KasperXIII
Sworn To A Great Divide
|:| Jasper Bent |:|
Must've been that nail.
Jasper picked up this thought from her mind, and, through the interpretation of her hand motion behind her head, gave a very subtle nod. She must've suffered a blow from a nail to the back of the head, a form of trauma, and therefore suffered some sort of damage as a result. Whatever it was, it was enough for his weakened mental communication to be... compatible, so to say. He cracked half of a grin, pondering the possibilities of being able to communicate with another inmate telepathically without the guards knowing. Maybe making an ally out of Lany wasn't as horrible an idea as he thought at first. It still took a good bit of his mental workload to send the message, more than before, and his messages to her were choppy on occasion, but it didn't seem like a complete hindrance just yet. Seemed like Lany was still getting the full picture.
At least focused eye contact on Lany was a good distraction from the man just next to him: Alasdair. The less eye contact they made, the less likely the connection would be made. However, obvious avoidance would be a problem, too. He exchanged a quick look to his side to try and read Linwood's mind, just in case he had a similar case of head trauma. Sadly, nothing. He didn't show any sort of disappointment, and instead, kept himself focused on the events of the ever-growing table setting. Seven criminals all on the same table by some strange circumstances...
And now, they were going to play show and tell, it seems. What's your name, power, and if you want, your crime? Jasper gulped and leaned slightly away from the table. That would be enough to expose his entire identity to Alasdair and possibly start a whole new world of problems that he didn't need in this nifty alliance. Not to mention that prisoners don't take lightly to 'cops' or law-enforcers of any kind among them. Jasper would be the first to get a nice little ass-whooping if he says much about his past life. Especially from those he's personally put in here.
Starting off with the fellow who'd summoned not only writing material to make communication with Nix easier, but also a slew of other devices like nails and scraps right before their eyes, as if it'd just materialized out of nowhere. An inventor, science freak... psycho? What kind of people would he be in bed with? He did seem like a genius nonetheless. An evil one to match the good, book-smart genius within Jasper. It was a surprise he could summon dangerous material like that and not get in trouble with the CO's for it, unless he was being monitored by one of them, but who? Whoever it was, all the mind-reader would know is that he and Will would have a lot in common, but also a lot to be at odds with.
Then there was Lany, the sort of 'good luck charm'. Bulletproof, and anything she touches could be bulletproof as well. He'd seen firsthand how effective she was with the bent fork tongs. Restraining her might be difficult, and more importantly, if someone were to take a piece of her flesh, like Valerie had, they would still have the invincibility that comes with touching the actual thing. Not that he'd consider knocking teeth out of her for their protection... but it was good to know if they wanted a human invincibility chain.
Next came the newcomer to the table: Severinus Boethius, one from the kitchen staff. His words and mannerisms seemed to give the impression he was a man of the cloth; another man of good intentions stuck in a horrible place like this, and judging by the circumstances of his crime, all by a horrible accident during his homily. A man who could make events or passages from the Bible... come to life, in so many words. An interesting ability, but one that he had to be careful using. Just by reading the book of Revelation, he could bring the apocalypse upon mankind. A blessing, but also a curse, it seems. He was a pretty good cook, it seemed though, and Jasper showed that appreciation by nodding along with Will's compliments.
Now it was Jasper's turn. When it came to crimes... this would be a challenge. He'd already lied horribly once before... but by hearing others, he found a decent enough way to work around his words and not get recognized by Linwood.
"Jasper Bent," he began. He had no idea if his name was that well known, being a judge's personal mind-reader... but he had to risk some honesty. He fiddled with the fork in his tray, twirling it between his fingers. "As you can see, I'm a mind-reader, a telepath you may also call it. I can not only read minds, but also send telepathic messages to anyone in eye's sight, even ones that aren't even my voice, so long as I've heard the sound before. Yeah... a real mind-fucker, right? Sadly, my abilities are limited in here thanks to the drugs they've pumped me with, but it seems as though I've found a loophole."
