Logs:Agree to Disagree

Agree to Disagree
Trigger Warning: Talk of genocide and terrible fathers.
Dramatis Personae Sera, Avery
In Absentia Charles, Steve	2023-07-19 “Are you blaming Canada for Stormtroopers?” - Sera, 2023
Location <XAV> Library - Xs First Floor
Xavier's librarian might hope the library is a quiet place to sit and study, but with a school full of teenagers that is not always the case. Nevertheless, it is certainly a treasure trove of knowledge, well-stocked with a wealth of books on its high shelves. Its reference section is vast, though its fiction is as well (much to the delight of many of its students.) The wide octagonal tables and smaller armchairs are often crowded with students, though the whispered conversations that often take place leave some doubt as to how much work is getting done at any given hour. Avery was nose deep in a book in the library. There were towers of history books surrounding her at the table. They were about WW1, be it the start, countries reactions, the political stances, battles, life in the trenches, weapons and general technological advancements, and of course, war crimes. It would be assumed it was for class, but they were only on the Civil War and Avery just wanted to move the class along. Civil War was boring anyways, as most of American history. The world’s whole history is more her style. The world has so much more to it, as the world is what is, instead of just one country. WWI had perspectives from France, Russia, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Canada, the US, and a few more she can’t remember off the top of her head. But with all this, it makes it more interesting. Sera has just emerged from the stacks with some light reading of her own: theology, history of religion (mostly though not exclusively Christian), moral philosophy, and a single heavyweight outlier on Neoclassical architecture. Her light skin is tanned and freckled, which makes her bright green eyes all the more striking, her brown hair growing unruly from a pixie cut that needs refreshing, and she's wearing faded denim shortalls over a short-sleeve purple plaid button-down, and purple lowtop sneakers to match. Casual as anything, she drifts over to set her stack of books down on the edge of the table where Avery is reading. "Hi," she pipes, quiet but not hushed, "I won't bother you for long, but I just had to say hi to a fellow history buff." She flashes a friendly smile that's genuinely pleasant and just the slightest touch abashed. "I'm sure you've been welcomed already, but welcome to Xavier's. I'm Sera." “Huh…” Avery looked up from the book of war crimes caused by all the countries in WW1, so far Canada had the lead. Avery put the book down on her lap, slightly annoyed by the interruption but the apology fixed it. Now, to weasel her way into getting this girl to like her which hopefully wouldn’t be hard. “Avery…” She looked back the book. “You think the Civil War is boring as shit and just skip to Manifest Destiny, Industrialisation, and World War I?” She asked, a grin forming on her face. “Also why’d you ‘have’ to talk t’ me? I might not even be a history buff and just surrounded myself with a bunch of books about the first World War.” Avery was just trying to mess with her. “AP US History sucks… I figured I’d take AP just to get the credit bonus, but it’s just so… so goddamn boring…” Avery went back to the book. “Fun fact, Canada was absolutely brutal during the war. They executed prisoners and baited soldiers out of the trenches with food to kill them off easily… Also the Christmas massacre of 1915… And there was another story of a live grenade being slipped into a German prisoner’s pocket…” Avery paused, taking in the awkward silence. “No wonder Germany called their troops Stormtroopers — twice.” Sera's smile doesn't slip at all through this rollercoaster of an introduction. "Oh, I didn't actually have to. It's just an expression, and maybe a misguided one." She drums her fingers on the cover of the topmost book (Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues) in her stack. "I think there are interesting things to learn about every time period, everywhere. Even the wars. I don't have any particular love for Canada, though my family is from there. But off the top of my head..." She ticks off her fingers thoughtfully as she continues, "...between the Rape of Belgium, the Armenian genocide, and...well, all the poison gas, I'd say Canada probably wasn't the worst offender in terms of war crimes." Her smile returns a little rueful, and her voice softens earnestly. "Not that it's a competition or anything. All war is brutal." Then, pulling kind of a verbal double-take, "Wait, are you blaming Canada for Stormtroopers?" Avery’s face went wide with a “what the hell are you talking about” look on her face mixed with a smile. “What? No- pretty sure someone would punch me if I actually blamed it on them.” It was something she would say but a lot less crass and blunt, so she liked this girl already. The only thing Sera needed work on was picking up jokes, which, hopefully, wouldn’t be that hard. “Go ask the Professor or somethin’… He’s gotta know someone who been through that war. I mean, he’s ancient as hell-“ she laughed, putting a bookmark in her book and putting it on the table. “But I think we can all admit… the worst part of World War 1? Rats, both literal… and Woodrow Willson with the rest of the politicians.” She said, still trying to keep the mood high despite being in a semi-constant state of cynicism and apathy in her mentality. Sera cocks her head slightly, her expression fey and not exactly quizzical but certainly curious. "Ask him what? I've got better sources if for some