12518/Prospecting Future Prospects

Prospecting Future Prospects
Date of Scene:	03 December 2020
Location:	Xavier's Office / Classroom
Synopsis:	Alice tries to prospect post college opportunities.
Cast of Characters:	Red, Cyclops, Phoenix

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Red has posed:
Xavier's last year of college... or rather, the end of the project run of college. Which meant, some students are looking for what to do next in life. Among them? Alice. She had been more or less dragged out to Westchester by a certain Guidance Counselor Ms. Pryde, leaving behind a job in a costume shop. And now, some year or so later? The last year. So, stretching out fingers for what to do after, she has asked for some time in Scott's schedule to talk about prospects that wouldn't necessarily mean returning back to M-Town and selling costumes again. Not necessarily the same guidance Angel might offer though.

Cyclops has posed:
Settled at the desk is Scott Summers, who is as usual, dressed to impress a high school. He's wearing his khakis, a green sweater with a button down shirt beneath it so that hte collar is visible. He is currently reading a newspaper in his hands, because nothing beats black and white and the scent of ink. It's a dying trade, but he still subscribes to it. When the young woman enters, he glances upwards to her, shiting his ruby glasses upon his nose. "Good mor-- afternoon, Alice."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean was a few minutes late, but sometimes your other meeting goes a bit over because someone on the call goes on a tangent about the adorable thing their dog did last night. Why was she even here? Because Scott told her, in no uncertain terms, that he was a tactical commander and not human resources (despite what his cover on paper said) and so backup was necessary.

She leaves her office to head across the hall towards Xavier's office, as the old man lets Scott make use of the space when he's off doing whatever it is he does when no one is looking. Luckily, Alice seems to just be arriving as she approaches the door.

"Oh, good, I'm not too late. Hi! Go on in." She says to the young woman with a gesture of her coffee mug which has an image of Schrodinger's Cat on it.

Red has posed:
Alice wears what might count as distinctively her style: impossible faux leather overknee boots that lacked any way to close them unless you were Alice, a slightly over half thigh skirt and a red blouse, a jeans jacket providing some warmth for the winter. And her "Good afternoon, Mr. Summers... Miss Grey," she answered, spotting the headmistress slip into the office too.

"I... well, you had announced that this is the last year of the college program, which means that my stipend is running out and all and... I could just go back to New York and return to the shop I worked at and all. But I also thought about checking out other ways? I mean, sure, I ain't material for the new Mutants and frankly, I'm a little old for them anyway, so I ain't thinking I ever really qualify for an X-men. I mean... comeon, I ain't like someone who blasts away a house on the other side of the street or something. The best I can do is like throw them a fast one by making their underwear extremely uncomfortable or something... I'm babling, ain't I?"

Cyclops has posed:
"Not everyone is made to be X-Man material and to be honest, that is not the purpose of this school. When Jean and I were students, Charles was intent on creating a brand of mutants who can defend the world from other dangerous mutants to create something of a good PR and to build human relationss. While the idea is noble, it turned Jean and I, as well as our friends, into soldiers before we were eighteen. Now that Jean has taken over the school and The Professor is financing it, we are no longer looking to build an army of young mutants. It will be very rare that anyone who graduates joins the team from here out. Very, very, rare."

Scott picks up his coffee mug and takes a sip, scooting over a bit for Jean if she wishes to sit next to him. "And frankly, the idea of putting any student into this role makes me sick to my stomach. The amount of pain and loss we faced at a young age .. it never should have happened in the first place." Jean would probably pick up flashes of John Proudstar and Doug in the back of his mind for a moment. Failures on his part as a leader to lose 'soldiers' in the line of duty.

