In a completely strange city, the smell of dense smog clogging his nostrils, hot dog vendors and burger joints everywhere he looked, or that's how it seemed. On his back was a camping bag of weapons, over his left shoulder was a suitcase hanging by an improvised strap. Both looked battered and worn, the original patterns long since gone, patches all over, the stitching crudely repaired along the edges. His eyes were concealed behind scratched reflective wrap-around sunglasses, his logo splattered T-shirt and baggy cargo pants showing under a light brown trench coat, SWAT boots, polished to an acceptable level, flashed along the concrete, trying to convey a sense of purpose and locality. Pink streaked purple hair stuck out from under a black cap and light brown stubble, two days worth, extended from under the hair, making him look somewhat unkempt.

'Really gotta remember to shave. And buy a razor, in that order? Hardly. Nice day for it.'

The sun shone down on Cafas Johnson, albeit through a layer of car fumes, industrial smoke and general toxins, making him feel right at home, but for the fact it was summer at the wrong time of the year. He had a general sense of where he was going, Xavier's sister school, but as for how to get there he had no idea, and with the anti-mutant hype being so widespread in America he wasn't game to as anyone. In fact, for the past while he had been under the strange impression he had been going in circles. Long, complex and uncomfortable circles. He'd already had one attempted mugging in this city and he was beginning to regret coming, although his assailant currently had the greater part of a metal dumpster welding their extremely battered body to the ground.

'Dude picked the wrong mutant to mess with, give him all my money, who was he kidding? Hope he doesn't bleed out. Great start to my new life, already making enemies.'

He felt more alone than ever in this strange location, and was yet to cross another mutant, or receive so much as a hello, and as for the accents, well, he felt like ripping someone's vocal cords out and strangling them with their own wind pipe, They were so loud compared to Australians and had a very noticeable accent for him, although he imagined it would eventually fade to grey, and he would no longer register it. Picking up someone's dropped change C.J. vaporised it and dropped a handful of gaseous copper, which hung at ground level looking remarkably inconspicuous. So much for his first day in the city. So much for safe.

'Well C.J. you just wasted the only U.S. money you had, how does it feel? Sometimes I wonder at my own intelligence. They had an exchange place at the airport, I'm fairly certain. Yup, in the arrival and departure area, which, had we flown legally, we could have gone to. What's the use, I'm gonna lose anyway, part of arguing with yourself.'

Meld was wondering the streets of New York, contemplating her newfound dedication to finding alternative solutions to dealing with anti-mutant propagandists than just resorting to violence. For once she was in the city during broad daylight, a fact that made her electronic eye ache slightly due to the brightness of the sun, and she did her best to ignore the stares of the masses of humans around her. She wondered, not for the first time this day, why she had decided to leave the safety of Sanctuary so very early today, when she could still be in bed sleeping. But, she hadn't been sleeping well recently, mostly due to her recent crisis of conscious. Since her talk with Ghost and her later talk with Mettaliar she had come to the conclusion that she had to learn new skills, that violence, at times, could be more of a detriment to her cause than a benefit.

Meld would never agree with the more pacifist mutants, that violence and death were never the answer, but she had come to realize that such actions should be used sparingly against those threats that truly required them. What she really needed to do was add to her skills so that she could serve the cause in other ways as well. And, perhaps, to become more of an assassin rather than a bust in and kill in a messy, though possibly oddly artistic, manner. She all ready had basic stealth and infiltration skills but she would have to improve them if she was going to increase her worth in that regard. Her mutation wouldn't help her much in the stealth aspect, at least she couldn't think of a way in which it would currently, but it certainly had the potential to increase her infiltration skills. Her tail would be her next meld of course and that would help both her see things she otherwise wouldn't be able to and it would help her get around better, a whole other limb to grab onto things. And of course, it would make her that much more deadly as well.

