She had been swamped. The city had been in chaos. There had been riots. And then, there had been the sudden increase in gang violence. Drive-bys and all out gang warfare had kept her busy. As had adjusting to a new job, and many other things. She had not made time to put her money where her mouth had been, and follow through with doing that X-men tryout. Now was as good a time as any, she figured. She had set one up.

It wasn't as if she thought she'd fail it. She had no worries. Sam had been quick to arrange something, and she'd been grateful. They were both busy people.

She arrived on-time, at the danger room in the basement of the school. Her only worry was that CS would do something weird for her tryout mission, like try and get her to tailor make him a super suit. Then again, he was not Shin. Shin was the one who had done all the weird Danger Room scenarios... or so she had heard. Had he not done something with Koga using a giant Lego room? Wasn't there something with a cat woman, two dogs, and a tidal wave of balls? There were more, but she didn't want to think about them. Some of them had just been silly. That man had a wild imagination. Then again, he was Japanese. They had invented Anime. They were in a league all of their own, when it came to thinking up crazy stuff.

Maybe she would go out for drinks with Sam after they finished. She was off all day. Passing a tryout like this was worth celebrating, yeah? He could even buy her a drink.

Sam stifled a yawn as he walked into the danger room a coffee mug in hand with the ratio less black coffee and more whiskey. The icemancers walk turned more into a swagger as he sipped from his mug. When the icemancer was less of an arm swing from Ami he smirked slightly then said, ”You’re late.” Sam raised an eyebrow then asked once again, ”You sure you got time for the team?” the icemancer smirked into his mug.

”Also I might need a little refreshing, why do you want to be on the X-Men again? You’re already doing so much with the police and it might make things difficult for you if the X-men and the police don’t agree with how something should be done. The Metabots might be a good example of that.” Sam sipped his coffee then waited for a response.

Late? She laughed. "You probably say that to all the women." Her watch said she was right on time. The danger room had been open. She'd gotten there right when she'd needed to. If he had expected her to be fifteen minutes early, if he was one of those types of people, who think if you aren't fifteen minutes early, you're late... then that probably explained why he'd sauntered in after she'd arrived, coffee-in-hand. And none to share with the rest of the class, either. "Of course I've got time." She answered his question with an arched eyebrow, crossing her arms. Suddenly, she was on the defensive here.

The questions kept on coming.

Amelia stood and listened to the onslaught of questions. When he was done, she met his eyes without backing down. "You think there's potential for a conflict of interest." Amelia said quickly. The speed of her answers were meant to quash any of Sam's concerns before they had time to grow. "I think a little constructive criticism can help, sometimes, and a difference of opinions is good if it can generate new ideas. If everyone agrees with you all the time, how will you ever know when you're wrong? Or if I'm wrong? I want to be an X-man because I feel like I can offer something. I can help the team grow, and help the X-men get back on the track to doing more than simply aiding the police. The X-men can be so much more. We talked about this. As a police officer, I'm limited in what I can do to help the world, down to the city where I serve. But moonlighting as an X-man, we can work on the team going global. Helping people on a worldwide scale."

Amelia paused to let that wall of text sink in, and to catch her breath. If Sam had anything to add, he could add it later, because she had one thing to say before they moved on. "If the X-men and the police disagree, and it makes things difficult for me, that's fine. I understand the risks. I'll work to mediate the disagreement, and resolve the issue, where I can. No system is perfect." But they could work on perfecting it.

”Not all of them.” Sam smirked to Ami as he sipped his coffee trying not to smirk more at her immediate response with the arm folding. He was giving her a hard time, even if it was an actual question he wanted to know. The fabric manipulator’s next response made Sam sip more and smirk more she said pretty much the same thing before meaning that was what she actually thought and this wasn’t something that she was taking lightly.

”Good. I’d like to form a formal complaint then about the Meta bots… they suck.” the icemancer looked up to the god room and said, ”Scenario 121 setting New York City.” he scene around them started to change to lower Manhattan. Cars started to pop up on the road next to them and people started to be colored in for the most part they ignored the two mutants and walked around them.

”I know you are capable physically, you’re an officer after all. I’m going to do something a little different from my normal entrance exams.” the sound of chanting and shouting could be heard nearby as two large groups of people started to form. One was all human the other was littered with mutants and humans alike. It was a riot that happened a year or so ago when three of the mansion students including Serena were trapped in a store as some fighting broke out.

