DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Alternate Reality PHX: Phoenix Reform Academy Parlor room

Ben

The motion of new people entering the room draws his attention from Mariel and he nods in the direction of what must be the female students of this misfit boarding school. Ben didn't hear what the long haired guy said but picked up on the sudden tension and frowned.

[img]https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18155204717352834/[/img]

Peri

The girl was small, standing maybe 5 feet tall, and scrawny. She look young - too young for this school, maybe 12 or 13 - or maybe she was just small for her age.

Since the long haired boy seemed not to notice her at all, she decided to take the opportunity to quietly circle around behind him, then lean in real close to his ear and whisper something.

Lamar



The final boy was very much on the small side, but there was a weightiness behind his eyes that belied his youthful appearance. He looked immaculately well-groomed for the moment, but didn't appear to be acting like it. As the long-haired sloucher put his foot in his mouth, he rolled his eyes and gave a small, almost disappointed shake of the head. With everyone some flavour of powered and more than a little on the naughty list, was it really a good idea to bray out objectifications with people making their first impressions? Ah well. You do your own time, as the old advice went.

The boy definitely looks taken quite aback, giving a ‘what the hell’ look to the strange scrawny thing, from his point of view, that crept up to him.

“Geez, eat a burger Gollum!”

He looks at her again.

“Make that two.”

He does, however, look definitely creeped and off balance, with the look of a cats whose mouse has suddenly turned on him.

Meanwhile, before he turned, Dash did flip a bird. A very small one. Perhaps a goldfinch in the realms of singular digital expression, towards the selfsame individual. But it was done. And flowed by an equally small hint of a smile.

Meanwhile, Mariel looks up, noting the tension, and her eyes narrow, but she seems to be holding back, watching to see how the room resolves itself, and who does what, but ready to move. She also makes a subtle hand motion towards the other teacher in the room, holding him back.

Long hair speaks again.

“Fine, whatever, dudes. ‘Hhadassha. Happy?”

Finding himself the uncomfortable center of attention in the room.

Although he seemingly did put more emphasis than needed on the ‘h’ and ‘s’ sound.

The jock looking one rolls his eyes at him. The other boy(not PC) shrugs his shoulders, shakes his head, and sidles towards one of the chairs. They did not seem entirely impressed at his ‘bravado’.

Ben

He frowns again at the new kid, shaking his head before turning to the newcomers, looking around the room.

"Nice to meet you all. Looks like we are going to be stuck together for a time. My name is Ben Monroe."

Lamar

Might as well back up Ben here and see if they could keep the ball rolling. He piped up, voice unbroken,

"Going by Lamar. Peace."

Cadence

The, as of yet, unnamed girl walking with Dash also smiled at the gesture.

"There ya go," she said quietly. "That's you taking back your own self... even in small steps."

Cadence's eyes tracked Peri first. All of that seemed out of place, dissonant even. The girl was a dormouse in the girl's common room, lamenting her lack of shoes and letting everyone know that she was poor and hungry... in words and actions. But now? She goes on he offensive. (well, maybe that wasn't the right analogy- she did speak up and had no issues with talking) Something didn't add it up. Cadence didn't know what that was, but caution was in order. These people weren't her friends and it was important to remember that.

Cadence pointed to a sofa where they could sit together, and let dash guide her. She leaned closer to the girl to whisper, "Dash or Hadasha... which do you prefer?"

Others were introducing themselves, and cadence watched and listened, and even smiled.

Peri

She followed where Dash and Cadence went, settling down in a chair near the sofa and shrinking back into herself a bit. Whatever burst of bravery or whatever it was that made her do what she’d done, it had vanished as quickly as it came. She did reach over and pat Dash gently on the arm to reassure her that she was still in her corner.

“Peri,” she said, picking at the skin next to the nail of her left index finger.

Anne

She took a chair where she wouldn't have to sit against anyone, or even too close. She listened to people give their names and watched. She seemed to be memorizing faces and names.

"You can call me Anne," she offers with little explanation. There were clearly many more pieces of information to be gleaned, but she wasn't forthcoming at the moment.

“Dash’

“Better be Dash. Can’t pronounce my other name. Not able to make the word. Bit s...”

She shrugs giving up on whatever it was she was going to complete the sentence with, sitting on the couch.



One boy speaks. “I’m Paul Maravich, that dude.”

