[ WP ] In the future virtual reality has surged . One of the more controversial uses is in prisons . Whatever crime you commit you have to relive through your victims points of view . It 's your first day in prison and you 're terrified because of what you did

Getting caught was my mistake. Regret was n't in my mind. Everyone constantly used that word, regret. As if that would help anything. Regret was just a failure of weaker minds than mine. There had n't been much proof, but there had been circumstantial evidence and a couple of witnesses half a block away. None of it would have been a problem if there had n't been a cop car right before the park. Even then I'd almost lied my way out of it. But when a call comes in from three blocks away apparently that was enough reason to hold me. 
 
 I gritted my teeth not for the past but because of the new law. Reliving that pathetic bitch's final moments as her. I could n't imagine a worse punishment. Killing her had been slow, I'd wanted her to suffer. She'd cheated on me and had deserved to die, deserved to feel pain. Because she'd done it to me. But now I was going to have to go through the same thing. Being as powerless as I'd been powerful. I'd earned my strength and now I'd have to endure it turned against me in a body that was n't mine. 
 
 I stared at the bars as I heard them come for me. My cell mate was quiet, in his bottom bunk. If he'd been top bunk he'd have made a joke. I did n't bother putting up any resistance, it was n't worth the hassle. The third day after you got in, that's when they did it. Let you stew, give you a check up. they liked to log the results. Doctors and therapists wanted to see the changes in how you acted. Sometimes it did, sometimes the weak and the stupid cried. Sometimes they shouted or laughed. Those who'd never been hurt or struggled to get where they were, sometimes they broke. 
 
 I earned my strength. Killed my first man when I was twelve and was second in command of my block before the year was out. They cuffed me and I walked the same measured pace I always did, even though the guards wanted to pull me ahead. It was my time to kill, they got paid by the hour and I still had twenty six years on my sentence. 
 
 The VR room was larger than I expected, twenty feet just for ten foot sphere and whoever got their kicks out of watching. I guess it paid to be one of the first prisons to instigate the Victim Experience Initiative. They sat me roughly inside the sphere, it adjusted shape and texture so it could more than imitate reality. A few prisoners died from the early experiences. But it had readouts and dials now, so they figured it was good enough for me. Bunch of shitheads. 
 
 They took the cuffs off and closed the door that was covered in the black padding that was everywhere else. The machine hooked up all the necessary gear in darkness. I just endured, like I'd done with everything else. A helmet fitted itself over my face, to control my oxygen and visuals. I wondered how they were going to simulate the bitch soiling herself. I smiled, I do n't think they'd get the smell right.
