Sessions got boring after a while, Jervis thought. The doctors did listen, but one had to be careful after all. It was better to talk to the other inmates. The doctors said they understood, but he knew they didn't really. It was only good when you needed to vent.

He was glad to get out but waiting outside, he saw, was the chief of security. Jervis frowned. This was ridiculous! He hated to be treated like a child.

"I must go back to my cell before proceeding to the rec room," he told the guard. He needed to get his chess set if he and Jonathan were to continue with their tournament, but he didn't try to explain that.

"You're not going to the rec room," Lyle replied.

"Excuse me?" His escort didn't reply but swiftly guided Jervis towards his cell.

Did this new chief of security not know how things were done here at Arkham? Well, he would simply go on to the rec room himself, Jervis decided. He did have to stop at his cell first though, so he followed Bolton without argument. There he would simply get what he needed and go meet Jonathan.

As they walked he noticed it seemed as though somehow, someone had turned the volume down. Usually, there was a good deal of noise here, but today it seemed subdued. Possibly because most of the inmates had missed breakfast.

Jervis was surprised to see that just about everyone was in their cell. Well, maybe they were still tired as well. He cheered up a bit, thinking that with the lack of noise he would be better able to concentrate.

It was a bit difficult to concentrate sometimes, with other inmates watching television, arguing what channel to watch, and others still accusing others of cheating during board games. And of course, every now and then… pretty often actually… a fight would break out, the guards and doctors would have to intervene, and some inmates ended up in solitary. Or they had to be given sedatives and ended up losing privileges.

His mind wandered back to his forthcoming game. He was winning the tournament. Obviously. What was most difficult was when a single game took more than a day, which happened often. Then they would have to write down whose turn it was and proceed the next day. Today though, would be a day they would start a new one.

As they got to his cell and Jervis went the get his chess set, he saw that it was gone. He stopped in shock. Had it been stolen? Here? Of course, many of the inmates did steal but theft was actually a rare thing at Arkham. The only time it happened usually was when someone else wanted to annoy you, but even then when they had to leave the set in the rec room, so they could resume a game the day afterward, they always found it the same way it had been before.

He turned to the chief of security.

"I think someone seems to have taken some of my possessions."

The chief of security simply ignored him and turned to leave the cell. Was he being ignored?! He spoke louder.

"I think someone seems to have taken some items from my cell!"

He wished he hadn't done that, as before he knew it, the chief turned back and grabbed him by his collar.

"I don't think you'll be needing any of them anymore," Lyle said with a tight smile.

Jervis wanted to say something back, but found himself unable to, simply stuttering as he was thrown down to the floor. He watched the chief standing just outside the door, locking it, and for one of the few times in his life, Jervis was speechless.