Clancy is used to being liked. After all, he's always been able to make people take a shine to him; in later years, it hadn't even taken his powers. You just had to know how people worked, know what buttons to push. He was attractive, he was passionate, he was smart and determined. He'd made himself into something none of them could ever dream of being. And yet, at the same time he's convinced no one actually really likes him, and everyone is out to stop him. Although, really, when the world proves your suspicions correct, is it really paranoia? None of that suspicion has ever kept Clancy from doing his very best to be friendly, approachable, and charismatic. Even if that's not at all what Mikodez likes.
More often than not he declines these little offers, but this one he accepts, taking one of the small sticks and twirling it in his fingers for a moment before taking a neat bite. "To be fair, the US educational system was appalling even before nine out of ten of its students died," is his possibly surprisingly wry answer, gesturing with the pocky. "But I did try, to the best of my abilities, to give them something approaching a normal life. For at least a few moments a day. So many of them never had it at all. I was ten when my father sent me to Thurmond. I'm twenty now. IAAN hits anywhere between ages eight and fourteen, and I'm good enough at math to work that problem out." There are children out there now who have never known a world where they weren't at risk of dying, children whose parents give them away even before they reach peak risk just because they're afraid of the consequences. Children who can be used, if they're educated properly, taught how to use what they have to set things right.
"If no one tells them they're special, that they aren't worthless or evil, they'll never know it. They'll die never knowing what they could have been. And I refuse to let that happen to all of us," he answers, and for all that it's not the whole answer, and quite possibly embellished, it's not a lie, either.
I'm so sorry, I just found this lost in the wilderness
"Yes, I'll admit that I haven't developed a high opinion of your educational system. I'll also admit that I have the bias of coming from the hexarch with it's universal and comprehensive education, which always makes it easier to look down on others who don't have the same resources and systems in place." His grin invites Clancy to join the joke that's at both at the educational system and Mikodez's expense.
He nods more seriously as Clancy goes on. "A sense of normality is important, a routine - even if it's not what they would have had before, well, you're trying for something new. Theory is often little use if you don't have a testing ground, and at least you could know that even a, hmm, lower quality of life compared to a different generation was far higher than what they would get otherwise." East River seems like a useful microcosm in general, for people, not education. But there's no need to be offensively blunt.
"It's a terrible thing to do to children." He means that, too, Mikodez's care is genuine, if always calculated and controlled. It's nice to occasionally even get to be honest about it. "If it's let to continue, it's also the destruction of your country. I don't have much time for short term thinkers, it seems like the people currently managing to cling to control where you're from are some of the worst of the breed."
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More often than not he declines these little offers, but this one he accepts, taking one of the small sticks and twirling it in his fingers for a moment before taking a neat bite. "To be fair, the US educational system was appalling even before nine out of ten of its students died," is his possibly surprisingly wry answer, gesturing with the pocky. "But I did try, to the best of my abilities, to give them something approaching a normal life. For at least a few moments a day. So many of them never had it at all. I was ten when my father sent me to Thurmond. I'm twenty now. IAAN hits anywhere between ages eight and fourteen, and I'm good enough at math to work that problem out." There are children out there now who have never known a world where they weren't at risk of dying, children whose parents give them away even before they reach peak risk just because they're afraid of the consequences. Children who can be used, if they're educated properly, taught how to use what they have to set things right.
"If no one tells them they're special, that they aren't worthless or evil, they'll never know it. They'll die never knowing what they could have been. And I refuse to let that happen to all of us," he answers, and for all that it's not the whole answer, and quite possibly embellished, it's not a lie, either.
I'm so sorry, I just found this lost in the wilderness
He nods more seriously as Clancy goes on. "A sense of normality is important, a routine - even if it's not what they would have had before, well, you're trying for something new. Theory is often little use if you don't have a testing ground, and at least you could know that even a, hmm, lower quality of life compared to a different generation was far higher than what they would get otherwise." East River seems like a useful microcosm in general, for people, not education. But there's no need to be offensively blunt.
"It's a terrible thing to do to children." He means that, too, Mikodez's care is genuine, if always calculated and controlled. It's nice to occasionally even get to be honest about it. "If it's let to continue, it's also the destruction of your country. I don't have much time for short term thinkers, it seems like the people currently managing to cling to control where you're from are some of the worst of the breed."