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Old 05-22-2017, 05:50 AM   #161
Icelander
 
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Default Full of Sweet Dreams, and Health, and Quiet Breathing.

Sitting in the observatory of the higher of Jewell Island’s WWII fire control towers, Chase Taylor looks away from his surveillance of the lower tower to stare at Dr. Anderson.

Taylor: “She ain’t come in with Bob an’ the rest o’ them?”
Dr. Anderson: “I have not seen Ms. Bell since she went with you to the tunnels. Did she say she was going back to Warden Tyrrell’s office?”
Taylor: “Naw, I done asked her to go over her story with ya afore them Coasties get here. Figured she’d go directly to you an’ then get some rest. She were acting real tired.”
Anderson: “Maybe she decided to go over her story with somebody else first. She could be worried about what Dr. King or Agent O’Toole have to say about her.”
Taylor: “Aww, sweet Jesus, doc! You don’t think…”
Anderson: “There is no reason to panic. Let us start by checking if she answers on her radio.”

With the radio he captured from a Manhanock guard set on the frequency agreed on with Bell, O’Toole and the helpful African-American guard, Pat Whittaker, Taylor starts calling Sherilyn Bell’s name, requesting an immediate check-in. There is no answer. Increasingly agitated, Taylor tries O’Toole’s name, but receives no answer either. Finally, he tries Pat Whittaker’s name.

Whittaker: “Whittaker, reading you loud and clear. Over.”
Taylor: “Hey, Pat, Chase Taylor speaking. Where are you now an’ might could have you seen Ms. Bell anywhere around? Over.”
Whittaker: “I’m in C Wing with Randall, Arden, Armstrong and Bernard. We’ve managed to deal with the fire here and Gordon, Cardillo, Caldwell, Bender and Reyes from the towers just turned up to help us with the clean-up. We haven’t seen any sign of Ms. Bell. Is she missing? Over.”
Taylor: “Naw, don’t worry ‘bout it, we’ve probably jes’ missed running into her. Y’all seen Agent O’Toole? Over.”
Whittaker: “Not since he sent us out here. He told us not to bother him again unless it was a real emergency. Over.”
Taylor: “That sound jes’ like the man. Y’all take care now. Out.”

Wordlessly holding up a cell phone, Dr. Anderson indicates that Agent O’Toole’s mobile number is the last number dialled. Taylor grabs the phone from Anderson’s hand and dials. After several rings, there is an answer.

O’Toole: “What the [fornication] is it now?”
Taylor: “We’ve gotta talk, O’Toole. Where are ya?”
O’Toole: “We are [fornicating] talking, aren’t we?”
Taylor: “I reckon we’d better meet. We kin come to whereever you are.”

Dr. Anderson shakes his head, doubtless to indicate his views on any plan where Taylor plans to go gallivanting around Jewell Island in preference to having the unwounded O’Toole come to them.

O’Toole: “Lookit, Chase, I’m apparently in charge of everything until the new incident commander gets here and I’ve got a list of problems needing dealt with longer than my [male genitalia]. I really don’t have [fornicating] time for your bull[excrement].”
Taylor: “I’d take it right kindly if’n you’d make some time, Agent O’Toole. The Doc an’ me, we cain’t find Sherilyn Bell. I reckon I don’t need to tell ya that we need to find her before anybody else gets here.”
O’Toole: “Well, [excrement]! Is that all, Chasie-boy? She’s not missing. She’s right here, in her cell in J Wing.”
Taylor: “She’s with you? Let me talk to her!”
O’Toole: “Uh, sure.”

Taylor waits impatiently as Danny O’Toole hands off the mobile phone.