Not only would better infiltration and stealth skills help Meld to become a better assassin, but it would allow her to gain information her enemies, she was sure, wouldn't want her to have, information that could be used as leverage and blackmail. She knew that her role in the fight for mutant superiority would never be the role of the good law abiding pacafist and now she accepted that, more completely than she ever had in the past. She was willing to do things that most weren't and that meant that she had a responsibility to her people to do those things. Finally, she was truly at peace.

As Meld walked down the street, she was not so deep in her thoughts that she didn't pay attention to those people around her. Traditionally she had done so to ensure her own survival; when involved in organized crime one never knew when an attack might be forthcoming and that had become even more important recently with the police wanting to capture her and put her behind bars. They had all ready tried twice. But today she had a second reason for being so observant, this reason having to do with her present thoughts. Learning to read people and to be more aware of their actions and motivations could only help her in her cause.

Around her the humans acted, more or less, as she expected them to act, going about their business in varying degrees of hurriedness. They bought stuff and conversed with one another and most tried to avoid Meld, as she was very much used to. But one in particular caught her eye. She wasn't quite sure what it was about him but she could have sworn that she saw steam coming off of the man's hand. A mutant perhaps? Or perhaps not, but he bore watching. Meld decided to follow him, from a distance, to see if he distinguished himself further.

Cafas could have sworn he was being watched, but then again, when hadn't he today? No matter, he continued about his business. People in the crowd around him all seemed to be looking beyond him, but he wasn't going to turn and look, he had his direction and he had to stick to it, lest he become lost within the labyrinthine back alleys and side streets, where so much could happen, well, according to the news anyway, but when did they say anything positive. He was fairly sure never.

'I s'pose there was that story about the puppy rescued by dolphins, but that was hardly newsworthy. Wish I had a book.'

The image of New York public library was one captured in so many films. Although after "The day after tomorrow" he found it hard not to picture it submerged in the world's largest ice block. But he was even less sure as to where that was and so decided that he would stay on track. Against his left leg he felt the comforting jolt of his sword, not from its own movement but from his. The weapon was hidden bellow his trench coat and totaled about half his height, although the blade itself was only 75cm. In fact, the sword was the only reason he was even wearing the coat in the first place.

'It's rather comforting to know it's there if I need it. Maybe I could accidentally flash it, scare an American or two. Possibly not, having the N.Y.P.D. on me already would be quite bad.'

In the end the weather made the choice for him. Or was it the slipstream of a vehicle, he suspected the first. A gust picked up the bottom of his trench coat and flung it from its sword concealing position, waving it like a flag behind him and forcing C.J. to duck down an alley to his right to fix the situation, attempting to pull the fabric back around the scabbard-held sword and buttoned together.

'God damned windy city. Or was that Chicago? Regardless, stupid city, what does it think it's playing at? I hardly think the weather has a mind. Well it does and it's against me! Thinking in argument's wont help Cafas pull yourself together and get on with it.'

Having walked a fair distance down the very dingy and rat infested alley Cafas turned and walked the other way, back to the street, trying to ignore the growing feeling of apprehension. Taking his sunglasses off to polish them against his clothes in a vain attempt to improve visibility, but It wasn't dirt it was scratches, and as much as he hated to admit it, they would never come off.

'If only I could afford a new pair, then I wouldn't be constantly cleaning them, and exposing my rather unnatural eye situation.'

Meld continued to follow the possible mutant, doing her best to remain out of his line of sight and not be too obvious about it. She knew she had some skill at tracking and remaining unseen, but there was always room for improvement and if nothing else this made for some good practice. In fact, she decided, this is something she should start doing regularly in order to boost her skills. She would simply go out into the city, both at night and during the day, find a mark and follow him for an hour or two or however long it took for them to realize that they were being followed. A challenge, rather fun, and a good use of her time.

Then Meld saw the wind blow her target's trench coat, exposing a sword, which only peaked her interest further. Although a sword did not signify that he was a mutant, it certainly did signify that he was a little unusual and probably felt that he needed some sort of protection. Which, in her mind, either meant that he was a mutant or someone involved in organized crime although she didn't know too many mobsters he tended to use swords now days. Still, he could always be a bit of an eccentric criminal and there really was nothing wrong with that so long as mutants were not his targets.

