Handling Your Powers, Tuesday

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan's class was scheduled for the Danger Shop every week for obvious reasons. But since he wasn't actually planning to get into the real stuff this week, he'd programmed in some chairs and some desks and... left it at that. Felt kind of weird, to make a normal classroom out of the Danger Shop, but it would pay off again later.

"Hey," he greeted. "Welcome to Handling Your Powers. Over the next couple of months, we're going to be doing physical and mental training exercises that will hopefully help you get a better handle on whatever powers you acquired, were born with, or got thrust on you."

That kind of thing got complicated.

"It can be rough being something other than baseline human," he said. "I recognize that. I had to go through it myself, growing up; I was part of the first generation of biotic kids born on Earth." He held up his hand, floating a pen up out of his hands. The practice made the rest of him glow faintly blue. "I had to deal with a lot of prejudice, and, even worse, bad education. I learned that you can't teach kids how to handle themselves by pushing them too hard or making too many demands."

The pen dropped back into his hand.

"So let's set up a rule right here, right now. I'm going to need some information about what you can do before we can set up a training program that will fit your needs. But-- if there's something you don't want to discuss, something you don't want to share either with me or with the class... just say you don't want to talk about it. As far as I'm concerned, at that point, discussing it is off the table and I won't bring it up again." He shot a Look at the class. "And neither will any of your peers, unless you say it's okay."

With that out of the way...

"Now, this isn't going to be an ordinary class. We're not going in with a pre-set syllabus. What we do here depends on you; on what you need, on what you can do, on what you can't. So unlike most introduction classes, this one's actually pretty important. I need to know your name, I need to know what you can do - as much of it as you're willing to share - and I need to know what you feel you need help with."

He nodded at the first student he saw. "The floor is yours."

Comments

Sign In!

[not_a_whiner]

With powers.

Re: Sign In!

[livebytherules.livejournal.com]

Will West

Re: Sign In!

[genesishero]

Evan Sabahnur

Re: Sign In!

[harpy-daughter.livejournal.com]

Surreal SaDiablo

Listen to the Lecture

[not_a_whiner]

As you do.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[livebytherules.livejournal.com]

The class selection Dr. Rourke had made for him was getting stranger and stranger. Getting slotted into a class about powers when he'd been told to hide them and himself for so long was jarring.

Will listened and tried to figure out what Dr. Rourke was doing here with all this.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[genesishero]

This was pretty much exactly the class that Evan had been talking to Victor about wanting, last semester. It made sense, really, when there were so many kids with powers on the island who had no idea what in the world they were doing.

As he listened to the lecture, Evan pondered just how he was going to explain his powers.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia was still buzzing with the thrill of having told her first class today about her powers. Or maybe it was just the cold. Either way, she was feeling jittery and fidgety as she listened to the lecture, and looked around at her classmates.

All of them evidently had powers. Any one of them could be her opponent.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor hadn't been sure she wanted to admit to having abnormal powers. This class seemed to take it as a given. She wondered idly if she could manage to claim she was in the wrong class, and hadn't signed up here at all.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh. Well. This was incredibly awkward. Some kind of office mixup had her not in either of the classes she'd signed up for and instead in two other classes that had nothing to do with her at all.

Really.

Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

Name, what you can do, what you need.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[livebytherules.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm Will," he said, giving the class a wave since it seemed like the friendly thing to do. It also gave him some time to figure out what to say next.

He really wished he'd gotten more information on this place.

"And I can...run a lot without getting tired. Like from Wisconsin to Canada without breaking a sweat. And there's a few things I can do with, uh, my mind. But, a lot of it's new so I'd just really like to learn some control."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

Kaidan gave him a little nod. "The mind's the hardest part, most of the time," he said. "On the other hand, you can program it-- and exercise it like a muscle. How long've you had these powers?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[genesishero]

"I'm Evan," Evan began, glancing up and speaking when it was his turn. After some deliberation, he decided he was going to be as honest as possible about his powers, not just for the sake of his training, but to maybe help encourage some of the other people in the class. This was going to be a safe space. It had to be. "And my powers are all genetic, but I didn't manifest them until I was about eleven."

Well, eleven in his head, anyway.

"I'm not sure about the full extent of what I can do, since my training stopped kind of abruptly when I was fifteen, but I do know I can shoot energy blasts from my eyes, or let off a lot of power at once around my body, to cause an explosion. I'm also a bit of a shapeshifter and metmorph, though not as good as some I've seen. Mostly I use it to stretch my arms and legs, or to create weapons with my hands if I have to fight. I know I'm probably capable of doing a lot more," considering whose blood he was created from, "but right now I think I'm mostly just interested in being the best I can be with the powers I know I have."

