The Department of Corrections, Book One

Officer Grohowski sat in his small, windowless probation (impound) office, the solid-steel door open giving him a partial view into the long, black-and-white tiled hallway. His castered chair, desk, file cabinet, and one extra casterless chair for the rare visitor, taking up the entire space. The mustard-yellow-painted concrete block walls were sparsely decorated with: a portrait of Dr. Franz Karp - Director of Corrections (one hung in every office); a community college Criminal Justice Degree; a Workplace Safety Training Certificate; and this month’s inspirational picture—currently his dream bass boat: all four frames crooked, hanging at divergent angles. His designer overcoat draped over the uncomfortable visitor’s chair like an expensive body bag. A battered leather briefcase on the polished tile floor next to his dented steel desk. A dirty glass ashtray, a stained coffee cup, a pile of case files, and a dusty computer occupied his desktop. The room was well lit, climate controlled, and smelled of cigarette smoke. He could hear it raining outside, hear the occasional rumble of thunder. The computer’s clock displayed Fri 5:35 pm EST in neon-orange.

Grohowski was thinking about this morning, about Malyj, about E30541s “violation” and impound. And, about how Malyj had almost become the one that got away. For thirty-four impeccable months Grohowski had tried to violate/catch Malyj, at thirty-six months Malyj would have been released from probation—classified as a FreeMan, so Grohowski intentionally incriminated E30541 on his thirty-fifth month of flawless supervision.

Malyj had been slippery as an eel, his toughest impound yet, had made him work hard and long to land his fifteen-hundred-dollar bounty. Malyj was not like the others: quick to reel in. Grohowski would keep track of his trophy catch.

Boot steps getting louder and louder. A uniformednarmed impound officer marched a disheveled, “wrongly-convicted” felon past Grohowski’s open door—a large, greenish blur only visible for a second—then the boot steps faded away down the long, black-and-white tiled hallway. Another “failed” urinalysis unknowingly bound for “HELL.”

Grohowski typed DreamBassBoat, logging into VIL-EN (the Karpian State’s internal computer system), then typed E30541 in the search field. Every month he had a new password, a new reminder of the next expensive toy his monthly bonus would pay for, inspiring him to wrongly violate as many of the downtrodden as possible that reported to DOC Office A.

“First, a quick look at E30541s processing stats.” Talking aloud to himself, he fumbled with a crumpled pack of cigarettes like a nicotine addict, finally getting one to his chapped lips, he lit up—never taking his bloodshot eyes from the dusty monitor. An orange coal burning in each prescription lens; his wrinkled uniform covered in pale ash. Smoke trailed away from him like a timeline fading into an unseen future. Smoking was prohibited on Level PosOne.

Status: E30541 violated probation on 03-19-2010, prior to 04-20-2010 completion

date. Withheld-adjudication probation upgraded to active third-degree felony.

Arrested. Impounded. Property of the DOC/State. Freedom, rights, and citizenship

terminated. Sentenced to correction without trial. Deleted off the surface grid

on 03-19-2010. All surface possessions and finances, if any, will be seized by the

State. Absconder wanted poster printed.

Urine Sample: Secured. Clean (-). [Overwrite Findings]: Illicit drugs detected (+).

VIOLATION OF PROBATION. Linked to VIL-EN.

DNA Sample: Secured. Cheek swabs. East Slavic. No mutations. Ran through

State and Federal DNA Criminal Databases. Clean. Linked to VIL-EN.

Probation File: Secured. Entered into the system. Linked to VIL-EN.

Transfer: Currently on Level NegThree - Processing. Monitored by VIL-EN.

PVC Sandals: Issued. Shoes and socks confiscated and discarded.

Prints: Secured. Fingerprints (x10). Palms and fingers. Edge of hands. Linked to

VIL-EN.

2D Photographs: Secured. Initial mugshot (front/profile). Linked to VIL-EN.

2D Photographs: Secured. Tattoos. Linked to VIL-EN.

Blood Sample: Secured. HIV-1 detected (+). No additional abnormalities (-).

Negative for alcohol (-). Negative for drugs (-). Blood type/group: ABO, RH A+.

Linked to VIL-EN.

Voice Recognition Clip: Secured. Tracking enabled. Recording. Monitored by

VIL-EN.

Retina Scan: Secured. Tracking enabled. Recording. Monitored by VIL-EN.

3D Facial Recognition Scan: Secured. Tracking enabled. Triangulating (x2): face

and location. Monitored by VIL-EN.

Brain Mapping Scan - Lie Detection: Secured. Tracking enabled. Recording.

Monitored by VIL-EN.

Reverse Brain Mapping Scan - Stimulation for Correction: Secured. Tracking

enabled. StimCor: Inactive. Monitored by VIL-EN.

“HELP!” E102190 screamed: the greenish blur/felon escorted past Grohowski’s open office door moments ago. Screaming “HELP!” over and over again; E102190s girlish, bloodcurdling cries were echoing up and down the long, black-and-white tiled hallway. He was being dragged toward the main elevator by two plainclothes impound detectives. Dragged like a screaming bitch toward the rattling and dust-spitting elevator that only went down—down to “HELL.”

E102190 had just been wrongly violated by IOA2 (Impound Officer Robinson). IOA1 (Impound Officer Grohowski) tuned out the everyday screams, casually puffed on his cigarette, and squinted through his prescription lenses as if blind to continue reading E30541s processing stats.

Microchip: Implanted in left-side hipbone. GPS registered to Impound Number

E30541. Tracking enabled. Triangulating (x1): location. Monitored by VIL-EN.

