Breakfast

The air rang with the clatter of pans and trays above the clamour of conversation and the faintly unappetising reek of breakfast
Mess Hall 77 was huge.
By Katrina's estimate there must have been at least four hundred people crowded beneath the sweeping arches of the ceiling, and it was with some trepidation that she guided the dully unresponsive Cassandra through the bustle and between the scores of tables, packed with orange and grey clothed diners
"Hey! New meat!" a burly man with a shaved head and a supercilious smirk, rose from his table to block their path “How'd you girls like to spend a little quality time with me and the boys?”
He turned to wink at his cohorts, a sniggering bunch of imbeciles, sat at the table beside him
"How'd you like an arm breaking in three separate places?" Katrina snapped and elbowed him out of the way, dragging Cass along behind her as she to pushed past him
“I like a girl with a bit of spunk” he called after her “Be seeing you around darling!”
“Fucking dick” Kat growled as she raised a hand to make an obscene gesture back over her shoulder
They made it to the servery a minute or two later, where Katrina grabbed a couple of trays and pushed one into Cassandra’s hands “Hold this” she instructed and guided her along the food counter, sliding her tray ahead of her on the stainless steel tray slide “What’ll you have?”
Cass just shook her head
“C’mon hon” Katrina pleaded “You’ve got to help me here”
The only response she got was Cassandra’s brow furrowing and her looking like she was about to burst into tears again
“Hurry it up,” another inmate chided from further down the queue behind them "we're late already!"
“Yeah, okay” Katrina shook her head in exasperation and, pursing her lips, turned to the inmate serving behind the counter “Breakfast protein, bread roll and an energy bar” she jerked a thumb back towards Cass “She’ll have the same”
As they emerged from the servery out into the main seating area, it was Jade, by chance, who spotted them first and rose from her seat to wave an arm in the air “Kat! Cass!” she shouted “Over here!”
"Oh thank fuck" Katrina breathed and gently steered Cass over towards the others
“You just missed Lindstrom” Artemis cheerfully informed them as they approached “He’s invited us all to dinner tonight!”
Katrina just scowled at this, leaving Jade to scrutinise her and Cass as they sat down, taking in their pale faces and the dark circles beneath their eyes. Cass looked terrible
"You look tired" she observed over her tea "Are you guys okay?"
Closing her eyes Katrina slowly shook her head. Tired wasn’t the word; she felt like she couldn’t have managed any more than about two hours sleep.
To her credit, Cass had tried to be quiet when she had finally been returned to their cell, but the soft sounds of her misery had kept Katrina awake and after a while, she had eventually given up pretending to be asleep and had slipped down from her bunk to offer Cass what little comfort she was able
Nobody deserved what Lindstrom had done to her
They had eventually managed to drift off in the end, both physically and emotionally exhausted, only to be awoken after what felt like mere minutes of sleep by the klaxon blaring as their cell was unsealed
Cass was still in a hell of a bad way
"Guys?" Jade frowned, her concern mounting as she eyed Cass morosely dribbling a spoonful of breakfast protein back into her tray, her eyes dull and lifeless "What's happened?"
"It's Cass" Katrina sighed and shook her head again "She.."
"This!" Cass yelled, rising to lean across the table and yank hard at the collar around her neck, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears "This happened!"
"Hey," Katrina soothed, reaching a hand out to place on Cassandra’s arm as she slumped back into her seat and lowered her head “take it easy”
Jade was on her feet and around the other side of the table in an instant "C’mon hon" she coiled an arm around her friends shoulders, immediately wanting to help the beleaguered woman.
"I can only think of one thing at a time" Cass managed in a high, tight voice before she crumbled into tears and threw her arms around Jade, sobbing her heart out
“I ah...” Artemis shifted uncomfortably; this kind of emotional display was a long way outside of his comfort zone “More tea, bearded man whom I have never met before?” he asked (not) Phil
Jade was still perplexed "What's happened?" she mouthed to Katrina, trying her best to comfort her friend and ignore the inquisitive stares from nearby tables
"I don't really understand it" Katrina admitted "But I think Lindstrom has used her collar to effectively lobotomise her"
"Oh... Wow... That's just evil. " Jade gasped in horror as klaxon’s suddenly blared to announce the end of the breakfast sitting. She could only imagine what it would be like if someone took away all of her medical skill. “What... Is it reversible? I mean, we do have a plan to remove that collar and stick it around his neck right?”
The room erupted into activity around them as hundreds of people rose from their seats to slide their food trays into one of the array of waiting racks, and make their way outside towards the turnstiles and the elevators down the corridor outside

<tbc />

<tag>Amy – Over to you for the post you’ve got primed and ready to go for all the non-Canaries</tag>