"After my parents died, I no longer had a home of my own. While boarding at school, I had to share a room with people I despised. After I finally managed to leave the school, I could only rent a place outside."
Polaris covered her forehead with both hands, instinctively shielding her expression, and said, "I was once thrown out by my landlord due to my power eruption, wandering the streets of New York in the middle of the night. The only things my powers could do for me was to keep me somewhat warm, and to ensure that, unlike other vagrants, I didn't have to fight for a corner to sleep in."
"Later on, I joined the X-Men. I admit that it was a good environment where everyone welcomed you with a smile. Even when there were conflicts, Professor X would try to mediate and satisfy everyone."
"But I just couldn't stay there. I just... couldn't... do you understand? Every minute and second there made me feel anxious. Talking to every single person there was agonizing."
"Then, I left the X-Men. Everyone couldn't comprehend why. After returning to the Brotherhood, things didn't get any better. I didn't want to see Erik, didn't want to see that look on his face..."
"Afterwards, mutants left Earth for the Andromeda Galaxy. We were granted a beautiful Sky Island, and I started to imagine a home of my own there. A warm house decorated the way I like... "
Polaris lightly touched her eyes and said, "For this goal, I loved my job, even though there was nothing special about it, it was even quite monotonous."
"With Erik around, I didn't have to do much. Every day was a repetitive cycle of carrying and assembling. I would tell him what kind of building parts I wanted, but he would always say 'no' without explaining why."
Polaris took a shaky breath and said, "Perhaps he thought I was too much trouble, always burdening him with my weird ideas, so he sent me away."
"I returned to the apartment I previously rented, then he followed. I knew what he wanted to do, to scold me for the trouble I caused, that I wasn't studying and not working properly..."
"I really wish he would disappear from my life, and never again show up!" Polaris uttered, biting back tears. "But he always burst in like this, criticizing my life..."
Shiller looked at Polaris and asked, "You felt staying with the X-Men was painful, can you explain why?"
"I don't know." Polaris shook her head and said, "I just think everything there is so fake, it even makes me angry... "
"The future of mutants, my future... From the time I could remember, I've been thinking about these issues. It seems like people in the X-Men don't like discussing this topic. They prefer to focus on the present, believing that when we reach the mountain, a path will appear."
"But I know there are no more paths. They are just deceiving themselves, dying slowly. I want to remind them, but I don't want to be the party pooper. If they want to dream until the very end, then let them."
"Do you think you are more lucid than them?" Shiller asked.
"I just had more experiences than them." Polaris lowered her head to look at her own fingers and said, "The children who could enter that school, their parents cared for them, sent them to school. Even when their parents wanted to abandon them, Professor X cared about them ..."
"To the extent that they didn't realize, the situation of the mutants is just like mine back then. We could be thrown out at any time. They've been trying every way possible to send us away."
"Yet, many among us argue that as long as we behave and appease the landlord, we can stay. Some say that we should enact laws to restrict the landlord and us tenants. Others say that we won't leave and ask who can do anything to us…"
Shiller tapped the desk lightly with his pen and said, "In what you've said, you used 'you' and 'us.' Do you think that mutants and humans are actually two different species?"
"I know that the current mainstream view is that mutants evolved from humans, so we should be one race…" Polaris shook her head and said, "But the truth is, we are different and not suitable to live together."
"Maybe this sounds harsh, but I'm really tired of living with ants. I'm not insulting ordinary people, but how can I control my power and maintain focus to ensure that not a bit of it leaks. Even a tiny loss of control would lead to the deaths of hundreds of ordinary people."
"Am I expected to keep still everyday, monitoring the spread of my powers, observing every change in magnetic force, just to protect the lives of ordinary people? Otherwise, I would be subjected to all sorts of scolding?"
"Forget about them ever offending me, even if they haven't, I can't live like this!"
"Alright, Miss Lorna, don't get agitated." Shiller consoled Polaris and then said, "Let's separate this into two issues: one, how you feel about your father, and two, your concerns about the future of mutants."
"Let's look at the first one. Ignoring the issues of your origins, we only consider the current interactions between the two of you. Based on your description, Magneto Erik only said two sentences to you. Do you think this is normal?"
Polaris stared at Shiller, her expression seemingly said, "What's abnormal about that?"
