((OOC: Continued for Shin from Ringing Ears, Ringing Bells.))

Speaking of rice cakes, Shin could really go for one right about now... wait.

... Shin glanced around the area suspiciously, then stared up into the camera.

Paranoid, he wasn't. Shin was on candid camera. A light source behind him cast a gleam across the lens. They were watching him. Well, fine. Let them watch, Shin thought defiantly. He was going to go find some friends!

With that thought, he sauntered off into the light. Good bye, Sunshine, hello bright fluorescent light!

And people! The next room he entered contained more of them. From the spiny porcupine mutant in the corner, with his braided brown beard and his sharpened mohawk, to the claw-toothed bat girl in the corner wearing black leather, these were certainly an upgrade from Sunshine in the corner. A little more depressed, Shin thought as he walked past them. A little long in the tooth-claw. But they were friendly at least, weren't they? Eh? Eh?! Shin aimed a smile at the bat girl. How she'd gotten an entire hand to dangle from her mouth, he couldn't fathom. Visible mutations never did need to make sense.

". . . Go away." The bat girl aimed a hood-eyed look his way. She shifted her head further down into the cloak of her wings.

". . . Sigh." Maybe stupid grins weren't the way to make camp friends. He decided to neglect trying it again with Porcuhawk. The guy looked like he had a real edge to him. There was no reason to rub him the wrong way.

Shin languidly loped his way towards the next group of people. There was always hope in the next group.

Three mouthless green men stared back at him with the same look. Shin took a step backwards, away from the triplets, then scurried towards the next congregation.

The new group looked far more normal than the last two. Shin slunk down onto his haunches, and looked a pale man in the eye. The eye winked back at him. Not the eyelid, mind you. The eye itself. Shin was suddenly reminded of crocodiles, and their second lid. He was also suddenly thankful whatever lizard DNA got into Koga hadn't made him crocodilic. Crocodylic? Crocolicious... Croco... Shin sprang up from his sitting party, and onto the next gathering.

It looked like his thesaurus page on synonyms for assemblages would get plenty of usage today.

The camps were not all that they were cracked up to be, and considering the horrible reports the Kabal had gotten before they’d even entered Romania, that was saying something. Tarin sighed and rolled his shoulders, then shuddered as cold air blew down his back. It was cold here. They’d let him keep the clothes he’d been wearing when the senate was bombed, but after a while the cold still sunk in. Then there was the collar. Tarin had seen them the last time around, in New York, and Lee had worn one. Tarin knew now why she had flinched every time she came near.

People died here, and every time a spirit came near Tarin’s powers spiked. He’d tried to explain that to the guards, but they either hadn’t understood or hadn’t cared. The result was a nasty shock every time one came too close, or tried too hard to link up with him mentally. That was far more often than Tarin would have liked. It was making him twitchy, and god only knew how long they were actually going to be here.

Social interaction here was difficult and Tarin found himself wondering some of the same things he’d wondered about the camps in New York, until he’d seen them. There were people here…mutants here…that probably did belong locked up somewhere. This still wasn’t the way though, Tarin knew that even more having lived it. The Kabal would come, it would come for him and Slate and everyone else who had gotten taken.

Slate.

Tarin sighed, what the boss had been thinking when he’d allowed himself to be taken in here was still beyond the medium’s understanding. There was no way Slate had understood exactly what he was getting himself into. No. Way. Still, here they were, back to the social interaction.

Tarin had spent most of his early life avoiding the sorts of people who were bigger and badder and ready to show it at a moment’s notice. That skill came in handy here. Even if powers were off limits, there were still people who would take advantage of those weaker than they were. Tarin knew what group he most likely fell into, pride didn’t help anyone here and as he navigated his way through this group and that, he made sure to avoid the wrong sorts.

A familiar figure stood out to Tarin, significantly younger than he was, and making an attempt to be friendly. People weren’t necessarily open to that kind of friendliness here and Tarin decided to interject a little, if simply to show that Shin wasn’t really alone.

“Hey.” Tarin said, moving to stand next to the younger man, “I’m not sure this is exactly the place to make new friends. How are you holding up?”

