Phase One (Open)

[Joe Honnick]

Joe sighed happily, looking up at the town hall. It was an impressive building and usually Joe didn't have an excuse to come up here but he'd reserved a room for the next night to encourage a dialogue between meta humans and normal humans. And by dialogue, Joe was really hoping to have some proof or sound bites to take to the larger population and finally expose meta humans for the monsters they were. Joe smiled as he trotted up the steps, stubbornly ignoring the twinge in his knee that always came with cold weather. He promised Jasmine he would be home for dinner and he'd taken off early from work to come out and get a good look at place and figure out what to put where and how many people they could hold. It was a simple meeting, so it was in one of the smaller rooms, but they were growing. Joe was feeling optimistic about the future of PUSE. It hadn't been growing as much as he wanted it too but it was getting there.

The steps were covered with last nights slush and without realizing it Joe his an icy patch and his foot went out from under him. His already bum knee came down on the step and Joe was force to close his eyes and grit his teeth against the pain. When Joe could think through the pain again he tried to rise, his knee wasn't having it. He cursed under his breath and shifted so he was sitting on the step. He ran his hands over his knee and already he could feel it hot with irritation and damp with what might be a scrape. He leveraged his good leg under him and tried to rise, it worked out alright, until he put weight on his other leg. The pain nearly caused him to fall again and he quickly took his weight back off his leg. He was close enough to the top, he figured, he could get up and limp his way inside and call someone to pick him up. He looked up and those three steps that had looked so miniscule seemed to have risen themselves into mountains.

Joe was hesitant to rise and try again. He figured he would give himself a moment to rest. He cursed the old injury. It was the one that had destroyed his football career in college. Ultimately it had been a blessing, he'd been able to focus on his studies and go to law school. But when this late in his life it was still crippling him he hated that it ever happened. Sitting on the steps, he breathed out a puff of air into the sky. What he would do for a cigarette right now. He'd quit long ago but occasionally he got a strong desire for one. Maybe the cool stone would numb his knee and then he could get up and make his way to the town hall for the meeting and maybe then he could get someone to pick him up. He felt his knee again, he hoped it was just an old wound acting up and not something worse.

[Emmett Coupland]

Working in the automotive business meant dealing with a lot of automobiles - who would have guessed. With the decent sized parking lot that Frye's Auto had, Emmett always had a couple of cars under her name. Buying junkers; fixing them up and selling them provided extra money in what spare time she did have.

Paperwork folded up into an envelope, she headed to the town hall to register another. A snapped timing belt; ruined practically the entire engine of this poor guy's car. Repairs weren't cheap; even cutting him a deal looked like it was far too much out of his budge. So the Canadian worked out a deal - she bought the car. Offered enough to get him situated for an admittedly cheaper one on his own. Two grand was more than a scrap yard would ever offer. The guy was happy for the offer.

And now it was hers once she filed the registration paperwork.

Boots hit the pavement, arms folded together to fight away some of this abnormal cold. Wasn't spring supposed to be here already? Her attention wavered at the sight of a man sitting on the steps. Eyebrows immediately rose at the sight. Who wanted to sit outside in this shit? Although a quick look to the way he tried to stand gave more than enough information.

"Oi!" Emmett called up, unfolding her arms and jogging up to the man. Without so much as asking, she took hold of his arm to help draw him upward. "You alright, man?"

[Joe Honnick]

Joe was working his hands over his knee trying to feel if there was some lasting damage there, he swore softly under his breath, he would probably have to go to the hospital and get it examined. He wasn’t so young and foolish as to think letting it go would fix it. Especially not with this knee. The other one he might have let go a few days, but this old knee he would rather have looked at even if he hadn’t just smashed it against the ground. When he was young, Joe remembered promising himself he’d never be one of those people who broke when they fell, but though he was healthy and fit for his age, there was something to be said about breaking something that’s already been broken.

