"What are you wearing?"
A tiny voice called behind me. When I turned around, I saw a somewhat 10-year old brat. He was holding a toy car as he stared at the clothes that I'm wearing.
I looked at my clothes again. I'm wearing a long, gray robe with white hems on the sleeves. It was adorned by cloud patterns. It was a chángshān, commonly worn by the traditional Chinese people. Right. In the middle of the downtown, wearing a chángshān was indeed weird. I can roughly understand why people are still sending me glances from time to time.
"Hey, kid. What year is it? Where is this?" I look at the boy as I asked him.
"???" The boy showed a puzzled look after my question. It was only a little later that he processed what I asked and replied, "20XX. New York City."
After that, I roughly asked several questions more. I am still not sure whether I am in my first life's world or not. Because from what I remember, New York was more developed there than compared to here. And just as the boy said, the year now and the year I got transported have a difference of roughly 10 years. Meaning, this was the Earth 10 years before I'm transported. That was my first reason of thinking this is not the Earth I know.
Secondly, the boy asked me a question which clouded my mind even more.
"Are you a mutant too?" He asked while his eyes are sparkling.
"Mutant? What's that?" I asked back, as a new term appeared which is not in the Earth I once lived in.
"A mutant is a mutant, you know?" And the boy answered me so.
I guess a kid is still a kid. I expected too much from this 10-year old something kid. Either way, later on, I will make sure to research this world a bit more. I need to learn this world's difference with the Earth I know. I also needed to make sure to blend in the society faster so that I could avoid trouble. One thing I learned in my path of cultivation is that uncertainty spells trouble. A wrong step in cultivation can cause your life; a poor choice of the fight will also likely get you killed. For now, what I need most is the information I can use to my advantage while staying in this world. Especially on those 'mutants'.
I turned my back to the boy, prepared to leave.
"Hey, where did you come from!" he shouted, as he still can't take off his eyes at my clothes.
"Somewhere… far away" I replied while I took a side glance to him. Then, I waved my hand off and continued to walk away. My long, tied up black hair fluttered in the wind.
------------------------
I am currently standing in front of a TV shop.
In the televisions lined up beyond the glass wall, a woman in red clothes was being broadcasted. A strong, attractive woman in her early 30's. She wore rectangle-rimmed glasses. Her hair was also red, just like her clothes. Her chest was voluptuous. It was perfectly shaped, despite being restricted by her clothes.
On the screen, she appeared to be in a platform for a hearing. Around her were two rows of circular desks, occupied by people with white hairs and seemingly knowledgeable disposition. It was a Senate hearing room.
"At the beginning of another stage of human evolution, these mutations manifest at puberty and are often triggered by periods of heightened emotional stress." (The woman)
The woman said as she looks at the people around her. Her tone was dignified, eliciting a serious mood.
"Thank you, Ms. Grey. It was… quite educational." (???)
A man said, after hearing her speech. His voice showing not a bit intention of hiding the sarcasm within it. The woman, named Ms. Grey, heard it and she faintly closes her eyes and inhaled a light breath. On the desk of the man who spoke was a placard; written on it was his name, Senator Robert Kelly.
"However, it fails to address the issue that is the focus of this hearing. Three words." (Senator Kelly)
Senator Kelly continued his words, appealing to the people around him.
"Are. Mutants. Dangerous." (Senator Kelly)
The eyes of the people around focus on him as he said those words slowly.
"Considering it is the agenda of this committee to register mutants as though they were—" (Ms. Grey)
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
"It is the appointed task of this committee to present to the President a comprehensive report that he may best decide whether or not to pass a registration act. We are not here to study about mutants. We are merely here to assess their potential threat—if any—to national security." (Senator Kelly)
Ms. Grey was interrupted by Senator Kelly. His eyes showing a mysterious glint that was not there before.
"Ms. Grey, to what extent are these mutations actually a threat??"
Another senator joined the conversation, pressing Ms. Grey for an answer. She's a woman with locks of white hair. On her placard, it shows that her name was Lucinda Rowee.
Ms. Grey took a second to process the question and then answered.
"Some mutations manifest themselves as powers, but these are remote in the extreme. Most are merely physical alterations." (Ms. Grey)
"But are they dangerous?" (Senator Rowee)
The senator asked again with a tone of displeasure, not liking the fact that Ms. Grey was dodging it.
"A person driving behind the wheel of the car can be dangerous." (Ms. Grey)
"Well, we do license people to drive?" (Senator Rowee)
The senator replied with sarcasm, gaining a laugh from the crowd.
"But not to live." (Ms. Grey)
She replied with a tone of gravitas, silencing them at once.
Senator Kelly has been waiting for an opening like this and is ready. He raises a blown-up photograph: a grainy, super-zoomed, somewhat obscured image of a car on a freeway which appears to have 'melted'.
