Calendarlogs
Jacks White Oak Mesmerism Lab Am Track 240301
In a controversial and ethically dubious practical lab at the Webster Clinic, Jack, a figure of authority, introduces a mesmerizing machine designed for mind intrusion to a group of students from the White Oak Institute. The device, capable of unveiling thoughts, implanting commands, and inducing visions, requires the removal of all metal objects due to its shocking tendencies. Gabriella, having used the machine unsupervised, draws concern from Jack, highlighting the machine's dangerous nature. A tense atmosphere envelops the room as Jack emphasizes the necessity of faculty supervision during its use, hinting at the underlying magical or otherworldly powers at play, beyond mere technology. The session evolves into a series of invasive demonstrations where students volunteer either to operate the machine or subject themselves to its capabilities. Olivia's participation brings a lighter tone with her humorous suggestions, while Yasmin's instructions to Rachel expose deeper emotional confessions, culminating in a reveal of Rachel's guilt over infidelity, illustrating the machine's power to pry into the most private corners of the mind.
The lab concludes with mixed reactions from the participants, ranging from shock and awe to moral indignation and concerns over privacy invasion. Jack's departure, clutching his injured hand, leaves an ominous reminder of the session's gravity and the potential consequences of dabbling with such invasive technology. Gabriella's suggestion of a user interface overhaul and Olivia's astonishment at Rachel's confession encapsulate the session's blend of modern concerns with timeless ethical dilemmas. Silas voices a common sentiment of unease about the invasive nature of the exercise, encapsulating the overarching theme of ethical boundaries being tested under the guise of educational exploration. Amidst the revelations and technical manipulations, friendships are tested, and the participants are left to ponder the moral implications of using such a device, with Jack's parting words serving as a chilling reminder of the power and dangers inherent in mind control technology.
(Jack's [White Oak] Mesmerism - Lab (A.M. Track) )
[Wed Feb 21 2024]
In Room One of the Experimentation Wing at the Webster Clinic
In this room the stark, whitewashed walls exude a sterile, clinical atmosphere, punctuated by the low, persistent hum of sophisticated machinery that reverberates through the meticulously sanitized space. The polished, stainless-steel surfaces of the examination table and the gleaming array of intricate surgical instruments glisten under the cold, fluorescent light, casting sharp, calculated reflections that amplify the sense of detached precision and calculated experimentation characteristic of the Institute's enigmatic research initiatives.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
When Yasmin comes to join the small group already present, most of her attention is upon Jack - or, more specifically, his hand - until Olivia's enthusiasm pulls her focus away, a flash of a smile offered to her. "Hello! I tried to text you after I got back from my vacation, but I think your phone was turned off."
Gabriella gets lost for a bit but then walks in, hopefully not too late.
"I had some away time that messed my comms up," Olivia admits back to Yasmin as she spreads the greetings back to those others. Silas earns a familiar smile and wave, and Joel a more enthused, "Oh I know! Sorry for last week--I was just demolished by the flu or something. Did you find another homework partner?" Gabriella coming in gets a big smile and a wave over to join.
Viktorin wanders in, having promptly been deposited, his face contorted into an expression of woeful befuddlement and puzzlement. Recognizing a good majority of those around him, however, he offers a quiet wave, slinking forward.
Caelum trudges in somewhat exhaustedly, and without a word, makes for the group of students gathered around to slither into the crowd. Out of sight, out of mind - hopefully lost among the crowd. To what avail? Remains to be seen because he's standing tall in the crowd out of everyone except someone. Whom, he makes a half-step to somewhat hide behind.
Caelum trudges in somewhat exhaustedly, and without a word, makes for the group of students gathered around to slither into the crowd. Out of sight, out of mind - hopefully lost among the crowd. To what avail? Remains to be seen because he's standing tall in the crowd out of everyone except Viktorin. Whom, he makes a half-step to somewhat hide behind.
Kayly gives a wave in Viktorin's direction, and then finds a spot in the room to easily observe the machine.
Jack says, "Gather around."
"Hey Caelum, Sie! How are you two doing? Been a minute," Olivia cheerily greets the pair.
"Hey Liv, you missed an awesome cheer practice," Sienna wiggles her fingers back at Olivia as she slips into the gathered group of students, glancing about curiously at the setup.
Gabriella smiles towards Olivia at her greeting, but otherwise pays attention to Joel. She looks a bit tired today.
Gabriella is paying attention to Jack, really.
Joel shakes his head at Olivia "No, I still gotta find someone for that" he mutters, though without any rancor, tilting his head as if to add something, but then glances toward the front of the class.
"Same old," Caelum chimes over at Olivia - taking a spot closer, hands in the pockets of his jacket, eyes on the machine. Only paused to glance over his shoulder at Sienna, and give the latecomer that arrived just a solid minute or two after he did an upnod in greeting as well. It doesn't take long, his attention is back on Jack, the chair.
"Well then," Jack tells Viktorin, Caelum, someone, Olivia, Silas, Sienna Kayly, Yasmin, Gabriella, and Joel. "We've got quite the class today. This is a practical lab, so those of you we don't get to we will schedule an additional session for," he says. "We'll also move as quickly as we can, but I want all of you to have some hands-on experience with the machine." He gestures to the machine. "So in preparation, I first need you all to get rid of anything on you that is metal," he says. "For the ladies, that includes underwires in your brassiere. If you need to change, there are gowns there, but that probably shouldn't be required." He pauses. "The machine can cause shocks," he says. "It doesn't always, but when it does the smell -- and the pain -- is awful." He looks over the table, wincing -- his right hand is obviously broken.
"When we had our lecture, I discussed the ways someone can bring hypnotic power to bear, but I omitted one -- technology." He pauses. "In truth, this may just be some other magic masquerading as scientific power: as Clarke says, at a certain point they are indistinguishable. We'll start by explaining how the device works," he says.
"When a patient is on the table, you can lower this helmet --" He gestures at the circlet with his broken hand with a wince. "-- down on their head. When it activates, it will open their mind in a variety of ways. We'll talk about that in a moment, but for now, you should know that as White Oak students, you do not need to pay to use this device. However!" he says sternly. "Do NOT use it without a faculty member present." He pauses. "To use it, a person must be laid out on the table. They do not need to be restrained, but it's best if they are -- someone who is wiggling around when the circlet is applied can experience severe brain damage."
(OOC: This room can be used with the 'mindhack' command. For WO students, the command is free, but for code reasons you need $100 in cash on your person. It doesn't take the cash, it just needs to be there. The person who is being mindhacked needs to be helpless.)
"Well then," Jack tells Viktorin, Caelum, Olivia, Silas, Sienna Kayly, Yasmin, Gabriella, and Joel. "We've got quite the class today. This is a practical lab, so those of you we don't get to we will schedule an additional session for," he says. "We'll also move as quickly as we can, but I want all of you to have some hands-on experience with the machine." He gestures to the machine. "So in preparation, I first need you all to get rid of anything on you that is metal," he says. "For the ladies, that includes underwires in your brassiere. If you need to change, there are gowns there, but that probably shouldn't be required." He pauses. "The machine can cause shocks," he says. "It doesn't always, but when it does the smell -- and the pain -- is awful." He looks over the table, wincing -- his right hand is obviously broken.
"When we had our lecture, I discussed the ways someone can bring hypnotic power to bear, but I omitted one -- technology." He pauses. "In truth, this may just be some other magic masquerading as scientific power: as Clarke says, at a certain point they are indistinguishable. We'll start by explaining how the device works," he says.
"When a patient is on the table, you can lower this helmet --" He gestures at the circlet with his broken hand with a wince. "-- down on their head. When it activates, it will open their mind in a variety of ways. We'll talk about that in a moment, but for now, you should know that as White Oak students, you do not need to pay to use this device. However!" he says sternly. "Do NOT use it without a faculty member present." He pauses. "To use it, a person must be laid out on the table. They do not need to be restrained, but it's best if they are -- someone who is wiggling around when the circlet is applied can experience severe brain damage."
(OOC: This room can be used with the 'mindhack' command. For WO students, the command is free, but for code reasons you need $100 in cash on your person. It doesn't take the cash, it just needs to be there. The person who is being mindhacked needs to be helpless.)
"I bet! You'll have to tell me about it, because I was absolutely not making it out of bed," Olivia starts to tell Sienna before the class begins. She just motions for later and stands with Gabriella and Yasmin, the former of whom gets a nod and the whispered question, "Yeah, did you get my text?"
Viktorin skeptically considers Jack's words for a moment, before sighing defeatedly. He yanks his pendant and sunglasses off, and pats himself down before stowing his belongings into his backpack.
It's just a handful of silver jewelry that Olivia has to take off, the assortment of earrings joining her pendant and ivy in a convenient hold elsewhere in the room.
Joel purses his lips faintly, setting down his phone and wallet on a desk, briefly glancing down at himself before deciding he has nothing else that has to go.
Continuing, Jack says, "We are going to try to give each of you in turn an opportunity to both be on the table and use the controls." He pauses. "If we don't get through everyone, we'll do one more makeup session and can also schedule small groups as needed." He pauses. "Make no mistake -- this device, and the power that underlies it, is dangerous and evil. But it has its uses," the priest explains. "It provides three great benefits," he says. "The first is that when someone is on it, this monitor here shows their thoughts and feelings." He indicates a monitor.
(OOC: While mindhacked, the content of the 'think', 'feel', and 'recall' commands will display to the room. Think is used for vocalized thoughts, feel for feelings, and recall for images and/or memories.)
Rachel's perpetually late, and perpetually sub-par at sneaking in. She makes her way to Yasmin's side and mouths, 'hi.'
Caelum looks down at his phonee for a moment in distraction away from the lecture, and for the briefest of moments, bring it up to his ear while filing away from the grou, out of the room. His other hand is lifted up to his mouth so he can take off his rings with his teeth, however, indicating he won't be long at all.
