Breakfast in Bedlam/Chapters 7-8

Chapter 7
"Would you care to explain your behavior?" Dr. Gawynn Karastee was poised with her stylus to update the information in her datapad. She and Captain Bencar were seated in the interview room across the table from Zuckuss, whose gaze was locked on the binders securing his wrists. "You've been getting into more fights lately and at least one was unprovoked. Care to explain why?  Are the voices telling you to act this way?" Zuckuss remained silent, idly fidgeting with the seam of his glove. Bencar slammed both palms hard against the table, the thudding impact jolting Zuckuss upright. "Answer the question, Zuckuss! Either start talking or you'll spend the rest of your sentence in the Hole!" The threat earned Bencar a stern glare from Dr. Karastee, which he ignored. "Seriously, this 'silent assassin' nerf-spit needs to stop! You've been pulling this act since you got here!" He stormed around the table and grabbed Zuckuss by the shirt collar, yanking him backwards and forcing him to meet his gaze. "Start talking or you'll never see the sun again." "That's enough!" Karastee stood. "Do you want to send him into another psychotic break?!" She waited until Bencar released Zuckuss before speaking again. "Please, Zuckuss, just tell us what happened. What is said in this room remains in this room." Zuckuss moved his gaze from Karastee to Bencar and back again. He gave off what sounded like a gusty sigh, though it could have been his gear venting excess gas. "Dokk was going to harm Miss Sookanado. Zuckuss was only protecting her." The stress of the fight and Bencar's attitude must have urged Zuckuss's alternate personality out of hiding, as evident by how he referred to himself in third person. His voice was quiet and reserved. "Dokk should not be permitted to interact with the inmates in E-7." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table and fixing Karastee in his gaze. "You are aware of why Zuckuss acquired his bounty, are you not?" Bencar shook his head, dismissing the statement with a wave of his hand. "Dokk's charges are not on trial here&mdash;" "Dokk assaulted women," Zuckuss said simply. "Seventeen victims. Ten of them dead.  The 'Swatara Strangler.'"  His voice dropped. "Miss Sookanado would have been his eighteenth victim if Zuckuss had not intervened." He paused, moving his gaze to Bencar and his voice took on a slightly accusatory tone. "Dokk should not be permitted to interact with the inmates. Why is he not in Hi-Max?" Zuckuss had a valid point. Karastee looked at Bencar as well. "Why isn't Dokk in Hi-Max?" "Well, he will be now, what with that assault on his record..." Bencar avoided answering the question. "I'll put the order in after we're done here and he'll be moved this evening." Karastee sat down again and noted something in her datapad. With how inmates were hesitant to report any transgression against them, she doubted that Sookanado was the only one Dokk had assaulted in the prison. There were other female inmates in E-7, and the mentally ill were often the target of violent attacks. They were also less likely to report on those attacks, often internalizing it and justifying it as being their fault. Karastee sighed, her gaze on Zuckuss, wondering if he were a victim of such assault. If he were, it was unlikely that he would ever say so, having rationalized it. "So, you were only trying to protect Miss Sookanado. Why was Hardin involved, then?" "Hardin had contraband," Zuckuss again said simply. "He was going to cut her throat if she screamed. The corrections officers would not assist her, they were blind to it.  Focused on their own internal affairs.  It was happening in front of them, in the light, plain view.  Their eyes open, yet they see nothing.  Blinded by the searing incompetence&mdash;" "Enough!" Bencar again slammed the table. "I will not sit here while you insult my staff!" He huffed. "And knock off the metaphorical nerf-spit." Karastee gave off a sigh, mostly in irritation. "I understand you feel strongly about this, Zuckuss, but you must understand that the officers are trying to divide their attention up between hundreds of inmates. Sometimes, they won't notice things right away.  