Not having success at the United Nations headquarters in New York the mutants flocked to Hellsinkit in Finland to protest their exclusion from being able to address delegates at the United Nations Human Rights Conference. Some 30,000 of them poured into an already overcrowded Hellsinkit. The problem of accommodations was apparent as all accommodations had long been booked in the city however the mayor of Hellsinkit, Javik Sandor, had sympathy for the plight of the mutants partially because his grandmother, afflicted by crippling arthritis, had been a member of the mutant movement for years. The Hellsinkit City Council had previously constructed a mutant centre in Hellsinkit. By vote of the city a campground at the fringe of the city was temporarily “expropriated” and an International Mutations Camp was constructed with help of the Finnish army. City fireman and policemen donated their time to install portable latrines and canteens. Volunteers managed kitchens so the mutants had good food to fortify their strength. Kegs of local pine needle beer were also delivered. As far as the citizens they felt that Hellsinkit was nothing but a soapbox for politicians to deliver platitudes. It was a conference for the politicians and the media. The politicians and their delegations would go to the finest restaurants and stuff caviar down their gullet washing it down with Champagne then return to their 5-star hotels while thousands in many of their countries were starving and slept in the streets. The mutant camp was for the people. Politicians were too busy cultivating their image delivering insincere speeches about oppression and suffering which only a few cared about. They had no time for people but at the mutant camp there was a true spirit of international co-operation.
While the mutants gave protests their heart and soul only the Finnish delegation insisted the mutants be given the right to address the conference. In a sense the commingling of international mutants gave a festive air to Hellsinkit.
Valuable tips and strategies were shared amongst the mutants and many a lasting friendship was established. In essence this was the first true international mutant conference however informal it was.
The mutants had come to Hellsinkit expecting very little so they were not downcast being ignored by the official delegations who ignored their pleas and catcalls lest their hot breakfast in the hall be too cold to enjoy. They massed outside the conference hall demonstrating and explaining to the fringe media who had been denied accreditation their goals and aspirations as a true international committee. At least the delegates and the media saw and reported on their frustrations and anger. It made for exciting press coverage of a boring and sham event.
After one last party the Canadian mutants boarded their Lard Air flight stopping in Malton Airport in Toronto and Dorval Airport in Montreal. Up and onwards!
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