lung, meet rewind

[msrewind]

She gets the note just before lunch. She's in the PHQ in less than twenty minutes, then she knocks on Piggot's door politely.

Comments

[mrglam]

"I mean, now they have the Siberian, yeah, but pretty much. And how they stay- together, I guess is the biggest thing. Like, the Siberian has actually been killing less people per day than she was when she was going solo and, like, what gives?"

[thinkering]

"Yeah, I don't know how their group dynamics work at all."

[mrglam]

"I think I have an idea, though. I don't know if I'm right, because it's not exactly a pattern, and if it was, wouldn't other people have picked up on this? Like, say, Alexandria, she's supposed to be super smart in addition to a flying tank, even if nowadays she tries to keep that quiet."

[thinkering]

"I've heard that. What's the idea?"

[mrglam]

"It's... well, it looks like Jack kinda targets them? At each other and at people. There's very little footage of him, and even less actually public, and I don't have clearance to watch all of the non-public images, but... There's a lot of fighting within the group, too, they sometimes stop rampaging to have a go at each other, but never Jack himself, and he's often... watching?"

[thinkering]

"So you think he's got a secondary unrelated power like mine?"

[mrglam]

"Not necessarily... but maybe. I don't know if I'd even call it a power, if it is it's super subtle, but yeah, based on the videos I think I could justify a master rating, maybe. It'd help if I had access to more files, but probationary Ward means nothing confidential sees its way to my eyes."

[thinkering]

"They don't give us nonprobationaries that much either, you know."

[mrglam]

"Probably not," he agrees. "But ugh, I'm eighteen now, and I'm only probationary in the first place because of an accident, my record's been spotless since!"

[thinkering]

"When you graduate you're not probationary anymore," she says.

[mrglam]

"Yeah, I know, that's my point, I could not-be-probationary right now!"

[thinkering]

"Powers that be say otherwise."

[mrglam]

"Ugh," he groans. "Anyway... I'm trying to figure out a way to exploit that kind of thing. And I noticed he doesn't have... quite... as much control over the Siberian as over the others. In the vids. I mean she's a recent addition, I suppose, but..."

[thinkering]

"How are you evaluating his control over her?"

[mrglam]

"It's... intuition? If I had to describe it in words it feels like she disobeys him more than the others, and sometimes does things that don't really jibe with the rest of the things the others are doing, and this is all on a very small sample of videos and other records so I could be completely off-base here."

[thinkering]

"Huh."

[mrglam]

"So, I'm trying to figure out how I could use that, except, like I said, he makes her kill less and that might not be... so desirable."

[thinkering]

"...Rephrase?"

[mrglam]

"If Jack's the thing holding her back from the killing sprees she used to go on before she joined the Nine, trying to use their relationship and that control against them might be a bad idea."

[thinkering]

"I mean, unless you could hijack it to the point of further containing her."

[mrglam]

"Hijack Jack," he snorts. "But yeah, hmm, that sounds difficult."

[thinkering]

"Pun unintended. And yes, since you don't know how it even hypothetically works."

[mrglam]

"I mean it could very well just be psychology, I hadn't thought it could be a power until you suggested it."

[thinkering]

"If it's a power it could also be keeping him alive with that kind of price on his head."

[mrglam]

"Yeah. A thinker power? For knowing how to make people do what he wants them to do? It'd have to be really subtle for no one to have ever noticed it. And you'd probably be immune."