Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the principal's office.
Dilos sat in a chair, facing Charles Xavier, who wore a kindly expression.
"Mr. Sullivan, you can call me Charles. Do you mind if I call you Dilos?"
"Of course not." Dilos smiled. "I've been hoping for a chance to meet you, Charles."
"So have I."
Charles chuckled. "Ororo and Jia Yin told me about you. They think very highly of you."
"Really?"
Dilos's lips curled. "They're not angry that I haven't been in touch for the past few months, are they?"
"Ororo probably isn't."
At that, Charles seemed to fight back a smile. "But Jia Yin has been down in the dumps quite often. There aren't many people at this school who speak Chinese, after all. And of everyone she knows, you're the only one who speaks it with such a distinctive regional accent."
"Uh..."
Dilos looked a little awkward and quickly changed the subject. "Charles, there's a rumor going around that the Mutant Registration Act is about to be introduced. Have you heard about it?"
At the mention of it, Charles's smile faded, and his expression grew serious.
"I've heard about it before. The bill was filed years ago, but it's never been introduced."
Dilos nodded. He knew things weren't as simple as Charles made them sound. Charles had probably played a part in keeping the bill from being introduced.
"The bill was originally called the Superhuman Registration Act. But because of things people like Major William Stryker and Senator Kelly have done, it specifically targets mutants, the largest group of superhumans."
Charles sighed softly, then looked at Dilos and asked, "Can you tell me where you heard this?"
Charles did support peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans, but that didn't mean he was some naive old fool. He had