"May?" Gabriella asks Jack. "You mean we don't have schematics or... well, understanding on how does this machine works? I mean, someone must manufacture them, right? Even if we don't get hold of who designed it..." She pales up a bit as Jack tells them not to use the machine unsupervised, and asks, "what if we already did use the machine before?"
Olivia makes an enthused wave at Rachel as she meanders in, surely not helping the whole sneaking thing at all.
Wincing again, Jack cradles his broken hand as he turns and hits his broken hand on the console. The pain seems to break his train of thought for a moment, and he mutters a low, upset oath that is definitely not priestly. "The second thing the machine can do is create mental commands of the sorts we discussed in lecture class -- it can instruct people's minds and bodies, compelling them to act, and even implant the kinds of triggers we discussed in the future." He pauses. "While those with powers can use their mental abilities to do this, it takes time. The electricity humming through the machine is almost instant." He looks out. "I need two volunteers -- first on the machine, first at the controls," he says.
(OOC: When mindhacked, you can use all of the commands in 'help hypnotism' without cooldown.)
Rachel catches the wave from the corner of her eye. She brightens. Her wave toward Olivia is equally as energetic. What she mouths is either 'long time no see' or 'banana tree.'
Yasmin reaches at her wrist for a bracelet hidden beneath her sleeve, sliding it off, and then up beneath her hijab to remove a thin, gold chain. While she does appear to be listening to Jack's words, there's a visible distraction that sets in on her features. The attention span of college kids nowadays, am I right? Must be all the technology talk. Rachel's arrival earns her a little smile, and she shifts to stand next to, and maybe slightly behind the taller girl, as though she can hide away at the mention of volunteering.
Gabriella reaches for her phone to check whatever text Olivia mentioned, clearly not having read it... does she notice any looks that happen in the meantime? Perhaps not - she just smiles as she reads it, and then switches to the email app.
Viktorin glances over his shoulder and hawkishly slants his eyes towards Rachel, twisting his lips into a frown. However, he gifts Jack the rest of his attention, warily watching the machine before him.
Rachel pays Viktorin no heed. Hard to know whether she's missed seeing him, or is simply avoiding confrontation. There's plausible deniability for the latter, given that in the moment, she's preoccupied with rifling through her messenger bag.
"Finally," Jack says, "You can use the machine to implant emotions or visions in someone's mind." He pauses. "Also, be mindful -- there is something happening here that is more than just electronics," he says with a sharp look at Gabriella. "Even after you are off the table, some psychic entanglement lingers."
(A person who is mindhacked can also be targeted with 'telempath' and 'illusions', but they do have a 15 minute cooldown, and during that cooldown you can also not use hypnosis command. Mindhack applies to the person who has been mindhacked, so anyone in the room can use commands. It also lasts until you leave the room, even if you stop being helpless. While these rooms are the only public locations that allow mindhacking, you can also become mindhacked from a destiny or fixation patrol.)
Jack asks, "Who are my first two volunteers?"
Joel exhales slowly and shrugs, lifting his hand since there seems to be no escaping the procedure.
"I've already had a turn on the controls, so if someone else needs a chance, please go ahead," Olivia offers to the room, turning from face to face
Caelum slips his phone back into his pocket, returning to the group, now bereft of his metals. He does not look at all like he wants to volunteer first, while putting his hands back in the pockets of his jacket and peering from face to face with a half-narrowed look.
Gabriella emote turns to glance to Olivia, trying to contain her smile. Then, she's looking back at Jack, an.
"Mr. Kalani!" Jack says. "We'll let you use the controls, since you were in the chair earlier," he says. "And Miss Myers -- when did you use the controls?" he asks, suspicious. "We're going to have some follow-up," he says darkly, his tone already unpleasant from his broken hand. "Miss Myers, you can lie down on the table. Mr. Kalani, as soon as she has lain down please tighten the bonds and apply the circlet."
Gabriella grimaces at Jack's words to Olivia, and retreats... not to flee, but to get rid of her metal.
Jack slips Joel an access card. "I'll want that back, Mr. Kalani. Make sure you bring your student ID."
Olivia makes a bit of a face but does comply with the invitation to lay on the table. First she takes those boots off, worried about aglets or some metal that's likely not there, but rests on her back there and nervously. "It was for the homework assignment! Perfectly reasonable usage."
Joel gets to his feet and slowly approaches the chair, nodding meekly as he takes the card. He flicks his gaze over to Olivia, giving her an apologetic faint smile before starting to fidget with the equipment, although he turns out quite adept at fastening the straps around Olivia's arms.
Joel then slowly pulls the circlet down, watching Olivia in fascination as he secures the circlet around her forehead.
"Very good," Jack tells Joel. "Let's see how this is working -- Miss Myers, think about the last time you broke White Oak rules." A low smile. "This isn't confession, but then we all have sins to atone for, don't we?" Don't we, says the man not on the machine.
Joel gets to his feet and slowly approaches the chair, nodding meekly as he takes the card. He flicks his gaze over to Olivia, giving her an apologetic faint smile before starting to fidget with the equipment, although he turns out quite adept at fastening the straps around Olivia's arms. Joel then slowly pulls the circlet down, watching Liv in fascination as he secures the circlet around her forehead. (re with announce)
Gabriella protests and defends Olivia - and her own sins too, of course. "Well, how were we to know that there was a rule against using it unsupervised? It's not on the website or anything..." she tells Jack.
Olivia grunts and winces as the crown comes down and the apparent pain of the machine follows, though of course the bindings make any sort of writhing extremely limited. She clears her throat and tells Jack, "That's a very devious way to populate the confessional, Father."
"Oh, christ, it even shows it." Caelum hisses under his breath while staring up at the display. There is a slight wince, where he sucks in a breath. "This thing is bad."
Joel stares quietly at the display, a dark fascination in his eyes as he stands right beside it.
Silas stands near the machine and watches the display and seems to share the same sentiment that Caelum does though he does not speak on it and instead looks towards Olivia after the most recent bolding display with a grimace.
Rachel leans over to tell Yasmin, in no uncertain terms, "See? This is how I expect mind stuff to work." She points at the screen for emphasis. "Not whatever it is you were doing."
From her spot half-hidden behind Rachel, there's a grimace upon Yasmin's face at the instructions given, and the look she gives Olivia is all pity. If her desire to volunteer was zero before, it may have just gone into the negatives now. Rachel gets a sharp look right after, along with an elbow to the side.
"We'll discuss later with both of you about common sense and extremely expensive, extremely dangerous machines," Jack tells Gabriella and Olivia. "Anyone have any other questions for Miss Myers? Mr. Kalani, while the class thinks about that, I'd like you to take a look at the console..." He pauses. "You type the instruction in here," he explains. "Everyone watch what I am doing. Then you turn this dial for intensity... And when you're ready, you hit this button." The button says in big red letters, COMMIT. "Be warned, though: if you try to force an instruction that the mind is not ready for, it can backlash on you as an unpleasant shock."
(The mindhack uses normal hypnotism commands. So for a hypnotic instruction, the command is 'hypnotize instruction .' If it was 'hypnotize jane instruction guilt peerpressure generosity confess your sins', then Jane would get an imprint 'You need to confess your sins.')
"Go on, Mr. Kalani. Give Miss Myers a command and then we will give someone else a chance to try the machine," Jack tells Joel.
Viktorin faintly lifts his eyebrow at the machine, regarding it with disgust.
Gabriella rolls her eyes a bit but nods to Jack saying "alright..." she's briefly distracted with trying to read what keeps showing up on the screen, while adding "...but the fact that White Oak patrons finance very expensive technology is all the more reason for their children to be able to use it, insted of just stating here gathering dust!"
Sienna pops up beside Olivia strapped into the devices, more than familiar with the process. "Hey, Liv, what's the most fucked up thing that you've ever done since you've been a student here?" she queries of the cheerleader with the most innocent of smiles, a pointed glance cast toward the antiquated displays showcasing the girl's mental processes.
Rachel expresses silent sympathy for Olivia in the form of a grimace.
For all of Jack's stern warnings, students might notice none of these rooms are kept locked.
"Cruel." Caelum half-whispers again, narrow eyes staring at Sienna when she pops beside Olivia to deliver that question contrasting the innocence of her smile. He still lifts his eyes though, to watch the panel with guilty curiosity.
"Common sense? It's ours to use as part of tuition, isn't it?" Olivia has to protest, likely on behalf of her aforementioned rulesbreaking. It is not until Sienna brings up her question that, hot on the heels of Jack promising everyone a turn, Olivia says, "Sie doesn't get to use the keyboard!" while squinting her eyes and trying not to think.
Gabriella watches Joel.
Joel bites his lip thoughtfully, flushing just a little as he hears Sienna's suggestion. But he seems to think about it a little longer, stepping in front of the keyboard and carefully typing out an instruction, looking over his shoulder as he presses the Commit button.
"Just because she doesn't have the keyboard doesn't mean she doesn't have a voice," Jack tells Olivia, glancing at Sienna. "It's a cruel question, though -- but it's awful how our mind responds to questions we don't want to answer, isn't it?" As Joel types, Jack nods. "That's good. That could have also been a body instruction, but we'll do that with our next test student."
Joel widens his eyes a little at the film on the displays, swallowing a little, before returning his gaze to Olivia, watching to see if the instruction will work.
Olivia grimaces as there's no apparent rest for the wicked. She strains in her bonds, trying to work herself out but to no avail--she just demonstrates some flexibility instead as she makes a back bridge on the table, neither wrists nor ankles moving. It's a fair display of flexibility and athleticism, but beyond that to no avail. Awkward in a short dress on a table, but her tights are opaque. A moment's frustrated struggle then she sinks back to her back with a huff. "Are you going to punch it in yet, Joel?"
