Owner	Pose
Shredder	It's a charity for healthcare. Naturally, these happen occasionally, blood drives, toys for tots, Make a Wish, today it's a sponsored 'Mutant Healthcare Awareness' driving for education on mutant healthcare needs, their unique situation and the lack of properly trained medical professionals for their unique physiologies.     Oroku Industries started the movement, not a newcomer to the Mutant Rights scene, and Saki himself has arrived as several booths and small carnival games litter the parking lot. The Japanese businessman has a certain severity about him, which is rather well known at this point. He doesn't smile a lot, and has a remarkably serious countenance. Still, he walks through the event, as if examining the markers for success personally, his hands folded behind his back.
Sandra Billings	Having volunteered to work the charity, Sandy Billings is currently manning the blood drive section. She's in her scrubs, hands gloved and her thick brown hair pulled back behind her into a pony tail to stay out of the way. The chubby woman is high on coffee and most likely on her fourth cup this hour. She worked the overnight shift and got maybe an hour of sleep on the bus ride over. Even then, she is moving and chattering along as if she had eight full hours. "Here you go honeybuns, just a little sting. See? No big deal." She slides the needle into the crook of a young woman's arm as she draws blood. "Afterwards, I'll give you a few cookies from one of the local cafe that donated them to us. They're great. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting." She keeps her eyes on a couple of other volunteers to make sure no one has passed out, threw up, or got the jitters. Some people love donating blood, while others love the 'idea' of it until they see it coming through the tubes and into the bags. Grabbing up her fifth cup of coffee, she drains it quickly, then lobs the styrofoam cup into the trash, then snags a cookie for herself to take a bite. This is her lunch break that should have came ten hours ago.
Shredder	Saki stops near the station. Is he giving blood? It looks like he is.     "Good afternoon," he says, watching the cup go into the trash. "I hear this is where we come to donate blood," he says. "I'm Oroku Saki," he doesn't extend a hand, but gives a slight nod, as if it were a type of bow. Formal, cold, but somehow also polite all at once.
Sandra Billings	Turning around at the sound of the voice, Sandy gives a big smile towards the Asian man. "Hey there! Welcome to the blood booth. This is where the excitement happens. You can tell how excited everyone is." One guy looks like he may pass out as he stares at the tube of blood. "Roger! What'd I tell you? No cookies if you throw up. You're doing this for the children. Now stare at your phone!" Clearing her throat, she looks back at the man and hands him a clipboard. "If you want to donate, you gotta sign all the legal mumbo jumbo here. Gotta ask you some profiling questions. Are you gay? If so, have you had gay sex recently? Do you do drugs, smoke, or have you drank far too many White Claws within the last forty-eight hours? What is your blood type, are you a registered organ donor, aaaaannnnndd... um... " She peeks at the paper. "Insurance information. You are the guy that put all of this together, huh?"
Shredder	There's a slight smug grin as you ask the questions, but rather than answer them all, he simply answers the last one. "Yes, that'd be me," he says. "And happily married, if you must know." His wife isn't unknown to the public, though she's never really seen in any of the events. Those who follow the details that reports put out might know that she's Japanese, and very private, according to Saki. "You seem to have things well under control, here," he says, arching a brow in the direction of Roger.
Sandra Billings	"Happily married /with/ a boyfriend on the side? You can never know! Just mark down no, everyone does, even if it's really obvious." Sandy winks at him before she gives a look around. "I'm twenty hours into a twenty-six hour shift and still standing. Now, do I have it under control? That's debatable. Which arm you want me to jab you in mister Saki?" Built like a tank, but bubbly, she moves her weight around the area easily enough. She walks carefully, as if she is taking her time with each step. She handles 'everything' with care. "To be honest, I think with how far we've come in the world of medicine, it's a terrible question to ask. May as well just put a box on there that says: If mutant, don't bother! So, it's nice that you did all of this." She glances over her shoulder to him curiously. "Any reason why?"
Shredder	Saki sits down in the seat, casting off the suit jacket. He rolls up his right sleeve, though possibly just because she's already closer to it. "Well, I have found our world is changing, and many people have an unnecessary fear of mutants," he says without apology. "It is why I founded the museum in Bushwick, and why I started the program for mutant employment, which I'm happy to see has inspired mutants themselves to begin similar businesses. Mutants are here to stay, and people may as well get used to it. It isn't something to be feared, it is simply an inevitable change to our society. I see no reason to be intimidated by them," he explains.
Sandra Billings	"You say that, until Magneto throws another submarine full of nukes in the air and threatens to cause world war three because he woke up with bad bed hair." Sandy points out as she wraps his right and ties it off to expose the veins. "I think everyone has a right to fear anything in life, especially the big unknown. But, with everything else, it takes time and understanding. Though it always bothered me that people are okay with Superman, but not mutants. Probably because he's handsome, right? Okay, you'll feel a sting, but I got gentle hands." Very carefully she slips the needle in, gives the tube a few taps and watches the blood flow once she settles the bag down next to him. "Gimmie two minutes." She heads over to relieve Roger, gives him a cookie and band-aids his arm, as well as a few mores. Each bag is handed off to an assistant to be kept cooled, then she seats two more. The same routine applies. Small talk, needle, big smiles. "Okay, I'm back, so, how you feeling? Everything okay? Not getting all woozy and pukey? I've had to clean up two so far and I really don't wanna go for a third."
