onemorebounty | Primary Education [Verity, Steve]

Verity is there first, if only because she walks faster. In a nod to Steve's conservative sensibilities, she's wearing a tee that's long enough to almost reach her knees over her usual workout clothes. Steve's just not ready for Lululemon.

While Samus has seen to teaching aids, Verity's taken care of the other half of the equation: snacks. There are homemade energy bars full of fruit and nuts (because they're pretty much just fruit and nuts), bottles of water both plain and coconut, and some baked veggie chips.

Samus gets a hug in greeting before Ver's compelled to warn her, "You know he's going to be disappointed."

Steve is much more bundled up when he first arrives, in a hoodie and jeans with both hands firmly tucked into the big pocket in the front of his sweatshirt. He has a fabric shopping bag dangling from one hand, no doubt to shed extra layers once workouts happen.

The first thing he does is pull the datapad Samus had lent him out of his hoodie pocket to set on one of the desks. Reading assignments completed in duplicate. The second is to pull a bunch of bananas (sans one) out of said shopping bag and set them down somewhere. Away from him.

"Ready to go." Steve chirps to Verity and Samus with a nod.

*Samus accepts and returns the hug.*

I know. It's part of the lesson plan.

*Steve gets a smile when he arrives.*

Good. Take a seat; I'll get Verity started on something, and then you and I will go over your reading. Last chance to brush up.

*Turning, she reaches into her duffel and pulls out a half-dozen handguns of different makes, placing them with care on a desk beside a small tool kit.*

Verity, practice today. You're in the company of someone you don't trust, and they've carelessly left you in the company of their gun for one minute. Observe all the usual safe handling protocols and sabotage the gun so it can't fire, in a way that won't be detected beforehand. Whenever you're ready.

*Directions laid out, she turns back to Steve.*

"Invincibility is in the self; vulnerability is in the enemy." Explain.

"Yes, ma'am."

Steve gets a wave, and the bananas get a curious look. But then she's got a task in front of her so she sits down and gets to work. Gun safety has already been thoroughly drilled into her thick skull, don't worry Steve. Nobody's getting accidentally shot. Each gun is unloaded and double-checked before she begins dismantling it. Something something magic, it's put back together and set down right where it had been, like she never touched it.

She might go faster if she weren't so obviously listening to their conversation, but learning to work while listening to what's going on around her is part of the lesson too.

Steve eyes Verity's work station with curiosity but does as he's told with no objections. He knew there would be a class portion to this. That was half the point.

The guns get a slightly concerned expression, but Verity's clearly further ahead in her studies than Steve is. Besides, watching her will be intere--

"Uh." Yeah Steve, pay attention. He looks back to Samus quickly. What was the question? Wait. "Right. You can only guarantee that which you can do. You can't know for certain that your enemy will be vulnerable. So even if you know how to win, you can't assume you will be able to pull it off."

*Although Samus is looking at Steve, listening to Steve, she gives a slight nod when Verity unloads the first gun.*

That's a problem. What's his solution?

*When Verity's done with one of the guns, Samus picks it up, checking it over before setting it back down.*

Trigger spring. Good.

Verity was halfway through taking the second gun apart when she stops to look up at Samus. She doesn't say anything, she's just looking. Then she turns to Steve. "She keeps telling me she doesn't have x-ray vision, but I don't believe her."

Back to work. How in the world did Samus know that?

"Maybe there's only one way to sabotage it so it's not visible? If she didn't see anything, then she'd know what you did right away, wouldn't she?" It's only a theory, but X-Ray vision isn't a thing in the future, is it?

Steve does not know. But he has other things going on.

"You do what you can control. When in a disadvantageous situation, you make yourself invincible by building the best defense you can. When there's an opening, that's when you make your attack. You can't be sure the enemy will give an opening, so you must prepare against every possible angle of attack."

There are two reliable ways to disable this model without it being obvious--take out the trigger spring or the firing pin. The firing pin was still there when I checked the chamber for a round--making it the lesser choice, since someone being responsible would make the same check and might notice the same thing. The trigger takes up slack a little differently without that spring, which most people won't notice until they're trying to fire it, making it the better point of sabotage.

*She gives Verity an approving nod.*

Also, I heard you take it out while you were dismantling the gun, but I didn't hear you put it back in. I don't see it on the table, though, well done there.

*Back to Steve.*

You're thinking passively. Build a defense to wait behind, wait for the enemy to expose a weakness. That's a siege mentality, and a siege is the kind of battle where everyone loses. Think active.

Ver smiles at the approval and keeps working though there's a very brief pause when she glances at Steve. "A more modern way of putting it might be 'fake it 'til you make it'. People can convince themselves of all kinds of things."

Is it cheating? Maybe. Probably. Shouldn't let her in the room if you expect her to keep quiet forever.

"The attacking force needs to make it so the defender does not know what to protect. If the key to perfect defense, or invincibility, lies in using the terrain to your advantage then it stands to reason that the ideal attack would use cover, distraction, stealth and the seasons to their advantage. Something about heavens versus earth, if I'm remembering right."

Seasons could be a double edged sword if you don't prepare, but a successful attacker would prepare. They would scout their target, wait for the most ideal circumstances--time of day, weather-- and then strike.

"Put bluntly, if you study your enemy enough, you will seem as though you're assured success even if there are variables. A competent leader considers his troops morale as well as he studies his enemy."

