maskormenacelogs | [muffled meaningful song lyrics playing in the distance]

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[muffled meaningful song lyrics playing in the distance]

WHO: all those who are participating in the student outreach program.
WHERE: chester miller secondary school.
WHEN: from tuesday 21st through to friday 24th.
WHAT: an open mingle log wherein heroes attempt to give pep talks and guidance to a school with a notably high concentration of at risk youth.
WARNINGS: discussion of potentially sensitive subjects (drugs, bullying, whatever comes to mind with the phrase "at risk youth"); specific warnings tbd.

Chester Miller Secondary School is a school with a bad reputation. The kind of school you don't particularly want to put on your resume. It is the general assumption in the community that most juvenile delinquents attend Chester Miller, most bullying occurs at Chester Miller, and that, in general, if you can afford another school, you should probably send your kids there. However, upon being admitted to the school grounds in order to fulfill their assignment, the heroes will find that it outwardly seems no different from any other public school. Exasperated teachers, bored students. The standard fare, really.

They will also be subject to quite a lot of judging, adolescent eyes for the duration of their stay. How will you go about reaching these kids?

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[ In contrast, Nelson is at his best in situations like this. Or perhaps at his worst. When they get the school he's already got the workings of a self-righteous lecture outlined in his head, and by the time they actually reach the classroom he's entirely ready to step up onto his soap box. He's good at speeches... in a way, and stand confidently beside the other two men, shoulders straight. ]

All right, kids. I'm Nelson Gardner, and these are my colleagues Mr. Hundred and Mr. Bradbury. This is important, so make sure you pay close attention. Whether or not you do could mean the difference between leading a wholesome and successful life and ending up dead in a gutter and I assure you the gutter is no place for the future leaders of tomorrow.

[ He's looking at a kid with dyed hair and both ears pierced, squinting, and then looks at Rick and indicates him haughtily. ]

Mr. Bradbury and I were both USMC. No doubt with a war going on many of you are expecting to serve your country eventually and drugs are no excuse not to do your part. Would you rather be a hero or a disgrace?

[ Bradbury's not unfamiliar with this kind of work -- even as a washed-up cop in the NYPD, he's done his share of talks. He's not necessarily very good at them, though, so he's happy to leave that bit up to Nelson and Mitch. Between the two of them, they should be able to keep things going without Bradbury chiming in, right?

Then again, considering the topic of the lecture, maybe Mitch isn't the best candidate for speaking about it either. He glances at Mitch while Nelson talks, face impassive, but those broad shoulders are twitching slightly, suppressing amusement -- though it's not at Nelson's expense. He does straighten up when he's gestured at, though, squaring his shoulders and nodding at the kids. He's glad he opted for a slightly more formal dress shirt and slacks. It's not exactly a suit, but it's better than his original plan, which was a T-shirt and jeans.

Nelson's speech doesn't seem to be making much of an impression, though. If anything, the kids seem to be slouching further in their seats. Idly, Bradbury wonders if Nelson finds himself more comfortable here -- some of the technology is out of place, but he swears the whole place feels like a surreal trip backwards and forward at the same time. ]

[ Mitch is honestly a little impressed, while he stands somewhere vaguely behind Nelson, listening to him go on and on about drugs. Now, Mitchell had a certain impression of his employee, was it former employee now? Nelson was jumpy, anxious, he could see his convictions could come into play, but the guy never seemed to be this... well...

Honestly, he'd be impressed, if he wasn't trying to scare the piss out of kids, some of whom didn't look at all intimidated by the way he was talking. ]

While it's important not to do drugs, I think the more important thing to focus on is why would you do them?

[ Hey, he'd done that spot after the pot fiasco, he could do this. ]

Honestly, it's not worth it, putting your futures on hold for a quick high, believe me. There's so much more anyone can do than sit in their apartment all day getting stoned. What kind of fucking life is that?

