TNH’s prison (or ‘brig’) is for detention of high-risk individuals who do not pose a contamination threat. (Those who are contaminated or contagious are instead kept in the quarantine section of the medical wing.)
–
Table of Contents:
- Location & Layout
- Wardens & Others
- Belongings
- Dress Code
- Haircuts
- Meals
- Waste
- Hygiene
- Movement
- Keeping Busy
- Controlled Substances
- Visits
- Unruly Prisoners
- Unstable Prisoners
- Tranquility
- Gravity
- Special Features
- History
- Policies
- 2024 April/+
- Conceptual Images
–
Location & Layout:
The brig of this ship is near its center (its exact location, and relation to other rooms/wings, classified), and has both old-fashioned grid-style cell doors and energy barriers with a variety of settings; like shields, these barriers can be set to deflect… or shock and destroy, and if ever some of them are turned off, the bars of the cell doors continue to contain the occupants. Cells do not face each other, and have hallways surrounding them, with open-sided crawl-spaces beneath and above; nowhere to hide or dig out from/through. The cells are grouped into “suites” of 9 (3×3 in each “over-room”; the room that surrounds/houses each group of 9), and only a few people aboard TNH know how many suites there are (thus what the capacity and occupancy of this prison are).
Every cell is a white cube 3D-printed to be a solid object; no panels or other points of connection where seams would exist, and no screws or bolts that could be taken out. It is fully transparent, appearing like glass, though it is a special kind of plastic that is stronger than steel or even diamond, offering no privacy or way to conceal what a prisoner inside is up to. Those inside simply sleep on the floor (and they don’t even get a blanket or pillow, as both of those could be used to hide something).
Cells are spacious enough to stand all the way up in, with arms fully stretched up overhead. That means people in them can lie down all the way, too. This is a prison, after all; it is not a dungeon or torture chamber (where cells might be designed to be too small for everyone, ensuring they cramp up).
Breathable air is supplied through their one access point; the airlock attached to one side. It is fed through pores imperceptible to the human eye, and monitored closely by computers and people. Its built-in filters keep out harmful gases, such as carbon-monoxide.
Light fixtures and sensors are built into the ceilings and floors of each “suite”, and would require a specialist with specific tools and access codes to get to and remove/tamper with. The lights are kept at normal levels during scheduled waking/exercise hours, and are dimmed to comfortable levels for scheduled naps and overnight rest/sleep. In emergencies, the lights do not flash; they stay at daytime/waking brightness, making it easy/normal for the guards to move the prisoners, if need be.
–
Wardens & Others:
TNH’s brig is staffed by the ship’s military police (based out of Dispatch), and monitored by the A.I. nodes. The cells can be remote locked and dimmed or lit up from both the Dispatch office and the Security Officer’s console on the Bridge. Only those TNH crew members have immediate access to this part of the ship; everyone else must have one of them as their escort.
Lord Himmler knew just who to pick for such a management/control team, having managed a similar one on one of the USCMC Spaceships years before. His Inisfreeans (ICVs) used some of the psychological- and vocational-profiling / pre-screening techniques he developed back then –and from even earlier in their lives. The result is a very “locked-on” crew in this part of TNH.
Every military police-officer on duty in this part of the ship must wear a helmet that covers his/her entire face and head. This is to make it more difficult on the prisoners to tell who is on duty –thus also more difficult to decide who they want to try and distract/bribe. Those walking patrol-routes through the “suites” are also trained to change their stride during each walk through a “suite”, which makes it almost impossible for prisoners to identify them based on how they walk.
Voice-synthesizers built into the wardens’ helmets also make it difficult to impossible to identify them by how they talk. They are trained to speak differently than they do when off duty, too; they use different expressions, rates of speaking, and accents. They also use a completely different phonetic-alphabet and set of brevity-codes when in this facility; prisoners who overhear them conversing will not know how to fool those in the rest of the ship, if ever they make it out there.
Wardens attend weekly classes in Krav Maga and other lethal martial arts legally allowed to be taught only to active-duty police and military personnel. Each warden earns his/her black-belt in that style, as well as at least one other, before starting his/her first walkthrough/patrol here. They are also familiar with Sayoc Kali; professional knife-fighting.
Inisfreeans are some of the other wardens here, but they remain invisible. Not even the other (human) wardens ever know they are there. Even in emergencies, they remain unseen.
