School House Rumbles 3: Act 1, Cadet

[Guy Smiley]

It was at this point, Boss' metallic doohickey that he was still tinkering on (with wavering attention), started to overheat. Sparks flew out of it's open compartment as it started to shake and gyrate. "Whoop. Hot potato!" Boss called out, carelessly chucking the device behind him which subsequently made a small, but albeit relatively harmless explosion as soon as it touched the ground. And in this case relatively means scatter unless you want your clothes burnt.

Mack turned at the warning in time to see the explosion. He casually leaned his head to one side, allowing a red-hot hex nut to whistle by his ear, then neatly sidestepped in the other direction as a shard of metal arced from the sky to land, smoldering, where he'd been standing. He shot Boss a quick thumbs up and turned back to butting in on his latest conversation.

" We are such a odd group. And they want to mold us into the future warrior/cops? Man it is going to take a miracle for that to happen."

"Yeah, I know, right? We ain't all exactly what ya'd consider law-enforcement material."

[Chrosis]

"Well, are you?" Samantha asks curiously. "I'd think you'd want to come here if you don't want to hurt your parents. Do you disagree that you're a threat to them? What can you do? Or did you want to hurt your parents?" Samantha sounds curious. "We do learn to control our powers for a reason, after all."

She began to grow exhasperated, "But I wasn't a threat to them before the accident! And nobody was even hurt! I mean, sure, if someone had been near the car..."

Cammy trailed off, her shoulders slumping.

"What, are you kidding? As your friend, that's exactly the kind of crap I'm supposed to care about!"

She perked up a bit. It was refreshing to have somebody on her side, "Thanks. What about you? Probably something a bit more sophisticated than being dragged crying like a little girl from your house by paragons."

Mack overheard this and snorted. "Doubt it. I heard a lot o' powered folks end up in the Paragoons. Like, way more'n you'd expect, y'know? Figger there's gotta be some kinda in... in-doctor-nation or somethin' goin' on. We're prolly gettin' set up for somethin' like that."

Cammy was now worried. Her fears were being confirmed, "B-but I don't want that! Can we still get out of here?"

"I really don't know." He said apologetically. "Though, you're probably right, the only reason we're here, is because the government thinks we might be dangerous. After they teach us how to control it, I don't see why we couldn't go home.." He offered, with a slight smile.

Her fears were somewhat alleviated, "I hope so. I really do."

"No less than one, no more than three years, if I understand it right." Samantha says truthfully. "So, feels like forever, until you realize it's like 1% of your life."

She nodded, "So it's like secondary school. Okay. Maybe it won't be so bad..."

Assuming they weren't indoctrinated, killed by classmates, or worse.

[KingofPie]

Axel: !?!?!!! :He grabs Eisen from the blast as he leaps.: "Trying to kill us!?"

"What? No," Boss responded. "Just a little small fire. Shouldn't be anything one of us wouldn't be able to handle anyway. 'Sides, I yelled hot potato. That's like...common code to jump outta the way or something," Boss shrugged.

Sloane shook his head.

"Bali, you better not be so careless with your toys. I don't want to have to clean up your messes."

"Geeze, you're worse than my folks," Boss sighed, standing up and walking over somewhere for perhaps the first time since he had arrived at the end of the stairs, to pick up his broken device. "Yeah, so I think this one's a dud," he nodded.

[Chou Blaster]

:Hearing this he felt like a idiot and well; lets Eisen be on her on sense of space. It was just a reflex. A need to well hlep someone.:

:She was the cute one, the young one, and was a living doll. This story shall have her growing into a beautiful flower of a person.:

:As for himself? Redemption was his calling. For what he has done.past and present.:

[WyldCard4]

She began to grow exhasperated, "But I wasn't a threat to them before the accident! And nobody was even hurt! I mean, sure, if someone had been near the car..."

Cammy trailed off, her shoulders slumping.

"Our powers grow more dangerous with time, so not being a threat at 11 doesn't mean you aren't a threat at 22. And if you destroyed a car by accident, then you can destroy your parents by accident. What detail am I missing here?"

Cammy was now worried. Her fears were being confirmed, "B-but I don't want that! Can we still get out of here?"

