Complementing Morgan Pt. 02A

This again. All her life Corinne had heard how she was odd, different. Here she was, a prison guard, among the toughest of the tough, and still she was the odd one. Hearing it again aggravated her, but she pushed aside those thoughts. Those were weak thoughts. Luckily, this probably meant whatever Hagen wanted had nothing to do with her past.

"It works," Corinne said. "It keeps them under control, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I suppose," Hagen said. "But you know what they call you, right? It's not just your eyes. You keep your distance from the other COs, too. Cold, icy. Honestly, catching up with Tara is the first sign of humanity I've seen in you, which is why I mention it. We all cope with the job differently. I'm not reprimanding you, but I want you to see where I'm coming from."

"I take my job seriously," Corinne replied.

"I can tell." Hagen let out a long sigh. "But I want you to take a moment and think how this looks. You are — hands down — the most physically attractive corrections officer here."

Corinne started to protest, but Hagen cut her off. "Let me finish. I don't know why you want to be in here with the animals. None of my business. But, when there are multiple incidents between an inmate who wouldn't be out of place on a fashion runway and the one CO I could describe the same way? Look at it from where I'm standing. What would you think?"

This was about Bedlan, then. "I caught Bedlan with a weapon made from her toothbrush. I asked Officer Sideris to join me in retrieving it after I overheard Wronski, one of Bedlan's cell mates, make an unusual reference to that toothbrush. Sideris can corroborate that when I retrieved the toothbrush it had been turned into a weapon. Has our policy on deadly weapons changed?"

"No," Hagen said, "But was this the same Wronski that Bedlan claimed was responsible the last time we sent her down to Ad-Seg? The same Wronski you let off with a warning?"

Corinne shrugged. "Bedlan's sensitive. No self-control. She was looking for a scapegoat. Either that or she was telling the truth and decided to get revenge."

"Ah, yes. Sensitive. I was coming to that." Hagen said. "Bedlan keeps ending up back in a straitjacket, doesn't she? And afterwards she seems more affected by it, sometimes going right back in, other times walking around in a daze. We have her scrubbing toilets with the droolers, because the Geodesic people say she sits there, doing nothing, staring at her monitor. If I didn't know better I'd say her man did a number on her, but he's never bothered to show up and she's not quite at the level of the others. Angela can't explain it either."

"So?"

"So," said Hagen, "You've been taking extra shifts delivering meals and doing check-ups down in high security. I know you've swapped shifts with the COs on duty down in Ad-Seg more than once. Honestly, I don't know if you have anything to do with Bedlan's 'sensitivity,' and it doesn't matter. What matters is how it looks. The other COs are talking, and that makes it my problem."

"Sideris said something." It wasn't a question. That's why she'd brought Sideris along when she collected the toothbrush that Wronski had planted. Corinne had wanted Sideris to see the evidence for herself. Evidently it hadn't been sufficient.

"Yes," Hagen confirmed her suspicions, "You know about her grandfather. I take care of my people, you know that. Inmates have issues, accidents happen now and then, I know. But, under the circumstances I have to go by the book. Both you and Sideris are good officers, and I'm going to cut her some slack here too."

In Corinne's opinion, Sideris didn't have the stomach to be a CO. She didn't deserve her job, let alone any slack. "The book says we keep inmates caught with deadly weapons in Administrative Segregation."

"Any other time and I'd let it slide." Hagen said. "But Sideris is cashing in her chips here, not to mention this thing stinks to high heaven. It could have been Bedlan who sharpened that toothbrush. It could also have been Wronski. Maybe Sideris is right and it's jealousy; maybe you're protecting Wronski. I don't need the details, I don't want the details, but this shit ends now. You're not in trouble, but whatever is going on here ends today. Understood?"

"The only thing going on is that an inmate created a deadly weapon," Corinne replied. "If you want that to end, keep her in solitary. Otherwise, you'll get more weapons, and next time she might try to use one before we catch her."

Hagen clasped her hands on her desk and leaned forward. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. Bedlan is going to get a two week stay in Ad-Seg and Wronski is going to join her. One of them is making weapons and I don't know which. That means they both get to cool their heels in a straitjacket for a while."

