Page 9 of From the Noblest Motives
It'll be okay. Somehow, it'll be okay.
A short ridein an armored transport took him to an airfield, where he was bundled aboard an ornithopter. Sweating in the barely ventilated space, nauseous, and struggling with the low-grade anxiety of flying with a bag over his head, Shudder was starting to wonder if the flight would never end when he felt the vehicle descend. As a last humiliation, the guards kept the bag on when they opened the door so Shudder didn't even have a view of the prison's outer walls before he was hustled inside.
The humid air was full of the evening calls of insects, as one would expect in a southeastern summer, but the walk didn't tell him anything beyond the probable isolation of the place. No traffic noise, no sounds of people nearby.
"Really, this isn't necessary. I promise, my word as a gentleman, I won't tell anyone the address." The response was a particularly stony silence, so he gathered his friend from the courthouse had been replaced somewhere along the way.
The night sounds cut off abruptly as a door slammed behind him, the humid air replaced immediately by climate-controlled chill. They walked another fifteen steps—Shudder counted—then a second door slammed. He blinked in the glare of artificial lighting when the bag was yanked off and he found himself in a white room with only a single chair bolted to the floor.
The guards removed his cuffs and left.
Now what? This couldn't be his cell, could it? No plumbing, no place to sleep. It wasn't a practical way to keep someone for sixty years. Unless he wasn't meant to last sixty years.Now there's a chilling thought.
A beep came from the ceiling, followed by an AI voice.Please state your full legal name.
"What… why? Have your people lost me already?"
Please state your full legal name.
Shudder squinted up at the voice. "Eugene Archibald Wallace McKenzie. But everyone calls me Shudder. And you already knew that."
Voiceprint registered. Eugene Archibald Wallace, also known as Shudder McKenzie, Elemental variant, Earth subcategory, prisoner 52-651-74.
"That's quite a mouthful. And what's your name?"
Please remove all clothing and jewelry and place them in the bin.A whir from the right side of the room drew his attention to a drawer that slid out to reveal a plastic bin.
"But we haven't even been introduced. You could at least buy me a drink first." Baiting the AI probably wasn't smart, but as his anxiety ratcheted up, he couldn't help himself.
Please remove all clothing and jewelry and place them in the bin. Attendants will be summoned to assist if you are unable to comply.
Which probably meant large, scowling men would come and wrestle him out of his things. Large men and the removal of clothing were often a welcome combination, but not under these circumstances. Shudder sighed and stripped, carefully folding each item and placing it in the bin with his shoes on top. The drawer whirred and vanished back into the wall.
Please stand still for medical assessment.
Hands clasped self-consciously in front of his privates, Shudder tried to stand still despite the shivers running through him. They keep this place like a meat locker. Various beeps and whirs came from the walls, blue, then white lights running over his skin. The AI didn't tell him the results, so he had to assume he wasn't about to drop dead or bring any fun infectious diseases in with him.
The sounds of the exam ceased, and still Shudder stood in the center of the room shivering, not any closer to understanding what was going to happen to him. A click and hum, and another drawer protruded from the wall. No, not a drawer. A bench? A table?
Please lie down on the bench for the antribile injection.
"For the what? Look, I can't go anywhere. Why am I being drugged?"
Please lie down on the bench for the antribile injection. All prisoners must have talent blockers attached. Attendants will be summoned to assist if you are unable to comply.
Odd how such a polite AI managed to sound threatening, but the response also answered Shudder's questions about the AI's interactive capabilities. This wasn't simply a recording with escalating responses for noncompliance, since it had answered his question. The temporary mu-metal cap would be removed and something sturdier and less removable put in its place.
Not that he could think of any immediate way this information might help him, so he took the path of least resistance and eased down onto his back on the bench. A robotic arm extended from the wall, wrapped a cuff around his biceps, and injected the antribile before he'd taken another breath. He hoped two doses in the same twenty-four hours wouldn't fry him since it did impede brain-wave function in addition to making him a loopy noodle. Couldn't let the evil variant have a chance at accessing dangerous talents, now could they?
Coherent thought drifted away for a while on a warm river of fluff, and he was distantly aware of other robotic arms doing other things around his head. By the way his back and butt felt melded to the surface of the bench when he drifted back to awareness, he felt like some time had passed, but he couldn't have guessed how much.
Blood pressure is within normal limits. Please sit up and dress.
Shudder was about to askdress in what?when he spotted another protruding drawer. He shook out the items stored there and found a mud-brown coverall with a plastic zipper, a pair of white boxers, white socks and brown soft-soled shoes that were little better than slippers.
He sighed as he pulled everything on. "They couldn't have picked a less-flattering color, could they?"
The movements of dressing made him aware of something pulling oddly at his scalp. He reached up and found a round metal plate attached to the top of his head. Running his fingers around the rim didn't give him any hint of how the cursed thing was attached, but it did reveal the final, worst humiliation. They'd shaved his head.
