Players:
Summary: Rashmi and Travis talk about the shooting in Mutant Town.
Date: February 18, 2011
Log Title:You Get The Decoder Ring
Rating: PG
Barnes Academy - HoloQuad
Stepping into the HoloQuad one would almost forget that they were in an underwater school. The sky changes to reflect the time of day, sunny with clouds during the day to night time reflecting what the Northern Hemisphere would look like without light pollution. Sunsets and Sunrises are even reflected in the room. It's impossible to tell there is a ceiling up there. Plant life, benches, fountains and pathways make the room look like a luxurious park and unlike the sky, the rest of the room is real. Sometimes a breeze passes buy and the room is always a comfortable temperature giving the students a way to feel like they're outside enjoying the fresh air.
After a a morning workout Travis has agreed to meet Rashmi in the holoquad later for lunch, after all it's much more peaceful in the faux indoor park then the cafe. He's grabbed a few preprepaired sandwiches, chips and drinks from the cafe and is sitting under a tree with two of his arms resting behind his head and seemingly relaxing a bit.
Fresh from the showers after her own workout, Rashmi picks her way into the Quad, moving with the hesitant stiffness of someone only just beginning to push the limits of her range of motion. "Hey, Travis," she says as she draws near the boy, lifting a hand and giving a crooked smile. "Sorry to make you wait… I forgot how *big* this place can be sometimes. …Mostly when you don't actually *want* to walk, y'know?"
Travis opens his eyes and waves his head. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind relaxing here a bit, didn't sleep much last night and after that work out I'm tired." He says as he pushes himself up to more of a sitting then slacking position. "You'll get used to the work outs eventually. I grabed some turkey sandwiches and some potato chips. I always get hungry after exercise." He says brushing back his damp hair.
"Thanks," Rashmi says, dropping down to sit next to Travis. "I'm not sleeping all that well, either… but it'll pass. Good days and bad days, right?" Lifting a shoulder, she settles in against Travis' side, letting out a breath. "This Carmen thing isn't making it easier, either."
Travis puts one of his arms around Rashmi's shoulder and nods. "Yeah, that's part of why I didn't get much sleep." He confesses. "I snuck out last night after you told me about it and I went to the park. I actually ran into Bruce, some Platypus guy and Agent Drew Daniels so I think I'm gonna be in a bit of trouble but I really want to help you out on this. Not just for you but that woman."
Rashmi smiles at this, reaching over to pluck up a bag of chips. "That's… actually really very sweet of you, Travis, thanks…" Pulling the bag open, she tilts it toward him, letting out a sigh. "I'm going to the Precinct tonight to start making some noise, if you want to come with me. Also… Magneto's watching the 'Net to see if any stories are written about the whole mess. We'll probably want to check back with him, afterwards."
Travis nods and gets a bit of a bashful look when she tells him it's sweet. "Well, I know what it's like to have a family member shot in cold blood so…everyone deserves to have those that they lost unfairly brought to justice." He says and chuckles. "Wow, I sound like some cheesy Western move cowboy takling about Justice and whatnot. But yeah, I'd like to go with you. Bruce though, he's an odd fellow and Agent Daniels he's…I think he's good for learning what not to do."
Rashmi chuckles quietly, shaking her head. "Cowboy or not, it's nice to hear. Bruce is odd, yeah… but his heart's in the right place, even if he doesn't do a lot of actual *thinking* to go with it. And Carmen… it hit him really hard. She was a regular, and after the shooting she'd taken everything she'd saved for school and put it into rebuilding. I *want* to think it was just a stupid mistake, her getting killed like that…"
Taking Rashmi's hand in one of his, Travis nods. "I hope so to. I just worry that he'll make it worse though. It's never good when people take the law into their own hands and also being a mutant.." He lets out a sigh as he changes his trail of thought. "Wow, I never really experienced this much of what really being a mutant is about but I guess it's starting to hit me."
Rashmi nods slowly, balancing the bag of chips on her lap and picking up a pair of sandwiches, passing one over. "Yeah… Welcome to the club," she says with a smirk. "You get a decoder ring, and a new hat every fifth crisis."
"Decoder ring? Does it tell me to drink more Ovaltine?" Travis asks with a bit of a smile as he takes the sandwich and bites into it. "I just never really thought of myself as any different until last night when it really hit me that, even if we aren't different, we are. Honestly half the time I'm too afraid to leave Barnes or go outside of Mutant Town cause of..well..you know. But I gotta stop letting that hold me back. So you find anything out really about the cops or is that what we're doing tonight?"
"Well, Bruce got the cruiser's license number," Rashmi says, pulling a napkin out of her bookbag and waving it. "Take that to the police, get their badge numbers, maybe convince them to launch an investigation. If they don't agree…" She shrugs, pausing to take a bite of her sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. "Make a stink. Get the public involved. Reporters, lawyers, lobbies, the whole nine."
"Well let me know what else I can do to help, this whole thing is new to me and I don't want to screw anythign up." Travis says inbetween bites. "Do you know why they shot her?"
Rashmi nods. "According to Bruce, she was being attacked. Gang-bangers, a bunch of them. So, she started defending herself." Shrugging, she takes another bite. "Cops came, saw a mutant shooting beams of whatever at a bunch of humans, and drew down."
Travis winces at that. "Aren't cops supposed to give a warning before they just start shooting? That's just horrible." He says getting quiet for a bit as he eats. "It's Mutant Town, it's like you should expect to see people using their powers to defend themselves. They wouldn't shoot a woman for punching an attacker or a purse snatcher."
