[Icelander]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

In that there is now no way that the Deputy Warden can let Taylor live. At one point you could have maybe (longshot) talked your way out of being killed, maybe.

Now? his manhood is on the line. If he catches Taylor he'll have to have him beaten to death. No mano e mano, just a ring of guards delivering a curb stompin.

Granted, I agree with the decision to try to get his attention focused there. It's what I'd have done.

While consciously, Taylor justified his decision as offering a tactical advantage, subconsciously he wants Tyrrell to try to kill him at all costs. That way, it won't be murder when Taylor kills him.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Oh Anderson, that girl is getting deep in your head. Deep in there.

Our Dr. Dreamweaver has already caught Ms. Bell trying some mental power through touch. He warned her to stop and wants to see if she listens. He's pretty confident he'd detect another attempt and with Will 17, Mental Strength 23 and three levels of Mind Shield, he's certain that she won't be able to mess with his mind.

Of course, that's slightly arrogant, but even if she tries multiple times, the odds are pretty heavily against her winning each Quick Contest, while he has decent odds of noticing her attempts.

Psychologically, Dr. Anderson also judges that she's about a thousand times less confident than she pretends to be and will be really hesitant to try again after she has failed against someone, especially if he noticed her attempt. And while she isn't weak-willed, she does have a weakness for masterful, older men* who project absolute certainty that they know best within their areas of expertise. He senses that she'd be somewhat reluctant to confront him directly, at least while he continues to maintain a moral advantage by treating her as he did when she was his subordinate long ago and his position is one that appears reasonable.

*No, Chase Taylor absolutely does not count. He's only a few months older and they met at age nineteen. A 19-year-old girl, especially one with a lot of life experience for that age and a definate direction in life, will usually consider 19-year-old boys barely a step up from toddlers and dogs when it comes to maturity and intelligence.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Seriously, are O'Toole and Burr the only ones being at all suspicious of her mental powers?

Well, no. Townsend has been terrified of her from the start. Even before there was any reason for us to expect any such thing. Even knowing all that was included in the briefing about Project Jade Serenity wouldn't do that, as nothing we were told about the former subjects suggested that any had demonstrated powers beyond physical improvements and cognative enhancements that could theoretically be explained biologically somehow.*

Cam Townsend knows more than we got in our briefing. Which is fine, generally, but if Onyx Rain had any clue about Cherry Bell specifically or the cluster---- that Manhanock Asylum had become, we're going to need some pretty good explanations for not briefing us better and sending a tactical team with us.

As for anyone else, the orderlies and guards are all terrified of her coming near them. So is Vicente Berrocal.** Dr. Anderson isn't so much suspicious as he is extremely curious and as he feels secure in his own powers, is quite happy to learn more through observation.

Taylor... well, he actually detected her attempts to invade his mind when he touched her hands back in the cell. He's just making a conscious choice to treat her as the person she used to be. In his experience, treating someone as a dangerous monster doesn't leave them with either the chance or inclination to be anything else. He asked her to trust him and trust needs to go both ways. Expect the worst from people and they'll find a way to oblige you. Try to reach their better natures and while you may suffer a lot of disappointment and heartbreak, at least you'll give them a chance to be better.

Taylor is essentially making a leap of faith in the belief that redemption is possible for Sherilyn Bell, as his preacher and momma taught him it was possible for anybody willing to ask forgiveness. Granted, truly believing that is easier in this case than some others, as Taylor is certain that he knows the person Sherilyn used to be and wants to believe that good person is still in there, no matter how much mistakes, wrong choices, trauma or other influences have changed her.

His momma might be disappointed by Taylor's haphazard grasp of Bible study and how little of the Good Book he can quote, but she did manage to teach him the essentials, which to him mostly boil down to loving his neighbour and treating them accordingly, as he'd wanna be treated, trying his best to leave judgement to God.

*Though so far, no biological explanation seems plausible.
**Who probably isn't a Special Agent at all. Anderson, Burr and Taylor all peg his DHS-issue ID as phony. Not even the good kind of phony, like we get from Onyx Rain, where they are identical to real ones, but may not be on file, but just a fake ID made by someone with a good printer, decent Forgery and either a basic familiarity with the real thing or the know-how to find good pictures to use as models.