"There goes pizza as an option for a while," Silas says to some of the others nearby as he looks to the screen and then to Olivia, unsettled.
Sienna turns her head to gaze toward the display with quiet expectance, her brows knitting in soft disappointment toward Olivia. "I can't believe you did that. Did you enjoy it? Seeing her like that?" she continues to strategically draw reactions from the subject, shifting back a half step to train her gaze on the emotional output.
Gabriella smirks.
A low smile, one that seems to glitter with some cruelty. "He did, Miss Myers," Jack says. "Alright --" He pauses. "Miss Myers is off the table. Mr. Kalani, release him? And then I think we'll put Miss Swann at the controls, and you'll be on the table this time, Mr. Kalani," he tells Joel and Sienna. "Miss Swann, if you could bind down Mr. Kalani once Miss Myers is off the table and he is ready to get set."
Joel blinks a bit "Oh, we're going..." he trails off and nods as he bites his lip, reaching down to untie Olivia, briefly murmuring something to her in the process.
Viktorin rubs his brow at the screen, clenching his jaw and disgustedly wrinkling his nose. "My lord. That's gross." He slants his eyes for a few seconds until he hears Jack, which prompts an apologetic glance towards Joel.
"Hey, let's give Joel a little break?" Caelum offers with a cautious glance at Sienna, who is totally not in evil tech overlord mode right now. "If we're all going to have a turn at the table, I want mine to be done and over with if its alright."
"You're volunteering?" Jack asks Caelum. "Very well -- Mr. Kalani was, after all, the subject of the lecture." He pauses. "Mr. Kalani, you're off the hook. It appears that Miss Swann is going to have Mr. Cross as her ... subject." He pauses. Did he mean victim? "Miss Myers, remember to step out of class and back in to break the entanglement."
"It wasn't my idea or anything," Olivia admits as she gets out of those bonds just as fast as she can, doffing the crown at once and rubbing at her wrists. "It was uh... pretty freaking gross. I haven't had pizza since. And it's cool, Joel--whatever you did doesn't even seem to have worked." She pops in and out of the room, wishing Caelum in the process, "Good luck!"
Sienna's features soften just a touch when Caelum valiantly volunteers himself for tribute in Joel's place. "Well aren't you a knight in shining armor," she murmurs under her breath with mild sarcasm, ticking her chin toward the straps. "Hop up. I'm sure this will feel right at home for you."
Olivia pokes Sienna in the back on her return and snickers as she asks, "Were you looking for inspo for your turn at the controls?"
"Luck, yeah." Caelum nearly hisses under his breath. His hands run down his puffer vest to undo its zipper, remove it and toss it aside while stepping out of the crowd. Then he's rolling up his sleeves, "Go easy on me, I don't want to end up on the pyre." Sienna gets a look, not at all lingering before he offers Jack a slow nod, and climbs the chair himself to be strapped in.
Joel blinks a bit and lifts an eyebrow, glancing between Caelum and Sienna, murmuring wryly "You sure you don't just want her at the controls?" a faintly mischievous tone to his voice before he shrugs and retreats to the group, glancing back at Olivia for a moment.
"Miss Swann," Jack tells Sienna. "Once you've got him strapped down, let's get the circlet settled. Did you remember your ID card, or do you need to borrow mine to swipe?"
"I'm doing you a favor, Joel. Don't expect another." Caelum chides the other sigma, narrow eyes pinned on him for a moment while he's set up on the chair, head sinking where it ought to, while his hands settle on the armrests where they'll be strapped, soon, surely. "Sienna is the last person I want on the controls."
"Don't worry Joel, I bet you can go next, you just need to offer, like he did" Gabriella tells Joel with a small smile.
Joel clears his throat as he replies to Gabriella "Never like to push myself forward..."
Sienna jolts slightly at Olivia's words, the corners of her lips upturning in a soft smile. "Nah. Just decided to take advantage of the situation and learn a little more about how you work." The young Swann is frighteningly familiar with the machinations of the facilities, casually fitting the appropriate pieces to Caelum's head once he's suitably restrained to her liking. "Don't worry, Father Jack. I know what I'm doing," she reassures. "I'm just here for the free guinea pigs."
She retreats back to the central control, disinterested in the dials so much as the myriad displays. "Caelum, think about the night your life was irrevocably changed. Think of the last face you saw, in that moment. Think of how you felt."
Gabriella seems mildly disappointed by Joel's reply.
With Sienna's question it seems like any voluntary joining of the whole experience Silas had just leaves him as he looks towards the woman and then they flit over to Caelum, and a miserable grimace comes to his features as he watches the man.
Gabriella raises an eyebrow at the brutallity of Sienna's first words to someone after the machine is turned on.
Gabriella raises an eyebrow at the brutallity of Sienna's first words to Caelum after the machine is turned on.
Strapped in, Caelum briefly tests his bindings while Sienna and Jack talk with one another. He doesn't seem happy, particularly when she poses that question out of everything after fiddling with the controls. It makes him take a deep breath, swallow, his jaw clenches - and he closes his eyes.
Rachel departs Yasmin's side in brief. She picks her way through the gaggle of students until, at last, she's just off to the side and behind Olivia, whose elbow she touches.
"Or fight it, for all I care. I'm just interested to see how your mind processes this," Sienna relays over toward Caelum with all the casual disinterest of an avid observer, green eyes sweeping over his features before returning to the screen.
"Well," Jack says to Caelum, watching. "How does it feel, to be in Miss Swann's power?" He looks at Sienna. "You can choose if you demonstrate a triggered command, one to his body, or both," he says to Sienna. "Though if the class has questions for Mr. Cross..."
"Boxers, briefs, or fig leaf?" Olivia volunteers from the field of observers, perhaps to deflate the rather serious opening assault the mind-reaving Sienna has opened with. She gives Rachel a bright smile after finding whose hand found Olivia's elbow.
Sienna barely suppresses a smile at Jack's muttered exasperations, though it fades as a horrific sequence of images from Caelum's memory rolls across the displays. She sucks in a sharp breath, head tilted slightly to the side.
Caelum visibly clenches his jaw for another moment, inhales and exhales. The poisonous vitriol in the hue of his eyes briefly pan from Sienna to Olivia. He keeps quiet, while looking not at all pleased about it.
Yasmin is left Rachel-less, which means she's also left without a convenient cover to hide behind. There's a huff of breath at this act of betrayal, her arms coming to fold across her front, and then she turns her attention quietly to the screen as well, eyes a little wide at what's displayed upon it.
"This class, this... this is dangerous" says Gabriella, after having admited to have used the machine herself, before briefly glancing towards Jack and then telling him "is there any NDA involved around here? I mean, I didn't sign anything, did they? Did you?"
Joel pales just a little at the sight, letting out a soft breath and slowly brushing fingertips through his hair thoughtfully.
"That's the lesson you should be taking away," Jack tells Gabriella. "This -is- dangerous." His voice is low. "It is awful and evil, Miss Savoy, and none of this -- none of this -violation- of someone's mind -- is just a toy."
"Thanks, Liv." Caelum sighs out.
Silas watches the display in which Caelum's memory shows through those displayed images and the man seems to have a solemn expression on his face. He watches the whole thing as well, not looking away with some look of sympathy and respect in Caelum's direction afterwards.
Yasmin was watching the screen very intently, which is why there's a tiny, quiet little squeak when suddenly, there's instead a naked Caelum with a fig leaf cover. She's definitely not looking that way anymore, nope.
Caelum looks like he's trying to steer his thoughts, when he huffs a half-amused sigh towards Olivia again.
"Happiest memory?" Sienna lowers her chin into the pit of her palm, throwing Caelum a sliver of mercy in her dwindling interest. "Focus on a fleeting detail. Something that really resonates with you from that moment."
Rachel's been having a staring contest with Olivia, but at that familiar squeak, she peeps over at Yasmin.
It is hypocryte of Gabriella, who remains looking at the screen, to argue about this with Jack, but... she does. "So, is it alright to ... keep going on, keep doing this violation after we already know the power of the machine?"
"Miss Swann?" Jack asks Sienna. "When you decide you've had enough torturing Mr. Cross, let's give him his instruction," he says. "Or rather -- you can just take your torture of him on your own time. Given how he is dating Miss Inigo, I suspect that's his... attraction." There, there's a thought lobbed at Caelum to put on display.
Olivia makes a more humane and more sincere cackle when Yasmin squeals. It shakes her out of mercy mode and on to Gabriella's question to Jack.
"Don't," Caelum tries not to look at Sienna after her suggestion of a happy memory tries to break his concentration. Eyes away, from anyone, really, while he stares down.
"Contrary to Father Jack's doom and gloom about the technology, it has been instrumental in a number of acts of mercy and good, with obvious therapeutic effects when placed in the right hands," Sienna counters Jack's earlier sentiments to Gabriella, ever the technologist, as she abandons the console altogether to release Caelum from his imprisonment. "Anyhoo. I'm sure you've had enough of letting a faeling toy with your mind. Up and at 'em, fanger," she encourages her friend out of the devices.
Quietly, Yasmin trudges over around the machine so she can stand by Rachel and Olivia, a moment of non-verbal communication leading her to offer the former a brief glare. The latter gets a smile. Olivia did nothing wrong.
Olivia is truly the only innocent one in the room, that much is for certain. She uses this to volunteer the thought, "Maybe it would be wise to have a master in the hot seat. That way you can show us how to better resist this stuff, Father. What do you say--wanna put the crown on?"
"You're going to let me off without any compulsions?" Caelum tips a brow at Sienna. He looks very much skeptic while she starts to undo the straps.
Rachel's cartoonish ability to communicate solely with frowns, smiles, and glowers is admirable. In this moment, it's the glower that Yasmin earns. "Yes," Rachel pipes up, seconding Olivia's ask.
