14454/Good Intentions: Part One

Good Intentions: Part One
Date of Scene:	11 April 2023
Location:	Exterior - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	The Puritans make themselves known and things are civil. For now.
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Xiomara Rojas, Richard Stadler, Michael Hannigan, Belinda Gutierrez

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Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Tuesday had been a quiet day of students and faculty going back and forth to classes and getting lunch when it was their scheduled time. It was about one in the afternoon when the silence of the day was broken with the sound of rumbling engines and the growing murmur of voices and the sound of clanking going on outside. It drew more than a few teachers to look out the windows and a few of them were a bit...confused as to what was happening.

A good crowd had been building out front of Happy Harbor High School on the sidewalk that turned to the main pathway that lead to the doors to the main school entrance.

What was forming outside looked to be like a protest line, like many a picket line when people are protesting something.

Mister Dauer who teaches Trigonometry had been standing at the window for about three minutes before he'd turned to call up to the main office. And then it started to spread. Teachers and other faculty members were receiving texts that there was a disturbance happening and that they would get updates as things progressed.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Under normal circumstances, Crush would already be headed into New York City to work. Her classes were all in the morning now, the last classes of High School she would ever need, which allowed her her afternoons. Sometimes it was to work for Mister O'Connail, other times to practice and train at Titan Tower, and some days it was just to do her own thing... which meant eating.

Today was a day all to herself and she had been planning to head into New York City for eight to ten hot dogs and a few soft pretzels when the noise out in front of the school started. Going to the window she gazed out at what looked like some sort of protest forming and nearly fell over laughing. Did those fools not realize just who and/or what went to this school? No? Alright then, time for an education.

Collecting herself, she pulled on her no sleeved denim jacket and headed out to find either Mister Stadler or Ms. MacIntyre, which ever she came across first on her way to the front of the school.

Richard Stadler has posed:
"All right, so that's the pineal gland." Stadler notes, moving to tap the next point on the diagram of the human body he was working with. "Now, can someone tell me what this one here is? Anyone? I'm sure you have a few friends in class with Type 1, so if I tell you that this is the part of the endocrine system that makes insulin..."

His eyes twitch briefly towards the clock on the wall. 20 minutes left; should be enough time to get through the endocrine system, and discuss next week's quiz and what they're expecting. Engagement was tough, though, this time of day. Some people were waiting for lunch, others had already gone, and it was a tough sell to sit in class in either case-

There was a brief chirp, and Stadler moved to check his phone. Frowning at the message itself. "Ahh... all right, people, looks like we've got a little bit of a... gathering in front of the school. Nothing to be alarmed about, but all the same, let's be cautious when we're walking the halls." He notes, before tapping the diagram again. "Still waiting on an answer here..."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Along with faculty, those who may have reason to come to the school for official reasons were also included, which is where one Michael Hannigan comes in. As a liaison, the musician wasn't presently on campus when the protest formed. But he did happen to be in Happy Harbor which made the commute over to the school reasonably quick. In a less than traditional manner.

The purplish black bird flies near the forming picket line, checking for any signs of trouble that may be brewing. As far as he can tell there's only one type of person who feels compelled to protest a high school that is in session.

That's right.

Assholes.

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda has gotten better at raising her hand before barking out the answer-- and in English rather than the Spanish of home. "Senior Stadler," she answers, hand shooting up (after the 3.7 seconds waiting grace) "It is the pancreas, sir. It creates the insulin that the body use to regulate the sugars in one's blood--"

She pauses as the teacher checks his cell phone message, makes his announcement. She frowns, glancing at the window to the outside. Had dismissed the forming crowd originally as city-things! Peers more closely. Recognition!

And sudden urge for guacamole. Grrr. Stupid giant Nazi robots.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
There are students that had study halls that have wandered out into the halls to stare out windows. There are large signs that read in bright red 'SHUT IT DOWN!', 'MOVE THE WEIRDOS!', 'KEEP OUR KIDS SAFE!', all kinds of other half witty signs that you see at a protest perpetuated by those that didn't bother reading too much as children or have a good education. There are spelling mistakes EVERYWHERE.

Which is driving Miss Kinley in English completely insane right now!

