Only one request (open)

[Joe Honnick]

Joe needed to do something, PUSE was falling behind and their cause was getting ever closer to falling behind. The problem, Joe assumed was that Pilot Ridge was a mecca for meta humans. It was a 'safe' place for them the Hammel faculty had said time and time again. What about the humans who were forced to live around people with uncontrolled and often dangerous powers? Where was their safe place? Joe just had one task, to keep the meta humans from using their power to instill fear and taking over. How could a group be oppressed when they had the power of the gods? It wasn't right. And it wasn't right that people coddled the meta children either. What use did a thirteen year old need with the ability to read minds? Who was to say that a thief wouldn't gain invisibility or a murderer the ability of fire. It was random and it was dangerous. Joe frowned as he set up his table outside of the town capitol building.

People were hurt by meta humans, his daughter was hurt by a meta human. Joe spread the banner over the table so that the letters P U S and E stood out in front with the full word in smaller print to make the acronym make sense. He needed support, and he needed support from both sides. Joe knew very well how politics worked, he didn't want it to look like he was trying to banish one side of humanity from everything, rather he needed to make it look like he wanted to establish a way to control meta humans in government. If he got enough support he could take it to the state senator or representative and then they could work their magic from there. It wasn't a proposal for oppressing meta humans but forcing a way to make sure that there could be a check on their power by those who were in many senses powerless against them.

All Joe wanted was signatures. He set up a fat stack of papers and cards with his name and magnets with PUSE on them. A few of the pages already had signatures, his own and his family's, other PUSE members. But he needed to reach out to the community around here, ideally the human community. And if he couldn't do that perhaps a debate with a meta human that he might sway to see the fear of humans of their kind. He straightened his suit and put on his polished smile and beamed at the first person to sweep by. "Excuse me can I interest you..." No dice, "Okay have a great day." He called after the woman. Twice more he was turned down with a smile and the shake of his head. He didn't stop trying. "Good morning, can I take just a moment of your time?" He would ask again and again. A few times people stopped to talk and one was a meta human and as soon as he said the premise the man stalked off in disgust. Another was a woman who had been eavesdropping. She signed saying "I think it's good what you're trying to do." Another few passed him by. He still kept at it. "Excuse me, can I take a moment of your time?"

[Benton Barrett]

It was his first day visiting Pilot Ridge – his first opportunity to go off campus. It was a good situation – he needed a little bit of breathing room, and though he was given a thick list of rules about going out, he respected and understood them. He also understood that if he broke curfew, there would be problems of the kind he didn’t want for being so new. So, dressed in his nicest jeans, a thermal shirt, his red hoodie, and new sneakers ( thanks, mom! ) he was doing his best to explore. He had a good idea where he was in town, and since all he was doing was exploring, he wasn’t exactly worried about getting lost yet, either.

He kept his hands rooted deeply into his pockets, because, when push came to shove, that was a good way to keep everyone around him safe. So long as he was walking, he wasn’t bound to get cold, despite the somewhat nippy air, so all that he had to do was not touch people. He could do that. He was good at that.

Benton wasn’t a bad kid. He wasn’t particularly ignorant, nor was he someone who would back out of a good conversation, no matter what the situation. That being said, he had no idea what PUSE stood for – so as he approached ( with every intention of walking by ) his eyes traced along the banner. Who wasn’t equal?

Excuse me, can I take a moment of your time?

The student paused, uncertainly, turning to look at the person who spoke. He was standing behind the table, looking rather friendly and approachable. The younger boy considered for a few seconds, hesitating – before finally nodding.

“Sure. I’m always interested in new things – and I’m all for safety and equality.” He smiled up at the man, to show his sincerity. He knew a lot of people wouldn’t be bothered, especially people his age, but this was the whole reason he’d gone out in the first place. To mingle with people he didn’t know, to get to know the town a little better than he did. After all, if he was going to be stuck here for a few years, he might as well get somewhat cozy with the locals.

“My name’s Benton – it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Honnick.” He added, by way of introduction – he’d seen his name on some of the things here – cards and the like. What he didn’t do was offer his hand to shake. He was a mature-ish individual, but he was also someone who could suck the heat out of a human if he let himself get too touch-y feel-y. Better to… not.

“So who’s unsafe and unequal?” He asked, curiously, mostly because people united meant that some of those people were unsafe or unequal… right?