[ He very pointedly didn't look at his bodyguard -- former bodyguard, but at the kids. Bradbury knew now, something that others didn't, but Mitch wasn't going to jeopardize that. He kept his eyes on the kids -- earnest. Oh, he was good. ]

[ It's undoubtedly Nelson's element, doing the talking, making speeches. Marine or not, he's definitely "brains" and not "brawn" and has always flourished from the strategic planning part of the equation than the action that might often follow. Nelson's confidence could overpower his nerves and self-doubt only under particular conditions.

Nothing which means his attempts are always successful, or that he expects them to be. (Not that he doesn't hope that they'll be.) The reception he's getting right now isn't far off from the reception he's gotten from grown adults, bored or apathetic or already assured enough in their own perspective to disregard his words almost entirely. He is not put off or hindered by apparent disinterest, spirits energized by the fact there is much more here he can relate to. It isn't perfect, but he catches glimpses of a world he's familiar with everywhere he looks. ]

Precisely! The world waiting for you beyond these doors is vast, full of possibility! Any one of you might go on to do great heroic things just like all the good folks out fighting for their country now. It would be a terrible, terrible mistake to dumb yourself down for a momentary thrill instead of putting your body and mind to their full potential.

You kill brain cells, your body deteriorates, you completely lose all sense of right and wrong and reality and most importantly-- [ He's not exactly ranting but certainly hitting a certain stride, speaking quickly and energetically. ] You'll become completely unfit to function or contribute to society. That's no life to live.

[ Bradbury's too used to it not to wince when Mitch swears, though he does internally sigh. The City's former Mayor may not necessarily have a PR department to worry about pleasing these days, but teenagers or not, he could try keeping it PG-rated. He's studying the kids more than strictly paying attention to what Nelson or Mitch are saying, because he doesn't really have much to add.

He's more concerned with keeping an eye out for potential troublemakers, and it really doesn't surprise him at all when a voice from the back pipes up, rude and self-assured, deriding both men for sounding like his grandpa. The mood in the air is restless, bored, and he figures someone'd better do something quick to defuse the situation before it gets any more unpleasant. ]

[ Mitch only looks at the kid with a tilt of his head, nodding to Nelson like the agreeing co-speaker he was supposed to be. The irony, and there was loads of it, was just something that Mitchell tried to power through and ignore.

He could only look at the kids, an eyebrow rising. ]

Hey, you say that, but I've been in some crap positions before. I remember what it's like being where you're at, but the more you try and screw yourselves over, the worse it's going to get until you have nowhere left to go but the high.

You really want that, because I promise, it gets really old really fast.

[ At the interruption Nelson stops talking, standing up there with a more recognizable (to some) agitation on his reddening face. He reminds himself that it's all right, they're only kids. Blindly swallowing counter-culture and subversive ideas was what they did.

He looks at Mitch warily. ]

Er-- uh, w-what he means is that yes, all of us up here know what it's like to be young and confused. You might not know who you are yet or what you can give to the world, but the answer won't be found in a needle or a tablet. You'll be "dropping" a lot more than "acid" if you give in to that direction and you'll never find your way out of it. Assuming you're lucky enough to survive the experience.

[ He shakes his finger meaningfully before putting his hands on his hips, but the assertiveness has not quite returned to his posture. ]

[ Christ, but Bradbury can practically hear Nelson dropping the air quotes when he speaks, and though he manages not to wince, he can see the mulishness settling in on the faces facing them. Not all of them, though -- it's only the ringleaders, the rowdiest kids with the most to prove that are staring back at them aggressively. Then there are those who were bored as hell and only just tuning into the conversation because it looks like it might actually be interesting, not active participants but definitely not above fanning the flames if the potential results have any chance of alleviating their boredom. And then there are those that just don't want to be in this room at all.

Bradbury resists the urge to rub at his forehead and just clears his throat, cutting in for the first time to give Nelson a moment to breathe and regroup. ]

Maybe you're thinking trying it once or twice ain't a big deal, but all you need to do is get caught at the wrong time and that can mess you up for life. Show of hands: who's a fan of football? Baseball? Any of you plan on going pro?