One of the students a partially annoyingly loud Irishman with wings was going to transform and maul someone after some fights break out. Sam had collected all the information he could about this incident and made it into training simulation for new recruits. The mob and Carrick were the same, the setting and people that were with him were the only things that varied.

”A boy will lose control of his powers and maul a few of the protesters, I want you to diffuse the situation so it won’t happen.” Sam said sipping his coffee. ”Mutation as a last resort, I’ll be there to back you up but don’t expect too much help.” Sam said raising his mug of coffee. ”Let’s see what you can do.” he said as he started to walk over to the center between the two groups.

>>”Good. I’d like to form a formal complaint then about the Meta bots… they suck.”

"Duly noted," she quipped. She would put it in the complaint box. Amid the 13,000 others.

>>”Scenario 121 setting New York City. Sam said.


The Danger Room changed into a familiar setting. Amelia watched it all carefully. They don't train police to be unaware.

Amelia nodded at Sam's comment about fitness. Something different. It wouldn't take long before she found out what he had in mind.

Familiar. Very familiar. It was almost like she had literally been there and called the police. Maybe not the exact same situation, but a very honest tribute. Huh. Amelia glanced at Sam with a weighted look. Had he been investigating her? Also, she had been present for at least two other riots recently. This was something she had gotten used to handling. Not something she could do single-handedly, but still. It all seemed a little too on-the-nose.

Her head bobbed once as he told her the rundown of the mission goal. "Fine," she said, voice tight. They would talk about him investigating her. They would talk about that later. It was possible it was a coincidence. Lots of riots lately put them on the public's mind. As a police officer, she was just going to have to deal with it. And being typecast. But still.

The dark-haired woman walked forward, brisk but calm. The boy had not lost control, whoever he was. The riot was building. It was her duty to break down the situation before it got bad. If only she had been wearing her police uniform. Then she would have a look of authority. People respected authority. As she approached the crowd, she scanned the area for a police officer they could defer to. Not because she did not feel she could handle it alone. Simply because, if one wanted to stop a riot from forming, once played it by the book and involved local authorities, or else did something themselves. That latter idea, though, was less than optimal.

There was a police officer standing by his car nearby, giving out a ticket. He looked young and inexperienced. He was glancing at the crowd forming, from his ticket book. The man looked like he really didn't want to be there at the moment. "Officer." Amelia said calmly. "I'm Officer Mellitus. Off-duty now, but we need to do something about that crowd. It concerns me. And--"

The man cut her off with a shake of his head. "I haven't received any orders. Nothing has happened yet. They're just being loud. Sorry." He was being a coward. He did not want to involve himself, either because he saw the writing on the wall, or else didn't want to draw heat on himself if he messed the situation up. New officers sometimes were that way. He looked green as a kiwi fruit. Amelia turned away from him with a grimace.

"Fine. I'll handle it. Do you have a megaphone?" She asked.

He stared at her. She turned and flashed the badge on the inside of her wallet, just to prove her position. The danger Room really was impressive, in how it made background characters act similar to real-world people. He assented, after a moment, then turned back to what he was doing. He had grabbed a megaphone from his squad car and tossed it to her. Whatever. She could calm things down herself.

Amelia stepped up near the crowds, pinning her badge to her belt so it was visible to anyone who looked. The woman hadn't dressed for a job today, but it wasn't as if she were in sweats and a hooded sweatshirt. She wore jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a black leather jacket over it. She could pass as a plain-clothes officer, if she tried. Speaking into the megaphone, she asked the crowd to break it up. A shop owner had gotten a complaint about the noise, she told them, and she politely requested the crowd disperse.

Well? Would that work?

It didn’t work. It was a nice try though. Sam sipped his coffee behind Amelia trying hard not to laugh at her but only managed a chuckle when one of the protesters told her to go away and that there was nothing illegal about what was going on. It was a peaceful protest, heated maybe but for now peaceful and that it was daylight so noise complaints didn’t really matter. The yelling and chanting continued while Carrick just exited one of the shops on the street in the group of human protesters.

Sam looked to Amelia and raised an eyebrow, ”So… that didn’t work for you.” Sam said trying to hide some surprise. He was being a little patronizing but he thought it was all in good fun. ”Roll to phase two. I even have a hard time with this scenario. Unless you know the kid who looses control you won’t know how or when it will happen.” the icemancer said giving her a little hint. Stop the kid and ‘win’ the scenario.