"Not everyone does, just a lot. Like, there's Weather Wardens who just help control the weather for Air Elementi. Mining and landscaping for Earth, fishing and boats for water, and if you've got fire, especially with stamina, you can just boil a water tank and keep a generator humming while sipping iced tea." Samantha points out. "Not everyone is suited for constant battle."

Her fears were somewhat alleviated, "I hope so. I really do."

"Well, we're objectively dangerous. It's the same reason we don't have real housekeeping robots. The kind of strength to move a shelf is heavy machinery that you keep away from in a factory. Until you can really trust a power like that it's best to stay near healing tanks and high durability people to control the damage. And that's before we get into hurting ourselves by running into a wall or something."

She nodded, "So it's like secondary school. Okay. Maybe it won't be so bad..."

Assuming they weren't indoctrinated, killed by classmates, or worse.

"It won't be, don't worry. Lots of people come here every year, and plenty come out alright."

[Kevin M.]

"Yes, though not quite the normal story for that place."

"That's really on the fringe of Eden" Norma noted. "Tell me, how was it? i haven't heard any stories lately about 13"

[Ghost]

"I'm sorry. It's just...I don't really know how to make conversations very well yet. I've talked to people before...just not very often," Vi said. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you." Vi sort of shifted around a bit. She already alienated one person today, she really didn't want to bother another. "I...I'll just leave you. I'm sorry."

Eisen frowned. She reached out and touched Vivian's arm, as if to stop her from leaving. "But if you do that, we won't get to know each other. Besides, isn't I the one who should apologize for being unable to answer your questions?"

"I know, it's just... Bringing things like that up aren't making my day any better. Hearing you talk about things like looking at porn is just so weird, I don't even know how to deal with it."

"I don't quite understand," Eisen said, "but I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."

He groaned.

"Okay, here's a different way to phrase the question. What do you expect to learn, aside from control over your powers?"

Another one of those deep, difficult questions. Are normal people always this philosophical?

After some pondering, she replied. "Everything there is to learn, I suppose."

[Vakanai]

Vi sighed. Talking to people was...complicated. She never really had the chance to practice it. All the time spent in the hospital, or stuck in the house, learning swordplay, doing charity work, learning how she should run a business, and how her father had given her a strict 'no friends' order most of her life because she wasn't like other kids, because if she played too hard her heart might be put under too much strain. She wasn't like Eisen, who didn't know much about the world around her. But for all Vi knew of the world, she didn't know how to interact with it. Hell, she envied Eisen, at least the girl didn't know. Ignorance was bliss. Knowing your faults and knowing what you didn't know how to do was...tiresome. "You can't fit in Vi. You don't know how people work. You've been made of porcelain too long, you might break." She wished she could disappear.

[WyldCard4]

"That's really on the fringe of Eden" Norma noted. "Tell me, how was it? i haven't heard any stories lately about 13"

"Hm...." Samantha pauses, trying to say it without revealing any reason to hate her.

"Well, it's not really that bad a place, materially. Supermarkets and gas stations and the odd theater and all that. Roads and rails well maintained, mostly for rapid Paragon movement of course. But it's still the bottom, so the people that come there are the people who get kicked out of everywhere else, at least a lot of the time. Orphans too proud for group homes or foster care, drug addicts who can't keep themselves in check, downright assholes, people who want to take things instead of earning them. There will always be people like that, so they cluster down there, especially out in The Scoop, which as Sloan said earlier, is barely Eden at all. Different groups fight there, mostly because they'd lose against the Paragons if they fought anywhere else. Nevadians, Wyverns, Ashurs, the odd Sisterhood. You get the really weird types down there, the kind the rest of the Sectors don't want, or who don't want the Eden and have moved as far away as they can."

"It's the only place you can make something of yourself if you aren't the best. That's what Daddy says, anyway. He says all the best are deep inside fighting over scraps of the real power, so if you head out to Thirteen the same man could do a lot better because there aren't as many of the best there. It's like a release valve, so all the people too proud to do it right can do something."

