act15d0

Well, that's that for now. You got anything, come find me again.

Got it. Thanks.

...Pop, looks like Anthony's a pricklier problem than I'd heard.

Who are you?

Did you receive a sum of money today?

You're 'Generous J?'

Correct. Go on and get your father's treatment.

Of course, if you want to make your own life better with it, that's no problem either. In fact, I personally recommend you do so.

...Why are you giving me money?

It's in the name. I'm generous.

Though I regret to tell you, if you want to treat your pappy with that money, it's not gonna be enough.

...What do you want me to do?

You're smart, Robin, miss. I like dealing with smart people.

Here, I'll lay my cards out to you. I want you to—

Enter Mansfield State Prison, and kill someone.

Mansfield? I've heard that's a prison you never get out of.

Don't you worry about that. As long as you can do it, I have the means to let you out.

You can think it over, Miss Robin.

I know this is risky beyond hell, and I know things look bad.

But... sick as you are, I'll do what I can.

Robin's not a professional assassin?

Not at all.

Even I could tell that much. She had none of the air about her.

Looks like the material I had on her was correct. She really was a security worker. Her skills certainly should've invited trust.

But this all smacks of a little weirdness to me...

What?

Why they hire her is my question... but that's not too important. Skip it for now.

More importantly, it seems most of the assassins were like Robin in that they'd been hired solo.

They had no idea if they had any competition, and no clue who their employer was.

How many assassins did HydeBro hire, in the end?

Your guess is as good as mine.

But just like I said before, the Bros paid big to get rid of Anthony. Money with their blood and sweat in it.

How did the assassins get into the prison?

I'm sure you looked into it beforehand, too—Mansfield State Prison was established jointly by a few of the state's municipal governments, and it stands alone.

Mm. The way I've seen it described, the founding intent of the prison was to serve its state breaking new ground. Development was rapid, but crime rates stayed high, and rampant.

So at the time, it was a half-abandoned industrial platform.

It was Randal, the current warden, who suggested establishing the prison to the city governments. All at once, they had a solution for what to do with the platform, and where to put inmates.

Any questions so far?

Isn't the answer pretty obvious, though?

The idea is the prison gets used as a lockbox to shove every 'troublesome' person. And it's the people none of the cities want to bother with.

Getting inside isn't the tough part.

Ms. Kafka never told you how exactly she got in there, am I right?

Of course, the prison is still a prison. Getting out is tough.

Like I said, it only visits cities on the edge once every few months. The rest of the time, it stops in the barrens.

A convict escapes out there, they're stuck in the endless barrens until they die.

Here's the thing. Robin mentioned it. A mysterious person promised it. There was a way to get them out for sure.

So as long as they didn't slip up and get themselves killed in there, AND successfully ran the hit on Anthony, then they'd just need to wait for extraction.

But they sent in a lot of other assassins. Would HydeBro really be able to retrieve each and every one?

Of course not.

Which is why I said none of them knew about the others.

And once they were inside, even if they figured it out, there'd be no escape. Their only option would be to kill Anthony or die trying.

It's a simple, effective method.

But I still don't understand—why?

Simon Co. had shut down. Its core members were all in prison. HydeBro never once touched them. Why move against Anthony alone, of all people?

Oh. Do I actually have to start from there?

What do you mean?

Alright, Ms. Silence, now I know you really didn't care much about this in the past.

Buuut, maybe you pulled something so bold and brash—and succeeded—precisely because you didn't realize.

Sorry, sorry, I'm not making fun of you here. In fact, you can take it as me complimenting you.

Right, as for your question, first of all, let me answer it with a question—

Ms. Silence, have you ever thought about how if you wanted to dispose of Anthony in prison, assassins are actually one of the least efficient methods?

No.

Because there are much better ways. Buying off the jailers, maybe bribing the warden...

But sending an assassin to dress up as a prisoner, get into prison and kill another prisoner... when you hear it out loud, it sounds dumb, doesn't it?

Because they... couldn't?

Yep, because they couldn't.

Whoo, from the way you reacted to this prison's history just now, I'm gonna need to give you a walkthrough of this side from the top, Ms. Silence.

What do you mean?

Do you still remember Kafka recalling the prison's Superintendent Barton? What did he say?

We are Mansfield State Prison. State! Prison. We are a pilot penitentiary with special approval from the capital. We will serve as a shining example to the other states.

What about it?

Pilot. Special approval. You know what that implies?

What?

It implies business.

In Columbia, the most profitable business is wherever the power is. This prison's a model case.

What are you...?

I'm telling you this prison is in fact Warden Randal's money machine.

But it's a prison!

Sure is. A heavily guarded prison. Send whoever you don't like in there for a fate worse than death. Send whoever you wanna safeguard in there to be protected.

Whatever you need, as long as you have the money.

Don't you go 'wow, that's a super-sized business opportunity?'

But in that case... could HydeBro not just pay the warden the requisite amount, and he'd help them do their work?

One second you're stunned beyond belief hearing it, the next you force yourself to switch lanes and rail your thought in full steam.

You really are amazing, Ms. Silence.

I don't feel like you're complimenting me.

Your query's totally reasonable, but truth is I don't have a clear-cut answer either.

But we can work backwards—in conclusion, they didn't do that. And surely they tried it before. So the only possible answer is they failed.

Personally, I think it's because the warden didn't want to get himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Or perhaps Anthony's mistreatment could be bought, but Anthony also had a massive influence in the prison. If he died, you sure couldn't handle it like a typical prisoner death.

A lot of people'd love Randal's position, and as far as I know, he's got major guile too. I don't think he'd take the risk.

Someone like him? It's more likely he took HydeBro's money and just did nothing.

I remember Anthony once saying he'd fled to Ironforge City before he was finally arrested...

Perhaps his father had some involvement in the affair?

Hmm. Yeah, that's possible as well.

Ol' Smith used to be a fair household name in Bunkerhill City. Sending his son to prison for his protection wouldn't surprise me one bit.

But that doesn't answer my question.

I've already answered it, Ms. Silence. You're smart. You just don't want to believe it.

...I don't understand.

What I mean is they couldn't do it in Mansfield State Prison, but that doesn't mean they couldn't do it in Bunkerhill City Prison.

Wait, you don't mean his family...