Anyhow, back to the ShadowBrats...

Setting up the ShadowSkool would be difficult, but not impossible. Let's say that the starting team is a group of Shadowrunning Parents, and that we're dealing with an initial group of eight hard-hooped Mother-Fraggin' Momma's and Poppa's.

First, you need a building, perhaps even an old school. Let's say it's in Puyallup, just because the rent is cheaper there (The Bums only get into fistfights over alleyways, rather than pull knives like they do in Redmond!). First, get rid of the original tennants, easy enough considering the group, maybe even offer a job to one or two on classes of Urban Survival.

Next, school supplies. A Truckload of cheap computers/commlinks is easy enough to boost, and you won't need the whole load, or the truck, so get a Fixer to offload those for expenses. Books are on chip, or either Fileshare 'em, or steal 'em as well.

Next up, a Skoolbus. Well, one of the people in the Shadow'Rents is a mechanic, so get some old beater of a bus, and fix it up. Then steal a few container trucks from the docks, with one being building supplies, offload the unuseable merchandise through various fixers (More for the budget!), and use the container metal to armour up the bus. Then sell/strip the trucks.

Fixing up the building is a bit more of a sticky situation, but I'm sure there's skills out there for the having, grab a few of the SINless in the area that keep their slums in decent shape, get them to fix the place up in exchange for spaces for their kids. Simple, with the right connections (And everyone knows that a 'Runner lives and dies by their connections!).

Then start classes, with the occasional Shadowrun to keep the school in business. After one, two years, you'll have the Advanced Students boosting Americars and Sports Cars to strip, which will help with the budgetary concerns, have additional resources through neighbourhood connections, and be seen as a positive impact in the community.

Now, the downside, gangs trying to bust up something like this, because, you know, school is so Gaz. Well, A pair of 250-Kilo of Cybered Troll Mommy and Daddy will nip that in the bud real quick, and provide some lunchtime entertainment for the Shadowbrats!

So, in essence, long start-up time, but almost self-sustaining after awhile!

From an IC perspective, with the above mentioned skillsets, would it not be more reasonable to try your best to get out of the barrens and pay for homeschooling?

Sorry, I just have a bleak view on this. I can't see gangs leaving infrastructure like this alone. And the last you want as a concerned parent is your kids ending up as small gangers. So a shadow school could maybe work, but set up by shadowrunners who could afford to live somewhere else and give their kids a save environment? I highly doubt it.

To clarify this: Living in the barrens might be ok if you are a bad ass shadowrunner who can afford dealing with the risks, but do not romanticise this. Robin Hood is dead. He was killed by Brother Tuck over a pack of soybeans.

Depends upon their view. Sure, you could get out of the Barrens, get out, get a house in the 'Burbs with a white picket fence and a puppydog with a waggily tail... And be part of the system, hoping that someone doesn't try to test that Bullet-Proof SIN you hope you got.

Or you could actually start trying to do some good for the Barrens and try to turn it around, and not be part of the system you've learned to love to hate.

And, frankly, when even the CORP Neighbourhoods are having Street Gang issues (Thrill Gangers mostly, rather than Street), no place is safe from that. And, at least, it's a lot easier to demonstrate to a Street Gang why it's a really bad idea to start messing with Little Suzy.

Just take 'em down to the local Alleydoc, and point out which limbs you recently sold to him, and how theirs would fit in the jars so very nicely.

You know how Hamas got their gig really going on in Palestine? Cracking down on corruption and starting schools and stuff. While the version as presented is a bit unrealistic, there is every incentive for the Yakuza to start a school in the slums in hong kong with protection money. Gets people on your team allowing you to move in on the triads, securing more protection money and more business.

Bizarrely despite my pessimism about government services, the Yaks or triads or whoever might totally do it.

Yea, organised crime, some anarchist communities, maybe even a gang will try to start this. But they are not really better than any corp. They have their own agenda which you either agree to or you are out.

Nothing speaks against a group of shadowrunners trying to make the Barrens a better place. But in my games there will be alot of others trying to take it away, scavenge the little they can get out of it and leave the rest to rot again.

One thing you should not forget is healthcare and other basic services. They are a bitch to get in the Barrens.

Yeah... And that differs from Public Education how?

I've known students that were expelled from my school for not toeing the line.

Hell, I *WAS* expelled!