Cherry Bell: “What?”
Taylor: “I… we couldn’t find ya.”
Bell: “You told me to get some rest. I’m getting some rest.”
Taylor: “I guess I figured you’d wanna talk to Doc Anderson first. Go over ever’thing, make sure there ain’t nothin’ that kin surprise ya when we hafta give our statements. I know that all we did was defend ourselves an’ you ain’t even supposed to be here, but these are ruthless, dangerous people. They ain’t gonna need evidence, if’n they think we ain’t playing square, they could throw us all in another place like this. Or jes’ kill us.”
Bell: “I know. You’ve told me. More than once.”
Taylor: “An’ you’re sure you’re ready for them?”
Bell: “Urrgkh! Chase, I’m not a baby. We’ve gone over this. We’re all gonna tell the truth and nothing but the truth. When you do that, you don’t need to worry about your story. I’m the damsel in distress here, so what do I have to fear from the authorities?”
Taylor: “I ain’t gonna allow anybody to put you away again, not without locking me up too, but you gotta work with me. If we’re stupid, we ain’t never walkin’ free. Homeland Security is supposed to be in charge of this place. You think they ain’t gonna be lookin’ for somebody to blame for this mess?”
Bell: “[blows raspberry]. That’s a worry for Agent O’Toole and the others. Nobody’s going to scapegoat a convict and a mental patient. That would just look bad for whoever allowed us to be in charge of anything.”
Taylor: “I guess you’re right, Sherilyn. Jes’ take care that you don’t try an’ be clever with these people. Don’t pretty up your story an’ don’t conceal anything jes’ because it’s embarrassing or you think it looks bad. Like your cell door, is it locked?”
Bell: “If you think you can come up in here and change your mind again, it sure will be!”
Taylor: “No! That ain’t what I meant, Lynnie! I’m talkin’ ‘bout the fact that Warden Tyrrell left the cell unlocked if’n he felt you’d been cooperative. There ain’t no need to conceal that in your statement an’ you shouldn’t try to lock it now if it weren’t locked before. Even if the cell door ain’t locked, you were still a prisoner here. It’s an island an’ there were a force of armed guards. They oughta be able to figure that it ain’t as if you could have gone anywhere.”
Bell: “Whatever. Was there anything else? I’m really tired.”
Taylor: “I’ma gonna need to talk to Agent O’Toole again. You sleep well now, Sherilyn.”

Cherry Bell doesn’t reply and may have handed the phone off already. O’Toole announces his presence at the other end of the line with an ill-tempered bark.

Taylor: “What are you doing in J Wing, anyway?”
O’Toole: “Taking care of some business.”
Taylor: “Well, we still gotta see you afore you go back to them others. Please wait for us in the lobby of I Wing.”
O’Toole: “Be quick about it, then.”

Taylor stands up and prepares to leave the observation tower.

Dr. Anderson: “I realise the futility of trying to tell you that there is no question of you walking yet another long stretch, but medical necessity and a devotion to rationality compels me to try. Also, did we not originally come up here to establish that there were no die-hard holdouts gunning for the Coast Guard? Surely, we still have to establish that for the other tower?”
Taylor: “Ain’t nothing moved over there since we got here but one rat. An’ that rat strolled about on the tower like it ain’t got a care in the world, so that rules out that a human could be hiding there. We kin radio in to the Coast Guard an’ tell them the towers is secure.”
Anderson: “But you are still going to take a walk?”
Taylor: “Homeland Security is gonna be able to hear anything we say on radio or phone an’ I don’t wanna talk about our story in front of Townsend or them others. We need to know what O’Toole is gonna say.”
Anderson: “That, unfortunately, is true.”

Taylor radios the status of the observation towers to the Coast Guard, using channel 16 so that Townsend and whoever else is by the radio in Warden Tyrrell’s former office will also hear it. Then they start out, moving slowly and carefully down the stairs and then walking across the grounds of Manhanock Asylum.

Opening the door of I Wing, Anderson and Taylor find O’Toole seated on a bench there.

