PUSE Rally

[Joe Honnick]

This event is open to everyone and for simplicities sake there will be no posting order. PUSE is holding a Rally to get information out to the public. If your character hates PUSE, loves PUSE, or simply doesn't know what PUSE is then this thread is for your character. Sign your character up for PUSE and learn more about what PUSE can offer Pilot Ridge and move forward toward equality! This Rally takes place on the lawn of the Town Hall.

Joe Honnick was smiling as he surveyed the Rally. PUSE members were cooking and offering free meals to anyone who happened to wander by. There were books for sale and pamphlets being handed out. A dull thud of music played across the lawn.  People were signing up to join the political group.  PUSE members had all worked hard to make this event work.  The snow had been cleared and they were finally getting a break from the cold air and the sun was shining brightly on the day.  Yet still, several stations around were handing out hot tea, coffee and hot chocolate.  Joe had dismissed his suit for a more family friendly outfit of slacks and polo that identified him as the president.  He walked about a bright smile on his face as he watched people mingle.  Even those who were against PUSE seemed to have come around.  He'd seen his members engaging in pleasant debate.  No fights.  No arguments.  That was a rule.  If they disagreed they were to take whatever the people threw at them.  Let the instigator look like a fool.  PUSE was for equality.  Everyone's equality.  Meta human control was just one piece of their strong agenda.  If people asked about meta human rights they were strongly supporting the equality despite a power. 

They were also supporting equality despite color, despite religion, despite sexuality.  Those points were getting a lot of people, he found that especially in a town like Pilot Ridge people balked at anything dealing with what they thought was the suppression of meta humans.  However, many meta humans seemed to forget that by their pure nature they had become the oppressors.  Joe paced through the tables and zipped his jacket just a little tighter around himself.  He stopped at one of the coffee stations and smiled at the PUSE member who was handing out the cups.  Joe looked about himself and beamed.  What he saw was hope.  Hope for a better future, for everyone.    

[Terrance Kellam]

The semester was starting off bad for T.K., but how else was it supposed to? He'd been out of school for almost two years, and he was trying to finish his junior year... for the THIRD time, just at double the pace of the first two attempts. He was quite sure he was never going to get through it, so he needed a bit of a break from it all.

Exploring Pilot Ridge was always great for him. He could meet plenty of new people and just pass the time. The rally he passed looked exceptionally interesting, so of course he headed there. He happened across someone participating in the rally handing out pamphlets. T.K. took one, thanked them, and began skimming it over as he walked around.

This is interesting, he said. This PUSE-thing sounded nice. T.K. was a triple threat as far as "not [being] created equal," but he was lucky enough to have never had to worry about it. He looked around at all the people, happening to hear a few discussions, some sounding more like debates. I think I can totally get down with this cause, though...

OH! FREE FOOD! So of course he went to go partake in a plate.

[Dr. Isabela Monroe]

Isabela Monroe was, to the core, a well educated Egalitarian.

The concept of this group had genuinely flagged her interest. For the most part, she was under the impression that Pilot Ridge offered a safe, comforting environment for all. It seemed unbiased to the nature of differences; sexuality, gender, race, meta-status. In the settlement of Pilot Ridge,the community thrived.

But then, she hadn't been here very long. She had to wonder if she was simply adorned in the honeymoon phase of her still-recent move.

There was an undeniable draw to the rally anyway. People United for Safety and Equality. Before being handed anything important or influential, the Physical Education teacher made the point to stop for something to drink. Coffee, specifically. The uniquely clad woman nodded and smiled genuinely, a vote of thanks to whoever offered her the cup.

But a flier, she still hadn't received.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled and sipped at his coffee. Admittedly he knew most people were here for the free food but if on the way they learned about PUSE then that worked well for Joe. He'd learned way back from college that if one wanted people to come to something the first and most prominent part of the flier should advertise for free food. His wife was manning a table of baked goods and she was smiling and talking with so many people. Joe figured he should do the same. He shook a few hands and greeted a few people. He walked amongst the crowd joining a debate here and there defending PUSE. He had learned a great deal about debate and keeping a controlled tongue after several years as a lawyer. Some of the PUSE members were young and passionate and occasionally that got dangerous. He stepped in when things got heated and would usually at worst persuade the person that PUSE was not worst arguing over and at best convince them that the cause was good.

