ArchivedLogs:Laser Detention Review

Laser Detention Review
Dramatis Personae Peter, Scott Summers	2013-04-19 Post Laser Detention, Peter's up for review.
Location <XS> Classroom One
Evaluation results were promised and so evaluation results were dispensed. One by one, students involved in the preliminary Danger Room training sessions were receiving private talks on how they did, and what they did. Peter was one of the first kids brought into a private classroom after regular classes, so he had no idea what to expect. The classroom was empty and most of the desks were moved - a larger table was was set up with two chairs across from one another. The lights streamed in through the window blinds, slowly trailing across the floor. Scott sat in one of these chairs with a stack of papers in front of him, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded across his chest. He had a pensive expression on his face. Peter Parker is, as always, dressed in one of his two favorite hoodies - the black one - along with blue-jeans, sneakers, his hipster glasses, and his nylon backpack. He hops into the classroom quickly - pent up with nervous energy - and slinks his eyes this way and that, peering at Scott off behind that big table. Very /slowly/, he slinks toward the chair opposite from Scott. Slink, slink. Slink. Slink. THWUMP. Dropping into the chair like a deadweight, peering at him. /Peeeeeeer/. "Thanks for coming, Peter. You'll remember our exercise earlier this week: I put you into a leadership position at a moment's notice. How do you think you think the exercise went?" Scott is always all-business, launching directly into the evaluation at a speedy clip. He's casual but crisp, opening up the floor for discussion at the drop of a hat. "Pretty cool," Peter admits, shuffling this way and that in his chair; /squirming/, really. He's not used to sitting still for long periods of time, and it shows. "Um. I thought the best part was when a rock hit us. That was kinda awesome." Slight red-tinting to his cheeks! "And your personal performance - would you consider the plan you concocted to be a success, a failure? Think hard before you answer." Scott tilts his head a little, leaning in a little closer. While aware of Peter's fidgety problem, he was hoping the heightened scrutiny and the purposeful tone he took would start ringing a bell with him. Peter does not think hard before he answers: "Oh, pretty fail-y, I mean, I /did/ forget that you need like two people alive to win the game," Peter admits. "But I mean it /was/ an awesome idea even if it totally wouldn't have worked - I guess next time I woulda been more - I dunno, DIVE BOMB for the gate or something." He just cribbed that idea off of Ender's Game, too. But he soon follows up: "I guess it was kind of a bad move though cuz like every time we used someone as a shield we lost a shooter, so..." "You decided to crib the idea from Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card - that's what the simulation was based around," Scott says, glancing down at his notes with pursed lips. He flips through a couple of pieces of paper, looking down at the writing there. "You saw it written in a book, and so you decided to execute your concept quickly based off the success you knew it'd had. This was right at the gate after you'd been given command. Given the off the cuff nature of the assignment, others in similar simulations we've run at Xavier's School in years prior have either frozen up, deferred back to me, or panicked. A few have improvised, and about three other students did the same as you." Scott sucks the air over his teeth. "Why do you think it was a failure if you don't know whether you won or lost?" "Oh, 'cuz I could have totally done better," Peter says. "Like, Dr. McCoy - he's always telling me my problem is I try to figure out a clever solution for everything? And I guess - he says sometimes that's /good/ but sometimes the best solution isn't clever, it's just the /solution/. I guess - the right move would have been to just try and not be clever and just play it straight. Get everyone behind some rocks and stuff and pew-pew-pew our way to the gate." Pew-pew-pew is accompanied by Peter holding an imaginary laser rifle and firing at the blackboard behind Scott. "Dr. McCoy has expressed to me on a few occasions that he is frequently overwhelmed by your creative energy," Scott posits diplomatically, glancing down again at his stack of papers, which he shuffles thoughtfully. "There was no right solution to this assignment. Pros: you took initiative immediately, you thought strategically and creatively, you executed quickly and on task. Cons: you were distracted by the opposite team and deviated based on what Taylor called out to you, not on your own terms. You lost focus, you could have spent a moment or two more thinking about your idea. Overall: good work, some room for improvement." Scott leans forward, giving Peter a very pinpointed amount of attention. "Mr. Parker. Your confidence and enthusiasm are stellar. The only thing I think you could improve on the most is your focus. I've read some of your personal history, and I understand this is not a problem you have a huge amount of control over. I would like to encourage you, however, to see what narrowing your focus out of a strictly reactionary state of mind into a proactive one might do for your performance." He clears his throat, and turns over his paper. "That's all I've got for you, chief. Thanks for coming." Peter listens; nose wrinkling only for the last bit of it. TOO MUCH CREATIVE ENERGY? No such thing! But he soon just nods his head - once, twice - and then: "Thanks, Mr. Summers! I'll - um, yeah that is something I will /definitely/ work on, I mean - yeah. Okay! Thanks! Maybe we can do it again," Peter adds, slipping out of his seat. "I've been working on a few /newer/ ideas..." All of them involving variants of a conga-line, no doubt!