Chapter Text
LOG: I.168
DATE: 6.3.2013
TIME: 21:18:10
LOCATION: REDACTED
Loki was again sitting in a shaft of light chained to a familiar metal chair. He looked far worse than he had during the first interrogation tapes. His hair was a mess of snarls, and his lip was swollen on one side. Raised red marks that looked unsettlingly like chemical burns were across his face in long streaks. His clothes were roughly-made prison garb, and his shoes were gone. Loki's eyes were closed, and his body relaxed as if he didn't really care where he was.At first, nothing was visibly happening on the tape. But, after several long and uncomfortable minutes, Loki opened his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, but still sharp and intelligent. Present. "While I don't mind the time you allow me to just sit here and recover from your gracious treatment of me, Director... you must be getting bored just standing there."
A woman with bright red heels stepped into the light. Her dirty blonde hair was twisted up into a simple knot with a horsetail falling from the middle. Her lips matched her shoes. "I could never get bored of you, Subject 1214119."
Loki sighed. "Don't you get tired of saying that ridiculous string of numbers? It is quite a mouthful."
The red-heeled woman didn't bother answering and instead wandered in a circle around where Loki was sitting. "Last we spoke," she said casually, "you were quite rude."
"Was I?" Loki seemed surprised. "My sincerest apologies, I didn't realize. How dare I be rude to my tormentors when they ask me such probing, personal questions."
The woman -some director apparently- smiled. "Well, perhaps we should focus on something less personal then."
Loki made a stilted gesture with his manacled hands. "By all means."
While behind Loki's back, the Director reached into the shadows. "What can you tell me... about this?" she asked, putting the shaft of Loki's scepter across his shoulder so that the glowing head was right beside Loki's face.
The banal and utterly falsely pleasant smile on Loki's face seemed to ice over. "I could tell you a lot of things about that... none of which your mortal mind would understand."
"You're being rude again, 1214119," the Director said as she finished her circle. The scepter pivoted on Loki's shoulder until the tip was under his chin. "Surely, it can't be that hard to use..."
"It can," Loki said. "As I'm sure you've noticed, there aren't exactly any nice obvious buttons or switches..."
The Director's blood-red lips curled. "That had been noted several times, yes. It's been a source of much frustration with our scientists."
"It does not have primitive controls because primitive species... such as yourselves, cannot use it," Loki said. "Children shouldn't play with the toys of adults. It leads to horrible accidents."
"I have a theory about this scepter of yours. Would you like to hear it?"
Loki shrugged. "Humor is said to be the cure of many ailments..."
"Cute," the Director said. "My theory is that this scepter operates on a psychic wavelength... so it is controlled by your mind. The one who holds it uses their own thoughts to direct it." Loki neither confirmed nor denied and instead just looked on with polite disinterest.
"Is that it?" Loki asked after a pause. "Not much of a theory, Director."
The Director smiled again. "I wasn't quite done. Just waiting to see if you had any thoughts to contribute."
"No, not at all, please continue."
"Very well, if this scepter is indeed controlled by psychic commands, it stands to reason it could do more than just affect other people's thoughts. But their perceptions as well. You did use this to make illusions of yourself, didn't you?"
"I do not need a scepter to create illusions," Loki said.
The Director hummed thoughtfully and shifted the scepter in her hands. There was a flash, and Loki looked down. His eyes widened just a fraction before settling back into an indifferent expression. Loki looked back up at the Director. "Spiders? Juvenile."
"But you prove that my theory is right if you can see them," the Director said.
Loki chuckled. "Congratulations. You have discovered that the scepter can make you see things. Unfortunately for you... they are not very convincing illusions. And I know a thing or two about such things," Loki said.
"It also proves that my thoughts control the scepter," the Director said.
"Does it now?" Loki asked with a raised eyebrow. "Or does it just prove that it can draw images from your mind and make them seem real? Whom do you think is really going to be the one in charge between you and it?"
The Director tilted her head. "It's a tool, 1214119. An advanced tool, but that is it, nonetheless."
"As you say, Director," Loki said. "I'm sure you're very much correct."
"You're just trying to double talk me and make me doubt myself," the Director said.
"Oh, Director... you don't need me for that," Loki said with a grin.
The Director narrowed her eyes, and the scepter glowed bright blue again. Loki's brows twitched, but his eyes remained stubbornly green. The Director frowned and lowered the stave slightly to look at it. "Wha-"
"I did tell you that it wasn't so simple," Loki said. His smile returned even wider than before. "Playing with things you don't understand got you mortals into this mess if you'll remember."