Joe’s head snapped up when he heard a voice. He blinked in surprise as the girl came rushing toward him. Well, wasn’t this embarrassing, he thought. Now he really was the helpless old man. His daughters and wife were never going to let him live this down. Joe smiled warmly and gratefully accepted her help. “Thank you,” he said and nodded his head, “Just this old bum leg.” He said with a shake of his head. God, he even sounded like an old man. He steadied himself with her help. “I’ll be okay, thank you so much,” he said feeling better now that he was steady and upright. He favored his bum leg and every time he tried to put weight on it, it flashed with agony.

He was glad that it was a hard thing to tell when a black man when red in the face because he was mortified, not only at having slipped on the stairs but that there had been a witness, as grateful as he was that she’d come by. “I’m very sorry,” he said as he leaned on her, trying to keep most of his weight off of her but also off of his leg. Raising and carefully lowering his knee he verified it couldn’t be anything worse than a bad impact, he’d probably have been fine if it had hit his other knee. He winced and looked down at his knee. He hated that thing. “I’m sorry to bother you, would you be able to help me inside?” He asked sheepishly gesturing at the building. He could call his wife then and get someone to drive him to the hospital.

[Emmett Coupland]

Helping a fallen person up felt like second nature for the mechanic; even in the cases where someone could have found offense taken through the action. She hardly thought twice over heaving him up, pulling his arm over her shoulder for some sort of stability.

An old bum leg? He hardly looked that old. The image moving to someone with a couple decades under his belt filtering her mind. Did he have a cane? Was it that bad where he needed one? She glanced around, and without any stability device in near sight, she determined he likely didn't use one at all. Sounded pretty stupid if falling and crashing on steps was a regular thing.

"Yeah, yeah." Emmett replied with a nod, offering a grin to the guy. "I mean, not gonna just get you up and let you go again." She joked lightly. With a breath, she worked to slowly ease him up the steps. Not sure just how fast to pace herself and the man, she took her time to make sure he wouldn't go crashing down on accident. Although, on the last step, she herself slipped without getting proper tread with the slush. All it took was a quick - admittedly too quick - replacement of her foot and she managed to keep them balanced.

"Do you need me to call someone?" She asked as they reached the top, pushing the door open with her free hand.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled gratefully as she helped keep him steady. She was stronger than he gave her credit for. Joe was still looking down at his leg and experimenting now and again at how much weight he could actually put on it. It seemed okay resting on the ground, but even the slightest pressure sent stabs of agony up his leg. Yes, he would definitely have to go to the hospital. Preferably it wouldn’t involve a brace, but well, at least he already had one of those. It was just a pain and a half to wear. Joe didn’t think about how it sounded to her, he didn’t think to explain. When a joint is already weak usually smashing it against a step was not good for it. He was not an invalid, not by any stretch, he was on the decline of his years, he knew but he was hardly envisioning himself with a cane.

Joe laughed and bobbed his head in understanding. “Thank you,” he repeated and shook his head at himself. Sometimes the mind did strange things and made assumption that were invalid. Like assuming that someone was just going to leave him stranded on the steps. So maybe he should cancel this meeting, well he should definitely cancel the meeting, but this was going to set back him plan a bit. Leaning on her heavily whenever he had to transfer weight to his bad leg. It was much more laborious than he would have liked. His good leg went up and his bad leg quickly followed.

“Whoa, careful,” Joe said, thrown briefly off balance by her slip. Luckily she caught herself and didn’t sent both of them down. “Are you alright?” He asked when she steadied herself. Thinking about meta humans briefly flashed the thought should his head, but he shook his head, he was being a paranoid old man now. She was probably just better at catching herself because of her youth. “Oh, no, no, I’ll be alright, I’ll give my wife a call inside.” He sighed, she was going to tear into him for this, she told him time and time again to be careful, but did he listen? No. Inside at least it was warm, it didn’t do much to dull the pain but at least it wasn’t freezing anymore. “Thank you so much for all of your help…?” He trailed off realizing she hadn’t given her name and he hadn’t given his.