When the man took off his sunglasses, however, exposing not entirely normal eyes Meld became almost positive that he was a mutant and thus it was her duty to speak to him and introduce herself. After all, he may need her help, especially if he was new to the city. With a confident stride she emerged out of the shadows, ensuring that she made enough noise as she approached him not to startle him too much. He was probably a mutant, after all, and she had no idea what kind of powers he might have or what kind of history he might have. She had met more than one mutant who was more likely to shoot first and ask questions later, so to speak.

"I couldn't help but notice that you have some...unique characteristics," Meld told him once she had entered his field of vision. "I thought that we might have something in common." She didn't feel the need to mention the word "mutant" since it was rather self evident that she was one. And on the off chance that it turned out she was wrong about him being a mutant she was quite confident that she could more than take care of herself, sword or no sword.

A somewhat loud metal-on-concrete sound was the first thing to alert him to another being, then the visual. Cafas took a complete step backward as another creature, either mechanical or mutant, came into his view. It was somewhat difficult not to feel a tad intimidated, but he did his best to hold his ground. The creature, robot, whatever it was, stood roughly in the mid five foot range and seemed to be half comprised of metal. Metal feet, metal arm, metal hand, and there was something off putting about its left eye, not to mention the blades and shield on its arm.

'Oh my sweet cookie dough what the hell is it? Bit rich coming from you.'

"I couldn't help but notice that you have some...unique characteristics," On that one line his glasses came back to his face in a flash and his right hand fell across his body to rest on the pummel of his sword. "I thought that we might have something in common." At that point he settled on mutant. It didn't make him feel more comfortable, but the enemy you know is always better than the one you don't. Knowing he could have his sword drawn in less than two seconds anyway C.J. let his arm fall to a more natural position, searching for any hint of hostility.

'Seems safe enough for now, I wonder who the hell she is.'

"Something like what? Society's hatred? Yeah, we do." It wasn't said with any trace of malice or sadness, in fact it came across quite neutral, although his accent stood out to him, it wasn't that it was heavy, just very noticeable after a time in the big apple. He wasn't willing to tell her, as the face had revealed it to be a her, anything more than that, he didn't know if he could trust her, and there were always the less savoury of the homo superior species. He had no idea what colour his eyes were at the moment, but he judged from his emotion that they were resting somewhere along the colour of the ocean, the deep ocean, edging on black, that tended to come with suspicion. He was also concerned he may be having a case of separately coloured eyes, which came with the territory of double emotions. Regardless, the glasses stayed on.

'I let her see my eyes, that was just smoothly done, you have mutated eyes and you take your glasses off, this is what happens when logic and practicality argue!'

Uncovered fingers extended from fist wraps curled slightly, by the feel of his body and eyes he was in no fit state to channel through metal linking, especially not such a brief link as in a sword blow, however, if she struck, and he could touch her, well her metal arm would be all but gone, but he wasn't sure how much damage he could do with the amount of energy he had. Probably none, maybe liquidate it but nothing more.

'Well then if she does attack me I'm screwed, beyond dead.'

The alleyway was a good temperature, not like out in the street, the constant shade served it well on mid-summer days, and it served Cafas well too, the sweat had stopped trickling down his body and he felt somewhat relieved. Somewhere above him pigeons went about their business, adding their ever irritating sound to that of the lunch break traffic, both road and pedestrians.

'Vermin, can't get away from them anywhere'

Meld smirked as the stranger took a step back as she entered his field of vision. She was used to it and sometimes found it to be highly irritating, but there were also times when she appreciated just how intimidating she could be. This was one of those times. She watched very carefully the way that he moved and his reaction to her. Her practiced eye could tell that he didn't trust her and she was certain that he would go to the sword immediately should she make any hostile actions towards her. Luckily for him, however, she had no intent of doing so, not unless he was the one to become the aggressor.

"Something like what? Society's hatred? Yeah, we do."