He gave Lany a quick wink, then sent her another message, Probably is the nail. ...'ll talk about this arrang... ...ter.
He returned to speaking aloud, scratching beneath his nose to check if he were bleeding. Least he hadn't strained himself that badly yet. Now for the kicker: what was he in for? "As for why I'm here? Well.... I apparently sent an ear-piercing noise into the brain of a politician. Turned his brain into mush by literally looking at him. Nobody really knew how to explain it... until my ability came to light. I'd heard a very loud screeching noise in my childhood, and all I had to do was replicate it into his mind, according to the court of law. And boom: no more big guy in the suit. His brain literally leaked out of his ears from how bad it ended up. Pretty nasty, but I'd hate to bother you all with those details while on the breakfast table." He shrugged, relaxing a bit after having his story straight.
A politician, not specifying that it was a judge, and a cause of death that was the same as the reality. The only kicker... "It's all speculation, but it was enough to incarcerate me, all the same. Not much I can do now but spend half a century here, right? Not like whether I actually did it or not matters anymore. Where I'm from, they don't revisit cases often. And with a politician dead, someone had to take the blame. Guess it had to be me..."
That should keep him safe, for now.
Direct Mentions for Jasper: nonametobefound xDawn2463x Athanas Sybil Zenpai St. Boethius
...
|:| Valerie Masterson & Edward Brookes |:|
After marching out of the cafeteria in a blaze of anger and confusion, Valerie's next stop would be her office to avoid an emotional reaction in front of the inmates. Her failure to capture the disobedient inmate into her spell left her questioning if it was her own fault or a weakness in her abilities that prevented her powers from working at full capacity. She needed a moment to cool down, punch a wall... screaming would be an option if it wouldn't automatically trigger lockdown thanks to the microphone system across the prison. If before, she could be called crabby and irritable, her mood had now taken and even deeper nosedive as it was now fueled by aggression and anger. She was certainly in for a mouthful from the Warden for that show of misconduct. He could get behind some violence to show force... but a full on beating due to a rageful outburst was not going to fly.
And her consequences were coming faster than she could ever expect. As she stood in her plain but unorganized office, kicking the wall and growling to herself to get over the hate in her heart before going back onto the floor, her cracked open door flew open by the forceful hand of her war-veteran boss with his usual look of displeasure over his face, a quick change from his happy expression and hospitable demeanor upon meeting with Doctor Gordon. Valerie spun in place to face the 'intruder', her hand at her holster just in case it was a nosy inmate who'd followed her to her office instead of to the cafeteria. Her grip released when she saw it was the Warden, but she still looked uptight and angry all the same.
"What in the hell were you thinking out there?" Edward barked, getting right to the point without so much as a 'good morning' to start off.
It was then that Valerie realized that her ticking clock was getting the better of her, and was getting close to compromising her job. Her eye twitched as she stepped closer to her boss. "That little twat was disobedient, spitting in my face ever since last night, then keeping up that poor behavior till this morning. She tried to grab my weapon; what did you expect me to do?"
"She's crippled. I understand that she's the bulletproof one, but it wouldn't take much effort from her to play the victim card and say that a guard was beating up an amputee in this prison, and then were do you think we'll be? No wait, I'll tell you: hemorrhaging money, that's where we'd be, all because of a lawsuit that could've been prevented had you controlled your temper!"
The Warden's hint of sarcasm bothered the head of security, and nearly tempted her to take a swing at his face. It might've exposed his icy properties, as well as the cooler touch she'd feel if she dared lay hands on him. But, the little she knows... she resisted the urge to try and suffocate him, and instead, stepped forward and got in his face. "You know you'd do the same to a guard for insubordination. Not only that..." She gritted her teeth, ashamed to even admit why she had that outburst now after thinking of it. She went on in a soft grumble, "My powers... they didn't work on her. She was immune, and I can't figure out why. And I wasn't going to let her walk all over me like that. And you wouldn't either."