But, yes, you're right, the ShadowSkool would have to fight tooth and nail to keep what they have. Which, of course, is why Intro to Firearms is a First Year course.

As for Basic Services, yes, that's a major issue. They have to be gotten somehow from the Barrens, and that one, I'm still working on trying to figure out.

So AA-Corps are Extraterritorial in countries that recognise it. And AAs and AAAs still pay taxes.

Thanks Nath!

PS: I still bet they cheat on their taxes.

So they will not pay taxes because they will not have any facilities making a profit within national borders. Just think IKEA and their charity scam.

Thanks for the clarifications Nath.

Eh, Nath, you do know you just volunteered to be the Economics Teacher, eh?

I'm working under the assumption that the founders of these schools would purposefully scout out locations within a powerful gang's turf. A lesser gang would want to try and cause trouble or otherwise make a name for themselves from sheer inexperience, but an established gang (or criminal syndicate) might be willing to take in a little protection money or possibly free tuition for some of the youngest brats to look the other way or even provide security.

That would work, SW! Train up the GutterBrats, so they can expand the gang into the big leagues!

I have a two part shadow school in my game. First off is a community run grass roots school room where parents teach their children in skill sets they themselve have. This is in Crimson Crush territory where the Crush get protection money and to send their kids to the safe communal font of knowledge. Most of the gear at the school is basic/improvised or stolen by 'hooding.
Parents take it in turns to mind the kids and improve their education. Some of the parents are runners teaching the kids the ropes.
Second part is a purely matrix based school for young deckers. The basics of electronics, computer use, programing, decking ect are done by volunteers and tutor soft agents. The higher end students are taught in small classes by a decker teacher till they get paired off with a mentor decker in typical master/student relationship. The whole deal is a large pyramid syndicate where the students pay for leasons by decking for pay data and the school fences for nuyen.

I've only started playing with 4th ed so I've never read that.

Which begs the question: If your supposed to obey the law, wtf exactly is the point?

I presume we are all saying that means that they co-erce their citizens to pay tax to the nationality that owns the soil the facility is on too?

Most likely the Megas just put it as "Deductions" on the person's paystub, and strongly suggest that no questions be asked.

Asking questions means you're not happy with your position at Super-Mega-Ultra-Corp.

Maybe being a Janitor will make you happy?

And "supposed" to obey the law is a lot different than "being legally obligated" to obey the law. You bring Mitsuhama in for unfair hiring practices for not hiring enough Metahumans, and they won't even bother showing up to court, as those laws don't apply to them, as they have their own legal system in place.

Anyhow, they have metahumans on staff. Trolls make great bullet shields. I mean front-line security guards.

I guess I cannot reconcil the statement "In practice, corps are still expected to respect national jurisdictions, pays taxes and otherwise act as good guests when inside national borders." with waging a god damn undercover shadow war against each other on a sort of ongoing basis.

Because it's, as you put it, "a god damn undercover shadow war".

The emphasis is on Undercover and Shadow. OK, the idea of going in shooting, coming out shooting, driving around town shooting...

That's NOT a good 'Run!

So massively illegal actions that they just don;t find out about is not really 'acting as good citizen'

It's like saying that Mr Fritzl was a good citizen until say, two weeks ago. Or that Al Capone was a good guy until he was actually convicted of tax fraud.

Anyway, while specific jobs are undercover, they actually make movies about the shadowrunning business, so thats like saying that the NSA is 'undercover' Pfft. We all know what Fort Meade is *for* and the general gist of what they are doing just not specific programs - until they get reported in the media anyway.

so everyone knows that Ares sends runners over to MCT on a weekly basis, and even probably have evidence for some of it, if you extend the modern analogy. And don;t say the media wouldn't report it, because you can bet that horizon would love to piss in Ares' cheerios.

Either way, now I'm extremely confused about how SR is supposed to work.

I'm not sure that national governments actually give a shit that Ares is raiding MCT facilities on a regular basis and I don't think that MCT ever goes over to a national government stomping it's feet and screaming "But Ares isn't playing fair!". To do so would mean that megas can't handle their own shit and that they need strong national governments to regulate them. A stance that would all but undermine the whole point of being a mega in the first place.