Meld found that to be a very curious and unexpected answer, and she delighted in the unexpected although she wasn't quite sure what to make of him yet. No matter, if he was a mutant, she was becoming more and more certain of this fact, then it was her duty to assist him if she could, whatever her personal feelings ended up being. "Human society will never be able to understand our kind. They fear us and what they fear they hate." Now he would have to come out and state baldly whether or not he was mutant or human. If he was human, doubtful at this point, then she would walk away and never speak to him again. Unless he said something regrettable, of course, and then she would have some fun with him.

"And because of the fear and hatred of human society, our kind need to stick together." The offer was out there now. She awaited his response, waited to see if he would let his distrust of her override the fact that she was extending the hand of friendship. If he was a mutant. Humans did not need her friendship nor did she have any desire to give it. Just because she wasn't as wantonly murderous of them as some didn't mean that she had any great love for them.

"Human society will never be able to understand our kind. They fear us and what they fear they hate."

'Scary and sage... nice.

"The scum of humankind is rampant and permeates all of society, they cannot avoid destruction and hatred, we just gave them something else to war against, something besides themselves. I hope their ways are changeable, but if it comes to war I know which side of the line I'm on."

"And because of the fear and hatred of human society, our kind need to stick together."

'What is this, some mutant army campaign ad? I refuse to believe that we need to fight the humans.'

"I believe as mutants, as the superior species, that the responsibility falls on us to do something, to correct the wrongs, but I hardly believe we need to further alienate ourselves, I'd just like to be able to walk down a street and be safe." C.J. wasn't going any further than that on the topic, instead he extended his right hand toward the mutant before him. "M'name's Alchemist, least that's what the Australian media calls me, three guesses to my mutation." He had to be careful, after all he had no idea what she was capable of or what her intentions were, but he had no reason to distrust her.

'This is either going to go well or get me killed, hopefully the first.'

He was on the verge of telling her where he was headed, but he had the vaguest feeling that not all the mutants of the city fought the same fight. Just something about human nature, within every race in the world there is someone who believes they are better, and he was sure he was one of them, after all who wasn't on some level? But others were more extreme, and he wasn't taking leaps of faith on the odd chance someone would take him where he was headed.

'Xavier institute shouldn't be too hard to find anyway, it's so high profile.'

A quick scan of the street behind her showed a small crowd beginning to gather to look at them, and, removing his glasses he flashed them all a quick smile and watched them flee, flowing into the general ant-line that was New York's sidewalk. One or two stuck around to watch an he wondered what they were so interested in, changing from a happy smile to a rather annoyed glare, placing his glasses back on and returning attention to the mutant in front of him.

"The scum of humankind is rampant and permeates all of society, they cannot avoid destruction and hatred, we just gave them something else to war against, something besides themselves. I hope their ways are changeable, but if it comes to war I know which side of the line I'm on."

Meld bared her teeth in something resembling a smile. "A most unfortunate truth. I as well hope that their ways are changeable but, as history has proven, I do not believe that they are." Which was, of course, all the more reason that it was time for mutants to take their rightful places as the superior species. They were the next step in evolution and so they had a chance to live in ways which humans had only dreamed of.

"I believe as mutants, as the superior species, that the responsibility falls on us to do something, to correct the wrongs, but I hardly believe we need to further alienate ourselves, I'd just like to be able to walk down a street and be safe."

Meld nodded her head in agreement. "Isn't that really what all of us want? That is what I fight for, the prospect that mutants everywhere will be able to walk down the road and not feel like they will be attacked at any moment. But more than that, I fight for the very idea that a mutant can be proud to be a mutant. But of course, one has to be careful how such battles are fought so that one doesn't further alienate our kind." Her voice held the strength of deep conviction.

Meld extended a metal hand to shake Alchemist's. "The name's Meld and I imagine with a name like that you must have a rather interesting power indeed." She had some ideas as to what it might be but with a name like that it could be any variety of things and she felt it best to await his answer directly.

