Interesting Information

Who: Cerebrum, Appendix, nameless security guard
Where: Psychiatric offices
When: A while after the security meeting
"So, am I still normal doctor?" asked the security guard who was
lying on the couch.
Cerebrum glanced back over the notes he had taken, and finaly wrote
in his conclusion. "I have some sad news for you, corporal. You're
perfectly sane, you'll be unable to serve in security in your current
position any more."
"That's terrible," sobbed the security guard, "I'll have to quit
right out of the JMC. I have no useful skills for any other
department, my insanity was my only job security."
"However, corporal, I also have some good news for you," said
Cerebrum, "for the small fee of five hundred dollarpounds, I'll
provide you with hypnotherapy and pills that are guaranteed to
restore you to the psychotic murderer you once were, and thus allow
you to keep your job in security."
Five hundred dollarpounds later
Cerebrum, his wallet much heavier now, had taken out a gold watch and
was currently waving it back and forth in front of the guard's eyes,
while saying, "You are getting sleepy, very sleepy." Hypnotism was
one of the myriad of useful skills that a psychiatrist picked up
(especially fun for the old trick of, 'you will drop your wallet on
the floor and forget about it').
As soon as the guard fell into a trance, Cerebrum turned on a digital
recorder and started giving orders in a low voice, "When I snap my
fingers, you will forget everything that has occured, and then carry
out any orders I give you in this period without thinking about them.
Now first, tell me any pieces of interesting information that might
be used to blackmail someone you know about."
"The new second in command of the security department, Charlie
Edwards" said the guard, "is setting up a protection racket on the
promenade."
"You're sure about this?"
"Yes, she called a meeting, pretty much all the security guards
except for a few are in on it."
"What's your position in this?"
"I break the legs of anyone who doesn't pay and make it look like an
accident."
A few minutes later, after Cerebrum had exhausted the knowledge of
the guard
Cerebrum snapped his fingers, and the guard came out of a
trance. "Did it work?" he asked.
"Perfectly," Cerebrum said, while handing over a bottle of
pills, "take two of these a day, and soon you'll be as insane as the
next man."
"Thank you."
"No, thank you." Cerebrum said.
After the guard left, Cerebrum carefully copied the contents of the
recorder onto a disk, then locked the recorder into his desk drawer
and carefully put the disk into his pocket.
[This is terrible!] sent the Appendix.
"Oh, I wouldn't say so," responded Cerebrum, cheerfully.
[But the second in command of the security department is corrupt!]
"The security department was always corrupt, it's just a matter of
degree, you see. It doesn't really matter who takes bribes or commits
crimes, because someone always will, so there's no sense in trying to
stop it."
[So you're saying that the turning of the entire security department
into a mafia type organisation is the same as the ocasional person
accepting a bribe?]
"Well, some things are slightly worse than other things. But anyway,
I'm sure there are a lot of people who would pay good money for the
contents of this disk and recorder. And if I play my cards right, I
can get each one of those people to buy it. But even better, this
recording could be very useful for shifting the tides of politics on
this ship towards something that will be much better for the
psychiatric department. Like a nice, big budget, though I'd settle
for any budget."