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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 24, 2021 1:50:31 GMT
”It’s just down this hall, second door to the left.” Charles informed Sean, leading him through a land bridge that connected them to a different wing of the hospital. Though the two of them had not technically gotten clearance to go past the visiting area of the lower ER, it didn’t take much to keep people from avoiding their gaze. It turned out nobody questioned the presence of a paraplegic man in a hospital, regardless of what department they were in. Fortunately, Charles didn’t go to hospitals for the confidence boost.
New York City Presbyterian’s psychiatric evaluation department was actually a place where he had found numerous students in the past. The correlation between having a uncontrolled mutant ability and being assumed insane was very high. In fact, Charles would go as far as to say that based on his own observations, nearly half of the people undergoing treatment for psychosis of some sort were in fact mutants being misdiagnosed with other physical or mental disorders. So, on a fairly regular basis he made a point to check up on the place, if only to find out if anything strange had been going on or if any patients had seemed worth examining with a slightly more… open mind.
As a doctor of genetic research himself, Charles didn’t always need to use his abilities to get information on prospective mutants, though in situations like this, they certainly made things easily. ”I’ll take it from here.” he assured the physician on call with a polite smile. ”Just give us a few minutes alone in the room.” A telepathic nudge sent the doctor onto his next patient without so much as a second thought as to Charles or Sean’s identities, and they entered the examination room. ”Hello, Levi.” Charles greeted. ”How are you doing? I know you’ve already gone over this a few times today for the charts, but could you please tell me in your own words why you’re here.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 24, 2021 2:01:14 GMT
second door to the left. "i really don't want to get arrested," sean reminded charles, looking around uneasily.
levi was less than happy to see charles. he'd probably explained himself seventeen times that day and not a single person had taken him seriously so when charles asked him to explain again he wanted to punch him in the face.
could you please tell me in your own words why you're here? the man's voice made levi's body tense and his face heated. "can't you just go talk to another employee? i already told everyone else," he muttered, fighting back tears of frustration. "things keep disappearing, but no one sees it but me." his hands shook, a result of an antipsychotic flowing through his bloodstream.
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 24, 2021 2:10:30 GMT
”You’re not going to get arrested,” Charles said, very calmly and very directly into Sean’s head. Because while he was fully confident in the plan, saying out loud that you were doing something that could get you arrested was a fairly good way to attract the exact attention you were trying to avoid.
Just the response to hearing his question had given Charles everything he needed to know. ”I’m sorry, I promise this will be the last time we have to do this.” He paid close attention as Levi explained, searching his mind for any cues of doubt, signs of actual delusions, or that he was faking. There were absolutely none. ”I believe you,” he said, looking him in the eye, ”And I don’t think you should have been given all this medication. Your imagination isn’t the cause of this.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 24, 2021 2:17:26 GMT
you're not going to get arrested, sean sighed, taking a deep breath and nodding. when they got to the kid's room, he stayed quiet, letting charles do his thing while glancing into the hallway every now and then.
i believe you, levi furrowed his eyebrows, not having expected that. he was almost scared of the words, wondering if the man was trying to manipulate him, but something about charles seemed entirely genuine. your imagination isn't the cause of this. "so you'll make them stop bothering me?" he asked quickly. "do you know what's wrong with me?"
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 24, 2021 4:24:06 GMT
”Do you know what’s wrong with me?” ”I believe you have a rare genetic mutation.” Charles said, knowing that this was the most difficult part for most people to hear. ”That has given you an ability do do something that other people can’t do. In this case.. that ability is the reason that things around you seem to disappear. Without questioning you more, I can’t say for sure if you’re actually moving the items to another location, creating a barrier that shields them in some way, or just altering your perception of them, but those are all possible explanations for what happened.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 24, 2021 19:37:33 GMT
I believe you have a rare genetic mutation. That... sounded fake. He furrowed his eyebrows, letting Charles continue. ...but those are all possible explanations for what happened. "I didn't do anything," he said defensively. He hadn't done anything intentionally, anyway. "Can you make it stop?" Levi asked, because knowing the cause was useless if it couldn't be fixed. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy."