Becoming aware of the gathering crowed Meld grimaced slightly. She was used to it by now but it had gotten worse recently and it was times like these that she found it to be highly irratating. She glared and growled at the crowed, causing more than a few to jump back in fear. "Are you new to the city?" she asked, turning back around. "If so, do you have a place to stay?"

"A most unfortunate truth. I as well hope that their ways are changeable but, as history has proven, I do not believe that they are."

'And such a shame too, some humans can be so kind, but their species has a constant need to be at war.'

"Isn't that really what all of us want? That is what I fight for, the prospect that mutants everywhere will be able to walk down the road and not feel like they will be attacked at any moment. But more than that, I fight for the very idea that a mutant can be proud to be a mutant. But of course, one has to be careful how such battles are fought so that one doesn't further alienate our kind."

'Well, she's reasonable, I'll give her that.'

Retracting his hand slowly from this mutant's metallic grip Cafas made a note that she had a rather strong voice when it came to her ideals, and, he thought, she spoke with the sort of comfort in her beliefs that comes to those only within an organization, but then again, he'd been wrong before, interpreting body language and behavior wasn't his strong point.

"The name's Meld and I imagine with a name like that you must have a rather interesting power indeed."


'Meld, I'll store that one for later. Hmm to tell or to show. The energy involved in telling is less, but also not proof of being a mutant.'

"Well, I'll put my money where my mouth is and show you." Approaching a nearby trash can, dented from where people had kicked it, he pressed a finger to it and willed a roughly 10 inch radius around his finger to melt, dropping its melting point to several degrees below the current air temperature, in the mid teen range. Gripping the bin by the handle C.J. tipped the metal out onto the ground and ,touching it as lightly as he could, re-solidified it, everything but the section in direct contact with him. Approaching Meld he placed the disk on his palm and held it up. "I shift the properties of metal."

"If so, do you have a place to stay?"

'Interesting question, how to approach it?'

"I'm currently headed to Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters, first place I found on the Internet, I don't know much more than it's a mutant safe haven." He thought he might be giving too much away, but in reality that was all he knew, nothing more, so he was a tad worried about the implications it may have for him.

'No use worrying now, it's said, it's done, lets just see how this 'Meld' reacts.'

More humans gathering, what were they expecting, some battle royalle? Or was it that interesting to see two mutants speaking? Jerks. A stone was hurled down the street along with the sound of a mans voice yelling "Get out of our city you freaks" Smiling to Meld and drawing his sword he approached the group of people congregated around the entrance to the alley way. The rock against his leg had not been terribly comfortable, but none the less he was set to intimidate, not hurt, hopefully the little group would disperse permanently that way.

'Another fine step toward human and mutant relations, oh well, it may be enough to just approach, perhaps if I put my sword away they'll see reason, chances are one will.'

As he reached the crowd Cafas put his sword away and looked into the sneering face of the mutant hater. "boo!" It was almost sad really, he hadn't expected it to work but the small man squealed like a stuck pig and ran for cover. "Tell me, why is it that you can't let us just live our lives, and persecute only those who seek to harm you, not the entire group, spineless, worthless race of idiots, home of the brave and free indeed, get out of here. Now!" The group scattered as he spoke, fleeing, afraid, well served them right. C.J. stood at the mouth of the alley and relaxed, nothing like getting on the wrong side of twenty people to make life that little bit harder.

Meld was quite impressed at the display of Alchemist's powers and she nodded her head in approval. Her thoughts drifted, not only to the good such a power could do within The Order, but also to the uses it could potentially have for her, personally, given the unique nature of her own mutation. She could imagine how much simpler it would be to create her flesh melds if she somehow had a way to melt and shape the metal without having to resort to traditional means.

"I'm currently headed to Xavier's institute for gifted youngsters, first place I found on the Internet, I don't know much more than it's a mutant safe haven."

Meld smirked sardonically. "An interesting place, but I must say you haven't struck me as the type to really fit in in a place like the Mansion." She had been there before and although she bore no ill will towards most of the mutants there, she did find them to be a somewhat on the naive side. But as long as they didn't get in her way in her pursuit of the mutant cause she had no issue with them or their stubborn insistence that violence was not the answer. "If you're unsure where it is I would be happy to escort you there or, if you are not set upon the mansion in particular, there is another place in the city that is a sort of haven for mutants."