"You don't want me giving you any compulsions," Sienna reminds Caelum sweetly as she loosens the straps, quickly removing the circlet from his head with practiced ease. "Better that way."
"Well," Jack says to Sienna, his voice low. "We are not here just for your amusement: we are demonstrating the machine, and time is passing." A low pause, as he looks up at the clock. "I don't have time to dither with this," he says. "We'll just have Miss Swann take Mr. Cross' place -- and Miss Ahmed," he says, now picking volunteers. "You can take the controls. Miss Swann on the table and Miss Ahmed at the controls will be the last for today," he says. "And we'll schedule time for the rest as we can."
"I do not." Caelum nods, out of the bindings, out of that circlet. His hands come up to rub his temples, wince slightly, while he takes a bit of time to slip out and off the chair and join the crowd.
Gabriella grins at Olivia's question to Jack. And then, there's relief in her face as Jack names the scheduled use of the machine for the rest of today's class.
Jack shoots a look at Olivia.
Alas, Yasmin could only go unnoticed for so long. At least it's just her on the controls instead of having to be the one who gets to be strapped down - Sienna gets her most sympathetic of looks as she moves to the machine.
"Aww," Olivia complains through an utterly innocent expression at Jack's cross look. Even with her squad backing her up, it's Sienna in the hot seat and Yasmin in control. Olivia cooks her question while the other girls get settled. She has to ask Caelum, "Gabby was wondering how the leaf works."
Gabriella hmms. "There are... mental techniques to resist this sort of intrusion, right? Some sort of... well, you know, like a way to encrypt our memories instead of having them in plain text or something?" Gabriella asks Jack with another parallel to the world of technology. She tacks on "-will you teach us that on a follow up class?" Better a new topic than a second session on this... specially if Gabriella can avoid the crown that way.
"Huh, so why did I see your pizza thoughts on the screen? Why didn't you use it?" Gabriella asks Olivia.
Sienna turns her head to fix Jack with a guarded look, seeming to weigh his words within her mind. Her tongue presses at the interior of her cheek, mouth seeming to open to give fire and brimstone before she merely just shrugs a shoulder. And, with the most heart-wrenching pout she can muster, the Swann raises her vibrating phone with a wave of a hand. "Family call, Father Jack. I'm sure you can understand how important it is I don't miss my own mother's call, right?"
Olivia settles her hands on her hips as she regards Gabriella for a minute before claiming, "Distractions. It's not my fault, if you hadn't been making faces--here, let me prove it. Eff-Jay, can I go round two?"
"Well then," Jack tells Sienna with some shadowed look as she flees. He turns to look, then. "Alright -- Rachel Cai," he says. "Up on the table. Miss Ahmed, bind her down." He pauses. "You removed any metal, Miss Cai? I know you came in late. "Miss Cai will be our last for today," he says. "That means we'll need to do Mr. Arkwright, Miss Savoy, and Miss Menendez in a makeup session.""
"Convenient timing on that one," Silas says after watching the woman flee from the room.
Rachel throws a look up to the heavens -- although maybe she should be considering hell, where Jack belongs. Her ring comes off, tucked into her bag, which she drops off in the corner. "...Okay." A look's distributed Yasmin. Be nice. Or else.
"I'm afraid I need to be on the phone with my mom that day, afther" Gabriella tells Jack, not even knowing what day will it be.
"Yes, we might all have calls from our dear mothers," Silas says to Jack, sounding apologetic and coordinating their plan of attack with Gabriella.
Joel blinks a bit at that "Oh, so... I'm excused from being in the chair?" he murmurs, somewhat foolishly.
Olivia snickers at Silas's commentary, evidently in agreement with the man, and lets Gabriella take her away to a fit of giggles. Before Rachel can get up on the table she reminds the girl, "Hey, no metal, remember."
"..unless it is pure gold" Gabriella speaks as if she has read some instructions manual or something.
"Miss Ahmed," Jack instructs Yasmin. "Tighten the straps and then put the circlet down, please." He chuckles. "You can start formulating the worst instruction you think you might give your friend," he teases Yasmin lightly as Rachel lies down. "While she's thinking of that, anyone have questions for Miss Cai?"
Yasmin is always nice. Her hands are gentle when she straps Rachel in all nice and snug and maybe not /too/ tight before she lowers the circlet down around her forehead - there's a lot of nonverbal communication going on there in the meantime. She's taking her sweet time.
Or don't. Rachel doesn't mind if Yasmin does none of that. Her face, as she gets on the table, conveys that message. Unluckily, it's disregarded. What a friend.
"There are plenty of things I am curious about with a lot of people that have been on the machine but I also just don't know if I want to pry that hard because I know when I'm on it I would rather not share some things," Silas says to Jack while watching Yasmin hook Rachel up to the machine, "But I can ask something nice so she can experience it. Try to think about a time when one of your best friends and you were just hanging out and had a good laugh."
"You should make her treat herself to a spa day--actually, you should make her treat ME to a spa day," Olivia encourages Yasmin as she studies Rachel with her own plotting going on in her brain. Hardly the same evil mastermind as Sienna. "Rachel Cai! My question for you is... Ooh, good one, Silas. I'll go the opposite direction. Who is the scariest movie monster--which one gets you the most?"
"You'll have your turn, Mr. Arkwright," Jack tells Silas. He looks at Caelum. "There's nothing about this that shouldn't feel as if your mind has been invaded."
Jack turns to look at the monitor. Then, he asks quietly, "Have your friends turned on you, Miss Cai?"
Joel nods softly and murmurs "I guess I can attend..." he murmurs faintly, before blinking in surprise at himself. He trails off, eyes focusing on the display.
Caelum offers a slight, noncomittal shrug of one shoulder towards Jack when he notes the invasion. However, still remains in relative silence in attention paid forward.
"I cannot say I am looking forward to it, Father Jack," Silas responds to Jack's comment about it being his turn eventually.
"Rachel Cai, how do you plead on the charges of serving fawaffle without any kind of syrup or sauce?" Olivia draws an imperious tone as if imitating Frollo in a court.
"ooh, are you attracted to Liv?" Gabriella can't help herself and asks Rachel.
Olivia points at the monitor and points out to the crowd, though her explanation is full of snickering at Gabriella's injection. "Note that the machine isn't objective truth! Opinions can be very wrong--why would you not sauce up falafel in ball form, let alone in the waffle shape?"
"Time for your instruction, Miss Ahmed," Jack tells Yasmin with an eye on the clock. "I promised I would wrap class up before three."
Though there's a faint smile on Yasmin's face at Olivia's suggestion, she doesn't seem /too/ amused when she walks back to the monitor after strapping Rachel in, and hearing the questions the others have for the girl. She seems distracted, eyes flicking up to Jack for only a moment, something unreadable in them, and her fingers are slow when they tap-tap-tap upon the keyboard, entering in the instructions. Really darkening the mood here for the last turn.
So far, the class has been (relatively) kind to Rachel. She relaxes, as much as one can relax, strapped to a table.
Gabriella needs to turn her eyes away from the screen to check the time on her phone, and then comments "..I would whip up a nice UI for this interface..."
"Terrible." Caelum whispers under his breath at the question Yasmin gives to Rachel, shakes his head even. "Why couldn't you ask her the color of her panties or something?"
Yasmin doesn't look Rachel's way for a long moment, or at the screen. In fact, her eyes are just fixed down upon the keyboard, unblinkingly. A pause, then she asks Rachel, "You should tell us something interesting about you."
"I really don't understand people's fascination with underwear colors" Gabriella turns her head briefly to look at Caelum while she comments that.
Olivia asks Gabriella, "Can you upgrade the computers in the lab too? I don't understand that version of Windows." Caelum makes her laugh and she turns back around to see the input. "What did I miss? What was her evil plot?"
Joel grins faintly to himself, even as he quietly keeps watching the display.
Rachel, for whatever reason, has suddenly decided to move away from casual conversation. Perhaps it's guilt weighing upon her, needing a release. "I told my boyfriend..." This is a hard one. "That I prefer sex with him, over sex with the person I've been cheating on him with. I love him -- so I lied." While that's all she says...
"It's okay, Gabs." Caelum replies to Gabriella without looking her way, still staring at the chair. "I don't understand you when you start to nerdspeak either." Then for Olivia, he simply nods towards Rachel. "That."
"It's not Windows, but Miss Harris forbade me to so much as look at those OS libraries... she seems to be afraid of something" Gabriella complains, but also sounds a bit proud of it.
Gabriella grins as Caelum mentions her nerdspeak.
"Were you going to share something with the class, Miss Cai?" Jack asks Rachel, with an eye on the clock.
"What the fu-" Gabriella reacts to the 'movie', then stops mid-word and says instead "sorry Father."
"Oh my God," Olivia remarks at what she clearly interprets as Rachel's choice to share. Her hand poses over her mouth in the shock of it all. The DRAMA of it all has her losing all other threads of conversation. Just silence--there's no good-humored response to that.
"See? This is why I am not excited about being on the machine, you are all ruthless," Silas says to Yasmin now as he watches the replaying memories and looks towards Rachel with a grimace, "I don't even want to know who she cheated on him with, poor guy."
Viktorin simply stays silent, watching someone and Yasmin with the subtle twisting of his lips, whilst his eyes dull slightly.
"I mean I wouldn't want to know myself," Silas says as he reaches up to slide some fingers against his face to clear some hair away. He looks to Jack now with dull blue eyes, "This class is fucked up, Father Jack."
"And there we are," Jack says. "Miss Ahmed, untie Miss Cai. All of you -- class is dismissed," he says. "You did well, and we'll catch up with those who still need to go through the process later." He pauses. A look at Silas. "Language, Mr. Arkwright. Your turn," he says ominously, "Will come."
