What was so important about witnesses? Cassandra remembered idly wondering that at the start of her education. Why was there a need for constant human surveillance when interrogations happened? It wasn't like they contributed in any way. That was actually directly prohibited.

The two witnesses were not allowed for any causal interaction with the interrogator or the one being interrogated for any reason at all. This was not initially seen as productive in any way, shape, or form. If no communication, no help was allowed, why did they need to watch it all?

Cassandra hadn't asked about it back then, for the fear of singling herself out, put the answer had been shown off anyway. Teachers were duty-bound to show off all aspects of the position, after all, and that included the illegal parts. Not that they promoted it. They just showed what was done, when the rules were not being followed.

The initial idea of why witnesses were needed was if anything ever became serious with the criminal. Even without tools or gear, the high-profile ones were still augmented in some way or form. They were still able to harm an officer extensively if given the chance. Therefore, would it not be obvious to keep other officers close by to ensure the safety of the interrogator?

Thinking back to it, Cassandra could understand how she had mixed the cards up. It seemed like a good idea. The officer wanted answers and the criminal didn't want anything put into the world, doing whatever they wanted to get that result they wanted. But… the criminal could seldom do anything. Decades had been spent making sure of that, and constant improvements were still being made. The restraints were close to being able to handle a literal ton of force put on it. A ton.

So the criminal could do nothing. But what about the cop? What about the officer whose task it is to get the needed answers? They would be unrestrained, able to go in and out as they please. No restrictions befell them.

And what happened when the answers meant a lot? What if the nuclear codes needed to be revealed, or the code to a safe that had the vaccines needed to stop the second black plague? Such scenarios were grossly exaggerated, but Cassandra had seen what officers would do in similar situations. And it wasn't pretty.

They likely thought themselves the heroes, doing whatever was needed to save the day. Cassandra was also sure that many would thank them for what was done during those precious hours. The results spoke for themselves, after all.

And the actions done to get those results? Well… cameras were everywhere, and somebody just had to leak them to the press.

What do the people say, when they say a government worker slowly cuts up the skin of an elderly man’s arm, shouting in his face as he begs for an end to his pain? Unsurprisingly, not the most positive response in the world. And when the number of such cases grew rapidly in the span of five years, some ranges of people started getting restless. If the cops tortured people for information, could they really be trusted to exact justice the right way? When somebody worked like a chaotic vigilante, why would there be an expectation of them upholding order in the world?

It got worse when the more… disturbing cases began springing up. It was the time where the more gruesome methods would be used, even if there was no information to gather. During those times, somebody had grown hungry for the power they could hold over others, during whatever was needed to get that feeling. Knives, bats, and the more primal methods had been used. Cassandra had seen them all.

Everybody educated in her profession had seen them all. They all knew, after the first year, just why officers needed to be wary of each other. The kindest person could grow into a monster within an afternoon, and nobody would be none the wiser.

That was why there was always a need for witnesses when it came to anybody being interrogated in any way. There was a need to minimise the chance of anybody going down and taking somebody else with them.

To even use the rooms, one needed to scan three unique identification cards. It was a quick process, yes, but impossible to do for a single person. The cards themselves wouldn't work without the owner being present, alive, and below a certain level of stress. Everything needed to be done willingly and without any pressure on them.

Which was why they had to wait ten extra minutes.

“You should have let me help transport him, Jared,” Officer Grunwald said, sounding a bit tired. Cassandra didn't have to wonder why. After getting inside the station, it turned out that Jared was already on the uptick of removing the augmented criminal from his cell. There weren't any consciousness to speak of, equaling no real danger, but the usual procedure for extraction did require several people.

To keep the criminal unconscious, several pieces of equipment were attached to him. These had considerable weight to them, making it hard to travel quickly with them over any real distance. Jared, being the good but dumb man that he was, had decided to undergo this moving job himself, carrying the man with one arm and the equipment with the other. Cassandra would have personally pulled out one of the moveable beds, bought for this exact situation, but she held her mouth shut about it. They were already deep enough in trouble as it was.

That was another part of the power that she was shown during training. One of the worst things that could be done to a criminal was… nothing. To leave them in a white room for days on end, making them eat food so stale that it had no taste at all, and giving them no real indication of how much time was passing. The definition of long-term sensorial deprivation-

From the recordings she had gone through, most people lasted four days before they started babbling to themself. It was some very intense stuff, the human brain forcing the body into acting out, just so that it could get some form of sensorial stimulation. When it got close to a month in isolation, the available recordings actually started dropping. Cassandra remembered being initially confused about that but had chalked it up as the criminals being let out at that point. And some did, of course, get let out of the rooms, but the actual number was not high enough to warrant the nose-dive. As it turned out, many just took it into their own hands to escape.

That was why there was such a severe limitation on the amount of time any criminal could be kept alone in captivity. It didn't matter if they were sleeping or not. If they were alone, there was a hard maximum time. If that time was ever reached, the police were obligated to let them out. If that wasn't done, the doors would open automatically. A grim precaution but one that had saved many.

Because… At the end of the day, the criminals were still human beings. Lesser humans perhaps but humans nonetheless. They had rights and they would be held.

“Sorry, boss. Thought I could do it without breaking a sweat,” Jared apologised, hands on his knees as he took in deep breaths at a fast rate. Cassandra couldn't say she approved of the man’s overestimation of his own abilities. In fact, there were fears she would have to put into consideration later on. “Might not be as young and spry as I was a few years ago?”

“A decade is normally called something else than ‘a few’” Grunwald commented, the small quib not going unnoticed. “But, just take a breather. The prisoner is already out of the cell, so we do not need to fear any extreme consequences anymore.”

Jared dutifully nodded and focused on his breathing. At least, that’s what Cassandra thought he did, the man sitting down beside the wall with his eyes closed. Maybe he was attempting to stimulate the vagus nerve? From the readings on the man, the results definitely lined up with that theory. It was good to know that he was still somewhat resourceful in his actions.

After a minute, they were ready to continue. The card reader accepted the cards, and the initial room was entered. The interrogation spaces were quite complex after all. Two one-way windows were situated to the sides of the room, allowing the witnesses to watch all angles of the room. Everything else was situated with various pieces of sensors, ports, and padding that allowed for various actions. There was also emergency restraining equipment, but those were hardly ever used.

For that, the chairs would have to be broken first. Or, ‘one of the chairs’ would be more precise. Only two of them were in the room, after all, and it was only one of them which would be used by a criminal. It was obvious to see which that was since it was bolted to the floor. And the appearance only gave it the restraining appearance as well, there being various restraints on the legs, arms and top of the chair. While they were not all used, they could be made to stop them from even biting their own tongue. Needed to stop them from trying to swallow it, after all. Not that many would. It was just seen as a good idea to have the equipment meant to stop it ready.

Jared, still not giving up the task of holding the criminal, but the older man down on the chair. With the help of Grunwald, the two officers put the restraints and various pieces of equipment into the right position. It took a few minutes of work, but no mind was put to that. Procedures needed to be followed to the letter when it came to interrogations. They were important, after all.

With that done, the equipment to keep him unconscious was disengaged, swiftly removed from the interrogation room. Cassandra and Jared both left the room with the gear in hand, shutting the door when they left. Putting it all aside, they both went to their positions ready to overview the process from the safety of the viewing glass.