He motions.
Here

“Is Torrance Underwood. And our smooth talking ray of sunshine on a cloudy day is Norton Tasker.”


Tree more individuals enter the room.

Martin

Grey

Eric

Lamar

Well, there was a familiar face, well-meaning at least if friendly was going too far. A brief nod of acknowledgement, for she had been as good as her word so far, as he settled in to await the beginning.

Cadence Marie

Cadence appeared to be the last to be identified publicly. She figured if she didn't name herself, someone else would do it for her. That thought came with a glance to the 4 elders in the room now.

Looking at Grey, she complied with the expectations of proper behavior.

"Known as, going by, and you can call me... Cadence, because that's the name on my birth certificate."

Ben

He sat on the piano bench next to Mariel, his attention on all of the new students that had introduced themselves as he tried to put names to faces to remember for later. They had a bit of an age spread as well, although you couldn't always judge a book by its cover with people that had powers. Norton looked like a tool and was probably the source of the tension he had picked up on as he spoke with Mariel.

The girls looked to be an interesting group, from waif to messy model. The last girl was striking! At least this school wasn't like a few of the boarding schools from his youth. He didn't mind an all boys school but it was nice to have some girls to talk to so that the testosterone levels didn't get too much.

He sat back to wait and see what the administrators had to say.

The older man moves to the front.



“I’d like to start off offering apologies to those new here. The night was rather busy. Most of us only returned long after you were asleep and one just drove up an hour ago. Unfortunately that means we didn’t have time to provide the amenities we should have. We will correct that shortly. After we’re done here, sometime today, if you get us your sizes and needs we’ll get things sorted out. Now, some introductions, although many of you have already met some of us. I’m Martin Kemp. In my earlier days I was known as Black and Blue. I’m the principle and chief administrator of this institution. I also teach several courses from history to math - and physical activities and combat. Over there is Dr. Mariel Saraceno,
also known as Phase. She will be teaching field control, physics and aiding in several other hard sciences. Please be gentle with the furniture here. It’s actually her house. Over there is Mary Thomas, otherwise known as Grey.
She is counselor, for those who have need, as well as teaching psychological and social sciences. And over there is Mr Carver, Also known as Amp, specializing in Biological sciences.

And lastly we have Dr. Eric Sanderson also known as Null. He will also teach many of the sciences and we could call it ‘practical applied technology’.”


“Of course, broadly, we will all be aiding in teaching many subjects.”

Ben

"Is your school accredited? For those of us near college age we need to know how this will affect us." he inquired.

Mariel

“Full credit. I say that as the first graduate from before we had that, when I had to fight for my place. We have placed past graduates in varying colleges, including MIT and Harvard, as well as many other colleges.”

Cadence

She leaned forward just a smidge, as her grandmother used to call the measurement between a pinch and a drop, a dash and a tad rounding out that home style cooking system. So, just a smidge forward to peek around dash and cast a sidelong glance at Ben.

"Seriously?," she whispered softly to Dash. "Accredited? Like this is the Prep school for Villains... next stop... Harvard or the Black Hole."

Dash
She snickers slightly at the image.

“Not much matter to me, not college material. Not that s... intelligent.”

Lamar

College, hm? It was an option, but probably a correspondence course rather than attending one. Then again, that was all up in the air and down the road, with the opportunities offered by powers seeming far more prominent. Education was not to be neglected, but that didn't make it a primary focus.

"There isn't a university for the Powered yet. Might be an interesting expansion opportunity. But shall we return to this year as opposed to future speculation?"

Ben

"What are the rules of conduct here. Are we allowed off campus? Visitation of relatives or such. The usual spiel please so we know what is going on." he said to Mariel.

Peri

If there’s one thing life had taught her, it was that everything had a price. All those teachers. The food. Electricity. Water. None of it was free. She was used to managing the bills in her family, or else they wouldn’t get paid.

“Um... Do you have a list of how much we’re going to owe, including a, um, estimate of fees and extras and penalties and all that?”

On more than one occasion, she’d had her lunch snatched out of her hands and thrown away in front of her because she owed her school too much money. She vividly remembered the shame of sitting down with a single slice of cheese between bread, and an apple. Everyone instantly knew what that meant, and even in a school where more than half the students got free lunches the people with ‘alternative lunch’ were the lowest of the low.

She didn’t want to think about what the alternative was in this school. Fail to pay, get sent to the Black Hole?