Lily's life had a brand new time schedule, and it consisted of two main parts: sleep time (not much) and kitchen time (much more). And then there were those tiny fragments of free time between finishing one meal and starting the other when the women and girls on duty were allowed to leave the kitchen and breathe.
Quite literally. Spend five hours standing above cauldrons of brewing prison food and you'll learn to treasure outside air. Any kind of air, really. Jewel had a sensitive sense of smell, and it was one of the minor things that had been killing her ever since she was thrown into the camp. And she was still one of the very lucky ones. Judging from the whispers and murmurs of her fellow female prisoners.
She stayed away from the men. She also stayed away from the guards, and much as she could, and made sure she could always be seen by one of the cameras, because had this totally unreasonable and naive idea that the guards won't do anything that bad to her while being watched. Yeah, like anyone would punish them for anything.
She didn't make friends. Mainly because she only spoke English and French, and these were not the common languages in the camps. There were a few girls in kitchen who seemed to look at her as if she'd been their mother or older sister, and some of the women looked like they trusted her - but she sill felt more lonely than ever before.
And she had a lot of friends somewhere else to worry about.
Like, for example, Shin.

Lily spotted him wandering around among the other prisoners, and turned her steps towards him with a bitter taste in her mouth. So Shin was here too. Dammit. This X-team mission was not going all that well.
She broke her own rule, mingling with the mutant crowd, and tried not to return all the looks she knew she was getting from her fellow prisoners, especially the (more or less) male ones. She wondered why. Lily hadn't seen a mirror in long days, and she was glad for it too. She reached up nervously to adjust the head scarf she was wearing (they all did, in the kitchen, to avoid adding hair to the already unidentifiable components of the food).
Shin was standing there with a guy she didn't recongize; it looked like they knew each other, or at least knew each other better than the other mutants around. Walking up to them, Lily tried for a smile that came out reflecting how tired she was.
"Hey."

Yes, lots and lots of synonyms... or not. A voice from behind caused the rice cake to spin. Hazel eyes fell on dark blond hair. Those brown eyes, that sky-pointing hair. Those... same clothes from a few days ago... that kind of smelled. They probably didn't let camp mutants do laundry.

It figured. Diabolical fiends.

"Tarin," the name escaped him. At that moment, he couldn't think what else to say. It wasn't an exuberant utterance, but more of a stunned statement, followed by silence. So, they'd captured the spirit medium too. Too bad... For a moment, the mask of chipper he'd worn to goad camp mutants into bouts of friendship evaporated like milk. "I'm fine..." Shin trailed, without sounding it. He rubbed the back of his neck and made a face. "Living, at least. You?"

>>"Hey."

Another familiar voice from behind caught his attention. Another habit, it seemed. Shin looked to see who. Another frown. "They got you, too..."

Poor Jewel.

He wished he were feeling as chipper as he'd acted for the crowd, because right now, he figured everyone needed a big old 'cheering up'.

Tarin watched Shin’s face fall slightly as recognition dawned and smiled a tight smile at the young man. It probably was hard to see friends in here, like this. Tarin knew he was anything but pleased to find friend after friend who had been at the senate with him. They really had been trying to help, no matter whose hand had pushed the button that triggered the bomb. Tarin had his own ideas about that, but he was playing it close to the chest.

Shin spoke again and Tarin reached out a hand, clapping Shin on the shoulder. Hugging would be bad, besides the lack of manliness in the action, the “alphas” would see it as a sign of weakness. No, it was better to simply be acquainted. ”I’ve been better.” he said, gesturing to the filthy clothes and the yellowing bruise on the side of his face that had been darkening and fading since they’d been brought here. Apparently one of the guards hadn’t appreciated his flippancy at first. Tarin had steered clear of them after that. Maybe it was a little cowardice, but Tarin though again how it was more wise to stay alive than to prove his mettle. Yet.

