Trish Tilby hadn't been this excited in a long time, and her distinguished career had given her plenty of cause for excitement. She had been asked specifically to conduct an exclusive interview, and…

"I'd like to welcome to our studio Father Vincent Altheim and Lucy Altheim Pulayantlha, siblings of the so-called Cathedral Killer, Kassandra Altheim."

After the pleasantries were exchanged, Trish tried to gently start into the questions. Preparing this interview was not easy in the least. Most of the questions suggested to her just seemed so crass and morbid, especially when she finally came face to face with her guests. She hoped they were feeling particularly talkative, otherwise, this would be a much shorter interview than she expected. How was Kassandra, growing up? No, that was a terrible way of putting it, talking about her as if she had died. How was growing up with her? Better. She asked that.

Good. She heard stories of life with a girl who could be difficult and temperamental, and had, due to her circumstances, a firmly entrenched habit of calculated secretiveness. Some heartwarming anecdotes of life with a funny and basically kind-hearted sort. And some rather alarming stories, such as how she kept the manifestation of her mutant abilities secret for three years, and how acting on her sense of justice and adventure had on more than one occasion put herself and others in danger.

"But of course," said Vincent, "things almost always turned out for the best in the end."

"Almost being a key word, right?" said Trish, somewhat sympathetically.

Lucy and Vincent both nodded morosely.

"What has she been up to lately? Is there any truth to the stories that she is suing several news sources for libel?"

"Yes," said Lucy and Vincent, almost in emphatic unison.

"But we can't really say much more about that, since the lawsuits are pending," said Lucy. "I haven't had a chance to speak with her since the sentencing, anyway."

"And I haven't been allowed to speak with her at all since the verdict," said Vincent. "She also was not allowed to speak with any other priest, on account of the supposed security threat posed if one were to hear her Confession. I'm afraid she has been allowed no privacy and limited freedom of religion."

"So whom has she been allowed to see?"

"Just Jack, Michael, Mama, and me," said Lucy. "Jack can see her any time, as her attorney. And we can visit every weekend and on holidays. Which would be fine if any of us actually lived on this continent!"

"How about any of her friends?"

"Most of her friends," said Vincent, "are people she's known from her work or fellow mutants. In other words, more security risks."

"Including Kurt Wagner?"

"Especially Kurt Wagner," said Vincent. "If I'm not allowed to visit on account of posing some security risk, there is no way they're letting a teleporter in. But Kassandra has been putting a lot of pressure on the Department of Corrections to allow us and a few other close friends on her approved visitors' list."

"Now, you, Father, I can understand, as you are Kassandra's brother," said Trish. "But as for Kurt Wagner, is there any truth to the stories that the two of them have been an item?"

Lucy spoke up. "Kurt has been a dear friend to all of us for years, especially over the course of this trial. Whether he's been involved with my sister or not is irrelevant. Of course it would mean a lot to her if he could visit."

There were a few more questions, most of which pertained to how Kassandra was holding up in prison. As well as could be expected, considering the bad food, the constant headache she suffered from wearing the inhibitors, and how, on days when she was allowed outside, she could not even run fast enough to give her a good workout. In other words, not good. And the isolation she'd suffer once her family tried to resume their normal lives in Namibia. But how Lucy responded to the questions about Kurt remained in his mind long after he'd finished watching that interview, confirming that this separation would, if anything, be harder on Kassandra than it was on him.

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Kassandra endured an insufferably long drive, hooded and fighting off the effects of a continuous stream of wetware coursing through her veins. Not soon enough, she felt herself pulled out of the car, then roughly walked through what sounded like endless spiraling corridors and staircases. Finally, she was dumped into a chair. The hood was unceremoniously yanked off her head, along with a handful of hair.

"Ach!" Kassandra recoiled from the light that assaulted her dilated pupils. Then, Linderung, endlich! The inhibitors were removed, and the feeling that her entire nervous system was compressed in an allover vice grip abated. She took a deep breath, took a moment, and then shut her eyes briefly, trying to relax. No such luck. An officer jabbed another needle into her arm.

"Verdammt! Would you stop that?" she cried, wincing.

"Why?" said a man's voice from the darkness behind that infernally bright lamp. "What difference does another dose of mutant suppressant make, when it seems to wear off so quickly in you?"

"Because you know well it hurts about as badly as those inhibitors," said Kassandra. It wasn't as if she'd never before been on this end of an interrogation, but the fight against the drug's effect made her very irritable. "And, meaning no disrespect, but the officer wasn't quite quick enough with the needle. I know where I am, despite your best efforts, and I can also guess what you want from me."

"Very good, then," said a woman. "Of course, you made this more difficult by going public, but we may still have some use for you. Perhaps even eventually as a field operative, if you can behave. And I am sure you can anticipate what will happen if you do not consent to helping us out."

It was true. And the prospect of her even having a say in this would not have been possible had she not behaved so cooperatively even in the oppressive conditions at Red Onion. Still, that amount of control she was given over her situation looked like it could be just rope enough for her to hang herself. What were her options? To deliberately choose to work under their thumb, or for them to physically and psychologically torture compliance out of her? Maybe target those near and dear to her if she herself proved too strong- which she knew she would. She had to restrain the urge to think out loud. Clever of them, to shoot her full of sodium pentathol as well as mutant suppressant drugs. If she didn't blurt out her thoughts, she'd at least be more vulnerable to telepathy- at the moment, anyway.

"I'll let you know what my decision is when the drugs wear off, and not a second sooner," said Kassandra. "All right?"

There appeared to be some disagreement on the matter. Kassandra thought she overheard the woman whisper something like, "It's the same reason why we can't use memory implants on her… Yes, allowing her to think things over completely may ruin everything, but she's not like Wolverine. We can't afford to impair the very abilities she brings to our table…"

Kassandra listened with interest as the woman prevailed.

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Kassandra heard a muffled implosion behind her. "Ach, est ist du, wieder," she said. "I was wondering when you might turn up."

"Ich bin hier zu…"

"Ja, Ich weiß, 'Azazel,'" said Kassandra with a wicked grin. "You are here to claim the scapegoat. There are just a couple of problems with that, however. You just ported into a mutant confinement unit with a fully functional block-wide inhibition system that I have no intention of destroying. Just try to port me out of here against my will."

So he grabbed a hold of the girl. Nothing happened. His surprise gave Kassandra all the advantage she needed. An elbow to the solar plexus, and then a firmly placed back kick, and he collapsed against the wall.

"Not surprising." Kassandra placed her foot upon the helpless teleporter's stomach, ready to put what weight she could on it if he so much as looked at her wrong, and not altogether pleased at how taking him on without using any mutant abilities was so… easy. "Idiocy is, after all, the default mode of evil. But if you were a real demon, an inhibition system wouldn't pose any problem. As it is, it's now the least of your concerns. The Devil already claimed me. For reasons that are entirely my own, I belong to Weapon Plus now, und… WE HAVE AN INTRUDER!" Kassandra screamed.