[Joe Honnick]

Joe was look for anyone young or old. After all the young were the future, if he could get to a few of them then there was hope yet for his cause. And for the old, well they could actually vote and make all the difference. It was a somewhat flaw of the old to assume that the young had no standing. It was perhaps even more dangerous because the young didn’t have a vote, they didn’t have to care. But it became a problem when they should care. They thrived on apathy and by the time they reach the magic age for voting they were well apathetic to anything. It was a blessing to get the young to be on the right side because then they would care enough to look forward to the day they could vote and they would breath the apathetic cycle and vote with passion and with knowledge. That was Joe’s wish, and his secret wish that their passion be his passion. He was no fool, the young were impressionable and that made speaking with care all the more important.

So when a kid nodded his head and approached Joe’s smile widened. “Pleasure, Benton,” Joe said extending a hand. He hesitated a moment before dropping it onto the table to grab a flier to rid himself of the foolishness of holding his hand out for someone who wasn’t going to shake it. Joe didn’t allow this to dampen his mood, this was just a kid he was probably still learning. Joe handed over the flier, “You can go ahead and call me Joe,” he said, “I’m the president of PUSE, but you’re a man with sharp eyes, you probably guessed, eh?” He allowed himself a chuckle. Perceptiveness was not a gift to be taken lightly, it was something that allowed for memory recall and the ability to assess a situation all at once. Something Joe had never gotten quite good at himself. But he had plenty of people to help him in that regard.

Joe’s smile decreased just a tad as he took on a grave expression. “Everyone, son.” He answered and opened the flier. “We are all in some way unequal. It is this virtue that the government separates us,” Joe stared, “Male, female. Black, white. We’re all shoved into categories and we’re all struggling for the same equality. Often times it makes us unsafe as well.” Joe had been practicing this speech for days and he needed to come with a ‘wow factor’ to keep the boy’s interest. “What PUSE is all about is erasing those borders. We want to keep race and sexuality from being a factor in application processes, for jobs and college and such. It should be a person’s work ethic that speaks for them.”

“There is an imbalance of power, son,” Joe said and gestured to the petition. “What I’m here doing is gathering signatures to help erase borders and keep equality the reigning factor but in order to do that we need your help, and your parent’s help to keep a new border rising up.” Joe examined the boy and was cautious about how to proceed. “I’m not sure how long you’ve been in Pilot Ridge, but you can’t have been here long without realizing that that school up the hill helps train meta humans, right?” He asked cautiously, now was the time to be careful if this young kid did happen to be a meta human then he needed to be careful not to offend him and have the wrath of Hammel breathing down his neck. He also wanted meta humans on his side, that would only enhance the equal expression of this movement. Surely there were meta humans who also believed that some meta powers gave more advantages than others.

[Benton Barrett]

He accepted the flier, glad that the other guy didn’t seem offended that he wasn’t doing the appropriate ‘let’s hold hands for ten seconds’ thing. It was awkward on its own, but he would have felt even worse if he’d… well, frozen him solid. That would have been a little problematic. He did grin just a little bit, when the other guy called him observant.

“Gotta keep your eye on the ball, you know?” Soccer was like that, too. “Nice to meet you, Joe.” He added, though it felt a little strange when he said it, mostly because this man was a real adult. Not like Dean – Dean was closer to Benny’s age than any sort of ‘adult-like’ age, so talking to him like a guy he’d play video games with was fine. They would play video games eventually.

He tilted his head a little bit, as he watched the other man open his pamphlet, listening intently. If nothing else, he wanted to at least come off as not-a-jerk. He’d gone with the guy’s question, so he might as well listen – it might be interesting!

Benny did have to agree a little bit on that. He only knew the stuff he heard, but he knew about things that made it weird for people just because they were a little different. He didn’t know why it was so necessary, but humans liked their boxes. He hadn’t even thought about his own box, and now he was shoved into one he’d never anticipated…

“That’s true, I think. I mean, it shouldn’t matter who you are, but what you do.” He replied, hoping he wasn’t over-simplifying what the man was trying to explain to him. He guessed that yeah, there probably was an imbalance of power. Politics weren’t anything he could say he knew much about – but it didn’t take a genius. They’d all learned about slavery, and what happened with the Indians, or the Jews… it happened to a lot of people. Because power was shifted a little bit.