Brookes was equally surprised, arching an eyebrow at what he'd just heard. An inmate couldn't be hypnotized in case she decided to act out... "That doesn't justify a public beating, even if she reached for your weapon. If she gets wise and decides to lawyer up for in-house abuse, it's you who's gonna burn at the stake." He rolled out his fist, letting just his index finger free in a pointing fashion, the forcefully pressed it against Valerie's shoulder. She could feel the cooler nature through her button-down shirt, and glared back into his icy gaze, unfazed by the idea of being the scapegoat. "Yes, I agreed about showing force, but there's a limit to everything. You were out of line out there."
"Well what do you want from me? To go apologize to the bitch?"
"Rather, lay low. I can hold my breath with you joking and name calling, and even what you did to Mister Bent so long as it was just a scare..." Valerie refrained from growling at how much of her actions were known to the Warden. "But you can't go using the inmates as your personal punching bags. If you need it, get yourself one for your office to let out your outbursts. But I'm not going to tolerate senseless violence. That's not to say that we treat them like kings, either. You need to get your act together and learn to find a balance, or get out. There's only so much I can cover for you. You are good at your job, but that doesn't mean you're indispensable. Got it?"
Unhappy with her current situation, Valerie crossed her arms and squinted at him, another eye twitch mixing in, almost acting like a pouty child unhappy with her father's disciplinary measures. "And if the inmates riot because we were being too nice to them and letting them get away with whatever, that'll be your problem."
"I'm serious, Masterson. If we end up in a crisis because of you, I will have no qualms putting you in cuffs and a blue jumpsuit, and leaving you to rot like the rest. You're on thin ice. Tell me you're not going to..."
As he threw threats around that Valerie wanted nothing to do with, he couldn't react quick enough for the annoyed Valerie to reach over his face, placing a palm over his chilly forehead, then sliding it down across the entirety of his face. A tad slippery, but nothing she deemed suspicious. She felt his facial muscles loosen up and his words come to a halt after a few quick groans from her initial touch. Fed up with her boss, it was time to get him out of her face the hard way. She'd done this quite a few times before to get out of a tough spot, but had never used it to satisfy her sexual urges - after all, banging the boss was a tough phenomenon to explain...
"Little shit-Ed..." her grin stretched ear to ear as she stroked his cheek quickly, Edward's stare empty and focusing on Valerie without fault. "Leave my office without a single memory of what you came here to tell me, or anything about this conversation. Because we're all good. No need to fire me. In fact, the only thing you're going to remember once the spell wears off is that you were going to make an announcement for the inmates to obey and respect me. Got that?"
The Warden, entirely against his will, nodded very slightly.
"Good. Now leave my presence and don't come back here or bother me for the rest of the day."
"Of course..." he uttered, no control over his words or actions as he turned away towards the door and escorted himself out. He shut the door behind him, his footsteps slowly fading to Valerie's ears....
Hypnotizing the boss... I'm surprised he doesn't take precautions now after how many times he's forgotten the shit I do around here. Hah. Stupid.
At least the hypnotist got a kick out of that thrill-ride. Now with her privacy once again, she turned back to her desk, too satisfied to be bothered to kick the wall anymore. Perhaps the Warden made a point with the idea of a punching bag, or at least a stress ball. Sex was keeping her alive, but it couldn't be all she depends on when it's few and far to come by. But where to get it now...
Thoughts in mind... decisions to make. Then it hit her, almost as if a light bulb came on over her head. All that talk about the inmate she'd pummeled just earlier brought up the memory of the tooth she'd dislodged. She approached the back of her desk, reached for a pen and one of her sticky notes from the clutter of unfinished paperwork, and began to write a note...
WANT A CHANCE OF GETTING YOUR TOOTH BACK? MEET ME IN THE BROOM CLOSET BEFORE THE YARD AT 6PM.
If she wanted any chance at a quick fix under the roof of this prison... it was, indeed, Lany, and using her tooth as leverage. She'd later slip this into the inmate's cell on her bed so that she sees it before the evening. For once, she had some hope as she reached into her pants pocket to retrieve the tooth. She snickered, then let a single word echo in her head...
Jackpot.