He had a stack of pamphlets in hand as he walked about. He smiled as he handed over one to someone as they passed. He was glad that people so young were here. Change only really started from the young. He watched the young man move to the free food and chuckled. Well, either way he was here. There he caught sight of a PUSE member smiling broadly as she held out a plate for the young man. It was nice to see that so many people still cared about equality. Joe chuckled and turned away. He nodded to the woman in strange clothing. It wasn't typical but then again PUSE was exactly the place where she should feel the most safe being herself. Joe was not here to be anti-meta human. In fact he wanted meta-humans to join. It would be better for everyone if there was someone on the meta-human side who could persuade them that the base-line human fears were not groundless and maybe that would help. So long as it wasn't a telepath. If a telepath joined they might as well all be brainless for the terrible things the telepath could do. He shook his head, he was not going to get pessimistic. "Can I offer you a pamphlet?" He said holding the paper out. He smiled warmly, a politician's smile.

Someone touched his shoulder. He tilted his head a bit to listen to what the man had to say in his ear. A debate was getting a little heated. He nodded and smiled at the woman. "Please take a look around and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions, but you'll have to excuse me for a moment. Any of the other people in blue will be able to help you." He indicated to his shirt. He withdrew into the crowd and headed toward the debaters at the direction of a fellow PUSE member.

[Terrance Kellam]

Joe Honnick was right: you give out food, the people will come. For T.K., this was a happy accident. He came for the people, but the food was a very welcomed treat. And it was pretty good, too. He continued to walk around the rally, eating his food and listening to various discussions going on. Most were interesting. A lot of P.U.S.E.'s members were very passionate about the subject, as they should be.

T.K. threw his trash away, wiping his hands on his jeans, continuing to look around, spotting a P.U.S.E. member in blue that didn't seem occupied. "Hey, excuse me," he approached them, "how do I get more information on this group? Might be interested in joining." What better way to always have someone to talk to?

[Duncan Valentine]

Duncan Valentine heard about the PUSE rally earlier in the week, and immediately set an event on his phone's calendar to remind him to go. This wasn't something he wanted to miss. Due to video games, he ended up arriving later than he intended. There were a lot more people than he expected to see... and hoped to see.

The message sounded so positive the way they said it. It made him a little uncomfortable, but curious. He heard only arguments against, but nothing from their point of view. He doubted he would agree with their stance on meta-humans, but agreeing or disagreeing required knowing first.

Still... the first thing Duncan did was grab a sup of hot chocolate before he wandered through the crowd, hoping to overhear a discussion that he could hijack.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled and shook the hand of the man who had been stirring up quite a fuss for one of his members. He'd managed to persuade the man with a lot of effort that they were not out to take away the rights of meta humans but rather make it safer for everyone involved. The man didn't seem too pleased with PUSE's stance but then again not everyone would be. Joe took a breather and sipped his coffee. "You look like you could use a cookie," his wife Jasmine said offering him one. He smiled and gave her a one armed hug in greeting. PUSE was on the rise and that was going to mean more work for himself and for Jasmine. But no amount of work was too much to help his beautiful daughter get over the damage done. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before they split ways again.

Joe smiled warmly as the young man called his attention. His smiled widened, well that was what he liked to hear. "Well, young man, you've come to the right place," Joe said holding out his hand, "I'm Joe Honnick, president and founder of PUSE. Please ask away." Joe was doing a very good job dodging the meta human question. There were bound to be a lot of meta humans lurking about and Joe knew that to make his cause valid and for equality to really stand as their main tenet he had to be open to the fact that meta humans would want to join. And meta humans did not come without their advantages. Meta humans could relate to other meta humans better and perhaps with a little persuasion they could be convinced to stand for those of the populous with magnificent powers. Joe wanted to talk to people and he wanted to share his view with others but being the president he also had the responsibility to make sure everything ran smoothly today. So far so good, Joe could spare a moment for a few questions. He saw his wife walking around welcoming people who seemed to have not found their way yet.

[Jeremy Derenstein]

Jeremy had attracted quite a crowd himself. While some others handed out pamphlets, he took to the center, projected his voice, raised his arms…he’d always been very active, and full of passion, and he took it everywhere with him. As the PUSE secretary, too, he wouldn’t miss the rally for all the world.

“The Hammel Institute is the only school that takes on meta folk. Have you ever stopped to wonder how they find these people? Every last one of them? I’m sure you’ve asked yourselves, how, how a single institution could round up every single meta human in our country, without room for error – have you ever heard of a meta that didn’t attend there? – and the answer is simple. They use their powers. They have powers to scour our whole wide country, folks: they have the power to find anyone they ever want to, at any time, and if that doesn’t scare you, then you’ve never heard of Big Brother.”

