Suspects' Holding Cell

[etcircenses]

The vans drive for what seems like an hour before they come to a stop, and Peacekeepers blindfold and forcefully drag even the most cooperative suspects into a building.

The suspects are all held in one cell, a large, metal room with a thick door and a single ledge that serves as a bench. Bright fluorescent lights beam from overhead. There are no windows and no clocks, no sign of where they might be.

The Peacekeepers take off the blindfolds, though without much care for whether they come off all the way or chafe or stay slung around the suspects' necks. The suspects' hands are left cuffed behind their backs, and even the most ingenious of them won't be able to pick the lock on their restraints, but they're otherwise left to roam freely through the space.

Suspects are removed, one at a time, at unpredictable intervals, by Peacekeepers armed with tasers. Some take three hours to return, while others are back within only a minute. Each of them comes back having been clearly roughed up and pressed for information that they may or may not hold; some are bleeding or sporting the beginnings of black eyes.

They'll be sleeping here tonight.

Comments

[youbarium]

"He worked directly for Hsiang Jiao," Carlos repeated. "As one of her personal Avoxes. I mean, they'll probably just put him to work in the Tribute Center. That's the obvious solution."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"So why won't he still be working for her? Wait a minute, is it HER that they're questioning us about? Did someone actually take her out?!"

Ok, that was fucking infuriating. She had PLANNED to kill that bitch come down the line, and now she couldn't even do it anymore!

[youbarium]

"That's what they were asking me about," Carlos confirmed. "You know, in between the electrical shocks." This was said with an unsettling degree of casualness.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Christ, they must really hate you then," Mindy said, shaking her head. "I didn't get shocks, just the regular old shots to body stuff for me. It was bullshit, but what can you do?"

She gritted her teeth. Damn, but she hated her clipped wings. "So. She was taken down. Why do they think we could do it? It's fucking Penny, that wouldn't have been easy by any stretch."

[youbarium]

"I think they were trying to evoke something that happened back in my first Arena," he explained. "There was an electrical storm that -- never mind, it's not important now. Anyway, I have no idea how they think a Tribute could have pulled that off."

That much was true. Carlos had an idea of who had helped them do it, whoever they were, but he wasn't telling.

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy looked thoughtful about that information. If that was what they were driving at, making Carlos remember something unpleasant with their torture, they were doing their homework. It wasn't just about punishing them: it was just as much about reminding them they could use their worst case scenarios against them.

"I'm sure they could cook up something if they really wanted, just in case it might come back around to them."

[youbarium]

"I'm trying not to think about it," Carlos said. "The last thing I need is to come up with a plausible theory that makes me look guilty."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"I hope not," she said, then winces a little. "Damn. And to think, the worse is yet to come. It is not going to be a fun time for us, that's for sure."

[youbarium]

Carlos sighed. "We can't do anything right now except wait it out."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"We should be ready for it being awhile then," she said. "Because so long as they don't know who did it or who to pin it on, we're going to be here until they're satisfied."

[youbarium]

Carlos sighed and shifted his arms behind his back. Having them cuffed there for so long was really uncomfortable.

"I know it looks bad," he said, "but it could be a lot worse. They could have decided to execute us all. The fact that they're torturing us means they want to find the one who did it, and will probably let the rest of us live."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Yeah, but if you think about it, we're not really here by coincidence. There's suspicions about us, and now that we're here, they have an incentive to keep a close eye on us. Don't forget, at any point in time, someone might sell out people whether they're guilty or not, for their own benefit. You'd be surprised the kind of shit people say when they're being coerced."

[youbarium]

"Oh, I know. Of course I know that torture isn't a valid method of interrogation if you care about finding the truth. But maybe, if we're lucky, someone will investigate from the outside. After all, they used Tributes to find cures for those diseases last month, right?"

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Yeah, I think we all the know the torture isn't just about finding the truth. It's also about not looking like they got caught with their dicks in their hands. They have to save face and instill fear. You can't do that when your main torture magnet has just been offed with no concrete leads."

[youbarium]

Carlos sighed, closed his eyes, and leaned back against the wall.

"Like I said. We can't do anything but wait."

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Yeah. Sucks."

She sighed. "I swear to God, it doesn't matter what's happening, free or in fucking prison, I'm in prison anyway. I'm either bored and in good health, or jailed, tortured and fucking waiting. That's all this kind of life is. Swear, it would make some people lose their shit."

[youbarium]

He didn't open his eyes. Carlos felt for her, he really did, and he understood how hard something like this must be for someone her age.

"I'm sorry. I wish I had better advice," he said sadly. "But try to be patient, Mindy. A scientist must always be patient. Same with prisoners."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy let out a bitter laugh.

"I'm here in a place with no windows and can be tortured at any time. If I haven't learned patience before, I sure as hell am gonna learn it now, along with how high my threshold is."

[youbarium]

"At least we're learning something," said Carlos, with a little more optimism than he really should have had. "I'm trying to think of it like an experiment, designed to test pain-inflicting methods." A beat. "It helps."

[hit_girl_mindy]

At this, Mindy couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. "As insane as that is, I can't see how we could make it any less shitty. Sure, why not?"

[youbarium]

"I just need to find a way to record my results," he said, shrugging his shoulders to illustrate just how restrained-behind-his-back his arms are. "It's not science if you don't write it down."

[hit_girl_mindy]

Mindy gave him a look. "By the end of the week, lets hope you can still use your fingers, ok?"

[youbarium]

"I hope so." Carlos couldn't look at his own fingers, since they were hidden behind his back, but the sentiment was there. "It would be terrible to go into the Arena with broken fingers. I mean -- it would make terrible television," he said deliberately.

He hopes the Peacekeepers are listening.

[hit_girl_mindy]

"Would it? You gotta put that on a scale, when it really comes down to it. They're gonna throw us back in the Arena if we get to leave, that much is certain. What they'll add to that, well, who knows? Maybe they'll bring us straight from here."

She didn't have her hopes up there, but anything could happen.

[youbarium]

"There's no way of knowing until it happens," he said with an air of finality. "You should get some rest while you can. I don't know when they'll take you away again."