1898/Happy Harbor: Shark Week

Happy Harbor: Shark Week
Date of Scene:	03 June 2020
Location:	New York Aquarium
Synopsis:	Sometimes kids are TOO hard headed...
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Damian Wayne, Zachary Zatara, Alton Schmidt, Colette O'Connail, Samuel Morgan

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Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
The Happy Harbor teens get to go on another adventure today, apparently the Aquarium is a nice spot to go on the off school days. And when it was free for folks and they even got money to spend on food and gift shops trinkets it was even more of a draw. There are a number of students with the Principal and her assistant Duncan. A few other teachers and TA's are about and have groups of students as well. The big thing to see was the slightly new addition of the Sharks to the aquarium.

Morrigan is dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a Happy Harbor polo so that no one mistakes her for a weirdo. In the dimness of the aquarium she's ditched the sunglasses and is giving a look to her map and then to the others, "Alright folks. We'll meet here in the cafe area for lunch around one if that works for people. If you get hungry before then just send us a message and we'll get together earlier." the redhead smiles.

Then they are released to the wild!

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian had brought his sketchbook, along with supplies to draw with. Seeing as he enjoyed animals, he opted to wander around and sketch some. The marine life having caught his eye were the stingrays. There was a small exhibit where there was a nice sized clutch of them about. He sat peacefully, observing and sketching. He dressed himself in a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a vest with slacks and shoes shined to a mirror finish. Most unusual for a teen, but of course, the boy was no ordinary teenager.

  A thermos was at his side, and a cup with tea at a low steam accompanied it, getting sipped on every now and again between thoughtful strokes of the pencil and thoughts.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "Thanks, Doc," Is offered to Morrigan, along with a brief wave from Zachary, before the scatter. Today, he's opted not to bring Bunny to avoid any speculative glances from TAs, but it also means he's a little lost. Reaching into the side pocket of the waterproof backpack, he pulls out a pack of octopus-shaped gummies and drops two into his mouth. He's dressed in neon boardshorts, an old t-shirt, and a light white jacket.

    His wanderings take him to Damian, and with a brief glance at the sketches, he asks, "Ever feel sorry for them?

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton thought it was worth doing, watching all the sealife to be seen here. He was in a red dress shirt, black pants, black shoes, though perhaps not shined...

Alton actually spent his time looking at the sharks, swimming around. Fascinating creatures, those, the apex predators of the ocean...and yet hardly the only dangerous thing in it. Orca whales could and did eat the sharks, and their greatest enemy was probably humans themselves.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Honestly it would be better to release the sharks, they're probably more civilized. And in some cases, less deadly.

    It is remarkable what just a few months on the other side of the desk can do. Colette had only ever been on the student side of the equation before the start of the year, now she's fully capable of mentally abstracting her charges into an amorphous mass of vague, barely human annoyance. It's great, she'll be a proper teacher in no time.

    Unlike Mo, Colette does not have a Happy Harbor polo on, because as far as she's concerned that would be horrendously uncool, but she has a badge on a lanyard that marks her out as a responsible adult, which she considers faintly hilarious. It allows her to wear a Brooklyn Bombshells roller derby t-shirt though, which amuses her for elaborate reasons.

    Colette has spent the last hour standing in the underwater tunnel in the ocean wonders exhibit, ushering students along if they spend too much time crowding the tunnel in the hopes of glimpsing a blacktip reef shark attack something, with an air of studied boredom she would not be exhibiting if she was here on her own - it's really quite an impressive display. With the tour let loose to wander, she can finally take a break from her guard duty.

     She hovers by a tank displaying some glowing jellyfish under UV lighting for a while, studies a giant pacific octopus for somewhat longer, and glances speculatively at Zachary, who seems for once to be without his glamorous if slightly creepy assisstant.

    "Hard to guess what a creature like that thinks," she comments in response to Zach's question to Damian. "For smaller fish like this I doubt an aquarium is a terribly stressful experience. And if you think about this as a question of species ethics rather than individual ethics, the educational purpose aquaria serve probably causes much more reduction in harm to the species due to raising consciousness of ecological issues than damage to the individual animals."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    It was too good an opportunity to pass up. In the past, Sam had called his instinct of knowing when dangerous people were around his 'shark sense', and so an opportunity to see the majestic creatures as close as was possible without actual diving gear was not to be missed. And because of that connotation, he'd asked Damian along.