It's not like extraterritorial facilities actually use "public" services like police coverage or fire departments (unless explicitly contracted that way). If a Renraku building mysteriously catches on fire in the middle of the night, Seattle FD is scrambled not to put it out but to make sure it doesn't spread (unless of course Renraku wants to admit that it needs help and pay Seattle FD appropriately for working "outside their jurisdiction").

I also wouldn't assume that the individual corps wageslaves actually pay taxes to the nation they reside in. The corps pays taxes (read:rent) to the nation it exists on. The nation takes what it can get because if they tell the corps to take a hike the corps will laugh in their face, leave, and giggle as the nations economy collapses. At the same time a corps that doesn't have holdings anywhere can't actually sell anything so they have to make nice with national governments to conduct business within national borders. It's a delicate balance of power that rests upon the shoulders of mutually assured financial destruction.

But didn't we just have a big round about arguement and conclude that most corp facilities are not extra territorial? Thus when you set fire to the overwhelming majority of Renraku building the Fire Department does actually have to help it out?

And when joe security guard gets shot, the NYPD (ie outsourced security contractors) have to start a homocide investigation? It would be illegal for MCT to conceal the death, so they would have to report it to the police? Does that make MCT shit a brick when dudes from an Ares' subsidiary start crawling all over the place?

Doesn't the government care about the multiple homocides that occur in the shadowruns that don;t go according to plan?

I missed that argument. I've always assumed that pretty much every facility belongs to the corporation that pays for it. Not really much of a point of being a mega if you don't take advantage of your extraterritoriality. If it's just an office somewhere I'm sure they contract for fire and police, but if it's a facility of any size and importance they won't want to rely upon people who don't belong to them. But that's my opinion.

NYPD is a bad example because New York is a whole bag of crazy

Lone Star doesn't have to give a shit if Joe the MCT security guy buys it because Joe has a SIN that clearly says "Property of MCT" written all over it. MCT can file paperwork with Lone Star if they so choose and Lone Star might turn over a runner if MCT has provided them with a description. For the reasons you state MCT might not contact them at all if only to preserve their secrecy.

But no, the government doesn't give a goddamn about multiple homicides if they don't involve their own citizens. Now kill a bunch of UCAS citizens during your run gone awry and now the UCAS FBI will be intensely interested in what you do for a living.

For that matter I don't know if UCAS has to investigate if a mega citizen drops dead on the street. I mean they should but... that's an awful lot of money to spend on people who don't directly pay taxes. (I hold to the belief that the corps, not the corps citizens, have to pay taxes)

I think you'll find that if a bunch of german tourists got gunned down in australia today, despite not being direct tax payers the Australia government would be very, very, very interested in whoever did it.

Anyway so what we need to know is:

* How much of a megacorps property is extra territorial? Is the stuffer shack extra territorial or not?
* Do mega corps citizens pay income taxes to the nation they reside within?

Those two questions could do with an answer.

Well there are reasons for a nation to care about a corporate citizen dropping dead. I just don't think there may be a legal obligation outside of whatever treaties they may have with the corps in question. I mean generally speaking it sounds like you shoot up a MCT employ in Downtown Seattle and MCT and Lone Star are going to be all over you.

I don't know what the canon answer to either of your questions is. Stuffers Shack probably isn't because it's not worth the paperwork (thus is pays all the normal fees and taxes) but I'd imagine corporate housing, research, and infrastructure (Matrix backbones and what not) are all extra territorial. Those are the sorts of places you'd want to keep off limits except to your own bought and paid for security.

I have no idea on the second question. Probably not? If they live in a corporate enclave and work in a corporate office, they don't really use national resources so I have no idea what grounds they could be charged taxes. They probably pay taxes to papa corps who in turn makes nice fat deposits in Uncle UCAS's treasury though.

Stuffer Shacks are not extraterritorial.

Are the regional offices that Deloitte (a consulting firm) or a law firm has scattered around the country extra territorial?

What about large megamarts like wal-mart or Costco?

A costco (or heck, woolworths in australia) supermarket is a lot larger and employs many more people than a small to medium deloitte office for example.

Your best bet is to try and attract Nath's attention once again. He is definitely an expert in this particular field.

I don't think it's size, I think it's a matter of content. If bad people bust into a costco they make off with 100 pound bags of dog food, if Ares KE shows up to a MCT research facility... well now, you have a conflict of interest.

Important is actually what I'm driving at with the questions about consultancies and law firms. While those organizations definationally don't exist in 2070 (!) due to market consolidation they often carry huge amounts of sensitive information for a very small (6-10 seats) office.