[Vakanai]

Eisen frowned. She reached out and touched Vivian's arm, as if to stop her from leaving. "But if you do that, we won't get to know each other. Besides, isn't I the one who should apologize for not being able to answer your questions?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with it. You can't answer what you don't know. I just...I..." how was she supposed to phrase it? "I spent three years of my childhood in a wheelchair because they were afraid my heart couldn't handle the strain of walking. I've spent most of my time in a hospital bed or my bedroom, playing online or watching TV. And when I am healthier it's all been learning discipline and business stuff and doing charity work, and until today I've never spoken to anyone my own age. I'm not like you, I know better...I just can't connect. I should know you can't just ask a lot of questions and expect it to be a meaningful conversation...but knowing that, I still can't hold an actual conversation. You probably don't want to know me, I'm not..." What? Good enough? Human enough? Vi wasn't sure.

[Eternal Torment]

"I don't quite understand," Eisen said, "but I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine. Hearing you talk about the things adults do while you're still so... young. It's just so common in 13. I don't want to see that happen to people who deserve better." Sloane sounded like he was almost pleading for her to stop.

Another one of those deep, difficult questions. Are normal people always this philosophical?

After some pondering, she replied. "Everything there is to learn, I suppose."

"Knowledge for knowledge's sake?"

They grow into people who aren't like the norm.

[Guy Smiley]

"Cliff danglin?" Vi asked.

"Somethin' Keldian here said. Don't worry 'bout it." Mack grinned.

"Could be simpler than that. Maybe they just leave you with no choice, like they did with us here today."

"Yeah. Oh, they'll put a real nice face on it, I'm sure. Like here, we got these lovely acceptance letters, an' all..." At this he fished a wadded up paper from his back pocket that appeared to have seen use as an emergency napkin. "...But we ain't had no option ta decline, y'know? And I bet I'm not the only one t'have gotten an 'escort' down here."

Cammy was now worried. Her fears were being confirmed, "B-but I don't want that! Can we still get out of here?"

Mack looked alarmed. He hadn't mean to freak the girl out! "Hey hey! Don't worry! Ya just stick t'yer gut instinct an you'll be fine! Tell ya what: I'm lookin' around. If I can get a good escape plan, I'll clue ya in on it, 'kay?"

[Chrosis]

"Our powers grow more dangerous with time, so not being a threat at 11 doesn't mean you aren't a threat at 22. And if you destroyed a car by accident, then you can destroy your parents by accident. What detail am I missing here?"

She turned away, ashamed and feeling like an idiot, "No, you're right. I'm a walking time bomb."

"Not everyone does, just a lot. Like, there's Weather Wardens who just help control the weather for Air Elementi. Mining and landscaping for Earth, fishing and boats for water, and if you've got fire, especially with stamina, you can just boil a water tank and keep a generator humming while sipping iced tea." Samantha points out. "Not everyone is suited for constant battle."

She nodded, happy to hear alternatives to becoming a weapon. From what she was told and what she saw of her own capabilities, it didnt' seem like a likely possibility, though.

"Well, we're objectively dangerous. It's the same reason we don't have real housekeeping robots. The kind of strength to move a shelf is heavy machinery that you keep away from in a factory. Until you can really trust a power like that it's best to stay near healing tanks and high durability people to control the damage. And that's before we get into hurting ourselves by running into a wall or something."

"B-but everyone is dangerous! You don't need to shoot fire or bend metal to hurt someone!"

"It won't be, don't worry. Lots of people come here every year, and plenty come out alright."

She frowned. Plenty of people did, but not all of them. She couldn't help but worry, "If you say so..."

[Vakanai]

"Somethin' Keldian here said. Don't worry 'bout it." Mack grinned.

"Aright then," Vivian said. "So...nice weather?"
Even knowing random questions aren't conversations...talking's hard. Vi pondered if someone wrote a book about it.

[mailedbypostman1]

"Yeah. Oh, they'll put a real nice face on it, I'm sure. Like here, we got these lovely acceptance letters, an' all..." At this he fished a wadded up paper from his back pocket that appeared to have seen use as an emergency napkin. "...But we ain't had no option ta decline, y'know? And I bet I'm not the only one t'have gotten an 'escort' down here."

Keldian nodded, with a smile that curiously seemed to contain no humor whatsoever.
"Yeah. I had that experience once or twice."

"Aright then," Vivian said. "So...nice weather?"
Even knowing random questions aren't conversations...talking's hard. Vi pondered if someone wrote a book about it.

"Weather?"

Keldian considered, and looked at the sky.

"I wish it would rain. I always liked thunderstorms."