Mess Hall Fuckery! [OTA]

[and_intothefire]

Jean was currently positioned in the middle of the mess hall. Her mind was wide open, her eyes closed softly, and she was listening. The din of psychic voices around her was soothing, feeding her a nearly giddy energy. She wasn't honing in on any one thought, just loving that she had the ability to sit there, free to dip into any open mind that

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[intangibleuse]

Kat meandered into the mess hall, her dark hair pulled into a tight ponytail behind her head, her sleeplessness showing in the dark circles beneath her eyes. She wasn't hungry, but she needed food, so she grabbed a banana and a cup of coffee before making her way to a table and sitting down.

It was hard not to notice the redheaded woman. That color of hair couldn't be real. Raising an eyebrow, Kat pursed her lips. "Sorry if this is rude, but do you dye your hair?"

[and_intothefire]

Jean looked up, cocking her head to the side slightly. "No, I don't," she said, giving Kat a smile. She was really in an uncharacteristically good mood, and it showed. Her foot pushed the chair across from her out as Jean narrowed her mind into Kat's.

My, she was stir-crazy. And my, she was pissed off at her boyfriend.

It wasn't what was going on with Kat's main thoughts though. Something was very off inside this girl's head. "I'm Jean." She sipped her coffee, studying the brunette across from her.

[intangibleuse]

Kat grunted softly under her breath, surprised. "That color's not really natural. Or rather, not too common." She shrugged a shoulder, suddenly feeling a bit defensive for having asked that question. It was rude, wasn't it?

She gave Jean a small brief smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. "Kat."

[and_intothefire]

"I'm fairly unnatural, so the hair just comes along with the package," Jean replied with a smile. She watched Kat, then nudged the chair across from her out a little further with a gentle flick of her finger. "Sit, please." Jean wanted to figure out what the hell was going on inside this girl's head that was feeding her such a broken vibe.

She wasn't crazy; no, she was perfectly sane. Jean moved to her memory center, feeling along until she bumped into something very wrong. It was like the memory had been ripped it half, part of it taken out, before being sewn back together. "Nice to meet you, Kat," Jean said, her eyes on Kat's face but her mind completely elsewhere

[intangibleuse]

Kat jumped as soon as she realized that the chair was moving all on its own. No, not on it's own. The woman was moving it. Telekinetically. She slid into the seat across from Jean and nodded, swallowing a little. Her face paled and she stiffened, folding her hands into her lap. She had no idea of the invasion happening in her head, but still, as with most new people, she was wary.

"It's fine. I'd like to get out a little bit more. There's nothing around here to really do." she said, though she had that feeling she got whenever she was with a psychiatrist. "How about you? Do you like it here?"

[and_intothefire]

Jean felt the wariness, even if she wasn't empathic. She knew there was an off feeling to her, even when playing at her best, that put people off her immediately. Most put it to their own insecurities and warmed up to her eventually, depending on just how jaded they were.

That was what was helpful for Jean's endgame. Most people were genuinely good at heart, and most wanted to believe the best in others.

People were stupid.

Jean continued to move languidly through Kat's memories, noting each one that had been tampered with. Most seemed small, insignificant to the larger picture of Kat's memory. A few were glaring in their sloppiness, making it more obvious something large had been taken.

"I haven't been here long enough to form an opinion yet. I only arrived a few days ago." She definitely wasn't feeling the same cabin fever everyone else seemed to be, though. She was more than entertained. "It's not too bad though. Could definitely be worse." She could still have a choke chain wrapped around her mind.

[intangibleuse]

"A few days is long enough to make a judgment. Might be hasty, but still..." she murmured, her eyes moving over Jean's face as she studied her. The woman was pretty, but cold somehow.

Surprise surprise.

"It could be worse, yeah. We could be in cells. No freedom. Tested on. The program's not too bad."

[and_intothefire]

"And how long have you been here?" Jean pulled back psychically a bit, staying in to see how her thought patterns worked. She wanted to know how much of the memory alteration affected her.