And yep, that's definitely Yasmin not looking Rachel's way again. Rachel may have guilt of her own to deal with, but it's there aplenty in Yasmin's features as well, for all that she's the one who'd asked the question in the first place. It's impressive how she manages to avoid eye contact entirely when releasing Rachel of all her bindings one by one, and steps away with all the haste she can manage right after.
With that, Jack strides from the room, clutching his injured hand.
Viktorin simply stays silent, watching Rachel and Yasmin with a neutral expression. His lips twist subtly, and he lifts his gaze, acknowledging Jack with a mere nod.
The lab concludes with mixed reactions from the participants, ranging from shock and awe to moral indignation and concerns over privacy invasion. Jack's departure, clutching his injured hand, leaves an ominous reminder of the session's gravity and the potential consequences of dabbling with such invasive technology. Gabriella's suggestion of a user interface overhaul and Olivia's astonishment at Rachel's confession encapsulate the session's blend of modern concerns with timeless ethical dilemmas. Silas voices a common sentiment of unease about the invasive nature of the exercise, encapsulating the overarching theme of ethical boundaries being tested under the guise of educational exploration. Amidst the revelations and technical manipulations, friendships are tested, and the participants are left to ponder the moral implications of using such a device, with Jack's parting words serving as a chilling reminder of the power and dangers inherent in mind control technology.
(Jack's [White Oak] Mesmerism - Lab (A.M. Track) )
[Wed Feb 21 2024]
In Room One of the Experimentation Wing at the Webster Clinic
In this room the stark, whitewashed walls exude a sterile, clinical atmosphere, punctuated by the low, persistent hum of sophisticated machinery that reverberates through the meticulously sanitized space. The polished, stainless-steel surfaces of the examination table and the gleaming array of intricate surgical instruments glisten under the cold, fluorescent light, casting sharp, calculated reflections that amplify the sense of detached precision and calculated experimentation characteristic of the Institute's enigmatic research initiatives.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
When Yasmin comes to join the small group already present, most of her attention is upon Jack - or, more specifically, his hand - until Olivia's enthusiasm pulls her focus away, a flash of a smile offered to her. "Hello! I tried to text you after I got back from my vacation, but I think your phone was turned off."
Gabriella gets lost for a bit but then walks in, hopefully not too late.
"I had some away time that messed my comms up," Olivia admits back to Yasmin as she spreads the greetings back to those others. Silas earns a familiar smile and wave, and Joel a more enthused, "Oh I know! Sorry for last week--I was just demolished by the flu or something. Did you find another homework partner?" Gabriella coming in gets a big smile and a wave over to join.
Viktorin wanders in, having promptly been deposited, his face contorted into an expression of woeful befuddlement and puzzlement. Recognizing a good majority of those around him, however, he offers a quiet wave, slinking forward.
Caelum trudges in somewhat exhaustedly, and without a word, makes for the group of students gathered around to slither into the crowd. Out of sight, out of mind - hopefully lost among the crowd. To what avail? Remains to be seen because he's standing tall in the crowd out of everyone except someone. Whom, he makes a half-step to somewhat hide behind.
Caelum trudges in somewhat exhaustedly, and without a word, makes for the group of students gathered around to slither into the crowd. Out of sight, out of mind - hopefully lost among the crowd. To what avail? Remains to be seen because he's standing tall in the crowd out of everyone except Viktorin. Whom, he makes a half-step to somewhat hide behind.
Kayly gives a wave in Viktorin's direction, and then finds a spot in the room to easily observe the machine.
Jack says, "Gather around."
"Hey Caelum, Sie! How are you two doing? Been a minute," Olivia cheerily greets the pair.
"Hey Liv, you missed an awesome cheer practice," Sienna wiggles her fingers back at Olivia as she slips into the gathered group of students, glancing about curiously at the setup.
Gabriella smiles towards Olivia at her greeting, but otherwise pays attention to Joel. She looks a bit tired today.
Gabriella is paying attention to Jack, really.
Joel shakes his head at Olivia "No, I still gotta find someone for that" he mutters, though without any rancor, tilting his head as if to add something, but then glances toward the front of the class.
"Same old," Caelum chimes over at Olivia - taking a spot closer, hands in the pockets of his jacket, eyes on the machine. Only paused to glance over his shoulder at Sienna, and give the latecomer that arrived just a solid minute or two after he did an upnod in greeting as well. It doesn't take long, his attention is back on Jack, the chair.
"Well then," Jack tells Viktorin, Caelum, someone, Olivia, Silas, Sienna Kayly, Yasmin, Gabriella, and Joel. "We've got quite the class today. This is a practical lab, so those of you we don't get to we will schedule an additional session for," he says. "We'll also move as quickly as we can, but I want all of you to have some hands-on experience with the machine." He gestures to the machine. "So in preparation, I first need you all to get rid of anything on you that is metal," he says. "For the ladies, that includes underwires in your brassiere. If you need to change, there are gowns there, but that probably shouldn't be required." He pauses. "The machine can cause shocks," he says. "It doesn't always, but when it does the smell -- and the pain -- is awful." He looks over the table, wincing -- his right hand is obviously broken.
"When we had our lecture, I discussed the ways someone can bring hypnotic power to bear, but I omitted one -- technology." He pauses. "In truth, this may just be some other magic masquerading as scientific power: as Clarke says, at a certain point they are indistinguishable. We'll start by explaining how the device works," he says.
"When a patient is on the table, you can lower this helmet --" He gestures at the circlet with his broken hand with a wince. "-- down on their head. When it activates, it will open their mind in a variety of ways. We'll talk about that in a moment, but for now, you should know that as White Oak students, you do not need to pay to use this device. However!" he says sternly. "Do NOT use it without a faculty member present." He pauses. "To use it, a person must be laid out on the table. They do not need to be restrained, but it's best if they are -- someone who is wiggling around when the circlet is applied can experience severe brain damage."
(OOC: This room can be used with the 'mindhack' command. For WO students, the command is free, but for code reasons you need $100 in cash on your person. It doesn't take the cash, it just needs to be there. The person who is being mindhacked needs to be helpless.)
"Well then," Jack tells Viktorin, Caelum, Olivia, Silas, Sienna Kayly, Yasmin, Gabriella, and Joel. "We've got quite the class today. This is a practical lab, so those of you we don't get to we will schedule an additional session for," he says. "We'll also move as quickly as we can, but I want all of you to have some hands-on experience with the machine." He gestures to the machine. "So in preparation, I first need you all to get rid of anything on you that is metal," he says. "For the ladies, that includes underwires in your brassiere. If you need to change, there are gowns there, but that probably shouldn't be required." He pauses. "The machine can cause shocks," he says. "It doesn't always, but when it does the smell -- and the pain -- is awful." He looks over the table, wincing -- his right hand is obviously broken.
"When we had our lecture, I discussed the ways someone can bring hypnotic power to bear, but I omitted one -- technology." He pauses. "In truth, this may just be some other magic masquerading as scientific power: as Clarke says, at a certain point they are indistinguishable. We'll start by explaining how the device works," he says.
"When a patient is on the table, you can lower this helmet --" He gestures at the circlet with his broken hand with a wince. "-- down on their head. When it activates, it will open their mind in a variety of ways. We'll talk about that in a moment, but for now, you should know that as White Oak students, you do not need to pay to use this device. However!" he says sternly. "Do NOT use it without a faculty member present." He pauses. "To use it, a person must be laid out on the table. They do not need to be restrained, but it's best if they are -- someone who is wiggling around when the circlet is applied can experience severe brain damage."
(OOC: This room can be used with the 'mindhack' command. For WO students, the command is free, but for code reasons you need $100 in cash on your person. It doesn't take the cash, it just needs to be there. The person who is being mindhacked needs to be helpless.)
"I bet! You'll have to tell me about it, because I was absolutely not making it out of bed," Olivia starts to tell Sienna before the class begins. She just motions for later and stands with Gabriella and Yasmin, the former of whom gets a nod and the whispered question, "Yeah, did you get my text?"
Viktorin skeptically considers Jack's words for a moment, before sighing defeatedly. He yanks his pendant and sunglasses off, and pats himself down before stowing his belongings into his backpack.
It's just a handful of silver jewelry that Olivia has to take off, the assortment of earrings joining her pendant and ivy in a convenient hold elsewhere in the room.
Joel purses his lips faintly, setting down his phone and wallet on a desk, briefly glancing down at himself before deciding he has nothing else that has to go.
Continuing, Jack says, "We are going to try to give each of you in turn an opportunity to both be on the table and use the controls." He pauses. "If we don't get through everyone, we'll do one more makeup session and can also schedule small groups as needed." He pauses. "Make no mistake -- this device, and the power that underlies it, is dangerous and evil. But it has its uses," the priest explains. "It provides three great benefits," he says. "The first is that when someone is on it, this monitor here shows their thoughts and feelings." He indicates a monitor.
(OOC: While mindhacked, the content of the 'think', 'feel', and 'recall' commands will display to the room. Think is used for vocalized thoughts, feel for feelings, and recall for images and/or memories.)
Rachel's perpetually late, and perpetually sub-par at sneaking in. She makes her way to Yasmin's side and mouths, 'hi.'
Caelum looks down at his phonee for a moment in distraction away from the lecture, and for the briefest of moments, bring it up to his ear while filing away from the grou, out of the room. His other hand is lifted up to his mouth so he can take off his rings with his teeth, however, indicating he won't be long at all.
"May?" Gabriella asks Jack. "You mean we don't have schematics or... well, understanding on how does this machine works? I mean, someone must manufacture them, right? Even if we don't get hold of who designed it..." She pales up a bit as Jack tells them not to use the machine unsupervised, and asks, "what if we already did use the machine before?"
