Super Hero High: Prometheus Rising (IC, Open)

[Corrian]

When Caitlin had got into the class and started listening to everything that was being explained, she pretty much agreed with it all. But she decided to add her own little part to the conversation. Which was a simple "They probably passed the law just because politicians are a bunch of douche bags that don't use their brain and don't actually give a crap about their own people in the slightest, even if they pretend to care about the people. They clearly don't". She shook her head. These types of laws were the type of law's that made her have no hope in the government. But that was pretty normal for the government to pass laws that made her have no hope in the government actually caring for the well being of their people.

Cassie
After Cassie had either helped Burton or had been told by Burton that he could handle it, Cassie had quickly headed into her room to change into different, less 'exposing' clothes, even if all she was wearing was not very short shorts, and a short-sleeve shirt that wasn't even that exposing. She had changed into jeans, and had just put her blue jean jacket on, before hurrying off to Scott's class.

Once she was there, she simply sat and listened. She didn't like the fact that this was Scott's last class, because she liked Scott. He was a good teacher, and it made her sad to see him go. Especially whatever reason he had for leaving. Whatever it was, she figured it was probably for the better, and Scott had bigger plans in his life. Not that these stupid laws they were discussing gave them much room to do much....

She hadn't really learned much about the rules yet. Due to coming from being in a car accident, and having learned of her ability about 30 seconds before the crash, then going here, she hadn't really heard about it or really knew much about the existence of abilities anyway, due to being sheltered away in her life. And nothing very obvious like that came up in existence in the Corrian law's, as far as she was aware. So she let the people who actually know about it talk about it, and kept quiet. Not that she wouldn't of kept quiet anyway, being her and all.

She vaguely realized Tyler had spoken up, and she definitely realized Tara spoke up, because she had spoken a lot. If she had the ability to, which she didn't really, she would of gave Tyler a wave. But instead, she continued to just listen to everything that was being discussed in silence, feeling more comfortable in the clothes she changed into.

[AETEN II]

"I don't think a specific definition really matters all that much." I said, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but under the SHPA, the government can circumvent normal legal proceedings. If they wanted to, they could toss someone with 'powers' into a maximum security prison, and leave them there for the rest of their lives. There wouldn't be any trials, and the person in captivity would have no legal channels through which to gain their freedom, except those offered specifically by the people imprisoning them. Either you play by their rules, or they're allowed to do whatever they want to you. If you're exceptional in any way, they can act against you under the provisions of the SHPA, and the SHPA allows them to do so without even proving that their actions are necessary or warranted. Somebody like Einstein, Hawking, or Bhor, could be exploited by the SHPA because they're so much more intelligent than everyone else, even though there's no evidence that they have 'super-intelligence'.

"And it's pretty obvious how they determine whether or not somebody has 'powers', or not, when they're toeing the line on physical ability. Usain Bolt had to train his ass off in order to reach the level he has. If you put in obvious effort, if it took time to reach that level of ability, then people are going to look at you and say 'Wow! What an amazing person! Look at how hard they tried in order to be that good!'. It's different for people like me, because I've never had to try in order to reach it. It's not like I've been a slouch my entire life, but I've gone from benching my body weight, to more than triple that, in less than two weeks. While there are women that are still able to lift more than me, they also weigh about twice as much as I do, and spent years training in order to reach that level. It's my lack of effort in achieving that level of ability that differentiates my strength as a 'super-power', versus 'natural' human ability."

"This is easy to fix- either you bribe the politicians or threaten to fuel a new one, which my race has done to produce a 'warmer' environment- or you kill those who started bill discreetly and fund a politician to take this down- is this not a basic understanding of politics? They are no different than athletes, fund the one you support or take away your funding and give it to another to destroy his position. Or you arrange an accident. It's quite simple really and never loses its effect. Especially useful with the Chinese and the Russians." Erkenfried then paused while he scanned the room before he continued with his rather villainous monologue.

"Besides, if one's environment grows too hostile, simply move elsewhere. Or like I stated before- inject chaos into the herd. Arrange a war to distract them. Kill a Serb Duke perhaps? Worked beautifully. This is but a storm that will calm eventually, and thankfully, I have the capability to weather it. What you should worry about however, dear humans, is if you can without making allies- or taking action. Thankfully for you, it would indeed be very easy to create a distraction. Even compared to your predators, you are a most violent, brutal, and warlike race. You could certainly pull a 'Clinton' and discreetly start a war to draw attention away. Perhaps sic North Korea on South Korea or Iran on Israel? Yes there would be thousands of dead, if not perhaps millions, but maybe they need to learn who their masters truly are? Remind the weak that it is not they who govern. My race can testify that it becomes difficult to conduct business when hordes of the meek rise up and hilariously attempt to overthrow you. It never works, but it is indeed an annoyance. So I do certainly suggest that if you wish to aid yourselves in this dark time- distract the populace of this planet. Suck the air out of this issue by causing a larger, more violent one, but do it in secret." Erkenfried stated with a wiry smile, his father was a natural manipulator, a puppeteer of politicians in the olden days, and would be most pleased to see his son thinking in such a manner. Vampires thrived on war as vultures, circling over fields of misery and despair and feasting upon the chaos in the herd. But in this age, there was a new party who would also benefit from this as well- the mutants. They would escape their persecution in such a chaotic environment as a war.