And she wanted to get a sense of the girl in general. "And I agree, being in cells and being tested on wouldn't be fun." She leaned in a little, planting the 'I don't trust this program either' seed. "I'm not sure how free we really are, though."

The statement was vague enough that it could be attributed to the weather and cold that was keeping them all trapped here.

[intangibleuse]

Kat frowned, staring down at her hands. She picked at a hangnail for a moment before she sighed. "Here? A coupla weeks. With the program, eleven years." she reached up and ran a hand back through her hair, leaning back in her chair.

She pinned Jean with a look. "We're pretty free. Internet access, free time. It's just...stifling is all. I'd rather be on a mission." she murmured, reaching up to pinch her nose. She was fidgety all of a sudden, and didn't know why.

[and_intothefire]

Jean watched her fidget, not disagreeing or agreeing with her. She simply watched. The level of anxiety in this girl was fairly high, most of which was attributed to being stuck in this place. Obviously, there was a reason she wasn't cooped up for long previous to coming to Russia.

"If you've only been here a couple weeks, what were you doing before?" Jean sipped her coffee, giving her a prodding smile.

[intangibleuse]

Anxiety was the worst of Kat's problems right now. Things with Wisdom were strained because of the distance aspect and she wasn't used to being around so many people. She wasn't very social, unsurprising for someone raised by the military.

"I worked on special projects for the program. Mostly in increasing my own abilities."

[and_intothefire]

"Oh?" Jean raised her brow, wondering what it was that Kat could do. "And what would that be?"

Jean stared at her, letting her mind go to work. They were all preliminary steps, things she'd taught herself to do while 'experimenting' on her classmates. She laid the ground work for compartmentalizing Kat's memories, putting up low-level psychic blocks and tagging the ones that had caught her interest. They'd be easier to pick up again later.

She knew she was capable of reconstructing Kat's memories, given the time. She only wished she'd gotten a bit more training to make it easier. This would be her first serious attempt.

A normal person would've gotten permission. A normal person would've been apprehensive at the idea of possibly destroying someone's mind. A normal person wouldn't have been trying to figure out what their limits and boundaries were by keeping track of the bodies.

Jean was not normal.

[intangibleuse]

Kat rolled a shoulder, as completely unaware of the mental invasion as she always was, and she smiled slightly. Almost a wry smile. "I can phase through solid matter. It's useful in espionage."

She noticed Jean staring and she raised an eyebrow, a slightly confused look crossing her face. "Are you alright?"

[and_intothefire]

"That sounds like an interesting ability," Jean said, nearly absent-mindedly, like she wasn't listening. She did pick up what the girl said, though - walking through walls was damned useful. She was just distracted by what she was doing inside Kat's head. It was taking more concentration than she was used to putting out.

Jean worked fairly quickly but carefully, getting to a stopping point in a few minutes. She'd have to pick it up again later, when Kat wasn't noticing her staring at her. "Oh, I'm fine. Just trying to figure out if you looked familiar or not. I could swear I've seen you before."

She was lying through her teeth, but it didn't matter. She knew that with Kat's past jobs, the idea of being known to anyone was not the best thing for her. "Hm, maybe I should phrase that better, after you basically tell me you're a spy." She smiled at her, tilting her head a little. "You just seem... like someone I've met before."

Jean shrugged. "Definitely not, though."

[intangibleuse]

Kat frowned softly, tilting her head as she considered Jean's strange behavior. She didn't know where this woman could have possibly seen her. No one saw her. That was the point. She was trained to be silent and stealthy. Not...memorable.

"Is that so? I'm pretty sure I'd remember you. Or at least your hair..." she murmured, a bit envious of that fall of crimson Jean had.

[and_intothefire]

Jean pulled back out of Kat's head totally, finally focusing on the brunette. She touched her hair, and smiled. "It is fairly memorable, isn't it? Maybe I should go darker sometime." She finished her cup of coffee, then grinned.

"Well, it was wonderful meeting you and I'm sure I'll see you around." She nodded to Kat, then got up, leaving her mug on the table. She'd be seeing a lot of Kat. Kat wouldn't be conscious for it, nor would she remember the encounters, but Jean would be seeing a lot of her.