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The room that Frank enters resembles a wide and deep box with a single barred window on the opposite side. Its half is taken by nothing short of a cage, as if Frank was about to be presented with a wild animal. The cage contains a single metal chair attached to the floor.
The cage is also occupied by a man.
This man looks nothing like the cocky and charismatic reformer Frank knew back in the Ministry. Instead of custom-made suits he wears a prison uniform. His once polished face is now thinned down and weary. Grown out hair disheveled. Still he doesn’t look broken with his posture relaxed, almost bored as if he was experiencing only a mild inconvenience.
As he sees his former employee, the prisoner’s eyes light up with a wild glimmer.
“Frank Schwarz! Fancy seeing you here!” his voice is as hoarse as sandpaper. He must be keeping silent most of the time. “Frank, Frank, Frankie,” the prisoner smiles in a slightly unhinged way which combined with his new appearance makes him look creepy.
“Steven Huberts”, says Frank nodding as if he’s just met an acquaintance on the street, “So you weren’t sent to the mines after all”.
“Well, Lottie is fond of sending people to the mines, that’s true. However… It occurred to her that it’s dangerous to send someone like me there. When surrounded by other people I might start the uprising, she thinks”, Steven smiles again. His voice regains the familiar condescending tone, as if he’s explaining someone to a fool. In his circumstances! “So my sentence was changed to imprisonment. Indefinite one. ”
In solitary confinement too, Frank adds to himself. That’s complete isolation from society. That will break anyone, nevermind a social person Steven used to be. Steven still has a way to go though, Frank shouldn’t have assumed he’s lost his cocky self. Another question: has he lost his mind yet?
Frank doesn’t have to wait for an answer.
“You know, Frankie, you’re the first living person I have the honor to talk to in a…” Steven looks up as if counting days he was incarcerated. “very long time”.
Frank can tell judging by Steven’s eagerness to talk.
“And I never see anyone except for the guards. They aren't allowed to talk to me. Can you believe it, Frankie? Nothing but ‘get out’ or ‘hands behind your back’ or stuff like that”, he smiles again like he was sharing random stories of his life and not his horrid imprisonment conditions.
Fran can sense a weird half forgotten feeling yet without a name. He doesn't want to dwell on this feeling though.
“Wait, can I be making you up, Frankie?” Steven erupts with laughter that makes him look like a tramp that screams about the following apocalypse, “Well, whenever you're real or not, let's have a chat”.
Each “Frankie” is jarring. Even as a boss Hubert never called him that. Now he's openly mocking him. Frank almost wants to correct him but something stops him.
What else could he possibly expect from a half mad man?
“So what do you need from an unfortunate prisoner, Frankie?”
“I'm visiting the facilities“ Frank catches himself mumbling as if he's yet again a lowly ministry worker in front of the unreachable boss and not a warden before a fallen traitor. He coughs and speaks on with more confidence, “I'm checking their adherence to the norms as well as the inmates’ conditions”.
Steven tilts his head but stays silent.
“I've seen your name in the inmates’ list”, Frank hesitates once again and reminds himself to get his act together, “So I decided to pay you a visit”.
“Inmates conditions?” Steven asks, ignoring the last words. His voice assumed the condescending tone yet again, “Let me guess, if I complain about anything you'll nod, tell me you'll take a look and then things will magically get worse. How could a miserable traitor complain of the Great Leader”, he makes a weird accent on the epithet but not weird enough to consider it an insult, “showed me mercy and didn't send me to die on the mines”.
“Well if I find any serious breaches of…”
“You'll send me to solitary confinement!” Steven is weirdly cheerful as he says this. Frank can almost feel the men's sanity waning, “Oh, I'm already there. How awkward”.
Frank thinks he's been patient long enough. He can almost imagine how he's leaving the room and Steven behind. How Steven's cocky mask fades away exposing the prisoner tortured by isolation. How he's led back to his cell where he'll spend a lonely eternity.
Frank stays reminding himself that he shouldn't get angry as Huberts has likely lost his mind.
“How's your family, Frankie?” Steven asks as if trying to get on Frank's good side or… Perhaps mocking him.
Frank could have said:
My son sulks more and more because of his injury. My daughter resembles a walking dead after returning from the correction camp. At least my wife is happy. As happy as a mother of a disabled child and a former juvenile delinquent could get.
Instead he answers, “They are alright”.
Steven nods, not asking anything further. Only his subtle smile hints at his disbelief.
(Or Frank makes it up and Steven just doesn't care)
“You're quite a big shot now, aren't you?”
