Riddle 019: If You Can't Beat 'Em...

[puzzlerprince]

[After getting off the phone with some drones at the Mayfield High School, he hangs up---though it appears as though he hasn't placed the phone all the way onto the hook. As such, you'll be able to hear him talking to himself.]

...Ethics. This place wants me. To teach Ethics.

[He laughs to himself. A cruel, ironic, cold laugh. A sad, pathetic

Comments

[deaths_heritor]

I probably shouldn't be as surprised as I am.

[Leaning against the doorframe, Susan crosses her arms slowly.]

[puzzlerprince]

[Edward turns to face her.]

Surprised, Susan?

[Let's just try and ignore the orange, cloth elephant in the room.]

[deaths_heritor]

You're fond of those puzzles in the newspaper, aren't you?

[She crosses the room and heads straight for the elephant.]

Six letters. Definition: an institution for the care of the mentally ill or those requiring specialized assistance. Or a refuge, sanctuary. Though I don't think the latter issues uniforms.

[puzzlerprince]

[With all the bad things that've happened to him in the past couple of weeks, what'll it hurt to add "having your fake family find out you've been institutionalized" to the list? Edward's eyes narrow at her and he grits his teeth.]

Fine. I admit it. There's no point in trying to hide this from you any longer. Back home, I'm a criminal mastermind. I was caught---[Several times, but let's not get into that]---and sentenced to imprisonment in an asylum.

[deaths_heritor]

I'd believe the 'criminal' part.

[Susan lifts up the orange jumpsuit again and examines it carefully.]

Why an asylum as opposed to a jail?

[puzzlerprince]

Why does anyone get sent to an asylum?

I was deemed insane.

[deaths_heritor]

Yes, I understood that point. Why?

[puzzlerprince]

...I have a bit of an obsession, you see. With riddles.

Every time I would commit a crime, I would leave one behind. To test my opponents.

[A brief pause, before hastily adding on:]

My therapists have also gone so far as to call me a "malignant narcissist." Guilty as charged.

[deaths_heritor]

Don't sound so smug about it.

[Susan sets the jumpsuit down and places the package back on the bed.]

This explains your vigilante 'acquaintance', anyway. Well? What do you plan to do now?

[puzzlerprince]

Now? Now?

[He chuckles lowly.]

Question, Susan: If Mayfield seems so intent on making me out to be a criminal, why not play their little game? Why not take this idiotic social structure and turn it on its head?

[deaths_heritor]

I suspect that's a rhetorical question, but I'll answer it anyway. You've got the leadership quality of a skunk and the common sense of a squirrel. If you want to turn anything around, you can start with your urge to overreact to the least offense.

The only person who wants you to be a criminal is you.

[puzzlerprince]

...petty insults will get you nowhere with me. And you couldn't be any further from the truth.

[deaths_heritor]

Then tell me the truth. What do you think you can gain out of that plan?

[puzzlerprince]

Leverage.

How do you think such a "perfect little town" would react to a sudden criminal influence? I want to turn the tables on Grady, and the Mayor, and the Smiths. It's a means of resistance.

[deaths_heritor]

The 'perfect little town' would find you as much of a threat as a gadfly. Find a real resistance group if you want to resist. You don't know what they're capable of.

[puzzlerprince]

[He sneers bitterly.]

You would say something like that, wouldn't you? You don't believe in me. You don't understand.