive mother registers little surprise from Jean, and sympathy in its stead. She reaches out-

-only for the Belle to go stomping on out, heading for the hall. She sighs. "I think this is where I'm supposed to dramatically go after her. Well. You know where to find me - or think at me."

The last no doubt for Charles in particular, before she slips off into the hall in pursuit.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation appears next to Rogue again, both arms folded across her chest. A pink bubble appears in between her lips, expands to an impressive size, and then explodes. She resumes chewing her gum. "I'm with Rogue. Mystique and those other a-holes can stay home," Jubilee announces.

    "And I'm not calling anyone Your Highness," Jubilee adds, raising both eyebrows over her sunglasses.

    And then Rogue storms out. And then Jean behind her. Jubilation watches and shrugs her shoulders. "...I'm not, uh, I'm not following them," Jubilation adds, grinning a little and revealing those fangs she never quite learned how to hide.

Negasonic has posed:
Negasonic glances up briefly. "Ditto. Not calling anyone your highness," is what she gloms out of all that drama.

She had her head in her phone, and she returns it to there.

And as Rogue turns to go, she goes to follow, keeping the green of her outfit in her peripheral so she doesn't walk into anything as she multitasks with the walking and texting.

"I'm following them though," she says, pointing to Rogue at that point.

And she was out.