The Jailhouse Scene 2: Room Twelve
“Here we are; room twelve.” Tirlene waved her hand over a panel, and a door slid open. “We monitor the prisoners, of course, but customers can turn the transmission off by voice control. You can also set the door to open only from inside by saying ‘lockout.’ Those,” she pointed to a metal frame, “are the vertical restraints, and the horizontal ones are on the bed.” Also on the bed was a blonde girl, sitting with her knees pulled up, doing her best to ignore them. “Now,” Tirlene went on, “we have to register your voice.” She pressed her thumb to another panel on the inside, and a speaker crackled on. “Tirlene Alvin, code B, registering customer…” She gestured to him.
“The Doctor,” he said into the speaker.
She gave him a funny look, which was really a mild reaction compared to some, and then let it go. “Well, Doctor, she’s all yours. Time is unlimited; you’ll be charged for what you use in fifteen minute increments. Have fun.”
Fun? he thought. Only in the sense that unraveling a mystery was fun… which it was.
“Lockout. Deactivate monitors,” he said. Then he took a closer look around. There was not much to the room; beyond what Tirlene had already pointed out, there was only a small sofa, an end table, and a corner nook with sanitary facilities, walled off by a sliding curtain.
“So you’re my first… customer,” the girl sneered.
“Look, Miss.” The Doctor held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I don’t know what you’re expecting, but I’m not it. I have no intention of taking advantage of your services.”
“Well, that makes me feel so much better,” she snorted.
“It’s nothing personal,” he added, hoping she wasn’t offended. “It’s just not the sort of thing I do with complete strangers.”
“Which makes you about the strangest man I’ve ever met!” she laughed. “What are you here for, then?”
“I’m investigating. I thought there was something wrong about this place, but I’m missing a lot of details.” He began to run diagnostics on the computers with his sonic screwdriver, listening carefully as it ticked off the security protocols in code. They were fairly typical for a prison, except for the allowance of additional short-term operators, of which he was now one. However, he could only control this room from here; he would need to get to the main console to hack into the larger facility.
“Well, good luck,” the girl called. “I don’t know what I can tell you; I should think the problem is obvious.”
He turned to look at her. She was glaring at him defiantly from within a mass of curly blonde hair, and there was something odd about her eyes. Slipping the screwdriver back into his pocket, he went and sat next to her.
“Start with your name,” he suggested. “I’m the Doctor.”
“The Doctor? Is that all?”
He nodded apologetically.
“Well, I’m Camille.”
“Nice to meet you, Camille. What are you in for?”
“Rebellion,” she sighed. “This place is just one of many atrocities committed by our government. The one that meant the most to me before I was sent here is the subjugation of mutants as second-class citizens.” She pointed to her eyes, and he realized the pupils were reflective.
“Are there a lot of mutants on this planet?” he asked.“Yes. Mainly among the farmers closer to the sun side; the radiation is strong there, and the filters on the domes are substandard. Usually it’s just something minor, like my eyes, but those who consider themselves completely normal think it’s enough to make us less than human. So a lot of us are working to force the government to make changes.”
“Naturally,” he agreed.
“Now that I’ve been imprisoned, though, I see that no aspect of our society is free from persecution. This isn’t even the only facility of its kind; most cities are replacing standard jails with them.”
“Wait, what do you mean replacing?” He was taken aback. “Surely not all prisoners agree to become prostitutes to reduce their sentences.”
“You think I agreed to this?” she barked. “You think I had a choice? Yesterday Vargas came in and, and… tested me, he called it, and now they’ll send me customers, as often as every day if I turn out to be popular. No more than that; they don’t want us… worn out.”
“That’s government-sanctioned rape!” he gasped. “It’s revolting!”
“No, what my friends and I are doing is revolting,” Camille smirked. “This is abhorrent.”
“I’ve got to get you out of here.” The Doctor knelt in front of her, drawing his sonic screwdriver. He adjusted the setting, then held it to the manacle on one of her wrists. It popped open, and he threw it on the floor as if it were covered in slime. She offered him her other wrist, and then pointed out the ones on her ankles.
It wasn’t until he helped her to her feet that he realized she had on only a light gauze gown. It was too cold outside for that.
“Take my jacket,” he offered, slipping it off and handing it to her. “I’ll need it back when we get to safety; all my things are in the pockets. This, we may need again.” He indicated the screwdriver.“Thanks,” she said, sliding her arms into the sleeves. “Are you sure about this?”
He gave her an enthusiastic grin. “Not really, no. But I can’t just leave you here. We’ll come back for the others later, when we have a plan.” He offered her his hand. She nodded and took it.
“Door open,” he ordered. It slid to the side, and he led her through it and down the corridor to the exit. Once he overrode the security on the vault door, it was purely mechanical; he handed Camille his screwdriver so he could turn the wheel and open it. Tirlene and Vargas watched him come through, and then went irate when he pulled Camille after him.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tirlene roared.
“Sorry,” the Doctor smiled. “Liked her too much. Gotta take her with me. Hope you don’t mind.” He added quietly, “Run.”
They dashed toward the exit. Vargas pressed a button on his console, and the alarms started beeping. One of the guards pulled a gun of some kind and fired it at the Doctor. He tripped and fell to the floor as a net wrapped around him. Camille slid to a halt.
“No!” he cried. “Camille, run! Just keep running!”
A second net hit the door next to her as she pushed through it and out onto the street. The Doctor began to struggle against the net as he watched her disappear into the crowds. Then someone grabbed the net and lifted his head. He could see a reflection in the door of a guard standing over him, one hand on the net, the other holding a small black club. He swung it, and the world went black.
Scene Selection
1. Delavega 5. Break-in 2. Room Twelve 6. Rescue 3. Sentencing 7. Escape 4. Testing Commentary