[ He pauses long enough to let the kids actually willing to humor him raise their hands, then goes on. ] You can kiss those dreams goodbye if you ever test positive. You see it all the time: guys who're at the top of their career, and think they have it made, but they lose everything just because they couldn't kick a habit. You really wanna be that dumb?

[ Mitch baked off, not really willing to interject on that at first. He could talk about people getting hit in the middle of their careers with a drugbust. Plenty of politicians that got caught with it, if they weren't careful, but nobody really cared about that shit -- except for him. He kept the blatant factoids to himself, in case he bored the kids to death.

Which honestly, they were already doing, but Bradbury seemed to be doing the better job with them, getting to them on their level, whereas Mitch often struggled. He expected teenagers to either be "kids" or "adults", when they were neither. He couldn't demean them, he knew, but he also couldn't expect them to act like adults. So he didn't really do teenagers.

Good thing he was never having kids, honestly. ]

He's right, actually. [ He spared a thought for the fact that -- well. The irony. ]

And beyond that, do you really want to prove any shitheads out there who expect it from you right?

Quite right. I know I never gave the stuff a second thought when I was young and had athletic aspirations.

[ He's stretching the truth a little bit, considering he came from a small town before most of the drugs they were addressing had really come into being. He couldn't have smoked anything even if he'd wanted to because of his childhood asthma, and he still wouldn't consider prescription pharmaceuticals "drugs" in a real way. But it makes for a good story; none of these kids know he grew up in the 1920s. ]

Because I wanted a future. I was determined that I would play football and that I would be a Marine, and I don't regret for a moment making sure my body and mind were fit for duty. There are no shortcuts to success, and drugs especially will only destroy your abilities to perform, slowly but surely. Mark my words.

[ Nelson's shoulders have straightened out again, head tilted up with at least the appearance of confidence -- he shakes it, tsking sympathetically. ]

Not to get started on how you would destroy your social life.

[ On the one hand, at least the kids look slightly less mutinous, and more like they're actually paying attention. On the other, Bradbury's not so sure that's a good thing. They don't seem entirely convinced, yet, but at least total anarchy hasn't broken out.

And then one of them pipes up: what if they don't care about becoming a football player or being in the military? What if they want to become heroes instead?

The mention of superheroes gets an enthusiastic response, though it's probably hardly the kind they would have wanted. There's a lot of miming of shooting down crooks and dispensing vigilante justice, sound effects and all, and the upsurge in volume has Bradbury wincing and muttering under his breath. ]

Christ. [ He's not the one with direct superhero experience, but he's not exactly all that clear on whether they're allowed to talk about previous superhero experience, so he looks to the other two for a clue.. ]

[ Oh christ. They had to get the classroom with a whole slew of kids with their heads up their asses, didn't they?

Of course, Mitchell's experience with superheroics wasn't exactly a pleasant one, but in retrospect, had he been the one normal among a sea of people with powers? Oh, hell yes, he would have wanted to sign up. Leave the boring life of a civil engineer and work to save lives?

It sounded so good, until you were faced with reality. ]

If you guys want to be superheroes, you're going to have really make sure you don't touch the crap.

[ God, did he ever know. ]

It comes with a lot of responsibility. What if someone needs you're help, and you're stoned out of your mind? What if you're too busy getting your fix, and you lose control? What if you hurt a lot of people, because you're that irresponsible?

[ He paused, a bit of a grimace on his face. He wouldn't say it, but alright, alright. He was projecting. ]

If you want to be a damn superhero, I'd suggest acting like one early on.

[ Nelson squares his shoulders, encouraged himself by the sudden enthusiastic response. Superheroes he can talk about, yet another thing he has experience with. Plenty of experience. ]

To be a hero is an enormous responsibility. The weight of lives is on your shoulders, whether you work alone or with a group. You don't have the law to protect you, so you need to be wise. Think ahead, keep a clear mind and a fit body. I was--

[ He hesitates, already anticipating scrutiny about what weight he's gained since his peak years. Still, he goes on: ]

Don't put anything in your body that would make you unfit to drive. As a hero you forfeit your right to only be responsible for yourself, and that's something to remember every day.

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[muffled meaningful song lyrics playing in the distance]

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