Bread Crumbs Blitz (open)

[Joshua Bernstein]

Sunday evening was the perfect time to visit the lake, newspaper in one hand and bread ends in a bag in the other. Josh wasn't quite in the mood for sitting and reading, so he walked along the lake's edge, scattering bread crumbs along the bank for the ducks and geese. It looked so different without all the booths and crowds from the Field Day, much quieter and more peaceful. Even the weather was calm, cool without being cold, the branches of the trees still without a breeze to stir them. The sky was free of clouds, turning purple with the end of the day. There were a handful of people about, jogging or simply enjoying the evening, but nobody broke the silence.

He ripped off a chunk of bread, tossing it carelessly in the direction of two female geese and their goslings, stepping sideways to avoid a broken branch that had fallen across his path. Nature really wasn't pristine at all, he mused, noting the horrendous number of goose and duck droppings that covered the bank. Not that people were all that pristine, either; after living in New York City, a place filled with trash and graffiti and smog, he really couldn't say that. But while his house might have been a little (okay, a lot) dusty, he did clean the toilets and Mopsy's cage, which was better than the fowl seemed to manage.

"I suppose this nature thing isn't too bad," He remarked to nobody in particular. It was especially nice seeing as the lake was in public, so he couldn't get lost and there probably wouldn't be any random thugs about. At least, he hoped there wouldn't be any random thugs about.

He balled up the last piece of bread, spied a group of ducks, took aim....and promptly hit another lake-goer in the back of the head.

"I'm so sorry!" He apologized, jogging over to his victim, face beet-red. "A...are you all right?"

Not that a bread crumb was likely to hurt anyone, but he felt compelled to ask out of principle.

[Jordan Scholl]

It was a nice Sunday evening and Jordan's first class the next day started at ten o'clock. With this knowledge, he decided that it might be a good idea to take some time and walk down to the lake. When he went on trips with his family they often did a lot of hiking and nature walking, and it was something that Jordan missed. There was a nice path back to the lake, and it would only take about half an hour to walk there. He brought a water bottle and a sandwich to have when he was there and headed out.

Along the way, he took the time to stop and look at some of the trees. There were some nice views up in the woods, and he could almost see his dad walking around, snapping pictures of everything. The walk itself was nice, and when he came out at the lake it was stunning in the late afternoon light. He ate his sandwich while sitting on a tree stump near the edge of the water, then started wandering along next to the lake.

He had his mp3 player and was listening to some of his music and thinking about guitar chords, not really paying attention, when something hit him in the back of the head. He unplugged one of his earbuds as he turned around.

An older man wearing glasses came running over, red in the face. Jordan had never seen the guy before, which meant that he probably didn't work at the school. The wanna-be spy had been almost everywhere at the school and had come to at least recognize most faces, even if he hadn't quite gotten all the names pinned down.

The man apologized, and Jordan shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

He was about to turn and walk away, but his curiosity eventually got the better of him. He couldn't pass up an opportunity to try to get some more information. "So, you live in Pilot Ridge? I don't remember seeing you around much. What do you do?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and left one earbud in while the other one hung at his chest. His foot tapped in time to the music. He'd gotten used to half-listening to music while half-listening to a conversation, but he hadn't quite realized that it was a gift that not everyone had.

[Joshua Bernstein]

The boy he'd accidentally attacked was maybe around Abigail or Jeremiah's age, but he wasn't entirely sure; children's ages weren't his strong suit. A young teen, anyway, and one with one of those iPods all his nieces and nephews had -- even little Rivkah, which he thought was rather ridiculous himself, as she was only nine. Did everyone under the age of 30 have an iPod? He guessed that the answer was probably yes. Even his siblings both had them, defying middle-age with trendy technology. On the other hand, his siblings both had children to play tech support for them. Josh doubted that any of his friends would be of much use if he bought an iPod and needed help setting it up.

A look of relief washed over his face when his victim absolved him. "Oh, good. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to aim at you..."

As someone who frequently struck up conversations with strangers it didn't occur to him to consider the boy's question unusual. "I do, although I only moved here last year, so I suppose if you're a native it isn't too odd you don't recognize me." And it wasn't as if he ran in the same social circles a teenager would run in. The youngest of his friends were in their late twenties, and the people he spent the most time with were all within a few years of his own age.

"I'm an attorney," He added, answering the second half of the boy's question. "It's not nearly as glamorous as television makes it out to be." Although he couldn't complain about the wages.

Observation wasn't his strong point, but it was hard not to notice that the person he was conversing with seemed more engrossed in his music than he did in the answers he was providing. "So if I may ask, what are you listening to?" He didn't keep up with music, but he still held a mild curiosity about the trends of youth. After all, his nieces and nephews tried to keep him aprised, and in return he occasionally bothered to pay attention to what other children were doing so he could ask them about it later in a show of interest.

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan shrugged. "I'm new here, too. Just came here for school. But I know most of the people up there." It was true--one way or another, he knew most of the staff and a good amount of the students, even if it was only by name.

