Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

[Alex Kaine]

"She's in a coma, yeah." Alex pressed his mouth into a straight line.

[Taya Robbins]

Taya's ears fell again, and her large eyes were bright with sympathy. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

She picked up her pencil again and took a breath of transition. "What would you say has been the most important thing about your experience here at Redención House?"

[Alex Kaine]

Alex tapped one of the almonds idly against the placemat. "I think it's the sense of security and belonging. It's a safe place, you know, you're allowed to be a mutant here. Everyone understands what you've gone through, what your problems are, and you can talk freely about your experiences, your abilities... It's why I said what I did when I walked in. I didn't mean anything bad, it's just on the surface and real, and you don't have to be embarrassed about it."

[Taya Robbins]

"You don't think the foster care system can provide that?" Taya asked, trying to be delicate. But then, Alex seemed more willing to talk than Aimee had been.

[Alex Kaine]

"Well, maybe," Alex said with a doubtful shrug. "I don't know. Our folks were trying, I'm pretty sure. But to them, mutation was like a sickness. You just can't live a normal life when everybody's telling you there's something wrong with you."

[Taya Robbins]

Okay, wow, that hit home, and hard. Taya shuffled her notes to give her some time to regain her composure now that she'd been reminded once again just how lucky she'd been.

"Let's talk about Mutant Registration," she said. "What are your thoughts on it?"

[Alex Kaine]

Alex laughed and leaned his head back. "Oh boy... we're going to be here a while.

He looked back to Taya to see her eying him expectantly over her notebook. "Mutant Registration is just the latest in a long series of abuses against mutant rights by a paranoid and mundane government. It panders to the popular fear of the other, which people in power have been using as a means of control for eons. And not just control of mutants, control of everybody. Control of human evolution."

[Taya Robbins]

Taya went blank for a moment, finding herself awash in a tide of rhetoric that seemed somewhere between a philosophy text and an armchair conspiracy theorist. She could almost feel her legs kicking to find the bottom.

"Um... so it's about control?" she surmised. "But... for what purpose?"

[Alex Kaine]

"Does there need to be a purpose?" Alex asked incredulously. "Power is its own end to these people. Mutation by its very nature is unpredictable, uncontrollable. People in authority can't stand that, so they try to regulate it."

[Taya Robbins]

"So you don't think there are any good intentions behind registration at all?" Taya pressed. "What about subsidized health care, social studies, genetic scholarships?"

[Alex Kaine]

"Did we ask for them?" Alex replied. "Look, there are ways to study the mutant phenomenon that don't involve a mandatory state registry. It's a clear violation of privacy, and there's no evidence that any good purpose will be served by creating a new social class based on genetics."

[Taya Robbins]

"So you think registration hurts mutant communities like Redención House?" Taya asked.

[Alex Kaine]

"On the contrary, it makes us stronger," Alex said. "When have you seen the mutant community more focused and more unified? Take the protest next week at Stanley Mosk Courthouse. There'll be hundreds of mutants there, and several of us are going, too. Trust me, we're going to show them just how much of a mistake they're making by giving us a cause to rally around."

[Anna Fernandez]

"Ah, Alex," Anna said gently, "You are starting to sound militant again." She smiled, raising an eyebrow at him.

[Alex Kaine]

"Oh, was I?" Alex gave Taya a sort of sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. Anna doesn't like militant."

[Taya Robbins]

Taya inclined her head. "Do you consider yourself militant?" she asked hesitantly.

[Alex Kaine]

"No, of course not," Alex replied. "An activist, sure. But it seems like a lot of people can't tell the difference these days."

[Anna Fernandez]

"Like me?" Anna said dryly, but she winked, getting up and gathering a few extra glasses that had been left behind on the table.