reason I wanted to know more about stormtroopers. If you mean the origin of the name, Google will probably do." She actually pulls out her phone, but stops short and looks up at the tops of the shelves beyond Avery, her eyes far away for a moment. "Mm. It's still not a competition, but I think the genocides -- plural -- are kind of worse. We can agree to disagree." Avery crossed her legs. “Ask him if any of the stuff in these books really happened. Or if he could point us to someone in this school — because I know there’s gotta be some here who lived through it. I just know it.” Avery had a determined tone in her voice. “I know there’s people who are borderline fossils out there. I mean, look at the rose-coloured glasses human embodiment that is Captain America- who says mutants aren’t like that?” She asks, giving an expression that fits a crackshot idea, with her eyes slightly squinting and a grin a mile wide. “But back to the topic of… y’know… genocides. The people in power, also known as politicians, caused those...” She pauses. “Though we can agree to disagree, sure.” "Captain America," Sera points out evenly, "is a fossil, and I ask him about history all the time. The only difference that matters between him and us is the government mutated him and thought that meant they could control him." Her smile tugs hard to one side. "That, and better publicity." She grips Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, her fingers pale where the edges of the hard cover dig in. "Do you suppose politicians 'cause' genocides all by themselves because they've nothing better to do?" There's an edge to this question that's not in her idly curious tone or pleasantly neutral expression or relaxed and engaged body language. "How could they imprison and murder millions without without bureaucrats and soldiers and citizens choosing to collaborate, again and again? Why would they even bother if no one else wanted it?" “Well,” Avery took a moment to think about what to say. “Politicians can cause all of it. They’re the push. Get enough propaganda and convince enough people to do it for the ‘good’ of whatever, and it seems like the control the world. They can convince people to join the military for pretty dumb reasons, hell they can even convince military to try, and fail, to convince flunk-out kids like me and my brother to join the military.” Avery rested on her arm, smushing up her face for the sake of comfort. “Even a command from the second or third to last link gets it from the top. A commander gets the order from a general, who gets it from a bureaucrat, who gets it from the secretaries of war, who gets it from the president.” Avery sounded so sure fire of her answer, her ideas may not be right but she at least knew she was on to something here. The whole reason she was having this conversation was to contrast and meld together ideas, as most are. “So…” She let the word be drawn out, waiting for an answer. “We come up with an answer yet…? That politicians are technically the cause of most of the horrors of war…?” Sera looks up at the ceiling this time. It's a long moment before she meets Avery's eyes again. "Politicians do horrible things, yes. But fixating on them as the source of our problems is just an excuse for complacency." Her voice starts out calm, then gradually grows more clipped. "I know what a chain of command is, and every one of those links is a person who can make a decision to not do genocide." Her words come faster, though not much louder. "You still haven't answered: why would politicians 'cause' it, if no one else wanted it? American democracy is a joke, but elected officials don't leap fully formed out of the Constitution. They're twisted fun house mirrors, but they still reflect." Her anger is contagious, as is the profound existential horror behind it. "I have seen genocide. I have lost --" She stops, and slowly lets her breath out. The intense emotions recede into an almost eerie calm. "But sure. You have all the answers. It must be very comforting, and I pray you never have to see the banality of that evil." Avery’s face went into a scowl. “Oh I’ve seen the banality of evil -it’s called my dad, and thank god he’s dead now!” She yells, with her winds sparking up into the form of a cold breeze that made it feel like 40 degrees Fahrenheit. “I didn’t say I had the answers, I said ‘have we come up with an answer yet’, ya puttin’ words in my mouth, bella-“ Avery continues the winds, with them messing up everyone’s hair in a five foot radius. “Look, I’m sorry I pissed ya off — I say shit like that.” Her winds stopped as her temper started to cool. “I just wanted t’ have a conversation about how fucked our system is by these politicians and people being stupid…” Avery’s face brightened up a bit after a period of awkward silence. “Anyways… I’m Y’know what’s kinda funny to me? When conservatives say they don’t wanna move to Colorado because of ‘liberals’. It’s fuckin’ hilarious. Because we all know they can just hide in the mountains with their nine guns, three dogs, two cats, eight goats, and fifty chickens in a shitty house damaged by flooding.” She pauses. “Thought really specific humour would make ya laugh. It does for me.” Sera's preternatural composure dissolves all at once into laughter -- high and clear and bright -- when Avery cites her late father, and she keeps laughing through the windstorm that sends papers flying around the library. She's stopped, though, by the time the other girl asks her own admittedly rhetorical question about humor. "You really needn't try so hard," she assures Avery as she picks up her books and turns to go, "you are absolutely hilarious. I can't wait to see you in history class."