She supposed the violence hadn't started and that this was some Minority Report grade garbage. If she knew the future, could she change it, and if so, was it right to do so?

Amelia mulled it over in her mind. If the two groups didn't fight, the kid wouldn't transform. Sighing, Amelia started talking with the crowd. Why were they mad? Could they open a discussion into that? She had stashed her badge away before she started. A police connection wasn't needed here.

People responded by telling her to go away. And worse. This was ridiculous. But she wouldn't give up. She looked at what their signs said, and tried to respond to it. She told them hatred was not the best option. She gave them every peaceful cohabitation argument she knew. Spoke of how mutants and humans could live and work together. She gave it her all.

If this didn't work she would have to find that kid... a needle in a haystack, effectively. She was a cop. She could figure that out. Find the kid. But she really didn't want to confront a kid, causing him to transform... because that effectively solved nothing. It was better to just disperse the crowd... no, she was not going to cause some sort of disruption that made them all want to leave. Even if a broken hydrant spraying everyone might make them walk away.

She seemed at a loss on how to proceed. The protestors didn’t want to leave and eventually this all turned violent. Sam spotted the wings in the human crowd but didn’t say anything. Instead he shifted his gaze to see if Amelia would spot him. Carrick was surrounded by humans now and in a few seconds there would be some kind of indication that he was there. A scream, yell or a circle around him.

Sam really did admire the complexities of the danger room. While this was a real event that happened during the riots the danger room was able to alter some of the details. Sam smirked when he saw the first guy jump back and yell loudly. Even for the protest the one guy stood out practically jumping over the crowd when he noticed Carrick.

”Clock is ticking.” Sam said as he took a few steps closer to Amelia.

A boy will lose control of his powers and maul a few of the protesters, the ice mutant had said. He had said nothing about defining features of the boy in question. Nothing about beaks or wings or giant green arms and a barrel chest, and pants that defied reality by hanging on to their existence by a thread. There was nothing in the statement she had been given to help her identify her target.

Clock is ticking, he said, but what did he give her to go on? Just her wits and cop skills. In situations they responded to, nobody was going to hand anyone all the data on a silver platter, but it seemed like something more would not have gone amiss.

Amelia suppressed the urge to mutter something offensive to Sam about where he could stick that clock.

This was supposed to be a 'stop something from happening' scenario, but more and more, it looked like the only way to know who it was she had to protect, and who it was she had to calm, would only appear once things started going south. And by then, it would have started happening, and to her logic, it seemed that'd be a fail. It was fair to say the whole lack of information made this scenario harder, and made her feel upset. Big girl pants were on. But she didn't have to like the lack of crucial information at all.

Someone yelled. Amelia heard it, and her eyes snapped to where the sound had come from. The guy making the noise was obvious. Was it the person that she was protecting, or were they someone else? Did it really matter? If they caused the problem, and got mauled on account of it, then stopping them or protecting them would ultimately have the same end result. He was practically jumping over the crowd. Amelia rushed forwards, towards the man.

Who were they looking at? She considered that as she approached the group at a run. Her eyes drifted slightly off course, trying to find a focus. There was a boy with obvious wings. Could this be the mutant who would maul people? Or would it be some other mutant? It was time to make a judgement call.

"Back up!" Amelia yelled. "NYPD business." She didn't flash her badge. There wasn't time. Some people shifted to make way, but it wasn't a resounding success. It was getting clearer what was happening. The guy who had shouted had drawn the crowd's attention towards the kid with the obvious mutation, and this was an anti-mutant crowd. Amelia slowed her pace as she approached the kid, calmly ordering people out of the rapidly-developing circle around him. It wouldn't do to spook the kid. It wasn't a good idea to incite hostility in the crowd. Somehow, she got within several feet of the boy. Sam was right. The clock was ticking. If he was being surrounded, it made sense he'd be nervous, and people in that sort of mental state often did things they'd regret.

The clothing-manipulator channelled the Terminator when she put a hand on the boy's arm. "Come with me, if you want to live." She said. Because she clearly needed to bring out that dramatic flair here. Even if it might actually make the situation worse.

Sam watched from a elevated position as he rose up on a small platform of ice. Amelia grabbed Carrick’s arm and started to pull the kid out of the crowd. Unfortunately for Ami Sam also programmed the danger room Carrick to have the actual Carrick’s personality and if anyone who met the kid knew he was far too sarcastic and high stung for his own good. Carrick followed Ami away from the center of the crowd before he realized where he was. The kid blinked and turned to look around the gawking faces. “Mutie!” someone shouted from the safety of the crowd.

