"How rare is the X-gene?"
Callisto almost flashed out her knives at the genuine smile and, dare she say, joyous glint in his eyes that blossomed the moment he heard her question.
But this was better. She was used to dealing with freaks. She led a group of freaks. This was home territory.
"Now now, before we scale unnecessary tangents, what do you mean? Are you asking from a purely statistical—"
Callisto was not having any of those fancy words so she cut him off and bluntly spelled it out. "Can you buy an X-gene if someone is willing to sell theirs?"
Sunder had stiffened behind Callisto, posture straight and eyes wide, as he heard the ludicrous question Callisto just asked, but more than that was that they both were looking at the owner and waiting for his answer.
"If they are willing to sell theirs, then yes." Callisto did not react at the admittance frankly because she didn't know whether to believe him or not. 'If it's true, then it's not just magic. He's probably a demon.' She thought as she listened to what he had to say.
"It's a bit hard to valuate, but it's not impossible. The price fluctuates widely, especially in a world like this. The strength, application, versatility, nature, potential, defects and drawbacks of the particular X-gene are all taken into consideration and they affect the price greatly, decreasing the worth of what it would normally be, currency-wise at least."
She got the gist of it and that was what almost threatened a frown to her face. 'Defects and drawbacks', that was the word that easily describes the majority of the Morlocks. It was like they collectively picked the short stick of the evolution draft.
Most of the ones that had good mutations also possessed one or two physical defects. Herself, Mikhail, Annalee and a sparse few were the only ones who looked completely human. Even Sunder behind her did not look aesthetically natural.
"So you're saying they're duds."
Isaac shook his head. "Not all of them. Unfortunately, most of the X-gene provide physical alterations that aren't exactly aesthetically accepted and the abilities that come from them are barely a positive over the defects."
Isaac scratched his head since he knew that they wouldn't fully understand. This was one of the complications of an adaptive foreign exchange system. He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and tapped his chin in contemplation. The motion stopped when he threw a glance towards Sunder and snapped his fingers.
Before that, he turned towards Callisto. "Do you want me to explain it further?"
"Yes." The word was so dry that it sounded like 'obviously, idiot', and her cold stare wasn't helping with the atmosphere.
"This young man is with you, right?" She nods once again. If him calling a man who looked to be the same age as him a young man sounded weird then either they didn't hear it or they didn't care.
"I can tell he's a mutant," neither Callisto or Sunder reacted to that, "so for example if we were going to sell his mutant genes– do you mind taking the cloth off, sir?"
Sunder looked at Callisto and only when she nodded did he peel off the bandana. He looked relatively human but his pale brown skin tone hinted at a suspicion, and the slight deformity in his face hinted at another.
"Forgive me for asking but what can you do?"
Callisto raised a hand to stop Sunder from answering and narrowed her eyes at Isaac. "Can't you tell?"
"No, I can't. I'll have to appraise him for me to know, and that requires physical contact."
She hummed, face still set in a cold stoic expression. "Increased physical attributes."
Isaac nodded. He was well familiar with these kinds of customers. Their impassive mask was one of the toughest things to break and it was it's own reward as they mostly turn out to be great customers once they get impressed.
"Now this young man here, his mutation has a tiny amount of physical alteration and the flip side of that is that he can punch above his weight class. If he was to sell his mutation, I'll net it anywhere between 10 – 15 million. A deeper appraisal will be needed to solidify that estimate. It might drop or it might go up, I won't know until the appraisal."
Isaac could see that the both of them were completely hooked, but still Callisto remained one tough cookie to crack.
"What will happen to someone if they sell their X-gene?"
"They'll be permanently reverted back to being human. No trace of the X-gene will be left in their system, and with it will be gone every change that came with it."
She drew in a breath as she saw in front of her the answer to all their problems, but like everything else, complications came with it.
They could sell the mutations of the children that weren't particularly useful and downright debilitating, but that would also mean selling a part of their identity that has always been with them, especially for the children.
It was like trying to tell a human to sell off one of their hands because having two was a defect and having one was natural.
Her eyes grew cold. Hot shit. They'll sell off the stupid things for pennies if that's all they're worth. She'd force them if they have to.
The greater the deformity, the lower the price – she knew that. She had her own pride as a mutant and she wouldn't be anything else if she had the choice to choose, but she also wasn't stupid.
What was the point of having a mosquito's head and body parts and enjoying bad food and yet couldn't even fly with the membrane wings because it was too weak to support the body?