[Camicon]

"Yes, because your strategy works so well, doesn't it Fry? It's not like your entire species is busy being exterminated by every capable government back on Earth. It's not like regular, non-powered humans have so thoroughly kicked your asses that the rest of your brethren now spend their days running and hiding. It's simply not possible that starting wars might be a very poor way to draw attention away from yourself, when the people you're sending to war are pushing you to the front lines. People with powers are going to become a commodity. While the public sits back and starts to recover from the vampires war, major governments are already getting busy, trying to grab as many powered people as possible no doubt. It's going to be another Cold War. Only, this time, the weapons are people.

"Yes, starting a war right now would be a very good idea, Fry."

I wondered if he'd caught the sarcasm in my voice.

[AETEN II]

"Yes, because your strategy works so well, doesn't it Fry? It's not like your entire species is busy being exterminated by every capable government back on Earth. It's not like regular, non-powered humans have so thoroughly kicked your asses that the rest of your brethren now spend their days running and hiding. It's simply not possible that starting wars might be a very poor way to draw attention away from yourself, when the people you're sending to war are pushing you to the front lines. People with powers are going to become a commodity. While the public sits back and starts to recover from the vampires war, major governments are already getting busy, trying to grab as many powered people as possible no doubt. It's going to be another Cold War. Only, this time, the weapons are people.

"Yes, starting a war right now would be a very good idea, Fry."

I wondered if he'd caught the sarcasm in my voice.

"Actually, those are the separatists, revolutionaries, or whatever you would wish to call them being killed. I'm actually quite joyous when it comes to their extermination and wish your species would have finished the job and wiped their country off the map. The disgusting, wretched creatures have forever threatened our place as perfected predators with their absolute stupidity. If it wasn't for them, nobody would have even know we existed. Our safety is in the shadows and those eager fools started a war- with THEM as a faction. If you start a war- instigate one between your enemies so they kill each other off. Exposing your species when you are outnumbered is a foolish move and one that caught us out in the open. I'd honestly love to hear how many of the scum you killed in the conflict- I myself have killed two in my lifetime- we use them as game for hunting." Erkenfried hissed, growing tired of the association between him and those vermin that effectively caught his species with their pants down. They hadn't anticipated that even those 'others' (a name was never truly given) would be foolish enough to reveal their existence.

That would likely be the last time that as a whole society, the members of Homo succo ever assumed anything about stupidity.

"And as for a war- you fail to see if from our standpoint. A Cold War redux would be quite beneficial for us. As well as you if you learned a thing or two about hiding. If it wasn't for those damned fools, we would have just remained a legend! But thosedamnsonsofabitchesjusthadtooexposeusall,theyjusthadtoo!"

[Northern Dominus]

After he received a bit of generous help from both Jay and Cassie, Burton locked down the gym in the order he found it for the general PE class and headed back up to his quarters on deck 6a. His notes post-class had to be logged in his master files so he could coalesce a timeline as the class progressed, but more importantly he needed a shower, something he hadn't done when he woke up that morning since there was a good possibility that he would have gotten very sweaty anyway

After getting a shower and changing into more regular but still slightly casual teaching clothes he plugged his tablet PC into his desktop unit and started to transfer the notes into his master files.
While he transfered he noticed that among the usual email flotsam of students asking for an extension or arguing about a grade in a half-assed (Silva) or confusing (Bramwell/Makato) manner there was an email that stuck out because it came not from the station but from earth. More importantly, the return address was instantly recognizable to him.

To: Malik, Burton <Malik_Burton_66@academypowered.com>
From: Harris, Horatio <Horatio.Harris@kaneda.af.mil>
Subject: Current Events.
Body: Greetings Burton, I hope this message finds you between classes, instructing the brightest and most powerful of the new generation of demi-gods.

I won't waste time beating around the bush with small talk, you know and I know that's not how things were ran in the 66th all those years ago and it's still how I run things here with the 31st and 33rd here in Japan. Word through SOCCOM back-channels says that your lockup in Tampa was emptied in a hurry. The same word says that it was a couple of CIA men in black types accompanied by some pissant army lite colonel that came to collect.
I don't know what's going on Burt, and I don't like that feeling, not when it concerns the best operator I've ever laid eyes on. If they're emptying it because you're retiring then I understand, but I'd ask you to reconsider and simply take leave time you were denied because of your "reassignment."

If it's because the principal of that big floating school you're in somehow convinced you to do some dirty work on his behalf, all I can say is don't go back down that path without a really good reason. I don't know exactly what you did working for that NATO black ops group but I saw what it did to you for 6 months, and if nothing else save your soul before some form of duty.

You should also know that ever since you accepted that position and took a sabbatical from the PJ's I've taken the liberty of twisting a few arms and getting some intel on your boss up there, one Fred Anderson. Seems that while he's a war hero British Intelligence has gone to a lot of trouble to cover up some things in his file, lengths that even the CIA has a hard time getting around.