So that defination means that every facility with white and blue collar workers is protected (knowledge is on site at white collar facilities, blue collar workers are at production sites) and only casual burger places are not extra territorial.

Hmmm.. I see this thread has veered OT.

Still, I spotted this on the beeb, and thought it was pertinent to 6th world schooling.

Especially when Little Suzy whips out her (insert handgun of choice) and goes lead curtain apeshit on the gangers so she can show Mommy & Daddy how well she did against the gangers.

Perhaps the Shadow'rents provide the basic services? Use their contacts to get people who can provide the basic services in there and then the Shadow'rents pay for / provide protection?

If a group of people can set up basic educational services, there is no reason they cannot get / set up / obtain basic services of other venues for / around Shadowschool Elementary.

Funnily enough, you could make the Shadow schools much like the various magical schools from Harry Potter... in that they have taken the necessary steps to hide from public view, interact / compete with each other, etc.

She moved quietly through the halls of the nearly empty Shadowschool with a presence that caused the last few people in the halls to move out of her path. She did not seem particularly menacing by any stretch of the imagination. She was a slight woman with black hair done up in a sensible bun, fine facial features like a porcelain doll and a long black modest dress that looked as if it was from the turn of the century. Miss Black was the Kindergarden teacher and quite a gentle soul... and yet nobody dared to challenge her authority within these walls. She was there the first day that the Shadowrunners arrived to fix up the ancient school as if waiting for them, and had been a permanent fixture there ever since.

You could not deny she had a way with children. Toddlers who would never trust a soul other than their parents would implicitly trust her. She stayed out of everyone’s way and they out of hers. She would always show up at the round table discussions where the teaching staff discussed important issues and only spoke when she had some manner of input. Her advice was always weighed carefully, never being causally dismissed and no-one ever DARED threaten a child in her presence for one always had the feeling that beneath the prim, proper and gentle exterior she would not hesitate to tear the guts out of the offender like a she-wolf protecting it’s cubs.

She always moved with purpose and confidence and as she took the hallway down to Doctor Absinthe’s classroom she could easily hear Lee and Dodge talking.

“No, No, No. Now listen to me... It was Geoff’s the Street Samurai, Kellie is the face, Linda was the Hacker, and SHECKY was the Shaman with the spirit guide. I thought EVERYONE knew the cast of the Shadowgang.�

“While you were watching animated trids, I was serving my country to the best of my ability, Son. Now what was that spirit guide dog of his named again?�

“It’s Bailey. Geez. Remind me to loan you some of my Trid recordings so you can get a better idea.�

Mister Lee was a rather leathery looking elf. On the short side (for an elf) he was thin with short white hair in a military cut, a Hawaiian shirt, polished black shoes and a pair of beige dress pants with a razor’s edge of a crease. Rumor had it he was already old when the first wave of goblinization hit. Then again rumor was that he had reached the rank of Drill Sargent in every branch of the military before they forced him to take a tour of duty off before he could re-enlist.

What could be verified was that he was the current firearms instructor and that by the time you get through his course you knew a LOT more than which end of the gun points at the other guy. He ran his class like boot camp and had put young punks of every metatype in their place when they thought they could get away with it.

Mister Dodge on the other hand was cut from very different cloth. Where everything about Lee betrayed his military background Dodge was a very down-to-earth Troll of the streets. He dressed simply in an athletic sweatshirt, Sweat pants, sneakers and a silver whistle and he carried a clipboard wherever he went. His horns resembled those of Big horn sheep, curling back around the sides of his head and his coarse black hair had been cut into a utilitarian flattop style.

Dodge was known for pulling himself up out of the gutters not by Brute Strength as one might expect, but rather wisdom. He knew his strengths and his limits and while on a run he played to them, outside his run he challenged them often. As a result he was astonishingly agile for a Troll, capable of moves that someone over 350 Kilos had no business doing. A talent that came in handy when dealing with the unruly children that wound up in Gym Class looking to blow off some steam. He was one of the more popular teachers.

When they saw Miss black approaching they both ceased talking and watched her approach.

“Good evening Ma’am.�

“Good evening Mister Lee, Mr Dodge.� She said with a faint hint of a smile. “I would very much like to enter Dr Absinthe’s Class. Might I pass?�

Dodge looked over at Lee with uncertainty and took the slight nod he returned as his cue.

