[center][h2][color=orangered]Red Intentions[/color][/h2][/center]
((Collab Post between RoflsMazoy and Letter Bee))

On Rhea's edge there lay a loe hill which made part of Rhea's wall. An urban island almost, surrounded by chain fences and barbed wire. Here were whew Rhea's most dangerous criminals were kept. Deep underground where the latest technology was used to hold all manner of powered criminals.

For some, regular power dampening wouldn't be enough. This place was also home to those criminals who couldn't be housed elsewhere. Today's story didn't take place in the depths of the compound, but above in a brightly lit interrogation room.

A middle-aged man with greying hair, wearing a red-suit and looking all the world like he'd only been arrested just moments ago. There was the signature hum of power dampening pylons, one of which was in the room sort of off to the side.

This was not the first interrogation. The man had come quite willingly in the first place, and had been happy to answer questions. None of the answers were anything that wasn't already known. It seemed he'd known them all ahead of time, in the end. There was no confession for any crime he'd been arrested for, and they were pending a trial as of this moment.

But the Ascot family had recently come into possession of some evidence which may have implied this man, Mephisto, was far more than they had assumed him to be. For the purposes of investigating this possibility, Alexander Ascot was here now.

The door opened to let in Alexander Ascot, now clad in his formal Juvenile Officer's uniform. Alexander would sit in front of Mephisto across a table, keeping his clipboard, ballpen, and notes close by. Taking a deep breath, the young man would say, "All right, Mephistopheles Erdigan, time for us to talk; I only have 90 minutes or so and I have to make this count."

His lips pursed. "From the looks of it, you've been a model prisoner, answering all the usual questions. Which is why I won't ask the usual questions. Instead, I'll just ask this - Do you truly count yourself as part of Rhean Society and on the side of Rhea, the City?"

Mephisto greeted the question with a warm smile.

[color=red]"Ah, what a refreshing question! The officers here only ever want to know about my wrongdoings. It's always crime, this, crime that, and they never seem satisfied even if all the evidence is right in front of them."[/color] He said. [color=red]"Although I will say that I don't quite understand where your question is coming from, I think I can provide a satisfactory answer."[/color]

He puffed out his chest and he seemed genuinely happy to receive the question from Alexander.

[color=red]"First and foremost, I am a business man. I came to Rhea more than two decades ago to conduct business, and I'm not ashamed to say I fell in love with the city at first sight. Rhea is a place like no other. I decided to stay, and I even have a daughter now.

"I've become a full citizen of Rhea, and have some businesses which operate for the benefit of Rhea itself. My primary intention first and foremost is profit however, so unfortunately I can't say I'm on the 'side' of Rhea the city, but what businessman can?"[/color]

He chuckled a little at that statement.

[color=red]"Rhea is just a city, after all. Society will go where the people go, and I do count myself as a person of these people. I must say, I really can't understand what your intention was with that question."[/color]

Alexander nodded, saying, "The intention is this; to tell you that if you regard yourself as part of Rhean Society, that the quest for profit must also profit other people than yourself or a small group of intimiates. Tax Fraud on such a scale, fraud, and other business that goes beyond legality, as well as the maintenance of a School that [i]encourages[/i] the pursuit of base urges at the cost of other people...how do you justify this? How do you justify setting one of your students to murder another human being, or encouraging him to think you support such?"

A pause. "I believe you know who I am talking about."

Mephisto tilted his head quizically.

[color=red]"I don't think I would say being part of a society includes benefiting all of it. That's not even including your accusations of me, but if you asked if I considered myself a 'member'. I am by definiton a member of society as someone who lives by it, criminal or no."[/color]

He said calmly. 

[color=red]"And I don't believe I know who you are talking about either. You've spoken quite badly about my 'school', but it all sounds like unfounded conjecture with no basis in reality. What cost are you referring to? What urges? What encouragement? I'd say it's quite bold to make so many assumptions without even a scrap of evidence."[/color]

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, as if he'd gotten bored of Alex now that he knew what he was going for.