Meld snarled angrily as the angry mob of humans began gathering but couldn't help but laugh, if a touch bitterly, at their hasty retreat at Alchemist's little display. "As numerous as the human vermin are at least they are generally both cowardly and without skill." As her recent encounter with a mob of anti-mutant ambushers had proven. But she saw no reason to mention that particular event, nor the others that had gotten her all the wrong kind of fame lately.

"An interesting place, but I must say you haven't struck me as the type to really fit in in a place like the Mansion."

'Odd thing to say, I wonder what principles the institute has? and why I would not fit with them?'

C.J. turned back around from his observations of life and speculations of mutant public relations to look at Meld, the half creature. He saw no real harm in talking to her, or what she had to say. As far as he could tell she was an honest person and unlikely to go out of her way to harm him or lead him to harm indirectly. A gentle push of hair off of face and his mouth began to function. Although it felt like an eternity he realised he had left a rather sort amount of time before talking. "Well, I didn't see anywhere..."

"If you're unsure where it is I would be happy to escort you there or, if you are not set upon the mansion in particular, there is another place in the city that is a sort of haven for mutants."

'Well then, this raises questions, but what did I really expect?'

shifting his stance to a subconciously less confident pose he tilted his head slightly. "I'm pretty sure I know where I am, although I wouldnt mind getting out of this alley, but as for fitting in and somewhere else, are you saying there are... Factions within the mutants? If so, I'd be interested to hear about them." C.J. was interested in just what he was getting himself into, it wasn't exactly like he was big on stupid risks, although, the last week or so spoke diferently. one uncalculated decision followed by another, and a few more to boot. "Although I still think I'll go to Xavier institute for now, see how that goes, after all, I set out with a goal, I'd like to fulfill it."

'I hope I didn't offend her, never know what people's tempers are like.'

"As numerous as the human vermin are at least they are generally both cowardly and without skill."

'Too right.'

A quick scan of the street behind him revealed another crowd growing to watch the dialogue. What was it with the humans in this city, you'd have thought they'd never seen a six foot two Australian and a half metal woman talking before, geez. "And persistent, I wager that even with no skill at all and armed with only their hands the human race could simply march over mutant kind, if and when this war starts mutants have no hope, because we simply don't have the resources to outlast a boycot, the manpower to fight them or the numbers to start our own civlisation." He finished speaking and turned to face the crowd yet again. "Don't you all have something to do, somewhere to be, someone to see? Say, piss off, go to hell and find someone else to bother?"

'Much as I like some these people are begining to annoy me, perhaps it's merely this country...'

"I'm pretty sure I know where I am, although I wouldnt mind getting out of this alley, but as for fitting in and somewhere else, are you saying there are... Factions within the mutants? If so, I'd be interested to hear about them."

Meld began walking out of the alley, trusting that Alchemist would follow her. She had been in the city long enough that she more or less knew where she was going although it had certainly taken her some time to get familiar with a city as large as New York was. "There are definitely factions within mutants," Meld said with a laugh. "Basically you've got the Mansion, which houses a more pacifist naive faction and you've got Sanctuary which houses some of the more proactive mutants." She wasn't about to mention The Order by name. Not only wasn't she entirely sure of this individual yet, but she was under direction not to do so. If it turned out he was Order material then there were others to do the recruiting.

"Although I still think I'll go to Xavier institute for now, see how that goes, after all, I set out with a goal, I'd like to fulfill it."

Meld shrugged her shoulders indifferently and began walking towards the subway which would eventually get them to Xavier's Institute. "Makes no difference to me, really. I stay at Sanctuary and they've been good to me but if you prefer Xavier's then I wish you all the best." She smirked, unsure whether or not he was likely to remain there for long. But it probably wouldn't take long for him to figure out if he was Mansion material or not.