Sam watched, as the crowd grew a little more restless till they started to block Ami’s way. Clearly not caring who she represented. Sam folded his arms and watched silently now. It would only take a few seconds but the shift once the kid was worked up enough would occur. The kid’s pupils would dilate giving some warning.

”Whatcha doing grabbing me arm fer? Didn’t do nothing wrong! Can right by myself thanks!”[/color] his wings flapped open slightly as he pulled his arm back slightly. The opening of his wings didn’t do much to help himself hidden in the crowd. Somewhere in the crowd Sam watched as a something was launched into the air and heading right for Ami and Carrick.

It hung in the arc of the throw, something hard and partially round. It wasn't a brick. Though too far away to tell exactly what it was, the telltale lack of rectangular shape told her that. She didn't have much time to react though, even if seeing the situation, and seeing the flying debris made Amelia's mental processes speed up to make everything feel like it was slowing down. Amelia turned her back to the object, and placed herself between its path and the winged boy.

She wasn't going to use her powers. She wasn't going to fail. And she wasn't going to let him get hurt, not on her watch. Really, that left few options. Couldn't move forward. Had to stand her ground. She used her body to block the thrown object, like a human shield.

It wasn't a brick. It was an unevenly-shaped ball of broken mortar or concrete that had the relative consistency of a brick, bough smaller. Somewhere between golf ball and tennis ball-sized. It was also jagged. She could tell by the way it tore into the back of Amelia's shirt, and her back. Amelia sucked in a breath through her teeth.

"You're not in trouble," she gritted her teeth. The kid had to listen. He just had to. "But people are going to try and hurt us. Because we're mutants. And I'm trying to keep you safe." Telling him about the scenario was off limits, but at least she could explain that. Though how he responded to everything was anyone's guess.

The hard light construct of the shifter watched as something hit the back of Ami. Carrick folded his arms and in a lower voice a somewhat defensive voice he responded, ”I didn’t do nothing…” Sam shifted slightly watching the scene waiting for Ami’s direction if he got involved it would trigger Carrick’s shift sooner and if he didn’t and she could stop the mobbing crowd he would eventually turn when someone got a hold of him. Sam hated tryouts and lessons like this but they were important. It showed how someone could react to the situation.

”They can try…. But why ya helping me?” Carrick asked as a little bit out a higher pitch growl entered his voice the way a cat made the growl before they attacked. The shifters tail twitched behind him and he looked to the mutant in front of him who was clearly hurt. ”Okay…. What do we do?” Carrick asked now that he was aware that she was there to help him after the rock fell behind her.

Could light constructs draw blood? Because she was certainly bleeding. It hurt. And she was getting sick of this kid.

Why was she helping? "Because I'm a good person." She said. And a cop. And a prospective X-men. And a decent human being. The list went on. And it hurt too much to bother with this crap.

They needed to get out of there, was what they needed to do. But that wasn't happening, because these people were blocking their path. Both ways. And this situation felt more and more like an un-winnable situation. If she were allowed to use her powers, she could have done something.

Non-powered options. She had tried those. But if the crowd got violent, short of shooting them or defending herself with self defense, what could she do? The second they came closer and attacked, no matter what she did, he would transform and she would fail. And if Sam stepped in, she would fail. She had TRIED talking to the crowd. She could try again. But she had put her whole weight of her position as a police officer in that first talk, and they had not listened. So what, oh what, would they do?

Amelia frowned. She didn't know. More and more, it felt like a no-win situation. "I think this is the goddamn Kobayashi Muru." She muttered under her breath.

That entire situation had been about accepting your own death with dignity and honor. So... was this entire mission about accepting defeat, and how you handled it? If it was... Sam was so dead. And also, a Star Trek fan? She would have pegged him as a star wars man.

The best thing she could do was give him the benefit of the doubt and try to finish this out. And go down in a blaze of glory.

The thing was, she held herself to a higher standard than this. No win situations made her irate. In her line of work, there were situations like that all the time. But she was willing to risk her life for them. Here, no, she wasn't risking her life for the sake of a fake scenario. That didn't show you anything about a person. It didn't teach you anything about how someone handles a situation. See, here she was thinking about the situation instead of the simulation because he'd pulled this psychological bull and gotten into her head.