"What is wrong about returning to your store and continuing to make amazing clothes? Coming to Xavier's was to help you learn how to develop your powers better, give you a sense of community. You have that now. Pick up shop in Mutant Town and create a pro-mutant line of clothing. Reach out to your contacts through Allison and see about working on clothes for other celebrities. Perhaps partner with Janet Van Dyne who is also a brillant costume designer. Maybe finish your Bachelor's at a local college. You have a lot of choices."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean Grey pulls down a couple of the chairs stacked in the corner from when Charles held some classes and makes sure that Alice has one first before she sets one down for herself next to Scott. She crossed one leg over the other as she sits, using her knee to prop up her mug while she says, "Scott's right in that. While we slip into old habits from time to time, our goal is to help make sure our students are first and foremost good citizens. We do like to train them to use their powers to be able to control them, this way they can reliably protect themselves when needed. I wish it didn't give some of the students the impression that we're training them for combat, but I can understand how it's a fuzzy line when a bunch of superhero soldiers are the ones teaching you. But the point is, you or any of them being on a team isn't the aim. So don't feel like you've failed in something to not be on one."

"As for schooling, any student of this school will have a wide array of further education options. If there is a school nearby that could help you further your career - if design is your aim - then we can absolutely arrange scholarships for you. We're in a position to cover most all costs, barring the really high end schools of course. Or if you were looking to go more into entrepreneurship, there's no shortage of excellent business schools in the city either."

"Trust, though, that even if we're not doing classes that you're still apart of this school. It will be here - as will we - if you need us. What kind of goals do you have? Where do you see yourself? Let us know what's on your mind and we can see about ways of helping out."

Red has posed:
"Soon to be ex-student, Mr.Summers. I do see your point, and it's tragic. I ain't wanting to diminish your work, but I come from M-Town and prospects there are still bleak, especially after the Sentinels some time ago. I ain't without a place to go, but I mean, you are closing down the College branch and frankly, it was Miss Pryde who petty much pestered me into accepting the college offer in the first place, but would be 21 by the time it runs out anyway. So I ain't gonna be a kid in any way."

Alice sighs and shrugs a few moments. "What's wrong about returning to be an employee-slash-contractor in a costume shop? Nothing. Just business as usual, waiting for customers, making props, visiting conventions... the usual. I ain't into clothing design at all. I mean, all I do is costumes. Like, Foam Power Armor. The stuff that gives people the feeling of not being worthless or powerless. Or to give them a place where they feel they belong, as in the Stormtroopers and such..." Her subconscious shudders with repulsion when it is talk about *clothing* design, as clothes always come with *needles* and those were *the worst*.

As Jean starts to talk about *other* schools, Alice sighs a little. "I ain't able to afford any school on my own, let alone with anything short of a full stipend plus board, which is pretty much what Kitty had pestered me to take. And I wouldn't know where to study propmaking in New York anyway. Pratt Institute has Special Effects, and that's the only one in New York that does anything with film I know about. Everything else is west coast and I ain't gonna go over there for college. Hell, I outdo what some propmakers do for films over there, and those have supposedly studied that."

She sighs, brushing her red hair back, then shaking it out again. "Honestly? I got no idea. Back in High school, my goal was to get *any* job. Then I turned my high school job into a daily thing to stay over water and get my own 4 walls. I ain't really have planned for what you call a bright future. I mean, I ain't ever had a future plan like anything at all."

Phoenix has posed:
"If there's places outside the metro area that suit, we can see about arranging it. We can't afford MIT, but if there's a place in LA? We can take a look at numbers." Jean says with a sip of her coffee, not sounding too concerned at the prospect. "Our goal is still to help you be successful. Just because we're not the ones doing the teaching doesn't mean we wouln't help get you somewhere who will."

"But," She continues with a gesture of her mug, "If you'd rather branch off somewhere else and leave costuming as a hobby and side project, you may find some other opportunities closer to home. I know Doctor McCoy has been keeping himself busy with some side projects. I'd recommended to you awhile back to speak to him and I'd still suggest it. With your skillset, you're in a unique place to not just fabricate from existing material but perhaps also work towards engineering new ones. Or, move towards an education in chemical engineering. Think if mutants were out there developing new materials for cheaper, efficient infrastructure to carry clean water or even biomedical equipment? I'm no specialist to give you too many examples, but based on what you can do there are a lot of avenues out there."