Shredder	The Magneto comment earns a dismissive wave with his other hand. "He's simply reacting to the injustices. While I don't condone his actions at all, it's the intolerance that births movements like his. Besides that, there are plenty of well meaning mutants, mutant heroes and such who counter balance it. Given this, it isn't so different from when non-mutants lash out at one another. The power scale may be different, but the actions are similar. Regardless, even if this were not the situation, becoming fearful and reactive can only escalate the situation, wouldn't you agree, miss..." he glances at the nametag. "Sandra?"
Sandra Billings	"Sandy, if you want. But, yes, I completely agree. I understand the fear. People are just used to dealing with guns and knives and the occassional blow yourself-upper via bomb vest. But now you have teenagers who can blow up buildings. I don't think a lot of people were prepared for that on a psychological manner. People also don't like to think that they have something wrong with them either. Why did /my/ daughter have to have pink skin and scales when my neighbor's kid is a beautiful skinny blonde? There must be something wrong with /me/. Then they go into the many stages of denial, lash out internally, lash out publicly, and they do everything to seperate themselves. It's kind of like politics. No middle ground. It has to be right or left, normal or mutant, up or down." Sandy, who is not skinny, blonde, or beautiful, continues to monitor her patients. "I am dating a mutant and I am happy with him. Blue fur and all. It also helps that we're both in the medical profession and thus we have so much to talk about. My parents love him. But, I understand how it's hard for him to walk down the street and get the stares, or try and book a reservation at a nice place and get turned away when we show up. It's not all the time, but it's enough that gets me pretty salty."
Shredder	"Blue fur?" Saki echoes. "You don't say. In the medical profession, I think that narrows down who it might be pretty well." He watches as the blood fills the bag slowly, unconcerned. "So I suppose you aren't as concerned with the mutant situation, and must be quite sympathetic to it. I have always been amazed at Dr. McCoy's ability to remain so very professional in the face of his adversity."
Sandra Billings	Pausing, Sandy gives a sheepish smile. "Yes, well, I am very sympathetic to anyone's situation. Black, white, Asian, Muslim, Gay, fat, skinny, rainbow colored scales. We all bleed the same for the most part. We're all born without the ability to hate. It's just how we're raised which makes us act that way. I don't see it so much as a mutant situation, but a preconceived bias. It's just another civil rights movement and history will decide if we're jerks or not." Her shoulders lift upwards some as she excuses the last two guests, then slips the needle out of his arm, while applying some gauze and a bandage. "He is very professional. I love him bunches."
Shredder	"Interesting perspective," Saki answers. "I may caution you, though, people are most certainly born being able to hate. If they weren't, then there would be no hate, because there would be no one to teach it." He solemnly regards Sandra for a moment. "Did you know that in ancient Japan, they once had a similar situation. It wasn't connected to a mutation or race, however. It was according to power. You see, the feudal lords used the samurai to enforce their laws, and keep down the less fortunate. They forced them to be subjugated and extorted for what little wealth they possessed. Now, no one taught those lords to hate or even disregard. People are not naturally good," he concludes. "People are naturally selfish, and hate is borne from a mother, which is fear, and a father, which is the desire to attain something that you do not have."
Sandra Billings	"They are not 'born' to hate. Studies have proven that already. They 'learn' to hate through their community or family. All it takes is a break in the cycle. Someone decides they just don't hate mutants, or black people, or whatever. Then they teach 'their' kids to not hate when they grow up. Kids don't know the difference when they're young. They just want to watch TV and play with toys and go to the sandbox. You take twenty 'three' year olds of all walks of life and you put them on a playground, they'll all hang out and babble about cartoons." Sandy gives a smile, then hands him a pair of red velvet cookies, heart shaped and outlined with cream cheese frosting. They are amazing. "When children are raised in environments that are considered racially homogeneous, they experience race faces as more familiar and they process them differently than when they do when they are raised in a more diverse environment. Unfortunately, for the most part, children do not know what a mutant is because unless they display external mutations, they will never know the difference. Again, that is not a basis of being 'born' to hate. They just process 'different', differently, based around those that they are surrounded by. If you are a young child and you are told to hate black people from the age of two through ten, this will clearly build a fear process within their psychological makeup. They mimic what their parents and community create for them. This again does not affect the DNA or genetic make up of the child, but the psychological." Waving a cookie in the air, she gives a thoughtful look to it, then takes a bite. "Damn, these cookies are amazing. At the end of the day, if you aren't an asshole, there's a good chance your kid won't grow to be one either if you educate them, and not park them in front of a TV for fourteen hours a day."
Shredder	The immortal Shredder, behind his public appearance, smiles at the irony. "Studies, I see," he says, not bothering to argue the point, but the ambiguous claim seems to be of little effect. He takes the cookie, examining it, and then takes a bite politely. "Unfortunately, regardless of what a person is raised with, fear and greed clearly play a part of every adult life, shaping how much hold hate will have on it. It's why I do what I do to turn that opinion, dissuading fears and equalizing the power that mutants hold, so they might be able to thrive," he says. "That is the politically correct answer, at least. Quite honestly, I want to simply keep our society from destroying itself over panick and reactiveness. I would so very much love to meet your Hank McCoy. I've found his studies and interactions fascinating."
Sandra Billings	"Well, if you have a business card, I can pass it on to him and I'll have him call you. I am sure he would be thrilled to speak with you." Sandy says as she takes another bite of her cookie. "He has a busy schedule, but I am sure he can fit in. We sort of date between lunch breaks at this rate." She says with a smile. "It was some of his studies that made me want to become a doctor. He is very inspiring."
Shredder	The Japanese businessman pulls his card, "My secretary is likely to be the one to answer, but I'll instruct her to certainly find a time to meet with him. I'd love to speak with a pillar of the mutant community such as himself."