All is not what it seems when it comes to him Burton, tread lightly.

I'm also afraid that some of the old guard that survived the war has also moved on. Pac-mule fell out of a Blackhawk after some nugget pilot jinked and dumped him out of the door without a warning, he got a medical discharge and tri-care for life, and 'Shaunda came with me but she's burnt out, even after taking extra leave in a month. The others, well you know how it works, you don't hear for months and have to catch up.

All concerns aside, I hope you can make the usual reunion in Vegas. Hopefully this time the casino realizes that we're not slicked-back flyboys and send us those high priced hookers like they did last year. We made Gribkee into even more of a man but I had a helluva time explaining to the wife where that c-note went to that wasn't accounted for by the MGM Grand.

Rangers lead the way but PJ's get them out

Colonel Horatio Harris.

Even after he read the signature of "Horny-Toad", Burton rubbed the back of his head for a moment slowly and deliberately, trying to quell the rush of thoughts in his head.

Truthfully he had thrown himself at the re-training thing because it was pretty much a default mode for him to be in at that point. For 12 years that what his life had been, a constant state of readiness, training, and various combat operations. He still had misgivings about the whole notion of taking on black ops for a private NGO, but he had accepted anyway because of that default position ruling him to this very moment.

Burton had gone along with it and hadn't exercised the critical thinking skills he tried to instil in his students.

"Some role model I'm turning out to be."

When the wall had no answers Burton sighed, unplugged his tablet PC after he transferred the last note from his tablet PC, stuffed it back into his Indiana Jones-esque leather satchel and headed towards Deck 5. His next class wasn't for awhile but he had plenty of small projects for both of his Astronomy classes that needed to be attended to.

Eventually he got to his office and flipped on the desktop computer there. However try as he might one project in particular called for his attention, a rather secret project that so far hadn't been shared with anybody else considering the grand scope of it.

However it was getting to the point where in order to bring it to fruition he would have to recruit at least one confederate if he were to make the proposal to Anderson and have it stick in any form.

Luckily he knew just the person who would be into this sort of thing and had the base of knowledge that he required. Whipping out his smartphone he highlighted Dominc Moreno's contact information and sent an SMS to his email inbox and his personal phone simultaniously

To: Moreno, Dominic
From: Malik, Burton.
Body: Dominc, swing by my office if possible, need your insight.

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael was slumped over her desk, too tired to make much of an effort. She hadn't read the Act, so most of the talk was incomprehensible. "A good definition might be a human who can do things not usually possible," she said, then rested her head on her arms again.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

I had quickly left my room to head to my first class since I've returned to the school. A wave of worry washed over me. How advanced would the classes themselves be at this stage of the school year? Would there still be a lot of the students from last year there, and would they remember me? I was hurriedly making my way through the hallway, holding a letter declaring my entrance to the school's programme at this late stage, to inform the teacher of the irregularity. I felt worried the most on how the others would react towards me though. Social groups would likely have been firmly established long ago, and an FNG like me would most definitely not be welcomed in open arms. My general take on it.

I reached the classroom that was designated on my schedule for this period. It appeared that it had already started, so I meekly opened the door, with my teeth gritting nervously. I blinked a few times. Scott's the power ethics teacher? How did that- what? I flicked my eyes to the side, to see the students behind their desks. "This is weird as shit," I thought to myself, but I timidly walked in and handed the teacher, weirdly enough a fellow student from last year, the letter to inform him of my entry of the school's curriculum. I was unsure about eye contact, and tried to avoid it at all costs. I didn't know how the whole ordeal of becoming a teacher had happened, and didn't really want to bother him by asking for the full story of it either. "So, yeah, I am a new arrival for this school year. Well, I suppose I can just sit down at any desk, right?" I asked quickly, to avoid any awkward questioning.

[Nfhd]

Will had heard Racheals defintion he did not like that since it still would've imprisoned him even if hadn't activated his power.
"That wouldn't work because some people have nutations that aren't super powers so I would get imprisoned for resitance to cold." Wil said in exhasted voice. When he had been in self defence he hadn't been able to use his cooling technique, his body temperaute had been a couple degrees to high and he handn't been able to lowerit due to not having his powers in se;f defence and ther wasn't enough cold air to cool him effectively here so he had a small case of overheating which exhasted him. He resigned himself byputting his head no the table and just lisyening to the converstatiom as he ateempted to. cool himself.

[Terintania]

After helping Burton, Jay hurried to the next class...or tried to. Even with Roady's help he got slightly lost, because he couldn't read signs and neither could Roady. They eventually got there and Jay apologized to Scott,"Sorry I'm late! I got lost," He muttered the last part, annoyed that he could still get lost after 11 days here. He headed over to a desk and sat down. He didn't really have any idea what was going on. He said something to Roady when the Golden Retriever sat down next to him, then turned his head toward Scott.