With the young woman’s help he lowered himself onto a bench. He put his hands on his knee and hissed in pain, definitely bad, it felt hot under his pant leg. He experimentally extended and curled his leg and the pain definitely became worse when he straightened it. “I’m lucky you came by when you did,” Joe said with a warm smile. It was difficult now’a’days to find people willing to help, everyone these days was cruel and deceitful. Even Joe couldn’t escape that label.

[Emmett Coupland]

It felt odd to be so thanked by an individual for doing something so human. In the Canadian's mind, it was a natural reaction to help a fallen person. Walking by wasn't an option, nor did it ever cross her mind as something that she could have done, not because it was nice, but because it was what you should do. "It's all good." She confirmed when he asked her if she was alright, hardly thinking twice about the incident as they walked further.

She nodded as he said he'd call his wife; surely she'd be able to take it from there. Either way, as Emmett eased him down onto the closest bench. "Emmett." She filled in for the man when cued. With her arms now free, she extended one to him to shake. Having worked years with an old man herself, it as a habit she had gotten into through business. A formal handshake to size up a person - or to just be generally polite.

"You're just lucky someone showed up." Emmett pointed out with a shrug as she brought her hand up to run through her hair. "Would have sucked if you were out there for a while." Dark eyes glanced around the room briefly, catching sight of a soda machine. "You want something?" She asked, pointing a thumb towards it.

[Joe Honnick]

It was a strange feeling, even if it had been a regular thing Joe had to deal with he would have been thanking her all the same. It was good to show appreciation no matter what the situation was. It was a kind thing to do, not every person would stop to help, Joe was grateful because she could have just offered to call someone for him, but she’d taken the time in her presumably busy schedule to help him inside to the warmth. Joe smiled contently when he sat with a groan, very glad to be sitting and taking his weight off of his leg. He stretched his leg out in front of him and glared down at it as if it had betrayed him, which it had in his opinion. If only he was a decade or so younger and if only he had never been injured in the first place, but what was done was done and he had to live with it.

“Joe,” he replied with a smile and took her hand. She was quite the professional and Joe genuinely appreciated the gesture. A handshake could tell a lot about a person and he shook her hand, glad he didn’t get a ‘dead fish’ or something like that. Joe smiled and nodded his head. “I am,” he agreed, “It is still far too cold out there for a relaxing rest on the stairs.” He shook his head, “No, thank you.” He shifted so he could dig out his phone and then looked down at the smart phone with an expression of determination and confusion. If he’d known what these things were like he would have said no thank you and went right on using his dumb phone. He had only just gotten it and already it had been good for emails and meetings but Joe couldn’t help but wonder how the primary purpose of the phone seemed to have become the hardest thing to figure out how to do.

Finally, dialing his home number he pressed it to his ear and waited, Lesedi answered. “Hi sweetie, it’s Dad, if your Mom around? No?” He glanced at Emmett and smiled, “Ah I see… everything’s fine. I just had a little spill… Don’t you do that, young lady, I’m fine.” His voice turned stern as he admonished his daughter’s exasperated sigh. She was on the side of the family that thought Joe should use a cane. In fact Joe was the only one on the opposing team. “No, I’m not going to use a damn cane, it’s just a little bump.” Joe rolled his eyes and wondered when he had become the one being scolded about his health by his daughter. He supposed he should be happy, Lesedi had had a rough time after she’d tried to kill herself, that she was well enough to scold him did bring him hope. “Ah, thanks sweetheart, I’m at the courthouse. Alright, take your time, it’s slick out there.” He smiled to himself as she sighed over the line. “I love you,” he said to her and nodded his head at her reply, “See you soon. Bye.” He took the phone away from his ear and chuckled at himself, glad that Lesedi had hung up or he would have had no idea how to do it from his phone. He turned back toward Emmett, “So Emmett, what brings you down here?”

[Emmett Coupland]

As Joe worked his phone, Emmett turned on her heel, offering the man a bit of privacy for his phone call, although in the small hallway, it was impossible not to hear it. Even so, Emmett made her way over to the vending machine she had just pointed to. Hands went searching into the pockets of her skinny jeans, dragging out a series of quarters, dimes, and nickels. Just enough to buy some pop. She glanced over at Joe as she slipped the change into the machine, catching his smile and offering one back of her own - hopefully more encouraging than the one he had given.