"An attorney, huh? That's pretty cool." And he vaguely remembered something about there being different types of law... "What kind of lawyer? Are you with the government fighting crime and stuff? Got any really interesting cases, or is it all boring stuff?" Surely being an attorney wasn't all that dull, otherwise no one would do it. Right? Because surely people only did jobs that they enjoyed.

"Oh, my music?" Jordan said, pointing to his earbud. "It's, um..." He was a little embarrassed. There was some of the newer music that he enjoyed, but what Jordan really liked was country music and blues. He was a little ashamed to admit this usually and would often make up answers about what he was actually listening to, but this guy was old and probably wouldn't care.

"It's Johnny Cash," he said finally. "Folsom Prison Blues. I like the guitar on it. Johnny Cash has some really good music, good beat. What kind of stuff do you like listening to?" He knew that his parents listened to lots of old 80s music, and some of that was okay. Maybe he'd recognize some of what this guy knew, though he doubted it.

"I'm Jordan, by the way," he threw in. He was often a bit tardy with introductions, but he did eventually get there. And now that this was turning into a real conversation he thought he might as well put it in. And maybe the old guy would reciprocate.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"You went away for school?" Josh asked. There was only one boarding school in the area that he was aware of, and he frowned at that thought. Poor kid, being forced to attend a boarding school away from his home. "It's good that you know people, it must be lonely being away from home." He knew he would have hated it when he was that age, being taken away from his friends and family. College had been easy, because he'd planned for that, and even then he'd stayed in the same city, so it wasn't really like being away.

"I'm a Civil Rights attorney," He answered, pleased to have someone this young show so much interest in law. "I don't know if most people would be too interested in my cases, but it's important to make sure that the rights of each individual are respected. He realized that other people weren't always as enthusiastic about this as he was, but he still thought they should be, if for no other reason than that they should be happy someone was looking out for their rights as well as those of their neighbors.

"Johnny Cash! It's nice to meet someone who appreciates the classics." He'd been expecting some incomprehensible band name he'd never heard before, not an artist he actually listened to himself. He was equally surprised to have the question returned to him; usually teenagers weren't that interested in the musical opinions of their elders. "Well, I know I'll be showing my age here, but the majority of my listening is made up of The Mavericks, The Moody Blues and The Mamas and the Papas, followed by whatever is playing on the country station." Why was it easier to admit that to this boy than it was to admit it to his friends? Was it because if some teen he didn't know judged him he wouldn't care (that's just what teenagers did) but he really didn't want his friends to think less of him? "Oh, and I can't forget Paul Simon. I have a friend who is very nearly obsessed, he would be upset if I left off his idol."

Much like Jordan, Josh didn't always introduce himself right away. Of course, he hadn't been expecting to have a conversation, but he didn't mind that things had gone that way. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jordan. I'm Joshua Bernstein."

[Jordan Scholl]

"It's not so bad, really. My uncles work at the school, and I have some cousins in the area. Plus my parents live only a couple hours away, and there's internet and stuff. I don't mind so much. It's harder for some kids, though." Jordan shrugged again. "Especially some of the little kids. I've heard some really bad stories about kids who've freaked out, but it's really important, I think. Plus everyone has fun after a little while. It's not so bad." At least in his view it wasn't, though he'd never really seen anything else. There weren't any other options for metahumans.

Jordan had to stifle a bit of a yawn when the guy started talking about "human rights" and whatnot. He was sure it was important, but he wasn't really sure how it applied to him or anything. Still, the guy seemed really excited about the whole thing, so he managed to work up to say, "Wow, that sounds really good. I guess you're kind of like a hero or something." And he gave a good-natured smile to show that he was paying attention.

He didn't recognize all of the different musicians that the older man mentioned, but a couple seemed familiar. He nodded as he listened to the list of names, genuinely interested at this point. He tried to remember the names of those that he didn't know so he could try to look them up later online, specifically when no one else was around to make fun of him. "Paul Simon," he said, musing. "Paul Simon, Simon...wait, isn't that like, Simon and Garfunkel?" He'd listened to his parent's music with Simon and Garfunkel and enjoyed that a bit, but he wasn't sure that he'd gotten the right guy. He might be making a total fool of himself here, but he supposed it didn't matter much.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Bernstein," Jordan said, sticking out his hand. "Or is there a special title for lawyers? Bernstein A.D. or something."

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Ah. You're fortunate that your support network is all in the area." Josh mused. Cobalt hadn't been so lucky, though his support network was admittedly non-traditional. "Education is extremely important, but there are quite a lot of choices out there. I believe that students should be allowed an education close near their families, which it sounds like you have."

He didn't think of himself as particularly heroic, though he did try very hard to ensure that everyone had their freedoms and rights. "It is important, but I don't know that heroes are generally known for doing lots of paperwork." And pouring through applicable laws and arguing a lot. Heroes were either of the superpowered variety or the "everyday heroes" of the police and fire departments and (he had to admit that sometimes they were useful) the army. Those were the people who saved lives during disasters. "I don't save lives, I simply seek to improve them. The same could be said of, say, your plumber. But yes, it is extremely important work. It is remarkably easy for the majority to infringe upon the rights of the minority, and making sure this doesn't happen is necessary work. If nobody is watching then subtle, slow changes can result in you being unable to worship as you see fit. And of course there is always room for improvement, room to say, actually, people should be allowed to marry whomever they are in love with regardless of ethnicity or gender or meta status."