“You know the news?”
“They bring me the patriotic newspaper”, Steven's words are followed by another gleeful smile, “I must say, it still has the worst journalists. The same group of ever complaining tools”, he laughs, “So people are sucking up to you now. How do you like it?”
Frank could have said:
It's a weird feeling, when everyone seems to be afraid of me and I can't expect sincerity from anyone. Was it the same for you, Steven?
Frank says nothing.
“Frankie, you’re a weird one indeed!” Steven comments on Frank's silence, ”I've been thinking a lot but I still can't get you. We're you smarter than any of us? Working on both sides hoping not to get uncovered and in the end you just chose whatever side gave you more profit? Or… You're just a fool led by any idiot who was giving you orders. And the more convincing idiot got your unquestioned loyalty. Lottie was more convincing. I guess I should tip her my hat”.
“Miss Altmann”, Frank corrects him with his voice cracking.
“Oh well, I've just spoken enough to earn myself a couple of life sentences but this is what bothered you? What does it tell you about you?” Steven laughs, “You know what I think, Frankie? I think you're the man perfect for our country. Simply a gem! With you one doesn't need no mind controlling devices at all!”
Mind controlling? If Frank had any doubts before, now he was certain that Steven had lost his mind.
Steven continues talking and talking. He mentions mass “mind warping”. Does he mean that band that perished on that day that started a new era? Maybe it got distorted in Steven's troubled mind changing into something out of science fiction (that was rightfully prohibited by the Great Leader)? Steven also mentions a former tenant of Frank, Lucas Schmolke, who also died on that day. Signal amplification. White bracelets.
Frank doesn't comment on Steven's monologue, he even has a feeling that Steven stopped paying him any attention. So Frank calmly says that he has to go and turns to the door when Steven suddenly stops him:
“Wait a minute, Schwarz, Frank”, the sudden change in his tone acts like a cold shower. Frank turns around and sees Steven by the bars. Standing up he reminds Frank of a living skeleton, the death itself confined to a cage. Steven snatches at the bars never breaking eye contact with Frank. He smiles mysteriously as if knowing something beyond Frank's perception.
“Anything else?” Frank asks.
“You’ll see, Frank, time will pass and I will be remembered as one of the regime’s martyrs who tried to change things but ended up in prison. I’m going to die but my name will come clean and my posthumous reputation will become pristine. Eventually they will find out that I had nothing to do with your little coup d’etat and even if I was planning something on my own… There’s no evidence left. All thanks to Lotta, Ernst and you”.
Frank’s mouth goes parched.
“You’re mad, Steven”.
“I wish I were, Frankie, I really do”, Steven's last smile is the most cheerful one, and Frank catches a glimpse of his former self, “I only know how history ticks and on which pages you and Lottie will find yourselves in the future. It might take time but it will happen. I wish you a long life, Frank, so you'll see it with your own eyes,” and only these last words give way to the pure hatred Steven must be feeling towards Frank.
Steven turns away marking the end of the conversation.
With no other words Frank leaves.
***
As soon as Frank enters the hallway he’s approached by the warden expecting new orders.
( “So people are sucking up to you now. How do you like it?”)
“Your inmates allow themselves way too much, don’t you think?” says Frank coldly. “He says whatever and however he wants”, surely Frank knows exactly why, the mad man Huberts simply has nothing else to lose.
“My apologies”, the warden replies, almost fawning over Frank, “Should he be punished?”
“Just make sure it won’t happen again”.
It wasn’t mercy that made Frank let Steven’s behavior slide. Actually, Frank would gladly punish him: isolate him even further, find out what he’s still allowed to do and take it away. However, if he did so, it would let Steven know that Frank took him and his deranged ramblings seriously or even got scared. Frank couldn’t possibly let that happen.
The rest of the day Frank keeps returning to the conversation feeling really nasty.
Steven Huberts had lost his mind and didn’t know what he was talking about – Frank repeats it to himself again and again. This, or Steven had made up a lie to make his imprisonment more bearable.
He isn't a prophet. He can’t see into the future.
He is just mad, mad, mad.
If this is true though why is Frank haunted by a feeling that resembles guilt? Could it be that he indeed made a horrible mistake that will cost him everything in the future (again). If this country has changed once it can change again.
However…
The Ministry doesn’t make mistakes.
Lotta Altmann can’t be wrong.
Frank pushes the conversation with his former boss to the back of his head. The same for the feeling of guilt for Steven’s broken life.
Frank did what needed to be done and that was for the best.