With her thumb, she pressed the necessary button, and with the sound of a clang and thump, a Coke dropped from the bottom just as she caught the man protesting against the idea of using a cane. It must have been up for debate for some time now, but Emmett shrugged off the though, opening the can and taking a prolonged drink of it before slowly returning to Joe as his call wrapped up.

"Ah, just registering a car." Emmett stated casually, thumb pointing out the door as if it could really point out the car she had driven in. "She's a little rough, but with some work she'll be running like new." At the thought, Emmett grinned. There was nothing quite as satisfying as bringing life into an old engine. "How 'bout you, eh?"

[Joe Honnick]

Joe smiled to himself, he was so proud of his daughters. He couldn’t even imagine where they got their smarts and their strength. He was glad he had raised them to be strong individuals while keeping with the compassion their mother had. There was not a thing that Joe wouldn’t do for his family. He never thought he could love someone as much as he loved Jasmine but his daughters were unconditional and he had never known a love like that until he had become a father. It was true what his father had said all along. Joe would fight tooth and nail for his daughter’s safety and happiness, which was why he was fighting to keep the meta human population in check.

“Oh?” Joe asked as Emmett returned and turned to look despite the same situation, there was no real way to see a car from here, that was if she had driven it here. “Oh do you restore cars?” Joe asked with interest, a mechanic and a woman, now that was something that wasn’t usual. Maybe Joe was from a different age but still it seemed like a female mechanic wasn’t the usual thing, though looking at Emmett now he doubted she was one to shirk away from hard or dirty work. He couldn’t help but smile, a mechanic was very much like a doctor, there was an understanding there that was something that completely had missed Joe in his endeavors. The law was now as concrete as most things and most of the practice was making law work the way it should or the way that was desirable. A good lawyer fought for the law to go their way, a better lawyer fought for the law to be upheld.

Joe shrugged. “Oh just making sure everything is prepared for tomorrow. I’m holding a meeting that will hopefully be a dialogue between meta humans and baseline humans. You know, you’re welcome to come if you’ve got time,” Joe said politely and smiled charmingly, he was a good lawyer. He wasn’t sure if Emmett was a meta human or not, but he was willing to believe that anyone had good in them but as absolute power corrupts absolutely, meta human powers corrupted and even good people like Emmett could be tempted to misuse their power if they had one. And who was caught in the crossfire? The baseline humans who didn’t have a way to defend themselves.

[Emmett Coupland]

Regardless of the fact that they couldn't see the car parked outside the town hall, Emmett felt her chest puff out in a shot of evident pride. The corner of her mouth dragged up into a grin as she nodded. "Yeah." She added as she shifted her weight onto her heels and then forward again to the balls of her feet. "You know Frye's Auto? I own the garage." She, too, looked in the direction she had pointed, wishing to show off the ride she had managed to acquire. Although a little rough now, it was going to be a real beauty with some hard work.

Yet before she could go on a ramble about the work she had planned, the conversation shifted and she followed willingly. Her eyebrows rose at the idea of anything political involving meta humans. Although she had no personal experience, it just never seemed like something like this would turn out all too well.

"Oh, that's interesting." She said, wording herself carefully. Interesting it would be - as there was no doubt in her mind that it would take a heated turn. "I have a few jobs lined up for the day, unfortunately." It wasn't a lie, and she was thankful for that. "I mean, if I have time maybe I'll roll up." She'ed never been to anything of the sort before, usually avoiding politics, and unaware just what side this man was on, her curiosity was sparked. "Are you in charge of it or somethin'?"

[Joe Honnick]

The pride on her face made Joe smile. It was a great thing to see someone who took such pride in their work. “Do you?” Joe asked his brows rising. What a pleasant surprise! “I just took my car there not too long ago, the service is great there!” He told her. They’d done a marvelous job. Joe didn’t know if she had worked on her car, but when he had needed work done on his engine he would from now on always go to Frye’s Auto. Not only was their service great but he trusted their work. To meet the owner, Joe had to admit was an honest pleasure. “Are you fixing this car for you pleasure or are you planning on selling it?” He asked.

