Washington, CIA Headquarters.
Frye, the smug Underground President of the past half-year, had another headache on his hands.
A Senator's murder was big news in United States politics; by rights the FBI should handle it, yet the feds set up a special task force and gave them no chance to interfere.
Whenever that happened, Frye knew someone was plotting something—he just had to sit back and watch the show.
What irked the old fox, though, was that the case involved the Awakened.
And anything involving the Awakened involved Fang Yuan; Frye knew exactly how thorny Fang Yuan could be.
Sure enough, Fang Yuan contacted him, asking point-blank for intel on the crime scene.
"This case isn't being run by the FBI."
Frye began by distancing himself.
"The ballistics are definitely off, but beyond that there's nothing."
His second line still gave up something useful.
With Awakened now inside the Bureau, Frye naturally had to return the favor to Vought Corporation.
But any more details and he clammed up.
For instance… who was backing the task force.
Frye and Vought were allies, sure, but only in business—there was no real friendship.
The matter was too big; Frye wasn't about to wade in blindly.
Fang Yuan wasn't angry—old foxes don't loose their hounds without a rabbit in sight.
Though Frye had reaped plenty during the Cuba Crisis, the FBI henceforth turned a blind eye to Vought; they were even.
Otherwise, take Erik's Brotherhood of Mutants: while avenging the Awakened they'd often gone overboard, yet the Bureau had buried every incident.
After mulling it over, Frye added, "But on the official side, plenty of people are shocked; the task force has its eye on the awakened one act."
"Finding that third party at the scene will take time; could've been an Awakened accomplice silencing him. You'd do better to dampen the fallout—or cut your losses."
Those last two lines were personal advice to Fang Yuan. Whatever happened, Fang Yuan commanded a pack of heavy-hitters; even if the Awakened's reputation tanked, Vought wouldn't fall overnight.
Their call ended quickly.
Charles and Erik were disappointed—if the FBI had no leads, their own chances were slimmer.
Fang Yuan, however, felt things were fine.
The Bureau keeping out was actually perfect; it bought Bolivar Trask time to drag more people into the pit.
"The task force is a weak link—we can dig into them," Erik suggested.
"True, but odds are they're in the dark." Charles figured it worth a shot, though success looked slim.
Still, Charles had Red Devil zip him over for a look.
The two were back in no time.
"The task force carries psi-shielders, but I caught two stragglers and got their objective."
"The unit wasn't formed to solve the case at all; the officials behind it are the ones pushing the awakened one act."
"Patrick's already dead; the pols want to ride the heat and ram the bill through. So no matter who the real killer is, the investigation will conclude—"
Erik got it; he spat the verdict with loathing: "—the Awakened did it!"
"We can't drop the investigation!" Fang Yuan shouted the rallying cry.
"But we must have a counter-strategy!"
Professor X and Magneto nodded; they knew how ugly things had turned.
"Vought has to move. We must tie the awakened one act to discrimination—the Awakened must join the African-American Civil Rights Movement and fight prejudice together!" Fang Yuan declared.
Charles and Erik brightened; used to solving things within their circle, they'd never thought of recruiting allies.
"Having Fang Yuan is the Awakened's blessing!"
The same thought flashed through Charles and Erik's minds; even without Telepathy, Fang Yuan could read it on their faces.
Fang Yuan's other motive was to boost Darwin's profile.
Darwin was both African-American and Awakened; if the two groups fought discrimination side by side, Darwin would be the star of the show.
His fame would shoot sky-high, right?
Professor X and Magneto sprang into action: Angel Warren, Mystique Raven, Impact Alex, Banshee, even Hellfire members all made frequent public appearances, pushing two messages.
One: Senator Patrick's death was an isolated incident, not an indictment of every Awakened.
Two: The awakened one act is outright discrimination; Vought will stand with African-Americans against prejudice.
The Act demanded detailed registration and constant location tracking of every Awakened—discrimination, plain and simple.
Bringing in African-Americans was a masterstroke: Vought's African-American superheroes and survival of the fittest had huge pull in that community, and cooperation served both sides' interests.
Some civil-rights leaders, of course, wanted no part of the Awakened headache.
But Fang Yuan paid personal visits to the most respected among them—Professor Martin, for example—and the problem vanished.
Nothing fancy—just tug the heartstrings and show the logic.
"He quietly slipped Professor Martin a few African-American beauties?"
When Frye uncovered Fang Yuan's method, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The famously difficult Professor Martin was, it turned out, just another john.
On one side: beauties; on the other: ruined reputation. For a fame-dependent man like Martin, the choice was a no-brainer.
He had none.
The other African-American leaders were much the same—carrot and stick. No one's record was spotless, so no one opted for the stick.
With the African-American brothers on board, the Awakened were no longer alone; within a week they managed to turn the tide.
Yet while supporters and opponents of the awakened one act screamed at each other, Congress would have the final say.
And more congressmen still backed the Act.
Still, Vought's efforts weren't wasted: Congress announced a special session in a week to debate the Act's specific clauses—and the Awakened could send a delegate.
The session would be a marathon wrangle, but it drew everyone's attention.
Patrick's death, by contrast, drew far fewer eyes.
In that climate, the quiet news that Pioneer Company's president had been replaced by Patrick's Assistant passed almost unnoticed.
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