O’Toole: “It was about [fornicating] time. What is it, Taylor, are you cosplaying the Mummy?”
Taylor: “I’ma real sorry for making you wait. It’s jes’, I need to know what you gonna say to Onyx Rain ‘bout Sherilyn.”
O’Toole: “You do, do you? Well, shouldn’t you be more worried about what your friend, Dr. Anderson, is going to say in his evaluation?”
Dr. Anderson: “What Taylor means is that we are agreed that Ms. Bell has been badly treated by the authorities and we do not intend to give any credence to wild speculation of the sort that could be used as justification to send her to another place like this.”
O’Toole: “You want to be sure I don’t say anything that lands her in hot water? Well, don’t worry. As far as I can tell, the pretty little thing didn’t do a thing wrong, except be too sexy for her own good.”

Taylor gives O’Toole a murderous look, but Dr. Anderson stops him with a raised hand.

Anderson: “You will not support any wild allegations Col. Burr might make about mind-control?”
O’Toole: “Hell, no. They’d shoot her out of hand and wouldn’t that be a waste?”

With one hand on Taylor’s shoulder, Dr. Anderson thanks O’Toole. He then suggests that Taylor come with him to the infirmary. Taylor is not prepared to do this, but promises that if they leave him there, he’ll curl up and rest in J Wing, waiting for the authorities and experts to deal with the rat threat from the tunnels. Dr. Anderson, recognising the folly of arguing, accepts this compromise and leaves with O’Toole in the direction of the main building.

Taylor makes his way into J Wing and up to the floor where Bell’s cell is located. He sits down in front of the heavy door that leads to her cell block, where anybody that wants to get to her will have to pass him. Focusing on his sense of hearing, Taylor can hear, even through the thick prison-style doors, the quiet breathing of Sherilyn Bell. She’s asleep and alive. And tomorrow, she’ll have a chance at a life outside this place.

Dr. Anderson spoke of finding a justification he could live with for the murder of Dr. Cotton. Ain’t no justifying murder, but maybe one might could have a reason. Listening to Sherilyn’s breathing and allowing himself to hope for her future, Taylor comes to the conclusion that there are worse reasons in the world.
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Old 05-22-2017, 06:24 AM   #162
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Default Re: Project Jade Serenity [Supers/Technothriller]

That's about as near to peace as Taylor is going to get. Returning him and Bell to their positions before everything went crazy, but with a completely different context, is a nice touch.
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Old 05-22-2017, 08:50 AM   #163
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Default Re: Project Jade Serenity [Supers/Technothriller]

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Ah, true love that force that can bring men back from the dead. Well, mostly dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob Marley View Post
"When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love..."

Prof. Horace Slughorn, on why love potions are so dangerous (from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
The distinction between 'true love' and an unhealthy 'obsession' is pretty blurred here. A case might be made that as an audience, we are conditioned to give protagonists* the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their motivations, but assume the worst of other characters, especially if their motivations are incompatible with the goals of the protagonists.

If we objectively compare the behaviour of Cherry Bell and Chase Taylor, it's very doubtful that 'true love' is an appropriate description.

Bell has spent the past seventeen years convinced that Raul Vargas is her one true love and that once she gets out of Manhanock Asylum, they will resume their relationship and be deliriously happy together. Her cell is absolutely covered in lovingly rendered charchoal scetches of Vargas and she still speaks of him as 'her Man'.

This is despite the fact that she knew him for less than a year in the years 1999-2000, she was a teenager at the time and their relationship cannot have lasted more than a couple of months. By all accounts, Vargas cynically manipulated Bell into helping him escape from custody, but callously left her behind when she became a hindrance. According to what other characters in the setting believe, Vargas is incapable of constancy or true affection. Any loving or affectionate characteristics that Bell ascribes to him are therefore perceived as products of her imagination.

Most everyone believes that Cherry Bell's fixation on Vargas is an unhealthy psychological problem, most likely a symptom of her condition, whatever that is. Her devotion to Vargas is defined as obsessive by her caregivers and even a sympathetic therapist would argue that she is not really in love with the actual Vargas, but is in love with a figment of her imagination, a fictional Vargas constructed in fantasy and endowed with imaginary good qualities that appeal to her.