I'm sure that if they saw what was happening, they would've stopped it." "They did not see," Zuckuss shook his head, "blinded by incompetence&mdash;" "So says some two-bit scum," Bencar interrupted. "You're one to talk, bug." "Captain, don't." Karastee's voice was low, hoping to stop the comment she was sure to follow. Any snide remarks concerning Zuckuss's role as a findsman affected him greatly, from what Karastee had observed. An incident that occurred roughly a month ago was still fresh in her mind: Captain Bencar had gotten frustrated and commented that Zuckuss had failed to become a findsman due to incompetence, which in turn upset the Gand. Only, instead of reacting violently, he internalized it. He did not speak for four days, made no eye contact with anyone, refused to do his work detail, and overall just stopped. There were talks of resorting to extreme treatment methods to essentially "kick-start" him into compliance, but no action was taken as Zuckuss came to his senses on his own. He returned to his daily routine without further incident and refused to acknowledge what had happened. Karastee concluded it to be a psychogenic fugue. "Again, I understand that you were only protecting Miss Sookanado. However, you involved Hardin in the fight.  As I understand, it escalated." "You're damn right it escalated," Bencar cut in. "Hardin got nailed in the kidneys, Dokk's missing some teeth, and the bug's got a cracked thorax. And the contraband Hardin supposedly had?  It ain't been found." "He had it!" Zuckuss raised his voice, slapping the table. "Hardin had contraband! He has a shiv!  He was going to cut Miss Sookanado's throat!" He slapped the table again, shook his head, and sat back in the chair. "No point in arguing... Someone might have taken it..." "Wonderful..." Bencar grumbled. He nodded to Karastee. "If you'll excuse me, I need to do a surprise shakedown. Can't have shivs floating around..." He paused by the door. "An officer is posted just outside if you need anything, Doctor." Karastee returned the nod. "My client shouldn't be a problem." Bencar's reply was a snort and he left the room. Karastee returned her gaze to Zuckuss and the two sat there in silence for a long moment. Zuckuss averted his eyes, picking at the seam of his glove. He let out another sound that resembled a sigh, then looked at Karastee. "Zuckuss was only trying to protect Miss Sookanado..." Karastee nodded slowly. "I understand, but Zuckuss, this isn't the first fight you've been in. You've been in and out of solitary for a while, you've been vandalizing your walls, and you've been getting into one fight after another." She sighed and looked at her datapad for a moment, then returned her gaze. "And in our sessions, you continually avoid discussing this and anything unrelated to your hunts. Zuckuss, you need to talk.  I mean, if you tell us what's wrong, or help us determine what's wrong, then we can help rehabilitate you.  You're looking at a long sentence...  You're a lifer, but if you would allow us to help you, I may be able to put in a word to the judge, perhaps shorten your sentence or secure a transfer to a better facility." Zuckuss averted his gaze, his fidgeting ceased, and he shifted in his chair. "The judge will not let Zuckuss free..." He made another sighing sound. "Dangerous to himself and others. Insane.  Menace.  Schizo." Karastee sighed again. She had been working with Zuckuss for a little over a few months, trying to reach him. He seemed to be more receptive to talking to her more than he was to Captain Bencar, but he still said very little of anything unrelated to his hunts. Today, however, was different. Even though he had not disclosed much, this was the most he had spoken without derailing the discussion to a past hunt, and Karastee was not about to allow Zuckuss to steer the topic. The assault against Sookanado certainly had the Gand understandably riled up, he had such a strong sense of honor and chivalry. He must have had a close female friend at some point in his career that he had not yet disclosed any information about. Perhaps another time, Karastee decided, he can talk about her. She looked at her datapad for a moment, then returned her gaze to Zuckuss. "When was the last time you were truly happy? When you truly felt alive?" Zuckuss was silent for a very long moment, clasping his hands together and looking at the table. He made another sound that resembled a cough, followed by a grunt, then noisily cleared his throat with such effort that it made Karastee feel ill. "When... when Zuckuss was with the Rebel Alliance..." "Would you like to talk about it?" Zuckuss made another cough sound, glanced around the room, then shook his head. "No... not right now. Not here." He sighed, the noise was unmistakable to Karastee. "Later. We'll talk about it later." Karastee nodded, noting it in her datapad. She started to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening. "Dr. Karastee?" The young wide-eyed uniformed human male stood at attention, his clothes freshly-pressed and his shoes shined. "Your presence is required in the administrator's office." "Can it wait? I'm with a client." The young man shook his head. "No ma'am." Dr. Karastee sighed, then looked at Zuckuss. "I'm sorry. We'll need to continue this discussion at another time." She stood, putting