Indirect Mentions for Valerie: nonametobefound
Must've been that nail.
Jasper picked up this thought from her mind, and, through the interpretation of her hand motion behind her head, gave a very subtle nod. She must've suffered a blow from a nail to the back of the head, a form of trauma, and therefore suffered some sort of damage as a result. Whatever it was, it was enough for his weakened mental communication to be... compatible, so to say. He cracked half of a grin, pondering the possibilities of being able to communicate with another inmate telepathically without the guards knowing. Maybe making an ally out of Lany wasn't as horrible an idea as he thought at first. It still took a good bit of his mental workload to send the message, more than before, and his messages to her were choppy on occasion, but it didn't seem like a complete hindrance just yet. Seemed like Lany was still getting the full picture.
At least focused eye contact on Lany was a good distraction from the man just next to him: Alasdair. The less eye contact they made, the less likely the connection would be made. However, obvious avoidance would be a problem, too. He exchanged a quick look to his side to try and read Linwood's mind, just in case he had a similar case of head trauma. Sadly, nothing. He didn't show any sort of disappointment, and instead, kept himself focused on the events of the ever-growing table setting. Seven criminals all on the same table by some strange circumstances...
And now, they were going to play show and tell, it seems. What's your name, power, and if you want, your crime? Jasper gulped and leaned slightly away from the table. That would be enough to expose his entire identity to Alasdair and possibly start a whole new world of problems that he didn't need in this nifty alliance. Not to mention that prisoners don't take lightly to 'cops' or law-enforcers of any kind among them. Jasper would be the first to get a nice little ass-whooping if he says much about his past life. Especially from those he's personally put in here.
Starting off with the fellow who'd summoned not only writing material to make communication with Nix easier, but also a slew of other devices like nails and scraps right before their eyes, as if it'd just materialized out of nowhere. An inventor, science freak... psycho? What kind of people would he be in bed with? He did seem like a genius nonetheless. An evil one to match the good, book-smart genius within Jasper. It was a surprise he could summon dangerous material like that and not get in trouble with the CO's for it, unless he was being monitored by one of them, but who? Whoever it was, all the mind-reader would know is that he and Will would have a lot in common, but also a lot to be at odds with.
Then there was Lany, the sort of 'good luck charm'. Bulletproof, and anything she touches could be bulletproof as well. He'd seen firsthand how effective she was with the bent fork tongs. Restraining her might be difficult, and more importantly, if someone were to take a piece of her flesh, like Valerie had, they would still have the invincibility that comes with touching the actual thing. Not that he'd consider knocking teeth out of her for their protection... but it was good to know if they wanted a human invincibility chain.
Next came the newcomer to the table: Severinus Boethius, one from the kitchen staff. His words and mannerisms seemed to give the impression he was a man of the cloth; another man of good intentions stuck in a horrible place like this, and judging by the circumstances of his crime, all by a horrible accident during his homily. A man who could make events or passages from the Bible... come to life, in so many words. An interesting ability, but one that he had to be careful using. Just by reading the book of Revelation, he could bring the apocalypse upon mankind. A blessing, but also a curse, it seems. He was a pretty good cook, it seemed though, and Jasper showed that appreciation by nodding along with Will's compliments.
Now it was Jasper's turn. When it came to crimes... this would be a challenge. He'd already lied horribly once before... but by hearing others, he found a decent enough way to work around his words and not get recognized by Linwood.
"Jasper Bent," he began. He had no idea if his name was that well known, being a judge's personal mind-reader... but he had to risk some honesty. He fiddled with the fork in his tray, twirling it between his fingers. "As you can see, I'm a mind-reader, a telepath you may also call it. I can not only read minds, but also send telepathic messages to anyone in eye's sight, even ones that aren't even my voice, so long as I've heard the sound before. Yeah... a real mind-fucker, right? Sadly, my abilities are limited in here thanks to the drugs they've pumped me with, but it seems as though I've found a loophole."
He gave Lany a quick wink, then sent her another message, Probably is the nail. ...'ll talk about this arrang... ...ter.