It has also been seventeen years since Chase Taylor had an unrequited crush on Cherry Bell. They were close friends and spent much of their free time together, but the fact remains, they knew each other for slightly less than a year more than seventeen years ago. And Taylor was just as much a teenager during that time as Bell was.

Taylor believes he knew every facet of Sherilyn Bell's personality during their intimate friendship and came to love her for both her positive qualities and what he perceived merely as lovable flaws, but considering that he was unaware of Bell's relationship with Vargas and her participation in his violent escape took Taylor completely by surprise, he clearly did not know her as well as he thought.

After Bell was arrested and declared unfit for trial, Taylor tried again and again to see her, but was rebuffed at every turn.** He was led to believe that Bell was in a state only biologically distinct from death, but still kept trying to see her for many years. It took him five years before he accepted that she was gone enough to start dating again.

Though he did, at least, accept it, eventually, and even married somebody else. Had children. The last time he applied for permission to see Bell was, in fact, just before his marriage in 2009. During his marriage, he would have felt disloyal to his wife, Dolores, if he attempted to meet with an old crush and after 2011, Taylor was a prisoner and no longer able to get permission to visit.

By every reasonable standard, Taylor should be entirely over Sherilyn Bell. He's had an entire adult life since they knew each other. Yet immediately upon meeting her again, he's acting as if she's the center of his universe. How is that any healthier than the obsessive fixation that Bell has?

The girl Taylor remembers is dramatically different from the Cherry Bell that Taylor discovered when he finally found out that she was no longer catatonic or unresponsive. Either trauma and side-effects of experimental drugs have made her an entirely different person... or Taylor's crush of 1999-2000 was every bit as much on a fictional person he made up as Bell's obsession with Vargas is.

And doesn't true love have to go both ways? Otherwise it's just a tragic obsession.

*Particularly if they are introduced as heroes or portrayed sympathetically in any way.
**From papers that Dr. Anderson found, it is plausible that during much of the year 2000, Bell actually was catatonic and/or otherwise unresponsive to stimuli much of the time.


Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
That's about as near to peace as Taylor is going to get. Returning him and Bell to their positions before everything went crazy, but with a completely different context, is a nice touch.
The GM and other players reacted with considerable squick to Taylor spending the night at Bell's door, listening to her sleep and protecting her. They feel she's been ungrateful, manipulative, callous and even actively cruel toward him. In their (translated and paraphrased) words, he is acting 'like a whipped puppy whimpering at his abusive master's door with dumb doglike devotion, begging for the merest scrap of affection.'

To which I respond: "Yes. You did see Selfless on that Disadvantage list?"
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Old 05-22-2017, 11:43 AM   #164
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Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
The distinction between 'true love' and an unhealthy 'obsession' is pretty blurred here.
I was mostly making a Princess Bride reference.


Quote:
The GM and other players reacted with considerable squick to Taylor spending the night at Bell's door, listening to her sleep and protecting her. They feel she's been ungrateful, manipulative, callous and even actively cruel toward him. In their (translated and paraphrased) words, he is acting 'like a whipped puppy whimpering at his abusive master's door with dumb doglike devotion, begging for the merest scrap of affection.'

To which I respond: "Yes. You did see Selfless on that Disadvantage list?"
The squick comes in as now, he is basically stalking her.

And while most of his actions could be covered under the blanket of Selfless (in regards to her) some of them are Obsession.

Like sleeping in front of her door listening her breathe.
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Old 05-22-2017, 03:21 PM   #165
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The squick comes in as now, he is basically stalking her.

And while most of his actions could be covered under the blanket of Selfless (in regards to her) some of them are Obsession.

