1 - Have I made you desperate?

[lacksconviction]

[He takes his time before introducing himself, establishing the purpose of this place, the fact that his magic definitely was depleted and not coming back by any means known to him, and weighing up the odds of his escaping by the usual means, before deigning to make his first journal entry. He has taken off his ridiculous supervillain hat, for effect:]

My my, is this not an ambitious effort? Certainly, a more elaborate one than the last chamber in which I was imprisoned. To whose hospitality do I owe my gratitude, may I ask? Which one-eyed wolf has clamped these strange jaws around my throat?

[He smiles, but it's unconvincing. His eyes look strangely pained.]

Or perhaps I expect too much in assuming this a prison, rather than an arsenal of purloined weapons, or a vault to hold the spoils of war?

[A slight pause, before he decides he's giving away far too much, and clicks the communicator off.]

Comments

[Private]

[diedinnewyork]

I like you, you're fun.

[It is quite possible this man is insane.] What do you think differentiates people from the others?

video; private

[lacksconviction]

Of course. How natural that the first rule would be the rule of force.

Tell me of the wardens? We are each assigned one to ourself?

video; private

[thrawn]

There is some delay between arrival and receiving a warden.

Your warden will inform you when they are assigned to you. They act as your advocate; if you have a request, a warden must present it to the Admiral for it to be granted.

[lastmanstanding]

Easy for some, not for others. Sure wasn't easy for me.

[wedonot]

It's nothing quite so personal. Was winding up a spoil of war something you needed to be concerned about?

[nakesnakecobracobra]

It's not the fool who holds them that matters, it's the keys themselves.

Private

[lacksconviction]

I have been told. A good threat, to keep us compliant, no doubt.

[Private]

[lacksconviction]

Oh, I understand the intent. Controlling others for their best interests, wishing only for the very best for them...

...It has, in the past, been proved a questionable motive.

But let us talk no more of that. You are here for payment, are you not? And what have you been offered for your services?

Private

[lacksconviction]

Fury made a gateway to the other side of time and space. I came through it, and... was able to make some improvements to his design.

I had it stabalized, and ready to be reopened, and he took me prisoner.

[Private]

[lacksconviction]

And you are mindless.

You must make yourself significant. There is no single test for it.

Re: [Private]

[umgekehrt]

A man's life, my last inmate was worth, and he was kind enough to graduate-- I wasn't ever going to trick that gentleman into anything.

If another inmate indulges me it'll be a woman's life saved.

And that's as much detail as I give, mister-?

Private

[chlorophylliac]

More like a tactic to encourage gratitude to our keepers. Both Inmates and Wardens vanish, on occasion, but I don't believe the threat of being removed from the Barge for misbehavior is one that would carry much weight.

[lacksconviction]

It would not be unheard of.

[/evasive little prince is go!]

Private

[persuadeyou]

And why would he do that?

[It's not like she wouldn't believe that, though: Fury would put him in some kind of isolation until he knew who he was dealing with.]

--And who was he fighting with over your imprisonment?

[lacksconviction]

In a swordfight, you do not fight the pliant weapon, but the weilder. If I am to understand why I am here, and how I am to leave, then the man who has decided to hold me does matter. Else all is left to chance.

video; private

[lacksconviction]

A not altogether unhelpful arrangement. Should I presume I'll be here for some time, then?

[wedonot]

Why's that?

[I see your evasive little prince and raise you an invasive asshole telepath.]

[nakesnakecobracobra]

Then you're out of luck. The man who imprisons you is a mystery even to those who work for him.

video; private

[thrawn]

Not all inmates who leave do so due to graduation. The Admiral isn't the most predictable being.

Re: [Private]

[diedinnewyork]

Better to be mindless then to be asked to lead. Humanity is a joke, this place is a joke, and what can I say, I like telling jokes.

But see, by implying that you're implying that there's a standard. I'm asking what that standard is. What does significant mean?

Private

[lacksconviction]

I may have had to relocate the Tesseract slightly, in order for the forces it contained to be made safe.

I may have also neglected to ask nicely before I did so.

[He admits this with just a twinge of amusement in his voice. He's fine with her thinking he's a thief, after all, her ledger is dripping red, and admitting a small crime may let the large one slip past unseen.]

He was fighting the people of another world. They had taken me hostage as a child, and I had slipped from their grasp some time earlier. It's why I first passed through the gateway to your world. I sought... a new horizon, far from them.

Private

[persuadeyou]

[She can appreciate new horizons. She can also appreciate how poorly Fury would take to the Tesseract being taken, for all the frustration it had given them.]

What world? [A thief, an alien army, these will be just great things to report when she gets out of here.] Where did you hide it?

[strangehistorian]

Hi there! This is the Barge, and the man in charge is the Admiral.

[truth_is_cold]

It could easily pass as an arsenal. Many of the people here, either inmates or wardens, are exemplary tacticians and fighters.

[scentbombed]

[Have a two-eyed wolf, Loki.]

One-eyed wolf? Is that poetic license, or the real thing, Mister...?