Sveta logged off of PHO and powered down the simple computer provided to her by the techs in the Asylum. Starved for human interaction as she was, the internet had become her lifeline, allowing her to communicate with life beyond the lifeless walls of her prison.

Sveta frowned, internally chiding herself. Her room wasn't a prison cell; it was a haven where she could live without hurting anyone else, where her powers wouldn't turn her into a vortex of razor-like ribbons, swelling outwards to eviscerate everything in her path.

She just wished she could be normal.

"Hello, Sveta."

Sveta jolted in place, caught wholly unaware at the voice of the person inside her cell. This was impossible. The last time someone was in her cell–

Sveta's power lashed out instinctively. Her flesh unraveled into sharpened ribbons that struck out towards the speaker.

"No!" Sveta cried desperately trying to hold back her attack. It was no use. Her ribbons slashed into the man. Sveta shut her eyes tight, refusing to look at the mess her powers made. Another innocent victim of her lack of control.

"It's alright, Sveta. You can look at me."

Disbelief and burgeoning hope warred inside Sveta as her eyes snapped open, looking up at the person in her cell.

He was old. That was the first thing she noticed. The vast majority of the doctors she'd interacted with in the Asylum were in their mid-thirties or early forties. All of the guards were in their late twenties or younger. An elderly man like him was out of place in Sveta's world. He had lightly tanned skin and a well-kept, silvery beard on his face. The tendrils of Sveta's power had not touched his skin. Sveta staggered as her body rapidly reformed, her tendrils fleeing the man in an inexplicable display Sveta had never experienced.

"What is… How did… Who are you?" Sveta asked breathlessly, unable to properly form words through the turmoil in her mind caused by the rapid succession of impossibilities. A man she didn't know and who should not be here had somehow made it through the Asylum's security to enter her cell unnoticed. Her powers hadn't killed him when they reached for him. And now he was sitting in a simple wooden chair at a table that Sveta had never seen before. How did he smuggle a table and chairs into her room without her knowing?

"Would you like to take a seat? I find it is much more rewarding to enjoy pleasant company over a nice cup of tea." the man said, motioning to the chair opposite his invitingly.

Sveta blinked, shocked as a tea set appeared from nowhere, a pot in the man's hand pouring a steaming stream of dark liquid into a cup set in front of her.

"Who are you?" Sveta asked again, slowly backing away from the table. If he'd made it into the Asylum without anyone noticing, then he had to be a parahuman. If he was a parahuman who was speaking to her, there was only one thing he could want. He wanted to use her as a weapon.

The old man frowned. "I mean you no harm, Sveta. I came here to speak with you. I have no hidden intentions, you have my word."

Sveta didn't know what to do. The cameras in her room had certainly alerted the Asylum's guards to this man's presence by now. Help would be here soon. All she had to to was stall him until the guards arrived.

Hesitantly, Sveta reached out and grabbed the chair in front of her, pulling it a healthy distance away from the table before sitting down.

If the man was offended at the distance she'd made between them, he didn't show that irritation on his face. "Life hasn't been kind to you, has it, dear?" the old man said.

"Excuse me?" Sveta asked, her mind still whirling from the shock of his appearance, unable to form a proper response.

"You're kind. You're gentle. You want what is best for others, and yet you've been cursed with a power that is the antithesis of yourself. This was never The Plan."

"I… Who are you?" Sveta asked a third time, not wanting to talk about her powers. The guards had to be close by now. She only needed to keep him occupied a little longer.

The man smiled. "Many people have called me many names. My most recent moniker was '343'. I believe that will be sufficient."

Sveta had never heard of a cape called 343. He was either new or a cape held in reserve by a greater organization.

"Why are you here?" Sveta asked. She already knew he wanted her power, but the longer he talked, the more time the guards had to reach her. Why weren't they here already? Surely they saw what was happening on the cameras, right?

"I'm here to right the wrongs that have been done to you. All of you. Once I am gone from this place, there will be no need for this dreadful Asylum."

Sveta's blood ran cold. He wanted every cape in the Asylum. That… She couldn't allow this. "If you–" Sveta's words failed her as she felt a strange sensation in her gut, rapidly expanding out to encompass her entire body, right down to the tips of her fingers and toes.

"I told you, Sveta. I came here to help. Enjoy your tea."

When Sveta looked up, the old man and the table were gone. The only thing left to prove he was ever there were the chair she was sitting on and a cup of tea in her hand. She didn't remember picking up the cup.

The door to her cell exploded open as armored guards spilled into the space, weapons sweeping the interior for the intruder.

Sveta fell backwards out of her chair, rapidly scurrying into the far corner of her room. She wasn't afraid of the guards. She was afraid for them.

"Stay back!" she cried desperately. "I don't want to… hurt… you." Sveta slowly uncurled from the ball she'd wound herself into, hesitantly looking down at her hands.

…She wasn't unraveling. Her power wasn't lashing out at the guards. No…her power wasn't there.

Sveta didn't breathe. Hesitantly, she tried to call upon her power to turn her arm into a mass of shifting ribbons. She couldn't. She redoubled her efforts, and was met with failure once more.

One of the guards slowly approached her. "Garotte, are you–"

Sveta broke out into uncontrollable sobs. Tears flowed freely down her face as she hugged her arms around herself.

"Sveta!" a female voice called from behind the guards. The small frame of Dr. Yamada pushed through the crowd of bulky security guards to enter the room. "Sveta, what's wrong!" Dr. Yamada demanded, throwing care for her own safety to the wind as she hurriedly approached the girl she knew could shred her in an instant.

Sveta leapt upwards, tackling Dr. Yamada. She ignored the panicked shouts of the guards to stand down as she clung to the woman. "It's gone." Sveta breathed, happy tears spilling down her cheeks. "It's gone!"

Dr. Yamada waved the guards away, holding Sveta tight against her as Sveta's weight pulled her into a kneeling position. Sveta held her tight, face buried in her shoulder as she wept tears of relief and joy.