Like sleeping in front of her door listening her breathe.
Ah, stalking. According to Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey, the highest form of romance and what all women secretly want.*

On the other hand, etymologically, stalking is derived from the stealthy approach to prey during hunting.** It seems inappropriate to apply it in a case where Taylor is not pursuing Bell romantically, to the point that she seems offended at what she perceives as rejection.***

Legally, stalking is defined as menacing behaviour or an implied threat, which fits well with the etymology. And what Taylor is doing is not meant to be threathening or designed to force unwanted intimacy. He promised to protect Bell and he's keping his promise, whether or not she believes she needs protection any more. That's overbearing, possibly disrespectful and potentially smothering, but probably not stalking.

After all, there are still dangers.

There is a reason to expect that the invasion of the rats' habitat by platoons of new humans may startle them into unprecedented aggressive behaviour in areas where they haven't been a threat before, like the upper levels. The rat Taylor saw outside might or might not have been part of the Rat King's army, but it is in any case prudent to assume that the rats could have other ways in or out of the tunnels than the locked blast doors.

And while Taylor has no reason to expect that the Coast Guard boarding parties and special response personnel are anything but cool, collected and professional, they are still going to be armed men clearing a potentially dangerous area. Taylor absolutely does not want Bell startled or frightened by them, as that could lead to her using her powers, which might well get her killed or jailed. Better to have the assault team come across him first and explain that there is a survivor who needs psychological counseling in the cell, give her time to adjust to the fact that scary armed strangers are going to be walking in.

But, yeah, in the privacy of his own mind, Taylor absolutely derives peace and comfort from hearing Bell's quiet breathing and knowing she is as safe as he could make her.

*Anyone reading at home, please don't take dating advice from Twilight or Twilight-fanfiction like 50 Shades of Grey.
**Which is why Chase Taylor has four levels of the Stalker Talent (and not because he obsessively and intrusively creeps outside girls' windows).
***The fact that she would probably not want such a relationship is beside the point. She's bad at dealing with rejection.
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Old 05-22-2017, 06:44 PM   #166
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Sure. One instance is overlookable. However if he keeps finding himself desiring to know what she's doing, where she is, and keeps "watching over her" even when all this danger is past...


Granted since y'all are likely to be bundled together and shipped to Mexico (or wherever), this forced closeness ain't letting up anytime soon.
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Old 05-23-2017, 10:48 AM   #167
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Sure. One instance is overlookable. However if he keeps finding himself desiring to know what she's doing, where she is, and keeps "watching over her" even when all this danger is past...
Once, a philosopher, twice, a pervert.
-Voltaire (allegedly, upon being invited to an orgy the second night running)

I think Chase Taylor would have extreme difficulty simply leaving Bell to her own devices at this point. According to his amateur psychology (which is actually Psychology (Applied; OS: Folk) -14/12), she's clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress and probably a range of other psychological problems. Even if he may want to believe that she's fundamentally sane and can live a normal life eventually, he certainly doesn't believe that she recover without extensive therapy and the emotional support of people who are close to her.

Bell doesn't have any family she maintains contact with. She had a small circle of friends in 1999-2000, but none of them have seen her since the year 2000. In any case, Taylor was really her closest friend, as she didn't maintain contact with any school friends. Even if she was somehow released, she wouldn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. She believes that she can go to Raul Vargas and live happily ever after with him, but as far as Anderson and Taylor can tell, that's a capital-D Delusion on her part.

Before being institutionalised at Manhanock Asylum in the year 2000, Bell had only been outside her home state of North Carolina twice, BCT at Ft. Jackson and AIT at Ft. Sam Houston. She never had a passport, never stepped aboard a plane and never owned a car. In all probability, she's never rented a civilian apartment*, held a job where she paid taxes (other than her enlistment) or paid monthly bills.

