CHAPTER TEN

STUDENT TEACHER CONFERENCE

Heroic ethics ended with more homework, a reading assignment. Carter shoved his books into his backpack and closed it, carefully keeping his face averted from the rest of the class. Too bad it was easier to act like he wasn't paying attention than it was to actually ignore his classmates.

"What is he even doing here? He's so old?" Someone should tell Gizmateer that her voice was as loud as her pink and yellow costume and just as impossible to miss.

"And what's she doing here either? What's up with her that Master Yin says she has to be treated like that?"

Before Gizmateer could answer her friend, Master Yin decided to do it for her. "Once again, it is wasteful to ask questions around the person who can answer them rather than asking that person directly. Now, was there something you wished to ask?"

During the awkward pause that followed, Carter cupped and lifted LIE's chin so he could study her eyes. They had returned to pale blue, the black pupils normal sized again.

Master Yin spoke into the awkward silence again. "I ask only once more, is there a question either of you wish to ask?" The tone was calm, even, not discouraging, not encouraging. Carter glanced over at the hero turned teacher. Master Yin's expression and posture were as unreadable as a still pond under moonlight.

Apparently, Gizmateer and her friend were unwilling to brave the unknown beneath the still surface. With quick silent shakes of their heads, they quickly strode out of the room.

Carter returned to checking LIE for any signs that he needed to give her another shot before taking her to the next class. Finding no hints of dark thickening in her nails, he shrugged into his backpack and was about to take the tablet from LIE when Master Yin spoke.

"It is school policy that teachers do not reveal information about a student's powers or history unless the student first reveals it to the class. Did you know that?"

Carter shook his head. "I haven't read the handbook yet." He had been too tired the previous night after he and Fortress had moved what he wanted to keep from his apartment to his assigned dorm suite.

"Were you, perhaps, hoping that I would answer for you or hoping that I wouldn't?"

Carter shrugged, trying to see what was under the Master Yin's mirrored surface. "Didn't think about it and don't care either way."

Master Yin's left eyebrow partially raised. "So...if they had asked in a nicer way, would you have explained about LIE?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Carter shrugged again, a repetitive move that usually annoyed other people enough to cut a conversation off and leave.

"You would prefer that they have a negative impression of you?"

Carter reached down to stroke LIE's hair as she leaned against him. "I don't care."

"Well, it is what one knows of one's self that is most important." Master Yin's mouth curved into a soft smile. "However, how others think of us makes our lives easier or harder."

Carter snorted.

"You don't want to be liked here, do you? Why do you wish to make your life harder?"

Carter studied the teacher. Why wouldn't she just leave him alone? Annoying shrugs and derisive snorts had always served him so well in the past so why wasn't she off being Mary Poppins to someone else by now? Why didn't she get that he didn't want or need her help...well, that wasn't true. He had to pass her class to remain in this program which was the only way Fortress would let him stay here. His fingers tapped along the closure of the belt pouch on his right hip as he considered. "An easy life does not equal a good life. Seeking an easier life doesn't make a person good." Usually, it was the opposite.

Master Yin's eyebrow returned to ureadable placid position. "So, you find a person making their life harder a laudable action?"

A shrug was his only answer, keeping his thoughts caged in his head. 'Making my life easier' was a primary motivation for some of the worst cruelties Carter had seen over his life. But, he wasn't going to share those examples. Master Yin might seem interested and concerned and trustworthy but he had no proof she was any of those things and he wasn't going to take the chance.

"I have kept you too long and have made you late for your class. I apologize. I will let you leave now and I will alert Claddagh that your lateness is my responsibility."

Carter wasn't sure which surprised him more - the change in subject or the apology. Still, he cursed under his breath as he reached down to take the game from LIE. She protested, of course, but he quickly reassured her she would get it back in the next classroom, before ordering her to heel and starting toward the door.

He had almost escaped when her voice struck him. "I look forward to hearing your observations in class tomorrow."

He arrived at his next class, Working With The Police, and took his place in the back, once again. Fortunately, LIE settled down to her game quickly as Claddagh was already starting to lecture.

Carter had his notebook open when Claddagh asked the class, "Can anyone list off the rights of a suspect?"

Peregrine, sitting two seats in front of Carter, leaned over and stage whispered to his neighbor, "I bet the new guy can quote them verbatim. He's probably heard them enough."

The neighbor's snicker was quickly cut off by Claddagh's annoyed, "If you have something to say, raise your hand and share it with the class. Otherwise, keep it to yourself." Silence reigned until Peregrine softly apologized. Claddagh nodded, then requested, "Can anyone quote the rights...or at least name the case or amendment under which the rights were established?"

