"This morning's report," Hux said after they'd settled in to lunch aboard the Finalizer. "'FN-5642 removed from rolls.' Why?"
"Spaced," Phasma said.
Hux's brows rose. There was no delay in her answer. Only distaste. He dipped his head in further question.
"Rape," she elaborated.
"Ah." He'd reviewed the trooper's file, but there had been no note on cause of death. The trooper's performance was within norms. He assumed, given Phasma's forthright attitude, that FN-5642 was the perpetrator and not the victim. "Singular?"
"Yes." She met his eyes for a moment, angrily, as though offended at the implication that a single rape was not sufficient reason to space someone. Hux hadn't asked for that reason. He was more concerned that perhaps a pattern of behavior had been uncovered and there were multiple victims who would need attention.
"Accomplices?"
"None."
He nodded. That was good. The problem had been dealt with, then. But how did it happen in the first place? "Medication?"
"Taken."
"Instruments?"
She gave him an uncertain look, so Hux stepped outside their word game to make his meaning clear: "Did he use instrumentation or his own body to perpetrate the rape?"
"Himself."
"Pure human?"
"Yes."
He'd heard that near-humans sometimes had a penile bone like many mammals. As the regressive, xenophobic rumor went, the males were perpetually erect and capable; the females were instinctively receptive and interested. The species this was attributed to varied with the political leanings of the speaker. Hux had never seen any proof to either. In day to day behavior, it was the bigots who acted aberrant and problematic. The only reason he was asking was because he didn't know how a hormonally regulated pure human male could penetrate anyone. "Is it … possible?"
"Rape?"
"Erection."
"Oh." She blinked at him like it was a bizarre question to ask, like he should know whether the lower echelons were sexually capable. It wasn't the sort of thing he had any reason to know. "Yes," she told him.
"Increase the dosage?"
She shook her head. "Not sexual. Domination. Medication doesn't effect that."
"Ah. I did not know that." He considered the situation. It didn't sound like the sort of thing that was likely to propagate. Sometimes, people just weren't right. "Defective unit," he said with a shrug. "Use the reclamation system next time." There wasn't much in the way of paperwork aside from making sure the designation was made available for reassignment. Launching someone into space without a suit was a non-standard disciplinary method, but it wasn't like he hadn't used it himself in the past.
"The victim spaced him."
"Ah. That shows good initiative. Counseling needed?"
Phasma shook her head.
"Matter closed, then."