Granted, the girl Taylor knew in 1999 appeared to be on course toward remedying all that in the next few months or years. But for whatever reason, she didn't, she committed a felony at the behest of Raul Vargas and was arrested. And now she has spent more more time in institutions (military base, 17 years in mental hospital) than she spent out of them.

And, well, she's deeply troubled. As in, Taylor believes that without therapy, help and support, she'll end up harming herself or others. Not to mention revealing her superpowers, which would probably get her killed or locked away forever. Taylor hopes that her psychological trauma is treatable, but it's certainly serious enough at this time to justify considerable doubt that she's even capable of caring for herself.

Dr. Anderson hasn't had time to fully diagnose Cherrry Bell, but the early indicators are that she is extremely troubled and it is doubtful that she could cope on her own. Without a family, friends or any other form of support network, she would clearly be a danger to herself and others if left alone. If nothing else, she is almost entirely without life skills, having spent the past seventeen years in almost complete isolation. She is also almost certainly experiencing severe symptoms of PTSD from the last five or six years of abuse.

Bell exhibits rapid and dramatic mood swings that might be a response to extreme conditions, but may also suggest cyclothymia or full-blown bipolar condition. She also engages in idealization and devaluation, shows extreme reactions to perceived rejection or abandonment, displays marked impulsivity and her personal relationships are chaotic and unstable. The dissociation, amnesia and depression she experienced after the death of Dr. Cotton might be reactions to drug-induced hypnosis, but might also be further symptoms of her psychological trauma.

Basically, leaving Bell on her own would be out of the question even if Taylor had no preexisting relationship with her. Of course, if she doesn't believe that she needs any help or is disinclined to accept it from Taylor... that will create some problems.

And, of course, it's completely inappropriate for him to have romantic feelings toward her (even if he doesn't act on them) while circumstances force him to stand more or less in a position of caretaker to her.

An ideal solution might be if Dr. Emma King could be shown to be innocent complicity in Dr. Cotton's crimes and would be willing to assume Bell's full-time care on an outpatient basis. Dr. King is an accredited clinical psychologist and just finished her MD. She was planning for psychiatric residency at Manhanock, but all in all, I don't think she'll be getting that job in the near future.

*After running away from home and before joining the US Army, she lived with 'friends', in motels or rented rooms without any paperwork.

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Granted since y'all are likely to be bundled together and shipped to Mexico (or wherever), this forced closeness ain't letting up anytime soon.
Well, Sherilyn Bell is assuredly going to Mexico. Whether or not Chase Taylor will be allowed to go with her is an entirely different issue.

Bell has apparently been in contact with Raul Vargas through a cell phone smuggled to her by a sympathetic nurse only a year ago. And there is reason to believe that she managed to obtain another phone and remain in contact with him to the present day.

This makes her an invaluable asset, as Raul Vargas is a cartel boss with Special Forces training. To say that he was professionally paranoid would be understating matters. If Onyx Rain is to manage to set up a meeting with him and offer him their deal, Cherry Bell is probably their best chance of establishing contact.

There is the problem that any half-way competent agent runner would consider her untrustworthy and nearly certain to betray Onyx Rain for Vargas, but if the deal is real, her loyalties wouldn't preclude her from helping them.

Of course, whether a dangerous madwoman is suitable for use as an agent is another issue. Dr. Anderson maintains that she is not, even while having apparent sympathy with her. He claims that anything she says is unreliable and that making her out to be any kind of intelligence agent would be impossible. Also probably harmful to her and anyone working with her.

But given that Dr. Anderson is a consultant who was expected to be cynical about her mental health, as she put him in a coma seventeen years ago, he won't have the final say alone. And the odds are that Bell will manage to convince anyone else that she's harmless, lovable and deserving of care and attention. With Appearance (Very Beautiful), Charisma 4, Honest Face, Pitiable and Smooth Operator 4, she's very plausible and persuasive.

Anyone else assigned to evaluate and interview her will probably be convinced of whatever she wants to convince them of. And she wants to go to Mexico, so she can join Vargas there.