“Well. We’re supposed to keep the lookie-lous out of the room until Dr Absinthe’s buddies arrive to deal with... what’s inside. But seeing it’s you Miss Black... It’s not like we could stop you anyways.�

The two men stood up and Dodge handed Lee his AK-97. The Troll then casually leaned down and slid the heavy concrete bench out of the way of the door and swung it open into the hallway allowing her to pass inside. A moment later the door was shut and the bench replaced effectively sealing the door shut.

In the UK, the corporates are actually doing that very thing. With a lot of Government encouragement, there are a number of "academies" created by "Public-Private Partnership" schemes that are providing secondary level education in deprived areas. Some of them are actually pretty good at turning out people with qualifications. So there has to be at least the potential of getting usable workers out of classes who might previously been written off.

Such interventions become more difficult to access if you and your sprogs are SINless though.

Must have more Shadowschool...

what he said...

A good reason why so many child shadowrunners are technomancers is there the only ones that can do it.

A 12 year-old powerful combat specialist doesn't make any sense when you think about training and gear,
a Magician doesn't make sense either as they need spell formula, either bought or designed on there own then you get into any other manner of equipment they might need as a runner thats hard to think about a kid getting a hold of.
You'd need to be extra creative.

You can imagine a 12 year old super hacker as we already have some of those in real life, but then you need to explain how he got his equipment it takes a lot of good software to be a good hacker.

A Technomancer doesn't really need equipment, just a simple comlink for storage of data and for ID's and stuff.
So to explain there back story,
"I discovered I didn't need a comlink to access the matrix at age eight, I've been surfing the matrix for six years now"
That one line can accurately explain how you can have a 14 year old technomancer shadow running. Some more unusual skills could have been gotten from hacked Tutorsofts.

Personally my own character(a face) wouldn't want a kid shadowrunner around, not out of contempt but he'd feel a kid shouldn't be exposed to a runners life, SINless is traumatizing enough.
But he'd probably approve of the Shadow School, a way to train the kids with no prospects to survive beyond chip slotted work drones of the corporate world, skill softs having effectively killed unskilled labor with out exposing them to the horrors of the job to soon or suddenly.

However he'd view small vocational training as being much more effective. They don't get a broad education they learn a certain skill set to help them survive.

Corporate Enclaves describes the end of unskilled labor. Unskilled labor was taken over by drones where many other skilled jobs are taken over by unskilled labor who have there skills slotted in. So the most important thing in any skill training is creativity. I can actually imagine many slot skill works in fact being SINless as they are easily tossed aside when they are no longer useful.

In another RPG, (no stones please) Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. I'm currently playing a child hero a 12 year old(human) Telepath character. Which I suppose is similar in many respects. The party fighter a samurai often dotes on her like an older brother. Which she is perfectly fine with. None of the party have really asked how she's capable of doing the things she's doing or were even certain she was the one doing.

So there is some obvious appeal to playing the child character.

Child prodigies can happen in any occupation. And, frankly, a lot of the more violent ones would migrate towards Shadowrunning.

In addition, there's Second and Third Generation Shadowrunners going on, where they learned from their parents. (Slamm-0 is only the most infamous due to his being a Shadowtalker on the JackPoint), so it's not exceptional to expect to see a kid who knows how to strip and clean assault rifles, as he learned on his Daddy's knee, and can Rig with the best of them as he learned from Mommy, or some such.

Frankly, these Shadowrunners would scare me the most. They GREW UP in the culture and mindset that they were going to be 'Runners! They don't have the moral ambiguities that most that come to the trade earn growing up in alternative methods.

Also, here's a reason for young 'Runners. They're Orks and Trolls. They grow up so fast.

Inside the room, Miss black paused a moment. Taking in the dim lighting of the warding apparatus that Absinthe had set up then a wry smile spread across her face as she saw the elderly gentleman fussing about with his Scrycorder and making hurried notes in his notebook.

He was so engrossed in his study that he was unaware of her presence until she was standing right next to him.

“Hello Ernest.�

“Mmm? Oh! Miss Black. I’m sorry, I did not hear you come in.�

“It is alright Ernest. I heard that you made the most unusual discovery.�

“I have? Oh yes! Come take a look at this, Miss black. A truely extraordinary find.�

Miss Black was one of the few people at the Shadowshool that knew Dr Absinthe’s real name and he was perhaps the only member of the staff that never feared her. Wether it was his absent mindedness or his demeanor her presence never seemed to bother him and he treated her as he did anyone else. ...Pleasantly.