She started to gnaw on her fingernails.

Kemp

“I’ll answer that one. While you will be presented with a more thorough document which I am not going to try to read out here, I will boil down the essence of the rules for you. Respect the teachers. Respect each other. Expect, in broad strokes, that the same things that wouldn’t be allowed of you in any other school will not be allowed here, although in some areas things may be less formal, and in areas regarding use of your abilities ... more formal. Many of you have the capacity to harm others. You may have noticed that your abilities are somewhat dampened here, at least in externally manifested ways. We also will notice when you use those abilities in a strong way.”

He pauses a moment.

“As for family visits, it highly depends on the family. If they are not determined to be a danger, your uncle Frank from Centreville will be allowed visits. We are unlikely to bring in parents who are imprisoned, and visitation there is under the purview of the prison. We’re still setting up parts of the calendar, but it is likely to be weekend visits or similar for those who have been cleared. As for visits outside, we will have to play that one by ear. Unsupervised, no - for obvious reasons. Some of you are very skilled at making yourself scarce. But will it happen in some form? Likely.“

He turns to Peri.

“As far as costs ... that somewhat depends on you. Right now, contingent on overall behavior and effort, an ... ‘anonymous donor’ has all of you on scholarship. Several past graduates and other anonymous donors have made grants to the school - but that is by no means required. This is no money making operation. To put it another way, some costs to you may accrue, but they will be minimal, presuming you take your time here seriously. You want more in depth on that, see Dr. Sorensen later. She has an accountant that can give you the broad details.”

Anne

She listened. The talk of money made her wonder exactly what her own status was. She had a fund of cash to operate out of, but that was back at the house. Given how her mother was viewed, was she suddenly poor? She didn't even know what that looked like? At least that was put off for now.

Interesting that they knew if powers were used. It made sense, but she wondered how they knew?

For now she listened and acknowledged the instruction. It was all new to her.

Cadence

"I'm all for skipping visitation with the 'rents. You can just take my timeslot and share it with the others, 'kay? But now, on the other thing... All Y'all do realize that minimal costs or not... some of us have no money at all, right?"

And not one to be overly modest nor unwilling to say something for the shock value of it, Cadence continued.

"Aside from the leash here," she said as she raised her leg and pointed to the device wrapped around her left leg, just above the ankle, "I got nothin'... no money, no clothes, no nothin'. Everything I have, ya'll gave to me last night. Sweet Lord of Mercy, I'm not even wearing my own panties right now..."

She shrugged, "I mean, I tried an' all... but those damn leather pants were so freakin' tight that my undies were just bunchin' up..."

"You know what I'm talkin 'bout ladies... right here at the hoohah," she added with an knowing arch of her eyebrow and circumspect point toward her lower body.

"...and it was serious chafing... Somethin' had to give."

Now, maybe all of that was amusing to some around her, especially the boys, but the humor in it wasn't reflected from Cadence by choice or design. Maybe she was just highlighting a certain absurdity in trying to normalize someone like herself as though she were just an ordinary girl.

"I don't say all this to be disrespectful. It is what it is, and I'm not looking for sad eyes, Ms Grey. I'm here because you didn't like my option, so I said I'd play by all the rules, and I meant it. Ask the Doc over there. I haven't even touched my power since... not even to test his gizmo... What I'm sayin' is this... If there's a cost we have to pay, then I guess I'll need a job... Maybe some help with a resume too."

She then focused her attention on Lady Grey. If there was anyone in the room who had a chance of understanding Cadence it was her, and maybe Cadence needed to test the woman's commitment to her calling.

"Is it okay to put Destroyer of Worlds under previous employment?"

Lamar

With a glance over to Cadence,

"'Destroyer of worlds'. I like it." affirmed the boy. Turning back to Kemp, "I hereby formally request visitation rights with my known parent, as and when that becomes possible, cognisant of the risks involved and concomitant negotiation with relevant external interests. I fully accept needing to remain indoors on account of being a literal flight risk. Whilst I'm here in good faith and do not intend to abuse the trust accorded to me, I'm not going to insist on that being all that is necessary. I did notice the dampening, such as it is. I'm curious as to its nature, be it a Power or a machine, but I recognise that's probably need-to-know for everyone's continued safety. Any classes covering ethics and philosophy in a Powered world? Is tutelage available in specialised subjects with only one or two students involved, or is there a minimum class size to warrant a course being taught?"