Mach: The Super Hero

3.0 A Super Education

Benjamin Hargrave and Northeast High for the Empowered.

He was the first man to publicly use that positive term for classifying supra-mutants, and he put it right on his school name. Empowered.

Yet, many believed that he was very hard on the students. He kept them under guarded watch, and made them endure rigorous and restrictive rules which were judged with hardly any leeway.

I find it a struggle to imagine being in his shoes. He was responsible for a third of the nation's supra-mutants. Responsible for their development, their education, and their security. Directly accountable to twice as many American parents, but also, to the government itself. To the destiny of the very nation, really. All future supra-mutant generations.

And the man fought to get the job.

To this day, it is still considered one of the great political mysteries of the century. Hargrave heralded a new system of education that was quite swiftly and completely supported by the federal government. It was implemented in the supra-mutant schools, and five years later, it would be adopted by high-schools all around the country. As Michael rightly assumed.

Hargrave was one of those few individuals that would have made the perfect politician, but chose to make a real difference instead.

Everyone now knows how it all turned out, at a macro sense, but for better or for worse, Benjamin Hargrave was a stern man who was respected by all who dealt with him. No one can deny how instrumental he was in avoiding the kind of catastrophe which Australia would later experience.

Yet, even he could not stave off the eventual rise of supra-mutant vigilantism, which should come as no surprise when considering the students that were a part of the school’s roster during those first few years. In fact, it's difficult not to be amazed that he even managed to delay it as much as he did, and harder still to imagine how anyone could have done a better job.

On a side note. Yes, that is the Miracle. Miracle Johnson, herself, was best friends with Eleanor and Michael in their high-school years. We all know they went together, of course, since her history has been almost as scrutinized as Michaels'. But they didn't just go together, they were close friends. They spent nearly every day together.

I imagine you're shocked. I certainly was.