A woman approached, a woman far too pretty to be by herself in a camp like this. Tarin had heard the rumors of what guards did when they found such pretty woman unattended. Apparently Shin knew her, that meant she was one of the X’s that had come along. Figured. Tarin wondered if they knew the other piece of news he was well acquainted with. Slate wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and that worried Tarin a bit. As much as he tried to stick by the young boss, the kid had an uncanny ability to slip away from time to time. Slate needed all the friends he could get, especially with his healing ability restricted.

”Slate’s here too.” he said, hoping that wouldn’t make things too much worse on the two X’s he was talking to. Again, Tarin had his own opinion on why they were even here. Again, he played it close to the chest. He turned to the woman, ”I’m Tarin Brooks, wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

Tarin looked around, what had Shin been doing, talking to these types, ”I know you’ve got good intentions Shin…but I think friendliness might be a little misplaced here. Don’t forget…some of these people probably belong in a cage. Just not one like this.”

He looked over at the bat girl and shuddered, "You haven't seen Lee, have you? I haven't yet...so I'm hoping that means she's not here." Tarin hadn't seen his wife since the night before the bombing, as odd as thing as it was, he hoped he didn't see her again until this whole mess was figured out.

"They got you, too..."
Jewel nodded. Yes they did.
”Slate’s here too. I’m Tarin Brooks, wish we could have met under different circumstances.”
Jewel blinked and her eyes went wide. "Slate's in the camps?... What on earth is he doing here?..."
Okay, so Slate was a boss, she knew that from her not so pleasant past experiences in her Zephyr costume. But she also had first (or second?) hand experiences about Slate not being a fighter.
She took Tarin's hand and squeezed it gently, she was too exhausted for any decent polite introductions. "Lily Lafayette. And I wish the same."
”I know you’ve got good intentions Shin…but I think friendliness might be a little misplaced here. Don’t forget…some of these people probably belong in a cage. Just not one like this.”
"Nobody belongs to a place like this." she frowned miserably, glancing around "And it drives me crazy that I can't do anything about it."
"You haven't seen Lee, have you? I haven't yet...so I'm hoping that means she's not here."
Lily shook her head "I don't know her, but there's no Americans in the kitchens except for me and Alex." she sighed "I work there now. I don't know about the other places."
She looked at Tarin - he looked bruised and beaten up - and Shin was not at his best either. "How did you get brought in?" she asked "What's happening outside?"

>> ”I’ve been better.”

Tarin gestured at the notably filthy clothes.

"I hear that," Shin replied thoughtfully. He was thankful his stank hadn't grown much in the few hours he'd been unconscious, post-Jaxon rescue effort. There was always tomorrow, though. And the bruise... well, at least it was healing. Shin had gotten off fairly lightly, all 'shooting-at-me' things considered. It could have been a lot worse.

>>”Slate’s here too.”

And that was definitely one shard 'worse'. Next, he'd be hearing 'Sam's here too, and he's lost an eyes', cue sarcasm. It just kept looking worse for the mutant crew, didn't it? Bruises and collars, and bear traps, oh my.

Shin was silent as Tarin introduced himself to Jewel. Different circumstances... He quite agreed. Still... He looked off in thought.

Tarin's next comment was the wet towel to Shin's exposed concentration. "Oh. Huh. Er... right. Well..." Again, with the scratching the back of his neck. The typical Shin gesture for being uncomfortable.

>>"Nobody belongs to a place like this."

"Definitely not if it causes the kind of despair my roommate Sunshine experienced. Using her mutation, just to fry herself into an escape... she laughed at me when I said I'd find a way to help here.." He met Jewel's eye with a look of determination. "I still maintain that I will."

Even powerless, he'd find a way.

>>"You haven't seen Lee, have you? I haven't yet...so I'm hoping that means she's not here."

Tarin looked distracted when asked. Jewel answered him.

>>"I don't know her, but there's no Americans in the kitchens except for me and Alex."

Alex, too. Shin bowed his head.

>>"How did you get brought in?" Jewel asked him. "What's happening outside?"