    When the group disperses he makes a quick trip, and returns a minute or two later, Bear in tow. While the shepherd was sporting his usual hi-vis vest, now augmented with a shark-hat which the amiable animal seems to wear with equanimity, his human has opted to dress ... well... up. Gone is the usual hoodie, and in its place is a smart gray shirt, open at the collar. This compliments charcoal gray slacks and combat boots that are, as usual, polished to a mirror finish. Without much in the way of explanation, he sits himself down next to Damian and without a word hands over the grinning shark plush toy he just bought in the gift shop.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a smile to Zachary and a nod of her head, "Not a problem, Mister Zatara. If you find yourself in a pickle just send me a message and we'll get to you." she states. Then she's heading off with the group that she's leading. They get to go see penguins first. Because who doesn't love adorable penguins. Plus someone is having a bit of a meltdown over the underwater tunnel so Morrigan doesn't want to take her group that way yet.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian looked up from his sketchbook, to Zach. His green eyes seemed to catch every bit of light they could, as they always looked hauntingly bright. "No." He said, before looking out to the tank. "I think they have the chance to live out their lives completely unknowing what the ocean is. And what dangers the ocean has in store for them. Ignorance is bliss."

  His tea cup was brought up to his lips and he partook of the oolong tea that Alfred had so lovingly prepared for him.

  As Sam takes a seat next to him, however, the shark plush is given a bit of a look, then a small chortle. "What's his name?"

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    "Hey, this is supposed to be a fun trip," Zach says flatly, finding a reflective surface in the dark aquarium and fixing the part in his dark hair just so. "No instruction."

    "But I suppose that makes sense," His voice lifts after brief consideration. "On the other hand - or fin - those new sharks are pretty big. And obviously weren't born here," A glance is given towards Sam and Damian as he holds out the bag of gummies to Colette in offering. "Have you seen them?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Hadn't named them yet." Sam admits, with a half smile, before turning to look at the sharks. There's something about them that seems appealing. "I was thinking maybe Red, or Requin if we're going to be French about it. But he's your shark, you get to name him." It's a few more seconds, before he answers the questions Zach asked earlier, giving the other teen a look that goes on for about half a second too long.

    "It's always a pity when powerful creatures are caged, but sometimes it's for the best. I honestly don't think they mind. Pretty sure some sharks prefer getting admired over getting speared."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette takes a gummy with a nod of thanks to Zach. "Gummy octopus. Neat. Though I note in this case it's actually a hexapus. Perhaps we should overlook that as a necessary limitation of gummie molding technology."

    She tosses the hexapus in her mouth and eats, watching Sam and Damian's interaction with a faint smile. There's something rather incongruous about the plushie gift when you know what those two have been up to out of school hours.

    "It's certainly a more difficult question with the larger animals," Colette agrees with Zach. "Though they tend to stick to relatively small sharks here, and I think Sam has a point. It's mainly cetaceans I'd be concerned about, they don't tend to do well in captivity."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton continues pondering sharks...when hey, look at that, feeding time. Big chunks of meat...with blood, of course...enter the water. Alton, with an amused look on his face, pulls up the Jaws theme on his starkphone and blasts it as loud as it'll go. So everyone is treated to some good old fashioned John Williams as the poor shark is just trying to have dinner like any other creature.

Still, his theme music is enough to make some of the smaller kids wandering around look more worried than is strictly necessary. Alton finds himself chuckling at that.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
A few parents that have brought their kids out that are separate from the school give the JAWS music a sniff and a shake of their head. A few other people laugh at it. One child in particular takes off RUNNING away from the sound of the music and the sharks that can be seen. NOPE. Not today, Satan.

This causes a few parents to do the usual 'oh god Bobby ran off!' startled moment and rush off after him.

The child that ran off hits a curve in the wall that was coming up and he didn't see. He actually bounces, sending him back and flat to the ground. And there's a little crack in the glass that he leaves.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Frowning at Colette, Zachary takes out his phone and types along the screen for a moment. Ceta-what. "Oh, whales," He slides his cell back into his pocket and adds, with levity, "Yeah, I haven't seen any of those yet, so I guess we can continue consuming without an ethical dilemma."

    A little laugh escapes the young sorcerer when the shark theme starts up. "That's just not right..." He shakes his head, but any amusement drains from his face when the poor kid slams into the aquarium. "Oh my god."

