[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9lcXkXj.png[/img][/center][@Heckno12][@Emeth]

Lying on her bed, pretending to doze as a commotion rang out, Ziola was doing what she did more and more often these days. Eavesdropping.

She stared up at the ceiling, the noise coming from above the cells. Two voices, one calm and controlled, the other panicked. Another inmate whose sanity had given out, by the sound of it - such happened all too frequently. Drawing on what little magic she had left, she heightened her hearing just enough for the muffled speech to sharpen into intelligible words.

[color=007236]"-wouldn't have been time to get into a vent, and you certainly wouldn't have made it far."[/color]

The other voice remained frantic with fear. "You don't get it, I heard they're clearing whole cell blocks now. I'm not gonna be dragged to the depths, no. Whatever's down there's gotta be worse than starving to death in the vents!"

Clearing cell blocks? The slightest furrow creased Ziola's forehead. She knew better than to take such ramblings completely seriously - being locked away in the literal middle of nowhere did strange things to people. Still, she hadn't heard that one before - and the whole situation had struck her as suspicious right from the start. Hence why she listened and watched for information as often as possible.

Which wasn't always easy.

[color=007236]"Woah woah, let's not get ahead of ourselves buddy. I'm not about to deal with a corpse blocking the climate control again."[/color] Metallic clatters, yells of protest. [color=007236]"The last one had the starboard cellblocks reeking for weeks even after... So, out..."[/color] The voices faded in and out of clarity. She sighed and pushed herself harder, but all she heard was the clang of a door bursting open, more screams, someone yelling at the men to shut up, footsteps. Considering it unlikely there was any more useful information to gain, she let her hearing dull to its usual mundane level.

Cut off from mana in this sterile cage of steel and glass, it was a struggle to use magic for any length of time, and said perception of time had probably become skewed anyway. Ironic, considering how hard she'd fought to keep helping people with her attunement - yet also karmic, considering how she'd used it in the end. With a humourless huff of a laugh, she shook her head, as if that would keep the memories at bay. They kept trying to creep into her mind, as if seeking a chance to destroy her, but she had to keep her wits about her. To the extent that anyone locked in the Alcatraz could, anyway.

She sat up, watching through the glass pane as a worker headed to a terminal, shortly joined by a man in a labcoat. They stood close enough that she didn't need her attunement to hear the scientist's words - a camera was out. There'd already been some talk of malfunctioning surveillance, and this confirmed it was a growing problem. She stood and headed to the pane, tapping on it. [color=6A9FD4]"Excuse me,"[/color] she called. [color=6A9FD4]"The struggle just now... If I may ask, what happened?"[/color]

As she spoke, she took care not to let on exactly what she'd heard. Although she refused to show it, the staff here always set her on edge. Some of them let power go to their heads, dragging prisoners down the hallways and beating them just because they could. [i]So much for trusted protectors,[/i] she thought. She doubted they'd tell her much, but if they replied at all, she'd glean what she could from their words.

[color=6A9FD4]"Is everything alright?"[/color]

It wasn't. She knew that much, and it was a matter of figuring out what was wrong.