But Taylor? He's a convicted murderer who just murdered two people. He's shown that he will ignore a senior bureaucrat*, and what he knows would be the orders of his superiors if they were there, in order to kill a vital intelligence source, for some personal reasons of his own. That, on its own, might be enough for sensible planning officers to refuse to have anything further to do with him.

And he's going to be lying through his teeth to the interrogators from Onyx Rain about events on Jewell Island. And they'll know he's lying, because he's not exactly James Bond. He's got Acting -12, which might be marginally okay at hiding his emotions to avoid giving offence to Afghan village leaders, but won't do much to convince world-class investigators, intelligence officers, psychologists and interrogators.

Intelligence work might require the use of assets who happen to be terrorists and murderers. But it's generally not going to do much good to rely on people who lie to their handlers.

So, is anyone really going to send the murderer who is hiding something to meet with his old comrades in arms and/or to meet Vargas, whom he never got along with and whom Taylor might now consider a romantic rival?

Hmmm... if Onyx Rain does send Taylor to Mexico, it will be because their real objectives are something other than they are telling our characters. If they give him a weapon, it will be because they are hoping he'll kill Vargas without them having to order an extrajudicial assassination in a foreign country.

*Townsend.
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:29 PM   #168
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Once, a philosopher, twice, a pervert.
-Voltaire (allegedly, upon being invited to an orgy the second night running)
And as I'm sure Talyor would say "My Mama always said 'Try everything twice, once to say ya done it an twice to see if'n ya like it'."*



* Actual quote from my Mother, though she has a midwest "non" accent.

Quote:
And, of course, it's completely inappropriate for him to have romantic feelings toward her (even if he doesn't act on them) while circumstances force him to stand more or less in a position of caretaker to her.
That's what Dr Anderson is there for. To trawl their dreams and fix them whether they agree to it or not.

Quote:
An ideal solution might be if Dr. Emma King...
I can't be the only one suspicious of the person who wanted to do a residency as Evil Psychologist and wants to follow in Dr. McPerv's footsteps?

Granted, she might not have known Manhanock was a very bad, terrible place... but after seeing it she stayed. (Though, I can't remember if she just got there or had been there awhile)

Quote:
But Taylor? He's a convicted murderer who just murdered two people. He's shown that he will ignore a senior bureaucrat...
i have no doubt that while Townsend might gripe and complain and swear a lot about Taylor, at the end of the day he'll speak in glowing terms about his competence and how well he was able to keep Sherilyn under control and that everything Taylor did was under orders.

At least if I were running the character I would. If for no other reason than to use Taylor as a Cherry Bell interface, as a buffer between myself and her, and so she'd have a sympathetic shoulder/punching bag handy and wouldn't need to ever come near me or think thoughts in my my direction.

But also because Taylor makes a really nice Heroic front man, the type to boldly charge forward, draw all the fire, and leave me in the back to get other stuff done while no one is watching.

And if it all goes pear shaped, he'd be a great fallguy.
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Old 05-23-2017, 07:12 PM   #169
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That's what Dr Anderson is there for. To trawl their dreams and fix them whether they agree to it or not.


I can't be the only one suspicious of the person who wanted to do a residency as Evil Psychologist and wants to follow in Dr. McPerv's footsteps?

Granted, she might not have known Manhanock was a very bad, terrible place... but after seeing it she stayed. (Though, I can't remember if she just got there or had been there awhile)
OOC, I'm pretty leery of her myself. In character, Taylor would probably rather believe that Dr. Cotton tricked her or hypnotised her than that she was a willing participant. Sherilyn Bell did mention Dr. King as the only 'doctor' there who was kind to her, so he's predisposed to be grateful for that. Also, Taylor will do his best to look for evidence of how the Evil White Patriarchy is responsible for anything bad before he'll believe ill of a young lady of colour.

