More Bad News

Posted on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 @ 21:29 by Claire Cavendish & Shane Gooseman

Chapter: All Hallow's Eve
Location: Teachers Lounge
Timeline: Tuesday, 2nd of November 1992
2041 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Shane sat on the small old sofa in the teachers lounge opposite the tv, or as he had heard one of his English compatriots call it, a 'goggle box.' The sofa was well worn and he was sure that a couple of springs had gone, or if the hair on it, was from some sort of school pet or perhaps even a fellow teacher. Either way it was still comfortable and Shane, who was still getting into a class routine, that being he had not actually started teaching yet, was watching the tv. The news was a bit grim. Shane was new to the UK, and was still getting a feel for the political landscape. Though when it came to mutants and mutant registration and restrictions it seemed pretty much on par wit the USA. Shane though was also focusing on trying to light his cigarette, with out much luck. So he was a little suprised when the TV mentioned something along the lines of Duke Cavendish. and the cigarette, unlit, fell out of his mouth. He cursed in a low voice and rummaged around in the worn sofa.

The door to the teacher's lounge opened and Claire leaned in for a short moment, looking around the room. "Hey." She greeted the new P.E. teacher. It wasn't the person she was looking for but seeing him lounging around on the worn sofa triggered her to step more inside. "How have you been settling in?" It would take a bit of time to adjust the schedule to integrate the new hire into the P.E. classes, it was probably a quite boring couple of days for him. As she stepped inside she heard a familiar voice coming from the telly that was now right next to her.

"Urrmmmm yeah" said Shane, who had now thad his head in the sofa trying to rummage and find his lost cigarette. with an exclamation he said "Ah ha" and found the lost item. He held it aloft like Excalibur, before putting it back in his mouth. He then realised who had addressed him, and being soldier at heart, and being addressed by an authority figure, he jumped to his feet.

It didn't seem to register with Claire that this man was standing at attention for her, so it didn't occur to her to tell him to settle back down. "I see you've met my father." She felt some tightness in her temples and rubbed at her right one with two extended fingers. "As you can see, he's very supportive of our cause." The sentiment was expressed in a dead pan manner. Those not too familiar with the British brand of sarcasm would be excused to think she was one hundred percent genuine.

"Ahhhhh" said Shane as Claire shined some light on the subject. He relaxed a little and sat down in the worn, yet comfortable sofa. "I take it you guys don't get along?" It was a statement of the obvious given Claire's tone. But sometimes it helped to talk about these sort of things.

Claire shrugged a bit, "I wouldn't put it quite like that." there was a bit of a struggle to find a proper way to describe it though. "He has disowned me when he found out he could no longer use his wealth to control me. He was part of a special commission in the seventies that investigated the possibilities for far reaching anti-mutant legislation. A role he's all to eager to pick back up. Legitimising his perspective on it saying he's affected by it personally." It was a clever ploy, who could accuse him of bigotry when his own daughter was a mutant. "The only issue seems that I don't quite fit his narrative."

"Thats what our kids are supposed to do isn't it? Not fit their parents narrative?" He was about to light up his cigarette, stopped then offered Claire the box for a smoke.

Claire waved it off and shook her head, she was more of a cigar and whisky kind of girl, and even then that was in moderation. Although the drink part had been challenging since the robot attacked them. "While true, I don't believe he'll have such a pragmatic view about it. I'm sure he'll use all of his political power to shape said narrative as well." there was a good chance he would use Avalon to his advantage, to make an example of them. Dissuade anyone else from trying what they were doing. Because if a Cavendish wouldn't be able to get away with it, who could stand a chance? It was a wild and violent swing the other way after suppressing so much of their activity in the past. Barely anyone knew about her, but the cat was out of the bag and the spin doctors were working overtime to make it work for the conservative Lord.

Shane was still the new guy so was not fully in the loop in regards to the events of the last few weeks. But the grounds of the castle looked like some sort of battle had taken place, and it was certainly not a type of battlefield that Shane had had experience with. So his conclusion must have been some sort of fight with powers? That or the kids had been practising with their own abilities he supposed. Plus there had been a bit of a tension in the air, and some of the other teachers, though they had not said so explicitly, had been through the ringer. Plus there was all the stuff with this Cavendish dude. "Ok" said Shane "What the hell is going on here boss, I mean, whats really going on?"