Charlotte had totally skipped class. She didn't feel like being bored by yet another class where they didn't DO anything, and still felt like she needed to hit something (Or someone), so she went to go look for something to punch.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

When the Self-Defense Class ended, Sarah took off the vest and placed it back where it belonged before heading out of the gym, thinking about the many things Burton had taught them that day. He said today was the easiest day, but it didn't concern her that much. She had already been through a self-defense class with a teacher that had a much worse temper, but she knew that things would still only get harder as time passed.

With all these thoughts in mind, she headed over to Scott's class and sat down. She wasn't sure of what to think about this being his last class at the school. She was acquainted with him, but that was about it, though he was still a good teacher. Pushing those thoughts aside, she decided to focus on what was being said in the class.

When suddenly someone entered the classroom, Sarah looked over and saw someone she recognized from her previous year at the school. She waved at Kristian briefly before turning her attention back to the class.

---

After class, Raymond walked out knowing more about self-defense than he ever had. Before he went to the school, whenever he had to fight, he simply threw punches, perhaps accelerating their vectors after he learned to control his power to some extent, and then hoped for the best. It might have made him strong but not skilled, at least at any other aspect of self-defense. He kept the three concepts in mind as he walked over to his next class.

When he was there, he simply sat down and listened to what was being said in the Power Ethics class. He didn't really keep track of the conversation that carefully but he absorbed most things anyways. When he saw a walking, talking kangaroo-human person walk (Or skip?) into the room, he was somewhat confused, but then simply gave a mental shrug, convincing himself that that couldn't be the weirdest thing around, and then continued listening. Well, more or less.

[Procastitania]

Declan watched, amused, as Erkenfried responded to Tara's answer by somehow implying that a war should be fought. Tara then flew into a rage like she always did. Erkenfried really sets her off, he thought.

He was about to make a remark about that when Kristian entered class. Declan's eyes widened. He hadn't seen the kangaroo-like superhuman since the previous year. "Hi, Kristian!" he called out. "We all just sit wherever we want. Come over here, and I'll tell what's been going on since I got here."

[Ularn]

Scott let the conversation run on for a moment while he casually checked his email. Eventually he interrupted with "Freddy, please stop hijacking the conversation. We're not talking about your degenerate family's little squabbles.
"Rachael, come on; your answer's just being lazy. Being able to lick you own elbow's not normally possible; doesn't make it a superpower. Same to you Caitlin; the "all politicians are corrupt!" line is a tired cop-out used by those who don't like the political system but can't be arsed to actually figure out why or what to do about it. The reason the Act hasn't been overturned is actually hidden in its title," Scott picked up a sharpie from his desk and wrote on the whiteboard; SUPER HUMAN PROTECTION ACT 2013.
"Who is this Act protecting?" Scott asked, "Its not superhumans; it's trying to lock us up. A better title might be the 'Protection From Super Humans Act'. This Act has remained in force with public support because the public believes it protects them; that we are a thing that they need protection from, despite the fact we helped save them from Freddy's relatives. Part of that's to do with figures like Derek Johnson and John Doyle but, to be honest, this school's not done a particularly good job of improving perceptions of superhumans. To people on Earth, this place is a big black box in space where god knows what goes on while it churns out child soldiers and teaches the next generation of supervillains along with the heroes.
"Another factor - aside from the fear of superhumans themselves - is fear of other governments with superhumans. A second Cold War is brewing - with us in place of the nukes - but this time everyone has nukes, not just the Allies and Soviets; we're scattered across the globe, from all countries, races and religions. The SHPA gives Britain the means by which to control its own supply of superhumans in case Iran or North Korea try to use theirs against it, and every other nation on Earth is thinking the same thing. We don't even know if Iran and NK are even the ones to watch out for; any two-bit banana republic could become a superpower now if it happens to have its own Doctor Manhattan. Just like the Cold War, it probably won't come to anything, but just like the Cold War, it's better not to run the risk of looking weak.
"Now hold that thought for a sec; I just got an email from the headmaster he wants me to read out to you. Apparently the School's received an aid request from Puerto Rico to help the local constabulary hunt down and trap a chupacabra. It launches in three days; the sign-up sheet will by posted by the level four stairwell next to the memorial. Acceptance is dependent on your good behaviour." His expression darkened for a moment as he added "Also Rachael, can you wait behind after the lesson? You're not in trouble but I need to talk to you and Roxan- I mean Miss Redwood."
His enthusiastic face returned, with little visible strain added, "Now, back on topic. Anyone want to suggest ways to get the act repealed? Should it even be repealed if it staves off World War Three and mutually assured superhuman destruction? And to pre-empt certain of those in our company, burning down Westminster and all the MPs is not a valid answer," Scott smiled sourly, "It'd only validate the fears of everyone who tried to create the Act."