This was it. Not that idiotic marathon Mikhail was running. This is how a leader provides solutions.
And the good part, this was still one part of it. The most important thing was the second one.
"So you'll buy the mutations if we bring them." She asked and he nodded. "Does that mean that you also sell powers in a bottle?"
Isaac chuckled. "Not necessarily in a bottle, but the sentiment is spot on."
"… other X-gene?"
"Not exactly." He started tapping on the table as if highlighting the options of a list. "We've got plain old magic, exotic fruits, sentient swords, leaf-approved books, organ transplant, deals with beings who should not be named, life aura, spirit aura, body aura, body cultivation, cursed weapons, holy weapons, demonic weapons, something in-between, questionable ghost fluids etc. I've got a lot of options so you just have to find the one that fits into your budget."
Safe to say, Callisto was hooked, Isaac was certain. She might be trying to keep her expression dead but Isaac had done this tangle a thousand thousand times. His sales pitch is not an advertisement. It is a confirmation. Every wild hope and greedy ambition Callisto had, he just gave her a ticket to the auction.
"Is this a joke?" Her eyes were now severe and threatening and Sunder behind her hummed with violent anticipation.
Denial. Trying to save themselves from disappointment when the door is wide open before them.
"Now now, miss, I'd like to ask you to refrain from any notions of violence. We don't tolerate it here." Isaac said, barely a strain of the former joviality still in his words.
The ring of light in his eyes arrested any stubborn thought of escalating from Callisto's mind, because even now her sense of danger refused to tell her anything.
"No fight." She found herself saying and glared over her shoulder at Sunder who was wearing violence over his large coat. They were in the same boat, it seems. They were about to lash out at something they could scarcely believe because of how unbelievable everything was.
"Good." The way he said it was as if he was pleased that she wasn't as stupid as he feared. "Now miss, what is it you want? I can't promise you that the X-genes will be as profitable as advertised though."
It was the simple truth. No one would part with their X-gene if they won the biological lottery. The only people who would want to give up being mutants are those that were afraid of being found out and those that failed the evolution check and came out with either useless abilities, physical deformities, or with both of them.
Callisto would never part with hers for any amount, except if she was getting a stronger ability.
But now wasn't the time for that. As the leader of the Morlocks, now was the time to act and to act decisively.
There was no doubt in her mind as for whose ability was to be traded first. It wasn't even a question.
"When do you close shop?" She asked as a rare feeling of urgency came over her.
Isaac deadpanned at her question. "Miss, your people have been watching me for a week now. Surely you know when I close up."
She looked completely unruffled despite him saying he knew about her spying and turned around to leave, Sunder trailing behind her, with some parting word of choice.
"I'll be back in 30 minutes."
She stepped outside and took in a deep breath as her muted senses were no longer clogged up.
A phone call to Mikhail made him ready on standby to open a gate to the tunnels as soon as they returned to the alleyway.
"You're tense, Atamansha. It went well, da?"
"About as much." Was her curt response. "Masque, get over here."
Frowns crept up a few faces as the deformed hooded figure wobbled over to Callisto. A few shoulders tensed, having never forgotten their history with the particularly bitter man. If not for the arrival of Mikhail and him challenging Callisto for a change in leadership, that vile tradition would still be happening.
"Callisto..." the voice from under the hood came out with a rasp and a gurgle.
"Be thankful, you can now finally support the rest in a more helpful way. You'll be coming with me." Masque looked confused and intimidated which, since that faithful day, was his new response anytime Callisto called him.
"What the hell are the rest of you doing here? Scram!" The little group around her instantly dissolved and left her with Mikhail, Sunder and Masque.
"Use your words, Callisto. What is going on?"
The underlying meaning behind his words made Callisto snort in disdain. "Please. If I wanted to kill him to get rid of him, I would have done it in the middle of camp. He'll be back. He just needs to make a… commitment."
She scoffed. How stupid would one have to be to care about the life of someone who tried to kill them. The same sentiment she had when she first fought Mikhail never changed. His powers were wasted on him.
"Just be on standby in case we have to return early." She said as she crossed the rift over to the empty alley.
"That doesn't reassure me." The soft giant said with a frown with crossed arms on the other side.
"Good. It means I'm doing it my way." She walked away, a completely covered up and anxious Masque and Sunder trailing after her.
"Da. That's why I'm not reassured, sumasshedshaya." The rift closed as he muttered to himself.