A beat.

"And they're not really a power, but I do have a pair of rocket boots. One of them was damaged in the last invasion thing, but I've managed to fix it. I think."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"I think you can probably manage controlling the rocket boots," Kaidan said wryly, but he'd been listening closely. "How are the energy blasts? Have you got a handle on what triggers them?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

"Good morning," Celia said with a little wave of her fingertips. "My name is Celia, and...and I can do magic."

It was still surreal to say aloud, after pretending for so long.

"I can create visual and auditory illusions, conjure objects and creatures though I'm a bit limited as far as size goes, change the physical properties of things, and levitate them with my mind." She shook her head, biting her lower lip. "I can also mend things that are broken, including myself, but I've not had luck with anything else that's living."

She cleared her throat. "In terms of where I need help...my control is very good, most days, but...it's hard if I'm angry or distracted."

She'd broken more than teacups, over the years.

She was studiously not looking at any of the other students, though she realized this was somewhere where people were expected to explain their gifts. She'd just always been taught to pretend it was an illusion, and not explain how it worked -- or that it was real magic.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"It's easy to be in control when you're calm," Kaidan said - and was a little surprised he didn't even blink at things like 'magic' any more. "Everything else past that? That's the real hard work."

He took a breath.

"Have you developed any tricks to keep yourself in check?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"My name is Eleanor Lamb," she began, firmly, "and I have several abilities that I don't know the extent of."

That seemed as good a place to start as any.

"I can teleport, in a limited range, but it's best to know where I'm going first. I've used telekinesis to lift large objects and fling them around. I can set my hands on fire and cultivate balls to hurl at others."

Usually three, in rapid succession.

"I heal very quickly, and I'm fast and strong, but those are ... different," she added. "As for what I want from class, I'd like to have a finer control on the telekinesis. I've only used it thus far very crudely, lift, aim, toss."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I've only ever ... used my powers in a confrontational setting," she explained -- which seemed a nice way to phrase cutting down the splicers Mother had sic'd on her -- "so I'm not usually aware of the limitations. And I'd like to ... work on remembering not to use them, although that may be beyond the scope of this class."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

"We can try and give you a good foundation to work on that," Kaidan said. "My biotics are often likened to telekinesis - though young biotics usually have the opposite problem. My old school tried to force them to use their powers in everyday settings."

Which had cost Vyrnnus his life - something he might have to share at some point during this class - but that wasn't relevant right now.

"How much has it crept into your life outside... uh, confrontation?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[harpy-daughter.livejournal.com]

"Surreal, and I'm a witch," was Surreal's answer when it came around to her, and she called in a bag of chips just to be difficult, letting it pop out of thin air and drop into her waiting hands. "You call it 'magic,' my people call it Craft. I can call things to me - like this - so long as I have vanished them beforehand. Pass through walls, create witchlight, shields and blasts of power, that sort of thing."

She was leaving out the poisons and such. For now. It wasn't a secret, but Surreal didn't need her Craft to create (most of) them, so she figured it didn't count for this class.

"I am Blood, which means I am from a race where we all have Craft. I've had it since I was born, and will have it even after I die." Because Surreal was too damn mean and stubborn to not end up demon dead.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_a_whiner]

Well. That was good to know...

"Is there anything you're hoping to pick up on while you're in this class?" Kaidan said, after a pause. "Something you're not getting at home?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[spin_kick_snap]

"Uhhh, my name's Kathy Li, and I'm not supposed to be in here," Kathy said softly when it was her turn. "I don't have any powers. I'm just norm--" You know, she had a feeling that calling herself 'normal' might be seen as kind of rude right here. "I'm in here because of some kind of mix-up or something and it didn't seem right to just not show up for class."

That was her. Plain, ordinary Kathy who totally didn't have any special abilities at all.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[bearmaidenfair]

"I am Vider Bearskin," Vider said, "and I am a berserker. In the battle frenzy I am strong, and fast, and very hard to hurt." The latter had been the goal, so it was nice that it was true. "But I am new and green, and my control needs work in a few ways."

Talk to the Teacher

[not_a_whiner]

"By the way, I could still use a teaching assistant," Kaidan added as he sat down.

OOC

[not_a_whiner]