Lightning in a Bottle

[Gigabyte]

Date: Thursday, June 8, 2023
Tags: Toad
Words: 289
Notes: More threads! Figured an interview/reacquaintance-like thread may be interesting.

Sierra enjoyed working alone. Granted, she was much better at working with other people nowadays than when she had been growing, taking advantage of online classes to get her degrees early. It was simple to keep up with online schoolwork when her mind had a ready link to her laptop no matter where she was.

Now she had more of a handle on her powers, no longer merely lightning in a bottle, trapped and shaking and waiting to cause trouble once released. Now she was more confident, allowing her to take the position of principal of the local high school for both human and mutant students and staff.

Case in point was the name of the next applicant staring at her. Statistically speaking, Sierra was sure she wasn't the only mutant in Bayville High -- even if one didn't include the couple of Xavier Institute students attending the public school -- and understood that the world seemed to follow a don't ask, don't tell policy if one was a mutant. Mutants were known, but not many proclaimed it due to the prejudice that they faced. Of course, there were those who couldn't quite hide that they were mutants, such as Mr. Todd Tolansky.

Sierra sat back in her chair and looked out the window behind her desk, wondering if Mr. Tolansky would recall her from when they were at Bayville High as teens together. It was a wonder that he would return for a janitor interview.

Sierra wouldn't judge. She'd give him a fair interview just as she had everyone else on the list. Interviewing and hiring applicants for several positions in the high school were just one of the many tasks on her school preparation list for the upcoming year.

[Toad]

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Well. The high school was still standing. Todd can't say he wasn't surprised.

Still, he was returning to the place, nearly willingly. Maybe that was the most surprising thing of all.

Todd straightened his collar, figuring that slacks and a button-down were nice enough for an interview, especially for a janitor job. He couldn't afford the suit and tie getup, and it wasn't like that's what he'd be wearing if he actually got the position.

He returned the secretary's anxious look with a glare of his own until she looked away and returned to her own work. All he could really hope for was that the current principal wasn't anything like the principals back in his day, since he couldn't quite hide his mutation. Principal Kelly hadn't been pro-mutant in the slightest, and Mystique...

Todd suppressed a shudder at the thought of her. She hadn't been the warm and fuzzy type, despite the advantages she had given Todd and the rest of the Brotherhood during those times.

It wasn't too long before the previous applicant left and Todd was called into the principal's office for his turn. He cleared his throat and tried to walk as normal as he could with his extra-long legs making him look a touch disproportionate with the rest of his torso. Reaching out a hand, he said, "Uh, hi. Todd Tolansky. Wanted to say thanks in advance for giving me an interview."

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Sierra had stood and, when Todd introduced himself and extended a hand for a shake, she gave him a polite smile. He wasn't the most articulate interviewee she had seen today, but it was evident he was trying to make a decent impression. She would do her best not to be biased, to not base today's meeting on her memories of "the toad" from over a dozen years ago.

If she were honest with herself, she probably already was biased in some fashion. After all, after reviewing the applicants' resumes and cover letters for the positions, she had opted to do the interviews herself when she knew at least one of applicants was a mutant. She didn't want to chance that someone missed out on an opportunity due to another of her staff's prejudice.

"Sierra Parker," she said, introducing herself and returning his handshake, curious if her name would ring a bell. "Please, sit and make yourself comfortable, and we'll get started."

She asked some of the typical interview questions -- what assets would you bring to the school environment? what are your weaknesses? how would you describe your work style? -- before taking a breather and mulling over the responses she received.

After a moment, Sierra leaned forward on her desk and asked, "What brought you back to Bayville, Mr. Tolansky?"

[Toad]

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Todd did his best not to fidget in his seat, especially after hearing the principal's name. He knew her name from the applications and other paperwork, obviously, but to hear the name sent his memory jogging. He figured she was probably someone he knew in passing from when he went to Bayville High, one of the do-gooder types that never really left the city and probably never would. So he filed the name away and settled in for the interview questions.

They were typical questions, even if they weren't the easiest ones -- he was familiar with the school, he wasn't grossed out easily, he could be quiet and was used to being stuck in the background, even if he wasn't the best team player at times but he was working on it -- in particular the last question Ms. Parker threw at him.

Just like that, her stature, her voice, the way she asked why he had returned to Bayville, helped click who she was in his memory.

Todd couldn't help but groan and forget his interview manners. "Aw, geez, we knew each other when we were teens, didn't we? You the lightning chick from the Xavier school? This interview was probably just a formality, wasn't it?"