Some laughter, a few murmurs of assent, and, of course, dissent.

“Not even the IRS account for every living person in this country. Ever heard of tax fraud?...we have laws in place for our privacy, don’t we? We do for corporations, even for the government, but we have no laws – zero – that protect us from the implications of meta-human powers. Finding people isn’t our only concern, folks. There are people out there who can read our minds, hypnotise us, paralyze us…there are people who can throw fire from their hands and turn to stone, too! Well, we’re here to make sure the rest of us are protected, to bring to light these issues, to stand up for the common man. That’s what PUSE is all about.”

[Dr. Isabela Monroe]

Isabela had been idly listening to a voice calling out above the rest. She found herself drawn to the fact when she heard the name of her employer. Hammel. Her eyebrows raised, and she moved towards the crowd to listen in.

She... Wasn't upset by what he was saying. Not by any means. Truthfully, he had a point. They, as metas, did have something above most others in society. She fought the gnawing temptation to point out that there were more schools than this. Kocher being the foremost akin to Hammel. Though that need was primarily because it was her last place of work.

She herself, was as it stood, a little too young to have a doctorate degree for as long as she had. That was due to her meta ability.

So in the end, she conceded to nod along to the sentiment offered.

[Terrance Kellam]

T.K. shook the man's hand, a bit taken aback that the man he managed to speak with was the president. Some people completely froze up around people in power like Joe. But T.K. was one of the ones that thrived on social interactions; this was another walk in the park for him. He had questions and Joe was definitely going to have the answers.


"Wow, nice to meet you. I'm T.K. I was just wond--" He couldn't keep his attention on the president for long, though, releasing his grip as he listened. His school's name was suddenly being shouted out. What's he talking about...? Sure, he had valid point. Extremely valid points. T.K. himself would never have to study another language for as long as he lived; his power did all the work for him.

"Wait, what do he mean?" If history taught him anything, he knew he had to keep what he was under wraps. 

[Carson Flatwood]

Christ, not again.

These rallies were usually bad news, if a certain set of rebellious teenagers had anything to say about it. Every time PUSE organized anything, he had to play the part of the impartial overseer cop. The people who spoke at these events were always intelligent. They knew what they were talking about and he agreed with them.

Ironic, truly. Ironic that he was a cop, fighting against the idea of a Metaphysical big brother. He didn't sign up for the job to be a guy who could spy on all of the citizens. He didn't sign up for the job to be oppressive. He signed up to do what was right. And if that meant watching a rally every once in a while, he would.

Besides, this town was sleepy. He was free. Standing outside and leaning against his car, he briefly debated the idea of going and getting some donuts. The other members of PUSE knew better, as far as we was concerned, of talking to him about organization business. The chief was just watching, as the chief.

He sauntered over to get a cup of coffee, maybe one of the various pastries they had on display. Hey, it /was/ free. Then he really took a moment to look at the audience of this rally. How diversified it was. Young people, slightly older people, adults and kids. It impressed him that kids were interested in politics, the future of tomorrow. Or they were interested in the food table...

[Joe Honnick]

Joe nodded along hearing Jeremy start up his chant. He was a spectacular speaker and one of the most valuable members that Joe had. Jeremy, though regretfully, had a tendency to be a little combative, which for their group was not a bad thing, but not always a good thing. Joe listened and he nodded along in agreement. Jeremy was a brilliant spokesman and he was courageous and that was an aspect that Joe admired. Jeremy was a valuable member and Joe felt lucky to have someone so skilled. They did need to protect themselves from meta humans and currently those without powers had no abilities to prevent themselves from being taken advantage of, as his daughter had been.

“Pleasure, T.K.” He turned his focus back to the boy and noted the trailing off and Joe watched the boy for his reaction. He seemed perplexed and a little worried. Joe tilted his head and waited for the question. There it was. ‘What did it all mean?’ Joe smiled, “PUSE is all about equality and safety, we are dedicated to protecting people who are deemed unequal by societies standards. What he means is that now we have people who can do things that most people can’t. The existence of meta humans creates an inequality in humanity. Those of us who can’t use powers, how are we going to be able to protect ourselves from someone with a power who means to do us harm? Especially when that harm cannot be seen by the eye.” Joe asked waiting for T.K to come up with his own conclusion. While meta humans may not intentionally use their power to intimidate or harm, accidents happened, wasn’t it a right of a person who didn’t have meta powers to live in a world without fear someone was going to manipulate them.