    He heads over to the boy and holds out a hand to help him up. "Hey, bud. You okay?" The glass goes unnoticed, for now.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
The kid running off randomly makes him chuckle just a little bit more. ...He stops laughing when he sees the glass, though. This is no longer funny. He turns off the music when he sees that, and puts the phone away. He also tries to get the attention of one of the museum curators. How much ferrous metal was used to build this place, anyway. Alton suddenly wonders if that's a question that may soon require an answer...

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    "And dolphins and porpoises," Colette confirms to Zach. "Pretty sure they don't have those here. Though the do have octopuses, and there's evidence those guys are pretty intelligent and have a surprisingly complicated emotional life. Maybe we don't give those guys enough credit because they look weird to us."

    She briefly thinks about insisting that yes, 'octopuses' is the correct plural, or arguably octopodes, but before she can even decide not to do the teacher thing, Zach's off checking on the stunned child.

    Colette looks closely enough to check that the kid isn't from the school before letting her attention drift. She thought the music was quite amusing, but it's going to be less amusing if they decide to evacuate the aquarium.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Well, that's never good. There is a silence that falls over the crowd and then everyone that is around starts to panic. Like that scene in JAWS 3 where the metal and glass get wrecked and water starts pouring in. Water doesn't immediately start to pour in, but, there is the clear air of it might happen.

One of the aquarium staff rushes over to Alton and the others, "Please remain calm and we should head out of this area." she tells them seconds before an alarm is raised.

Oh dear.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary will try to help the child up and usher him in the direction motioned by the staff and attendants. He considers some spellcasting but decides against it. This is a school trip, and he is plenty aware of the rules against power flexing in public.

    "Isn't it octopi?" He poses to Colette, as he follows the movements of the crowd out.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Sometimes, pranks just go wrong. Really, REALLY wrong. Then again, how could he have anticipated anyone that young was a metahuman strong enough to crack reinforced glass? He'll have to keep possibilities like this in mind next time he decides to go a pranking. Alton likewise flows with the crowd attempting to evacuate the area. At least people are being evacuated...he doesn't want to have to use powers while in civilian clothes...

But expulsion is better than death, or letting other people die. So be it.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    "Nope," is all the detail Colette is prepared to go into in the matter of pluralizing cephalopods with Zach at the moment. She stands to one side as the evacuation starts, peering up over the heads of the crowd moving towards the emergency exit, and counting heads.

    "Sam, Alton, Zachary, Damian, stay close together and wait outside please. Don't leave the area unless moved to a waiting area by the aquarium staff, we're going to need to count heads.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan is waiting with her group of kids when everyone gets ushered out of their shark exhibit and the redhead looks a bit concerned, "Is everyone alright?" she asks them. She does a head count and sees that everyone is there and she feels a little better. "No idea what's going on, but, we should be going. They said they need to do a repair and I think it's enough excitement in here. We can stop and get lunch and maybe catch another museum on the way back to school." she offers as she ushers groups towards the schools buses.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Alton considers that. "...Alright? Am I? I played a song on my phone as a prank, and a kid cracked some of the strongest reinforced glass that human hands have made." Even if he did save people, he'd only be saving them from a mess he'd caused in the first place, and there's nothing all that heroic about that.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary drops the kid off with whoever he came here with before finding the Happy Harbour group, just in time for the headcount. "All good here," He nods to Mo, biting at another gummy. "Damn, I never got to see those sharks."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette helps ushering the students out, tapping them on the shoulder one at a time as they pass and keeping count. As the line of exiting people thins she's aware that a couple of faces haven't passed yet and goes back in to fetch Kelvin and Carina, who cleverly stayed behind to take selfies by the cracked glass. She chases them out to join the rest before quickly taking a selfie of her own as close to the crack as the aquarium staff will let her get.

    Finally everyone's out. "Yeah, that was a bit weird," she agrees with Alton. "The kid wasn't running fast enough to do that kind of damage anyway. Maybe it's a multi-layer deal and he only cracked the outer layer." She gives a shrug. "There's probably something up with that kid. No doubt he'll turn out to be some kind of natural vitrokinetic or something."

    Colette looks back at the aquarium with a shrug. "We can try again when they reopen, " she says to Zach. Then to Mo, "Or a library. Libraries are good, the books rarely try to bite anyone and generally there's an effort to keep thousands of tons of water /away/."