her datapad in her shoulder bag and slinging it over one arm. Zuckuss nodded, flanked by two officers who had promptly entered the room. "Understandable." "We'll return Zuckuss to his cell," the young officer held the door, allowing Karastee to pass. Karastee nodded. "Thank you." She continued down the hallway, shaking her head at the interruption. Granted, there would be other sessions, but she was making such progress this time. She had finally gotten Zuckuss to talk, how very little he said. Even so, she had managed to persuade him to say something unrelated to his hunts. Karastee looked to her shoulder bag, recalling what she had written down. She had heard that Zuckuss had at one time dealings with the Rebel Alliance, but she had figured it was just a contract to bring in a fugitive. However, Zuckuss claimed to have been with the Alliance, as an agent of one of the most influential political and military factions in recent history. Certainly a topic worth discussion at a later date. Karastee turned a corner and stepped into the administrator's sparsely-decorated office. "You wished to speak with me?" Administrator Verloff, a tall elderly man with a long face and shock of white hair, stood, bowing. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Dr. Karastee." Seated before his simple desk were two other individuals; a warden from another psychiatric cell block in another part of Bedlam and a prim and proper Bothan that Karastee recognized from the district's mental health/mental retardation agency. "This is Warden Unk and you may have already met Caz'rak. Please, take a seat." The administrator gestured to an empty chair. Karastee did as she was told. "Thank you, Mr. Verloff." She looked to the warden and MH/MR caseworker, recognizing the set-up. "Prisoner transfer?" Warden Unk nodded. "From Block A-3." "What prisoner?" Karastee hastily dug her datapad from her bag and keyed up any information concerning the transfer, only to find nothing. "I was not alerted to this." "We're alerting you now," Verloff nodded curtly. "Pepan Manja shouldn't cause any trouble. However, there is over-crowding in A-3 and they are not staffed to deal with inmates with such severe mental disturbances." Karastee's eyes widened. Pepan Manja was being transferred. Immediately, her thoughts went to the highlighted journal entry. She shook her head. "You… you do know that E-7 houses at least one insectoid…" "Of course," Caz'rak spoke up. "Pepan is medicated and will be assigned his own cell. A-3 had three insectoids and there were no incidents.  You needn't worry." If you had any clue… Karastee mused. Caz'rak was a stuffed shirt, unaware of the disturbances that plagued the minds of his clients. An overpriced glorified accountant, his duties were to allocate funds to treatment plans. These caseworkers barely saw the clients under their care more than once a year and for no longer than a few minutes, just long enough to decide whether they should continue charging their insurance for therapies and medication. Most of the caseworkers had no doctorate and very little continuing education in the field of psychiatry. Caz'rak busied himself with grooming his long fur and straightening the lapels of his pressed suit. He had absolutely no idea what Karastee had seen in Pepan's journal and she doubted that he would care. And Karastee could not readily share the information without a signed release. She sighed, looking to the datapad balanced on her lap. "When will the transfer take place?"

Chapter 8
Her eyes watching the other inmates, studying their behavior, Cami walked unescorted through the common area and to her cell. She had showered and changed her clothes, feeling cleaner since the assault. However, the feeling did not last as she was stopped by one of the guards and asked to file an incident report. Someone had snitched, though the officer didn’t specify who. It made Cami wary, as if the other inmates found out, there would be hell to pay. A shudder crawled up Cami’s spine. Her large eyes darted from inmate to inmate, noting the faces. Dokk was not among them. Good, an icy feeling crept into her chest. Hopefully he’s been moved from gen-pop. She wouldn’t count on it, however, it would only be fitting that the Department of Corrections overlook the behavior and subsequent actions of the Swatara Strangler. Thankfully, Cami had protection. When she was processed, Cami was told that there was overcrowding in the mental observation unit and that she would need to share a cell. However, at the time, only two male inmates had room. A temporary arrangement, she was told, was made as the warden selected the most incompatible species of the two and she was assigned to Zuckuss’s cell. The racial difference and the fact that Zuckuss was dependent on a respirator was sufficient reason enough for the warden to allow a co-ed sleeping arrangement. They breathed different atmospheres and Zuckuss was seen as a celibate monk, so the staff was not concerned with any unwanted advances and progeny. Besides, they claimed, it was only a temporary arrangement. That was almost two months ago. Cami gave off a sigh as she entered her cell. No one she passed on the way, thankfully, indicated that they knew that she had spoken to the guards about the assault. She hoped it would stay that way. Crossing the small cell, she flopped down on her bunk, her gaze on the ceiling. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Cami tried to rid herself of the jumpy feeling. This was not the first time she had been assaulted, and she assumed that it would not be the last. Not in a place such as this. It scared and disgusted her. And the edginess, the paranoia, would not wear off any time soon. She sighed again, closing her eyes and allowing her thoughts to drift off to points unknown. Only a quiet murmur behind her made her sit upright. Turning around, she saw her cellmate sitting in the corner of the cell, his knees to his chest. The Gand appeared to be upset about something, his gaze averted and quietly murmuring to himself. Cami stood and walked over to Zuckuss, crouching in front of him. “Hey. You alright?” Zuckuss did not reply right away. He held his gloved hands before him, palms up, as if using them to indicate what he had become. He looked at them for a moment, then rested them on his knees. “…Zuckuss is sorry, Toryn…” Cami raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she had witnessed him referring to himself in the third person. She knew that most self-deprecating Gands did that, but throughout the bulk of her imprisonment with Zuckuss, she had only known him to use pronouns and similar identifiers. She thought that perhaps it was due to him being away from his culture for so long. Shrugging it off, Cami glanced at the cell door, making sure no one was hanging around in the hallway outside, then sat on the floor in front of Zuckuss. “What’s wrong? Who’s Toryn?” “’What’s wrong with you?’ He wishes he could say…” Zuckuss didn’t directly answer Cami’s questions or even make eye contact. “Zuckuss is sorry, Toryn…” Cami waited for a moment, then gently placed her hand on the Gand’s shoulder. “Hey, talk to me Z… What’s up? What’s wrong?” Zuckuss finally looked at her. “Eh… It’s--it’s nothing…” He shook his head, his gaze going to his knees. He made a sound, like a sigh, his shoulders heaving with the effort. “Zuckuss was just… Sorry, he just…”  He trailed off, shaking his head again. Cami shrugged. “Hey, sometimes thoughts get stuck. It happens to me still.” She nodded behind her to indicate a past she would sooner choose to forget. “You wanna talk about it? That helps sometimes, just to get it off your chest.” Zuckuss nodded. “If you think it will help…” He took a deep breath and coughed, then thumped his chest with his fist and cleared his throat. “Pardon…” He coughed a bit more and Cami offered him some water. “Sometimes,” Cami filled the flimsiplast cup in the sink, then handed it to Zuckuss, “when a bad memory gets stuck, it’s because something brought it up, like the shrink saying something.” She paused. “The shrink say something, I take it?” Zuckuss nodded after a drink. “Dr. Karastee asked the last time Zuckuss was truly happy…” “When was that?” Cami again sat cross-legged on the floor. “When he was with the Rebel Alliance.”

Cami nodded slowly. She watched Zuckuss for a moment. The bare floor felt cold through her jumpsuit. Adjusting it, she cleared her throat. “Hey, I wanna thank you, you know, for helping me out back there… You’re a stand-up guy, Zuckuss. Bet you were a hit with the ladies.” Zuckuss made a snorting sound that resembled a chuckle. “So, who’s Toryn? Old girlfriend?” Again, Zuckuss snort-chuckled as he shook his head. “No… Toryn was&mdash;is someone Zuckuss owes his life to… 4-LOM and Zuckuss rescued Toryn and several others, and in return, she… well, the medical droids did the actual procedure, but Toryn set it into motion.”  He set the cup aside and rested his hands on his knees. “A good friend,” he nodded, “she was a good friend.” Cami nodded as well. “So, what happened?” Zuckuss did not answer right away, his gaze going to his knees. “About a year before&mdash;before Zuckuss came here… he worked with Toryn again. Something… something happened…” He leaned forward, burying his face in his forearms, his voice a muffled whisper. “Zuckuss is sorry, Toryn…” Cami again put her hand on the Gand’s shoulder. “Tell me what happened, Zuckuss. Get it off your chest.” It took a moment, but Zuckuss sat up. He took a deep breath and began.