*Verity's chiming in doesn't raise an objection from Samus, so some level of cooperation must be allowed.*

Still too passive. The key to perfect defense isn't just about terrain, it's about making staying safe the top priority. If you go to war, then be an active participant. Don't sit and wait for your enemy to make a mistake--force them to change their priorities so they will.

*Steve clearly grasps the basics, but Samus is trying to hammer home the philosophy that underlies them.*

While your enemy is protecting itself, it can't protect anything else it cares about, and it can't attack. Strike at what your enemy values, and they either lose those things, or make themselves vulnerable. Or you give them a target they can't resist, something they'll drop their guard to try to take.

*She gives a slight shake of her head.*

You're telling me about the current move, and the next move. Think ahead: make the move that makes them move, and be ready to capitalize on how they'll move.

*She pauses for a beat, catching herself and consciously breaking her own building rhythm. Turning, she extends an expectant hand to her other student.*

Next gun, Verity.

Edited 2015-11-26 05:15 (UTC)

Samus may be allowing it, but if Steve's going to ignore her she'll leave him alone. The next gun is handed over and she goes to work on the third.

It's hard being supporting cast sometimes.

It's not ignoring exactly? Samus is more intimidating than Steve expected. He hoped his second try at answering would have gone over better. He very nearly winces when she corrects him again.

"You're a lot better at this than I am, Verity." Theory or pleasing Samus? Both? But really the last one. A thought occurs, and Steve's gaze hardens quickly.

"I'll agree on that to a point. But any attacker who follows those strategies to the detriment of his own values and morals has become the enemy himself. In pure strategy, that's a sound argument, but in reality, I feel that is a dangerous line to walk."

*The gun is briefly examined, then handed back with a nod. Samus, it should be noted, is a difficult and demanding taskmistress, and this is Steve's first day coming under the very edge of her tutelage.*

That's true. It's important to have limits. Verity, perspective?

Verity has an answer right away, but she flicks an apologetic look to Steve before voicing it. "Ask Steve about the Japanese internment."

The gun is replaced on the table before she goes back to working on the third. This one is tricky.

Steve doesn't even know what those are. Pearl Harbor just happened before Steve arrived in the Nexus, and news of what the west coast was doing to it's own citizens was less important than propaganda-ing the war effort in New York at the time, yet.

"What internment? Aren't they fighting with Germany? Why would they be interned?"

*Oh, poor Steve.*

I'll admit, my grasp of Earth history isn't ideal. Would you fill us in, Verity?

Sigh. She glances down at the gun she's working on, pausing but not stopping.

That lesson has been well drilled no need to start that again Samus.

"After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US government decided that anyone of Japanese descent was too dangerous to be allowed to remain free. So they were rounded up and put in internment camps. Most of these people were American citizens, not that it mattered; they looked like the enemy so away they went. Their possessions, their homes, sold for pennies if they were lucky. Because people were afraid and angry."

Oh. Ohh. Oh.

American citizens, rounded up because they looked like the enemy? Interned and robbed of life, liberty, and possessions? Even though they were no longer Japanese, but American?

"...That's not right." He murmurs gently. "Even strategically...that's just....it's not right."

I have to agree. It's morally and ethically wrong, and it's bad strategy. An example of the kind of stupid mistake people make when they act out of fear. And an example of how close operating without limits can bring you to your enemy's techniques.

"But how do you stop people from reacting out of fear?" The question is posed and another gun is offered for inspection. "It--"

Her gaze shifts to Steve again. Part of her wants to warn him about how much worse it gets. But he's still so innocent. He hasn't seen war yet. He doesn't need to know. She drops her gaze to the table again. "It's hard to convince people to think when they're scared."

"No it just...The economy's bad, folks are barely gettin' by. Then outta nowhere we get bombed and folks lose their minds. Now suddenly there's plenty of work, everyone's shipping out to do what they feel they gotta. And...those that are left have to worry about when the next attack on them is coming. It's no good for no one. Not you, not your allies. Not the enemy."

Imprisoning their own people. Unleashing lethal weapons on soldier and civilian alike. If that's what this war is...well. All the more reason for it to end as soon as possible.

"So, aside from attempting to cripple my faith in my country....why bring that up? What does that have to do with the lesson? It's an example of what not to do. It's rash judgement and poor planning and fear mongering."

*Steve gets a hard look. If he expects to guilt Samus with that "cripple my faith" line, he's shooting at the wrong target.*

There are many lessons to be learned from it. I think we'll be coming back to it a few times, now that it's come up. For now, ask yourself why we exercise, and consider what that might have to do with the answer to your question.

*While he chews on that, she'll address Verity's question. This may also be a test to see whether he can think about one thing while listening to another.*

Reacting out of fear is a reflex; striking back at whoever seems like whoever struck you is a basic, animal urge. You fight it by appealing to higher ideas, demonstrate that strength is not a question of who hits the hardest, or the fastest.

Verity has no protection against Steve-based guilt trips; she's shifted into an extremely defensive posture now, head down and shoulders up.

"Sometimes lessons come in the form of what not to do," she answers quietly and without looking up.

"A mob is ruled by its most base member," is an easy if not happy counter to Samus' suggestion. "The least educated, the least intelligent, are often the loudest."

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Pretty sure that was in Other M wasn't it? Or was that Prime? The X-Ray vision i mean

X-Ray visors appeared in Prime 1 & 3, X-Ray scope in Super.

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