"This was taken by a traffic control video in Orange County. A man in a minor confrontation literally melted the car in front of him. I don't know where you come from, Ms. Grey, but where I come from; you don't go melting people's cars when they cut you off. You do it the old-fashioned way—you give 'em the finger. But what you presume to tell this committee—"(Senator Kelly)
"I presume nothing. I am here to tell you that in time, the mutator gene will activate in every living human being on this planet. Perhaps even your children, Senator." (Ms. Grey)
"I can assure you, there is no such creature in my genes." (Senator Kelly)
The senator replied full of seriousness, but hidden within it was ridicule. The room laughs. Senator Kelly mistakenly thinks it is for him until the double meaning occurs to him. He is momentarily embarrassed, but he quickly recovers.
"That was funny, I have to admit. You certainly seem to be amused, Ms. Grey." (Senator Kelly)
He continued.
"To be frank, Senator, I am tickled." (Ms. Grey)
She replied with a playful smile. The room laughs again, good-naturedly.
"I wonder how tickled this committee would be to learn about your associate Professor Xavier." (Senator Kelly)
Ms. Grey reacts to his words. Her face showing surprise that was not there before. She seemed flustered to hear these words from him.
"Or about his so-called 'school for the gifted'. Come now, Ms. Grey. As you are so open to disclosure, share with the people here the purpose of this school." (Senator Kelly)
Ms. Grey quickly collects herself, she replied,
"There is indeed a... a school specifically designed—"(Ms. Grey)
"For mutants. Is that not correct, Ms. Grey?" (Senator Kelly)
The Senator now gestures to the monitor which now displays a massive estate mansion behind a high iron gate. Mutters of confusion were heard from the crowd. Ms. Grey looks down, not meeting his gaze.
"In fact, a school whose student body is almost entirely these so-called 'remote cases'. 'Remote in the extreme', I believe you said. So remote, the location and purpose of this school were, until this very moment, unknown to the American people." (Senator Kelly)
The confusion of the crowd is finding focus. And the focus is Ms. Grey.
"That was simply for the protection of the students who—"(Ms. Grey)
She replied a bit hurriedly but was interrupted.
"Who what? Who what, Ms. Grey? Who melts metal with their minds, perhaps control human thought? A girl who can walk through walls? What goes on in that school that no normal person has been allowed to set foot inside? Who is this Professor Xavier and what exactly is he preparing these mutants for?" (Senator Kelly)
"Professor Xavier is without question the finest—"(Ms. Grey)
She tried to defend, but,
"Answer the question, Ms. Grey. What goes on in that school?" (Senator Kelly)
He presses her even harder.
"Education. Enlightenment." (Ms. Grey)
A weak reply.
"Enlightenment indeed, well, I'll put this to you, Ms. Grey. I am thinking that this Professor Xavier is an extremist. Nothing more than a Michigan Militia-man with a degree and some very 'extreme' parlor tricks. Tricks he does not yet want the world to see." (Senator Kelly)
Now the crowd has chosen its side, and Ms. Grey is not on it.
"There are some things the world is not ready to—"(Ms. Grey)
She was losing her grounds. She started another sentence only to be interrupted again by the Senator.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press. Members of the committee. I put it to you that any mutant left alone may indeed be harmless to our national security. But if history has taught us anything—power unchecked is power to be corrupted. Unless we begin immediately to take action against the efforts of people like Ms. Grey and this... this Professor Xavier, a minority of a few thousand may very well be organized against a population of millions—totally unprepared for whatever unearthly perversions await them." (Senator Kelly)
Not giving Ms. Grey a chance to reply, he said,
"They are very real. They are among us. We must know who they are. And above all, we must know what they can do!" (Senator Kelly)
The crowd reacts loudly in support of the Senator's preach. Some cheer, some roar, some yell obscenities at Ms. Grey.
Below the screen, there is a phrase of words that says 'Mutant Registration Act'.
------------------------
From the broadcast I just watched, it seemed that this world is indeed not the previous Earth I resided in.
Firstly, this world has humans with supernatural abilities, called 'mutants'. This is definitely not on the Earth I know. It is also different from the world of cultivation I've experienced, in which this world closely resembles Earth but has some elements that are not in it. The 'mutants', who are said to have manifested some abilities, seems to be oppressed and deemed as a dangerous existence here.
It seemed that in this world, I would have to live carefully and peacefully away from these mutants.
But, at that moment, I was shocked to notice a white phosphorous light faintly flowing in the air. I thought it was merely an illusion, but as I observed it, I saw it landing on my shoulder and was absorbed in my body.
Then, it struck me.
I can continue to cultivate it this world.