Setting
The distinct smell of incense filled the cell, the sweet aroma of incense from the farthest reaches of the Niihaman mountains, the smokey incense wafted out through the cell, and into the pod. The walking guard would too likely smell the incense, and find Hokushin cross legged in the center of the cell, eyes closed, in a meditative stance, the distinct feeling of eyes being on Ulrich never really seemed to fade, and where Hokushin had jabbed him turned into a nasty, and painful bruise. Ulrich was marked.
Before the other guard could leave Hokushin’s cell, he opened his eyes, and offered a grin.
He watched the shadows dance under the door, his grin remaining in the shadows.
When Ulrich finally left, the old woman struggled to return to sleep. Such troubles had plagued her for decades now. It didn't help that the other officer had flipped the switch to turn the cell lights back on, the painfully bright lights illuminating nearly every corner of the space, and burning red even when she closed her eyes. The aroma of incense offered an illusory calm. She remembered the scent from her time on Niihama. She remembered too, what strange years those had been, the long years away from home first on Langara and then in the heart of the Taiyou Empire. She'd been a prize to be taken, claimed, won - it had disgusted her, all of it. But the old woman had always played her part. She was nothing if not dutiful and constant.
Sleep evaded her.
When morning came, the meal trolley rattled down the hall, an officer she didn't recognize unlocked the panel covering the slot in the cell's outer door, and slid the breakfast tray through before shutting and locking the panel again - all without so much as uttering a single word. Every part of Drulović's body seemed to scream in agony, the joints and bones stiff and swollen, old wounds aching sharply, and her hand trembling. She did not bother to move and attempt to retrieve the tray. She knew in an instant she wouldn't be able to make it the six feet from the bed to the door, not today.
She suspected it would be much the same until Aeka and Kendra returned to Shintenchi.
For the entire rest of the day, stretching into the rest of the week, no other visitors came for her. Only one brief letter in the mail, and another shot for the supposed contraband, signed by an officer whose name she didn't recognize. Even yard time was meant to be alone, while in solitary. She didn't suppose she'd have a chance to thank Hokushin, at least not without even a single slip of paper and something to write with.
It was on the fifth day, when the officers were making their checks, that Hokushin finally stood up from his spot in the cell, he was standing just a foot away from the bars that kept him separated from the rest of the pod.
“I want to see the Superintendant, why has the consulate not sent for me.” He called out, but figured the guards would ignore him anyway. He had planned for Ulrich to go to medical when the bruise didn’t heal, and when the report inevitably crossed Dr Krstveka’s desk, she would have enough sense to connect the dots.
Inevitably, Hokushin found himself seated cross legged back in the center of the cell, they only came for checks, and meal deliveries. He chuckled to himself, they didn’t even search his cell for contraband. Ulrich must have kept quiet.
Andrijana had kept her end of the bargain. The NPA hadn't even had to be contacted, and most of the employees at the facility were none the wiser. But she'd heard nothing yet about a rendezvous in Shintenchi. She was beginning to wonder whether, if at all, it would actually take place. As if by serendipity, though, the same day that Hokushin called out to the officers in G Unit, who were adept at casually mentioning inmate cop-out forms without ever actually making any effort to distribute - let alone collect - any such forms, Andrijana called down for Hokushin. "Just bring him up, easy."
“You got a weird one today.” The clerk said with a look of confusion, as he pulled one envelope in particular from the stack, with a large ‘Par avion’ sticker on it, along with a postmark from the Narita Central Post, and a postage stamp valued at two hundred yen, the return address was printed in Terran English.
“The Offices of Her Honorable Shogun Takara Sato
1-1-1 Chuu, Narita-shi, Narita-Ken, Shintenchi”
The Clerk looked at it weirdly, the letter smelled faintly of cherry blossoms.
“Think it’s real?” He asked, handing the letter off, before turning to leave to carry out their duties.
When Hokushin was lead into the room, and should the envelope be opened, there would be a single piece of plain stationary inside, it had a date, and a time handwritten in a rather expensive calligraphy ink.
Hokushin stepped into the room, hardly resisting against his restraints, as they hung heavily from his body,
“I marked him.” Hokushin reported. “Health checks will reveal our mutual foe.” The Mazoku said cryptically.
