xp_logs | The Gates: Together Again (Reply)

Medusa and Angelo visit with a teacher at the local school to get another perspective on what's happening. What they also get is some information that's just the tiniest bit ominous.

The teacher, who'd introduced herself as Ryba, had seemed very relieved that one of their group spoke Czech. Curiously, though, she was struggling to speak in English as much as possible, only occasionally breaking into Czech and letting Juliette translate.

"... we were, how do you say..." Ryba paused, went on in Czech.

Juliette nodded. "Fully integrated," she translated.

"Yes. That." Ryba paused at the door to one empty classroom, gesturing for them to precede her in. "Art," she said, almost sadly. "The pictures, see?" she went on, gesturing at a number of examples of student work pinned up on the wall. They were clearly the work of very young students, and many of them including figures that were very clearly meant to be mutants, side by side with figures with more 'normal' skin, hair, and other physical attributes.

Medusa brushed a fingertip against one of the drawings containing a smiling girl with wings holding hands with a normal looking child, thinking back to the hospital she and Rahne had visited. How quickly the tide had turned. "Have you still been able to hold regular classes?" she asked, turning away from the wall displaying the students' pictures.

Ryba tilted her head at Juliette, waiting for a translation. "Small classes," she said afterwards with a sigh. "Together... in groups by age. Many parents... afraid? Not many students coming, every day."

"The parents are keepin' them at home?" Angelo asked quietly, turning from his own study of the pictures.

"For safety. This was... before the wall, even. But now, more and more. Especially the mutant children," Ryba said sorrowfully. "The children who do come? They worry about their friends. Or they..." She switched back to Czech, a rapid few sentences spilling out.

"Some children," Juliette translated quietly, "are parroting their parents' opinions about it being the fault of all of Smichov's mutant inhabitants that the barriers went up. Ryba's upset, because there wasn't such a divide among her students before."

"I see," said Medusa. She pulled out a camera and began snapping some pictures of the drawings. "That is quite a shame, when they were able to get along so well before."

"An' maybe will again," Angelo offered, trying to put a good face on it. "This is crisis, but... it's got to get back to normal sooner or later." Even if it gets a whole lot worse first.

"One of my girls... her parents are gone with the soldiers," Ryba said unhappily. "With a neighbor, she is."

The hint of a frown tugged at the corners of Medusa's lips. "Has that happened to a lot of children?" She knew that girl was lucky that neighbors had taken her in - what would happen to a child who had no one else if their parents were taken?

"Only a few," Juliette translated for Ryba, her voice soft. "Mutant children with mutant parents, most of them, she says." Juliette gave Angelo and Medusa a long, thoughtful look. "They might have been involved with one of these militant groups."

"Or they might not," Angelo said flatly, eyes hard. "Does she know if anyone took in the other kids?"

"No. They've stopped coming to school, she says, and the principal didn't find them at home when he went to check."

Medusa barely kept her hair from twitching. "And these are not children you can ask the authorities for help in finding," she stated. It would be better for mutant children to stay off the guards' radar, yet this would leave them vulnerable to all kinds of victimization.

"Nothin' much we can do about it except hope they're okay somewhere," Angelo muttered, plainly not liking it one bit.

Ryba paused, leaning back against one of the desks, looking very hesitant for a moment. "They say, a rally. Two days from now. Not just mutants." She made a pained noise. "It was never, just mutants, here! We were all together before. They say the only way to be all together again is to show them."

...that didn't sound good, given the situation, and Angelo turned to her quickly. "Who says that, Ryba? An' where's it goin' to happen?"

Ryba's expression was more cautious, suddenly. "I do not know," she said after a moment, very calmly and clearly. "I heard it."

"Of course," Medusa said reassuringly. "We all appreciate how helpful you have been Ryba...everything you have shared has been so eye opening to those of us who had not seen the inside of Smichov before. It is my hope that those we show this to will feel as moved as I do." She lowered her voice conspiratorially and leaned her head close to the teacher's. "It would make our story so much more compelling if we could show mutants and humans united together though. So if you happen to remember any more details, please do let us know."

Ryba nodded a bit jerkily, and Juliette stepped smoothly into the conversational lapse, speaking in Czech. The smaller woman relaxed a little, mustering a smile for them as she headed for the door. "I said we'd show ourselves out," Juliette said. "I get the sense that she regretted mentioning this rally to us."

Angelo nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the woman as he headed for the door. "I guess she's got to be careful who she talks to, right now. She doesn't know who we might tell."

Medusa nodded, pausing to glance back at the children's artwork before she walked out the door. "She has no reason to trust us, the strangers, given how she has seen the people she thought she knew change so quickly. Let us go tell Nathan of this. Perhaps now that we know what we are looking for, we will be able to find the details on our own."