He looked back up at him, away from the pamphlet, as he talked about a new border.

“Right – that’s actually why I’m here.” He bit his lip uncertainly. He wasn’t supposed to talk too much about that stuff, or what he did up at the school. “I’m glad they’re here… I don’t want to hurt anyone with what I can do.” His lower lip was going to split if he kept biting it. “I can’t say I want to be here… but it’s better than the alternative, you know?” He shook his head, because… well, that was what he was telling himself to cope with being away from his family.

“But Meta-humans aren’t being discriminated against, right?” He asked, uncertainly. Were they? He thought for the most part their existence was still kind of on the periphery.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe just nodded missing the soccer reference but he’d played football, knowing who had the ball in that was extremely important. It was a very good thing that Benton knew how to be observant. It was a skill that kids his age often missed. Joe knew there wasn’t a lot that Benton could do politically but there was indeed a great deal that he might be able to do in the future. Many people might wonder what Joe would want to sway a kid for, but that was where they missed the mark. It wasn’t until Joe’d had kids of his own when he’d figured out that they knew a whole lot more than most adults gave them credit. And if this boy wanted knowledge maybe in the future he’d think something favorable in Joe’s direction.

Joe’d never thought of them as boxes, rather he thought of them as versions of No Man’s Land. They were dangerous and impossible to cross. And the only reason they existed was because people weren’t blind and were able to make observations about race and sex. Joe paused in his tirade to listen. He nodded, truly impressed by the kid. “Right you are, Benton, I knew you were a sharp kid when I saw you.” Joe smiled warmly. This was indeed a smart kid and a perfect example of how kids were more aware of the world than adults. Adults had had time to live and had time to let these prejudices grow. How Joe’s own prejudice had been able to flower and grow. But then again, Benton was also young enough to not understand that there were some things that were simply not forgivable.

“Oh?” Joe filled the space in the conversation and nodded. So this kid was a meta human. Joe’s expression didn’t change and he struggled. This kid was too young to have done anything to anyone that would have been cruel and his personality didn’t make him the type. But then his daughter’s meta boyfriend had seemed pleasant enough until he stripped her mind and left her without a shred of self confidence. Instead of seeing Benton as an enemy Joe saw him as opportunity. Adult meta humans tended to be very much like normal adults. Stuck in their ways and unable to change. If they started with people Benton’s age maybe they could press the idea of not abusing power on them. “Yes, I’m glad too, it must be scary at first,” Joe said gently then Benton said something strange. “The alternative?” He questioned wondering what Benton, as a meta human, was so afraid of.

“Again, yes and no,” Joe answered, “These topics are hard because there is no black and white. There are people who discriminate against meta humans, and there are meta humans who discriminate against base line humans. Like me.” Joe said motioning to himself. “Now that being said, it is a change that needs to happen on both sides. But while I know you’d never use your power for bad,” he gave a stern glance like a parent making sure their son had no doubt that it was wrong, “not all meta humans as good, and conversely not all humans are good either.” And in that sense, Joe knew, he could defend himself against a human, and chances were a meta human could defend themselves against another meta human. But if Joe got in a fight with say a pyrokinetic, he’d be dead before he could yell.

[Benton Barrett]

The man was nothing if not charming. He said all the right things, and Benny was having a hard time not preening at least a little at the complements. He wasn’t dumb, by any stretch, but he was only a little better than average student. Just… observant. It worked out in most situations at least. ( Of course, unless they were talking math, then… failure. )

“Yeah… it is.” He said, shaking his head. He wasn’t going to go in to detail – that wasn’t something for strangers. ( Or at least, most strangers ) He didn’t want someone to look at him sideways because of something he had no control over. Joe’s question only made Benny nod at him.

“The alternative… just… being allowed to keep going on my own. Without any sort of training? I…” He paused, not wanting to be too detailed. “What I can do is dangerous, and like I said… I don’t want to hurt anyone. If Hammel wasn’t here..? I don’t know what I’d do. What would happen to people around me, because I couldn’t… keep it under control.” He realized that had to sound bad. “Don’t worry – you’re not in any danger. That’s just why I didn’t shake your hand. I’m not a di—I mean, I’m not rude, I just… don’t wanna risk anything.”