While invisible, the Inisfreeans here can spar prisoners into submission –and they always move outside the range of all the given prisoner’s body-parts or “swings” (punches and kicks). Inisfreeans are expert/master sparrers. Striking one is unlikely, if not impossible, and would never cause damage to the Inisfreean, anyway, so it is pointless.
–
Belongings:
Not a single possession is allowed in any cell. Everything gets scanned and stored in hidden lockers outside of the “suites”. Even family photographs are not allowed.
Prosthetics, crutches, canes (“walking sticks”), and wheelchairs are not allowed. If a prisoner has to hop or limp, he/she has to hop or limp. Nobody said life was fair.
–
Dress Code:
Each prisoner is assigned two sets of clothes, both being a single-piece “jumpsuit” uniform that looks nothing like the uniforms of anyone else aboard TNH. These uniforms are also designed to be distinct from all other known-prison uniforms. They do not have to be worn (as prisoners are, like Inisfreeans, permitted to be nudists), but these are the only clothes available to people who are incarcerated here.
There are no pockets or drawstrings on these uniforms. They are 3D-printed to fit the exact body-dimensions of those they are assigned to, ensuring weapons will show as bulges no matter where they may be hidden. They are also a comfortable fit; not tight, but also not loose.
To wash these uniforms, all a prison needs do is either 1) place one inside the mini-airlock attached to his/her cell, or 2) walk into that mini-airlock with the uniform still on (because the mini-airlock’s shower-feature doubles as a human-safe washing-machine feature). These uniforms are never taken to/from the carrier’s laundromats (because that might let outsiders know the size/dimensions and/or numbers of people in here). Uniforms must be washed at least once each week.
Uniforms not in use (being worn by the prisoners) must be kept neatly folded inside the cells. They can be used as pillows. They are frequently silently scanned to ensure nothing is hidden in their folds.
Prisoners are kept barefoot.
–
Haircuts:
No one is required to change his/her hairstyle upon entry. Hair will be completely shaved off if it is misused in some way, though. An Inisfreean will remove the hair in such cases, and always while the offending prisoner is properly/fully secured/restrained.
–
Meals:
Food is served in normal portions, always scanned and poked to ensure it has nothing in it other than its intended ingredients; if anyone tries to hide a little tool in any food meant to help someone escape, it will be quickly found. The scans of each meal include a microscopic analysis that helps determine, from a molecular-gastronomy standpoint, if what is ingested by each prisoner’s unique digestive-tract… might give that prisoner a mutation or other advantage. All food is also put in bowls too flimsy to be used as a weapon or suicide device; they are barely strong enough to hold the food that is placed in them.
Water is checked just as thoroughly, and given in the same kind of bowl.
The food here is healthy and well-flavored. This usually is more than enough to ensure obedience/compliance from the prisoners. They are never told it is entirely vegan, and sometimes meal items that look and taste like hamburgers, hotdogs, and other meat-products are on the menu.
All food for this prison is prepared in a private kitchen that only the Inisfreeans have access to. It is never touched by human hands. It is predominantly 3D-printed.
If ever a prisoner attempts to choke his/herself by inhaling a bite of food or mouthful of water, that intention can be sensed by the by-mind technology hidden in the “suites”, as well as in every Inisfreean. Unless a prisoner is so spontaneous that he/she doesn’t even have that thought until one second before acting on it, intervention is possible. Only Inisfreeans perform CPR; humans do not assist injured prisoners (or, more accurately, prisoners who are probably pretending to be injured, or who injured themselves with/for an ulterior motive).
–
Waste:
Bathroom breaks are in the mini-airlock, which doubles as a toilet. It purges itself, ensuring fecal matter cannot be kept in a cell. This is also where prisoners keep their finger- and toenails trimmed –and that is done entirely with harmless lasers; every time they enter their cell’s mini-airlock and let its built-in wrist-braces/tubes hold them steady, their fingernails and toenails get painlessly “trimmed”. All of their waste is processed/evacuated (and de-atomized) by these mini-airlocks.
–
Hygiene:
Showering is done the same way; each prisoner steps into his/her cell’s mini-airlock, lets it hold his/her wrists steady, and then they are gently sprayed from head to toe, the A.I. ensuring no water is sprayed into their nostrils or eyes. Shampoo, then conditioner, and finally a mild soap are applied, each one rinsed off before the other starts. This is like a carwash for a person, and when they are air-dried off, their wrists are released, and the cell-side door opens for them to exit back into the clear cube.
