Chapter 4

The history of this world is so strange that I even began to doubt its adequacy. I noticed and noticed this while reading at the Ancient One, but there I did it as quickly as possible, having completed the basic course and not looking at the details. Now I was in some kind of Internet cafe, and the money was taken from stupid bandits who wanted to rob me. Crime is rampant in New York, otherwise, how can you meet a couple of bandits in an alley in the light of day? However, the first thing I checked was the year, which surprised me a lot. Nineteen eighty-three. And there are already good computers and good Internet, along with normal technologies. It was probably the first nail in the coffin, and the history of this world surprised me even more. The Second World War followed some strange scenario in the form of a sudden Hydra, like a new technology department of the Third Reich, as well as the main supplier of technology. It was thanks to Hydra that a huge leap was made in terms of technology, namely with the help of their scientists, who received all the countries of the first world. That is, the USSR, the USA and the UK. Of course, they received them secretly and there is no such information in the public domain, but any small-town historian can guess about it. Nevertheless, how could the Third Reich lose at all? Having technologies that were thirty years ahead of their time! I repeat, is this world adequate at all?

Okay, more technology, but here in the forties they made quite a working super soldier serum. It's good that at least in one copy, which was later used for one person - Steve Rogers, known as Captain America. He fought the Germans on the western side while the Soviet Union put the squeeze on them from the east. I can still believe that even under such hellish conditions, the Soviet people prevailed over Germany, which, by the way, was much more difficult for them here, the losses were under forty million. And that's just official information. At the end of the war, the United States took out German scientists who surrendered and, in exchange for their knowledge, wanted to get as far away from the Soviets as possible. And again, this data is not publicly available, but it is simply impossible to get the same technologies in eight-hundredths as in two thousand tenths in another way.

Okay, the story is sorted out, then there are strange and not only human studies. What have we not considered here, we even got to gamma rays! I had to take a crash course in programming and hacking to find what I needed. It's good that there was no one in the Internet cafe at this time of day, it was the middle of the night, after all. But it was not forbidden to sit here until the morning. In a couple of hours, I was already able to crack several levels of protection of the Shield, an organization that fights terrorists and is engaged in law enforcement, founded back in the forties and helped the United States beat the Germans. This way I got even more information, this time it was already secret. But at the same time, I had to leave this place, because the signal was tracked and a capture group was sent to me. And I swore that I would no longer personally hack anyone, it's better to do it through intermediaries, whom I found quickly enough. Already on the other side of the city, I got in touch with some group of hackers, who could do a lot for money, and it was easier for them to get documents. All that remained was to pay.

Payment can be different, from information and backdoor, that is, access to a certain network, to ordinary money. I didn't have any money, and the hacker group didn't need it, but they were interested in the package of information from the Shield that I managed to grab. Of course, I didn't have time to leave a backdoor for myself, because the computer was too weak and slow, because my brain was working three or four times faster than it was. But it didn't matter, if even an amateur like me, who had read everything about programming and hacking in the public domain, was able to crack a couple of Shield levels, then what can we say about professional hackers? One of them contacted me and asked me to call him just "Ghost" or Ghost. He was most interested in this data, so he asked the price. All I needed was a package of documents, starting from a passport and insurance, ending with secondary and higher education. I may have been able to make them myself, even add it all to the system, but this is only a temporary measure. Basically, as it is now. In the future, I will need to do this on a more serious basis, but in order to live here, I will need to have real documents. I am first of all a researcher and a walking bible library, so I will be in the public eye quite often, in the future I want to create something. Among the wishes, I also named a red diploma for the teaching profession. I loved teaching people, just the understanding of this appeared during the training of Dreams and the Office. And I decided that I would continue to bring knowledge to the masses.

I needed quite large sums quickly enough and I found a fairly simple and fast option in the form of collecting gold from asteroids. And after that, through the Ghost group, you can safely hand over all the gold and wash it, getting a net profit. I even managed to come to a fifty-fifty agreement if I would "import" a new influx of gold every month. I was even offered other services, and for new information from the Shield, in which the Ghost was very interested. I didn't ask for goals, we had a purely partnership relationship, he for me, I for him.

A couple of days later, sitting in a cafe somewhere in the city center, I sipped coffee and leisurely looked through the new documents that had just been handed to me. On the table, in addition to the documents, there was also a small envelope stuffed with cash, which was my personal request, asking for some cash, as well as a bank card, which already had the entire principal amount. They work quickly, and it seems to be of high quality. Now I'm Trig Zverev. I decided not to get too hung up on the name and just shortened how people call me.

My gaze moved to the door, where two men appeared a few moments later. One is bald in a wheelchair and the other is a short but rather massive man with a small beard. After looking around, the first one noticed me, smiled slightly and rolled towards me. Meanwhile, the second one grinned at me and went to the counter.

- Nice to meet you, mister... - he hesitated a little, touching his temple. He's what... Is he trying to read my mind? I've never met such creatures, but he's too weak to enter my head. And the man realized this, grimacing from a slight pain in his head.

"It's not nice to get into a stranger's head," I said without a hint of aggression. Don't worry about that, I think he's learned his lesson.

