"You're a bit young for a Federal Agent" the doctor completely ignored Frank's question "And you don't look like the type either" he smiled at Price
"Who, exactly, are you?"

Ana Sofía focuses on Adler's mind, starting with a search for who gave him the order, who is his benefactor. She's trying to get the jump on Adler's impression of the two interrogators.


10:07, Today: Ana Sofia Garcia Mendez rolled 4,3 using 2d10,2d8 with rolls of 3,1,2,1.  Telephathy on Adler.

Oh, wow! The dice roller has placed some serious protection on Adler's mind!!!
I don't think a 5 total with a d4 effect is going to cut it.

And the doom pool gets a d12. Ugh.

"I'm sorry," Frank said in a tone that implied that he was anything but sorry. "But that's not how this works. You want us to answer your questions, you're going to have to answer ours.

"It's a simple question. We've got all the evidence we need to stick you in a deep, dark hole for the rest of your life. We're only looking for context at this point. So I'll ask you again: Why?"

The doctor looked at his lawyer, and back at Frank

"I see no reason why I should be helping you, if the best I can look for is a being locked up for the rest of my life.  Not that it would matter, one way or the other.  There's nothing you can offer me that would get me talking"

OOC: No need for a roll.  The offer Adler got was treatment for his son, who is suffering from terminal cancer.  The benefactor is Dr. Bernard Karasu, a senior executive in Essex; one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Tue 25 May 2021.

"Well, if you cooperate, maybe the hole we stick you in isn't so deep or dark as all that. Maybe you even get to see the sun once in a while." He looked over at the attorney, who'd remained silent thus far. "You didn't explain to him how this works?"

«Did we get anything?» he asked Ana Sofia.

Ana Sofía relays the bit about Adler's son and Dr. Bernard Karasu at Essex. 'Maybe you can get him to roll on Karasu. Or maybe convince him you work for Karasu and are happy he won't be talking with others. That had been my thought: subtly hint you're working for Karasu and promise him his son will still be helped if he makes sure we (for Karasu) know what loose ends need tidying up.'

"Tempting, but no" he remained adamant, and Frank knew exactly why now.  His son's life was not only more precious to him than those of the mutant inmates, but also his own.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:58, Wed 26 May 2021.

"How about new dentures?" Price didn't really mean to make real on his threat.  It sure was fun to contemplate it, however.

"Forget it.  Maybe sociliazing in the yard with the rest of the prisoners will make you change your mind.  But if not" he shrugged, and stood up

"-lets go Agent Guberman.  It's a waste of time"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Wed 26 May 2021.

"It would seem that way," Frank said, getting up. The chair squeaked in relief as he took his nearly three hundred pound bulk off of it. "He probably couldn't tell us anything about Essex anyway."

The name-drop was intended to surprise Adler, and see what thoughts popped to the surface for Ana Sofia to skim off of his mind. Maybe it wouldn't be anything useful, maybe it would.

The doctor's smile faded from his face the second Frank mentioned 'Essex'.

"How did you know?" he asked suspiciously.  The conversation he had with Karasu was private.  There was no way for Frank to have known about their agreement, not unless…
"You're one of them!"

OOC: Adler doesn’t know much about Essex; it is a pharmaceutical company, one of the largest in the world, privately owned. You could do your own research later.

Bingo. That one had gotten through Adler's air of superiority and skewered him good.

"Now, Doctor Adler," he said, still standing, halfway to the door, "if I was one of them, I wouldn't have asked you why. I would know all about your son, and Dr. Karasu."

He was denying being one of them while simultaneously convincing Adler that he was. Convinced or confused, Adler would probably be off his guard from now on.

"You do understand that they're not going to help your son, don't you? You got caught. They want deniability, and that means burying all ties to you. If you're lucky, they'll just pretend they've never heard of you.

"If not, they'll probably try to have you both killed.

"Anyway, I should be going."

The doctor blinked.  He didn’t answer Frank, nor stop him from leaving.   Caught in a very real case of cognitive dissonance, his mind decided to simply ignore the new information until he could sort it out.

OOC: barring the use of ‘mind control’, this is the most you can get out of the doctor at the present moment.  Ana?

Seeing the road block, Ana Sofía attempts to nudge Adler in a helpful direction. 'That means they're coming for your son. The only way to save him from Dr. Karasu is to work with Agent Guberman.'

Willpower d10
Mind Control d8
Psych d8
Enthralling Mind d6, +1 step effect die

08:05, Today: Ana Sofia Garcia Mendez rolled 5,2,1,3 using d10,d8,d8,d6 with rolls of 5,2,1,3.  Nudging Adler.