When Hokushin arrived, Andrijana raised an eyebrow at the officers who'd accompanied him. "Would you uncuff him, please? And leave us." The officers exchanged unreadable glances, but removed the restraints, stepping back into the hallway and shutting the door almost all the way. Andrijana thought she heard one of them mention something about the NPA, and the local sheriff. Andrijana motioned for Hokushin to take a seat at the table, waiting until the sound of footsteps had receded away. "Can I get you something to drink? Sorry about the officers." She shook her head. "So you're suggesting that I schedule mandatory health checks to discover the perpetrator? Is he an inmate or staff?"
"I marked him with a bruise to the chest, through a small amount of my spirit energy, the wound will not heal, but the effect will eventually wear off. Drulovic knew him, they shared a past.
"His name is Shoe maker." Hokushin said, his accent distorting the words slightly. "I sensed a disturbance in Drulovic's Spirit energy, so I left my cell, and discovered this man hunched over her with a blade, I disarmed him, and marked him. I returned his blade, and let him leave, thinking that I would not reveal his intent, or his presence for fear I would exacerbate my own situation."
Hokushin paused. "Word is not common here, that both His Imperial Majesty, and Her Highness both owe their very existence to Drulovic, and the actions she took that fateful night she chose to release Her Majesty from custody." Hokushin explained, folding his hands in front, interlacing his fingers.
"Your entire staff is corrupt, and compromised; something like this should have never come to pass." Hokushin chided. "But it is not my place to dictate how you run your facility, I can only offer my own counsel while I am here."
The towering warrior kept his calm, it was obvious he was well disciplined, humble even. "Staying here has presented me with an opportunity to train my mind, and I thank you." He said, inclining his head.
"Did you require anything further?"
"Princess Aeka is shocked, and appalled with how this facility has been running, I am not sure how it would be seen here, on Terra. But if this facility was exposed, and propagandized by a foreign government, would that not incentivize it's shutdown to save face?" Hokushin inquired, his eyebrow raised quizzically.
"Perhaps rather than shut the facility down, adopting strict discipline regimens that mold the highest exemplars of your correctional system. strict discipline that molds and rehabilitates model inmates, and model staff." Hokush suggested. "In line with the code of bushido."
“They take your ego, you are part of the community, not yourself, they take your criminality, so they can best reinsert you into society.” Hokushin explained.
“Here, you are bound and shackled, but otherwise left to your devices, the philosophy is not so in our prisons, every moment of every day is regulated, you have no time to be idle, your actions are always dictated by the regulations. It’s compelled by law, and it behooves you to work, and seek pleasure in your work. We do not put people in isolation, rather they are punished before the community, as an example to motivate discipline. I recall a time when a prisoner did not march correctly, and talked back to the guard. The prisoner was beaten, and as part of his discipline, he was taken before the rest of his cell block, and given one hundred strikes.” Hokushin explained.
“Our prisoners are not bound, they are not shackled, they are not isolated. In fact, there is only one guard to about eighty inmates.” Hokushin recalled.
"Here the guards run free with little oversight, and inefficient leadership, inmates are either locked away and neglected, or allowed to intermingle freely." Hokushin chided. "They do not rehabilitate, and they present a security risk to each other, this is the flaw that allowed Drulovic to be hurt." The monk continued.
"I might recommend you visit the prison systems of the Taiyou Empire, and perhaps the Aschen Empire to see how they function, on the staff and inmate level, maybe there are facets you can borrow from them to help you run your own facility, despite the challenges the central office have laid before you."
"The work fits the limitations of the person, whether it's folding papers, woodworking, or assembly line work, work assignments rarely exceed the inmates capacity to do them."
Hokushin recalled some of the more elderly inmates in his prison time being assigned their work details, one old man was tasked with folding envelopes, another was tasked with computer work.
"Flights to Langara are pretty cheap, though I think there's a lot of coordination to visit an Aschen prison. His Majesty may allow you into a facility in Shintenchi." The monk pondered.
"I've observed too much leniency, maybe it's a cultural difference." He hadn't set foot in an Aschen prison, but he heard the stories. Inmates there were subject to grueling labor conditions, and cells that barely met the most basic of conditions. But like Taiyou prisons, Aschen prisons were incredibly strict, but in different ways.
"You don't need more staff, you need solid discipline and the right staff, I'll propose to His Majesty to perhaps send an advisor, though I don't know how your office will tolerate that, I'm sure Her Highness will be willing to offer that much, as a token of our thanks for facilitating this meeting with Drulovic."