"Sorry, it's a professional habit," the man said with a condescending smile. - I think you have already guessed that you are far from an ordinary person...

- Trig. Call me that," I said after sipping some coffee and nodded for him to continue.

"I'm Charles Xavier, a mutant, just like you," he said confidently.

"I've read about you," I nodded at his words. - You have the so-called Genome X. Someone calls you a new branch of evolution, someone on the contrary, a defect. But you shouldn't have come here, I'm not one of you.

"Maybe," he didn't argue. - I did not see our genome in you, but you are not human either. Who are you?

- Then I have a counter question, how did you find me? - I had a couple of options. And they all boiled down to the Ancient One. Only she knew about me and who I was and what I possessed.

- A friend helped me, I think her name will not give you much to understand, but maybe it will help you to trust me. Suo, - hmm... The name of the Ancient one? I didn't hear him, so I can't be sure of the truth of these words, but who else could have found out about me? And the bald woman didn't look like someone who would tell everyone about me.

"Okay," I said, glancing at the coffee, which was already over. - Let's say I believed you. What's next?

"Me and my dear friend, James Howlett," Charles pointed to a bearded man who was smoking a cigar at the counter and, sensing our gaze, waved his hand at us. - We are the founders of the school of gifted children, mutants, in short. And yes, you may not be one of us, but I would like to see you in it as one of the teachers.

- Well, if we cooperate, then I should know what your intentions are? I asked, putting all the documents back in the folder. I need to understand what kind of person is standing in front of me.

"I want mutants and humans to live in peace," Xavier said with a firm look and determination in his eyes. - And I will do everything for that.

"Hmm," I paused for a second and just looked into his eyes. James, who had been smoking a cigar somewhere in the shadows all this time, turned his head towards us and looked at both of us, puffing on a cigar. "You don't often meet people like you, Charles," I said with a chuckle. - Okay, I agree. But I need documents, real ones, not these pieces of paper," I said, taking the folder in my hands.

"We'll arrange that," the man nodded with a small smile. "I'm glad you're with us, Trig.

- Let's see, I haven't fully decided yet.

"But you gave us a chance, which is already good," Howlett stubbed out his cigar and came over to us.

"Let's get to know each other, Trig," he said, offering his hand for a handshake.

"Likewise," I replied, squeezing his hand a little. Still, it didn't seem to me, his bones are different from ordinary people, and I feel it... Radiation? No, not really, but there is definitely some kind of radiation and it poisons the body. - Show me your school, I want to understand where I will have to come. And yet, I will need a laboratory, I may not look like it, but I am a scientist, there is so much knowledge in my head that you never dreamed of. And I want to help as many people as possible.

- We'll arrange that. Then I ask you to come with us," nodding at his offer, we went to the exit of the cafe.

***

The school was surprisingly large and was located in a mansion, and also owned a fairly large area around, which was made into a courtyard so that students could spend their time here during recess or after classes. It's not freedom, but Charles has already explained that the school exists to teach children how to use their abilities correctly. This is the right approach, first you teach them how to be mutants and what to do with their powers, and then you teach them how to be human. I think graduates of this school are practically indistinguishable from ordinary people, unless they have visible mutant traits, of course. By the type of tails, wings, different eyes, and so on. I have already seen some of them in the courtyard when we passed by and chatted about the school itself. And after checking them for fear, I didn't see a drop aimed at Xavier and James. They were afraid of anyone but them. Brainwashing is also possible here, Charles has telepathy, as he called it, and can safely get into people's heads. Change their behavior and even erase their identity. But let's see, it's too early to talk about anything.

"This is the kitchen," Xavier continued to talk about the interior of the mansion. - We often have various events here, where we relax and just talk. I don't use my abilities to get anyone to talk, everyone chooses what to say and when. If he wants to talk in private, about something personal, I'm always glad to see him in my office. I'm not going to rush anyone.

- Are you trying to leave a good opinion of yourself? I chuckled. It's too easy for someone like him.

"I'm just telling the truth," he shrugged. - I noticed that you like honesty, which I really appreciate in people myself.

- I like honesty that comes from the heart, I like sincerity and a certain naivety in a person. But not ostentatiously," James chuckled at these words and looked at Xavier with a look of "you were made". - I love children precisely for this, for their childlike spontaneity. Adults do not have this, for the sake of their goals, they are even ready to go over their heads. But children have one quality that disappoints me - they grow up too quickly into such adults - my words made them think and the rest of the way, up to the elevator, remained in silence.

"You said you needed a lab," Charles said, pressing the elevator button.

"That would be nice," I nodded back. - I have some thoughts about many diseases that I can cure.

- For example? - apparently, I'm not the only one interested in this. At that moment, the elevator arrived, which we leisurely entered and James pressed the down direction button. An underground complex? It seems to be true.

"Cancer," I said after a moment's thought. It is difficult, but not impossible, to remove the complete appearance of cancer cells. - All I need is time, opportunities, all kinds of cancer cells and a little patience.

"As I understand it, these are not all your ideas," Xavier smiled slightly.