"What I meant was, on an average person's scale, is this the scene you'd expect when a father and daughter are reunited after a long separation?"
"I've never considered him as my father, and as far as I can see, he never considered me as his daughter either." Polaris turned her head away as she spoke.
"First, we must clarify a causal relationship. Is the way you interact due to your refusal to acknowledge each other as father and daughter? Or is your refusal to acknowledge each other as father and daughter caused by this way you interact?"
Shiller's words were a little convoluted. Polaris fell silent for a moment before saying, "I don't know, anyway, ever since I knew him, it's been this way."
"Alright, let's put aside him being your father or even a friend. Let's say he is a stranger. Do you think, if we had just run into each other in an apartment, our interaction would be the same?"
"He is not normal!" Polaris continued with Shiller's words, "I've met many people in my life, but no one has ever been like him - always maintaining a stern face, expecting you to understand his intentions by his looks, and reluctant to utter extra words about anything!"
"You've raised the crucial point, Miss." Shiller smiled and said: "He's not normal, what about you?"
Before Polaris could speak, Shiller cut in: "When faced with an unexpectedly familiar person, your first reaction is resistance, your second reaction is to attack, and your third reaction is to intentionally provoke him. Don't you find your behaviors problematic?"
Polaris bit her lip, shook her head, and said: "I always react this way, I don't think there's any problem with it..."
Shiller nodded and said: "The problem I pointed out, is not about you being insane, or mentally unwell. Instead, it's about the problem with the emotions that drive these behaviors."
"Resistance, attack, and overreaction usually occur when people feel afraid. It is not disgust or resentment toward Magneto that drives these behaviors of yours. It's fear."
"I..." Polaris had just wanted to retort when she suddenly paused. The sound of a set of keys hitting the ground from last night echoed in her ears.
With a clatter, a set of keys fell to the ground and then flew up again, hovering in front of Charles. Magneto opened his mouth and said, "Exactly, she's afraid of me."
Charles knitted his brows, saying: "Lorna is not a coward. She doesn't fear fighting or getting hurt, like some other children. She has always been courageous and very resilient. Why is she afraid of you?"
Magneto stayed silent, looking at Charles, seemingly waiting for him to provide an answer. Charles pondered and said, "The emotion of fear is often left behind as a lingering wound after a violent shock."
"It might not be that you scared her this time, or that she was scared after growing up and reuniting with you."
Magneto knitted his brows. Charles said to him, "Think carefully, what did you say and do when you first met little Lorna?"
Magneto gradually fell into thought, his contemplative expression merging with Polaris's. They both found that tiny piece of memory amidst tumbling waves of recollections.
The blue sky and sea were in perfect harmony, breaking waves lapping against the shore. Each wave seemed like an impressionistic sweep, reckless yet exquisitely fine.
Not far from the seashore, on a cliff, a wreckage belched black smoke. Two small silhouettes approached the cliff, with a young Magneto descending.
Gazing at the wreckage, he faintly heard a little girl's cry from inside. He raised his hand and all the shards of the aircraft flew into mid-air, revealing Lorna Dane hidden inside.
At that time, she was still very small, sitting amid the rubble, like a broken doll.
Just then, Magneto, peering through time and space, looked at young Polaris again. He realized that what was reflected in little Lorna's tear-filled eyes was not gratitude or relief, but sheer fear.
"At that time, I didn't know what mutants were…" Polaris bit her lip tightly and said, "A strange man in a black robe and helmet descended from the sky and cleared everything around me."
"He walked towards me... walked towards me... like a monster!!!" Polaris began to shake, her hand clutching the edge of the table tightly. Then she said, "He locked all the magnetic fields nearby. I had nowhere to escape, I couldn't move or even speak..."
"Just like last night, he controlled all the magnetic fields. I was powerless to resist him, I could only ask him to keep his distance..."
Polaris's hand tightened into a fist, her knuckles turning white. She said, "I screamed because all I could do beyond asking him to stay away was screaming."
"Stop remembering, Miss Lorna." Shiller sighed and said: "Take it easy because we are about to discuss the origin of this fear."
"What origin?" Polaris looked a little pale. She said, "It's because of that autocratic monster, and his enormous power...""
To her surprise, Shiller shook his head and said,
"No, what you fear is not Magneto... You are afraid of mutants, and their overwhelming yet possibly uncontrollable powers."