"And persistent, I wager that even with no skill at all and armed with only their hands the human race could simply march over mutant kind, if and when this war starts mutants have no hope, because we simply don't have the resources to outlast a boycot, the manpower to fight them or the numbers to start our own civlisation."

Meld shuddered at the statement, unable to completely repress it as memories of her recent encounter with Davis and his band of anti-mutants came unbidden to her mind. Although she and aura had killed, probably, around 2 dozen of them between the two of them, the battle had ended in a fiery explosion that left Meld scarred and there was the knowledge that had the explosion not occurred both of them might have ended up dead. As unskilled as the mob had been, there were so many of them that their success had been far from assured. "Maybe we can't win an all out direct war but that doesn't mean we can't win. Our targets need to be chosen very carefully and we need to fight with more than just our fists and our powers. Its a fight for the minds and hearts of the masses as much as it is a fight against an opposing force." She gave him a self assured smile, wondering how he would react to her little speech.

Meld ignored the gathering crowd. For now they were inconsequential and of no real risk to her. If it came to it she would prove her superiority with their blood, but unless they made the first move she vowed that they didn't matter.

"There are definitely factions within mutants, Basically you've got the Mansion, which houses a more pacifist naive faction and you've got Sanctuary which houses some of the more proactive mutants."

Proactive? Wonder how so?'

There was something about her laugh that made C.J. worry, he had certainly not been surprised by the news but the whole laugh thing unsettled him, for some reason he got the feeling that there was some bad blood between the mansion and this 'Sanctuary'. Something about the laugh. Keeping pace with Meld, Cafas tried not to seem uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the surrounding crowd. "By proactive you mean what? Publicly anti human? Are the factions at odds with each other?" The news was displayed in a shop window as they passed, and he saw the man he had recently attached to the remnants of a dumpster, along with a little 'live' logo. "Bet they warp the story too."

"Makes no difference to me, really. I stay at Sanctuary and they've been good to me but if you prefer Xavier's then I wish you all the best"

'No real hint of hostility, no real sign of sincerity.'

"You really don't think I'll get on at the Mansion? I'm not too big on real violence, unless it is thrust upon me. But I'm curious as to how you came to that conclusion." His tone was kept fairly well neutral as far as he could tell, he had no intentions of insulting her. Meld likely had her reasons to think what she said she did, but Cafas wasn't sure, after all he was pretty tense at that point in time but he wasn't usually so hateful. Or perhaps he was and just forgot about it. Such lapses in self judgment were bad for one mentally.

"Maybe we can't win an all out direct war but that doesn't mean we can't win. Our targets need to be chosen very carefully and we need to fight with more than just our fists and our powers. Its a fight for the minds and hearts of the masses as much as it is a fight against an opposing force."

'The masses are humans, we got no hope'

"I'm not so sure that we can even win the masses, considering the species. And even with strategic targeting another will always fill the void." C.J. noticed a slight shudder from Meld but dismissed it, ahead was a large staircase leading under the street and he was wondering if they would really take the subway and if he could even afford it. Humans were annoyingly observant, they ought to be with the numbers, but they seemed to notice even the smallest misconduct, and with security being what it was he doubted any form of 'getting away with it.' Possibly a nice walk would be better? No, he would follow Meld.

'That money could be a slight issue.'

"By proactive you mean what? Publicly anti human? Are the factions at odds with each other?"

Meld smirked at the question. She had been hoping not to have to spell it out for him, hoped that he was smart enough to catch the reference but apparently she had been sadly mistaken. "I mean those mutants that are not willing to take their lot in life lying down, those mutants that actually do something instead of simply bemoaning their lot in life." She hoped she didn't have to spell it out more directly than that and that the hint that she was one of those mutants would get through. She wasn't a bad person, really, just one who wasn't willing to accept the status quo.

"You really don't think I'll get on at the Mansion? I'm not too big on real violence, unless it is thrust upon me. But I'm curious as to how you came to that conclusion."