[AETEN II]

"YES! A hunt! The greatest test of will and strength, but I am ignorant of what a Chupaaaa, chuuuu-" Erkenfried found difficulty in pronouncing the monster's name, he knew barely any Spanish and found speaking it quite difficult- it was an alien language compared to German.
"What is this thing known as a, however-the-hell-you-pronounce-that? I am ignorant of Spanish cultures, especially those of Latin America- wait, will this hunt be taking place during the day or at night? I would be an invaluable participant in a hunting party, but couldn't participate if the country was still facing the sun." Erkenfried asked, completely ignoring the bill in England that would attack the rights of those who were mutants- the idea of a grand hunt of what sounded to be a dangerous creature excited him. Nothing was more enjoyable than a hunting mission- he was a predator by birth and loved the art of hunting game over several miles before lining of the kill.

[Terintania]

Jay was completely clueless about what was going on, since he was late. When he heard about the mission, he wished he could go, but knew he would only be a burden with his blindness. To Erkenfired's question about what it was, he said,"I think It's pronounced Chupe-ah-cob-rah, but I'm not sure. Other then that, I don't really know. I think it's some kind of rodent, but I might be thinking of something else." He thought about Scott's question related to the Act, then said,"I would say 'prove that we can be trusted', but I doubt that would work. I mean, sure, this school training villians rather then stopping them probably doesn't help Superhuman reputation any, but if they want to lock us up for what we are alone, I doubt we could prove that we can be trusted."

[Procastitania]

"Chupacabra..." Declan murmured. He had never seen one himself, and they were extremely rare. However, even in the forests of Massachusetts, far away from the beast's native home, rumors had travelled up of the legendary goat-eater. It was like a boogie man for animals. Before things had gotten dangerous down on Earth, he had been planning on taking a field trip of his own to visit the animal. If they're smart, the guys in charge will have me talk to it, he thought, then winced. Or make me the bait.

While he recalled the horrifying fears conveyed to him by the animals, he was mildly aware of Scott asking another question, presumably about the stupid Act. The way that the students were sent out to do what school wanted reminded Declan of his short career as a mercenary with other super humans in Boston. The work was mostly heroic, and he just wanted some money to rejoin society. It was the same at the school, except many of the station's occupants had no choice but to join the school or lose their freedom. That was the problem with the law. It stole people's freedom. Declan said as much, saying, "The law must be repealed because it takes our freedom of choice".

[Altruistic Paladins]

Bramwell and Sakura

"To steer the conversation back to his Mister Kerr's, improving our public perception into us being regular people would help matters," Sakura said in an off-hand tone as she continued the assignments of other classes she had. Even if she did not like how horrible it have the thought of it, she hoped that Makoto's B.P.D. would go on for two more days so she could just transfer into the current class and stop dealing with work for a different class that had plenty of villains to harass her. "When the popular perception is that superheroes are different from regular people, it is only natural that they would be treated differently in response, though I doubt that anyone will get into hot-water over saying that 'God exists, and he is American' about any doctors that become unhinged from time due to having the powers of a god. Most superhumans are more likely to be treated as very useful free-agents, soldiers, and crime fighters than nuclear weapons, as most superhumans cannot match the damage produced by the blast yield of the GBU-43/B's eleven tons yet, let alone the blast yields of inter-continental ballistic missiles or even Tsar Bomba," Sakura said in a distant manner.

"Wait, I was talking about perceptions of superhumans. Okay, the problem asserting itself is that we are not percieved as humans, much to the collective greetings of geneticists' palms and faces everywhere. Since history rules that change does not go to oppressed groups that manage to vote so much as it does to oppressed groups that start social movements and gain support from sufficiently large groups of people outside their community, working to start a movement alongside the organizations that already do support egalitarian treatment of superhumans, such as the Human Rights Watch. Popular movements generally take time to change social trends, so it is a good idea to start by organizing as an underground movement to create a solidly secure base where people can receive support while still ultimately living and working among other people in secret identities to ensure we do not accidentally isolate ourselves from other people. This would mean businesses, N.G.O.s, and other organizations that can covertly support people and let them know they are among comrades before we start the social movement. After the foundation has been laid, we can start the education, lawsuits, and lobbying while organizing direct action against it in non-violent protests, such as mass protests outside state legislatures voting on anti-egalitarian legislation. Never mind, I am distracting myself from my assignments," Sakura said in a cold tone more similar to thinking aloud than debating. Bramwell's opinion of Sakura was now becoming much more reverent; if resentful that she went after a few things he wanted to say something about.

[Corrian]

Caitlin had shot Scott a glare at first, until it hit her that, yes, what she had said was pretty retarded. His explanation of why it was retarded was definitely accurate too, and she gave a nod to what he said, realizing that she should of thought about what she was saying before opening her mouth, to avoid making herself sound like an idiot.

Then, she just went back to listening to Scott's class in silence. She pretty much agreed with what he was saying. The law definitely seemed like it was supposedly saving mankind FROM the Super Human's, even though the law's name tries to make it sound like they are PROTECTING the Super Human's. So now, at least in a large chunk of the countries that followed, people like her were being locked up because they COULD be a danger, even if they had no intentions of doing any harm ever. So, the government's were being jerks, locking up people, ruining their lives. Sometimes more then they already were ruined (Like in Cassie's case), just because they were afraid of them. It was really pathetic if she thought about it. Someone perfectly nice that wants to HELP others with their abilities would now be locked up, possibly to go insane, and BECOME like the reason they were locking them up in the first place. Now that she thought about all of this, she felt that she should of actually said that to the class, instead of just thinking it, but figured it wasn't appropriate at this point.

