A day in the life, part 1

[x-trance.livejournal.com]

A day in the life of Trance as an intern...

It was still dark outside. At least, that was what visible through the window high up in the wall of the gymnasium. 'Though, at six in the morning that no surprise.' Hope, now mostly known as Trance, figured as she launched into another set of sit ups.

Around her her fellow interns were either doing their own set of sit ups or they had already moved on to the required pushups. From the corner of her eye, she could see Ian moving to a mat in the center of the gym as he faced a tiny Asian woman.

Ian understood how useful his power was, how much of an edge it gave him in a fight. Hell, he understood how cool it made him look, like a guy out of a John Woo movie.

But that didn't stop it from kinda sucking.

The way his 'Preflex' worked, the way it kept him ahead of the competition as it were, was to wrench control away from what most people would call 'the mind'. His body turned into a bundled mass of coiled muscles and twitching nerves. He would strike out without thinking, dodge without really readying himself, and be three to four steps ahead of where he thought he was. Taken too long, the whole thing could make him exceptionally disoriented and nauseous if he wasn't prepared. He was prepared for sparring today, though. Shielda's hand was chopping at his neck. He was already a step back. He was into a crouch when she realized he'd figured out her previous attack, and sidestepped enough to get behind her and wait for the back-kick he already knew was coming. When it got to where he'd been he was already gone, flipping backwards out and away from a flurry of punches and kicks designed to give him very little space to maneuver against. He closed his eyes in the flip, keeping himself from getting too spun around. But when he landed on his feet his eyes were open and he was smiling at Shielda, holding his arms open to invite her to take another shot.

Shielda was normally incredibly competitive, but she knew Ian's power set and as such she wasn't taking this particular fight especially seriously, knowing that the results were a foregone conclusion. She also knew, however, that if she didn't appear to be giving it her full effort she'd have to answer to the boss later, which meant she had suspended the usual demeanor of aloof boredom she'd been displaying around all the 'interns'. She waggled a finger at Ian's invitation for her to go on the offensive, weaving around him on the balls of her feet and beckoning him to go on the attack against her rather than staying on the defensive. As she hopped around, she sent a message down their psychic link to her twin that said *think the boss will mind if we tag team him?* She'd lost the coin flip fair and square, which meant Shieldo got to sit around maintaining the psychic dome around them while she was getting her ass kicked, but that didn't mean they couldn't take turns, right?

Shieldo was standing on the sidelines, arms crossed, with a blank expression on his face. *No. He would eventually have to fight more than one person. This is just practice. But I am enjoying watching you losing.* He sent the message back down their link with each other.

 Ian took the time it had taken the twins to communicate to go on the offensive, stepping in and peppering the smaller mutant with several jabs, hooks, and crosses, but the difference between the fighting styles when his power was in the drivers' seat was night and day. With his Preflex, Ian moved like water. When trying to attack on his own, there was still hesitation, still a rigidity to his from the vestigial uncertainty of training.

*Your enjoyment fuels my wra-ooof!* Shielda's thought was cut off by Ian's attack and she forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. She found a tell in his movements when he was setting up his crosses and realized he wasn't using his mutant power, so the took the opportunity to evade the next cross by ducking under it and to the side, giving him a couple quick jabs and a kick before retreating back on the defensive once again.

Rising from her sit-ups, Hope took a quick breather and walked to the side of the room from a quick sip from her water bottle as she watched the fight. "I hope I will not be expected to do that..." Her self-defense training was nowhere near that level.

Shieldo looked over at Hope and smirked just a bit. "Everyone is expected to do that."

The jabs Ian had been able to block on his own, but the preflex did the heavy lifting dodging away from the kick.  Try as he might, he'd never been able to get his preflex to 'stop' him where it would be completely advantageous in a fight; it's first and only reaction seemed to be the avenue that got him out of danger the quickest. Often, Ian was able to pull another attack out of the movement, but since Shielda had moved back and his own unconscious dodge took him further from his combatant, Ian held up his arms.

"Momentary ceasefire for some water?" He offered between huffs for fresh air.

Shielda contemplated the request for a second, then nodded. "I believe that would be acceptable. Five minutes," she instructed, not wanting Holocaust to think she was shirking on her duties to spar with Ian. "Then you will resume training with Shieldo. You," she called out, pointing to Hope. "Come here. Self defense assessment. Now."

Hope was stunned for a moment, then put down her water bottle and moved over to stand before Asian woman. "What would you like to see, ma'am? My skills is nowhere near Forward's.."
Shielda lashed out at Hope with a high kick towards the side of her head, intending to pull the move at the last moment, but not telling Hope that. She was hoping she wouldn't have to, that Hope would defend or at least dodge the attack without having to be instructed.

Quickly stepping to the side at the last moment, the foot just moved passed her head. Raising her hands in a guard position and widening her legs, she looked at Shielda. "I hope that was okay." She demurred.
Snorting at Hope's comment, Shielda just rolled her eyes and lunged forward to attack Hope once again.

***
Amy was silent as she examined her book, staring at it with absolutely no interest - it was just better than look at the other person in the room. After a moment she turned the page, still silent.

Hope finished writing out the latest equation, before looking up at her friend and sighing. "You have been very quiet." She closed her math book and returning to her pile of English books, along with two books on Ksavian history and geography and pulled over the last one.