"In Taiyou Prison, the inmates are forbidden from talking to eachother except during specific time periods, this deters people from coordinating, it keeps the trafficking down, and it keeps the violence down. I can say, here, I have had to maintain a keen eye on the others, but when I was imprisoned, I felt quite safe. With strict discipline, the other problems sort themselves out, do you understand?"
In response to the question about Kendra, Hokushin paused, he pondered his answer, while keeping face straight, without emotion. "She is not the monster your media portrays her to be, if that is what you're asking." Hokushin replied.
"Her Majesty was a victim of her circumstance, she fulfilled her duty with honor, and without hesitation only to be scorned by the very order she swore to uphold." Hokushin said, shifting his weight. "She is riddled with guilt, and with the passing of Emperor Tatsu, her pain has only deepened."
A few moments the phone rang, it was whoever was on duty that day.
"There's a young man by the name of... Gabriel Shaw here to see you.. I tried to wave him off but he insisted, and he won't leave."
When the phone rang, she frowned after listening for a moment. "Gabriel Shaw? I don't know who that is. He doesn't have an appointment. Can you ask what it's about? Is he a relative of an inmate?" She mouthed, Sorry at Hokushin. This happened sometimes, usually an irate family member fed up with someone lower down the food chain on staff.
"Let him in." Hokushin suggested. "Without delay." The Monk added, still keeping his hands interlaced in front of him, in an almost attentive stance.
The man was pondering, carefully pondering, that could explain why Aeka had not contacted them, but, it was odd, he couldn't think of anything that would make him come this way.
Hokushin subconsciously straightened himself, and cleared his throat, he looked unflattering in the prison jumpsuit, and figured he would have some explaining to do. Hokushin didn't bother to answer the question, as he knew the answer would reveal itself soon enough.
The moment the door unlatched, everything revealed itself, a young man, in his late twenties, almost boyish looking. He had been well groomed, a definite contrast to the guards, and inmates in the prison. He had on a simple suit, and tie, which was tailored perfectly to fit, the blazer and pants were a fine silk pinstripe, and his shirt was a white designer affair, and the tight was a black tie, with gold thread embroidered cobras interlaced with the silk fabric.
Hokushin's eyes quickly averted to the floor when the man stepped in, and he offered a deep bow.
"Tennoheika." Hokushin said quickly, and with a great deal of deference.
The man said nothing, simply shooting an annoyed look to the guards behind him. Then his eyes settled on Andrijana, the resemblance was stunning, even more so than Aeka, who took more after her father.
His hands were in his pocket, and he had an arrogant, but somewhat laissez-faire attitude about him.
"What are you doing here?" Hokushin asked.
The man cast an annoyed look to Hokushin next, as he leaned on a rather elegant looking cherry wood cane, that was hand carved, and inlaid with gold leaf.
"That seems to be the question of the day." The man said, his annoyed gaze moving to Andrijana.
"I'll stand, thank you, I just had knee surgery, and if I sit down, it might be hard for me to get back up." He said with a chilling smile. He didn't have the Taiyou accent when he spoke, and his Terran English was almost perfect, rather, he spoke the English words with an emphasis on different vowels, and consonants, like someone who was raised speaking a language that was not Taiyou.
He spoke Terran English with an accent similar to those who spoke Spanish, or Italian. Yet it was off slightly.
"Mr. Hokushin, what has my sister gotten you into, or Drulovic for that matter, those clothes look so unflattering." Shimizu complained.
"Tennoheika, your mother--" Shimizu promptly raised a hand to silence Hokushin. "Apologies... I didn't properly introduce myself. Gabriel Shaw is my Aschen name, I so seldom use it, so I'll use the name my father gave me, Shimizu Takayama." He said, offering a bow, but it was a disconcerting, almost creepy bow, where he leaned against his cane. "Humbly at your service."
The words dripped like venom from his mouth, Andrijana was an ant to this man, beneath an ant, and he was thinly trying to conceal his disdain. He seemed to be someone capable of abusing someone weaker, someone who couldn't fight back.
"I wanted to drop by and make sure my sister wasn't causing any trouble, and to figure out why one of my Mazoku is imprisoned here." Shimizu said with an annoyed look. "But this seems to be one of my mother's foolish errands." He said, straightening back up.
"Though- The man at your front desk was quite rude, you should remedy that, Superintendent. It would be a shame if he upset the wrong person, and something unfortunate happened to him, and his family, with so many well connected people from the criminal underworld coming through here for visitation."