Interesting indeed, Joe watched what he said, now’a’days it was hard to tell if someone was a meta human or not. He didn’t want to accidentally offend her, even if she was a meta human she had done him a great kindness. He was not expecting this talk to go as calmly as he hoped, it was more likely that it would blow up in flames and well, when it did Joe was ready and he would be heading the legal team to fight against the meta humans running around.

He nodded his head understandingly, he wouldn’t have blamed her for lying if she had, not a lot of people liked to get bogged down in politics. “By all means,” he said nodding his head, he wouldn’t try to pressure her, people hated that. “Yes, I’m actually the president of PUSE, I’m not sure if you’ve heard of us, but we’re trying to make sure everyone is equal. I am hoping to facilitate a discussion about some very real concerns that I know baseline humans have and I’m sure meta humans have as well.” Like the matter of safety. No one ever seemed to worry about the fact that those without powers got caught in the crossfire of meta humans workings.

[Emmett Coupland]

Emmett's grin only grew as she heard the excellent review given by the man sitting in front of her. After having taken over the business from the original founder, there was a risk. She lost a few customers on the basis that a young female was running the shop suddenly, and hearing that he had great service under her work only made her eyes brighten with evident pride. "I do my best." She replied with a tilt of her chin upward, lifting her fist and offering Joe a thumbs up. "This one's for me. Maybe I'll sell it sometime, but I've always wanted to get my hands on an old Camaro. This one's a '68. Best year, in my opinion."

It was easy to rant when it came down certain makes of various cars. To the mechanic, an engine was a piece of artwork. Time and energy was put into it much like a painting or a sculpture. Bringing the older car back to life was like putting clay in her hands or a brush between her fingertips.

Her eyebrows raised as he stated his alliance. Of course she'd heard of PUSE - not many in this area hadn't. Especially those within the meta-human population. Her grin faltered slightly as she lifted her hand up behind her head, running her fingers through her hair. "Ah, yeah. That sounds fair, yeah." She said, trying to work in a response that would work for both of them. "I hope it goes well for you. I hear those things can get out of hand sometimes, eh?"

[Joe Honnick]

It was great to see someone so young and passionate about what they did. It seemed that there was a very bleak outlook on the world today by the young. Things were uprising, riots in the streets and violence all over the news. It was enough to make someone sick of humanity. Joe smiled warmly. “Oh, a ’68 Camaro. Now, I’m not too well versed in cars but a buddy of mine in college had one and that thing was nice.” He nodded in approval. “What color is it?” He asked, “Or are you giving it a new paint job too?” It was easy to see that she loved what she did. “If you don’t mind me asking how did you get into mechanics?” He was curious, not for the expected reason of the shock that a woman was a mechanic, but rather he was curious about people’s paths to where they came.

Joe’s smile didn’t waver but he noticed the change in her demeanor. He wondered if she was a meta human and then he wondered if she regretted helping him off of the steps. Joe had been trained as a lawyer to sniff out doubt and hammer on it until it was well dead. She doubted his intentions and right now Joe didn’t care if she was a meta human or not, and honestly she was kind and he would rather not know and have it ruin his opinion of her. Joe sighed and rubbed a hand over his busted knee, trying to figure out how to start. “I hope so too, it saddens me greatly with what happened last time.” He remembered the vandalism, the attacks on meta humans. It was too soon for all that. In Joe’s honest opinion he would just like to have all meta humans registered and with checks on their power. He didn’t wish them away, he couldn’t. The way he saw it was they were here to stay.