Now, Scott's next point made her shake her head at herself. Not because she disagreed with it. It was because it was way too true for her liking. All these countries now passing some of these so they can use these people for their own gains, and so on. It's rather pathetic. But it was exactly what she'd expect out of human kind. Which was exactly why she wanted to help stop some of the bad people, including the super human's that were making them all look bad. This whole situation was starting to worry her. Having heard about Cassie's abilities, this made her really want to keep quiet about her abilities. If word got out too much, and spread far enough for multiple countries, especially bad one's, to know of her ability, it could get bad. Not many people could see the future, or find where people were. As far as she was aware Cassie was the only one. And countries suddenly raging war against each other, fighting over control of Cassie for their own personal gain....it could get real ugly. And she knew that some of those more questionable countries would just love to use someone who could see the future AND detect where people are for their own personal gain.

Now, the next part of the Headmaster sending Scott a message to tell them, and the message caught her a little off guard. Chupacabra? Really? That out of all things? She didn't even believe in the damned Chupacabra, and that seemed like one weird ass request for the Super Humans to take place in. Either way, she was definitely going to accept, because anything to help, even if it was weird as hell and likely would end in absolutely nothing happening since, in her mind, the Chupacabra was just fake and a legend, or myth, and wasn't actually real in any shape or form. Though, she had to admit, it was definitely more likely to be real then she had previously thought, with vampire's being real and apparently super human's, so she would be more open-minded about it then she used to be. That is, if she was actually even accepted.

After listening to everyone's suggestions, she decided she'd add in her own, fake, joking suggestion, that she had no intentions of actually being used. It was just that: A joke. To prove that she was only joking, when she added in what she had to say, she was smiling.

"I say we bring the lawmakers Cassie. Cassie is literally the nicest, sweetest, and kindest person I have ever met, and that's really saying something. It would be a good way to show them that not all of us with powers are the same, and are only out for the destruction and danger of the public. Cassie would be the complete opposite, and show them that there is a nice side to the super human's, and maybe it would make them rethink a little about forcing people like her into prison or into military service" She said, continuing to smile. She wanted to make sure Scott knew that she wasn't exactly serious, but maybe it was a good idea anyway. She didn't really know. She would leave that to Scott to decide

Cassie
Cassie had pretty much absolutely no input on anything that was being said, and just listened, sighing when appropriate, frowning when appropriate, and shaking her head when appropriate. Not that even if she had any input, she would actually speak up, due to being too shy to speak up that often in class and draw all the attention on her. All she knew was that this law frightened her, and she was afraid of it. If she would ever get brave enough to leave the space station again, she figured that she might just have to take refuge back at Corrian for the rest of her life, since as far as she knew they still didn't put a law like that up themselves. She didn't want to be in prison for no reason, and she had no intentions of doing any sort of military service. She didn't even consider her own powers dangerous, and had to keep asking herself in her head "why?", not understanding how government's could be so screwed up, and the world in general. All she wanted was a normal life for once, and she thought that maybe she would have that after she had recovered from the crash (Well, as normal as Cassie would ever have), now that she had been freed from the reins of her father. But noooo, now she had the government's to deal with, who wanted to just lock them up as if they were all monsters, and her life would still be crappy. There was now where she had to be forced to learn combat, to hurt people, which she hated, and now she learned about this stupid law. She just let out a sigh, and plopped her head on the desk, having a hard time focusing on anything with the mixture of all these crappy thoughts and the bad start to the morning.

Until she heard her name, which made her snap her head up again, because that caught her off guard. It took her a bit to process who the voice belonged to, and then she realized it was Caitlin. Why was she talking about her? At first at what Caitlin said, she started to get nervous, and shaky again. Was she really going to just sell her out like that? But it quickly hit her that she wasn't serious, or so she hoped. And when she called her the 'Nicest, sweetest, and kindest girl I have ever met", she couldn't help but start blushing, and looking embarrassed by the whole thing. As some of the students eyes turned to face her, recognizing her name from her introductions during previous classes, she started to shrink in her seat as if she'd be able to melt away and disappear from the eyes staring at her, and continued to look embarrassed at the praise from Caitlin, because apparently she had a hard time taking any sort of praise without getting embarrassed. Because of this, she had pretty much missed everything else Caitlin said, because she was busy 'hiding' from the onlookers, and being embarrassed. The eyes looking at her wasn't helping, and had made her even more embarrassed then she already is....which some people probably just found enjoyable, seeing her so embarrassed like that....which would probably just lead to her getting even more embarrassed.

[Mighty Asgard]

Luckily he knew just the person who would be into this sort of thing and had the base of knowledge that he required. Whipping out his smartphone he highlighted Dominc Moreno's contact information and sent an SMS to his email inbox and his personal phone simultaniously

To: Moreno, Dominic
From: Malik, Burton.
Body: Dominc, swing by my office if possible, need your insight.