That was less than ideal, but it could be worse. That left two full weeks to give Bedlan the treatment she so richly deserved. Wronski would not be happy, though her accomplice knew better than to say anything. Corinne would have to find a way make it up to her. Wronski was filth, but they had a deal.

Loyalty mattered. Corinne had always, always, always been loyal. When someone assisted her, earned her loyalty, it was a sacred bargain. It didn't matter if outsiders got hurt, but betraying a friend was the ultimate crime. Disloyalty was the defining trait of a whore, and whenever she caught herself slipping down that path, she forced herself back from the brink.

"Finally," said Hagen. "As of tomorrow, you're done working high security. Your fitness scores are higher than any other CO in this facility, and it's my judgment that your talents are wasted on inmates that are already restrained. That leaves you one more shift in high security, this afternoon. Take care of anything you need down there before you clock out."

Corinne was careful not to let the Assistant Warden see her dismay. Without access to inmates in solitary confinement, she couldn't continue as planned. Hagen had obviously guessed about the vibrator. She was giving Corinne a chance to retrieve it before banning her from Ad-Seg so that it wouldn't be discovered.

"I understand." Corinne said. There was nothing else to say. Hagen clearly wasn't going to budge. "Is that all?"

Hagen sighed again. "Look, Jaanson, I'm going to let you in on the worst-kept secret we have around here. In case you haven't noticed, there's a giant shitstorm coming, and we're all sitting at ground-zero."

"You mean the Complements?" Corinne asked. She didn't know for certain what Hagen was referring to, but it was a good bet it had something to do with the one thing that made this facility unique.

"Yes, the Complements!" Hagen pounded her fist against the desk. "You got here right around the time this started, so maybe you don't realize how different things are. We've had to change everything. The Warden and the politicians got paid off by CY to try this scheme, got convinced they can save money, but guess whose job it is to actually make that happen?"

"I didn't realize there was a problem." She genuinely hadn't known there were any issues. Had she missed something?

"It's the money," Hagen said. "It's always about the money. The Complements were supposed to shave a bare-minimum four percent off our budget. We've had to change in enough other ways, the savings comes to under one percent."

"They are saving money, then." Corinne still didn't see the problem.

"And do you know what we had to do to make that happen? Why do you think we do the conjugals the way that we do? That was the Warden's idea too, by the way. Prepping inmates for the conjugals takes extra staff. Wages and overtime are what cost real money. We can't afford to schedule too many conjugals every weekend before we start losing money hand over fist. So, we follow the letter of the law if not the spirit."

Corinne said nothing. She already knew the rationale behind the conjugals, as did everyone else. She considered the setup to be an ingenious solution.

"The Warden gets to sit in his office down in the admin building and hobnob with his buddies the big-wig Greenies without ever stepping foot in here. Not that this Complement shit wasn't bi-fucking-partisan of course. Another brilliant political maneuver from the asshole, right there. When the law changed, banning male staff, he kept his comfy job by moving his office down the road. That leaves me to deal with his shit."

"But 'ground-zero?'" Corinne asked.

"It is the money, and it isn't the money. The more we save, the easier it is to justify the Warden's pet program. The Complements got slipped through in the dead of night in a rider to the bill that mandated an all female staff. You, along with Sideris and over half my people were hired as part of that initiative, as I recall. Sure, there was some talk, some news. I believe the Warden was quoted as saying that we were 'putting a lid on misbehavior.' No one said anything about turning them into out-of-control sluts."

"Well, guess what?" Hagen asked rhetorically. "They're starting to notice now. Yesterday we got a call, the second this month, from a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic. She's evidently been doing some pro-bono work for ex-cons. She wasn't the first and she won't be the last. I don't know where this is heading, but chances are it's only the beginning."

Hagen looked to the ceiling. "I have a nightmare, you know. Imagine a disgruntled CO—let's say Maria Sideris, to pick a name at random. Imagine Maria decides to quit and then starts running her mouth to every media outlet who will listen about the conditions in here. About the conjugals. About the droolers. All for less than one percent savings. The media might ignore the ex-cons, but a former CO would be different."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Hagen said. "Personally, I don't give two shits if all the animals end up as droolers, so long as no one makes a fuss. Serves 'em right. I do care whether I have reporters snooping around, asking questions, looking to cause trouble. I'm allergic to reporters, and I'm allergic to trouble. God help us if the little reporter snots start poking their noses where they don't belong. In the event the buggers do start showing up, I don't want them to find anything happening other than what I was specifically ordered, by the Warden, in writing, to make happen. Understood?"

