「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(306) Greater Good

Charles' POV

As the period bell wailed deafeningly across the building, Lynn's students hurriedly scurried off to their next lesson's venue while I calmly proceeded to my designated one conveniently located just next door.

Reaching for the intricate brass knob, I turned it and pushed the solid timber forwards, habitually creating some allowance for my bulky chair to maneuver. Surely, the cumbersome routine was now perfected and easily accomplished after decades of practice but the characteristic gesture undoubtedly trumpeted my entrance.

Expertly, I steered my chair along the generously wide aisle in the front and the casual chatter resonating within the sophisticated room spontaneously transformed into a barren silence as my pupils naturally discerned my conspicuous presence. Flashing me amiable smiles, the teens obediently dispersed from their packs and nestled into their usual seats, granting a punctual start to our seminar, as the blanket of clouds morphed into a comforting blue.

Despite having hosted the exact lecture just before, the subject in discussion remained something that kindled close to heart and a repeated sharing was neither monotonous nor boring. Regardless of the additional work, I actually fancied the expanded interaction boasting a further opportunity for me to personally grasp the vast range of intriguing perceptions possessed by those young minds towards the ultimately controversial issue.

Although it was difficult to demand that everyone appreciated the said topic equally, my respectful audience industriously focused their attention to the ongoing session. Unfortunately, at the halfway mark, their enthusiasm to participate in the corresponding verbal analyses substantially dwindled, as if their eagerness had literally been drained like the skies of its vibrant colour.

"When an individual acquires great power, the use or misuse of that power is everything. Will it be for the greater good or will it be used for personal or for destructive ends?" I stressed pensively.

Essentially flooded with nothing but the pathetic recollections of Erik, I unintentionally heightened the dreariness of the atmosphere with an inadvertently grave tone as the exterior erratically darkened. As I unwittingly paused in a moment engulfed by grief, the dimming setting was temporarily enveloped in a noiseless void until thunder remotely growled in the distance, awakening me to my negligence.

"Now, this is a question we must all ask ourselves," I asserted, more refreshingly this time, in attempt to ward off the dullness rapidly bleeding into the ambience.

"Why? Because we are mutants," I rehashed spiritedly, smiling in utter satisfaction.

Delightfully proud expressions progressively sprouted amidst the sea of youthful faces and I was wholly heartened to be gifted with that wondrous view from my chair. Moderately elevated above the others as a result of its attached motors and castors, my special seat surprisingly assumed the role of a fortuitous vantage point where their diligence, pleasantly apparent, could be clearly witnessed.

While most of them employed conventional methods to jot notes, one amongst the crowd was more advantageous, being blessed with the extraordinary talent to transcribe words onto paper just by the wave of her hand.

Penny—oddly enough—basically had to hover her palm over her booklet and the phrases dictated by her mind would automatically materialized in neat ink, inevitably earning rather envious gazes from her neighboring associates who were frantically scribbling in order to comprehensively record the contents of my speech.