Olivia makes an enthused wave at Rachel as she meanders in, surely not helping the whole sneaking thing at all.
Wincing again, Jack cradles his broken hand as he turns and hits his broken hand on the console. The pain seems to break his train of thought for a moment, and he mutters a low, upset oath that is definitely not priestly. "The second thing the machine can do is create mental commands of the sorts we discussed in lecture class -- it can instruct people's minds and bodies, compelling them to act, and even implant the kinds of triggers we discussed in the future." He pauses. "While those with powers can use their mental abilities to do this, it takes time. The electricity humming through the machine is almost instant." He looks out. "I need two volunteers -- first on the machine, first at the controls," he says.
(OOC: When mindhacked, you can use all of the commands in 'help hypnotism' without cooldown.)
Rachel catches the wave from the corner of her eye. She brightens. Her wave toward Olivia is equally as energetic. What she mouths is either 'long time no see' or 'banana tree.'
Yasmin reaches at her wrist for a bracelet hidden beneath her sleeve, sliding it off, and then up beneath her hijab to remove a thin, gold chain. While she does appear to be listening to Jack's words, there's a visible distraction that sets in on her features. The attention span of college kids nowadays, am I right? Must be all the technology talk. Rachel's arrival earns her a little smile, and she shifts to stand next to, and maybe slightly behind the taller girl, as though she can hide away at the mention of volunteering.
Gabriella reaches for her phone to check whatever text Olivia mentioned, clearly not having read it... does she notice any looks that happen in the meantime? Perhaps not - she just smiles as she reads it, and then switches to the email app.
Viktorin glances over his shoulder and hawkishly slants his eyes towards Rachel, twisting his lips into a frown. However, he gifts Jack the rest of his attention, warily watching the machine before him.
Rachel pays Viktorin no heed. Hard to know whether she's missed seeing him, or is simply avoiding confrontation. There's plausible deniability for the latter, given that in the moment, she's preoccupied with rifling through her messenger bag.
"Finally," Jack says, "You can use the machine to implant emotions or visions in someone's mind." He pauses. "Also, be mindful -- there is something happening here that is more than just electronics," he says with a sharp look at Gabriella. "Even after you are off the table, some psychic entanglement lingers."
(A person who is mindhacked can also be targeted with 'telempath' and 'illusions', but they do have a 15 minute cooldown, and during that cooldown you can also not use hypnosis command. Mindhack applies to the person who has been mindhacked, so anyone in the room can use commands. It also lasts until you leave the room, even if you stop being helpless. While these rooms are the only public locations that allow mindhacking, you can also become mindhacked from a destiny or fixation patrol.)
Jack asks, "Who are my first two volunteers?"
Joel exhales slowly and shrugs, lifting his hand since there seems to be no escaping the procedure.
"I've already had a turn on the controls, so if someone else needs a chance, please go ahead," Olivia offers to the room, turning from face to face
Caelum slips his phone back into his pocket, returning to the group, now bereft of his metals. He does not look at all like he wants to volunteer first, while putting his hands back in the pockets of his jacket and peering from face to face with a half-narrowed look.
Gabriella emote turns to glance to Olivia, trying to contain her smile. Then, she's looking back at Jack, an.
"Mr. Kalani!" Jack says. "We'll let you use the controls, since you were in the chair earlier," he says. "And Miss Myers -- when did you use the controls?" he asks, suspicious. "We're going to have some follow-up," he says darkly, his tone already unpleasant from his broken hand. "Miss Myers, you can lie down on the table. Mr. Kalani, as soon as she has lain down please tighten the bonds and apply the circlet."
Gabriella grimaces at Jack's words to Olivia, and retreats... not to flee, but to get rid of her metal.
Jack slips Joel an access card. "I'll want that back, Mr. Kalani. Make sure you bring your student ID."
Olivia makes a bit of a face but does comply with the invitation to lay on the table. First she takes those boots off, worried about aglets or some metal that's likely not there, but rests on her back there and nervously. "It was for the homework assignment! Perfectly reasonable usage."
Joel gets to his feet and slowly approaches the chair, nodding meekly as he takes the card. He flicks his gaze over to Olivia, giving her an apologetic faint smile before starting to fidget with the equipment, although he turns out quite adept at fastening the straps around Olivia's arms.
Joel then slowly pulls the circlet down, watching Olivia in fascination as he secures the circlet around her forehead.
"Very good," Jack tells Joel. "Let's see how this is working -- Miss Myers, think about the last time you broke White Oak rules." A low smile. "This isn't confession, but then we all have sins to atone for, don't we?" Don't we, says the man not on the machine.
Joel gets to his feet and slowly approaches the chair, nodding meekly as he takes the card. He flicks his gaze over to Olivia, giving her an apologetic faint smile before starting to fidget with the equipment, although he turns out quite adept at fastening the straps around Olivia's arms. Joel then slowly pulls the circlet down, watching Liv in fascination as he secures the circlet around her forehead. (re with announce)
Gabriella protests and defends Olivia - and her own sins too, of course. "Well, how were we to know that there was a rule against using it unsupervised? It's not on the website or anything..." she tells Jack.
Olivia grunts and winces as the crown comes down and the apparent pain of the machine follows, though of course the bindings make any sort of writhing extremely limited. She clears her throat and tells Jack, "That's a very devious way to populate the confessional, Father."
"Oh, christ, it even shows it." Caelum hisses under his breath while staring up at the display. There is a slight wince, where he sucks in a breath. "This thing is bad."
Joel stares quietly at the display, a dark fascination in his eyes as he stands right beside it.
Silas stands near the machine and watches the display and seems to share the same sentiment that Caelum does though he does not speak on it and instead looks towards Olivia after the most recent bolding display with a grimace.
Rachel leans over to tell Yasmin, in no uncertain terms, "See? This is how I expect mind stuff to work." She points at the screen for emphasis. "Not whatever it is you were doing."
From her spot half-hidden behind Rachel, there's a grimace upon Yasmin's face at the instructions given, and the look she gives Olivia is all pity. If her desire to volunteer was zero before, it may have just gone into the negatives now. Rachel gets a sharp look right after, along with an elbow to the side.
"We'll discuss later with both of you about common sense and extremely expensive, extremely dangerous machines," Jack tells Gabriella and Olivia. "Anyone have any other questions for Miss Myers? Mr. Kalani, while the class thinks about that, I'd like you to take a look at the console..." He pauses. "You type the instruction in here," he explains. "Everyone watch what I am doing. Then you turn this dial for intensity... And when you're ready, you hit this button." The button says in big red letters, COMMIT. "Be warned, though: if you try to force an instruction that the mind is not ready for, it can backlash on you as an unpleasant shock."
(The mindhack uses normal hypnotism commands. So for a hypnotic instruction, the command is 'hypnotize
"Go on, Mr. Kalani. Give Miss Myers a command and then we will give someone else a chance to try the machine," Jack tells Joel.
Viktorin faintly lifts his eyebrow at the machine, regarding it with disgust.
Gabriella rolls her eyes a bit but nods to Jack saying "alright..." she's briefly distracted with trying to read what keeps showing up on the screen, while adding "...but the fact that White Oak patrons finance very expensive technology is all the more reason for their children to be able to use it, insted of just stating here gathering dust!"
Sienna pops up beside Olivia strapped into the devices, more than familiar with the process. "Hey, Liv, what's the most fucked up thing that you've ever done since you've been a student here?" she queries of the cheerleader with the most innocent of smiles, a pointed glance cast toward the antiquated displays showcasing the girl's mental processes.
Rachel expresses silent sympathy for Olivia in the form of a grimace.
For all of Jack's stern warnings, students might notice none of these rooms are kept locked.
"Cruel." Caelum half-whispers again, narrow eyes staring at Sienna when she pops beside Olivia to deliver that question contrasting the innocence of her smile. He still lifts his eyes though, to watch the panel with guilty curiosity.
"Common sense? It's ours to use as part of tuition, isn't it?" Olivia has to protest, likely on behalf of her aforementioned rulesbreaking. It is not until Sienna brings up her question that, hot on the heels of Jack promising everyone a turn, Olivia says, "Sie doesn't get to use the keyboard!" while squinting her eyes and trying not to think.
Gabriella watches Joel.
Joel bites his lip thoughtfully, flushing just a little as he hears Sienna's suggestion. But he seems to think about it a little longer, stepping in front of the keyboard and carefully typing out an instruction, looking over his shoulder as he presses the Commit button.
"Just because she doesn't have the keyboard doesn't mean she doesn't have a voice," Jack tells Olivia, glancing at Sienna. "It's a cruel question, though -- but it's awful how our mind responds to questions we don't want to answer, isn't it?" As Joel types, Jack nods. "That's good. That could have also been a body instruction, but we'll do that with our next test student."
Joel widens his eyes a little at the film on the displays, swallowing a little, before returning his gaze to Olivia, watching to see if the instruction will work.
Olivia grimaces as there's no apparent rest for the wicked. She strains in her bonds, trying to work herself out but to no avail--she just demonstrates some flexibility instead as she makes a back bridge on the table, neither wrists nor ankles moving. It's a fair display of flexibility and athleticism, but beyond that to no avail. Awkward in a short dress on a table, but her tights are opaque. A moment's frustrated struggle then she sinks back to her back with a huff. "Are you going to punch it in yet, Joel?"
"There goes pizza as an option for a while," Silas says to some of the others nearby as he looks to the screen and then to Olivia, unsettled.
Sienna turns her head to gaze toward the display with quiet expectance, her brows knitting in soft disappointment toward Olivia. "I can't believe you did that. Did you enjoy it? Seeing her like that?" she continues to strategically draw reactions from the subject, shifting back a half step to train her gaze on the emotional output.
Gabriella smirks.