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 24, 2021 19:51:52 GMT
”I didn’t do anything.” ”Not intentionally.” Charles confirmed. ”But think about all the functions your body can perform without deliberate effort.” There were a lot of things that worked on a subconscious level. It was possible that his mutation has a similar physiology. ”I can’t make it stop, but I believe you should be able to, once you understand why its happening.”
”I run a school, for people like you.. people like us.” Charles continued, gesturing back towards Sean as well. ”We have the space and the tools to try and better understand what’s been going on with you, if you would like to come by one day we can set up an appointment. Of course it’s completely your choice.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 24, 2021 22:30:12 GMT
I run a school, for people like you... people like us. "you?" levi asked. "what can you do?"
"i can break windows," sean said with a smirk.
of course it's completely your choice. "yes, okay. can i come now?" he had so many questions.
"we can't abduct you, dude. it's illegal."
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 25, 2021 0:04:09 GMT
”What can you do?” Slowly, Charles altered Levi’s perception of the room, so that he was looking around the courtyard of the mansion instead of at an examination table. ”I just projected an illusion from my mind to yours.” he explained, as things went back to normal. ”I can read minds as well.”
”We can’t abduct you, dude. Its illegal.” ”Are your parents here?” Charles asked. ”I can speak with them to let them know you’ll be going for some additional evaluation and make sure we have a way to contact them when you’re ready to.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 25, 2021 0:09:13 GMT
levi looked around the room with confusion when charles got into his head, his eyes widening. i can read minds as well. "that's why you believe me," he figured. are your parents here? "my mom. she's outside in the car. wait-- is your school in england?" he asked, because charles was clearly not american and levi didn't know how he felt about going to school in another country.
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 25, 2021 0:27:39 GMT
”That’s why you believe me.” ”Its not the only reason, but it does help.” Charles acknowledged, smirking slightly. When the kid asked if the school was in England, he chuckled. ”No. I lived in England for a while. The school is about an hour’s drive from here.”
With Levi’s permission, he signed off on the release papers and went out to introduce himself to his mother. He explained that the testing had shown nothing for her to be concerned with and that they had an idea of what happened but that he would need some additional evaluation and a few follow up sessions that would be done on a campus medical facility.
He would have given her a card with his phone number on it and a chance to talk to Levi and ask any questions she might have had. Compared to some of the other students’s parents she was actually refreshingly reasonable and it wasn't long before they were on their way back to the mansion.
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 25, 2021 0:46:45 GMT
levi sat in the car pretty silent, a little nervous and feeling a little sick from the drive and drugs in his system. he had a ton going through his head from him having some weird deadly illness to him being radioactive.
"i'm starving. you hungry, kid?" sean asked, pulling up to a mcdonald's.
"no, thanks," levi said quietly, leaning his head against the door. "you have a phone at the school?"
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 25, 2021 0:53:11 GMT
”Try and drink some water.” Charles told Levi. ”Unfortunately, psychiatric drugs have a lot of side effects, especially when they’re not needed. It might be a couple of hours before your stomach settles.” There was no point focusing too much on anything else while he wasn’t in a clear mind, though he of all people understood that that was easier said than done. ”You have a phone at the school?” ”Yes, you’re welcome to call whoever you need to as soon as we get there.”
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Post by LEVI GALLAGHER on May 26, 2021 20:14:50 GMT
it might be a couple of hours before your stomach settles. levi nodded, really hoping that he never had to take anything like that again. yes, you're welcome to call whoever you need to as soon as we get there. "are there other kids there?" he asked curiously. "it's a school? what do you teach?"
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Post by CHARLES XAVIER on May 27, 2021 21:05:15 GMT
”Yes, quite a few.” Charles assured when Levi asked if there would be other kids there. ”It’s a school? What do you teach?” ”A little bit of everything, really. Many of our students live there full time, so they receive the same schooling I’m sure you do, in addition to any specialized interests they may want to pursue.” It was important to him that they had the same childhood and opportunities they would have had outside the mansion. ”For most of them, though, they’ve come so that they can better learn to use their abilities, or to control them. They might train with me or with someone who has a more similar ability to them. Depending on their particular situation, it could encompass anything from physical exercises to developing technology that allows them to do different things.” So it was really a very wide range of things they 'taught'.
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