He returned to speaking aloud, scratching beneath his nose to check if he were bleeding. Least he hadn't strained himself that badly yet. Now for the kicker: what was he in for? "As for why I'm here? Well.... I apparently sent an ear-piercing noise into the brain of a politician. Turned his brain into mush by literally looking at him. Nobody really knew how to explain it... until my ability came to light. I'd heard a very loud screeching noise in my childhood, and all I had to do was replicate it into his mind, according to the court of law. And boom: no more big guy in the suit. His brain literally leaked out of his ears from how bad it ended up. Pretty nasty, but I'd hate to bother you all with those details while on the breakfast table." He shrugged, relaxing a bit after having his story straight.
A politician, not specifying that it was a judge, and a cause of death that was the same as the reality. The only kicker... "It's all speculation, but it was enough to incarcerate me, all the same. Not much I can do now but spend half a century here, right? Not like whether I actually did it or not matters anymore. Where I'm from, they don't revisit cases often. And with a politician dead, someone had to take the blame. Guess it had to be me..."
That should keep him safe, for now.
Direct Mentions for Jasper: nonametobefound xDawn2463x Athanas Sybil Zenpai St. Boethius
...
|:| Valerie Masterson & Edward Brookes |:|
After marching out of the cafeteria in a blaze of anger and confusion, Valerie's next stop would be her office to avoid an emotional reaction in front of the inmates. Her failure to capture the disobedient inmate into her spell left her questioning if it was her own fault or a weakness in her abilities that prevented her powers from working at full capacity. She needed a moment to cool down, punch a wall... screaming would be an option if it wouldn't automatically trigger lockdown thanks to the microphone system across the prison. If before, she could be called crabby and irritable, her mood had now taken and even deeper nosedive as it was now fueled by aggression and anger. She was certainly in for a mouthful from the Warden for that show of misconduct. He could get behind some violence to show force... but a full on beating due to a rageful outburst was not going to fly.
And her consequences were coming faster than she could ever expect. As she stood in her plain but unorganized office, kicking the wall and growling to herself to get over the hate in her heart before going back onto the floor, her cracked open door flew open by the forceful hand of her war-veteran boss with his usual look of displeasure over his face, a quick change from his happy expression and hospitable demeanor upon meeting with Doctor Gordon. Valerie spun in place to face the 'intruder', her hand at her holster just in case it was a nosy inmate who'd followed her to her office instead of to the cafeteria. Her grip released when she saw it was the Warden, but she still looked uptight and angry all the same.
"What in the hell were you thinking out there?" Edward barked, getting right to the point without so much as a 'good morning' to start off.
It was then that Valerie realized that her ticking clock was getting the better of her, and was getting close to compromising her job. Her eye twitched as she stepped closer to her boss. "That little twat was disobedient, spitting in my face ever since last night, then keeping up that poor behavior till this morning. She tried to grab my weapon; what did you expect me to do?"
"She's crippled. I understand that she's the bulletproof one, but it wouldn't take much effort from her to play the victim card and say that a guard was beating up an amputee in this prison, and then were do you think we'll be? No wait, I'll tell you: hemorrhaging money, that's where we'd be, all because of a lawsuit that could've been prevented had you controlled your temper!"
The Warden's hint of sarcasm bothered the head of security, and nearly tempted her to take a swing at his face. It might've exposed his icy properties, as well as the cooler touch she'd feel if she dared lay hands on him. But, the little she knows... she resisted the urge to try and suffocate him, and instead, stepped forward and got in his face. "You know you'd do the same to a guard for insubordination. Not only that..." She gritted her teeth, ashamed to even admit why she had that outburst now after thinking of it. She went on in a soft grumble, "My powers... they didn't work on her. She was immune, and I can't figure out why. And I wasn't going to let her walk all over me like that. And you wouldn't either."
