James watched the people in the nearby town from his carriage window. He saw a mother scolding her child, a shopkeeper sweeping his steps, men laughing outside a pub. Their lives were so small. Their biggest worries were about money, or love, or what their neighbors thought.
He looked at his own hands. He could bend steel. He could heal from almost any wound. He could hear a whisper from a hundred feet away. Victor was even stronger, a storm of teeth and claws.
A normal person could never understand this, he thought. Their bodies are weak. Their minds are slow. If they knew what we could do, they wouldn't see it as a gift. They would see it as a threat.
He pictured men in lab coats, trying to cut him open to see how he worked. He imagined angry mobs with torches and guns, screaming "Monster!" They would never accept them. They would only ever fear them.
Fear is a powerful tool, he decided. But you can't let it turn into hate. Not yet. First, you have to make them need you.
He thought about the problem like a math equation. How do you make people accept something they're afraid of? You make that thing the solution to a bigger, scarier problem.
We can't just show them our power. That would scare them. We have to use our power to protect them from something else. Something that scares them even more. Then, we're not monsters. We're heroes. We're necessary.
The idea for an organization began to form in his mind. Not a company that just made steel, like his father's. Something bigger. A group that used people with powers like his—mutants, he had started calling them—to handle problems normal people couldn't. To fight threats they couldn't see.
We would find others like us, he planned. The lonely ones. The ones who are hiding. We would give them a home. A purpose. And in return, they would work for me. They would become my hands, my eyes, my teeth. Together, we wouldn't fight the world. We would secretly run it. We would be the shield that everyone depends on, and they would never even know we're also the ones holding the sword.
Back at the house, his father, John, was happier than James had ever seen him.
"The new metal formula you suggested, James!" John said, clapping him on the shoulder. "It's a miracle! We're rich! The Howlett name is going to be known across the country!"
James smiled his quiet, practiced smile. "That's wonderful, Father. But with great success comes great… attention. Not all of it will be friendly. We'll need to be able to protect what we've built."
John's smile faded a little, replaced by a businessman's sharpness. "What are you thinking?"
"Security," James said simply. "Not just guards for the factories. A proper, private force. One that can handle… unusual problems. The world can be a dangerous place."
John nodded slowly, already seeing the logic. "A Howlett Security division. Yes. It makes sense. We have the money. We have the reputation. I'll start looking for a man to lead it."
"You don't need to look far, Father," James said gently. "Victor has proven himself loyal. And he has a certain… talent for dealing with threats."
John looked surprised, then thoughtful. Victor was a brute, but he was their brute. And after the incident with the "wild animal" near the railway, people were starting to see him as a protector, not just a groundskeeper's son.
"Victor…" John mused. "Alright. I'll give him a chance. He can be the first captain of Howlett Security."
It was done. The first piece was in place.
Later, James found Victor in the stables.
"The old man put me in charge," Victor grunted, looking both proud and confused. "Of security. Gave me a title and everything."
"People are afraid of the dark, Victor," James explained, his voice calm and sure. "They're afraid of things they don't understand. We are going to be the light that chases away their dark. We are going to be the thing they understand will keep them safe. You will be the face of that safety."
Victor's eyes gleamed. He liked the sound of that. He liked being important. He liked being feared, but this was better. This was being feared and respected.
James looked out at the sunset. His family's influence was growing. Their name was becoming powerful. Soon, they would have money, resources, and a private army led by a mutant.
It was all happening just as he planned.
They are all playing their parts, he thought. Father builds the empire. Mother makes us look respectable. Victor is the weapon everyone is learning to trust. And I… I am the one pulling the strings.
One day, the name "Howlett" won't just be about steel. It will be about power. Real power. The kind that shapes the world. And when that day comes, no one will dare call us monsters. They will call us saviors.
And they will never know the difference.