Carter kept his eyes on his notebook, pen scratching softly across the paper. 'Miranda rights - Silence, attorney - can result in release if violated - takes effect upon arrest.' Carter left off his further thoughts: Heroes don't have badges, can't make real arrests and usually forget about the whole evidence thing so why are we discussing this?

Claddagh gave up on an answer from the class, "I am referring to what is commonly called Miranda Rights. These protect a criminal from incriminating him or herself and protects against manipulative questioning by providing a lawyer to ensure the suspect understands the questions. How does this affect how you are to approach a crime scene?"

Carter idly drew a series of waves lapping against a beach, smirking, 'It means don't wreck the evidence along with the villain cause the confession you beat out of him doesn't mean anything until the cops have him cuffed and his rights read. It's all just hearsay until then.' He added a crumbling building to the upper right hand corner of his page.

Gizmateer's hand was waving like an out of control metronome until Claddagh finally called on her. "It doesn't matter because we're stopping crime while it's happening so we can just stop them and tie them up and hand them over and the cops can gather all the evidence and stuff."

Carter added a table with a simple old style computer under the toppling building and a hero, cape waving, hands on hips in typical pose, hovering off to the side, watching everything under the building about to be destroyed. Drawing a speech bubble, he added the caption, 'Oops well the cops can dig it out just fine. Off to my interview.'

Meanwhile, Claddagh corrected poor little Gizmateer. "Wrong. The worst time to show up is after the criminal has already enacted his or her plan. It is better to stop the action prior to fulfillment. However, to do so properly, requires following the proper procedures so that the evidence that led to the apprehension is admissible."

Peregrine wrote something on his notebook and showed it to his smirking friend.

Claddagh didn't miss the exchange. "Peregrine, what I said before applies to all forms of communication. Share it with the class or keep it to yourself."

Peregrine cleared his throat. "I was just...well, if you make crime painful enough, then the criminals stop committing the crimes, right? Why even involve the police, just...you know, show them the errors of their ways."

Carter closed his eyes and reached down to stroke LIE's head, mentally pleading for patience. Really? A beating and everyone will play nice..typical hero mentality. Simplistic. Get it done in a grandiose, awe-inspiring way, then make your merry way off to your interview and it's all over, right? Well, all over except for whoever lived in that building who now has to try to rebuild their lives without losing their job or their mind if family members happened to have been maimed or killed among the flying cars. And, of course, the bad guy will never do it again...at least not in that same way that got them caught. Nope, they just will find a better way, a quieter way, because the dark compulsions inside them of greed, sloth, arrogance, lust and inferiority would easily override their fear of pain. Dark needs that were only slated by making others-

Hand tightening around his pen, Carter focussed on slow breathing, reinforcing the locked doors in his mind. 'No, I am Carter. I am an adult. I am in control. I am Carter. I am sitting in wannabe hero class listening to a lecture. I am Carter. I am in control.' With each word, he added another brick to the walls keeping the darkness in his mind contained.

Around him, the discussion flowed. Vigilante justice on one side and waiting until the cops called you in on the other side. Peregrine was the most vocal, advocating vigilante, that criminals had to be taught to fear wrong doing with Gizmateer eagerly agreeing with each point. Could she be any more obvious about her crush? It was just like high school classes with the football team's quarterback and-No! Do not remember high school right now, not when he had just had to reinforce his walls.

"Carter, would you like to add anything to the discussion?"

Looking up, he found the entire class had turned to stare at him. First days really sucked. "No."

Claddagh frowned . "Classroom participation is mandatory and a part of your grade."

"What percentage?"

"Excuse me?"

"What percentage of the final grade is participation?"

Claddagh's frown darkened. "Ten percent."

Carter did quick math in his head. As long as he did well on everything else, he could pass the class with a zero in participation. He lowered his gaze back to his notebook, letting the silence be his answer.

Peregrine's snidely superior voice slid through the empty air. "Why are you even here?"

Gizmateer's voice bounced along after, "Yeah, why did you get to walk around with Fortress?"

"Fortress? Seriously?" Peregrine's voice darkened with annoyed amazement.

"Yeah, I saw them when-"

Claddagh cut through the bubbly chatter. "We are not here to discuss students. We are here to discuss the legal responsibilities of being a hero."

Carter dug his pen into the paper. Legal responsibilities? Cops had legal responsibilities. Heroes had masks to avoid them.