Xavier sat across from Abigail. The sight of two people in students' garb would surely cause rumors. Hopefully the fact that they were a male and a female would stop the corporations from turning their greedy eye here.
Xavier tapped on the table between them. One of Hashim had gotten it recently in preparation for her visit. It was the bare minimum of furniture that he had refused to work without. The others had insisted that the bareness of the surrounding room; and indeed the house, which was no more than the one small room; was necessary for the proper aesthetic.
The cowards just didn't want to give him a comfortable chair or a bed, he was sure of it. Not that they needed a bed, with Anguis around, but it was still a statement. Regus enforced ostentation at the Academy, but he had agreed when Anguis had presented the stupid decision to him at Xavier's request. Communicating between the Fusions and the Primary minds was difficult, so he had needed the direct link of his own fusion to speak.
"Abigail Williams," Xavier said, his tone intentionally dark and low. It caused her to lean forward a bit, which would leave an imprint, however small, on her, despite the action being unconscious. Xavier was briefly tempted to point it out to her to see her reaction, but for now he needed to stay focused on the goal.
Xavier recited the rest of the information Toon had given him.
"Second-Tier ability user, basic but unreliable power output," he droned, doing his best to make it seem boring and mechanical. "Passed every assessment with a nearly perfect overall score."
Then he flashed a grin. Sharp and predatory, like an intelligent, malicious predator.
"But that's just your transcript," he continued in a much lighter tone. "I want to hear about you."
Abigail continued to stare at him. She was slightly confused, but not enough to shut her mouth. She was more concerned with how much he knew. He had called to her that first day as another part of his month of enjoying himself. He hadn't expected Jake to take control so suddenly from nowhere. That was it. There was no premeditated reason.
Hashim Kamal did not need another person to do their science for them. They were Hashim, after all.
What they needed was a pawn. Now, it was Xavier's job to start the process.
For most people, it wasn't difficult to find what they believed in. But that was just because most people only believed in themselves.
Abigail was different. She didn't have an agenda or a goal. She was legitimately struggling to lift her family up, or at least to make them proud.
Xavier could go the easy way. Set up an abstract or false threat that was taking hold of her parents, tell her that he was the only one with the answer.
But he wasn't going to do that. Let no one ever accuse Hashim Kamal of going forward on the path of least resistance. That was part of the reason, sure. But he wanted a challenge. Although Ardena was one, she had been absent recently. That made sense; after all, she was the general of the combined military forces of the continent, and her job was to search for and destroy monsters that made it past primary containment.
Xavier wanted someone to manipulate. Someone who he could press against who wouldn't break. He wanted a toy. If Hashim's plans proceeded under Regus's cause, he would likely get more eventually, but for now he settled for Abigail. Who, if presented with a simple ball and a basket, wouldn't get bored of just tossing the ball into the basket? Who wouldn't start to try more difficult throws? Who wouldn't go backwards, while jumping, while spinning, while running, while stepping back?
Certainly not Xavier. He was going to play with this.
"I went to—"
"I don't care," Xavier said abruptly, cutting her off before she could continue that path. "I want to know about you. I know your story. I know your background. But who are you?"
Abigail bit her lip, sinking slightly down. Her shoulders hunched, and her head drooped, though just slightly. It looked a bit like she was trying to fold herself in half.
Xavier reached out towards her, and he compressed the air under her chin, then released it, and then compressed it again to force her head up and hold it there.
For anyone else it would have been much more of a bother that they couldn't reach her. For Xavier, he could reach anyone.
Yes, it took more out of him than he would ever admit. Affecting another person was difficult, even indirectly like this. But their body was still buzzing on the high of Anguis's previously absorbed power, so he hardly felt it with such a little action.
Anguis had been the one to escort Abigail here, thus he had made the necessary gestures to make it seem like they were friends. Or more perhaps, to some viewers.
Xavier felt disgust from Hashim, but he ignored it.
"I-I want to do what's right," Abigail said, speaking with a surprising vigor and determination.
Xavier smiled.
"I'm sure you do," he said. "I'm sure you do."