Clint straightened as the recording ended. "He resisted it," he said, a little surprised and confused. When he'd used the scepter on Loki in the Shield facility, it hadn't seemed difficult to use at all. He'd just had to think about taking control of Loki's mind, and he had. Then again, Loki's mind had already been devastated by Shield's interrogations with the scepter.
"He did," Sigyn said. "But he wasn't in that poor of a condition. I imagine the more punishment they inflicted on him, the harder it became to resist the scepter's control."
"Loki didn't have to torture anyone to get in their head when he invaded," Steve pointed out. His arms were crossed, and his scowl was back. No doubt he wasn't at all happen to see just how Shield handled their prisoners and interrogations.
"Both of my sons have been trained in resisting mental manipulation of a magical origin," Frigga said. "Not that such training cannot be broken through, but it is a standard part of education for anyone expected to be near Asgard's throne in their adulthood. And seidr users."
Thor nodded. "There is a reason Loki never tried to directly control me, even when we fought. He likely knew it would take much more effort to break into my mind than it would an unprepared mortal."
"So, from what you saw here, can you figure out how the scepter actually does work?" Clint asked the Asgardians.
"I do not believe this 'Director' was very far off the mark," Frigga said with a slight frown. "But very few magical weapons are so simple. What tends to happen with objects of great power is they develop a sort of sentience of their own."
"Mjolnir has a temper," Thor supplied helpfully. "She can be quite difficult to wield at times."
"Yes, and something as potent as this scepter would most definitely have some sort of consciousness of its own. Perhaps not to the point of being able to have conversations with its wielder but enough to make a difference," Frigga said.
Sigyn nodded. "Without any training in controlling a weapon with its own desires and impulses... any sufficiently vague intention could allow it to wreak its own havoc. I doubt she was clear enough in what she wanted the scepter to do, and it resulted in the damage we see in Loki's mind."
"Is that what Loki meant when he said it was either a chainsaw or a scalpel?" Clint asked.
"Most likely," Sigyn agreed. "I could do a little damage when used with strict control... or it could do whatever it wanted if the one using it wasn't strong enough."
"Who was that director?" Steve asked suddenly.
"I'm not sure," Clint admitted. "I haven't seen her before. She must be someone that specializes in interrogations or something. Maybe Nat knows."
Steve was still frowning at the table like it had done something very disappointing. "Maybe we should find her and ask her what she did to leave Loki like this."
"Shield probably has her buried deep somewhere, so just that sort of thing can't happen," Clint said. "Not that I'm saying we can't look but just warning you it might not give us all that much new information."
"I believe I have some questions for this woman as well," Frigga said.
Clint had a feeling more than just questions would be involved if Frigga did manage to get her hands on whoever that Director was. Clint was pretty sure he should feel disapproval, but he didn't. Well, not as much as he should anyway.
"What on Earth is that?" Laura suddenly demanded from the front porch where she had been taking out the trash.
Everyone immediately rushed to see what was going on. Just as Clint was stepping out, Tony was stepping out of his armor. "It's the chair you ordered," Tony said.
Clint looked at the wheelchair that was gold instead of silver, had smaller wheels than it should, lights along one side that made Clint think of a computer, and... were those drawers underneath? "... that is not the chair I ordered," Clint said.
Tony paused for just a second. "Okay, so, the thing is... that one was trash. Like, utter garbage. I was going to fix it up, but about halfway through, I realized it was easier just to start from scratch. So! Tada!"
"It's motorized, obviously, because who doesn't like a motorized wheelchair? I made the frame out of the same stuff as my suit because Loki's actually pretty damn heavy, right? Right. The wheels might look small, but I promise this will be a lot better than huge things that will just get in the way. I gave it a little Junior AI -mostly just for pathing and stuff- and storage is always super important, right? So I used up some extra space underneath for a couple secure storage bins. They're not huge, but it can hold like... I don't know... a blanket? Other soft squishy things?"
There was a moment of silence as that slowly sunk in. "That... that's very thoughtful, Tony," Laura said. "I'm sure it'll help Loki a lot."
"Right," Tony cleared his throat. "It's also a heavy bitch, so Point Break will probably have to get it inside. I can't lift it without the suit."
"Of course, Tony," Thor said as he went to lift the wheelchair off the lawn and onto the porch where everyone else was standing. "Thank you for making something to assist Loki."
Tony looked like he was feeling awkward. "Don't mention it..."