Down the street, an overly anxious and jittery Masque walked alongside Callisto with fearful steps. It has been forever since he came up to the surface, over a decade, and his stigma still remained on his face.
He licked his lips nervously and opened his mouth to speak cautiously. "Erm, Callisto—"
"Masque," she suddenly started, cutting him off, "I've known you the longest out of everyone in the camp and I know that I've asked you this question before but I'll ask again: what will you give up to look normal again?"
She held his stare, not allowing him to look left or right and silently pressured him to answer she knew he would give.
Masque looked at her and bit his lips. That question caused a bitter feeling to bubble up in his chest.
"Anything…" he said through clattering teeth and a bile of rage. "I will give anything—"
"Even your mutation?" She sharply cut him off again, dead frigid eyes boring straight into him. She already knew the likely answer he would give but that didn't stop her from pressuring him into it.
"This damned thing caused everything."
She almost smiled as the ball dropped where she wanted it to. Because she knew that despite the thrill of power he got when he used his powers on others, never for a second did Masque hate anyone other than himself.
"Come." She pushed open the door and made her way to the counter with both men marching along.
Isaac smiled at their arrival and put aside the crossword puzzle he was battling with. "That was fast. Welcome," he added the last part as he turned towards the hooded Masque.
"Are you up for it?" He asked and adjusted his rolled up sleeves.
"Yes." She grabbed Masque and pushed him forward. "He'll be the one to do it."
Isaac shrugged and regarded a thoroughly confused Masque whose head whipped to Callisto in shock, disbelief, horror and the staple confusion. She only gave him a look and he turned his head back to Isaac.
"In case you haven't been told, I'm going to be appraising your X-gene, and while an understanding has been reached between the lady and I, the decision to sell your X-gene or not is wholly yours to make. If you want me to go ahead then I'll need your hand to begin."
Masque was still in a fugue state when his hand reached over the counter. He flinched for a moment when Isaac held his hand, absolutely stupefied as if never having expected someone to willingly touch him, and remained rooted in place when the normal brown eyes lit up in a silver ring.
"Well, now what do we have here?" He heard the shopkeeper mutter to himself. "Now this is something I can work with."
The appraisal took less than 30 seconds but it was 30 seconds where Masque had absolutely no idea of what was happening. In fact, he was so lost that he couldn't even remember how he arrived here, whatever this place was, at all.
Isaac released his hands and he instinctively drew it back as if it was bit by a snake and hid it in the sleeves of his robe. Isaac chuckled at the reaction and scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Masque, who stared dumbly at it until Sunder nudged him to take it.
"The quotation of your X-gene. If you have any questions, please ask."
The floor Morlock was slowly getting out of his fugue state when he received the paper and looked at it, read it once, read it twice, and his fugue came back as he stared dazedly at it.
—Masque's Biological Alteration(Physical Transformation): The X-gene of a mutant with the ability to reshape and alter the flesh of living beings with a touch. Congratulations, you have the high table as a plastic surgeon.
Unfortunately, as this is only the X-gene, Masque's experience with it is not part of the package, hence, it is left to lucky you to unearth the potential this gene carries. (High chance it comes with physical deformity)
Reading the summary of his ability was a jaded experience, all things considered. He didn't really feel anything about it. What locked his tongue in a twist was what was under the description.
Price: $14,700,000.
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A/N: In case anyone is wondering, just in case, why the price of the base of Masque's ability would be higher than the price of the basic Ancient One's curse, I chalked it up to the different utility.
The Ancient One's curse, even in its lowest basic form as a demonic contract, comes with the caveat of eternal damnation. An eternity of suffering for a few decades or centuries of power. And not everyone would gain Dormammu's favor or interest for him to increase their power.
As for Masque, the utility is entirely different, and while it also comes with physical deformity(which also slashed the price), just imagine what it could be in the hands of someone like Black Widow or any assassin.
Also instant and perfect plastic surgery. Yeah, that alone explains the price. The original would have been in the 20 mil range if not for the drawback, which can be nullified if you grow it to the extent to make it affect yourself.
Also there is the market to consider. Since he's in the Marvel-verse, the market for X-gene is highly favorable towards the abilities of people like Sunspot, Storm, Charles, Scott, Magneto, Darwin etc. Most people won't and simply don't care about Masque's because the market doesn't favor it.
Now if we were to sell the same ability in a verse like Naruto for example, then yeah, the price would skyrocket. (Especially when you can create perfect clones with little cost and high enough mastery)
Hope that clears it(in case anyone was wondering).
See you next chapter.
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