The Black Days of House Mienstrire, Part 2, Side B

[Wil Mienstrire]

It was recreation time for the patients of Doctor Wite's Psychological Recovery and Rehabilitation Institution. Which meant a better part of the general population was released into an open gymnasium that simulated some sort of outside on a vague planet that no one could seem to pin down. Some of the patients just sat by the sidelines, immobilized in their transportation units. Others mingled in groups, sat by themselves and stared into nothing, played sports, worked out, and so on.

Wil had not seen where Mr. Gray had gone, or much less if the Gray man really even existed in order to be able to come out and be amongst others. Wil could not remember if Gray had come out of the room with him or even the building. While slightly unsettling, it was not the worst figment of his imagination that he could think of so he continued to stare at the fake sky above him.

Wil had been worried the first few times this recreation had occurred. It felt too much like... back then.

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The shadows were cast long and dark by the scattered fires and Wil's eyes gazed into them with little difficulty, waiting for the next attack.

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Someone had tried to come speak to him once. No one tried that anymore. It had resulted in a revoking of recreational privileges from Wil for sometime so being back out in the artificially fresh air was nice. They had not tried to talk really, more like push in order to get his attention. The push resulted in the offending patient's death eventually but that had been long term; short term in most of the missing skin to the patient's face and some messy fingernails for Wil.

[Rraarrl Kaah]

The largest group of patients parted, making way for one of the oldest (at least by time spent within these walls) residents of Wites.


The Zabrak took his time, limping along with the aid of a cane. His white uniform was accented with a woolen scarf. An unlit stim hung from his black lips, he paused next to the newest of Wites' acquisitions. A smile slowly crossed his features as one of his lessers leaned in with a light.

A wave of his hand and the pair were left alone, the other residents keeping a fair distance away. Rraarrl Kaah drew in a deep breath, wisps of smoke drifting from his grinning mouth, his gaze always straight ahead.

"Such a beautiful day, isn't it?"

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil like a small child with hurt feelings that did not want to talk about it rolled to his side, with his back facing the Zabrak. What he said next was muffled because it was said from underneath his arm.

"Its a beautiful ceiling, if that is like what you're trying to say, dude."

Wil was unsure of this guy. He had brought a ton of 'em over with them but then had made 'em all go away with a wave of his hand. Must be the guy who wears the pants during recess, or maybe the scarf in this matter but either way... where did he get the stimstick and the scarf... and the cane? Would they ever give Wil a cane?

No, because you'd use it to kill someone.
Yourself.
I am not suicidal.

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"Yes, well, the day is you make of it. Mumbling won't get you what you want."

He flashed a dazzling smile at no-one in particular. flicking the butt of his stim to the ground to be crushed beneath the tip of his cane.

"Neither will clawing peoples' faces to shreds, as much as I can appreciate the...charm in random acts of violence. It has it's benefits, but it also has drawbacks."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil sat up quickly, staring into the ground at nothing in particular.

"I didn't want or mean to do that to the dude, he just, shouldn't have... cornered me like that. I don't care about the drawbacks, I'm in enough of a drawback is it is, whats a few more minor ones?"

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"Look, Kid."

His face had fallen into an exaggerated frown, the annoyance quite clear on his features as he crouched down beside the boy.

"No-one wants to be here, but we have to make the best of our circumstances. You don't get power or influence over these people with violence alone. And it won't help to convince the higher-ups to let you out of here."

[Wil Mienstrire]

"And what can you get me then? You got a scarf, a cane, and a stimstick, none of which are gonna' help me wade through Wite's dren and get through here."

Wil made to stand up. He needed to speak to Gray; he would know what to make of this whole thing. Wil could not think when all these people talked about negotiating and getting around others and all that rot. Gray made it easy, just took whatever Wil said and turned it into a direct line thing rather than a meandering maze of options.

"Wait... I'll be back..."

Wil needed time to think by himself, to talk to Gray. He could never seem to find his counterpart except when he was alone. Maybe because he needed to concentrate alone in order to... will Gray into existence? His head hurt so bad now. Maybe he had been lying down for too long.

"I'll be back..."

If Wil was Gray, where would Gray be? Library, smart place for smart people. Wil stumbled away without another word from the Zabrak, completely honest in his intent to return as soon as he had a better idea of what he was doing.

[Mr. Gray]

The doors to the library swung open with a thud and Wil seemed to stumble in. Gray was standing near a magazine rack, the only one present in the small room, flipping through a six month old business journal. "Finally come to expand your mind Wilhelm? I applaud such an endeavor." he gave the magazine a few more flips and put it back where it had originated. "They may only allow us paper copies for safety reasons, but I find it to be one of the few amenities of the facility that I approve of. There's something more solid about a hardcopy of information, rather than just streamed bits and bytes."

He approached the boy, and folded his hands behind his back, solemn eyes once more keenly fixed on him. "Now, I doubt you came rushing in here in such a mess because you were eager to see if the new edition of Empire Monthly was available. Do you require something?"

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil let out a breath in staggered relief to have found Gray so quickly. He ignored the entire first part of whatever Gray had said, intent on trying to remember it later but moved on to more important things.

