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Misery: "Hmm, yes. Victor’s told me about you. Personally, I was against using someone like you, an outsider…and an immortal like him, besides."
Firo: "I would have really appreciated it if you’d stopped him, even if you had to slug him to do it."
Misery: "Yes, I slugged, stabbed, and kicked him, but he’s surprisingly obstinate. My only remaining option seemed to be to take his family hostage, but unfortunately, he’s a bachelor."
— Misery and Firo on Victor Talbot[src]


Misery (ミズリー Mizurī) is a Division of Investigation investigator who officially occupies the position of "vice-warden's assistant" at Alcatraz. Unofficially, he is actually working as Alcatraz's Special Administrator for Victor Talbot, responsible for overseeing the immortal prisoner Huey Laforet and later the immortals Firo Prochainezo and Isaac Dian during their incarceration.

Appearance[]

An aging man, Misery has a receding hairline and facial wrinkles which serve to give him a sharp, wizened appearance. He wears a crisply pressed business suit while on the job.

Personality[]

In contrast to his somewhat intimidating appearance, Misery is by and large a warm, principled man with a good sense of humor. He argued with Victor over his plan to use an outsider like Firo for his own ends, and—if he is to be believed—even witnessed and possibly participated in attempts to persuade Victor through physical force.

Chronology[]

Pre-1934[]

As one of the employees of the Division of Investigation's special department responsible for immortal activity, Misery is installed at Alcatraz as a Special Administrator (officially employed as the assistant to the vice-warden) to oversee the immortal Huey Laforet's incarceration at the prison, along with a few special guards. Unlike Warden Johnston, Misery allows Huey access to newspapers and magazines during his stay.

1934[]

Unable to figure out how Huey has maintained contact with his factions while in Alcatraz, the DOI special department's Assistant Director and immortal Victor Talbot devises a plan to falsely sentence the immortal Firo Prochainezo to Alcatraz and have him investigate Huey's activities from the inside. Misery is strongly against Victor's plan, finding the idea of using an outsider and immortal like Firo distasteful, but Victor's mind remains unchanged.

Victor's plan also involves incarcerating Isaac & Miria in prison as leverage against Firo,; Misery supervises Isaac's entry into Alcatraz like he did Huey's two years prior in November, and in December does the same for Firo's arrival. A guard escorts Firo to Misery's private office the day he arrives, and Misery genially introduces himself and his special role involving the immortals. He makes it immediately clear that he was against Victor's plan from the start, and explains that Victor specially selected Firo to investigate Huey not only for his immortality, but because he is someone with whom Huey is unfamiliar—which means that he will not be able to prepare for Firo's arrival. Misery emphasizes that this investigation is of the utmost importance, since Huey seems to be planning something big for New York in just a few days' time.

Firo asks if Misery means that he will have to devour Huey if he wants to save his friends in New York, to which Misery replies that he does not believe Victor would be so cold as to expect that. At the very least, Misery himself wouldn't want such an outcome. Misery warns Firo that until such a time comes, he cannot afford to treat Firo differently than the other inmates and allot him privileges. Until his special guards contact Firo, Firo must not do anything that might alert Huey to his immortality.

Firo shakes his head, confiding that Huey almost certainly already knows both of Firo's immortality and his arrival on the island. He recounts his encounter on the boat to Alcatraz with a guard who appeared to be working directly for Huey, news that disheartens Misery but does not otherwise surprise him. He admits that he was expecting something like this to happen, and explains how Huey has not only been able to somehow obtain information from the outside, he seems to be somehow relaying his orders to his followers while still inside his cell.

Furthermore, while Misery and his team know that a few Alcatraz guards are working for Huey they have no evidence to prove it. The guards refuse to talk when they are questioned, and their backgrounds are entirely ordinary. When Warden Johnston moves them to different prisons, it only takes a few days for more guards to turn up under Huey's employ. And even knowing that there are double agents among Alcatraz staff still fails to explain how Huey has been able to gather information.

As their meeting wraps up, Misery asks Firo what he thinks of the other three inmates who arrived on the island on Firo's boat. At Firo's confusion, he assures him that there is nothing to worry about—it is merely that Firo's was the only name on the list of prisoner transfers scheduled for that day. The past few days at Alcatraz have been so busy that apparently someone misplaced a scheduling order, and three men scheduled to be transferred to Alcatraz the following week were mistakenly placed on the boat with Firo. Misery asks Firo again if anything seemed out of the ordinary with them; when Firo can't think of anything Misery urges him to forget the whole thing.

Either that day or later, Misery reports to Victor on the three inmates' unexpected placement on Firo's boat. Victor assumes that the three inmates are Nebula-related.

When Isaac's fifty-day sentence is up, Misery summons him into his private office to congratulate him, remarking that Isaac is the third person whose entry Misery has personally supervised. Isaac enthuses that Misery is amazing, mistakenly referring to Misery as the Warden. Shaking off his confusion, Misery advises Isaac to give up his criminal lifestyle and walk the straight and narrow from now own. Isaac exclaims that he will do his best, at which Misery grins and hands Isaac his pay for a month's hard labor—adding that he slipped in a little extra as a farewell gift.

Isaac thanks him repeatedly, once again wrongly assuming that Misery is the Warden. Misery corrects his mistake, and bemusedly accepts Isaac's alternative "Boss" instead. He sees Isaac out of his office with a smile and wave.

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