Cognitive Deviance

65. Unexpected Origins

"H-H-He's been in a coma since the day we found him," Nikki said. "Some of the doctors say he might've been in it longer than that. They're taking him to the hospital later today for detoxification."

"Why'd it take them that long?" Margo said.

"Mason wanted to review his memories while he was out, even though all the drugs forced into his system made the memories unreliable sources. So she also investigated his home."

"Even though he isn't in the System?"

Nikki didn't say a word. Only nodded her head.

"So I'm guessing they didn't even remove his blocker chip?" Margo muttered.

Her colleague whispered something under her breath, not out of spite, but out of fear.

"I'm sorry?" Margo said.

Clearing her throat, Nikki said, "That's the only thing they've removed from his body so far."

"Shit..."

Disgusted but unsurprised by such inhumanity displayed by her superior, Margo moved on to the next set of screens, the four designated for Jack Holloway. Her ruthless colleague sat upright in his cell in the psych ward, posture too perfect for any regular human being. There was no movement to be detected anywhere. His legs draped over the edge of his seat, his hands planted on his lap, his expression hollow yet focused. And his eyes?

Scarred. Hazy. More vacant than before. The left one wasn't even real. A full-fledged implant replacing his blinded, original eyeball. The blue of the iris was too bright to be human, radiating a synthetic sky blue rather than the natural, ice-cold hue of his remaining eye.

"What the hell," Margo said.

"B-B-Back in the Rabbit Hole," Nikki said, "Slater fired into Jack's left eye with a stun gun. Popped it open. S-S-So she gave him a cybernetic one and removed the surveillance implant from his remaining eye. He was blind for two days."

"How many implants does he even have now?"

Nikki brushed her hands through her hair, a chill running down her spine. "I...I really don't know."

"Did they detox him at least?"

"Y-Y-Yes. Now they're just testing his vision and whatever p-p-pain receptors he has left. B-B-But he rarely talks now." Nikki cleared her throat. "Th-Th-They also found a LaserShank in his possession. W-W-W-What he used it to do to some people down in..."

"Don't worry," Margo said. "You don't have to tell me."

"M-M-Mason has it now."

Not sure if that's any better , Margo thought. She set her eyes on the remaining screens, in which Malcolm Slater sat at the edge of his bed in a psych ward cell. Bruises blotted his face and eyes like a mask, and bandages stretched across the bridge of his nose, yet his mind seemed the most intact compared to his two fellow inmates. The man had a grin on his face and excitement in his eyes as he leaned forward in his position, soaking up whatever television shows were present on the screens before him.

"Why is he so happy?" Margo said.

"Because no one else is," Nikki said. "O-O-Or at least that's what Andrade told me. Mason's only keeping him around to break him somehow. Interrogation, PACER. But he's always smiling. Nothing seems to work."

"So she's only keeping him around...to torture him?"

Nikki turned to look at Margo and shrugged, returning to the screens before them.

"Can I talk to him?" Margo asked.

Nikki looked back at her again. "I'm...not s-s-sure if that's a good idea."