There is the crackle of the intercom before the sound of Doctor MacIntyre's voice comes over the speakers:

"Faculty and Students, I hate to interrupt your day but, we there is a group that has decided to exercise its right to protest. For now, we are letting them as there has been no threats of violence. If we feel that the situation is going to turn violent, we will ask that faculty follow safety and evacuation plans and guide our students and guest to a safe place. Myself and Mister Mallory are going to go and speak with the head of the protest with one of our local police officers to see if we can sort out differences and to see what this is about. Until then, please try to continue with business as usual. We will keep you updated." the Irish woman states.

Well, this could prove interesting!

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
There is a pause mid-step as Ms MacIntyre speaks over the school intercom, and then Crush is continuing through the halls toward the main entrance to the school. She most definitely did not think herself above the other students in regards to the orders coming from the Headmistress, she did however know how to take care of herself and others and was going to put herself in a place that would allow her to protect the school, students, and even teachers should those asshats outside get violent.

This was tension, this was real, this was the hate she had lived her entire childhood. It was chewing at the back of her head, eating away her control very, very slowly. The Czarnian was a powder keg, at the moment unlit, but there was no telling what might trigger her.

Richard Stadler has posed:
There's a snap point over to Belinda when she answers the question. "Very good, Ms. Guiterrez! And I'm sorry for interrupting you there, because you are right; the pancreas is an important part of the system that produces insulin and regulates blood sugar." She even waited the appropriate amount of time before raising her hand. Important, admittedly, because other students needed the oppurtunity to answer, too... though with how things were going with participation, he might have to start nudging the other students to answer, too.

That was before the annoucement over the intercom system, interrupting his thoughts on thhe next statement. The classroom was in a good enough position that the outside of the school was, slightly visable, and he could already see a few students there craning their necks trying to get a better view, the slight murmur of voices at the excitement.

Stadler sighed a bit. Getting them back on track would be a losing endeavor. Focus was already lacking, and special circumstances made it even tougher. No one was in the right frame of mind to learn.

"Okay, folks, a lot of excitement going on right now, so while I'm not letting you /out/ early, we'll do some independent study for Chapter 14 in your text books. Give you a bit of a headstart on next week's quiz."

Ahh, at least the frusturated groans sustained him.

But that was enough to dissolve the class into random bits of concerned conversation as Stadler pulled up the school's map on his phone. Good to review the evacuation plans. As if they had changed from the last time he checked.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Not spotting anything that is traditionally utilized as a weapon, the bird continues on its path towards the school. He's not all that happy with the way the signs are being waved but, those are kind of par items to have at a protest.

The bird angles downwards, flying through a conveniently opening door and avoiding the general 'Did the bird just-' queries that would likely trigger from him just going THROUGH the glass.

FLAP FLAP FLAP. The raven glides through the hallway before spotting a very purposefully walking student. Ok. Change of plans. Kind of.

The bird's path shifts, causing for him to land upon Crush's shoulder. "Oh hey!" Mike the raven replies, wings folding up, "Can you show me to where Mo- Dr. MacIntyre is?"

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda beams cheerfully, settling into that comfortable self-satisfaction (and ignoring the grumbled 'Teacher's Pet' remarks) that draw a bristling urge as she sighs. Though more important things now-- her attention is focused on the ground outside the school, a quick glance at Mr. Stadler before she glances down at her biology book. "If I may sir," she asks, voice soft. "....bathroom?" she manages, blushing in embarassment as she rises, not-so-chalantly making her way to the entryway, rushing out as she ignores the sniggers and snorts from classmates.

Making a beeline to the outer doors, searching frantically for a certain jacket and pale skin. Where, where, WHERE--

The descending bird draws her eye sharply; it marks out Crush's location and-- lands on her shoulder?

"...Dios. And I thought I had a way with animals!"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
There's a good number of people rolling in. There are some that look like they might have started drinking prior to this little shindig. A truck with a group of middle aged white guys with red hats on screech into the parking lot with a hoot and holler. There are always the dregs among the dregs. That seems to rile some of the others in the crowd up.

Morrigan and Mister Mallory are on their way down the sidewalk and talking quietly between the two of themselves while the huge black dog that is Rio trails behind them. "If anyone gets violent, I want you to call for students and faculty to stay calm. We don't need panic as we can see how that turns out." the Irish woman explains.

Once they have approached the end of the sidewalk the police officer joins them with a bit of a frown towards the other group, "They've got a permit to do this." he explains to Morrigan. "As long as it stays safe then we can't really move them." he adds.

This makes the woman nod, "Well, as long as they aren't wanting to hurt or take any of my students then we don't have an issue." she points out.