A low smile, one that seems to glitter with some cruelty. "He did, Miss Myers," Jack says. "Alright --" He pauses. "Miss Myers is off the table. Mr. Kalani, release him? And then I think we'll put Miss Swann at the controls, and you'll be on the table this time, Mr. Kalani," he tells Joel and Sienna. "Miss Swann, if you could bind down Mr. Kalani once Miss Myers is off the table and he is ready to get set."
Joel blinks a bit "Oh, we're going..." he trails off and nods as he bites his lip, reaching down to untie Olivia, briefly murmuring something to her in the process.
Viktorin rubs his brow at the screen, clenching his jaw and disgustedly wrinkling his nose. "My lord. That's gross." He slants his eyes for a few seconds until he hears Jack, which prompts an apologetic glance towards Joel.
"Hey, let's give Joel a little break?" Caelum offers with a cautious glance at Sienna, who is totally not in evil tech overlord mode right now. "If we're all going to have a turn at the table, I want mine to be done and over with if its alright."
"You're volunteering?" Jack asks Caelum. "Very well -- Mr. Kalani was, after all, the subject of the lecture." He pauses. "Mr. Kalani, you're off the hook. It appears that Miss Swann is going to have Mr. Cross as her ... subject." He pauses. Did he mean victim? "Miss Myers, remember to step out of class and back in to break the entanglement."
"It wasn't my idea or anything," Olivia admits as she gets out of those bonds just as fast as she can, doffing the crown at once and rubbing at her wrists. "It was uh... pretty freaking gross. I haven't had pizza since. And it's cool, Joel--whatever you did doesn't even seem to have worked." She pops in and out of the room, wishing Caelum in the process, "Good luck!"
Sienna's features soften just a touch when Caelum valiantly volunteers himself for tribute in Joel's place. "Well aren't you a knight in shining armor," she murmurs under her breath with mild sarcasm, ticking her chin toward the straps. "Hop up. I'm sure this will feel right at home for you."
Olivia pokes Sienna in the back on her return and snickers as she asks, "Were you looking for inspo for your turn at the controls?"
"Luck, yeah." Caelum nearly hisses under his breath. His hands run down his puffer vest to undo its zipper, remove it and toss it aside while stepping out of the crowd. Then he's rolling up his sleeves, "Go easy on me, I don't want to end up on the pyre." Sienna gets a look, not at all lingering before he offers Jack a slow nod, and climbs the chair himself to be strapped in.
Joel blinks a bit and lifts an eyebrow, glancing between Caelum and Sienna, murmuring wryly "You sure you don't just want her at the controls?" a faintly mischievous tone to his voice before he shrugs and retreats to the group, glancing back at Olivia for a moment.
"Miss Swann," Jack tells Sienna. "Once you've got him strapped down, let's get the circlet settled. Did you remember your ID card, or do you need to borrow mine to swipe?"
"I'm doing you a favor, Joel. Don't expect another." Caelum chides the other sigma, narrow eyes pinned on him for a moment while he's set up on the chair, head sinking where it ought to, while his hands settle on the armrests where they'll be strapped, soon, surely. "Sienna is the last person I want on the controls."
"Don't worry Joel, I bet you can go next, you just need to offer, like he did" Gabriella tells Joel with a small smile.
Joel clears his throat as he replies to Gabriella "Never like to push myself forward..."
Sienna jolts slightly at Olivia's words, the corners of her lips upturning in a soft smile. "Nah. Just decided to take advantage of the situation and learn a little more about how you work." The young Swann is frighteningly familiar with the machinations of the facilities, casually fitting the appropriate pieces to Caelum's head once he's suitably restrained to her liking. "Don't worry, Father Jack. I know what I'm doing," she reassures. "I'm just here for the free guinea pigs."
She retreats back to the central control, disinterested in the dials so much as the myriad displays. "Caelum, think about the night your life was irrevocably changed. Think of the last face you saw, in that moment. Think of how you felt."
Gabriella seems mildly disappointed by Joel's reply.
With Sienna's question it seems like any voluntary joining of the whole experience Silas had just leaves him as he looks towards the woman and then they flit over to Caelum, and a miserable grimace comes to his features as he watches the man.
Gabriella raises an eyebrow at the brutallity of Sienna's first words to someone after the machine is turned on.
Gabriella raises an eyebrow at the brutallity of Sienna's first words to Caelum after the machine is turned on.
Strapped in, Caelum briefly tests his bindings while Sienna and Jack talk with one another. He doesn't seem happy, particularly when she poses that question out of everything after fiddling with the controls. It makes him take a deep breath, swallow, his jaw clenches - and he closes his eyes.
Rachel departs Yasmin's side in brief. She picks her way through the gaggle of students until, at last, she's just off to the side and behind Olivia, whose elbow she touches.
"Or fight it, for all I care. I'm just interested to see how your mind processes this," Sienna relays over toward Caelum with all the casual disinterest of an avid observer, green eyes sweeping over his features before returning to the screen.
"Well," Jack says to Caelum, watching. "How does it feel, to be in Miss Swann's power?" He looks at Sienna. "You can choose if you demonstrate a triggered command, one to his body, or both," he says to Sienna. "Though if the class has questions for Mr. Cross..."
"Boxers, briefs, or fig leaf?" Olivia volunteers from the field of observers, perhaps to deflate the rather serious opening assault the mind-reaving Sienna has opened with. She gives Rachel a bright smile after finding whose hand found Olivia's elbow.
Sienna barely suppresses a smile at Jack's muttered exasperations, though it fades as a horrific sequence of images from Caelum's memory rolls across the displays. She sucks in a sharp breath, head tilted slightly to the side.
Caelum visibly clenches his jaw for another moment, inhales and exhales. The poisonous vitriol in the hue of his eyes briefly pan from Sienna to Olivia. He keeps quiet, while looking not at all pleased about it.
Yasmin is left Rachel-less, which means she's also left without a convenient cover to hide behind. There's a huff of breath at this act of betrayal, her arms coming to fold across her front, and then she turns her attention quietly to the screen as well, eyes a little wide at what's displayed upon it.
"This class, this... this is dangerous" says Gabriella, after having admited to have used the machine herself, before briefly glancing towards Jack and then telling him "is there any NDA involved around here? I mean, I didn't sign anything, did they? Did you?"
Joel pales just a little at the sight, letting out a soft breath and slowly brushing fingertips through his hair thoughtfully.
"That's the lesson you should be taking away," Jack tells Gabriella. "This -is- dangerous." His voice is low. "It is awful and evil, Miss Savoy, and none of this -- none of this -violation- of someone's mind -- is just a toy."
"Thanks, Liv." Caelum sighs out.
Silas watches the display in which Caelum's memory shows through those displayed images and the man seems to have a solemn expression on his face. He watches the whole thing as well, not looking away with some look of sympathy and respect in Caelum's direction afterwards.
Yasmin was watching the screen very intently, which is why there's a tiny, quiet little squeak when suddenly, there's instead a naked Caelum with a fig leaf cover. She's definitely not looking that way anymore, nope.
Caelum looks like he's trying to steer his thoughts, when he huffs a half-amused sigh towards Olivia again.
"Happiest memory?" Sienna lowers her chin into the pit of her palm, throwing Caelum a sliver of mercy in her dwindling interest. "Focus on a fleeting detail. Something that really resonates with you from that moment."
Rachel's been having a staring contest with Olivia, but at that familiar squeak, she peeps over at Yasmin.
It is hypocryte of Gabriella, who remains looking at the screen, to argue about this with Jack, but... she does. "So, is it alright to ... keep going on, keep doing this violation after we already know the power of the machine?"
"Miss Swann?" Jack asks Sienna. "When you decide you've had enough torturing Mr. Cross, let's give him his instruction," he says. "Or rather -- you can just take your torture of him on your own time. Given how he is dating Miss Inigo, I suspect that's his... attraction." There, there's a thought lobbed at Caelum to put on display.
Olivia makes a more humane and more sincere cackle when Yasmin squeals. It shakes her out of mercy mode and on to Gabriella's question to Jack.
"Don't," Caelum tries not to look at Sienna after her suggestion of a happy memory tries to break his concentration. Eyes away, from anyone, really, while he stares down.
"Contrary to Father Jack's doom and gloom about the technology, it has been instrumental in a number of acts of mercy and good, with obvious therapeutic effects when placed in the right hands," Sienna counters Jack's earlier sentiments to Gabriella, ever the technologist, as she abandons the console altogether to release Caelum from his imprisonment. "Anyhoo. I'm sure you've had enough of letting a faeling toy with your mind. Up and at 'em, fanger," she encourages her friend out of the devices.
Quietly, Yasmin trudges over around the machine so she can stand by Rachel and Olivia, a moment of non-verbal communication leading her to offer the former a brief glare. The latter gets a smile. Olivia did nothing wrong.
Olivia is truly the only innocent one in the room, that much is for certain. She uses this to volunteer the thought, "Maybe it would be wise to have a master in the hot seat. That way you can show us how to better resist this stuff, Father. What do you say--wanna put the crown on?"
"You're going to let me off without any compulsions?" Caelum tips a brow at Sienna. He looks very much skeptic while she starts to undo the straps.
Rachel's cartoonish ability to communicate solely with frowns, smiles, and glowers is admirable. In this moment, it's the glower that Yasmin earns. "Yes," Rachel pipes up, seconding Olivia's ask.
"You don't want me giving you any compulsions," Sienna reminds Caelum sweetly as she loosens the straps, quickly removing the circlet from his head with practiced ease. "Better that way."
"Well," Jack says to Sienna, his voice low. "We are not here just for your amusement: we are demonstrating the machine, and time is passing." A low pause, as he looks up at the clock. "I don't have time to dither with this," he says. "We'll just have Miss Swann take Mr. Cross' place -- and Miss Ahmed," he says, now picking volunteers. "You can take the controls. Miss Swann on the table and Miss Ahmed at the controls will be the last for today," he says. "And we'll schedule time for the rest as we can."