There. That way the fact that he hadn’t shook his hand wouldn’t just be immediately attributed to a lack of manners.

It wasn't fun, talking about it - in fact, as far as he could remember, Joe was the first normal human he'd actually told. His mom found out, and the doctors that treated her figured it out... but him actually saying the words? No, definitely a first. Joe continued to speak, though his focus shifted just a bit. The discrimination of meta-humans against humans? That was strange. Personally, he hated the distinction of human versus meta-human – all it did was separate people.

He couldn’t help the guilty little nod, agreeing with the PUSE president – he wouldn’t use his powers for bad. Not if he could help it at least. “Yeah… history is filled with bad people. It makes sense that there’d be bad meta-humans and humans… we’re all just people, you know?” It was his subtle way of voicing the whole ‘these eyes don’t see color’ thing… just with the meta/human distinction.

[Joe Honnick]

((Sorry this is so late!!))

Knowing that Benton was a meta human definitely changed Joe’s mind about the boy. It was a terrible prejudice and Joe knew it but he couldn’t help himself. Meta humans needed to be controlled, they needed to be set on a level playing field, so that nothing like what happened to his daughter could happen again. Nothing. Nothing was ever going to redeem meta humans in his eyes. They had shown their ways when they had protected their own. His only allies were humans and those meta humans foolish enough to speak against their own cause. Joe smiled nonetheless. Nothing about his outward appearance altered when he learned about Benton’s problem. Honestly he felt bad for the child. He knew Benton didn’t chose to be a meta human but that didn’t mean that Benton wasn’t going to be lured into using his power for his own purposes.

Joe smiled sadly at Benton. Poor child, if only there was some way to rid kids like Benton of this burden. Adults had a hard time dealing with change, how terrifying must it be for a child of Benton’s age to hold a power that he was not equipped to deal with. That was part of the problem, children were very impressionable and whoever got to them first was going to influence them whether the child realized it or not. Now luckily places like Hammel did get to them first, but then Joe had never been in Hammel, who knew what kind of meta-supremacy they were spelling up the hill. Joe listened intently to Benton, the kid could be of some use to him, even if Benton didn’t realize it. Joe couldn’t resist raising a brow and wondering if he should even be trusting this kid to keep his power in check. Even Benton seeming to claim he was, Joe wasn’t sure.

Joe nodded slowly making as though he was relaxing when Benton assured him he wasn’t in danger. It wasn’t something Joe was taking lightly but he could pretend as well as any politician. “I understand, son,” Joe said with a nod and an encouraging smile. “I’m glad to hear you’re getting help. So do you like Hammel? It’s better than the alternative, but why did you choose to come to Hammel?” Joe asked, he was under the impression that there were different schools for people of meta origin. Benton’s parents must be in the area, he may live on campus but his parents couldn’t be too far. After all, the United States were vast, there couldn’t be just one school for all of it.

The thought of separation was one thing that was hard to come to terms with. Benton was still young, and when Joe had been young he too had been ignorant of prejudice. He was lucky, he’d grown up in the north, but he had some friends in college who had grown up in the south and the 60s and 70s in the south was not a pleasant place for people who weren’t white. Joe knew he’d been lucky and he couldn’t believe some of the stories he heard. It was part of the reason he got into law, so that he could stop the horrible things that happened to not just blacks but to all peoples. Now there was this new menace, it was called ‘meta-humans’, superior humans. How long before they realized they could do whatever they wanted because people were afraid of them? How long before all the humans had to live in fear? Joe was not about it let that happen.

“Right you are, we’re all just people,” Joe agreed, “And I wish everyone felt as you do. There are humans who don’t think so and there are meta-humans who don’t think so. This, Benton, is why PUSE exists. We are trying to build a relationship where humans don’t have to fear meta humans and where meta humans won’t have to fear humans. There is so much secrecy it needs to stop or we will never be able to come together.” Joe said and he moved the petition. Benton’s signature wouldn’t hold much weight if they actually looked up who the people were but likely they wouldn’t. All that mattered was that there were signatures. “Benton, I want to ask you to join me, help me break down the walls so that you and I can just be people.” He turned the pad to Benton and made a point of holding out the pen to Benton before resting it on the pad, he wasn’t sure about Benton’s and he also wanted to show that he respected Benton’s boundaries with it.