Shin shook his head. "I managed to avoid getting caught during the debacle that was the 'parliament bombing'. Then, I saw an old acquaintance. Jaxon. When I bodyswapped... she was in Kasumi's body. Kasumi was in hers... I couldn't just let her get kidnapped in front of me, so..." He looked away for a second with a depressed sigh. "They asked me if the rag smelled like chloroform. The next thing I knew, I was dreaming about lung fish... after that..." This was getting to be a rather long story, wasn't it? He looked back to Tarin. "I broke out of their discount jail cell... we tried escaping again. That's when they cheapshotted me with a TASER. Tossed in two jail cells within one 24 hour period..." Shin shook his head. "Outside, it's pretty bad. I've been holed up during the media blitz. They're blaming Parliament on mutants. It's so much crap..."

Neither of them had seen Lee and Tarin nodded his head. This was one ray of light in the eternal darkness that seemed to be these camps. If Lee was out there, then others probably were too. There was a chance of rescue. Tarin remembered the last camp breakout though, it had been a seriously nasty business. Not even he’d been able to walk away with clean hands. It still grated to think about it, and the last thing he wanted was for Lee to go through that. Casualties would be heavy on both sides, but it was probably the only way they were ever going to get out. Unless Slate had ‘healed’ enough of the politicians. It would take time to reestablish government workings though, the bombing had completely devastated the senate building.

Tarin shook his head at both Jewel and Shin’s comments about how they couldn’t do anything about it. When he’d been their ages, he probably would have felt the same way. Right now, though, Tarin felt every one of his thirty-two years. ”There’s a time to fight, and there’s a time to stay alive so that you can fight when your sacrifices might actually mean something.” he said, shrugging his shoulders and sticking hands into his pockets. Even they felt grimy.

As to the question about outside, it looked like Shin had the most up-to-date information and Tarin listened intently about how the situation outside had deteriorated since the bombing. He cursed, loudly and fluently at the fact that they were blaming mutants for the attack.

”Yes, that makes so much sense. We bombed the place simply so we could heal everyone who got hurt inside. That’s how I got here. Slate was healing anyone and everyone he could find. The kid was exhausted. I might have been able to carry him out if I hadn’t been so wiped out myself. I’d never seen anything like that….except for the…” Camp breakout. It was true, but he wasn’t going to say it. The last thing these two needed was information about just how bloody a past camp breakout had been. "I couldn't just watch them take him and run. As much political aplomb as the kid has..." Tarin let it trail off, these weren't people he should criticize Slate in front of.

Back to the blame on mutants. “That is crap…total crap.”

Tarin jumped at a shock from his collar and cursed as a spirit made it presence known. He hadn’t missed what Shin said about his roommate in the camp. Tarin was rooming with Slate, so that wasn’t an issue, Tarin’s collar wasn’t set right, though and as the spirit approached, the shocks came more frequently and more strongly.

”For the love of fucking god….go AWAY." He gritted out through clenched teeth, then sighed in shuddery relief when it did. The collar stopped doing it’s job, and Tarin panted slightly, rising up from the doubled-up position he hadn’t known he’d assumed.

”These things are total bullshit. I can‘t control my powers like most people can…there‘s no off switch when they‘re around.” he ran his shaking hand through his hair, brown eyes looking off where the spirit had gone, ”One time, they’re not going to go away just because I ask…and God knows I can’t make them.” There was a finality to that statement that Tarin didn’t like, but it was true. Hopefully a solution presented itself soon.

”There’s a time to fight, and there’s a time to stay alive so that you can fight when your sacrifices might actually mean something.”
Lily nodded; Shin managed to summarize in one sentence what she'd been clinging to in the past days. She didn't do much, and mostly kept to herself, but the people she was forced to work with, especially the young ones... they needed hope. And God knows Lily was one of the few who knew there actually might be some hope out there. Even though most of that hope was, well, in here.
She listened intently to both stories; they were mostly the same as what Alex told her briefly earlier. A smile sneaked onto her lips when Tarin taked about Slate. What a weird kid. She hoped he was fine. As fine as one can get, in a camp.
"Shin, do you know anything about Shawn?... Is he in here too?"
She needed to know. She was trying to find out, but walking around the male prisoners was not a great idea.
”For the love of f***ing god….go AWAY."
Lily jumped slightly as Tarin's collar zapped him, and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder once the worst was over.
”These things are total bullshit. I can‘t control my powers like most people can…there‘s no off switch when they‘re around. One time, they’re not going to go away just because I ask…and God knows I can’t make them.”
"I hear you." she nodded with a frown "Mine does the same either, just because I'v got a sixth sense. They don't care about things like that. Take it easy" she patted Tarin's back "It will pass..." curiosity took over as she looked around. "What are you sensing anyway?..."