Dominic heard his phone beep and quickly pulled it out to check what kind of message had arrived. It wasn't a very fancy phone, it didn't even have a color screen, but it was sturdy enough to have withstood half a decade of his career so he hadn't seen a reason to get a better one. It would hardly be useful to have a fancy phone that broke after a few weeks after all. The message that had arrived was from Burton, who wanted to speak with him about something. Since his first class wasn't scheduled to start for another half hour he saw no reason not to go and see what Burton wanted right away, so he excused himself to Ocean and headed out of the cafeteria. A few minutes later he arrived at Burton's office and knocked on the door before entering.

"You wanted to talk about something?" he asked, standing in the doorway.

[Northern Dominus]

Dominic heard his phone beep and quickly pulled it out to check what kind of message had arrived. It wasn't a very fancy phone, it didn't even have a color screen, but it was sturdy enough to have withstood half a decade of his career so he hadn't seen a reason to get a better one. It would hardly be useful to have a fancy phone that broke after a few weeks after all. The message that had arrived was from Burton, who wanted to speak with him about something. Since his first class wasn't scheduled to start for another half hour he saw no reason not to go and see what Burton wanted right away, so he excused himself to Ocean and headed out of the cafeteria. A few minutes later he arrived at Burton's office and knocked on the door before entering.

"You wanted to talk about something?" he asked, standing in the doorway.

Burton looked up from some of his Astronomy 102 lesson plans and saw Moreno framing the doorway

Yes, and it's something, well different. Come in have a seat..."

Burton hurriedly removed a pile of notebooks manilla envelopes and books of varying vintages from a chair adjacent to his desk.

Once Dominic had sat down he softly balled his fists and bobbled his elbows that were resting on the chairs arms, then tapped the knuckles together, then intertwined his own fingers, pursing his lips the entire time.
Clearly this was something major or something dear to his heart.

"I've been thinking. Here we all are in orbit aboard the most advanced space station... well..."

Burton swatted an imaginary fly.

"Look you've been up here longer than I have. We're in space, aboard a space station, and on the other side of this same orbit is the new ISS.
When's the last time anybody at this station has ever taken a field trip to do something other than to act as an NGO superhuman catch-all agency? When's the last time the students left the station for the purposes of hands-on and fun learning?"

[The Kangaroo Republic]

I looked over the students in the class, pleased to see some of my old friends from last year, clearly not holding bitter thoughts about my departure from last year. That was re-assuring for me, and I took my seat by Declan. Scott seemed more unphased by my re-appearance on school than I was about him getting a teaching job. Good to see everything wasn't going to be much different here after all, and the nervousness dropped off of my shoulders, allowing for some breathing room again. "It's been a way too long time," I said in a low tone. I hadn't the faintest idea what any of the topics the students were discussing was all about. Whatever their mission was, and with me still being the new guy, I was put in a position of watching from the sidelines. I didn't find that such a terrible idea. I was way out of touch with any kind of important mission, physically incompetent, and simply lacking any experience and the heroic training I missed from dropping out, and messing up a chunk of my life.

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael didn't bother replying to her answer being lazy. She knew it had been. It was just there to prove she hadn't fallen asleep, which she probably looked liable to do at any moment. She was very tempted to, but right now she was too worried about what he needed to see her and Roxanne for. She hadn't done anything particularly rule-breaking recently, just got into loud arguments with people. Nothing much had changed, apart from finally starting to lose weight. So it would have to be something that was actually relevant to Roxanne as well.
Such as the murder of Rachael's father.
Maybe they'd figured out it was her. She'd been scared of this for the last two weeks, terrified that they'd find out and send her to prison somewhere. They'd send her to court and she'd have to be put away for the rest of her life. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but now he was dead, and they'd found out it was because of her.
"Replace all the MPs with shapeshifters?" she offered half-heartedly, only speaking to distract herself from thinking any further about court and prison and never seeing Ruby again.

[AETEN II]

"Spineless idiots. Just leave the country. Go to the typically neutral nations, such as Switzerland or the Scandinavian area. Russia if you're able to manipulate people. This isn't a large issue and it can be fixed by simply waiting it out. You'd be doing a favor if you copied our strategies, to hide in the shadows and weather the storm is typically the safest option for survival. If you're skilled in manipulation, throw mud at the politicians that started this. Hire a prostitute to seduce them and get a testimony that they beat her. You act as if you are powerless yet are indeed capable of surviving this intact. You are unknown. The public knows little of the potential of mutants, and fear of the unknown is the greatest fear. Use it to your advantage. Honestly- how have you even survived this long? You should have seen us in the Middle Ages. That was an actual crisis." Erkenfried stated with annoyance obvious in his voice- he hated those that were bound by morals or simple ignorance and incapable of helping themselves. These humans had extremely useful abilities, yet were worried that they would be enslaved? It was surprising that one of their kind hadn't already enslaved the normal humans.

Erkenfried also then noted Jay's comment with a nod of his head, but doubted the creatures was of Rodentia. The school wouldn't be called in to deal with a giant rat.

