"What did you think of Mutants?" Nick asked Schiller, leaning against the glass window.
"My view was roughly the same as Professor X's. At least on one point: if Mutants and ordinary humans were forcibly mashed together, both sides would get hurt."
"Leaving aside the historical baggage that made ordinary humans hostile toward Mutants, the mere fact that Mutant power outbreaks were uncontrollable meant they could not live in normal human society." Schiller sighed.
Only after coming to this world did he realize that the Mutant problem was far more serious than he had imagined. Every day, the newspapers reported that some Mutant somewhere had suffered a power outbreak, causing losses and injuries...
The Symbiotes had been right about one thing: ordinary humans really were fragile. A tiny flame could burn them badly, and if there was an explosion, most people would not survive. Yet fire and explosions were the most common occurrences when Mutant powers erupted.
How could ordinary people not see them as terrorists? Even terrorist attacks could be anticipated, since there were only so many types of guns and bombs. But Mutant power outbreaks were different. A thousand people had a thousand ways of endangering public safety.
In a society with Mutants, entering any public place meant first finding a safe corner, just in case an out-of-control Mutant suddenly burst in and started killing people.
You might wake up one morning to find the road wrecked again, then learn it was another Mutant's handiwork. Or perhaps one day, your car would be parked perfectly safely in a garage, only for the entire garage to collapse the next day—and the insurance company would refuse to pay.
Mutant power outbreaks did not care whether you had work the next day, an urgent client to meet, or whether you wanted