Marvel: A Lazy-Ass Superman

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Of course, Henry had no intention of burying himself in research without explaining anything.

Doing work while refusing to tell anyone what you were actually doing was exactly the kind of collaborator he disliked most. The sort who kept everything secret and then blamed others for ”not cooperating” when something went wrong.

Since he hated that type of person, he had no intention of becoming one himself.

However, to avoid answering the same questions over and over again, Black Superman—in disguise—asked Magneto to gather anyone he felt needed to hear the explanation or might be interested in it, so that he could explain everything at once.

The preparation work alone took Henry two or three nights.

He even specifically chose a day when, after finishing dinner at Katharine Hepburn’s home, he changed into disguise and headed to the Brotherhood of Mutants’ secret base.

For routine research, arriving in the middle of the night was fine.

But if he was going to explain his research goals and methodology, there was no point forcing everyone to stay up until dawn listening to him.

The real reason, however, was that Black Superman suspected very few people would have the patience to listen in the first place.

Rather than making everyone sit there irritated while he lectured them on material that sounded like incomprehensible gibberish, it was better to schedule the talk during the hours when they would normally be hanging around bars.

Anyone who wasn’t interested could simply go drinking.

That way, he attracted fewer complaints.

One mutant had smoothed an entire stone wall at the meeting location until it resembled polished glass.

It worked perfectly as a projection screen, eliminating the need to prepare one.

Looking at the speed and quality of the work, Henry couldn’t help privately remarking to Magneto:

”Have you really never thought about using mutant abilities to improve productivity? Polishing a rock surface this smooth isn’t something an ordinary person could do.”

As the administrator of Genosha, Magneto naturally understood how important productivity was to the survival and prosperity of any society.

Yet he replied helplessly:

”You should understand that what people want to do and what they’re capable of doing aren’t necessarily the same thing.

”If I assign jobs based solely on what someone’s mutant ability is best suited for, then I’m violating their freedom of choice.

”And if certain responsibilities become concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, society becomes dependent on them. Looking at things from a broader perspective, that’s dangerous.

”What happens if that individual is suddenly gone? Does the entire system stop functioning?

”From the individual’s perspective, it can breed arrogance.

”Or the workload becomes too concentrated, leading to complaints about unfairness.

”So is it that I don’t want to make the most efficient allocations possible?

”No.

”I simply want people to choose these responsibilities voluntarily.”

After hearing that explanation, Black Superman felt he finally understood Genosha’s problems.

Human nature was inherently lazy.

And mutant powers didn’t necessarily provide major advantages at every stage of production.

That made it easy for situations to arise where one person could complete their portion effortlessly thanks to their powers while everyone else was stuck doing hard labor.

Or perhaps a particular step in a process was extremely important but didn’t generate much visible output.

Then everyone would complain that the mutant responsible for that step was slowing everything down.

Anyone who claimed such things never happened was probably someone who had never worked in the real world.

In the end, if nobody volunteered to contribute, the only option was to divide labor equally among everyone using the most primitive methods possible.

And mutant awakenings were rarely pleasant experiences.

Many of those sent to Genosha hadn’t arrived entirely by choice.

To claim that such people would enthusiastically throw themselves into labor on the island would be absurd.

What kind of environment did that create?

To put it bluntly—

A prison.

The difference was that Magneto wasn’t a prison warden.

He genuinely wanted to serve his people and take care of his fellow mutants.

That naturally meant he would receive endless complaints while encountering endless obstacles.

And then there was another issue.

Mutant abilities varied dramatically in strength.

Some powers were useful for labor but not combat.

Before long, internal bullying and exploitation became inevitable.

Thinking about it that way, Black Superman suddenly understood why the Inhumans traditionally used a monarchy.

Even the mutant state of Krakoa in the comics, despite being called a council system, was ultimately a form of rule by the powerful.

Just look at the seats of the Quiet Council.

Was there even a single Epsilon-class mutant represented?

Without that sort of concentrated authority, it became difficult to control those mutants or Inhumans who preferred solving problems through violence.

Society itself could stop functioning.

People always said heaven helps those who help themselves.

If an entire population lacked initiative, then finding ways to increase productivity was largely meaningless.

They might even resent you for trying.

Once he thought it through, Black Superman stopped worrying about matters beyond his responsibility.

Today’s arrangement was simple:

Magneto needed help.

Black Superman provided it.

He got paid and left.

A straightforward transaction.

With that settled, he organized his notes and waited for the audience to gather.

This wasn’t a subordinate reporting to a superior.

Nor was it a client-contractor presentation.

There was no need for elaborate formalities.

The only person Black Superman truly needed to convince was Magneto.

Everyone else was merely there to listen.

When the time arrived, he opened the presentation without wasting any time.

”Regarding the problem of awakening mutant abilities in ordinary humans, the first step is identifying the physiological differences between normal humans and mutants.

”Earlier, I requested twenty blood samples from you—ten from ordinary humans and ten from mutants.

”The samples were anonymized and unlabeled so that genetic analysis could be conducted without bias.”

The first projected image displayed the X-Gene patterns from all twenty samples.

Black Superman had even highlighted them specifically.

”I’ll begin with the conclusion.

”Every human possesses an X-Gene.

”Every human possesses the potential to awaken mutant abilities.

”The only real difference between ordinary humans and mutants is whether their X-Gene has been activated.”

He raised a hand before anyone could object.

”Don’t assume the sample size is too small to be meaningful.

”This conclusion actually comes from another research report.

”The purpose of collecting ten ordinary-human samples was merely to verify the existing findings.”

He quickly displayed portions of the Kree research reports regarding the Inhumans.

At the same time, he handed Magneto a translated paper copy.

Naturally, it wasn’t written in the original alien language.

”Some individuals awaken their mutant abilities during adolescence and become mutants.

”Others never encounter the necessary trigger and spend their entire lives as ordinary people.

”What we’re trying to accomplish today is actually quite simple:

”We need to identify a reliable method of activating the X-Gene.

”And it must be both safe and free of harmful side effects.”

From there, Black Superman launched into a presentation at a genuinely academic level.

He discussed how extreme emotions during adolescence influenced neurological secretions.

Those secretions altered activity patterns in various regions of the brain.

One external manifestation of these changes appeared to be fluctuations in the brain’s magnetic field.

If those biochemical secretions were indeed the key to activating the X-Gene, then the logical next step was clear.

Identify the critical compounds.

Administer them in sufficiently large doses.

Combine them with external stimulation.

And the activation of the X-Gene would become a controlled, repeatable process.

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