He was sabotaging his own tryout on her. And she was just standing, doing nothing. In police training, you train for things that actually happen so that you're prepared to react when things don't go perfectly.

In reality, she would HAVE her mutation, and people would have respect for authority, or she would have backup she could radio for. And there were things one could do to better handle a situation. And she had access to none of them. She supposed in the X-men world, they would have none of it. And they wouldn't call the police to handle it because they were so obsessed with he whole vigilante thing and weren't focused on what they were doing with mutant rights for the rest of the world, and--

Okay, yeah. She made the neck slicing motion and looked to Sam. "Cut it. I'm done."

She had just remembered the reason she had left the X-men, all those years ago. They weren't equipped to handle anything. Unlike the police, whose job prepared them, the X-men didn't go through that same police training. They just walked in off the street and said 'I want to be a super hero.' And people let them. They didn't answer to anyone. They didn't train, they had no backup, and right now, really they didn't do anything. And she was a cop. She had all of that, and responsibilities that being an X-men distracted her from. She had been a kid, brought into the field with some mysterious paramilitary group responding to police grade situations and they had let her...

When it came down to it, it wasn't the fact that he had lied to her and placed her in an un-winnable situation that hurt. It was the fact that she had made the same damn mistake twice. She was going to SAY it was the betrayal of trust and the bs test even the Star Trek folks considered bull. Amelia was going to say she wouldn't cheat to win. Because she held herself to a higher standard. The second you let that slip, corruption and police brutality became the norm. It's so much easier to unnecessarily shoot someone or gratuitously beat them than it is to handle a situation with grace under pressure. That's what standards are for. And apparently, she had been supposed to call in backup here and resolve the situation by giving up and changing the variables. Cheating.

Yes, she got that maybe he had wanted to see how she would handle the pressure. And in a paramilitary group with a team structure like the X-men, she could understand a need for trust. You had to be able to rely on your team. But trust is something earned. And he had effectively lost hers. She was no Captain Kirk. She wasn't even Spock. They let their emotions or lack of emotions rule them. She had let logic run its course, sure... but it had been wrong in her heart as well as her head. And she had made the call based upon her own beliefs. Her gut. And as said previously, ultimately the decision had come down to asking herself whether or not she wanted to be an X-man. The answer had been no.

The scenario froze when she made the hand gesture and Sam raised an eyebrow. Was she calling it quits or just letting him know how she felt about the simulation he had put her in. Sam folded his arms and he asked, ”Oh?” Sam looked up to the god room and debated ending the whole simulation with a few words but didn’t. Instead he just walked through the frozen simulation towards Ami.

”Figured it out?” Sam asked as he scratched the back of his head. ”I hate these simulations, they don’t really teach you anything other than no matter what you’ll lose to some degree.” Sam shrugged his shoulders, ”I know you are capable in fighting, your ability and you have police training.” Sam shrugged his shoulders, ”A lot more training than most of the X-Men have.”

Sam waved his hand and yelled, ”End simulation” the god room responded by causing the hard light constructs to break down. ”You’re back alright?” Sam asked curiously.

Amelia seethed as Sam reacted. He didn't end the scenario immediately. He gave her a chance to take it back, or clarify. To tell him she really wanted his help. She didn't. Instead, she kept silent, lips pressed tightly into a thin line.

He walked towards her. Again, she said nothing. Scratched the back of his head, and tried to explain himself. Nothing. People underestimate the power of a good nothing. Man strains to hear that which he would ignore, if it were shouted out loud. Her silence spoke louder than anything she could have said. Amelia let him speak his piece. Only when he was done and had finally cut the scenario did she start talking. In her silence, Amelia had already mentally outlined all the various points.

"This wasn't a simulation one could win," Amelia began. Her voice was calm, but flat. "I never pegged you for a Star Trek fan. I came in thinking this was a tryout. Not a psychological test." Which it was. There was no denying it.

"In the real world, we would have called in SWAT teams and the national guard. In fact, I think we do. The whole situation was eerily familiar. People would have listened to the police, or at least shown some respect. And we wouldn't have known the target before history had written itself. And even if they wouldn't listen, we would have plans in place to deal with unruly mobs. Plans that don't involve cheating and calling in a super powered clean up crew."

"I know I'm being harsh," Amelia looked Sam in the eye. She didn't break contact, even though what she said hurt. "You broke my trust... Do you know why I quit the xmen in the first place?" Did he? Did he, really?