"If you just get rid of Mister Stanford we won't have any issues, Doctor." a man with dark hair tells her through the bullhorn from behind the row of metal bars that separate the protesters and the walkway. "This all could have been avoided if he hadn't hurt people." he adds.

Xiomara Rojas has posed:
Standing just outside the doors of the main entrance to the school, Crush's eyes were beginning to take on a distinct color of red when a bird lands on her shoulder and starts talking to her. This causes two very important things to occur...

One. The anger is instantly gone as the Czarnian attempts to figure out who or what the hell this bird is. Has she seen the bird before? Had it talked to her before? Was she hallucinating?

Two. Her eyes revert to their normal color, which is about the time Belinda arrives and confirms that the bird is in fact real.

One deep breath and she remembers as she blurts out, "Mr. Hannigan?!" then with a laughs adds, "That's a really cool trick.... and Ms. MacIntyre's over there." She points, and then goes quiet as the conversation amongst the 'adults' take place.

"They aren't taking Melvin," she damn near growls, but her eyes remain their normal blue... seems the Czarnian is now focused on protection.

Richard Stadler has posed:
Stadler looks over to Belinda as she asks to go to the bathroom, and pauses. He didn't have a reason to keep her in the classroom... without calling out that she was probably looking to head outside and see what the protest was about. Goddamn teenagers; you gave them a bit of power and suddenly they all self-identified at Atlas. There's at least some control he can exert, however. "Back before the end of class, Ms. Guiterrez." He warned, before she headed out the door.

Stadler moved to sit down at his desk, listening with half an ear to the concerned chatter of students as the time ticked toward the bell. Who the hell was he kidding? He'd have rushed out there, too, but an Admin to take control of the class would have taken too many minutes to arrive; he'd run the simulations before in this case. Doctor MacIntyre certainly had it handled, and the last thing she needed was biologists and werewolves complicating the mix.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The bird nods as his name is brought up questioningly. "That's correct." He agrees, seemingly distracting Crush from whatever she had been planning to do earlier. When Crush indicates where Morrigan is, the bird's head turns, looking her general direction. "Ah ok. No need to bring me over there just yet then."

The bird's attention shifts over to the direction of the bullhorn, the beak visibly frowning to the shouted message. "I flew over the group earlier, no one had any visible weapons. And so long as they stay over there, we should be fine."

Should be. Mike looks over to Xio. "Melvin's the one from the science fair, isn't he?"

There's a slight hurm. "... We should probably check on him."

Belinda Gutierrez has posed:
Belinda notes the changed eye colors in Crush, a heartbeat's tension eased by fractions. Focused, calmer-- good! She steps up alongside Crush, silently promising to herself to get *all* the apples and thank you cards and-- what else does one get harrassed teachers?

"No way in Infierno are they getting Diesel!" she agrees, almost bristling anew at the declaration from the Bullhorn Peanut Gallery Orchestrator.

"...that lightning show was cool though, I heard," she whispers in addition. She crosses her arms, staring at the gathered crowd cooly. "I wish I had seen it! But... robots." She sighs in exasperation.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan looks calm and collected on the outside, but inside...that is a different story. She raises her phone and types out a message and then shows it to Mister Mallory, who nods to her then turns to walk calmly back to the school. Then it is his voice that comes over the intercom a few moments later:

"Faculty and Students, this is Mister Mallory, your assistant principal. We'll be releasing students early today, but given we will need to take precautions it might take some time to get everyone that needs picked up or bussed out for the afternoon. Those that have dorms, we ask that you please stay to them and the common areas for your safety and so that there are no interactions with the protestors that are outside. We will work with them to see if we can end this civily." he states.

Meanwhile, Morrigan is left outside with Rio and the police officer. She steps forward so that she can speak with the man who addressed her, "My students and my staff are my highest priority. Melvin is now one of my students. We do not give up on anyone here because they are different, sir." she states. "If you would like to speak on what he did that you think was hurting someone, I would love to hear it. Our research has brought back no pending actions against him or any signs that he has been violent. Spooked and having a power flicker? Yes. Intentional harm? No." she explains.

"If you'd like to pick a neutral spot, we'll speak. Otherwise carry on with this..." she waves her hand, "Quietly and professionally and we won't have issues. Just don't come onto the property." she tells him with a bright smile.

Or someone will eat him!

With that said, Morrigan turns to head back to the school. All while people start shouting and waving their signs in anger.

It was going to be a long week!