Slate, political aplomb… Had he heard that right? Slate. The guy who couldn’t basketball… Slate, who Shin suspected would just as soon spit on someone’s cousin as he would dribble ineffectually. Slate… maybe Tarin knew something Shin didn’t.

Though it struck him. Why was Slate in Romania? What was with all the traveling? Call it ‘shintuition’, but something about this just spoke ‘foul’.

Blech. Shin put a hand to his forehead as the camps spun again. Maybe he was being too paranoid. Slate had helped them out when they’d gone to King’s Pharmaceuticals, hadn’t he? Basketball Slate had healed Kasumi… so, really. It didn’t seem too far off that Slate would do something positive for the mutant cause in Romania… though, one would think he’d hold more insurance against getting thrown in the camps.

That was a fumble.

And ‘total crap’, this situation was.

Shin cleared his head. His neck was throbbing again. After a single shake, Jewel’s voice came to him.

>>"Shin, do you know anything about Shawn?... Is he in here too?"

“ I only just woke up here half an hour ago…” He replied sheepishly. His headache throbbed. “I haven’t seen him in any of the groups I’ve visited yet, though… so as far as I know, ‘no’.”

>>”For the love of f***ing god….go AWAY."

Tarin screamed at thin air. Damn ghosts, Shin thought. His brain jumped the tracks, over to another tangent. God, he hoped Ghost wasn’t in here. She was too nice for this…

Shin’s eyes trailed over the other groups, then returned sadly to Tarin and Jewel. “I guess I’m…” ‘Lucky’, he was about to say, then the headache burned into a migraine. 1000 needle points of color stabbed into his eyes. With a grunt, his line of sight jerked right, and to the floor. His eyes sealed shut. He felt sick.

Behind rice cake’s eyelids, all sorts of cool special effects were-a-happenin’. A black triangle danced on a green grid. A line of light sliced through it like some Pink Floyd poster art, and made a rainbow. The whole scene flickered between Matrix slow and television snow. He held the bridge of his nose, and squinted.

"Ugh... jeezus... feels like something inside my head just broke..." He looked up at Tarin... exactly three feet away.

They could all see it now. Shin's hazel eyes were open, pupils triangular. A second later, a jaw-clenching shock danced its way through his system. Shin's legs went slack, and he started to fall.

((OOC: Someone, please catch that man.))

Shawn. The name rang a bell with Tarin, but he couldn’t put a face to the name from the Senate bombing. He kept his mouth shut as Shin spoke. Neither of them had anything to say about Slate being there, and Tarin took it as a clue that he needed to switch back into ‘need to know’ mode, rather than talking to anyone about anything. Damn these camps had him off his game. A familiar face had apparently come to mean ‘instant ally’. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, even here.

The pain from the collar was receding now and Tarin took short, shallow breaths to stop the twitching that wanted to work its way through his limbs. He hadn’t even noticed the girl…what had her name been? Lily…Lily’s hand on his shoulder. He gave her a thin smile as she empathized. The thought reminded Tarin of a mutant he’d met once…she could never turn her powers of and they spiked with the emotions of the people around her. That induced a shudder, what would this place have done to a girl like that? Lily brought him back to the present, and Tarin shook his head and took a deep breath.

”Spirits. Real ones. Luckily there aren’t too many here right now. It’s just like I said, though. I can’t turn my powers off and on…they try to link up with me and ‘zap’. Like I said, god help me if one of them decides to be stubborn. They don’t always understand the way things work here…and while apparently seeing them doesn’t trigger the collar, trying to communicate beyond the verbal does.”

