After a phone call to the Department of Defense and a friendly exchange with the Secretary, William had to face an awkward reality.
He had lost his funding!
The Department of Defense currently had a limited budget and deemed William's experimental project meaningless, so they decided to consider whether to continue providing funds only after a new round of appraisal.
During the conversation, the Secretary mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally, that the operational efficiency of the people at Sentinel Services was very satisfactory, and thus they decided to increase investment there.
Hearing this, how could William not know the reason?
"Damn it, what a bunch of unprincipled, unscrupulous scoundrels!" William cursed angrily.
"Aaron's Group... Aaron!"
"Do you think you can manipulate me like this?"
"I will absolutely never compromise with any Mutant, never!"
If it were anything else, William might have considered it carefully.
But now, Aaron had displayed extraordinary abilities and was closely associated with a Mutant, making it highly probable that he was another Mutant.
How could William accept handing over his research to a Mutant?
This was aiding the enemy.
This was handing over leverage to the opponent.
He absolutely would not allow it.
"Bring that devil up. It's time for him to fulfill his final value."
On the other side.
After Jean saw the images and data sent by Aaron, she immediately sent the data to Charles.
After understanding Trask's research situation, Charles quickly convened the X-Men to discuss countermeasures.
When Aaron finished clocking out and returned, he found Jean sitting alone in the living room. She looked dazed and emotionally subdued.
"Jean, are you worried about the Sentinel program?"
Seeing Aaron approach, Jean slowly lifted her head and asked confusedly, "Do Mutants still have a future?"
"Why can't this world tolerate the existence of Mutants?"
"We didn't intend to do anything. We just wanted to coexist harmoniously with ordinary people."
Aaron walked over and sat down beside Jean, faintly sensing a certain power within her stirring restlessly. A hint of red even appeared in Jean's eyes.
Dark Phoenix was starting to become impatient. This was when Jean's emotions were most unstable, providing Dark Phoenix with a rare opportunity to influence the outside world.
Aaron placed his hand on Jean's shoulder. The latter did not reject this intimate contact at the moment. She was completely immersed in her own world.
"Of course Mutants have a future. There are actually many ways to change your situation."
Hearing this, Jean looked up. "What are the ways?"
While continuing to smelt the power of Dark Phoenix, Aaron said casually, "The current situation of Mutants also has something to do with yourselves."
"The number of Mutants is considerable, but you haven't united all the forces that can be united."
"Whether it's high officials and politicians, ordinary civilians, or even Mutants yourselves."
"As far as I know, the current Mutant forces are only the Brotherhood of Mutants and your Xavier School."
"Yet, even combined, your total number is only a few hundred people at most."
"More Mutants are still scattered elsewhere, either enduring strange looks from others or trying their best to hide themselves."
"And these few hundred of you are split into two factions. If you can't even help your fellow Mutants when they are persecuted by others, how can you make your own voices heard?"
Jean refuted, "But Professor said that if we gather too many Mutants, it will cause panic among the authorities, which will only make things more difficult."
Aaron scoffed, "Why do you think that? With Charles' ability, couldn't he gather Mutants without anyone knowing?"
"There are at least hundreds of thousands of Mutants worldwide."
"If you don't unite this force and remain scattered like loose sand, how can you make others fear you?"
Jean was stunned.
Thinking carefully, Charles really could do that.
With the Brainwave Amplifier, Charles's telepathy could spread across the entire world in a very short time.
But...
Jean hesitated. "Professor said that making others fear us is not a good way to solve the problem. That would only make it easier for the high-level authorities to decide on a full-scale annihilation of Mutants."
Aaron shook his head, speechless. "Professor said, Professor said... is everything he says correct?"
Aaron looked seriously into Jean's eyes, which resembled red gems. "Do you think presenting yourselves as completely harmless will earn you goodwill and sympathy from others?"
"And make them show mercy?"
Aaron sneered, "Even kindergarten children know that peace is not begged for on your knees, it is fought for."
"This has been true from ancient times until now, without exception."
"Unless..."
"Unless what?" Jean pressed.
"Unless you Mutants are willing to become the knives in others' hands, become their weapons, completely lose your freedom, and accept the domination of others."
Speaking of this, Aaron said playfully, "Like a pet dog, you must fawn over them, constantly endure their exploitation and unreasonable demands, and no matter how they treat you, you must actively rush forward and fiercely lick their legs."
"Handing your life completely over to the opponent, with your fate entirely dictated by others."
Jean felt quite uncomfortable with this description, knitting her eyebrows slightly.
"Does that sound disgusting and cruel? But that is the reality."
"Look at the relationship between countries, isn't it exactly like this?"
"If you are useful, and you are willing to kneel, sacrifice yourself to fulfill the opponent's needs, and lack the strength to threaten their status, then you can achieve a certain degree of peace, occasionally even receiving some scraps."
"The other option is to possess powerful strength and the ability to threaten the opponent. In that case, the opponent will suppress you, but they won't dare to act easily because they cannot afford the cost of starting a fight."
"Which one do you think Mutants are right now?"
Jean pondered carefully.
She shook her head. "Neither."
She paused. "It's more like a combination of the two."
Aaron nodded. "The Mutant problem is very complex. You clearly have the strength to be the second option, but you lack the corresponding courage."
"You want to choose the first option, yet you are too powerful for the opponent to trust, and you refuse to give up your dignity and freedom."
"No one is willing to accept the surrender of a group of people who are stronger than them, who could threaten them at any time, but who are neither submissive nor loyal enough."
Jean opened her mouth, unsure what to say for a moment.
What could she say?
Should she tell Charles and Magneto to die for the future of Mutants?
And then have her compatriots send their necks to the execution block, their lives dependent on the whim of others?
Neither was realistic.
For the first time, Jean began to question the correctness of Charles's path.
Just as Aaron said, no one wants subordinates who are stronger than them and possess their own ideas and ambitions.
What they wanted were obedient weapons, not double-edged swords or weapons that could rebel and harm them at any moment.
A human's heart is complex.
Jean had studied some psychology. She had simply deliberately ignored this point in the past, or rather, was unable to accept the cruel reality.
However, after Aaron peeled back the cruel facts for her one by one, Jean had to admit that Mutants seemed to be heading down a dead end.