"Yes, I understand," Corinne said. Corinne understood that Hagen was having trouble with her weak stomach, even if she wouldn't admit it to her employee. Not as weak as Sideris, though. Hagen still had a sense of duty. She understood the weakness for what it was and made excuses for it, but it was still weakness.

"I won't keep you any longer, then, but a word of advice," Hagen told her. "If you're feeling frustrated and feel the urge to blow off steam, give Tara a call. It'll do you good. There were a few times I had words with her too. Don't worry, I won't tell her wife."

Her wife? Did Hagen think…? Not only wasn't Corinne attracted to women, but the thought of O'Reilly in particular made her stomach turn.

She was fairly certain she could wrestle any two inmates in the prison to the ground, in spite of the increased strength granted by the Complements. When practicing on the firing range, she regularly hit the bullseye at four hundred yards with a sniper rifle. But as soon as she tried to gather information by simply chatting with a former coworker at a bar, this happened.

It was probably best to simply let Hagen believe whatever she wanted. "I understand. Thank you."

By necessity, Corinne was a private person. It wasn't as if she could share her motivations, her decade-long vendetta, with anyone else. Maybe it was Hagen's parting comment, but at that moment she wished there were someone with whom she could share her frustration.

Even if she wrote a letter to Anton, she wouldn't be able to get any of the details past the censors in the Federal prison where they had him. She had studied the possibility of breaking him out extensively, and it was out of the question. The best she could do was avenge him.

While the few nights in solitary with the vibrator she'd previously arranged had earned Bedlan a reputation for her 'sensitivity,' she was still no drooler. She seemed to mostly recover from it after a few days.

Corinne had plenty of opportunity to see the truly broken ones, and she aspired to replicate the effect with Bedlan. It seemed a good bet that two weeks might have done it, but now that plan had to be scrapped.

In hindsight, eliminating Bedlan's SO may have been premature. Bribing or threatening him to do what needed to be done might have been far more straightforward than sneaking around with the vibrator.

Corinne mulled over her next steps as she paid Bedlan a visit.

The moment she entered Bedlan's cell the scent of oranges assaulted her nostrils. Every morning after Corinne arrived at work the smell would fade into the background within fifteen minutes. Her nose would adjust, compensating for the strong odor. Nevertheless the smell was so much stronger here than in the rest of the prison that it once again became noticeable. It was overpowering.

While Amato's thighs had glistened, Bedlan's entire lower torso was drenched. So was her bedding. Corinne sniffed the air again. It smelled of oranges, not urine. That wasn't piss. Bedlan wasn't sufficiently far gone that she'd lost control of her bodily functions or had trouble crawling over to the toilet in her cell.

Too bad. After day three, that was pretty much guaranteed for the real droolers.

The whore was no longer screaming and kicking with the same vigor as when Corinne first put in the vibrator, most likely because her muscles were sore and her throat had gone hoarse. Bedlan was curled into a fetal position on the cot, her long, dark hair piled behind her in a tangled mess.

Bedlan was whimpering, though it was barely above a whisper. Every few seconds she would shudder violently. Those dark brown, expressive eyes were stretched wide as saucers, and Corinne could almost see the sanity draining out of them, second by second.

Another two weeks, and her mind might have gone entirely. It really was pity this had to end now.

Corinne shut off the vibrator using the remote. Then, careful to keep her back to the camera, she leaned down and retrieved it.

"It's over," Corinne said. "Do you understand?"

The only sounds that escaped Bedlan's throat were incoherent mewling noises. She clearly needed some time to recover before she would be ready to talk, or even capable of speech.

Corinne had expected that. That was why she had borrowed Dr. Farrell's trick and added a half a cup of coffee to Bedlan's liquid dinner. The caffeine would help snap her back to reality, not to mention keep her awake. She wouldn't have been able to sleep properly with the vibrator and was probably very tired.

Corinne pushed the caffeinated protein shake into the whore's face. "Drink."

Bedlan seemed to understand what was expected of her. She drank.