But Joe also believes that absolute power corrupts absolutely and not meta human could resist using their power for their own gain, be it in sports, finances or otherwise. “I take it you heard about what happened.” He shook his head. “It makes me sick. That’s not what we stand for and I still wish they had caught those people that attacked those businesses in our name.” He looked back up at Emmett and gave a charming smile. “I’m sorry, its juts frustrating.” He shrugged and clasped his hands together. Those violent acts did mess with his plans. They were a peaceful group and to make it they would have to play the media right and that bad press had hurt them and their cause. Sure Joe wanted restrictions but now was the time to gain public opinion not alienate. That would come later.

[Emmett Coupland]

Although a little uneasy, Emmett refused to let her judgment to get in the way of Joe. He seemed like a nice enough man, and until he did something in particular that proved he was bad, she couldn’t rightly call him out for anything. Especially has he spoke on his opinion over the vandalism on meta-human establishments. At the time, she feared her own business being attacked, and she was fortunate that her garage was spared, especially considering its downtown location.

Maybe it was fortunate the previous owner wasn’t a meta-human. It could have been the detail that saved her business – someone might have still been under the impression that he owned it.

Lifting her hand, she waved the man off with a friendly smile of her own. “Don’t have to apologize.” She explained because she understood. It was frustrating. Her nose crinkled at the thought. “Violence on either side isn’t gonna fix shit.” She continued on a casual tone. Although she’d found herself in a couple of fights before, the Canadian never was one for any real violence. Anything she had gotten into was usually resolved quickly, ending in some sort of odd friendship. More likely than not, she was lucky for that fact.

She tapped the toe of her sneakers to the floor briefly, curiosity driving her. “Maybe I’ve just heard about the bad, so then, what does PUSE want?” That was never made clear, she always thought. As far as she knew, they wanted the meta-humans gone.

[Joe Honnick]

Joe was a lawyer he could read people’s reactions well and he could tell she was getting uneasy about the whole thing. So PUSE had gained a bad reputation, very well, better to dispel it now. Joe believed whole heartedly in what PUSE stood for, and he believed that meta humans were well, human. They were good and bad but just like someone couldn’t tell a man’s intentions just by looking at them, they couldn’t tell a meta human’s. Despite his bias, he was not trying to say that all meta humans were bad, but they were human fundamentally and power corrupted. Eventually they would use their power against someone. And wasn’t it better for people to be prepared, if that meant labeling meta humans?

Returning her smile, Joe was grateful for her understanding. He nodded his head firmly. “That is the truth. I wish more people could see that. You see Emmett, we see it all the time throughout history. Violence met with violence never gained anyone anything.” Joe shook his head, he was disappointed by the state of the world. As sickening as it was to see things that happened overseas, it was starting to get to be a terrifying situation even here at home. As much as PUSE was focused on meta humans, at the moment they couldn’t not get behind the current violence toward African Americans, especially since it held a very close place to his own heart.

“I’m sorry to hear that you’ve only heard bad about us,” Joe said sadly but he offered her a smile, “But I’m glad you asked. PUSE is People United for Safety and Equality. It’s not all about meta humans, as much as people try to make it sound. I myself am a lawyer and we employ people who are willing to help those that feel they have been attacked or discriminated against. Our goal is to stop all of this categorization.” He said moving his hands making boxes with his hands. “What we want is for people to look at each other like people. Right now people see me, or they see you, and they make assumptions about us. We can’t tell people not to see gender or race but what we hope is that those will become observations and not judgment calls.

“Our goal is to pass legislation that will protect people and get equality for everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, or powers.” He looked at Emmett and bobbed his head trying to read her reaction. “Meta humans, I will accept, come up a lot in conversation. Right now there are a lot of people who are afraid. People who are afraid often act stupidly. What we want is to be able to know and protect ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I’m baseline and if someone came after me with the ability to throw fire, I’d have no way to defend myself. That’s scary to people. Now I’m not saying all meta humans would use their power to hurt people, but they are still people.” He dropped his eyes now and looked away. “There have been a lot of debates about gun rights. Now imagine you have someone who by no right could or should be able to hold a gun. And now imagine that person is a meta human. What then?” He asked and gave Emmett a moment to think about it. “These are hard conversations, but conversations that we need to have.”