That's a d8 for the doom pool, and Ana Sofía is up to 3 PP.

Total of 8 with an d10 effect die after it's stepped up.

Beads of sweat formed over Dr. Adler’s brow as he fought the sudden urge to tell Frank everything he wanted to know.  It was like trying to avoid itching a rash.  He knew eventually he would cave in, but he tried to hold on for as long as he could until the truth finally spilled out of his dry mouth:

"Thomas. Pancreatic cancer" *gasp*  "3% survival rate" *gasp*  "Dr. Karasu from Essex contacted me.  Asked…DNA samples.  Treatment.  "

Collier’s eyes widened with suprise:

"Steven!!!  Stop!" He grasped the man’s forearm, trying to shake some sense into the man "at least wait to hear what they have to offer!"

Ana Sofía thinks to Frank, 'Work with him. Let him see a way out for his son. The push will work better the less he fights it.'

Frank turned and sat back down, which the chair found less than delightful. It threatened to quit on him, but held.

«I don't know what we can do for the guy,» Frank replied to Ana Sofia. He didn't want to outright lie to a grieving parent, even if he was this century's Doctor Mengele.

"I'm really sorry," he said, honestly. "But I doubt Doctor Karasu is likely to help you now that you've been caught. Your son's best chance for treatment is for you to work with us now. There are experimental treatment studies going on all the time. A phone call or two from Homeland Security ought to be able to get your son into one of those."

Adler breaks down.  He takes off his spectacles and pinches the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed

“Yes” he said hoarsely “Yes.  I’ll tell you everything.  Everything you want to know”

Price stopped to light up a cigarette as soon as they were out of the prison.  Something about seeing Dr. Adler spill his guts after being mentally dominated was more unnerving than seeing actual soldiers spill their actual guts.   He pushed that thought out of his mind for now, because there was something else that has been bothering him ever since they found out who Dr. Adler was working for

“Say” he inhaled, and puffed the smoke sideways

“What do you think the odds are that the son of the chief of medicine, at the only mutant prison in the united states, comes down with a case of incurable cancer?  It’s all so convenient, as far as Essex are concerned”
This message was last edited by the player at 13:05, Mon 31 May 2021.

"Well, did the son have cancer first, or did the doctor get placed there first? It's convenient in different ways. If the doctor was already placed there, the son could have been given the cancer by a mutant, or maybe the son is being poisoned and the diagnoses are faked to get the doctor to comply. If the doctor wasn't there yet, maybe someone manipulated things to get him there once they knew he was under their control; maybe they were working several doctors and chose only after they got control of one."

"It should be pretty easy to establish a timeline once we look up the dates that Adler was employed at the prison versus when his son was diagnosed," Frank said. He wasn't entirely sure it mattered if Essex had groomed one particular man or just went after the guy who was in the role they needed to get under their control. Either way, Adler was the result. "I'm just glad we managed to break him."

“I don’t know if we can use his confession at court or not.  Or rather, if we should”  Seeing that the Dr. Adler only broke down under the powers of Ana.  He was pretty sure Dr. Adler’s lawyer would say the entire confession was implanted into his client’s mind, if they ever disclosed that fact that they bamboozle him.  Luckily, he didn’t have to contend with these types of moral questions.  Let the legal team, and Valery, worry about that.

“But yes, We have enough information to hand over to the Feds.  Lets see what they come up with, and we can take it from there”
This message was last edited by the player at 16:11, Tue 01 June 2021.

"I did check Essex out, while you were interrogating him"   Mistress chirped in
"Fifth largest pharmaceutical company in the world. One hundred and twenty thousand employees in twenty-seven countries.  Headquarters is in London.  Undisclosed profits, since the company is privately owned by the Essex family, ever since its incorporation in the late 19th century"

She turned her phone's screen at them, so they could see what she was looking at

"- It’s all on Wikipedia"

"That's huge," Frank grumbled. There could be bad actors or factions within the organization to which the people at the top were oblivious... or the corruption could be top-down. There was virtually no way of knowing. "At least we have one name to start with, though. We need to investigate this 'Karasu' person."

"Yes" Price agreed with Frank, on both accounts  "It's clear we're going to need outside help for this.  I'll tell Valerie to contact the Feds.  Start looking into Karasu, see what they can find..."

OOC: I think we can conclude the scene here (unless there is something else you want to ask). Karasu turns out to be of English nationality, which puts him out of the reach of Freedom Force.  It would take weeks and months before the US reaches out to English authorities, and even longer than that until they complete their own investigation and arrest him.