[Plot] The Curious Case of Basil Benson

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki awaited to see who would arrive for this wild goose chase.

In truth, she knew they didn't have a ton of information to go on, even now. But she also knew that if they moved any further just the three of them, it could lead to disastrous results.

And so she waited to see who would turn up to chase geese.

[Chase Delacroix]

Chase and Diego were already there, the former being up front with Chisaki while the latter was seated and doing something with his tablet.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette was there, because of course she was, and was fidgeting as per her usual when in stressful situations like this. What if no one came?

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

It seemed like Jez was the first one not in the know to poke her head in. She wasn't a member of any teams, but the idea that any former campus-mate might be in trouble had brought her out.

"Am I early?"

[Victor Freud]

Victor didn't really know what the situation was, or if he'd even be of any use, but he was willing to listen to the briefing at least. He knew that his own skills were very... circumstantial. So he entered with little more than a nod and took a seat.

[Robin Stanton]

Chasing geese is the exact kind of thing Robin would sign up for on the spot, so to who knows her it wouldn't be a big surprise to see her hop over the back of one of the seats with one hand on the backrest to land in the seat with a soft thump.

[Samantha McManus]

Sam makes her way in, regarding the people at the head of the room as she sits down.

[Will Stanton]

Will, too, entered, standing in the back with his arms crossed.

[Chase Delacroix]

"Good. I think we can start. Over the summer, Basil Benson suddenly broke things off with Colette via a letter. It was only when I came asking why he had mysteriously quit his job in the library in the same way did the two of us look closer and found he had signed the letter in a way that was suspiciously out of character. It wasn't a lot, but when we started digging we ended up following the rabbit hole all the way to Japan to talk to his long lost biological father who was hiding from people he believes want him dead. But that isn't directly connected. The important thing is we found enough possible motives connected to a society Basil stands to inherit a position in to lead us to look into his father's family, who helped us to conclude that his stepfather likely had him sent somewhere to bring him to heel. In looking for a likely institution, we found that a doctor Mr. Benson once hired to 'cure' Basil now works at..."

Diego put up an image of the CRUA building.

"... The Center for Research of the Uniquely Abled: part clinic, part long term care facility for mutants that can't survive without intervention. The perfect place to manage a problematic mutant family member. But that's where things threw us a curveball. First, someone came forward to tell us they had encountered Basil working at an adult nightclub and exciting memory issues. Second, once at CRUA under the guise of prospective clients, Diego managed to talk to a patient who claimed patients are being taken away on arbitrary disciplinary issues and never seen again. We decided then and there that it was time to involve the school moving forward, be it additional research or more direct means of finding the secondary location. And, of course, finding those being held."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

Chisaki seemed contented enough to let Chase lead the conversation.

It wasn't until Chase started divulging information about the Board that Chisaki tensed up, but only in a way that Sam could notice. To the outside observer she would seem as cool as a cucumber, but a spike of anxiety pinged from her before being tamped back down.

She hadn't thought to coach him that the X-Teams really shouldn't know about all that.

[Robin Stanton]

"Whelp, that place sounds beyond sus alright. Some fuckers always think they can offer easy solutions to 'The Mutant Problem'." she says in a tone close intentionally close to barfing.

"So what's the goal? Aside from busting out a possibly uncooperative Basil. We looking to get that place shuttered or is this one of those things where we don't wanna kick the hornets nest?"

[Victor Freud]

"... this sounds like some kind of spiritual sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo." Was Victor's only contribution after the story had been told.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez just felt horrible. Basil had gone missing, and she hadn't even noticed? Some friend she was.

[Chase Delacroix]

"From the looks of it, we'll be breaking the doors down at a secondary facility. As for CRUA itself, it depends on how high up the chain the corruption goes. Some of their patients have nowhere else to go, but that's for X-Corp to figure out."

[Samantha McManus]

"Not to naysay, but this place sounds like it has friends in high places. Do you really think breaking down the doors is going to go well?"

[Will Stanton]

"And you're saying someone found Mr. Benson outside of the facility? Mightn't it be safer to try to recover him there?"

[Chase Delacroix]

"The student witness in question felt that could endanger Basil. Given what we now suspect, we're inclined to agree."

[Samantha McManus]

"Still Chase, we've got a few shapeshifters here. We've got people who can go in through the plumbing. We've got people who can be smuggled in as household objects. We've got a guy who can shrink to an inch high. We've even got, and I swear I'm not being culturally insensitive here, an actual bloody ninja."

[Robin Stanton]

"It's true." she says, as if she's making a confession. "I am trained in the ancient art of ninjitsu. Wait, no, the one two or three before that. Not the plumbing though. Have you ever seen the inside of one of those pipes?"

"But Sam's right, we got a lot of subtle options sitting around the room. Getting in isn't gonna be the issue. Getting him out might be though..."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"The person in question mentioned that Basil was wearing a peculiar earring that stood out to him.

We're uncertain if this is a tracking device or something worse at this time.

Unless we know for a fact we have the ability to remove this device, we are hesitant to forcibly remove him from where he is currently."

[Samantha McManus]

"See, if we're worried they'll shoot the hostage then the last thing we need to do is kick down doors."

[Victor Freud]

"... wait. I still don't get the nightclub bit. If he was sent away to be out of sight out of mind... why's he at a nightclub?"