Something Shin had said when he was talking about Lily’s friend Shawn came back to Tarin and his head jerked around to the younger man, ”Shin. Did you just say you’ve only been here a half hour? Has anyone checked you out? How did they ge…woah!”

As he had spoke Shin had spasm’d, then his eyes had snapped shut. Tarin had seen someone pass out like this once, almost conscious and he took a step closer just as Shin’s eyes opened. Brown eyes met hazel and Tarin’s widened at the shape of the pupils, that…wasn’t normal. Shin spoke and Tarin opened his mouth to reply. Then the collar activated.

”Shit…shit” The Medium cursed, rushing forward as his friend’s legs gave out. Shin was nearly of a height with Tarin and while he was strong in a wiry way, he wasn’t nearly heavy enough to be a burden as the older man caught him.

”Help, we need help!” he called out, then looked around to see lots of spectators, but nobody moving a muscle.

”Such bullshit…” Tarin muttered, settling for lowering Shin to the ground until they could figure out exactly what was wrong. He looked to Lily, already shrugging out of his coat to wad it up as a pillow, ”Did you see his eyes? What if he’s got a concussion?” Tarin snapped his fingers in front of Shin’s face, ”Shin, Shin, come on kid, open your eyes.”

“I haven’t seen him in any of the groups I’ve visited yet, though… so as far as I know, ‘no’.”
Good. Great. Probably. Maybe. Um.
Lily sighed and fidgeted with the ends of her headscarf, she was really not sure if Shawn not being here was a good thing or not. Hopefully him not being here meant he was out there, hopefully alive and well. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Damn.
”Spirits. Real ones. Luckily there aren’t too many here right now..."
Lily blinked, and shook her head again. Tarin was sensing spirits. Right. She could tell how that would set the collars off. Also, she suddenly was really, really glad her abilities had nothing to do with dead people.
"Ugh... jeezus... feels like something inside my head just broke..."
Her eyes widened in alarm as Shin collapsed, and she moved in time with Tarin, but he was faster. Thank God. Tarin managed to catch Shin before he hit the ground. Something set off his collar too, but Lily didn't really understand what. She'd seen Shin's powers work, and it didn't look like this.
”Help, we need help!”
Yes, like that would happen. The prisoners stared, some of them moved away, and the guards turned to look if there was someone making trouble they could beat him up for, but help? Not a chance.
”Such bullshit... Did you see his eyes? What if he’s got a concussion?”
Lily knelt beside Shin, putting her hand on his forehead. It felt hot, maybe just because her hands were cold. Maybe not.
The eyes.
"I saw." she said, looking at Shin, more worried with every second "That's not a concussion. I don't know what it is." she shook her head "Shin?..."

His head was foggy as he fell, like to think thoughts was to shine a high beam into water vapor. Blinding mist. The needles were still there. They kept the pea soup murk company, though to think a razor-sharp tortilla had ever been able to cut through that haze... illogical. Poignant. Painful. A stray number danced through his periphery. That was nice... though how to describe it left something to be desired... Not 1. Not 2... longer, yet shorter... Ugh. He'd have to get pen and paper to define.

Scritch scritch... silence... scritch scratch... The numbers scrolled through his memory as he did the mental math. How does one define an axis... how does one conceptualize the parabola of a line... how does one solve a problem like Maria? If you want to make an apple pie, you first have to conceptualize the universe.

Yes, that. Let X be Maria, and Y be... Shin's mind trailed deliriously... moooooonbeams~!

A thin smile etched its numerical curve across his face. Another collar shock rocked him.

Mouth foam... not just for rabid dogs anymore, eh Shin? ... Shin. The name was familiar, but how did it connect with the equation? If X was... and Y was.. then unknown variable Z was... His eyes fluttered open for a heavy second, then Man's technological response to abuses of the X-gene sealed them shut again (Much like one math professor might do to the office door of another as he rambled on again about mathematical variables, and abused the language. Haha, yes. With crime tape... And echoing.

