005: Knife in the Back (Locked to the Adults.)

[tarnishedavenger]

[Yup. No teenagers allowed in this filter. Mac is only included after a very, very long and intense mental debate. The toys and the Easter Bunny, as odd as they are, are also in on it.]

So, I've been thinking. Jorgmund's doing a... job of getting everyone some sort of physical training, and there's some of us who don't mind getting a little bit of an extra hand. But we're going to be here for longer than I think any one of us anticipated.

One of the things Jorgmund isn't touching on, though, is education for anything that doesn't apply to missions. Some of these kids and, yes, some of the adults, have serious knowledge gaps.

This is going to be an unpopular idea for some of them, but I think they, and we, would benefit from setting up some sort of lesson plan, get some schooling going. Obviously not history or anything tied so closely to our worlds, but universal things like physics, math, computer skills, locksmithing, other things that could serve them later.

Any opinions? I should probably say that I'm not the most experienced when working with and educating young teens, my only experience is a few guest talks and 'field trips' with the kids at the Ravenswood Academy (I don't think Rowan's desire for secrecy there applies when there's no one from my world here) and Generation VIPER.

Comments

[just_rogue]

Well, you name it and I can do it, more or less. Still getting a handle on how people here deal with folks who are different. Not everywhere looks kindly on mutants.

[tarnishedavenger]

That could be handy.

Your world has mutant issues? That's disappointing. I've worked with a fair few in my time. Never had a problem with them unless we were on opposite sides. Not like they chose to have powers.

Is it just a small group like the Institute for Human Achievement or more of an overall cultural feeling?

[just_rogue]

Folks, in general, aren't too keen on us, but leave us be most of the time. There are some more radical groups who would rather see us dead, no matter what good we do or people we help.

And then sometimes it's our own kind, but I think it's getting better. I hope it is.

[tarnishedavenger]

[There's nothing he can say here that isn't lame or patronizing, is there?]

Sorry to hear it. Hopefully things are turning around for the better. Mutants are largely accepted in my world, but it's pretty hard to tell them from anyone else with super powers without mutation detectors, so...

[just_rogue]

Some of us look more or less normal. Some only mildly different but hard to fit in when you weigh 400 pounds, are covered in blue fur, and have fangs.

[tarnishedavenger]

Not all mutants look entirely normal, but it's kind of silly to be afraid of the guy with suction cup hands when there's a woman who got the ability to turn herself into starstuff from a government experiment right there.

But this is probably something you've already heard.

[just_rogue]

I've heard about every argument there is. Why we're dangerous, why we need to be rounded up and kept in cages. And the other side saying how we have gifts so we should be in charge of the world.

[tarnishedavenger]

I'm sorry. It just seems strange to me that there even is an argument. They're people. Some of them have guns built in, sure, but that's why most countries require metahumans to register their powers and then let them do as they will.

Not that some countries work very hard at enforcing those laws.

[just_rogue]

Mostly it comes down to people who want to control us, use us as weapons or guinea pigs, or outright kill us. Made a few on our side a bit touchy.

[tarnishedavenger]

Of course.

You'd think they'd be happy with their little super soldier programs. But, no, the government's always got to be shifting for every little advantage.

[Careful, Rogue. Long rantsdiscussions about how much the government sucks are one of Armstrong's favorite ways to pass the time.]

[just_rogue]

Far as I'm concerned most of the people they put in those programs are victims too, even if they volunteer there's no way to be prepared for what happens.

[ He won't find disagreement in her, she's been subjected to her fair share of experimentation, poking, prodding, and testing. ]

[tarnishedavenger]

Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. I was prepared for what Cyberline would do, but there were others who got the treatments before me. That's more or less a perfected program, not exactly experimental.

And then there's... Other programs.

[just_rogue]

You don't have to say if you don't want to, but what happened to you?

[tarnishedavenger]

Me? Nothing bad. They approached me after I graduated college. Told me I could serve my country this way, since I was genetically compatible with Cyberline treatments.

Came out of it with your standard physical enhancement package. It's a pretty standard deal, they specifically crafted it for specific powers. The only downside is that my tolerance for alcohol is garbage now. But they told me all of that beforehand.

Of course, if I'd known where it had come from, I'd have probably spit in their face. But I was a kid, didn't ask the right questions. And the end result doesn't hurt anyone compatible enough to qualify for the treatments.

[just_rogue]

Yeah.

Yeah, I know what it's like to believe things because you're too young to know what to ask. And people tell you everything you want to hear.

It was like that with the woman who got me started using my powers the wrong way.