[Altruistic Paladins]

Bramwell and Sakura

"At least we do not recieve numerous offers to participate in clinical 'tests' for new therapies of a certain personality disorder. We happen to be smart enough to know that Switzerland is not a perfectly neutral land, as its extradition of the Holocaust's various targets to the ever-responsible hands of the Nazi-controlled government of Germany during World War II, in combination with its permission to allow German military and intelligence forces to move through there after Vichy France became a thing demonstrated quite well. The nations of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark happen to be some of the biggest supporters of the European Union, which made the decision to allow such treatment of superhumans amid member-nations, disregarding the fact two were invaded during the course of World War Two in one of the most successful acts of neutrality during World War II they made by successfully convincing the Nazis to stop shooting at them by creative new usage of the white-flag while the other had its sovereignty frequently disregarded in an equal-opportunity 'you are strong and we are weak, so do whatever the heck you want so long as you do not start shooting' diplomatic policy displayed previously by Switzerland with the only major upgrade being the protection of Holocaust refugees. To claim they are somehow neutral is historically lacking in knowledge and confirming our perceptions about your education and potential location in DSM-IV-TR, which suggests nothing objectively positive," Bramwell said in a quick and very fervent manner with some amount of annoyance present in his tone. He was a major-fan of history, especially when it involved the Second World War. Sakura seemed to take some dedicated interest in what Bramwell was saying before going back to her work, paying attention still.

[AETEN II]

Bramwell and Sakura

"At least we do not recieve numerous offers to participate in clinical 'tests' for new therapies of a certain personality disorder. We happen to be smart enough to know that Switzerland is not a perfectly neutral land, as its extradition of the Holocaust's various targets to the ever-responsible hands of the Nazi-controlled government of Germany during World War II, in combination with its permission to allow German military and intelligence forces to move through there after Vichy France became a thing demonstrated quite well. The nations of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark happen to be some of the biggest supporters of the European Union, which made the decision to allow such treatment of superhumans amid member-nations, disregarding the fact two were invaded during the course of World War Two in one of the most successful acts of neutrality during World War II they made by successfully convincing the Nazis to stop shooting at them by creative new usage of the white-flag while the other had its sovereignty frequently disregarded in an equal-opportunity 'you are strong and we are weak, so do whatever the heck you want so long as you do not start shooting' diplomatic policy displayed previously by Switzerland with the only major upgrade being the protection of Holocaust refugees. To claim they are somehow neutral is historically lacking in knowledge and confirming our perceptions about your education and potential location in DSM-IV-TR, which suggests nothing objectively positive," Bramwell said in a quick and very fervent manner with some amount of annoyance present in his tone. He was a major-fan of history, especially when it involved the Second World War. Sakura seemed to take some dedicated interest in what Bramwell was saying before going back to her work, paying attention still.

"And then they would scour the entire country specifically looking for one mutant? Obviously wherever you go one should attempt to remain 'off the grid' as how you would call it. The odds of you being captured and taken away in Switzerland or the Scandinavian area is far lower than any other nation, especially the powers. The only exception is Russia- which are typically quite friendly to whatever kind of being you are so long as you do not seek to claim power, pay them off, and/or possibly complete several favors for them. Nations such as America, Britain, Israel, Iran, North Korea, and China are far more dangerous, obviously. It's a bit of a shame however that the Third Reich did collapse- they would have been useful at this point. From what my brother has told me, they were quite friendly so long as you provided services to them and didn't participate in Partisan groups. Although it likely resulted as well from intimidation, which for some reason you mutants lack. A careful balance needs to be struck between fear and a good public image. Too aggressive and your fellows will attack you out of a fearful cause, too submissive and they will stampede over you. It's time like these when you're thankful that you're in the audience and not on the stage." Erkenfried mused, he truthfully did feel bad for those who lived in the Americas and were mutants though- if the previous Cold War proved anything, America would be the one to ignite the conflict. They'd likely manipulate the entirety of NATO to snatch every powered individual they could find. Leaving Germany might be a wise move- a vacation to the Slavic regions would likely be a wise one for his family.

[Procastitania]

Declan smiled in response to Rachael's suggestion. "That could be fun. I'm not sure how many shape-shifters there are, though."

He turned to Kristian and lowered his voice. "I only got here a few weeks ago. Things are a bit stricter, but just as crazy. My first day, someone nearly murdered Roxanne's sister over there with a taser. Me and one of the security people stopped her though." Declan continued replaying major events in his head. "Scott started the year as a teacher, after fighting in the armed forces. He's leaving pretty soon, by the way, 'cause of some argument with the staff. It had something to do with the brief mission we went on to Kildare, and bringing Roxanne back to the station. There was also a dragon attack, but I wasn't really anywhere nearby. And now, we're in Scott's last class, being taught about, or at least having an argument about, the law that forces him to work here, join the army, or rot in prison. Unless, of course, he goes into hiding instead." He thought a second, then said, "Yeah, that's all the major stuff for me. For anything earlier, you'd best ask someone else. I'd be happy to answer any questions, though."