He remembered not to slouch and sighed as he answered the last question anyway. "Bayville is what I know. I did some work for the government, but even they looked at me an' the other mutants as tools rather than people, and that got old pretty fast, especially after how I grew up at the Brotherhood house. This place doesn't have the best memories for me, but those memories are better than the ones I got at other places."

And then, since he figured the interview was done for him, he said, "Suppose that's a difference from you, eh? Bet you had no reason to leave this place, not with the cushy way you were treated at the professor's."

[Gigabyte]

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The interview, as a whole, seemed to go well. Sierra made mental notes on Todd's answers, comparing them with previous applicants' responses in real time as the pair spoke. While the man in front of her seemed a little nervous, the conversation was cordial and rather easy.

Then Todd apparently recalled who Sierra was and any formalities went out the window, both amusing and baffling Sierra.

"Yes, we did know each other as teenagers," she responded. "'Lightning chick,' I suppose, is accurate enough. I'm glad you seem to be doing as well as can be, Mr. Tolansky.

"And, no, this interview isn't just a formality," Sierra said. "I'm a little insulted you would suggest it was. You're very much still in the running for the position, should you still wish to be after our interview is over."

She listened to his response to her last question, nodding when appropriate, and filing the answer away. Todd seemed genuine, just trying to find a place to fit in, and Bayville was the closest place to filling in that hole. In a way, it wasn't so different from Sierra herself, finding her way back to Bayville. It sounded like Sierra's memories were more pleasant than Todd's, unfortunately.

"I've actually only been back for a few months," Sierra confessed, "after having been gone from Bayville for years. I went out of state for college. Like yourself, memories brought me back here. Bayville is significant to both of us regarding what we do, it seems."

She paused for a moment before saying, "That was all of my questions, actually. Do you have any questions for me? About the position or otherwise...?"

[Toad]

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Todd wasn't sure if he believed the lady's words about this interview not being just a formality. He supposed he still wanted to be in the running for the job, considering the extra dough and benefits would be nice. But working under an x-man? Did they even call themselves that anymore? He supposed it was better than working under a human, but...

She mentioned how even she had gone away from Bayville for a little while, had gone to college out of state and then somehow still ended up back here. Todd snorted. "Dunno why you'd want to come back to this place, not with the prospects you probably had."

His casualness was probably slipping him lower and lower on the eligibility list for the job, but the fact that he was having a somewhat cordial conversation with an x-man -- with someone how had probably tried frying him with a lightning bolt at some point or other in their lives, at that -- was killing his motivation to be on his best behavior. He did actually mull it over when Sierra asked if he had any questions for her.

He probably should have asked more about the salary or benefits, but instead Todd asked, "The school board know you're a mutant?"

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Sierra did not have a reply to Todd's words about her supposed prospects. She could have gone back to her parents, she could have found a more prestigious career in IT or computer science with her abilities, but instead she found her way back to Bayville and the Xavier Institute.

She was one of the lucky mutants. Her abilities, for the most part, would most likely be received somewhat well by the non-mutant population but she retreated to the comfort of familiarity and hiding. It was what she had known all her life.

Sierra was a bit surprised at the question Todd asked when she gave the floor to him, and she shook her head gently.

"No," she said. "Rather, I didn't tell them. Some may know already, what from years ago when Robert Kelly was part of this school, but no one said a word about it to me. If someone asks, I will not lie, of course, but as far as I'm concerned it is on a need to know basis. My being a mutant has no relevance to me doing my job effectively."

[Toad]

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Todd raised an eyebrow. "No relevance? Heh, you sure you didn't make a mention of your mutation because they would have thought you fudged the computers? Edit the others' applications to make yours stand out?

"You could have put a positive spin on it, too," he said, remembering just what exactly Sierra Parker's abilities were. Yeah, she could make a mean bolt of lightning appear, but she was also a computer whiz. "Play up how organized ya can be. Or would they find how you remember everything really weird...?"

He paused, figuring that his mouthing off wasn't winning him any points during the interview. Did he still want to be a janitor under Parker? Did that matter at this point? He still needed another way to keep money going into the bank, and he could definitely do the work required of a janitor.

"Would my being a mutant have any relevance to the job?" Todd asked.

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Sierra's cheeks colored, indignant at Todd's insinuation. "Of course I didn't," she said. "My references and experience were more than adequate for my receiving this position."

Of course, Sierra would use her powers to her advantage when performing her job as a principal, but she would never use them to get ahead. It was this thought that also shaped her response to Todd's question about his own mutation in relevance to the janitor position.

"Your mutation has no relevance in this interview, nor does it have any relevance on your cover letter and resume," Sierra said. "Your mutation will not be a deciding factor in whether or not you get the job.

