Chapter 15

A beautiful girl with short, black hair laughed with her friends, clearly enjoying herself. But as she glanced over at Charles, she noticed him sitting quietly with his eyes closed, clearly focused on something else. Just then, a boy approached him.

"Yo, Charles. What're you doing?" the boy asked.

'It's just Terry,' Charles thought.

"Meditating," Charles replied.

"Meditating? What for?" Terry asked, confused.

"Resting my mind," Charles answered, keeping his tone calm.

Terry scratched the back of his head. "You doing this because of me? Sorry, bro."

Charles shook his head. "It's not that."

"Then what?" Terry pressed. "You're not upset about me messing up in class, are you? I mean, I know I suck at math, but I didn't mean for us to lose."

"Relax," Charles said, chuckling lightly. "I'm not upset. This is just something I do to calm my mind."

"Oh," Terry said, intrigued. "Can I try it?"

With that, Terry closed his eyes, mimicking Charles, although with much less focus.

Later, during recess, Charles and Terry sat together, eating quietly. A group of girls, led by the black-haired girl, passed by, chatting and laughing.

Charles barely noticed, too deep in his thoughts. His mind was in his mindscape, expanding it, making it harder for any telepath to locate his core.

Terry, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off the girls. "Are you not into girls, bro?"

Charles looked up, smirking. "Where did that come from?"

"You didn't even flinch when she walked by," Terry said, raising an eyebrow. "She's one of the prettiest girls in school."

Charles shrugged. "She's alright. I prefer older women, though."

Terry blinked, completely thrown off. "What's an older woman got to do with anything?"

Charles smiled. "When you're older, you'll get it."

Terry could only shake his head, wondering what was up with his friend.

After school, Charles had the driver take a few laps around the city as he scanned for any new knowledge to absorb.

Although he picked up some bits of information, nothing seemed particularly useful for his long-term plans. He sighed and directed the driver to take him home.

Once back, Charles dropped his bag in his room and immediately set off to train around the mansion grounds.

After a hard workout, a bath, and dinner, he returned to his room to finish working on his version of Cerebro, which was nearly complete.

"I really need a computer to run this thing," Charles muttered, glancing at his incomplete work. "It's too risky without a technopath to help me out."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Edward entered with several boxes in his arms. "Master Charles, these are the supplies you ordered."

Charles smiled, pleased. "Great. How's my mother doing with the household matters?"

"She's managing well, trying her best to live up to the Xavier name," Edward replied.

Charles nodded thoughtfully, his hand resting on his chin as he eyed the boxes.

Edward smiled politely. "I'll leave you to it, Master Charles," he said, turning to go. "Shall I close the door?"

"Yeah, please," Charles responded, barely lifting his head from the boxes.

Once alone, Charles stretched his arms and sighed. "This is gonna take a few days to put together," he muttered, cracking a smile in anticipation of the long project ahead of building his custom computer and setting up Wi-Fi.

He was ready for another long night of work.

The next day,

Edward stepped into Charles' room shortly after the boy had left for school.

The sight that greeted him was unexpected—Charles' desk was cluttered with an array of high-tech gadgets and devices. It was more than Edward had ever seen, even when Brian used to experiment in the past.

"What is he up to this time?" Edward muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the workspace. "A black box, a helmet... and what's that? A small rectangular device?"

Shaking his head, Edward knew better than to disturb anything. "I'd better tell the other maids not to touch a single thing," he thought, he call the cleaning staff. He instructed them to tidy the room but issued a firm warning to avoid the desk entirely.

With that task done, Edward made his way to the office where Sharon, Charles' mother, was sitting behind her desk.

"Good morning, madam," Edward greeted her with a slight bow.

"Ah, it's you, Ed," Sharon replied warmly. "Did Charles get off to school safely today?"

"Yes, he did, madam," Edward nodded before hesitating. "Are you not worried about him, madam?"

Sharon sighed, her gaze softening. "Of course I am. What mother wouldn't worry? He's brilliant—too smart for his own good sometimes."

Edward smiled, though it was more to himself than to her. 'She really has no idea, does she?' he thought. Charles wasn't just smart—he was a genius, a young adult in a boy's body. The way he carried himself, the way he thought... it was as if he was already playing a game of chess with the world.

"If you ever need assistance with anything, madam, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to guide you," Edward offered sincerely.

Meanwhile, across town, Charles sat in his classroom, his mind only half paying attention to the teacher. While the lesson droned on, his thoughts were elsewhere. 'I still need to create my version of an OS system,' he mused. 'Windows doesn't exist yet... I can monopolize that entire market.'

The plan was already forming in his head. After the OS, he'd establish a company—Xavier Enterprise Incorporated. He'd tap into every market he could, dominate them all, ensuring the country couldn't stop him from doing what he needed.

His thoughts were interrupted when the teacher's voice cut through the fog. "Xavier, what's the-?"

Before the question even finished, Charles responded, "Seventy-two."

The teacher blinked in surprise, nodding. "Correct, Xavier. Well done."

As school ended, Charles made his way home, taking a few detours through the city before settling in front of his new computer setup. He wasted no time. The coding for his OS system had already begun.

"I need to be quick if I'm going to monopolize it all," he whispered to himself, fingers flying over the keyboard.

This new OS system would be called XenOS.

"If I could just clone myself..." Charles muttered, only to stop mid-sentence and slap his forehead. "Am I turning into Mr. Sinister now? Ugh, get a grip."

He shook his head, frustrated with himself. "I have to be careful. I can't let my morals slip, not like this."

Just as he was gathering his thoughts, a tapping sound echoed through the room. He turned toward the window to see a crow (Nightwing) pecking at the glass.