"I do not." Caelum nods, out of the bindings, out of that circlet. His hands come up to rub his temples, wince slightly, while he takes a bit of time to slip out and off the chair and join the crowd.
Gabriella grins at Olivia's question to Jack. And then, there's relief in her face as Jack names the scheduled use of the machine for the rest of today's class.
Jack shoots a look at Olivia.
Alas, Yasmin could only go unnoticed for so long. At least it's just her on the controls instead of having to be the one who gets to be strapped down - Sienna gets her most sympathetic of looks as she moves to the machine.
"Aww," Olivia complains through an utterly innocent expression at Jack's cross look. Even with her squad backing her up, it's Sienna in the hot seat and Yasmin in control. Olivia cooks her question while the other girls get settled. She has to ask Caelum, "Gabby was wondering how the leaf works."
Gabriella hmms. "There are... mental techniques to resist this sort of intrusion, right? Some sort of... well, you know, like a way to encrypt our memories instead of having them in plain text or something?" Gabriella asks Jack with another parallel to the world of technology. She tacks on "-will you teach us that on a follow up class?" Better a new topic than a second session on this... specially if Gabriella can avoid the crown that way.
"Huh, so why did I see your pizza thoughts on the screen? Why didn't you use it?" Gabriella asks Olivia.
Sienna turns her head to fix Jack with a guarded look, seeming to weigh his words within her mind. Her tongue presses at the interior of her cheek, mouth seeming to open to give fire and brimstone before she merely just shrugs a shoulder. And, with the most heart-wrenching pout she can muster, the Swann raises her vibrating phone with a wave of a hand. "Family call, Father Jack. I'm sure you can understand how important it is I don't miss my own mother's call, right?"
Olivia settles her hands on her hips as she regards Gabriella for a minute before claiming, "Distractions. It's not my fault, if you hadn't been making faces--here, let me prove it. Eff-Jay, can I go round two?"
"Well then," Jack tells Sienna with some shadowed look as she flees. He turns to look, then. "Alright -- Rachel Cai," he says. "Up on the table. Miss Ahmed, bind her down." He pauses. "You removed any metal, Miss Cai? I know you came in late. "Miss Cai will be our last for today," he says. "That means we'll need to do Mr. Arkwright, Miss Savoy, and Miss Menendez in a makeup session.""
"Convenient timing on that one," Silas says after watching the woman flee from the room.
Rachel throws a look up to the heavens -- although maybe she should be considering hell, where Jack belongs. Her ring comes off, tucked into her bag, which she drops off in the corner. "...Okay." A look's distributed Yasmin. Be nice. Or else.
"I'm afraid I need to be on the phone with my mom that day, afther" Gabriella tells Jack, not even knowing what day will it be.
"Yes, we might all have calls from our dear mothers," Silas says to Jack, sounding apologetic and coordinating their plan of attack with Gabriella.
Joel blinks a bit at that "Oh, so... I'm excused from being in the chair?" he murmurs, somewhat foolishly.
Olivia snickers at Silas's commentary, evidently in agreement with the man, and lets Gabriella take her away to a fit of giggles. Before Rachel can get up on the table she reminds the girl, "Hey, no metal, remember."
"..unless it is pure gold" Gabriella speaks as if she has read some instructions manual or something.
"Miss Ahmed," Jack instructs Yasmin. "Tighten the straps and then put the circlet down, please." He chuckles. "You can start formulating the worst instruction you think you might give your friend," he teases Yasmin lightly as Rachel lies down. "While she's thinking of that, anyone have questions for Miss Cai?"
Yasmin is always nice. Her hands are gentle when she straps Rachel in all nice and snug and maybe not /too/ tight before she lowers the circlet down around her forehead - there's a lot of nonverbal communication going on there in the meantime. She's taking her sweet time.
Or don't. Rachel doesn't mind if Yasmin does none of that. Her face, as she gets on the table, conveys that message. Unluckily, it's disregarded. What a friend.
"There are plenty of things I am curious about with a lot of people that have been on the machine but I also just don't know if I want to pry that hard because I know when I'm on it I would rather not share some things," Silas says to Jack while watching Yasmin hook Rachel up to the machine, "But I can ask something nice so she can experience it. Try to think about a time when one of your best friends and you were just hanging out and had a good laugh."
"You should make her treat herself to a spa day--actually, you should make her treat ME to a spa day," Olivia encourages Yasmin as she studies Rachel with her own plotting going on in her brain. Hardly the same evil mastermind as Sienna. "Rachel Cai! My question for you is... Ooh, good one, Silas. I'll go the opposite direction. Who is the scariest movie monster--which one gets you the most?"
"You'll have your turn, Mr. Arkwright," Jack tells Silas. He looks at Caelum. "There's nothing about this that shouldn't feel as if your mind has been invaded."
Jack turns to look at the monitor. Then, he asks quietly, "Have your friends turned on you, Miss Cai?"
Joel nods softly and murmurs "I guess I can attend..." he murmurs faintly, before blinking in surprise at himself. He trails off, eyes focusing on the display.
Caelum offers a slight, noncomittal shrug of one shoulder towards Jack when he notes the invasion. However, still remains in relative silence in attention paid forward.
"I cannot say I am looking forward to it, Father Jack," Silas responds to Jack's comment about it being his turn eventually.
"Rachel Cai, how do you plead on the charges of serving fawaffle without any kind of syrup or sauce?" Olivia draws an imperious tone as if imitating Frollo in a court.
"ooh, are you attracted to Liv?" Gabriella can't help herself and asks Rachel.
Olivia points at the monitor and points out to the crowd, though her explanation is full of snickering at Gabriella's injection. "Note that the machine isn't objective truth! Opinions can be very wrong--why would you not sauce up falafel in ball form, let alone in the waffle shape?"
"Time for your instruction, Miss Ahmed," Jack tells Yasmin with an eye on the clock. "I promised I would wrap class up before three."
Though there's a faint smile on Yasmin's face at Olivia's suggestion, she doesn't seem /too/ amused when she walks back to the monitor after strapping Rachel in, and hearing the questions the others have for the girl. She seems distracted, eyes flicking up to Jack for only a moment, something unreadable in them, and her fingers are slow when they tap-tap-tap upon the keyboard, entering in the instructions. Really darkening the mood here for the last turn.
So far, the class has been (relatively) kind to Rachel. She relaxes, as much as one can relax, strapped to a table.
Gabriella needs to turn her eyes away from the screen to check the time on her phone, and then comments "..I would whip up a nice UI for this interface..."
"Terrible." Caelum whispers under his breath at the question Yasmin gives to Rachel, shakes his head even. "Why couldn't you ask her the color of her panties or something?"
Yasmin doesn't look Rachel's way for a long moment, or at the screen. In fact, her eyes are just fixed down upon the keyboard, unblinkingly. A pause, then she asks Rachel, "You should tell us something interesting about you."
"I really don't understand people's fascination with underwear colors" Gabriella turns her head briefly to look at Caelum while she comments that.
Olivia asks Gabriella, "Can you upgrade the computers in the lab too? I don't understand that version of Windows." Caelum makes her laugh and she turns back around to see the input. "What did I miss? What was her evil plot?"
Joel grins faintly to himself, even as he quietly keeps watching the display.
Rachel, for whatever reason, has suddenly decided to move away from casual conversation. Perhaps it's guilt weighing upon her, needing a release. "I told my boyfriend..." This is a hard one. "That I prefer sex with him, over sex with the person I've been cheating on him with. I love him -- so I lied." While that's all she says...
"It's okay, Gabs." Caelum replies to Gabriella without looking her way, still staring at the chair. "I don't understand you when you start to nerdspeak either." Then for Olivia, he simply nods towards Rachel. "That."
"It's not Windows, but Miss Harris forbade me to so much as look at those OS libraries... she seems to be afraid of something" Gabriella complains, but also sounds a bit proud of it.
Gabriella grins as Caelum mentions her nerdspeak.
"Were you going to share something with the class, Miss Cai?" Jack asks Rachel, with an eye on the clock.
"What the fu-" Gabriella reacts to the 'movie', then stops mid-word and says instead "sorry Father."
"Oh my God," Olivia remarks at what she clearly interprets as Rachel's choice to share. Her hand poses over her mouth in the shock of it all. The DRAMA of it all has her losing all other threads of conversation. Just silence--there's no good-humored response to that.
"See? This is why I am not excited about being on the machine, you are all ruthless," Silas says to Yasmin now as he watches the replaying memories and looks towards Rachel with a grimace, "I don't even want to know who she cheated on him with, poor guy."
Viktorin simply stays silent, watching someone and Yasmin with the subtle twisting of his lips, whilst his eyes dull slightly.
"I mean I wouldn't want to know myself," Silas says as he reaches up to slide some fingers against his face to clear some hair away. He looks to Jack now with dull blue eyes, "This class is fucked up, Father Jack."
"And there we are," Jack says. "Miss Ahmed, untie Miss Cai. All of you -- class is dismissed," he says. "You did well, and we'll catch up with those who still need to go through the process later." He pauses. A look at Silas. "Language, Mr. Arkwright. Your turn," he says ominously, "Will come."
And yep, that's definitely Yasmin not looking Rachel's way again. Rachel may have guilt of her own to deal with, but it's there aplenty in Yasmin's features as well, for all that she's the one who'd asked the question in the first place. It's impressive how she manages to avoid eye contact entirely when releasing Rachel of all her bindings one by one, and steps away with all the haste she can manage right after.
With that, Jack strides from the room, clutching his injured hand.
Viktorin simply stays silent, watching Rachel and Yasmin with a neutral expression. His lips twist subtly, and he lifts his gaze, acknowledging Jack with a mere nod.