[Will Stanton]

"If it's 'something worse', than barging in with uniform and authority is liable to make them trigger it.

And if it's a tracking device, taking him out without shutting the building down is a temporary solution, at best."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"... wait. I still don't get the nightclub bit. If he was sent away to be out of sight out of mind... why's he at a nightclub?"

"We do not know exactly. We speculate that certain parties wanted him gone, but certain other parties at where he was sent to saw a usage in him. It is possible in whatever restructuring they did to his mind, they fixed his issues with his powers. Most who spoke with Basil about his issues thought they were triggered by psychological issues, not 'physical ones'.

The current theory is that it is possible that not unlike Chase when he was programmed, Basil believes he is operating under some sort of mission, personal or orders, by the statement he made to the student witness.

Basil told the witness he 'did not need any half-baked heroics' and that 'we have everything under control."

'We' implies he was viewing himself as operating with a group and he was not the only one of that group present."

"If it's 'something worse', than barging in with uniform and authority is liable to make them trigger it.

And if it's a tracking device, taking him out without shutting the building down is a temporary solution, at best."

"This is the riddle we find ourselves in.

Basil definitely knew the student witness casually, but they were not close. I had seen the witness and Basil have an extended interaction just once, so this could explain why he did not remember them. He might recognize someone he knew better, one of us... but they might recognize us in return depending on how heavily they went through his mind, and shut down whatever is going on at Miscreant to hide him else where. "

[Chase Delacroix]

"Perhaps this calls for a joint operation. Assuming Basil is still there, we can secure him and infiltrate the secret facility at the same time."

[Diego Zapata]

"We gotta find it first," Diego reminded everyone, "To do that, we could put a tracker on the vehicle he uses. If that only takes us to a safe house, then we'll have to use telepathic means. It's doubtful he's alone in this, so between however many he's with, one might know where home base is."

[Samantha McManus]

"We have to assume this is a facility that knows a fair bit about mutants, and apparently employs at least some. Pretty likely they've got a telepath on the payroll."

[Robin Stanton]

"If they sent people with potential on to a second location then the easiest way to find it is to walk in the front door and sign up for their 'treatment' with a power that's too juicy for them to pass up."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"We thought of that, but if Basil has been memory wiped then the likelihood is that whomever we tried to plant would have the exact same thing happen to them."

[Victor Freud]

Victor did a little bit of a double-take when Chisaki dropped the name of the club when answering other questions. "Wait, did you say 'Miscreant'? There were people handing out flyers for that place during the Festival of the Atom. That can't be just a coincidence, can it?"

[Samantha McManus]

"A mutant club where the performers are ringers? Think it's a honeypot?"

[Chisaki Watanabe]

The one person probably no one in the room expected to answer Samantha did.

"It was a thought I had as well. By conventional standards, Benson-san is definitely attractive enough that if a male on my team was needed to fill such a position, I would probably pick him to fill it."

[Robin Stanton]

"Maybe somebody should play the role of the fly then? Assuming we can guesstimate enough about who they're targeting?"

[Will Stanton]

"Do we have any idea what sort of 'mission' we're talking about here, or are we going in entirely blind?"

[Chase Delacroix]

"Unfortunately, no, we don't know what the mission could be. Getting eyes on him for some recon isn't a bad idea."

[Will Stanton]

"And, I hate to ask this...but is it possible he's there of his own volition? If I recall correctly, Mr. Benson wasn't exactly pleased with his circumstances here at the university. Is it possible he went elsewhere looking for some sort of purpose, and everything about the Center and what's going on there is a red herring? He did turn down being 'helped', which could mean monitoring, could mean brainwashing, but could also be genuine, yes?"

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Absolutely not." The quieter pink girl finally spoke up, and her tone was one of absolute certainty.

"Basil did not only leave ze university; he left his family, his friends, his new home, and myself. Basil may be many zings, and have many... interests, but he is a gentleman first and foremost. He would not, of his own accord, ignore his friendships. And he definitely would not leave me via a 'Dear Joan' letter. His heart is too big for zat.

"And, while she may not have said it outright, Madame Benson has confirmed our suspicions. She too believes zat Basil has been taken, zough to where she does not know."

[Will Stanton]

Will nodded. "Then our hands our tied. We have to get him out, and fast, before any sort of brainwashing becomes permanent.

I don't fancy taking on the center directly without knowing what's going on inside. Do you suppose they have any suspicions from your reconnaissance mission earlier?"

[Chase Delacroix]

"We made efforts to hide our identities, so it's unlikely."

"I'm all for extracting him, I just worry about what happens to anyone else being held when we tip our hand. Hence suggesting we get a location before we do."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"Maybe somebody should play the role of the fly then? Assuming we can guesstimate enough about who they're targeting?"

"i think this idea has merit, but it is going to have to be someone Basil can recognize that they do not.

So far as the facility itself is concerned, I only really see one safe option for us.

We find a way to track the vehicles that are shipping people out to these other unknown locations. The employee at the facility stated that some of these individuals could be being shipped to Muir. If they are indeed shipping actual problematic mutants to Muir, then we should be able to confirm that easily enough. And once we have that information we could then use it to try to determine which people who come to collect from the Center might be affiliated to Muir, and which are not."