They're coming to take me away, ha-ha...

[Brian]

"Would you say you've had it since before March 30th, 2004?" Dr. Peterson asks, looking up at you questioningly.

[Bjorn]

"Probably not, but I could be wrong.  Do you mind," Bjorn asks patiently, "explaining why my possessions are at all relevant as to why I'm here?"

[Brian]

One of the guards shifts his feet, his boots scraping across the ultra-short carpeting in the room.  The doctor glances at him, but quickly turns his attention back to you.  "Your possessions are not here for two reasons.  One of them being we want to establish that you are of sound mind, and not a danger to yourself or others.  The other is that we wanted to study your fetish specifcally.  Is that what it is?"  His pen is poised to write something else down, but he waits on your reply.

[Bjorn]

"My... fetish?"  Bjorn blinks blankly.  "I have no idea what you're talking about."

[Brian]

"Your totem?" the doctor poses, his pen moving away from his paper.  "Your focus?  The bracelet, I suppose, until we know more.  Essentially, it's what allows you to do ... what you do.  It seems to protect you from the paranormal."

Both of the guards look uncomfortable at this, and look away from the doctor, staring at the floor.

"We've read the reports, but your bracelet does nothing for anyone else.  It offers no protection whatsoever."

[Bjorn]

"I have absolutely no idea," Bjorn says patiently, "why, conciously or unconciously, I would attach any significance to a piece of junk jewelry that I have kept solely because my parents raised me to be a pack rat.

"Furthermore, I also have no idea why you think I have any sort of paranormal ability at all.  While I understand we're in one of those situations where you're supposed to be asking the questions, perhaps it might simplify things if you explained that a little first."

[Brian]

"It goes something like this," the doctor says, tapping his pen against his thigh.  "You were able to withstand Ashnod's fire.  He is ... quite powerful.  It's very difficult for any of those metas here with defensive abilities to even soften the impact of his power.  You, on the other hand, weren't even singed when he attacked you.  We'd like to know why.

"Knowing this would be the key to constraining his power, allowing him to try and live a normal, functional life in society without having to worry about accidentally, say, setting a building on fire, or killing innocent bystanders with a flare of temper."

[Bjorn]

Bjorn shrugs again.  "That sounds like a wonderful goal, but again, I didn't do anything.   As far as I'm concerned, the only trick to not being burnt is not to catch fire.   Why don't you ask whoever it was that Miss Taylor thought was my partner?"

[Brian]

"That delusion of Miss Taylor's was not recorded by any of the monitoring equipment on board the monitoring vessel," the doctor dismisses.  "We assume it's merely a symptom of her deepening psychosis."

[Bjorn]

"You are looking for something that 'science, as you know it, cannot explain,'" Bjorn points out, with nary a trace of sarcasm or irony in his voice (or at least, so he hopes).  "How can you be sure your equipment was up to the task?  Someone powerful enough to block both Ashnod's attack and your detection equipment is at least as likely as the theory that I am a metahuman who needs an object that I've always considered to be no more than a curious piece of junk in order to exercise my power.  A power, I must point out, that I don't even think I have."

[Brian]

"While what you say is true, we don't have any way we can try and track down something we can't even see.  You, on the other hand, are right here before us.  It seems to me quite logical that we'd try and get what information we can from you ... ideally with your co-operation," Dr. Peterson says somewhat tersely.  It's obvious his patience is wearing thin at this point.  The guards straighten up, looking forward, but not looking at the doctor, and not meeting your eyes.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn spreads his hands wide.   "Certainly.  But I've told you everything I know, and that's not much."

[Brian]

"That may be true," Dr. Peterson conceeds.  "However ... what we can learn from you may still be more than you know.  We'd be fools to pass up an opportunity to learn more, and bigger fools to release a potentially dangerous and violent patient into the public.

"Regardless, we'd like to run a few tests to verify your condition, to see if you produce any kind of defensive reaction, and to find out if indeed, we just need to send you home.  This will be much easier with your cooperation."

[Bjorn]

"What sort of tests are you thinking of?" Bjorn asks quietly, his face impassive.

[Brian]

Code Select Expand

Roll for conversation
<Musk-bot> --> Bjorn rolls 3d6 and gets 9.

"We'd like to do a psyciatric evaluation on you, and then some of the standard tests," the doctor replies with apparent honesty.  "And then, some more ... well ... probably confusing things.  I'm sure you're familiar with them.  The card test, and such.  Just to measure if there IS anything about you that warrants further investigation."