"As is the case around the world, there are some competing interests in human mutant relations." Claire sighed at that, "due to our nature we find ourselves in the middle." She knew it was a product of her heritage and her peaceful visions that put her in a very awkward spot. "My father is a conservative politician in the House of Lords, which I guess to you would be something akin to the senate. Events in the recent days have given him some more ammunition for his anti-mutant stance. Which predates me sporting my violet hue." She wasn't going to elaborate on how she had accidentally teleported a supercharged firestarter into his study in London on All Hallow's Eve to give him said ammo. It remained a bit too difficult to explain.

"On the opposite end of the spectrum we find a man calling himself Robin Hood, in charge of the Sherwood Rangers. They intend to establish mutants as superior to humanity. Which is obviously meeting with some resistance." The head mistress didn't feel the need to elaborate on the connection between Robert and Phoebe. "They seem very effective at sowing discord, using guerrilla style warfare. They trespassed onto the castle grounds last Halloween. Robin Hood can copy mutant powers by coming into proximity with them, so you can imagine Avalon being a veritable cornucopia for the man."

Shane took a long drag from his cigarette, making a mental note to buy the Head Teacher a good whiskey and choice cigar at some point down the line as a thank you present for employing him. He thoughtfully scratched his beard. This was a lot of information to take onboard. Though some of the politics and circumstances matched what was going on in the united states. He worried what this future might bring for the up and coming generation with their new super powers, especially his daughter. He had a lot to say and a lot to ask but somehow that did not seem to sit right with him. So he just asked four words "How can I help?"

It was never a great idea to immediately dump one of the institute's secrets on a new member of staff. The man's background check had come back clean, though, and his story pretty much checked out. "Two things." Claire seemed to think about the order in which to convey these two things for a moment. "One, the kids need self defence classes. We need to encourage them to be strong in body and mind and to use their powers to protect what we stand for. Never aggressively. But stand their ground." It was something they had discussed during his initial interview, so it shouldn't come as a suprise to him. Which was more than could be said for the next part, "Second. There's a team. We dedicate ourselves to defending the innocent, those who cannot defend themselves. We have facilities to train together and prepare for times when our abilities are needed." She took a moment to see how this was all being processed by the man.

"Is there a uniform?" he asked with a wry smile. He had no issue with teaching the kids how to "look after themselves." Hell if it was something the army had done was help him become independent. Though he was no hand to hand martial artist master. No the army, at least at the regular army level, did not teach much in the way of hand to hand combat, the belief being that they had already issued with a rifle, a side arm and a bayonet, so if you got caught with out these, you kind of had it coming. Still he remembered the basics from boot camp and regimental training. It was simple dirty fighting that could keep the kids out of trouble and then give them the opportunity to run away, find a weapon, or use their powers.

"We have connections with a government supplier that allows us some high tech protective gear. It's not a uniform as such but I'd like to be able to protect you and the others as much as I can." Claire's own uniform was form fitting and flexible, ideal for sneaking around. Cameron's was built to resist high velocity air friction and came with shoes that lasted longer than your average hiking boots when run in near the speed of sound. "We can have them customised based on your particular requirements. We will be relying on our natural abilities, though. No firearms." While firearms were regulated and allowed in the UK it went against everything the head teacher stood for and she had made it clear that there was to be no lethal force.

Shane made a mental note to try and lose, what he charmingly referred to as love handles. Though he thought maybe the British term beer belly might be a bit more appropriate. He had certainly let himself go since retirement only a couple of years ago. He never expected he would have to be keeping himself that fit again. But the guns issue had him riled up. "No Guns" came the Texan exclamation "don't we have a right to protect ourselves? Some of us don't have offence powers you know" You could take the man out of Texas but not the Texas out of the man.

"Hence the request for self defence classes." Claire didn't have offensive abilities either. If she got caught she'd be able to port away or turn invisible, on the condition that there was no bright light shining on her. "I'm sure you'll be able to manage yourself just fine in a fight."

It is not me I am worried about,thought Shane to himself. Shane nodded. "It is your call. I don't agree. But it's your call and i will respect your decision." Shane shrugged a bit. "I will see it done a begin a training program for students and staff that want it."

"Great, speak with admin about scheduling. I don't want it to interfere with their academics." Claire added, she wasn't running a bootcamp where you wanted to keep the questions to a minimum so that they would more readily follow orders. Avalon was there for peace and equality first and foremost. She needed to make good on a promise though, that she would protect these kids and that anyone that dared step a foot on the premise with ill blood would regret the day. It hadn't felt like Robin Hood had regretted the day.