He beamed at the young boy when he correctly identified Paul Simon. "Like Simon and Garfunkel." He confirmed, reminiscing about one of the few concerts he'd attended. The crowds and the music and the company had made that one of the best memories of his life. "Are you a fan?" Jordan listened to Cash, so perhaps he would also be a fan of Sean's favorite band.

"A.D. isn't too far off," He laughed. "You could use J.D. as a title, though that just means you have a law degree. You don't have to practice law or pass the bar for that. If you want to be formal you can use Esquire, but I find that to be a bit stuffy and old-fashioned, so Mr. Bernstein is fine with me."

He accepted the hand, shaking it with more gravity than he would have if he was meeting someone his own age. "So, Jordan. What area of study are you interested in?"

[Jordan Scholl]

"Yeah, yeah," Jordan said, nodding to most of what the guy was saying. "I'm pretty lucky, I guess. And it would be cool if everyone could go to school with their families...but what about people who don't have good families? And people with powers need help with that, and there can't be schools for every town or whatever. Plus, I think it's kind of cool, because you can make friends here and not have your parents following you all the time. I think there's lots of people who are happy here." With family working at the school, Jordan felt that he had to defend it. It all worked, right? There was no way his uncles would work for a school that was actually hurting kids.

Jordan didn't think of his plumber as a hero, and he thought this man wasn't very smart for comparing himself to a plumber. Did that mean he had to wear a uniform and make house calls, or was it just that he had to deal with a lot of crap? When the attorney started going off about minorities and fringes, though, he completely lost the thirteen-year-old from Hammel. He vaguely caught a mention about worshiping fitness and home improvement for ethnic people, but he didn't see how everything tied into being a lawyer. Still, though, he didn't want to seem rude, so he kept nodding and looking very thoughtful. When the man finished his speech, Jordan said solemnly, "Wow, that all sounds very difficult. You are really great for working on all that. I don't think most people would want to. I don't think I ever could." And he silently prayed that would be the end of the speech.

He was proud of himself for identifying the musical artist correctly. "I listen to some Simon and Garfunkel stuff, but not Simon on his own, really. My parents had Simon and Garfunkel CDs, and I listened to those. And my mom had Johnny Cash. All my music I got from them, really, 'cause I can't afford to buy my own stuff. But I do like some of that older stuff. It sounds better than rap and everything. Better music, I think, and good guitar stuff in some of them."

Jordan had been entirely joking when he suggested giving Mr. Bernstein a title at the end of his name. He was surprised to hear that there actually were titles you could give to lawyers. He understood, though, why no one would want to use those. They just sounded stupid. He did vaguely suspect that Mr. Bernstein might be treating him a little like a kid as they stood there, but he also knew that he couldn't exactly expect anything else. Fact was, he was a kid, and he would be treated as such until he grew up. For now he could only stand there and look serious as they started off a new conversation.

"I like music," he said after a moment's thought. "And I'm getting into some new stuff with technology." Spying. But it wasn't spying if you said it out loud and told everyone about it. What was the appropriate way to say you were a spy without actually saying you were a spy? Ah, he had it now. "I'm thinking of working for the government when I get older. Some really important jobs I think I could do. Special skills, that sort of thing."

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh was disappointed that the new generation was just as blind to the segregation instituted by Hammel as the adults were, but he dropped the subject for the time being; he was determined to find a legal means of dispersing Hammel students to schools in their zip codes, and arguing with the alumni wasn't proving to be the least bit helpful in that quest.

He was very pleased that Jordan seemed so interested in his work in Civil Rights. He was eternally frustrated by the apathy of youth (and, if he had to be honest, most of his peers) and even when he was Jordan's age he'd found very few friends to share his passions with. He'd managed to find a few, but a few had never been enough to bring about the change and revolution he dreamed of. It was disappointing, to say the least. But if even one person cared, that meant that society wouldn't be completely lost.

"Ahh. Yes, finances are always an issue." He sympathized with Jordan's plight even if he really couldn't quite understand it; he'd never wanted for money. He briefly thought about offering the boy a job mowing his lawn, then dismissed it as possibly coming across creepy rather than helpful.

"New stuff with technology? I can hardly keep up with the old stuff." He shook his head in despair at the lightning quick pace of technological advancement. "But working for the government is honorable." And generally had more stability than working in the private sector. "It's wonderful that you're considering a career in the government. You can definitely make a huge impact for the better." With an obvious interest in Civil Rights and a desire to go into the government, Jordan would surely be exactly the sort of person the world needed. He at least was scoring points with Josh for his civic mindedness.

A buzz emanated from his pocket, and he grumbled, grabbing his phone and glaring at it. The interruption was from Janice, probably wanting to know about the case they were supposed to be presenting before Schwall the following week. He supposed he ought to call her back.

"Well, Jordan, it has been very nice talking with you. I'm glad to know the future is in such good hands, but I'm afraid my business partner is trying to get in touch with me now. Good luck with that government job."