After she was certain that Bedlan had finished her dinner, Corinne left her to digest the caffeine and return to her senses. Given that Bedlan had soaked her bedding, changing the sheets would make an excellent excuse for returning to the cell later, before her shift ended.

Corinne didn't want Bedlan getting too close to Maria Sideris, who was clearly going out of her way to protect her. COs were required to keep their distance from inmates, but planting a seed of doubt in Bedlan's mind seemed a prudent precaution.

The whore was sitting up on the cot when Corinne entered. "Stand up," Corinne instructed Bedlan. "I'm here to change your bedding."

Unsteadily, Bedlan obeyed. That was good. That meant she had regained enough of her wits to understand Corinne when she spoke.

"You don't have to worry," Corinne said. "I'm not going to put it back. That's over."

Bedlan stood eyeing her warily, clearly terrified as to what Corinne intended.

"Have you had any interaction with Officer Maria Sideris?" Corinne asked. "Long curly black hair. Medium build, thicker than I am, slightly thinner than Hagen. Lately she's been doing shifts out in the domes, though I suppose you wouldn't know about that."

Bedlan's mouth worked silently for a few moments, before she stuttered and finally started babbling plaintively. "Ma'am, I, I, Ma'am I think I know who you mean. Please ma'am, I will do my best to follow the rules, ma'am. I, you, I mean, you said my toothbrush. It was broken, ma'am but I didn't know I couldn't have a broken toothbrush. No money for the commissary. Please ma'am, please?"

Bedlan was still looking at Corinne as if she were a demon. Well, that's what they called her. She had to admit it fit. "I can see how scared you are," she said. "And you're right to be scared. It amuses me to punish inmates who break rules. So, when another CO, offered to make it worth my while to give you some special treatment, I didn't have a problem with that. "

"I do, however, have a problem with Sideris starting rumors to cover her tracks that do not reflect well on me," Corinne explained. "She has been saying that I have treated you unfairly out of jealousy. Needless to say, I'm not too happy about that, and I won't be doing any more of her dirty work. That's also why I'm telling you this now."

Again Bedlan seemed to be struggling to find words. "Ma'am, Sideris, Ma'am. She, I, she, wanted me to go, I mean, wanted me to be here?"

Corinne smiled a tight, small smile. "Yes, that's right. The toothbrush we found wasn't accidentally broken, it was deliberately sharpened to a point at the break to make a weapon. You didn't sharpen that toothbrush, I know. Sideris made sure another inmate did it, then re-wrapped it with tape so you wouldn't know anything was different. Then she had the perfect excuse to haul you down here for possession of a deadly weapon."

Corinne looked into Bedlan's eyes and could see the wheels turning; the words were hitting home. She obviously hungered for an explanation of the hell her life had turned into, and here, finally, it was being offered.

"Why, ma'am? Sideris, why me, ma'am?" This time she wasn't stuttering as badly as before.

It was an added bonus which Corrine hadn't anticipated, but this was a golden opportunity to confirm that she had the right target.

"I don't know, exactly." Corinne told her. "She mentioned something called purple-five. Does that mean anything to you?"

Bedlan's eyes went wide and her mouth opened a tiny bit. It was all the confirmation Corinne needed.

"Clearly it does. Would you care to fill me in?" Corinne feigned ignorance, in order to add credibility to her innocence and Sideris' guilt. "I would very much like to know why my colleague is intent on stabbing me in the back."

Bedlan's eyes darted to the pocket where Corinne had slipped the vibrator, terrified that she would put it back if she didn't say anything.

"That- That was almost nine years ago. I was only ten," Bedlan stuttered. "I, I thought someone might be taking money from my mother."

"Go on."

"My mother, she— She had these gloves, which they gave for for work. They had these shiny purple pads on the thumbs. She said they were for holding hands. Not with me though. She said they were for holding hands with adults."

"One day a cop came around to my school for one of those things, you know? Stay in school, don't do drugs. You know. He said to be careful what we touched too. Said someone had figured out a way to copy your thumb and fake a scan if you touched the wrong thing. When he said that I thought of my Mom's gloves for work. The people she worked with were these Russians. I only saw one of them once or twice but they always seemed really scary. I thought they might be stealing from her, so I told the cop. Then he told his boss, and then things blew up."