Joe glanced at Carson and then back to T.K. patiently waiting for the boy to work out his own conclusions. Carson was never the happiest when they planned public events but that was part of being a public interest group. Joe acknowledged Carson's job was above PUSE in these instances and Joe expected nothing less than for the police chief to stand his ground and in a sense promote their views indirectly by not being discriminatory. Joe did feel rater lucky to have someone in that kind of power here and that everyone who wished to attend today would be protected. Even if he was a little bitter that any meta human could come and be under the equal protection. Meta humans being protected. What about the rest of humanity?

[Idalia Tsavaris]

It was Ida’s day off and it was a nice day at that. She had Ike with her and decided to take a look around. She came upon a large group of people. Ike whined with excitement, there were so many interesting things going on and so many people to sniff and things to investigate. He was doing much better and she decided, why not? After all there was free food and no one ever turned down free food, though sometimes it might be better to do so. Snagging a cookie from a kindly woman who also handed her a pamphlet. PUSE? She read out the label and smiled. She’d always been an advocate for women’s rights and the idea of gender equality always caught Idalia’s attention. She kept reading and a weight of uneasiness settled in her gut as she read the section on meta humans.

Dear Lord if she hadn’t gotten her fair share of hate mail from people who either thought she didn’t know what she was doing when she forecasted or something about how she had used her power to get where she was. Those made her blood boil. She hadn’t done four years of undergrad, another five for graduate and an internship for the summer term of every in between year, not to mention the fact that she, just like any other National Weather Service member had to go through the bottom intern position and work her way up. The fact that she had switched to the news office and worked closely with both the NWS and the new station in Burlington had nothing to do with her power. It was convenient that they were in the same building.

As she walked about she snagged a treat and after eating most of it have a small portion to her ever loving Great Dane companion. She stopped and bit her dog to sit. He was good and did so and she joined the crowd listening to this young man speaking. She laughed, oh government, definitely a little scary the things that they were able to find out. It was a little scary how meta humans were found but then again that had a lot to do with the fact that meta humans sent out a signature that a power seeker could follow. Meta humans could not necessarily just find anyone. Idalia crossed her arms when the speech went on. She was a public figure and even if people didn’t know she was a meta human she made it no secret. Idalia snorted and shook her head, why were they assuming that they had to be protected. Accidents happened surely but they were making meta humans sound like monsters. “Excuse me, sir, what about the meta humans who do protect the common man?” She resisted adding ‘like me’, “And the people who do use their power to help everyone?” Should they too be feared?

[Dr. Sean Neville]

It was impossible to hide a large-scale public event in Pilot Ridge from Sean Neville for several reasons, not the least of which was the telepathy. Having resided in the small town for more than half of his adult life, Sean was well-entrenched in the social calendar, and he shared a connection to more residents than he didn’t, by this stage in his roots. More than that, he was specifically monitoring the development of this PUSE organization along with several other Hammel staff members.

Thus, when he’d come across the flier while running errands downtown, he had mentally committed himself to attendance. It had taken little to convince Josh to attend with him, although he had requested that his partner not instigate any arguments. They were undercover, and it was important to tease out as much information as possible. Putting the PUSE people on the defensive (as deserved as it would be) would only cause the members to grow reticent and withdrawn. That was the opposite of his goal; he wanted them proud, loud, and forthcoming.

That didn’t mean that he would partake of any of the food, but that was due to ideological purity and a sense of comfort with his stomach. He wouldn’t eat anything that NOM or the Catholic League prepared either.

The focus on the task at hand was enough to distract him from the personal issues that had begun with his family. That was necessary, because he couldn’t allow himself to think about Bailey so hard as to withdraw into himself.

So, hand-in-hand with his partner, they arrived on the scene, and he immediately began to mentally catalog everything he saw, and everyone within his range.

[Terrance Kellam]

T.K. couldn't deny it: it all made sense. Meta-humans had a huge advantage. Some were dangerous, though not all on purpose. Some were harmless, but, like him, could use their gifts in ways that gave them precedence over those without the gene. 

"Oh, makes sense..." He didn't want to say too much now. "Thanks, Mr. Honnick. I'll look into joining after the really." He smiled and began to make his way to the outskirts of the crowd. For once, being around people was making him uneasy. 

Once he reached a bit of solidarity, he flipped through the pamphlet once more, taking it all in. While the thought of PUSE potentially ending up on the wrong side of history definitely crossed his mind, he couldn't help but be interested. Their leader, Joe, seemed well enough. And everyone else around him essentially had that 'thing' that they were oh so passionate about. T.K. didn't have that... yet.

So why not for equality?