At the Cellrebrum Region Rehabilitation Centre, a few days had passed since Arville had left. Even though Vulay had been off all forms of drugs since Arville left, she was struggling to get a grip on reality. She felt confused about Victor. Dr. Cortex and his staff refused to clarify anything with her regarding Victor. It was done intentionally, as they desired her to come up with her own conclusion.
Morgan remained under medication. His hallucinations related almost entirely to his family. He didn’t think about the kidnapped girls or his convicted crimes.
Of all the prisoners, Dr. Cortex was most interested in Jarlint’s hallucinations. He decided it would be useful if they had a group session with him and the fathers of Jewels and Pearls. He ordered his staff to put them under the influence of a truth serum.
Jarlint and the two fathers were brought into a room. The room was quite large, but it only contained four chairs. The three were left alone, unsupervised. Dr. Cortex and Mida watched from the monitors in the Observation Room.
‘So, you are the child abusers?’ asked Jarlint.
‘No, we were tricked,’ said Pearls’ father. ‘Our children were stolen.’
‘Oh no, the enforcers made a terrible mistake,’ said Jarlint sarcastically.
‘I heard you’re in here for assaulting a colleague,’ said Jewels’ father.
‘Technically, yeah,’ said Jarlint.
‘So there’s more to it?’ asked Jewels’ father.
‘There definitely should be,’ laughed Jarlint.
‘Unlike you, we did nothing wrong. We shouldn’t be in rehabilitation,’ said Pearls’ father. ‘We should be out there looking for our children.’
Jarlint began laughing again.
‘There is something seriously wrong with you,’ said Jewels’ father.
‘I know where your children are,’ said Jarlint in a more serious tone.
‘You better shut your damn mouth, idiot,’ said Jewels’ father to Jarlint.
‘You’re unbelievable,’ said Jarlint. ‘One moment you want to find your children. The next moment someone offers you information, and you tell them to shut up.’
‘Alright, what do you know?’ said Pearls’ father.
‘The Inquisitives ate them,’ replied Jarlint.
‘No, surely not,’ said Pearls’ father, sounding quite shocked. ‘I know they are awful, but they couldn’t have done such a thing.’
‘He’s full of it,’ said Jewels’ father angrily. ‘There is no way he could know this. They pulled him in from the Capital Region.’
‘I was in Adoy,’ said Jarlint. ‘I was at the station before they had their meal.’
Dr. Cortex and Mida watched on with interest. ‘Oh my gosh, Morgan is a cannibal,’ said Mida to Dr. Cortex.
‘Most likely,’ replied Dr. Cortex. ‘Very few are still able to lie under the dosage we have given them.’
‘Should we give Morgan the equivalent amount of the serum?’ asked Mida.
‘No,’ replied Dr. Cortex. ‘Introduce him to the group session now.’
Mida radioed the staff to bring Morgan to the room.
In the room, the discussion continued. ‘If that’s true, why didn’t you say anything to anyone until now?’ asked Jewels’ father.
‘If I came forward, I would have been arrested,’ replied Jarlint. ‘I value my freedom.’
‘I think he’s lying,’ said Pearls’ father to Jewels’ father.
‘I know, let’s all volunteer for a lie detector test,’ said Jewels’ father as he looked at Jarlint.
A staff member entered the room with Morgan.
‘Hey, we want a lie detector test,’ Jewels’ father asked the staff member. ‘We want to know if this asshole is telling the truth.’
‘All three of you have been given a truth serum,’ replied the staff member. ‘This was done to help facilitate an honest conversation.’
The two fathers stood in stunned silence for a moment as the staff member left the room. ‘What’s up guys?’ asked Morgan.
‘I have waited a long time to get some answers out of you, you son of a bitch,’ said Jewels’ father in a fit of rage as he stared at Morgan. ‘We know you kidnapped our daughters. Now we know you killed them and ate them.’
‘No,’ replied Morgan. ‘That’s insane.’
Jewels’ father went over to Morgan and punched him in the face. He continued to hit him repeatedly.
Jarlint began laughing. ‘Shut up,’ shouted Pearls’ father to Jarlint. ‘You’re sick in the head.’
In the Observation Room. Mida turned to Dr. Cortex and said, ‘We need to stop this.’
‘No,’ replied Dr. Cortex. ‘It is better if we let this play out. This might be our final assessment for all four of them.’
Morgan was lying on the ground with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. Pearls’ father finally went over to restrain Jewels’ father. ‘That’s enough now,’ said Pearls’ father firmly.
‘He killed our daughters,’ shouted Jewels’ father. ‘He needs to die.’
‘He didn’t kill your daughters,’ shouted Jarlint. ‘I killed your daughters. That’s why I was at the station.’
Jewels’ father pushed Pearls’ father aside. He charged towards Jarlint. He took a swing at him. Jarlint moved to one side, causing Jewels’ father to miss and lose balance. Jarlint manoeuvred himself behind Jewels’ father. He grabbed his head and neck. He snapped it around as hard as he could. This caused Jewels’ father’s neck to break, killing him instantly. Jewels’ father’s body flopped to the ground.
‘You’re next,’ shouted Jarlint to Pearls’ father.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cortex radioed security to break up the situation. Pearls’ father was using a chair to fend off Jarlint. Jarlint knocked it out of his hands. Jarlint was moving in to grab Pearls’ father when the door swung open.
Four security guards entered the room with their weapons. ‘Get down on the floor,’ screamed one of the guards.
Both Pearls’ father and Jarlint dropped to lie flat on the floor. All three were returned to their cells. Mida went to inform Jewels’ mother about the death of her husband.
The next day, Dr. Cortex called for a meeting with Zolam and Mida. ‘I have made my decision regarding the three prisoners involved in yesterday’s incident,’ Dr. Cortex told them. ‘Their violent behaviour is extreme. I am convinced it is impossible for these killers and cannibals to be rehabilitated.’
‘We still have plenty of time to make these assessments,’ said Zolam. ‘Shouldn’t we try a few more techniques before giving up on them?’
‘If I witnessed improvement, I would agree with you,’ replied Dr. Cortex. ‘Sadly, the exact opposite has been true. I fear keeping them here will only make it more difficult for our other prisoners, who may still have a chance to be rehabilitated.’
Both Zolam and Mida nodded.
Dr. Cortex called Pardi to inform him that he had three more test subjects if he wanted them. Pardi accepted Jarlint but told Dr. Cortex to send the other two to the businesses operating in the Central Agriculture Zone.