... but that wasn't Professor Hawkings screaming his name, was it? Or even Carl Sagan... no, that voice would probably call 'foul' on Sagan's 'logic as a candle in the dark' principal, regarding paranormal activity, and...

>>"Shin!"

>>>>"SHIIIIIIN!!!!"

"Shin?"

Okay. Maybe not as many repititions as that. Again, echoing. He may have been delirious.

A groan escaped the hazel-eyed triangle-mancer. He shifted the numerical digits of his hand up to his face. Fingers, that is. Five of them.

"Ugh... Tarin? Jewel...? I can't see youwhyistheroomspinning ohprettycolors." His eyes fluttered open again, to let fluorescent camp-light cut through the fog. Or was that camp-light 'lite', Shin wondered one brief second later, as a rocking pain forced 'eyelid retreat', and the fog plane came roiling in again.

The guards were pissed, the other campers were starting to widen the space between themselves and the three who were now on the ground, and Tarin was calling Shin’s name louder and louder. Screw the guards, screw the other prisoners, and screw this entire situation. Shin was a good kid, he’d kept Lee company at the mansion while Tarin had been lifeless on a bed. Wasn’t that the measure of a person? How they acted when they thought nobody else was watching? Tarin had been watching, Shin was a good kid.

His head was pillowed on the ground as another shock from the collar made his whole body jerk. Those weren’t the little warning shocks either, something serious was going on with Shin’s powers. Jewel pointed out that the triangle pupil thing probably wasn’t a sign of a concussion and Tarin simply shot her a look. “I know…what if there’s a short circuit with his powers though?” he mumbled, then continued to go about waking up the young man who was now smiling…and foaming at the mouth.

Oh god… Tarin thought, his first instincts veering towards getting Slate. That had become the cure-all for all things physically harmful. Get Slate. What would Slate be able to do now, here? Watch. The same thing that Tarin was capable of. The medium growled with barely suppressed rage, and did his best to keep Shin still. Where the circle had widened around them, a new crowd was gathering at the edges. They didn’t look like humanitarians. Some of the guards were stirring now, but if he’d had to put money on it, Tarin wouldn’t have bet they were coming to the rescue any time soon.

Shin stirred and emitted a groan and Tarin pulled his eyes from the watching peers and guards down to Shin’s as they opened heavily. The triangles were still there. The rush of words from the young man was nearly incomprehensible, and then he was convulsing again as the collar activated. Then still.

”Shin?” Tarin said, waiting for a panicked moment before reaching out to feel for a heartbeat. It was there, still pounding solidly. Tarin looked up to Lily, ”We need to get him out of here…and keep him still. Hopefully he’ll stay out. We can take him to my barracks. Stay close and out in the open.”

Tarin bent then lifting Shin, the kid was heavier than he looked, and making his way through the small group that had gathered, ignoring the few who followed. They were going to stick to the open spaces, and hopefully make it back to slightly friendlier company.

“…what if there’s a short circuit with his powers though?”
Jewel bit her lip as she watched Shin. Oh dear God. If he can't turn off his powers the collar will keep shocking him... she shook her head to keep the panic locked away, she needed to think, and do something, and she felt really, really useless because there was really nothing she could do.
”We need to get him out of here…and keep him still. Hopefully he’ll stay out. We can take him to my barracks. Stay close and out in the open.”
Lily nodded, and kept her eyes on the guards; one of the few things she could think of doing was distracting them from Tarin and the unconscious kid if needed. If they decided Shin was making too much trouble by getting tortured out in the open. She had no idea how she would do that, but she was sure adrenaline would boost her creativity.
She really hoped she wouldn't find out.
Following Tarin she kept looking around, falling into the routine she got used to on missions. The mentalist had to take care of Shin; she tagged along, alert, ready to step in if needed.
She hadn't been to this part of the camps yet - she didn't wander much. Too many men around, staring at her. Lily's eyes narrowed. Right now, she was worried sick about a friend and teammate, she was exhausted, she was scared, she was getting really, really frustrated, not to mention pissed, so the look on her face turned into something that meant not-to-be-messed-with.
Sam would be so proud if he saw that right now.