Bailing 101, Monday

[suitably_heroic]

Hey, look, kids. Today, you had a teacher who wasn't lurking out in the hall to see what you'd do. Feel lucky, or something.

"Hey," Atton greeted them lightly. "So last week, I took a good look at how you people handle a bailing scenario. Only one of you managed to squeak their way out, so step it up, class."

Go on, Anders. Feel smug.

"Which is why this week, we're taking a good look at the steps involved in a decent escape," he said, wandering up to the smartboard. He drew a 1., then wrote, 'EVALUATE.' "Step one, determine whether you want to keep going on the present course, or maybe it's a good idea to get out. For instance, you've been here for twenty minutes and I still haven't shown up. The situation feels like a trap. Is getting out worth risking springing the trap? Are you going to get in trouble for breaking the rules? Are you even breaking any rules, considering I haven't been around?"

He tapped the board.

"This one's important, and we'll talk about that today. But, moving on. Step two. Tie up any loose ends. Is there anything you can do to make sure nobody will come looking for you? Can you make it harder on them to follow your tracks, if they do come for you? Sometimes you don't have the time to preplan, but if you do have it, take that time."

The next step was, of course, 3. "Pick a good destination," he said. "Sometimes there's only one, especially if you're just trying to get out of a fight. Sometimes you have the time to work on it. Pick somewhere you can get lost in the crowd. And finally..."

He wrote a big four. 'FOLLOW-THROUGH'. "You can get away with failing any of the previous steps," he said. "For a while, anyway. But if you don't have follow-through, you might as well forget it. Two of you were startled by me showing up yesterday, but one of you stuck the course and talked their way out instead of getting distracted. Follow-through makes all the difference."

He cleared his throat. "But let's get back to point one," he said. "Evaluate. I know a lot of kids at this school have a bloated sense of their own capacity to handle a crisis or win a fight. You have to shake that. I want you to sit down and make a list of where your limits are. At what point does a crisis or fight become impossible for you to handle? Be honest. When you're done, read up one and explain them to the class. Discuss if it makes any sense."

Comments

Re: Present Your Case

[not_every_mage]

"My main sticking point -- at home, anyhow -- is always going to be the people after me," Anders said, once his turn came. "They have a little device that's like a compass pointed straight at me, there are a lot more of them than they are of me, and they aren't slow with their blades. All I've figured out so far is going as fast and as far as I can to try to outrun them, but that only does so much."

Re: Present Your Case

[suitably_heroic]

"And there's no way to turn this device off, or confuse it?" Atton asked. "Maybe swap it out?"

Re: Present Your Case

[not_every_mage]

Anders shook his head. "No, it's tied to my blood. They keep the devices -- phylacteries-- locked up unless they're hunting us, and then it's on their bodies. I could break it but the risk of getting to it to break it -- it's more dangerous than just letting it be."

Re: Present Your Case

[suitably_heroic]

"Are there any other ways to get these phylacteries out that don't involve you directly breaking into the place?" Atton wondered. "Who's got access to those things? Hell, if they're stupid enough to take it with them when they hunt you..."

Re: Present Your Case

[not_every_mage]

"I could bribe a Templar to steal it, but they'd be putting their own life on the line," Anders shrugged. "They're the only ones who handle them, and most of them are religious maniacs. So even if they thought they could do it without getting caught, they probably wouldn't agree. The weak spot is that they have to carry the phylactery to track me -- but things would have to line up exactly right to take advantage of that."

Re: Present Your Case

[suitably_heroic]

"See, that's the thing," Atton said. "If you figure out the hows and the whens, you can make things line up exactly right. And these guys sound pretty predictable once they get going."

Re: Present Your Case

[not_every_mage]

"Really." Anders raised his eyebrows. "All right, how would you get something about the size of your palm away from a heavily armed soldier with very few scruples about chopping your head off? The phylactery glows when I get close, it isn't as if I can sneak up on them."