"This guy, spikes coming out of his head... He's talking like you and I can't follow it, Gray. He saw me rip that guy's face off a couple of weeks ago and he's talking to me about negotiating and stuff like that. And he has a cape and a cane and stuff."

Wil slumped into one of the many chairs, glancing over his shoulder to the books behind him while he waited for Gray to respond with the wisdom Wil required.

[Mr. Gray]

"Talking like me? Interesting. If I follow what you're saying, Wilhelm, I would suggest you be careful, it sounds very much like the man may be attempting to extort you. Using his knowledge of your actions to use you for his own purposes." He moved to step beside Wil, and tapped a finger to his chin, again vanishing into his own thoughts.

"He has personal effects, you say?" he paused, lips pulling tight for but a moment. "That does present a challenge, as it would indicate he has some level of power, rather perceived or real, within the facility. Enough at least to get some of what he wants." He took one step forward, moving out of Wil's shadow and motioning to him. "Someone with power, can be very difficult to deal with. You remember what I told you before, about obstacles?"

He moved his arm to 45 degree angle, so that his elbow was bent upwards, and his fingers sloped down. "Imagine that life is an uphill journey, and you have obstacles in your path, trying to cause you to stumble, and fall back. Now the most direct manner to deal with many of them, is to simply remove them from your path. When you come across an especially large one, however, it can be difficult to remove, and other obstacles may have fallen behind it, so if it is removed", he gave a slight pause, giving Wil the chance to absorb it all, "the other obstacles may all tumble down towards you, and there is a greater chance of you falling." He brought his other hand up, moving it up his sloped arm as an example.

"In these cases, it may be more expedient to negotiate the obstacle." He moved his hand around his arm, as if avoiding something, and then returning to its original path. "Sometimes the best response, is to simply avoid something."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil watched Gray with a sudden intensity that was unfamiliar to himself, tracking each movement and word that Gray said, internalizing. If one looked into Wil's eyes, one could probably see all of the gears grinding to such an extent that smoke would soon be rising. As Gray finished, Wil had one hand clutching the side of his head.

"Alright... I got it... Thanks Gray. I'll see you back in the room..."

Wil looked at his wrist as if there was a chronometer there.

"In a little while, I guess."

Without another word or conclusion, as if him leaving the library would make Gray disappear with its insides as Wil knew it, he walked out and back to the outer yard where the Zabrak still sat underneath the tree.

"I told you I'd be back."

[Rraarrl Kaah]

He flicked ash off the end of another stim, staring past Wil with a murmur.

"And?"

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil sat down and uncharacteristically glanced at the man beside him, holding his hand out to accept the stim from the Zabrak.

"What can I do for you, Mr...?"

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"Kaah."

He handed over a freshly acquired stim from the front pocket of his shirt, pausing to light it with his own.

"Germs."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil took his own stim and smoked it, coughing the moment he took it away from his lips, ruining any kind of image Wil might have been shooting for.

"Well? That was no uhhhh... formality or figure of speech in that question. I don't wanna dance around it with you, what do you want?"

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"I take care of you while you're in here...and you return the favor when the time is right. I'm not as young and spry as I once was," he tapped his cane for emphasis. His lips stretched into a wide grin, a crazed look passing behind his eyes as he continued.

"My reputation affords me certain luxuries, and I'm more than willing to share them, for a price to be determined later."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil was just old enough to know he was being played, like when he bought his first drugs off the street. He had overpaid so much, he had never thought his mother would forgive him. She hadn't either, she had taken it up with the drug dealer himself, a personal friend of hers. Maybe that was what was wrong with Wil. But Wil is a... what had Gray said, state of mind. Mienstrire, now, that was a curse.

"I wanna know the price now; I don't come cheap."

Wil was staring at his fist, his arm propped up on his elbow. He was a... doomsider, his power explosive at best, but he still had real power.

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"A few simple errands, nothing that would give one such as yourself any trouble at all."

He blew a stream of smoke from his nostrils, stubbing out the stim at the base of the tree. "You take care of my business while I'm stuck in here, watch my interests until I get out. Simple, and of course, you'll have help."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Take care of his business? Wil hadn't even hit his 19th cycle. But a business was an appealing concept. A business would generally mean money was involved, and Wil was a fan of the dough, assuming the business was actually lucrative that is.

"What kind of business?"

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"I run a gentlemens club, and I dabble in other ventures at my leisure. Drugs running, slaving, whatever catches my fancy at the time. One of my associates would be there to assist you, I'm sure you'll find her very...helpful."

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil licked his lips, biting his tongue more in thought rather than on accident.

"I've got no taste for slavery, man. Its like being in this place. I'll run your dren for you, but I want like, nothing to do with slavery..."

Wil gave it a pause for a moment as the gears turned inside his head.

"Actually, I'll only do this for you if you drop the slavery bit. Otherwise you can forget it and go find someone else. Those are my uhhh... conditions, yeah."

[Rraarrl Kaah]

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We'll get it sorted once you get out there..." He smirked, sticking a hand out in Wils direction. "So it's a deal then?"

[Wil Mienstrire]

Wil extended his own and took the Zabrak's green hand in his and firmly shook it.

"Deal. Don't screw with me, man. I'll ruin you, ya know?"

His voice wavered a bit at the end as he swallowed, not wanting to look the man beside him in the eyes.