–
Movement:
Prisoners are taken to and from this part of the ship through a sequence of private tunnels (hallways) intentionally mis-labeled as being “off-limits service-corridors”. Inisfreeans have to be present for the doors of these private tunnels to work –and their doors all look like normal walls; it is not possible for a human to identify them as doors until they are already opening. These tunnels are also kept at zero-atmosphere when not in authorized use; escape through them is extremely difficult without an astronaut suit.
Anytime a prisoner needs to be moved (such as from a shuttle bay/hangar to this hidden prison), all hallways/intersections along the needed route are closed off so that no one else in the crew can see (or be dangerously-close). Prisoner arrivals and departures are also not announced beyond the on-duty prison staff; the wardens and the Inisfreeans secretly working with them (staying invisible). The prisoners are always transported alone, and always sealed inside one of the detachable mini-airlocks (thus unable to move, and unable to see/memorize where they are going).
–
Keeping Busy:
Reading material can be presented by holographic projector on/in the clear walls of each cell. No physical books are allowed. All material is pre-read by the A.I.s, ensuring it is useless for escape planning.
Pre-approved movies and TV-show episodes may be watched this way, too.
–
Controlled Substances:
No drugs (including alcohol and cigarettes) are allowed in this facility at any time, for any reason. All guards/wardens are monitored by sensors (including the Inisfreeans working here with them) at all times, ensuring they do not smuggle anything in or out, and ensuring no one tries to make any. This includes prescription medications –which must be replaced upon entry to this prison… with natural food/nutrient-based alternatives.
–
Visits:
Visitation and phone-calls are not allowed, no exceptions. This is a max-sec’ facility. Only prisoners and their guards/wardens get in and out.
Prisoners who behave and offer valuable (and actionable) intel’ get to have as much sex with one Inisfreean girl at a time as they want –but never with a Registered Companion. This is because Inisfreeans can’t get hurt, but Companions can. It is also because Inisfreeans are experts at convincing people to behave how they want –and can instantly overpower them if ever that is deemed to be the wisest course of action. (And, yes, the Inisfreeans will perfect just about any requested sexual act –even to the point of licking assholes, felching, you name it; great cooperation is respected with great rewards.)
–
Unruly Prisoners:
Anytime a fight or riot is attempted, the local atmosphere is decreased (so prisoners can just barely keep breathing, but will stay “out of breath” until they calm back down) and gravity is turned off. The room lights are usually turned off, too. This allows only the Inisfreeans, and the guards/wardens with optics/NVGs, to see anyone/anything –and only the Inisfreeans, and guards/wardens with air-tanks or astronaut-suits, to breathe.
The offending prisoners are not beaten, tazed, or shot into submission. They are simply allowed to exhaust themselves in the low-oxygen atmosphere. Once they are too exhausted to keep attempting escape/distraction/violence, they are restrained and put back in their assigned cells, at which point normal-atmosphere, gravity, and lighting are all restored.
Guards do not have guns or knives on them while patrolling the “suites”, ensuring prisoners cannot take those things from them. With the Inisfreeans around, and with the rooms’ atmospheres controlled remotely by their A.I./s, they don’t need them (those weapons). With their martial-arts training, technically they are the weapons –and the only ones they are likely to ever need.
Vital signs and thoughts are monitored by sensors (including by the ICVs) ensuring no prisoner can fake health issues.
–
Unstable Prisoners:
Straight-jackets and other “asylum accessories” are available for application in this prison. Any prisoner who hurts his/herself will be put in one until they can be assessed and calmed back down. Inserts that prevent them biting their own tongues may also be applied.
Drugs (pharmaceuticals and injections) are almost never used. In their place, prisoners are asked what will make them feel better, and the prison staff here (humans and Inisfreeans) will work with them –within reason. This can include playing their favorite music, adjusting the temperature in their cells, adding a craved treat to one of their meals, etc..
–
Tranquility:
It is not possible for a prisoner in one cell to hear anything going on in any of his/her neighboring cells. The way they are built and placed prevents sound from traveling between them. The loudest screaming or sex will never be heard –unless a very sensitive listening-device is pressed right up to their exterior wall/s.