Red has posed:
"I had some summer class with Dr. McCoy to try to get up to snuff with chemistry and something, but really, I can't make a new polymer from scratch. The best I managed was restructuring existing materials in novel ways, and then it would be up to smarter people to figure out how to manufacture those in the classic way. I mean, something like that."

She sighs again, stretching her arms a moment. "Ain't there lots of needles in Biomedical? I ain't cut for that then I think. But... uhm... maybe law? I mean, I think the DAs and such really botched the whole sentinel stuff. Some Mutants I knew were murdered like a block down from where I live and they never managed to put Trask onto the chair or into lock up. And I ain't ever heard back from the attempt to get declaratory judgement that Sentinel tech constitutes Cruel and Unusual punishmen and all. After all, We're humans at the end of the day. X-gene carriers, sure, but humans."

Cyclops has posed:
"A lot of the issues involving the Sentinels was coming out of other countries and our own did the bare minimum to resolve it." Scott says tightly with a furrow in his brow. "But as far as we know, that program is shut down and SHIELD has assured us that will never happen again."

Running a hand over the top of his head, he shrugs his shoulders upwards a bit. "I suppose what you need to do is really think about what you want to do out of life. Not everything has to be about your powers. You could go to school for anything and work in whatever field you like. Your mutant ability is much like your arm or your foot. It's apart of you, but it doesn't define you."

Phoenix has posed:
"There may be? I don't imagine they'd be aimed at you, though I couldn't say for sure." Jean's a teacher and a cosmic avatar, not a doctor. "What about something... hm, forensic? Are you able to identify materials - or base components - as much as you can manipulate them? I wager there's some level of understanding of the actual chemicals involved."

She does end up gesturing with her mug towards Scott as she says, "I do agree with his point. Your power doesn't have to define what you do with your life. If you feel a strong calling for something - cooking, a lawyer, saving wild animals, floral arrangements - then do it. Your powers are a resource, but you still have the freedom to do something else."

Red has posed:
"I just... don't really want to work with needles in any way. Neither pins. But... I guess I can pry stuff apart carefully. I mean, with some time, I could get you the different plastics and how they have been put together. I don't like *know* what a material is without testing it against something else, but I do know my plastics. You mean like in CSI or something?"

She ponders a little, once more brushing her hair with the hand. "And I thought it might be as easy as applying for a position as the Quartermaster to the X-men and fix up your equipment when you come back with a battered and ripped up suit."

Cyclops has posed:
"Well, we have systems in place to repair our uniforms. We don't have a closet full of these. We have a machine that develops the clothing for us, repairs them, modifies them. Much like the Danger Room. It's like a 3D printer, but with unstable molecules developed by Mister Fantastic and Tony Stark's technology." Scott says with a chuckle.

"Us hero groups all share the same ideas for the most part. That and our school is fitted with alien technology that helps drive and power most of these exciting features that we have built into the school."

Phoenix has posed:
"And Forge, of course." Jean points out on the end of Scott's response. "At least when it comes to developing new tech and repairing the advanced items.

"We can see if there's ways that you can help." She says, "Though I would still say you should look towards outside opportunities too. We're not always out on missions, so you'd have a lot of dead time to occupy and I don't want to see you wallowing and wasting yourself."

She gives a quick glance towards her phone as it hums and there's a soft sigh, "Alice, sorry. I need to run to another meeting. I just wanted to at least come talk to you quickly. Scott can talk more, but if you need me I should be free later."

Red has posed:
"And half that is Dr. McCoys playground, the other half is Forges. Too bad you don't need anyone to recycle your uniforms or make the new ones. Though maybe I could branch out to service other groups... I mean, Avengers and all. Though the costume shop I had worked at had strict policy that fobid knowingly servicing vigilantes."

Alice sighs again, nodding to Jean as she has to leave, gahtering her own things in a few moments. "Ok, I'll look into things... Though I ain't promise to choose anything in particular. We'll see later?" And off she goes.