[color=red]" If there were some uninvolved bypasser here they'd call your words nonsense. Besides, my school is just that, a school. Am I supposed to be responsible for every action my students take? Am I supposed to monitor their every step? Their every move? If one of them commits a wrongdoing, you capture them and punish them, do you not? Or has the law changed in the few weeks since I've been imprisoned?"[/color]

Alexander had no time for sophistry and replied, "Let's cut to the chase. Vittorio Twinveil is one of your students. So is Galbrek Ravenovich. The first one tried to kill me as I got in the way of his vendetta against Alto, after several threats against the latter's life, while the second one tried to kill my [i]mother[/i] by totaling her car. As the owner of the school, yes, you have an actual responsibility, if only because you are above the actual principal in the chain of command. The buck for not passing disciplinary action against Vittorio and Galbrek stops with you."

His eyebrows burrowed further into confusion.

[color=red]"That first name doesn't exactly ring a bell. I don't know where you obtained your information from, but the more pressing matter is your pinning the blame on me. My school is not a correctional facility. It's against the law for me to force my students into a correctional facility. I am not their legal guardian, nor can I say I have been in a position of great influence for either of them. My hands are, quite literally, tied, and there is currently no longer anything I can do for them, or anyone for that matter. 

"My personal assets remain frozen while my charges stand. My businesses can continue without me, but if you want them to do something, you'll need to go through my lawyer to do so. So with all that out on the table, what exactly do you want me to do?"[/color]

A gamble was needed to get even the tiniest bit of useful information here, and Alexander didn't like it. "I want to know why you admitted them into your School in the first place. I for one do not believe that you didn't know about their existing obsessions and fixations. And clearly, admitting them into your School was not about 'giving them an opportunity' or 'attempting to improve their situation'."

The gamble itself was revealed in the officer's next words, "There's a threat greater than the Ancient Evil coming; King is right and correct about that yet he is rectient about the nature of said threat. So anything that undermines the security of Rhea and denies valuable talent to those trying to defend the city cannot be tolerated. I have reason to believe that you admitted Galbrek and Vittorio, adopted Clara, and founded Mephisto's School for the [i]Wickedly[/i] Inclined disregarding that fact at best, and trying to weaken the city with internal conflict between its magical youth at worst. And feel free to charge me with having an active imagination! The fact remains that Rhea's security is still undermined."

[color=red]"So you came here knowing your conclusion already, and then asked me about things which you had already drawn in your conclusion, and then you didn't accept, consider, or refute any of what I'd said, and then you just gave me your conclusion? I take back what I said earlier. At least I had to figure out what they wanted out of me before. You just laid out your every intention and I didn't even have to ask. Let me spell it out for you,"[/color] 

Mephisto said, suddenly serious.

[color=red]"You just made an awful trade. For the opportunity to level accusations at me angrily, you gave me an insight into what you want, and why you want it. You showed me where your emotions lie, what you were hoping for, and your weaknesses.

"And for what? There was no guarantee I would give you anything. A negotiation is a battle of leverage, and you turned it into a negotiation as soon as you let me ask a question. You weren't in a position to make this move, Alexander Ascot, but you made it anyway."[/color]

Mephisto sighed again.

[color=red]"You should cut your losses here. The fact of the matter is, you came here to level accusations at me with no evidence, to leverage a conclusion which can't stand up on its own. You have one and a half months until my trial to mount a case. Instead of gambling on a move which had such a low chance of success, I suggest trying to play your game on a board I can't reach."[/color]

Alexander nodded, his face an impassive mask, and said, "I admit defeat. But at least it's a defeat I can learn from."

[i]He does not know that William is on his case. He does not know about William at all. And he most definitely does not know about [b]my daugther[/b].[/i]

He got up and walked towards the door, but not before looking at Mephisto one last time, impassive expression still on. Then he opened the door and left.

[i]3...2...1...I feel like such a fool. But I will learn from this defeat.[/i]