Movement sometimes disturbs sleep; people notice when things are moving around nearby, just like they notice bright lights, or sounds that do not blend in with “white noise”. To help prisoners not feel so watched/micromanaged, their cells are kept like one-way glass; wardens can see in, but prisoners can’t see out. There is an option to remotely change this setting, though; if ever a prisoner feels too isolated or lonely, they can be allowed to see out –but if they abuse this privilege (such as by clearly using it to memorize things about the prison they shouldn’t), it will be taken away.
–
Gravity:
If ever gravity is affected in this part of TNH, the cells and “suites” have no hand-holds for prisoners to grip to steady themselves by (as they might use these to help them flip, punch, kick, or headbutt, etc.). The hallways and guard-rooms have hand-holds, though, but these can all be rapidly retracted/covered/concealed by the A.I., should an unruly prisoner be near/approaching them.
Inisfreeans don’t need gravity, as their built-in repulsines can keep them moving exactly how they please/need.
Guards/wardens have boots and other devices that assist them in maintaining proper footings/stances anytime gravity decreases or goes to zero.
–
Special Features:
Due to the extremely high-risk nature of work in Space, prisoners do not put their hands through a slot in a cell-door to receive trays of food or be handcuffed prior to those doors being opened. Instead, when it is time to move them to another part of the ship, they step into a mini-airlock which is like the cylindrical stasis-tubes aboard an Inisfreean MPHA, and once it has sealed around them (with little room for them to move; its dimensions are like that of a coffin) the whole airlock can then be detached from its indention in their cell’s outer wall, at which point it is moved around on a hover-cart/gurney by multiple trained professionals (which almost always include at least one ICV). This ensures prisoners have no way to grab or otherwise harm anyone (and those detachable mini-airlocks 1) include wrist-tubes to secure their occupants’ hands/wrists/arms inside, and 2) fit in the carrier’s escape-pods).
Hidden jamming devices cause dizziness or a total loss of abilities to anyone within range who is trying to use telepathic, telekinetic, or other “mutant” powers. They prevent communication with the prisoners inside the cells, as does the material of their cells and “suite” walls. Teleporting in, or otherwise creating portals to a “suite” or cell, also results in poor and somewhat randomized results –if any at all.
Identification and tracking devices automatically determine which powers are being attempted/used within the prison or right outside it, and can scan through portals and similar openings, determining who is on the other side, what they are capable of, and what they are trying to do. The Inisfreeans can handle the rest. It is very unsafe and unwise to attempt to gain unauthorized access to this facility.
This prison was designed after closely analyzing every known prison and escape from a prison, plus every movie about prison escapes. A.I.’s helped design, test-build, and escape-proof it. Every recorded escape method from every known prison has been attempted in the prototype(s) of this facility.
–
History:
The Faux Prison, Subterranean Prison, and Subterranean Quarantine Facility of Inisfree gave the designers and makers of this TNH facility centuries of experience in this field/industry. For centuries before the building of TNH, those three facilities in that remote super-city successfully processed and housed millions of people. Never once did one escape –though some were allowed, at times, and for various reasons, to think they almost had.
Sometimes prisoners from other facilities/stations/worlds are considered so dangerous/determined/talented that their “handlers”/wardens request that they be kept aboard TNH instead. While this is not the primary/intended function of TNH or its prison, it has still been made available to a small handful of allied/contributing parties/organizations. Why not? It surrounds those prisoners with an army of tens of thousands of the best-trained people in the solar-system, and it gives this social-experiment (TNH; to see if some of the humans can/will now interact maturely/peacefully with the Inisfreeans) one more perfect joint/cooperative challenge.
–
Policies:
If ever a hostage is taken outside TNH, and a demand issued to release a prisoner or reveal the location of this prison, a fake location can be given (and intruders/unauthorized people guided to a convincing replica full of fake/holographic prisoners), as well as a 3D-printed replica of the prisoner (with the real prisoner’s personality flash-copied-and-pasted/installed).
–
2024 April/+:
Vocabulary:
- Jail is typically a place you are held before your court hearing or as you are being processed. It’s a temporary holding in the police station.
- Prison is where you are sent after being found guilty of crimes and where you serve your sentence.
(Thus it is perhaps more accurate to call the brig of this ship its jail, as this is not a prison ship/station, convicted individuals sent elsewhere to serve out long-term sentencing.)
–
–