2014.07.02 - Tea with mutants and aliens

The Embassy looks more like a commentary on the aesthetics of the Roaring Twenties than it does a proper Embassy. Located in the wealthier part of Metropolis. In an old-world, old-money region so near the seat of political power of the city, the Embassy fits right in. At least three wings, three stories tall, and a central wing that towers a full five. It's large enough to easily accommodate well over a hundred people at a time, and from the cars parked near it and the Genoshan flags flying in front of the gates, it's clear they are open for business.

Getting Viza 'vetted' takes a few minutes, and it is nearly half an hour until Magneto can see her. The Imperator receives Viza in an atrium, well light and bright, while taking some tea. The butler shows her in and then stands politely aside, with English-level disinterest in the world around him.

"Good afternoon, young lady," Magneto tells Viza, sipping his tea. "You were the one who approached me at the symposium with questions about my wormhole generator. Might I offer you some tea, and inquire as to your business here today?"

Viza is not used to walking into building on most worlds without being cloaked, but as she is here by invitation it is better that she follows the rules. While her Nth Metal weapons might pass normal metal detectors, as they disrupt the energy that would detect them, she places them out for inspection. She came here for peaceful reasons. She may feel naked without them after having them over 3 years, but it would be best to be polite.

Viza greets Eric, "I do not need food or drink much, unless healing from an injury, but I can consume nearly anything. I am from, as you probably have surmised, a different world than this one. I was left here by those I once worked for after failing to complete an assignment. You device, if properly programmed, should allow return to my home."

Magneto makes a small gesture. "It is a custom in Genosha that I have cultivated, the cessation of work and the sharing of food. Something that bonds my people closer to one another outside of a shared labor."

The butler pours Viza a cup of tea, and Magneto regards the woman with a shrewd gaze, eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Properly programmed and readily programmed are two separate things," Magneto points out to Viza. "Not to mention utilized. Blasting a hole through reality is an expensive and laborious process. I am not an overly altruistic man- why should I expend my nation's resources to help you?"

It is not a question Viza has thought about. The land she is from is something of a communist society, with resources shared and people generally working to do their best for the society. It comes from sharing minds through the Thought Mother.

She ponders for a time, "Well, aside from the knowledge to be gained of knowing exactly how to reach another specific world, I suppose I should explain who I used to work for and what I did. I worked for a group of very powerful beings called the Monitors, beings so powerful that only one of them can exist in a given world at a time. They have decided that certain people should not exist in a given world and employ agents, like myself, to eliminate those people to preserve the time lines. I could provide a list of people I know of who are on the Monitor's list as needing elimination."

Magneto sips his tea, listening, and lifts a shoulder in a shrug. "Hardly information I require, I must say. Someone, somewhere, almost certainly wants any given individual dead for one reason or another. While these... 'Monitors' sound powerful, I hardly know them as an authority. Their scope is either beneath my ken or beyond it, and I have no desire to enter a subservient role to such entities."

"Moreover, I am unsure that the coordinates of your world are of value to me. Do your people engage in trade? Are they merchants? Tinkers, tailors, soldiers, spies? Establishing a direct link between Earth and an unknown warrior race seems most unwise."

Viza says, "Once, a hundred generations ago, our world was much like yours is now. We had an advanced civilization that spanned the globe, and then there was a war that destroyed that civilization. The Nine Tribes, the other sentient races of the system, decided that a burned out husk of a world would be a good place to fight their wars...rather than destroy their own worlds. Our world was rechristened Warworld and was fought over again and again. The winners would return home, and the losers were left to die. Not all of them did die, some survived and interbred with the surviving natives. Three generations ago, my Grandmother led the battle to throw the battling invaders off our world. Our people remain fairly primitive, because we do not need much."

Magneto's eyes remain inscrutable, blue mirrors that only reflect Viza's own state. "'Need'?" he asks, an eyebrow climbing slightly. "The definition of 'need' can vary much from world to world- even city to city. There are those that argue that sustainable energy is a global 'need'. Others insist that YouTube be chartered into a declaration of universal rights. Do your people have no 'need' for luxuries or amenities, or has it been simply so long ere they had them that they have forgotten their merit?"

Viza shrugs, a human gesture she is copying, "Needs are defined by biology, desires by social convention. Humans need to eat, to sleep, to breathe. They may desire many things, such as energy or luxuries, but those are not truly needs. My kind have evolved beyond many of the more crass needs of the body. Only when our bodies need to grow or repair themselves do we require nourishment. We are telepathic, able to share our thoughts, our feelings, our memories, how could we desire luxuries that can not be shared by all...when we would know exactly how those denied such felt?"

"You make a poor case for their value as trade partners," Magneto frowns minutely, looking at Viza. "A race of warriors, self-contained, united by a common enemy, with no need for weapons or amenities? What could Genosha offer them that they do not already possess?"

Viza inclines her head, "In general very little, the only thing of value you would have is knowledge. What they have is another world with mineral wealth equal to this one. If one could trade knowledge that could increase what you would call the standard of living for everyone, there could be substantial reward."

"Knowledge is something Genosha possesses in excess," Magneto says agreeably, his features smoothing. "Of many things. Science, technology, civics, philosophy... we are rapidly becoming one of the world's greatest repositories of lore, from every culture on Earth. Few short of the Library of Congress can challenge us for the amount of information we possess- and moreover, we have experts in hundreds of disciplines who can readily teach and expand on that raw information. Genosha could be invaluable to a world ravaged by war, assisting your people in bootstrapping themselves up from the squalor of battle."

Viza nods, "One of the reasons we let the Monitors hire us, every world we venture into we learn more, we see what is good for the people, and what harms them overall. Think if you will of a world where every scientist who is interested in something can share their ideas directly, where inventions can go from first concept to finished product as fast as the engineers can consult and correct. Our people are primitive now, but we can advance very quickly given the basic knowledge."

"Interesting." Magneto rises, pacing a few steps with his teacup, and stands silently, mulling over Viza's information and taking a few sips of his tea. He regards the world outside through the atrium windows, his face smooth and unreadable.

Magneto is silent for quite some time. It's enough to leave most people fidgeting- the Imperator's presence is enough to cow most people into submission with a glance, let along protracted exposure to it. He sips his tea quite calmly, then after the lengthy pause turns and nods at Viza.

"I will send you home," he informs the woman calmly. "Do not mistake my lack of altruism- I am not an unkind man. But ripping a hole through reality is a challenging, expensive endeavor. It is something I choose to do neither casually nor frequently. However, if your people are in such need, I think Genosha can be of great aid to them. I will help you," he nods at the alien woman. "It will take time. Inform my people of the coordinates, and we will see first if a link can be created."

Fortunately all who work for the Monitors are made to memorize the coordinates of the Monitor citadel and of their home dimension. That way, should the need be, and the means be available, they can return. It is best expressed in math...actually math Viza does not really understand herself, but the one who taught it to her by telepathic implant DID. She can easily share the multidimensional mathematical description of her home dimension. She can even probably program the device herself to get home, but could not build such a device nor even fix it if it was broken.

"I thank you for your aid," she responds.

"Indeed. Now if you will excuse me, I have other appointments," Magneto informs Viza. "My valet will take you to one of our senior scientists, who will take down the information of your home's location, and then extrapolate it to our own systems. It will not be a fast process. I will inform you when we have successfully made our first connection." He glances at the valet, eyes flickering at Viza, then nods at the girl in dismissal.