Henry stared.
"You want to offer me a job?" he repeated.
"Yes," Mia replied seriously. "I'm tired of all the petty bickering, posturising and manipulation."
"I can only tell the truth. I can't prevent grown men from acting like adolesants."
"Actually I think adolesants would be better behaved," Mia replied.
Henry was mildly astonished to find that Mia actually believed that was the truth and was momentarily stumped for words.
"All I want is for them to honestly put Genovia first before themselves - at least while we're in session. It feels like they're all trying to manipulate the country to suit themselves, and because each one of them has a different agenda their visions all clash and well... hence my problem."
"Yes but... I can only tell the subjective truth, not the objective truth."
Mia blinked.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Okay, so let's pretend that we have person A, and person A tells a blind person that the sky is red. Now if the blind person were to tell me that the sky was red my power would consider that as being the truth. If they told me that she sky was blue - intending to lie, then my power would tell me that they were lying and that the sky is red."
"But the sky is blue..."
"Exactly."
"Well, it's not the details from fact finding missions that I'm concerned about - although I've no doubt that there's manipulation going on there too when it suits them."
"I can't stop people from arguing either."
"But you can make people stop and think before they speak."
"I can?" Henry blinked.
"Of course. If they know you're can tell what the truth is when they're lying they're going to think very carefully before they say anything, aren't they?"
"That may only serve to make them better manipulators. There are ways to say something that's true but mean something completely different. I wouldn't notice if someone only told half the truth."
"That's what direct questions are for."
"If you know what questions to ask."
Mia shrugged.
"If that means I have to start every session of parliment by asking everyone individually if they're there for personal reasons or because they have a responsibility to Genovia and the people they represent, then I will."
"Or I will."
Mia smiled.
"You don't have to take the job," she said. "But I would really appreciate it if you would at least think about it. It would be one of those cushy government jobs that everyone wants."
Henry laughed.
"I'll take it," he said.
"You will?" Mia asked. "That was quick."
Henry shrugged.
"It's about time my power came in useful for something. I can't even try to decieve people, even a little, and when asked I have to give an honest answre, usually with way too much detail. My mother died because of it."
Mia paused.
"She did?" she inquired, then corrected herself: "You don't have to answer that, if you don't want to."
Henry smiled.
"I had to tell her that me, and Donna and my brothers were mutants. I had to tell her all about our powers. She killed herself."
"Oh, hell, I'm so sorry!"
"Now I'm sure you can appreciate how much I happen to hate my power," he said. "And... thank you, for giving me the option not to tell you. I really appreciate that."