"Perhaps I am mistaken," Meld began, "but you don't appear to have the same tolerance of humans as some. Violence is only part of the equation and not even the most important part, I think. Those in the mansion tend to be, I think, a little closer to the 'human vermin' I believed you called them, then you might be comfortable with." Not that she was an expert in Mansion matters and beliefs, of course, but her words did match her limited experiences. But she had been wrong in the past so who knew what might come of it.

"I'm not so sure that we can even win the masses, considering the species. And even with strategic targeting another will always fill the void."

Meld shook her head sadly as she payed her money to get onto the subway. The people around her parted, allowing her and Alchemist a little circle of space all to themselves. "Is that truly a reason to give up and give in? Just because its difficult doesn't mean that its not worth fighting for. Our kind have just as much right to personal happiness and ambition as any human does." She refrained from mentioning that in her opinion they had more right, being the superior species. She knew some of her views were on the extreme side of things and were difficult to accept from some.

"I refuse to allow my people to suffer." Her voice was strong and determined with just the slightest hint of fanaticism.

"I mean those mutants that are not willing to take their lot in life lying down, those mutants that actually do something instead of simply bemoaning their lot in life."

'The mutants who inspire the hatred...'

"I won't take it lying down but I won't stoop to the level of these humans, I will fight them if they fight me, there's no doubt, but to be openly violent, it would make me no better than them, in my mind." Her tone had implied a certain level of belief in that way of thinking, but he believed what he said, and said it, which left a lot to be questioned if his intelligence. Busy people surrounded him on all sides, rushing to places with little to no real purpose more than to be there. He wondered how many of them were actually happy. Probably none.

"Perhaps I am mistaken, but you don't appear to have the same tolerance of humans as some. Violence is only part of the equation and not even the most important part, I think. Those in the mansion tend to be, I think, a little closer to the 'human vermin' I believed you called them, then you might be comfortable with."

'Too right violence isn't the most important part, it shouldn't be part at all until necessary.

Someone forcefully shouldered him from his open side, a someone who very quickly decided that to be a bad idea when, despite some small pain, Alchemist didn't so much as twitch, just kept moving forward, one-handedly moving the man along his way. "I'm as tolerant as a situation warrants, but as for violence, some things are better achieved through intimidation that actually killing someone. Tell me, which is better, a powerful ally through fear, or a dead man? One earns the people's trust and one makes them fear more. And if they go back on their deal then possibly a visit in the night is appropriate. Although I still believe a friend would be better than a fearful puppet." Now a woman behind them was screaming something abour freaks. Ah life is fun. Ignoring her C.J. almost walked right into a turnstile, but was thankfully saved by the miracle of Meld paying. Pushing through the turnstile and making his way down the few steps to the train itself he stepped across the gap between train and platform just as the doors closed

"Is that truly a reason to give up and give in? Just because its difficult doesn't mean that its not worth fighting for. Our kind have just as much right to personal happiness and ambition as any human does."

'No. But if something can be achieved in a better way...'

"I never said to give up, I fully agree we have our rights to fulfilling lives, but I don't believe we will survive open warfare. We need to get a sizable amount of the population on side before those others start the true slaughter. Amass an army before fighting a war." His reply held in the tone no aggression, merely that sort of sage wisdom of tactics between two officers. The circle of space that surrounded them was not typical of a New York subway as far as he had heard and allowed him room to remove his trench coat, folding it in half and laying it across his arm, exposing his weapon. Not that it mattered, no-one would question an armed mutant, and those that did tended to have a blue uniform or camo on them.

"I refuse to allow my people to suffer."

'Okay, tone equals sanity in question but otherwise good sentiment...'

"Nor will I, but I wouldn't want to make someone else suffer instead, because that would achieve nothing, merely spark an endless circle of revolts and hatred until one race was wiped out. What purpose could that possibly serve?" The train rattled through the tunnels, lights strobing through the window at high speed. The human rabble around them were breaking down, they moved ever closer to them in as if testing the waters.

'Pity, the space was nice. Turns out fear can serve a purpose...'