After all, Cory Earl Taylor would be quick to judge a [ethnic slur] [gender-based slur] doctor and in rejecting those values, Taylor does tend to go to far in the other direction. He's always been quick to claim more than his share of any guilt, which goes for guilt by association as well.

I don't think Dr. Anderson suspects Dr. Emma King of anything truly bad, as such. Intellectual curiosity is hardly an evil and Dr. Anderson well remembers his own youthful follies. Better to be a bit unethical than boring. Also, he's as vain as the next man and no one else has really showed the proper worshipful reverence of his superior mind.

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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
i have no doubt that while Townsend might gripe and complain and swear a lot about Taylor, at the end of the day he'll speak in glowing terms about his competence and how well he was able to keep Sherilyn under control and that everything Taylor did was under orders.

At least if I were running the character I would. If for no other reason than to use Taylor as a Cherry Bell interface, as a buffer between myself and her, and so she'd have a sympathetic shoulder/punching bag handy and wouldn't need to ever come near me or think thoughts in my my direction.
Ah, if only. Sadly, from what I can tell, Cam Townsend will use all his power (small) and influence (considerable) to ensure that Taylor never comes close to him or any Onyx Rain operation again.

I don't know whether Townsend realises that this means he's doing his best to force Onyx Rain to kill Taylor or at least condemn him to solitary confinement in a secret prison for the rest of his life, as there is certainly no way Onyx Rain will risk Taylor ever discussing the events of Jewell Island with an attorney, but I suspect Townsend would consider that fit punishment.

Remember that Townsend is a lawyer with a degree in public administration. He has no military training or experience. It's highly likely that Dr. Cotton is the first man he ever saw die. It might even be that apart from good seats at Madison Square Gardens, Taylor brutally battering guards and then executing an unarmed man right in front of Townsend is the only violence Townsend has ever seen.

I'm guessing he failed a Fright Check. Having Taylor completely ignore him and his shrill 'commands' during the execution must also have brought home to Townsend how meaningless his education, wealth, connections and position were in the face of sudden violence. How an insignificant brute trained to kill in the service of his betters and armed with a mass-produced metal object worth less than his cufflinks could slip the leash and end his existence in a blink, for no reason he would ever understand.

I'm just hoping that Director Gujarat and her senior staff recognise his reaction as an emotional one and come to a more favourable conclusion about Taylor. Unfortunately, Holden, the ex-CIA spook employed by Onyx Rain as a security consultant already hates Taylor and will no doubt be glad to add his voice to calls for his execution.

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But also because Taylor makes a really nice Heroic front man, the type to boldly charge forward, draw all the fire, and leave me in the back to get other stuff done while no one is watching.

And if it all goes pear shaped, he'd be a great fallguy.
Well, Townsend should never have to be in a violent situation again. He's a lawyer working for the DHS, assigned to the Onyx Rain task force. His actual job is representing his boss, Director Vani Gujarat, in meetings with bureaucrats and handling her legal paperwork.

The people who get things done for Onyx Rain are field agents seconded from agencies like the CBP, DIA, ICE-ERO, ICE-HSI, USCG, US Army CI and CID, and similar organisations, as well as special operators under JSOC (CAG/Delta, SEALs, 'the Activity', etc.).

I did make sure to explain to the GM that if Onyx Rain is setting Taylor as a fall guy, they have to make sure he's reported as escaped from US Army custody during his transfer from Fort Leavenworth to a more secure facility.
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Old 05-23-2017, 11:50 PM   #170
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Default Re: Project Jade Serenity [Supers/Technothriller]

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Well, Townsend should never have to be in a violent situation again. He's a lawyer working for the DHS, assigned to the Onyx Rain task force. His actual job is representing his boss, Director Vani Gujarat, in meetings with bureaucrats and handling her legal paperwork.
So he's planning on going no where near Mexico or Vargas then?

Or is Townsend really that naive/stupid as to think there'll be zero violence in that endeavor?
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