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Cassandra asked again, "What if you use this footage to formally lodge a complaint against the U.S. military? Would that work? Don't you have a pretty good relationship with someone?"
Henry thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"Leaving aside whether that young master would be willing to get involved, even if Tony Stark stepped in to handle this matter, the military could still smooth things over and muddle through it.
"From an outsider's perspective, I simply suffered some kind of unexplained medical episode and collapsed. There's nothing in the footage that shows a mutant using their abilities. It can't possibly serve as justification for me to go all-out against them.
"Even though the footage has been restored, we can't claim that the interference and static in the original footage at a particular point were proof that a mutant ability was being used. There's simply no strong connection between the two.
"Besides, this footage was obtained through illegal surveillance, so its admissibility would be legally questionable. There's no way I could resolve this through the legal system.
"And given the other side's identity, all of this is practically forcing me to settle the matter privately."
"Mind control..." Gilgamesh frowned.
"Henry, is that why even you were caught? Is there no way to defend against it?"
"His ability is unusual. He creates a fake world, then uses events within that world to guide the person who's been caught into doing whatever he wants them to do. If my personality hadn't been so stubborn, I might actually have submitted to his ability."
"What did they want you to do?" Cassandra caught the crucial point. "Do you know?"
"Assassinate the President of the United States."
...
None of the people present were secluded hermits who knew nothing about the outside world. They understood perfectly well the weight carried by the words President of the United States.
Cassandra looked stunned.
"Are you serious? What does he gain from that?"
Henry shouted toward the air,
"C, display the X Weapon Program files."
The large screen immediately filled with dense photographs and scans of paper documents. Judging from the yellowing of the pages, the files were quite old.
Cassandra and the two other Eternal powerhouses had been staying in the secret base long enough to be familiar with this method of operation.
They casually looked through the material, only to find records filled with cruelty and nauseating experiments.
Henry continued,
"These are documents I obtained from the Brotherhood of Mutants. But they're only the early records, not the recent ones. The earliest dates back to the Vietnam War, when William Stryker was one of the officers involved in carrying out the program.
"It's reasonable to suspect that the program is still operating to this day. William Stryker may very well be one of its leaders—or at the very least, one of its key operatives.
"From the contents of the program, you should be able to tell that this isn't some ordinary program that could ever be openly discussed. Their inhumane research methods and results make it clear that they don't regard mutants as human beings.
"They don't merely treat them as objects. They treat them as disposable consumables.
"Considering the U.S. government's recent attitude, the pressure being placed on mutants has eased somewhat because the government needs to focus on combating terrorists hiding in the Middle East.
"Perhaps the people supporting the X Weapon Program want the United States to continue clashing with mutants. That would give them a legitimate excuse to strip mutants of their human rights and weaponize them.
"Looks like this unlucky bastard was simply a disposable pawn they selected to manufacture a conflict. I don't believe they'd be kind enough to prepare an escape route for me after everything was over.
"They might even have my method of death planned out already."
Strictly speaking, a single old program document, no matter how horrifying its contents, wasn't enough to support Henry's deductions.
Much of what he had said was speculation.
Nevertheless, there was certainly a degree of logic to it, and Henry's explanation was quite convincing.
Cassandra turned back toward the surveillance footage. She had noticed even more details.
In particular, the identification software had confirmed that the mutant named Jason Stryker was the man sitting in the wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and displaying an almost vacant, dazed expression.
That raised some questions.
"Is he naturally like this, or was he made this way?"
Henry looked up and realized what Cassandra was asking before answering.
"Jason Stryker used to be a student at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. I've visited that school. The only person there who used a wheelchair was Professor X.
"The other children all had perfectly healthy limbs."
"Isn't this Jason Stryker the son of Colonel William Stryker?" Cassandra asked in surprise. "Did he weaponize his own child as well?"
Henry spread his hands.
"Of course I don't know what he was thinking. All I can do is make a bold hypothesis based on the limited evidence available.
"But one thing is certain: he wanted to screw with me, and he almost succeeded."
"So you're planning to get even?" Gilgamesh asked.
Henry answered decisively,
"No. They have to die.
"Whether Jason Stryker is merely a tool or an accomplice, I've already sentenced this father and son to death.
"They picked a fight with me. The fact that they ultimately failed doesn't give me a reason to let them off."
He glanced at the others and added,
"This is a personal grudge. I'm not asking you to help me, but please don't stop me either.
"He was able to disregard my wishes and use me as a disposable pawn. That means he could try again. And then a third time.
"Obviously, these aren't people who can be persuaded simply by reasoning with them. So I never intended to sit down peacefully with them and ask them to stop causing me trouble.
"Death is the only outcome for them.
"And it's the only way I can feel safe.
"There will be no room for negotiation."
For Cassandra, this was motivated by a desire to protect Henry. She didn't want him to start indiscriminately killing people.
Once someone crossed certain lines, it wasn't always easy to come back.
"Perhaps your assumption was wrong from the very beginning," Cassandra said.
"If their objective isn't actually to make you assassinate the President of the United States, then aren't you overreacting and falling directly into their trap?"
There was some truth to what the Spartan warrior was saying.
If Henry hadn't possessed his memories from before transmigrating—making him something of a pseudo-prophet—he might indeed have needed to reconsider whether he was overreacting.
Henry could tell the difference between someone simply being contrary and someone genuinely trying to protect him.
So faced with Cassandra's good intentions, he could only come up with a compromise rather than stubbornly insisting on his own conclusion.
"I don't deny that most of what I just said is speculation.
"But if these people really are thinking the way I suspect, and their goal is to destroy the relationship between mutants and the U.S. government, then I'm certain I'm not their only potential target.
"So there's a very simple way to determine whether my guess is right or wrong.
"We wait.
"When news breaks that a mutant has attacked the President of the United States, we'll know."
The other three were taken aback by Henry's answer.
"Don't you want to stop it?"
"Why would I?"
Henry's counterquestion left Cassandra momentarily stunned.
She thought for a moment before finding what seemed like a reasonable answer.
"Well... to prevent the U.S. government from falling out with the mutants and making your situation even more difficult?"
"I don't give a damn about something that minor.
"I just want to kill the Stryker father and son.
"Right now, I don't know where they are, so I have to wait for them to expose themselves anyway.
"I don't mind waiting.
"Or rather, this was part of my plan from the beginning."
The bluntness of Henry's statement left the other three speechless for a moment.
"Looks like that William Stryker really pissed you off," Cassandra finally said. "And he pissed you off badly."
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