"However," Sierra continued, "should you get the position, if you are able to take advantage of your mutation to aid you with your work safely, then that is fair game, as far as I'm concerned. Are there any other questions?"

[Toad]

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"Easy there, Teach." Todd held up his hands, palms forward, in a pacifying gesture. "Wasn't trying to offend."

Not really, anyway. It was simple for him to go into a self-depreciating, mocking-others kind of mode whenever he was faced with an x-man. Despite that, he wasn't completely out of the running for the job, by the sounds of it.

Yet, he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"It doesn't?" he asked, regarding the relevancy of his mutation to the interview. "That why you're doing all the interviewing instead of letting your minions do the first interviews? Thought if I made it through the first round, then I'd be seeing the principal during the second round of interviews."

He hadn't been sure he'd pass the first round, not with folks still harboring prejudices against mutants, but he may be fine with Parker at the helm as long as he didn't mouth off so much that she didn't put him in the next round out of spite.

It was promising to hear that he'd be able to use his abilities to do the job, should he get the position, though.

[Gigabyte]

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Sierra did her best to calm herself despite Todd's insulting words. He seemed like he hadn't quite outgrown his impish nature from when he had been a teenager, although the fact that he was here and had done fairly well at the interview marked an improvement.

He had also made her pause and think with his next few questions.

"Perhaps you're right on that, actually," she said slowly, her fingers forming a steeple in front of her face. "While you do not earn any extra points due to being a mutant on this interview, it was due to the fact that mutants applied at all that I chose to do the interviews myself. Aside from it saving time from doing multiple rounds of interviews, of course.

"I mainly chose to do the interviews to ensure no one," she continued, "human or mutant alike would have an unfair advantage or disadvantage when facing the interviewer." Sierra gave him a dry smile. "Maybe that means your mutation was relevant after all."

[Toad]

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Todd's eyebrows raised to his hairline when Parker mentioned that he may have been right. It wasn't often he heard such a thing.

Still, listening to the woman talk about how she had chosen to do the interviews because she noticed there were a couple of mutants applying and she had been worried about prejudice against the applicants, Todd inwardly preened. For once, his mutation had given him a bit of an advantage, even if Parker had wanted to view it as her trying to give everyone an equal chance. She was smart enough to know that their kind still weren't viewed equally to humans, which gave him more hope for the job.

Okay, so being a janitor wasn't exactly glamorous, but it was a job that he didn't mind doing and figured he wouldn't be as scrutinized due to being a mutant. Guess he wasn't exactly right.

"At least your reasoning was so one species wasn't at an advantage," Todd said. "That's nice to know, even if I'm not getting better treatment from ya just because we're both mutants."

He paused before saying, "Well, guess I got nothing else to ask about the job or anything. Do I just wait to hear either way?"

[Gigabyte]

Tags: Toad
Words: 172
Notes: You may be able to end and lock the thread with your next response.

"Employers should always strive to be open-minded and unprejudiced when it comes to those they are interviewing," Sierra said. "Despite how many jobs claim to be equal opportunity employers, research has found that that is unfortunately not always the case. I hope that Bayville High at least will become one."

Sierra would have liked to think that she was the type of boss who would truly run an equal opportunity place of employment, even without her mutation, but she could admit to herself that it was perhaps due to her mutation that she was so conscious of being unprejudiced.

She nodded to what appeared to be Todd's last question. "Yes, I will get back to you either way. You'll most likely hear from me by the end of the week. If not, then by next Wednesday at the latest."

She stood and stuck out a hand for one last handshake. "Thank you for coming in for an interview, Mr. Tolansky. This meeting went much better than the meetings we had as teenagers."

[Toad]

Words: 159
Tags: Gigabyte
Notes: Locking!

Todd snorted at Parker's words. "Yeah, well, the whole world shouldn't be prejudice," he said. "Look at how far we've gotten with that in our lifetimes."

Maybe one day, Todd figured, it really wouldn't matter, but he doubted he would see true equality before he kicked the bucket. For now, he would just float through life and do what he could to just survive as well as he could.

"By next Wednesday, got it." Todd nodded and stood up, giving Parker another handshake almost warily. Considering he remembered now what she could do, he subconsciously watched out for a shock.

Of course, he never felt any electricity during their goodbye handshake, and he dryly chuckled when Parker mentioned their previous meetings from years ago. "Yeah, guess this wasn't so bad. Thanks for the interview. Have a good one, Teach."

With a two-fingered salute, Todd waved as he made his way out of the office and the high school building.