She leaned a little closer towards the containment unit but stopped just short of the warded area. Her face given a healthy glow from the vacuum tubes she watched the black formless goo batter futilely against the glass.

“It’s... unpleasant looking. Isn’t it?�

“Mmm. Yes, it is. However it’s a crafty devil... devil being a cautionary word as this indeed seems to be a spirit of some manner.�

“It *IS* a spirit, Ernest, And I don’t recognise it. I only know that it isn’t... full of lollipops and sunshine.�

He chuckled and made some notes.

“Well although I need to do proper laboratory testing, it’s physical form seems to be made up mostly of Medical Grade Drugs something unlike any known spirit before this... natural or corrupted... There is something else about it.�

“Something else?�

“We may be looking at a fragment of a much larger entity. A source from which many of these things originate.�

Her eyes narrowed. An act that would have anyone else backing away in dread. It meant something was mentioned or present that she did not like.

“This is from some manner of spirit able to divide itself? That would mean...�

“Indeed, Miss Black. I suspect that Oozy here is embryonic in nature. My students and I think that this... let’s call it a Drug Spirit for now... that this Drug Spirit has the capacity to reproduce.�

The flawless skin of her face seemed to twist, the light casting shadows along the furrows that creased along her brow. Her gaze showing a strange revulsion and disgust as she looked at the creature in the jar.

“Are you feeling alright Miss Black?�

“I feel... “ she struggled to find the words. “...repulsed by this creature. Not only is it an affront to life and all things natural... it wants to spread like a disease.�

“Yes. That’s the theory. We won’t know for certain until we get it back to the safe... safeER confines of the Think Tank’s facility. It’s just that any living being that apparently consents to being on the streets as a living addictive drug, certainly doesn’t seem to have anyone’s best interests in mind.�

“Have you the facilities to destroy this thing?�

“I would hope we do, if not we can call in some favors and...�

“I could destroy this living filth for you and save you the problems, Ernest.�

“That wouldn’t help very much. Would you like some Tea, Miss Black?�

Her moment of anger ceased, the terrible lines on her face fading and it returned back to her normal porcelain doll perfection again. She looked up at Absinthe with her dark eyes as he shrugged at her with a slight smile.

“What?�

“Tea. Miss Black. Lady Titania made a packet of some for work today. A delicious blend made of Orange Pekoe and Wild Rosehip with just a hint of...�

“No. Before that. You said it wouldn’t Help. Why?�

He poured the steaming hot contents of a small cracked Teapot into a pair of old Coffee Mugs. One bore a logo saying “One of the World’s Greatest Teachers.� and the other had the universal icon for Corrosive Liquids on the side.

“Oh. Well, if this creature is indeed the... tip of the iceberg, as it were. Merely a small part of something bigger, then only by taking a much harder look at it will we be able to find the body. Like with the Hydra of legend, cutting off he heads do nothing. Sometimes getting straight to the heart of the matter is the only way.�

She looked at him in surprise as he handed her the ‘Corrosive’ mug and picked up the ‘Teacher’ one for himself. A calm smile graced Miss Black’s lips as Absinthe took a sip of his tea.

“You show a surprising wisdom for a man wish so much intelligence, Ernest. The children are very lucky to have you teaching them here.�

“I will be honest with you, Miss Black. Teaching at this ‘Shadow-School’ has felt more rewarding than over forty years of being a paid Teacher at ‘real’ schools.�

“Why is that?�

“Because... It’s different there. The majority of the children just don’t care about the material. Occasionally I come across the odd eager and curious soul who renewed my sense of hope and gave me strength to go on, but most often I kept hearing the youth of the world asking ‘Why do we need to learn this when there are skillsofts?’.�

“Ah. The wonders of the modern age.�

“Indeed. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve used skillsofts in the past for when I needed abilities I lacked... most often for languages. It’s just... The children in my classes ask the biggest questions. ‘Why?’ and ‘Why Not?’. They don’t just absorb and regurgitate facts, they question them, they examine, they interact.
Some teachers in the Shadowschool require what they say to not be questioned. Mister Lee rules his class with an iron fist and so he should. Firearms need to be respected and the consequences known. I admire the fact that his students have less weapon malfunctions in their first year than Lone Star recruits have in their first week.
My classroom is about discovery. Learning about the wonders that make up our world... It’s about... about...�

“...About understanding. Yes?�

“Yes. Yes that’s it. Thank you Miss Black.�

“No. Thank YOU, Ernest.�

“Pardon me?�

“It’s... refreshing to know a person like you, Ernest. Most of the other staff at the Shadowschool approach teaching like a job. Most are teaching them survival skills they will need later on because they WILL need to know them. You... You enjoy teaching minds that are actually interested in learning.�

“It’s a wonderful feeling, Miss Black. Even Tommy, a lad who nearly gave in to the Ork Gang Member cliches, has opened up in our classes. Gangs, like any tyrants, thrive on peer pressure and their members never questioning their doctrines. Now Tommy is actually interested in the world. It was he who brought me this sample after seeing people using it. His curiosity has perhaps saved him and his classmates from ever using this material.�

“You are a very good man, Ernest.�

“And you make me feel quite young, Miss Black.� he shuffled his feet and smiled shyly at the raven haired woman. “I *URM* know you don’t leave the school often but I was wondering if... perhaps if you had the time you might wish to spend an evening at Lady Titania’s teahouse.�

“Pardon me?�

“You seem to have finished your tea quite quickly there and well, I was thinking that perhaps you may wish to sample some more of her astounding blends...�

“Why Ernest. Are you asking me out on a date?�

“I... Why yes. I suppose I am, Miss black.�

The wry smile returned as she nodded at the wizened human.

“I accept. It’s not every day that I receive an invitation from a gentleman to go out for tea.�

“Perhaps this Friday evening then? Once the classes are over and the doors locked?�

“Yes. Yes I think that would be just fine, Ernest.�

There was a gentle knocking at the door then the sound of a heavy concrete bench being pulled aside . The door opened and in walked a tall native american figure. He wore what would pass as a Buckskin Trenchcoat with many Tassels until a second glance revealed it’s patchwork stitching, using leather from half a dozen different... species of creatures. He wore Cowboy boots and a beaten Brown Ten gallon hat. The one most eye-catching feature was the Medicine Wheel that was lashed to the right breast of his trenchcoat. It made of Copper from a Power Line for the Circle, and the "Spokes" being wires from a stripped CAT-5 Cable. It gleamed even in the low light as he smiled broadly at the duo.

“Hope I’m not interrupting, Doc. I came as fast as I could.�
















.

We ever getting anything else from the Shadow School?

Pretty please?

Is there any more?

I have to admit, that as a newbie here, I was utterly surprised to find such a beautiful gem lurking in such a horrible derailed, yet, quite informative thread.

The teachers make quite a bit of sense to me.

You'll find that to be the case quite often too.

With regards to the thread itself... I'd love to see Catalyst take up this idea and make an adventure series out of it with the people writing the Shadow Teachers being the main contributors. This is definitely content I would NOT want to miss out on.

Sorry Folks.

Kinda got distracted by some shiny objects.
I will put up more.
I just need to write it.

I think I might just put it up on my Deviant Art site along with my ShadowLOL's

wait, what?

/e casts 'Thread Necromancy'

So... what is going on with this gem? Is it going to be left half finished?

Please say it isn't so...

OK folks, RL hit me, and shiny things are the bane of Ryu's existance.

I gave him my old PS2, and he's been playing Mercenaries 2 for many months.

He also lost the link to here.

He's working on it again now.

YES!

Am I the only one that doesn't see the necessity of a shadow school?

If runners can forge new SINs, why not do that for a child? If the sole concern is that a TM isn't going to be able to control their abilities, then find the kid a mentor or teacher's aid equivalent?

These are (basic) educational services that exist and are used every single day and you certainly don't need a high lifestyle to engage them.

Infact, if I was a runner I'd probably go out of my way to ensure my kid had a normal upbringing as possible. Creating a special school like this would only really be useful if you never wanted your child to integrate into society and have a "normal" life. E.g. you wanted your child to also become a runner.

On a related note, I guarantee you if I was a runner and my kid didn't quite get the grades for Med school (or whatever) rest assured I'd be engaging the team's hacker to "assist" with the enrollment process at Harvard.

- J.