Brookes was equally surprised, arching an eyebrow at what he'd just heard. An inmate couldn't be hypnotized in case she decided to act out... "That doesn't justify a public beating, even if she reached for your weapon. If she gets wise and decides to lawyer up for in-house abuse, it's you who's gonna burn at the stake." He rolled out his fist, letting just his index finger free in a pointing fashion, the forcefully pressed it against Valerie's shoulder. She could feel the cooler nature through her button-down shirt, and glared back into his icy gaze, unfazed by the idea of being the scapegoat. "Yes, I agreed about showing force, but there's a limit to everything. You were out of line out there."
"Well what do you want from me? To go apologize to the bitch?"
"Rather, lay low. I can hold my breath with you joking and name calling, and even what you did to Mister Bent so long as it was just a scare..." Valerie refrained from growling at how much of her actions were known to the Warden. "But you can't go using the inmates as your personal punching bags. If you need it, get yourself one for your office to let out your outbursts. But I'm not going to tolerate senseless violence. That's not to say that we treat them like kings, either. You need to get your act together and learn to find a balance, or get out. There's only so much I can cover for you. You are good at your job, but that doesn't mean you're indispensable. Got it?"
Unhappy with her current situation, Valerie crossed her arms and squinted at him, another eye twitch mixing in, almost acting like a pouty child unhappy with her father's disciplinary measures. "And if the inmates riot because we were being too nice to them and letting them get away with whatever, that'll be your problem."
"I'm serious, Masterson. If we end up in a crisis because of you, I will have no qualms putting you in cuffs and a blue jumpsuit, and leaving you to rot like the rest. You're on thin ice. Tell me you're not going to..."
As he threw threats around that Valerie wanted nothing to do with, he couldn't react quick enough for the annoyed Valerie to reach over his face, placing a palm over his chilly forehead, then sliding it down across the entirety of his face. A tad slippery, but nothing she deemed suspicious. She felt his facial muscles loosen up and his words come to a halt after a few quick groans from her initial touch. Fed up with her boss, it was time to get him out of her face the hard way. She'd done this quite a few times before to get out of a tough spot, but had never used it to satisfy her sexual urges - after all, banging the boss was a tough phenomenon to explain...
"Little shit-Ed..." her grin stretched ear to ear as she stroked his cheek quickly, Edward's stare empty and focusing on Valerie without fault. "Leave my office without a single memory of what you came here to tell me, or anything about this conversation. Because we're all good. No need to fire me. In fact, the only thing you're going to remember once the spell wears off is that you were going to make an announcement for the inmates to obey and respect me. Got that?"
The Warden, entirely against his will, nodded very slightly.
"Good. Now leave my presence and don't come back here or bother me for the rest of the day."
"Of course..." he uttered, no control over his words or actions as he turned away towards the door and escorted himself out. He shut the door behind him, his footsteps slowly fading to Valerie's ears....
Hypnotizing the boss... I'm surprised he doesn't take precautions now after how many times he's forgotten the shit I do around here. Hah. Stupid.
At least the hypnotist got a kick out of that thrill-ride. Now with her privacy once again, she turned back to her desk, too satisfied to be bothered to kick the wall anymore. Perhaps the Warden made a point with the idea of a punching bag, or at least a stress ball. Sex was keeping her alive, but it couldn't be all she depends on when it's few and far to come by. But where to get it now...
Thoughts in mind... decisions to make. Then it hit her, almost as if a light bulb came on over her head. All that talk about the inmate she'd pummeled just earlier brought up the memory of the tooth she'd dislodged. She approached the back of her desk, reached for a pen and one of her sticky notes from the clutter of unfinished paperwork, and began to write a note...
WANT A CHANCE OF GETTING YOUR TOOTH BACK? MEET ME IN THE BROOM CLOSET BEFORE THE YARD AT 6PM.
If she wanted any chance at a quick fix under the roof of this prison... it was, indeed, Lany, and using her tooth as leverage. She'd later slip this into the inmate's cell on her bed so that she sees it before the evening. For once, she had some hope as she reached into her pants pocket to retrieve the tooth. She snickered, then let a single word echo in her head...
Jackpot.
Indirect Mentions for Valerie: nonametobefound