"I'm working," she said shortly without looking up
.
"I do not think ignoring me is going to help the situation..." Hope spoke softly, only venturing forward gently.

"I don't care about helping the situation!" Amy snapped, her head finally snapping up, golden eyes flashing. "I just don't want to talk to you!"

Hope had some very clear suspicions, but finally she decided to simple ask: "Why exactly are you angry with me, Amy?" She quickly glanced around her to see if anyone heard her us the other name. "Because I did not speak of the truth of Xavier's? Or because it led to this?"

"Because I trusted you! And now you're sitting here acting like - like it's some big surprise that I don't enjoy being lied to! 'Oh it's just a school Amy, really there's nothing special about it besides the mutants and the fact that it has a military thing attached to it that has a lot of enemies and might get us into trouble!"

"I never did lie! I only did not speak of it." Hope's gaze hardened slightly. "It is a promise I made when they gave me shelter as my parents choose to send me away. Later on, I held my silence as a means of protection. Because that protection lies in secrecy."

"Yeah, a lot of good that protection is doing us now." Amy slammed her book shut, hopping up and walking to the other side of the room. She wasn't exactly sure if she was allowed to leave, but she wanted as much distance between herself and Hope as possible.

"Angry you may be, Amy. I do not regret not speaking." Hope gaze softened again. "I do wish you had not gotten dragged into it like this." Ignoring the fact that if she had accepted the internship, she would have ended up here anyway, but pointing that out would not help here.

Yeah but at least it would have been willing And her mother wouldn't have been back home probably freaking out because Amy hadn't.

Hope remained quiet. There was not much she could say against that.

***

There was a sharp click as Scanner switched the light back one and the smartboard in front of the room darkened. The six teens blinked as their eyes adjusted back to the light, each one a page of notes in front of them. The room actually looked in like a mini college hall, school desks arranged in a half circle in front of the room.

"And there you have it," Sarah shrugged, moving from the switch back to the front of the room. "History shows us that when man fears the other, he lashes out in extreme, unpredictable ways. What people don't understand, they attempt to subjugate. And if they can't subjugate, they destroy. There's some million American Indians sitting on reservations who can testify to that. Or Uighurs in China, if you want to be less Western-centric about things."

She hopped onto a desk at the front of the room and crossed her legs. "Where we differ is our genes. Our gifts. We may be small in number, but we're mightier. We're stronger." She looked from student to student. "If they attempt to fight us, we can fight back. And we have to, like it or not."

A sound from the hallway distracted her, and she glanced at the door, alert. Sensing no threat around her, she returned to the subject at hand. "There are some who'd have you believe we should co-exist. That we can live hand-in-hand, united. That we should allow normal humans to suppress our abilities, to marginalize us and have us deny our identities and assimilate into their world." She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "That's how they rationalize their behavior - their taunting, their discrimination. Their violence and rage. And we cannot allow that. We do not have to allow that."

After a moment of silence, she relaxed and put a friendly smile on. "At least, that's how I see it. But, really, I'm just one person." She hopped off the desk, her red patent leather pumps clacking as they hit the floor. "A person who has done entirely too much talking. So I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. No need to raise your hands or anything."

CJ leaned forward slightly, resisting the urge to raise her hand.  "Co-existence didn't seem to work very well in your examples- but you're citing sources hundreds of years old.  Humans believe they have learned from their history, that they are better because of the lessons of the past."  She paused a beat for effect, hoping no one would cut her off, "Yet, here we are again.  Something different and new and awesome comes along, and in the United States they passed laws to restrict us of our rights.  We're second class citizens- like the African-Americans used to be.  While things have improved for that population, they're by no means equal....  I believe, Scanner is right."

"Racism is an undercurrent that has woven its way into the very foundations of every civilization on earth," Gabe noted, "Mainly because it has had time. The greatest propaganda project in the whole of human history: making every man feel like they are in the right for believing those with darker skin -- well, women to -- are inferior just because they exist. We could be subtle, but that takes time. I agree. We have to make a stand and then work to rewrite man's wrongs."

"What about the people who already think we're equal?" Amy spoke up hesitantly. "I mean...it's a small minority for sure, but there are already people who treat mutants as equals. Are they going to be punished too for the sins of the rest of the world?"

"Yes." Hope agreed very tentatively. "And the young can be taught a different way under certain circumstances. Would it not be better to entice those rather then... punish them?" She finally decided to use the word Amy had chosen.

"I'd change my tune if I saw someone be punished in front of me," Suki commented breezily. "And yeah, I mean the young can be taught but how are we gonna do that when the school system is still anti mutant? We can't rely on their parents, as history has clearly shown. I think we need to change the adults way of thinking so it trickles down."

"Our classmates speak glibly because they've been taught poorly." Forward looked up to Trance and Eyespy from his notebook, but then around at the others as if he was surprised he'd spoken out loud. Ian sighed. It was better to just go with it now that he'd said anything at all, "People would have you believe what happened to the First Nationers or the Uighur or any other group applies to mutants as well. It does not. Humanity was attacking humanity for assumed differences in these instances. The differences between us and Humans is all too real. We are unprecedented. New tactics and strategies are needed when confronting a change in mission parameters like this. Unfortunately, those in charge of our education would rather point at historical tragedies and claim the similarities are enough to justify preemptive hostile action...though they ignore what history has taught us about such action. Namely, that it's largely unjustified and leads to exceptionally negative ramifications."