[ WP ] In a time/place that has recently abolished the death penalty , a corrupt prison comes up with a novel solution to overcrowding : a 'specialist ' who 's job is to talk inmates into committing suicide .

'What a shrink fuckin' won' me for?' 
 
 The gentleman in front of me was ready to spit in my face if not for the impact resistant glass between us and two guards behind him, tasers at the ready. His trunk like arms were cuffed with a chain linked tightly to the metal loop nailed to the table. His legs, I presumed, were cuffed to the chair legs. 
 
 I smiled at him and looked down at the coarse file on my lap. Male; Thirty-two years of age; one hundred and eighty-three centimeters; one hundred and seventy-five kilogrammes; multiple homicide, rape, organised crime enterprise, armed robbery, narcotics, kidnapping... I stopped reading at the third page. 
 
'I am here to make you a deal. I would like you to participate in an experiment. In return, your sentence, which is, let's see, a hundred and fourty years or so, will be drastically reduced.' 
 
'You fuckin' wiv me?' 
 
 I could see doubt creeping into his hardened eyes, and smiled. 
 
'Not at all. This is a document already signed by the Public Prosecution Service, the Chief Warden and the families of your victims.' 
 
 I placed the document on the glass. He leaned closer, the guards shifted uneasily behind him. I doubted he was any good at reading. 
 
'Uh huh.'Much do I get off for?' 
 
'For the first month you volunteer in the Programme, your sentence will be halved to seventy; there after every month will quater your sentence.' 
 
'You fucking' wiv me.' 
 
 I smiled again.'I have the Chief Warden's number. Would you like to speak to him?' 
 
 I can see him thinking. Really thinking. For the first time in his life. I waited. 
 
' Gim me the pen.' 
 
 * 
 
'This will be your home from now on,' I introduced him to the White Room,'the light will constantly be on. This room is an anechoic chamber - one that absorbs sound. A drug will be administered to numb your voluntary muscles. The essential nutrients you need will be given through intravenous injection. You will wear a nose clip and gloves at all times. Any questions?' 
 
'Floor's spongey.' 
 
'Yes. It will not offer any resistence when you lie down, which you will be, most of the time.' 
 
 He looked around, dazed. 
 
'The Programme begins the moment I walk out of this room. A medical team will be monitoring you constantly. Good luck.' 
 
 I smiled. 
 
 * 
 
'Hello,' I cheerfully said into the microphone into his headset,'can you hear me?' 
 
'Kill me.' He whispered. 
 
'I would like to inform you that you have successfully lived for the first week. If I may say so, we have gotten some truely fascinating data from you.' 
 
'Kill me.' 
 
'You are a quater way from halving your sentence.' 
 
'Kill me.' 
 
'Good luck.' I smiled. 
 
 The intercom buzzed. My assistant walked in. 
 
'You called for me, Doctor?' 
 
'Reduce the paralysis index for Patient 216. and pass him a razor.' 
 
'Yes, Doctor.'
