[2009 – October]
Inwardly frowning, Emma found herself realizing that she was most likely facing the end of the alliance.
As Erik had said, the results of their combined efforts over the years ranged from negligible to non-existent as the authorities had not done anything to help mutantkind integrate better with the rest of the population.
There had been no announcements that could be understood as a promise for coexistence, or even a single public denouncement of the ongoing discrimination, instead, they were still going forward with their secret experiments on mutants and trying to find more effective weaponry against the broader masses of their race.
The fact that they were not prosecuting mutantkind publically on a large scale was just not enough anymore for Erik and his Brotherhood to stay their hand, even if it was enough for Charles, who was willing to compromise once again.
With the threat of the 'vaccine' now appearing, a clear disunity appeared in their alliance and Emma knew that it was highly unlikely that their cooperation would continue from now onwards, especially since Charles was even willing to fight Erik to protect those that sought to invent a bio-chemical weapon against them.
This though would inevitably cause mutantkind's position to become even more unstable and the current status quo was sure to be broken. And with possible infighting, their prospects were indeed bleak.
But even if she wanted to do something about this, Emma could not see a way for her to change the situation as her own power and influence were limited, even including the Hellfire Club's resources.
She couldn't fight the government by herself and face all the different organizations and entities that had an interest in seeing mutantkind fall. And even if she could, there was no benefit to doing so.
For her, the decision between war and continued compromises was not a question that deserved an answer as neither promised a future for mutantkind that seemed positive.
Her own thoughts about the 'vaccine' were naturally that they had to find a way to stop it but not through open conflict as the price to pay for this was too steep in any case.
She wasn't too worried about her own safety in case of a conflict as she was sure that she could protect herself, not to mention that Elijah was an invincible protector. But Frost Enterprises had many contracts with the military and she didn't doubt for a moment that they would all be voided in case a conflict broke out. The same was true for the Academy, which would most likely suffer in some manner.
Even if her identity as a mutant was not knowledge that most of the world was privy to, there existed those that knew about her, and she was sure that they would take this chance to harm her power base and business if it came to a war between the races.
It was a situation that had no quick solution but Erik seemed unwilling to be patient any longer.
Her information on Trask Industries also made her aware that any kind of subterfuge or silent infiltration was almost impossible, even for mutants. This company specialized in finding the weakness of mutants, so they naturally had various defenses against their kind.
As such, Emma realized that the best option for her would be to step back from this matter for the time being and consolidate her forces and make preparations for Frost Enterprises and her other businesses to stay largely unaffected by any possible conflict.
It wasn't an impossible thought as she could use the Club's influence to ensure that, even if there would be a price to pay for such a move.
In that same sense though, she would have to distance herself from mutantkind as a whole and take up a neutral position, which she wasn't quite willing to do.
As a possible leader of the mutant race, the influence and authority that she would have to give up by staying neutral was not something that could be regained in a short period of time, or maybe at all for that matter.
Still, she was the White Queen. She understood when to be decisive and cut her losses, her rational mind able to see clearly what needed to be done.
She also wasn't too surprised by this outcome as she had guessed that this would happen and she had also told Elijah about the most likely outcome of the meeting.
After all, Emma prided herself in manipulation and subterfuge so she naturally was gifted in predicting how others might react based on their personality and the overall circumstances.
Therefore, she was sure that Charles would never consider assaulting the facilities of Trask Enterprises while Erik would likewise not consider a compromise. Knowing this, it wasn't too hard to guess that the alliance of the three of them would come to an untimely end.
The only thing that she was unsure about was Elijah's reaction as he had told her that he had not yet decided if he should intervene in this matter at all, but if so, to what degree.
A part of her naturally wanted to ask him to aid them but she didn't really want to force him into doing something that went against his own intentions and believes.
Eventually, facing Erik's stare, Emma's expression didn't change as she just remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him.
She wasn't worried that Erik might threaten her and force her to join his camp due to her own forces being much weaker than his. Her identity as the White Queen and her being a mature Omega-level psychic was enough to deter him.
Not to mention that he was not suicidal enough to knowingly provoke Elijah, who would not let her suffer at the hands of the older mutant.
In the end, she had the capital to remain neutral, so that was what she did, knowing that the path forward from now on, was one that had to be treaded carefully.
…
Seeing the younger blonde remain silent, Erik couldn't help but frown.
He had hoped that Emma would side with him since she obviously understood that they couldn't allow humanity to get their hands on this 'vaccine', which meant that they had to act before they finished their research.
But as always, Emma's intentions were unclear and her thoughts circled around her personal gains more than they did on the collective good of mutantkind. At least in that aspect, Charles was far ahead in comparison to the younger woman, even though his naivety often blinded him too much to act.
His old friend's love for humanity was still not exhausted, even after decades of discrimination and an uncountable number of crimes of hate. Even Erik had lost count of the times that Charles' school had been attacked by some kind of terrorist group or secret military unit.
But nothing seemed to be able to change the old telepath's mind, so at this point, Erik had mostly given up on trying to find some kind of common ground that allowed them to work together for the mutant race.
He could no longer be patient and watch as his own kind was slaughtered just for existing.
Emma, on the other hand, seemed callous enough to watch her own kind die if it benefitted her as her heart truly appeared to be made out of ice. Part of him respected her ability to act with such cold-hearted rationality though, even if he also disdained her for not standing with her own kind.
Erik though also knew that even just the intelligence that she might be able to gather as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club was invaluable for the task at hand.
Trask Industries knew that they had made themselves a target for mutants with their research, so all their facilities were not only strictly guarded and fitted with anti-mutant weaponry, but the scientist inside were also isolated from the outside world, which meant that even finding the base where they conducted their research on the 'vaccine' was a mountainous task.
They had also made sure that the building structures of most bases protected those inside from telepathic assaults through technological interference. Not to mention the many other arrangements and precautions that had been taken to prevent infiltration.
And while he was sure that the Brotherhood would find the right facility sooner or later, and take it down, Erik knew that time was not on their side.
Still, as powerful as Emma was and as much influence as she had, it was really the young man that stood behind her that Erik hoped to force into action.
He had seen the recordings of what Elijah could do and he knew that with power such as that, humanity could only bow their heads before the mutant race. Naturally, that was only the case if the young man decided to act and not remain neutral like his older sister.
Looking at Elijah, the young man's shadowed eyes calm and indifferent, Erik addressed him: "I once invited you to stand by our side and fight to bring about a lasting change. Now that our survival is threatened by this 'vaccine', I want to invite you once again to fight side by side with your own kind, Elijah."