Page 10 of From the Noblest Motives
Not just the spot where they'd attached the blocker. Oh no. He ran his hand over his entire scalp. All his curls were gone. A small thing, in the grand scheme of things, but it was so personal. He thought he'd held up well through the whole ordeal, but now tears stung the backs of his eyes. With a hand against the wall, he blinked hard and pulled in slow breaths. Maybe it was stupid, not wanting to cry in front of the prison AI. Too bad. He'd already demonstrated how stupid he was a hundred times over.
The bench and the drawer had retracted back into the wall by the time Shudder felt he had himself under control.
Please take a seat for orientation.
Since there was only the one chair. Shudder figured even he could puzzle that one out. He lowered himself carefully into it, unwilling to let his trembling legs collapse. Dignity shredded, he clung to all the scraps he could gather.
A vid began on the wall in front of him, probably using an embedded screen, if he had to guess.
You've been remanded to San Judas Tadeo, a variant incarceration facility for violent offenders,the AI voice began, while the screen showed a view of a white hallway.The length of your sentence was not your choice, but your future behavior is.
"So if I'm a good boy, I get out in forty years instead of sixty?" Shudder murmured, but the AI ignored him. Maybe this part was prerecorded.
Variant talents are inaccessible within the prison grounds. Your personal talent blocker interferes with the specific brain activities necessary for variant talents to manifest. The prison walls are also impregnated with mu metal, thus damping transmissions should your blocker fail or malfunction. Any attempt to tamper with your blocker will result in severe punishment.
The screen showed a tiny cell no more than six feet by three with a variant huddled and rocking in the corner. Panic started to claw up Shudder's throat as he wondered if those were the regular cells, but the AI went on, and the image faded to what was presumably a normal cell with room to pace a few steps, a bunk, and facilities.
All inmates are housed individually to discourage conflicts. When the morning bell chimes, you will be expected to rise, wash, and dress in time for first meal. Failure to do so, barring verified illness, will result in severe punishment. At your assigned meal shift time, your door will open, and you will proceed along the orange floor lighting to the mess facility.
The vid demonstrated, showing a heavy metal door sliding open and a person in a brown jumpsuit meekly following the indicated path.
You will not speak to other inmates. You will take your meal to your assigned location, indicated by the red blinking lights that respond to your approach…
The instructions went on like that for some time. Two meals a day. Two supervised exercise periods a week. Exhortations to keep the cell neat between weekly cleanings. Instructions about laundry—twice a week via a drawer in the cell wall. Through it all, the repetition of the threat of punishment became almost a chant. Got the point across, though. Be a good boy or end up in the bad, tiny cell where hell knew what happened to you.
Finally, the video ended, and the AI addressed Shudder directly.Do you understand the instructions provided?
"I think so. Might take some getting used to."
Voice prompts will be available during your initial week of incarceration.
"Oh joy. Wait. Am I allowed sarcasm?"
The database does not contain a response to this question.
Shudder heaved a softer sigh. Sarcasm really wasn't any fun without someone to annoy, and not terribly useful when someone didn't understand it. "Got it."
You have three minutes in which to ask questions.
"Oh." Shudder caught his screaming brain and mentally sat on it in an effort to use the time wisely. "When are visitors allowed?"
No visitors are permitted at this facility.
That… he hadn't even considered that. "Is there a time to make phone calls? Do I have access to an attorney?"
Inmates are unable to place calls. You may contact your attorney through the legal aid process, beginning with the completion of a Form J-501.
"Do I… ask you for that now?"
You may request legal aid forms at any time during your incarceration through the audio interface in your cell.
"I have to assume there's no net access. Can I write letters to family and friends? Old-fashioned paper ones?"
Inmates are not permitted net access. Letters may be submitted to the communications board and will be subject to review and possible censor.
"I see. This all seems very penal colony. I am still a citizen. Doesn't some of this trample rather nastily on my rights?"
You may contact your attorney through the legal aid process.