Initial Questioning and Prelim Physical Exam: Completed. Sodium Pentathol/

Bogonarkodenotikos-19-66.67® injection administered. Questioning and physical

exam videotaped. No lies detected by VIL-EN/BMS. Medical release signed with

E30541s right thumbprint. Linked to VIL-EN.

Wristband with Bar Code: Issued. “Orange” status. Linked to VIL-EN.

Impound Video: Prerecorded Instructional Video: Viewed. Impound Judge: Jape.

Jumpsuit: Issued. Orange. 6XXL.

Incinerator/Shower/Hygiene Department: Irons off. Personal clothes incinerated.

Personal belongings reclaimed. Shower. Delouse. Jumpsuit on. PVC sandals on.

Irons on. Haircut. Shave. Tattoo removal. Secondary 2D mugshot (front/profile)—

minus hair and tattoos: linked to VIL-EN. No individual detected by VIL-EN.

3D Facial Recognition Scan: Updated. Tracking enabled. Triangulating (x2): face

and location. Monitored by VIL-EN.

State-Issued: “Large” HIV-positive handcuffs (PozCuffs) and standard size

shackles (SS/Shacks): [RETURNED]. Bedroll. Male hygiene bag. The Corrections

Manifesto. Corrective Vision: [ZERO Rx]. Karpian goggles with EconoKarpism

Propaganda/Brainwashing/Commercial Advertisements: [ONLINE]. Monitored

by VIL-EN.

POD Entry Sedatives: Administered (x2): Injection and NanoPill.

Male Nurse: B. Klotz. MedCart: MC#3. Linked to VIL-EN.

Assigned: POD A. Monitored by VIL-EN. Wristband bar code scanned on entry at

16:34 hours. Linked to VIL-EN.

Orange Tray: Regulation flawed impound dinner (RFID)/NanoPill. Consumed.

Violations/Warnings: One false ID warning issued by VIL-EN Hologram #1264.

Three points. POD A. 17:03 hours. 03-19-2010. Total points: (3).

DOC Office: [A.] B. C.

E30541 Violated by Impound Officer A1-A7: [IOA1:] Grohowski. IOA2:

Robinson. IOA3: Murdy. IOA4: McGee. IOA5: Jones. IOA6: Gaspar. IOA7:

Wagner.

*** E30541: Currently monitored by VIL-EN. Drone assigned. THarv02 remotely

scanning subject’s MC (Mind Chatter), transcribing into TT (Thought Text).

*** End Report: 17:55 hours. 03-19-2010.

Grohowski snuffed his cigarette butt out in the dirty glass ashtray; waving his hand through the smoky air, a golden blur of rings and Rolex tried to cover-up his violation.

“I hope you had an oppressed day, Malyj—oops!—I mean E30541,” said chuckling, staring at this month’s framed picture of a bass boat hanging slanted—slanted like it was sinking down the mustard-yellow-painted concrete block wall. Then sighing, he paused to listen to the rain and thunder outside. His silver, pentagon-shaped DOC camera-badge winking in the cheery fluorescent light. “Welcome to Grohowski’s Gulag,” said the oppressor aloud, staring into his tyrannical monitor.

Grohowski’s sizable computer monitor was alive, its screen now divided into small windows, each a live feed: neon orange Thought Text and numerical BioStats were scrolling upward—too fast to read; positive (+) and negative (-) parabolas were wildly curving—graphing their quadratic functions; colorful bar graphs—each juxtaposed with three contrasting blurs—were violently rising and falling; colorful pie charts were rotating left, then right—spinning around their axes; a three-color (red, white, and blue) 3D DNA sequence was spiraling around itself like a pole-less patriotic pole dancer; a muted, linear voice pattern was splattering urine-yellow rightward; a single hazel eye flickered and blinked rapidly; a 3D brain scan flashed with primary colors in random functional regions; a jerky aerial video (with staticky audio) from a spy-fly drone colorfully fluttered; and a black-and-white CCTV feed with facial-rec crosshairs was stalking E30541s every move down in POD A. All of this data—and more, continuously monitoring E30541, was reflected in the greedy impound officer’s rectangular, designer eyeglasses.

Grohowski logged off of VIL-EN, then shut down the dusty computer.

Only one last thing to do, he thought.

On his way out of the office, heading home to his family, Grohowski stopped inside of the now empty Waiting Room A and hung a new poster on a filthy block wall. The 12-inch by 18-inch wanted poster displayed E30541s 2009 mugshot:

its caption read:

WANTED ABSCONDER

SASHA MALYJ

FAILED TO REPORT FOR PROBATION ON 03-19-2010

$5,000.00 REWARD FOR ANY TIP LEADING TO E30541s CAPTURE

As far as the trusting surface world knew, homeless Sasha Malyj was on the lam, hiding from the surface authorities under some overpass, not miles underground the DOC being prepped for Karpian “correction.”

Grohowski, key ring jingling in his right hand, locked the glass door to DOC Office A. Hiding under his designer overcoat—collar up, using his battered leather briefcase as an umbrella, he marched past a rickety bike chained to a small palm tree, his fancy Italian-made boots splashing in dirty puddles, and headed straight to his black, brand new 2010 Cadillac.

This morning’s sunny, full DOC parking lot—full of potholes, bygone vehicles, and tattooed convicts huddled together smoking—was now dismal and empty: except for the potholes turned to colorful pools of oily water, most floating old cigarette butts like bloated corpses, each a reflection of the stormy sky.

Driving away in last month’s bonus, powerful wipers pushing aside the pounding rain, Grohowski was relieved this month’s quota had been exceeded; he knew he would buy that expensive dream bass boat this weekend. The same dream bass boat whose picture currently hung slanted—slanted like it was slowly sinking down his office wall, reminding him how E30541 would be slowly sinking down, level by level, into “HELL.”