and there is blood dripping on the front page

Tuesday

They meet at lunch break the next day too.

Erik is sitting under the slide, his boots are sinking into the still wet earth. By the time Charles resolutely marches to the bench, he already finished his poor sandwich he prepared this morning.

Shortly after, the trio show up and leave, satisfied again.

Erik slips out from under the slide, and shouts over: "Won't they figure out after a while that you're not actually beaten the shit out of?"

Charles doesn't straight up from his book, and waves. "They won't. Others might, I haven't explored that option yet. But let's say they were smart enough not to hit my face."

"These? These wouldn't be."

"I suppose you've been approached as well?"

"Ja," grunts Erik. "One of them was planning on calling me a nazi. He regretted it."

The boy glances up at him the way they do at naughty little children: small signs of disapproval appear on his face but smiles forgivingly. Then he goes back to studying.

Erik feels like he's obliged to compound. "The human race is destined for extinction."

"Come on... there's still hope. Dummies exist, and they always will, however, this doesn't nullify the presence of goodness."

"I've been thinking of what you said. That what we have is a mutation," says Erik, and Charles curiously raises his attention to him again. "If I'm correct, evolution is also a mutation. Or something like that. And this means that we're further evolved beings."

Charles straightens and drops his wringed hands in his lap. "Mutations can operate in a negative direction too, but yes, looking at the matter this way, we could potentially be the future. When we find out how many of us are out there, and if that number isn't insignificant, we'll have to cooperate with the government to establish peaceful coexistence."

Erik snorts. "I don't think you could go in such a civilized way. You'll see, once we are discovered, their terror begins. They'll try to hide us, push us into cells... destroy us."

"Now this is a pessimistic mindset. I believe that humanity has overcome its petty animal instincts. I believe that we can work out a mature, calm option."

"Now this is an optimistic mindset."