This is a story I helped write.
First meeting
The visitor looked at me, she didn't say anything.
When she came into the room she was very confused, she had trouble even looking at me but after she got used to it she was finally able to look at me directly.
"Thank you for having me" she said politely.
"I had no choice, no one has asked me anything" I replied and tried to smile.
I tried to be pleasantly well-mannered and receptive because visitors are very rare for me.
The visitor takes a small dictaphone from her pocket and places it on the table next to me.
"I wasn't allowed to bring a phone here, but this old dictaphone is allowed," she says, complaining.
"Photography is prohibited and that's how it's secured," I said, "were you checked before coming here?"
"I was given a thorough security check when I requested this interview," the visitor said.
"Were you physically checked before entering the room?" I asked.
"Yes, they did, my phone was taken away," the visitor said, "How so?"
"No reason for my question, I was just curious about their activities," I replied.
"Excuse me for asking, but what is the reason for your visit?" I asked.
"Simply a general concern that everything is fine in your environment here," the visitor said, and continued, "I am an official whose job it is to ensure that all prisoners are treated appropriately."
"I'm a little surprised that you're there, or that anyone would know about me and be interested in me," I said.
"This is a private prison with many levels of prisoners," the visitor said "Even though you're a different level of prisoner, rumors about you and your imprisonment have spread outside the prison.
Prison is a closed community where information always gets around in some way. Your sentence has been a silent deterrent for other, ordinary prisoners for a long time. It also means that information about you has spread out with the released prisoners, and some guards have also had a weak attitude towards remaining silent about you".
"It's not my fault in any way," I defended myself. "I haven't tried to make myself known to anyone!"
"No one is blaming you," she reassured me, "there is always someone who knows about your existence. The guards bring you food rations, some take care of your outdoor visits, etc. There are many opportunities and many people who have the opportunity to spread the word. It could also be an unintentional slip."
"But now that the matter is public knowledge, my job is to find out the background to the matter," she said, "I have a lot to find out."
"Let's start with the present," she began. "I can see that you are heavily shackled and secured in many ways, can you tell me the reason for that?"
"That's the practice for a max security prisoner like me, I suppose," I said hesitantly.
"Let's go over some of the visible things, I'll speak them into the dictaphone and you can add comments if you want," she explained.
"You have some kind of uniform, is it thick leather?"
"It's strong, durable leather that can withstand rough handling, I feel it also protects me" I explained.
"Does the color of the uniform matter?"
"It doesn't matter to me but because it's a striking orange/yellow it means I can be identified as a prisoner immediately".
"Does the material cause any problems? Is it hot to wear?
"Not really, the thick leather may be stiff but it has softened with use":
"You're used to it.. is that your uniform every day?
"I'm almost used to it, in the summer I basically have the opportunity to also wear shorts that are the same material, and a fabric orange T-shirt"
"I see you also have steel restraints. The collar looks very effective. Can you tell me something about it?"
"It's a fairly high steel collar that's made to fit my neck exactly".
"It has a big O-ring in the front and back. It's quite high, torturous high, I think. How is it locked?"
"There are two hinge pins in the back in a vertical position, they lock tightly so you can't take the collar off without the proper tools" I explained "I'm used to it, I don't think it's torture".
"Can it be taken off?"
"In principle yes, in practice it is taken off twice a month for cleaning. Then they also treat the skin on the neck and remove the hair from under it".
"Can you tell me what it feels like to wear it practically all the time? It looks very heavy... it's maybe 5 cm high and its thickness is what... 5 mm?"
"At first it wasn't comfortable, then it felt like torture, a constant feeling of tightness that wasn't suffocating. However, at first even swallowing felt like a squeezing sensation but eventually it all became a bearable feeling and eventually normal".
"It even hinders normal head movement..." she thought as she looked at my neck.
"No, I don't think so. It's a normal part of me these days. It would be harder to adjust to a loose collar that would press on my collarbones and nerves in my neck".
"I find it hard to believe" she was astonished.
"Maybe you should try it sometime" I said.
"I don't think it's going to happen" she replied thoughtfully.
"You also have shackles and chains, they also look very heavy and strong," she looked at me thoughtfully. "Actually, I can see that you are locked in your chair in many ways, can you tell me something about that?"
"Special day shackles in honor of your visit," I said, slightly amused.
"Tell me about them," she said seriously.
"The basis of restraints is what you can't see," I began. "I have a strong harness under my jacket. It's steel-reinforced leather. It's a kind of corset with straps to secure the shoulders and crotch."
"Is it uncomfortable?" she asked.
"It's always there and I feel its tightening restrictions all the time. It's like a constant reminder of my status," I said.
"Go on," she said, visibly interested.
"The harness has many attachment points, D-rings. They are on my shoulders and waist in many places. You can see the grommets in my jacket in many places" I said "I can be hung from the shoulder attachment points without difficulty, the tight corset and crotch straps prevent me from falling out of the harness".
"Without difficulty is probably the wrong word because it is painful for me, the corset hurts my ribs then" I clarified.
"But can it be done?" she was surprised
"If the guards consider it important, yes" I said.
The visitor was silent for a moment in shock.
"What about your hands?" she said "I see you have some kind of leather mittens on your hands, they look very tight and even small for you".
"They are actually leather mittens that are laced around my hands" I explained "So I can't grab or touch anything, it's a safety aspect".
"What about the wrists...?"
"They have similar cuffs to my collar" I explained "They are oval shaped so they fit snugly around my wrists".
"...and the wrist cuffs are locked to the sides of your waist".
"Yes, the cuffs are locked to the sides of my corset harness. You can see the D-rings that come through the jacket at the waist. The cuff on my left hand is locked directly to my waist and on my right hand wrist there is a 25 cm chain which gives me freedom of movement when I eat or use the toilet etc. Now you can see that the chain link is hanging in a useless loop because my wrist is locked directly to my waist. It is easy and safe for the guard to free my hand if needed... and quickly lock it back in afterwards". I explained patiently.
"Your ankles have similar cuffs, between them there is a fixed straight steel bar and it is attached to the floor with a short chain" she looked at my restraints inquiringly "in addition, below the knees there is another steel bar that prevents the movement of your legs".
"Under my pants there are steelcuffs hidden under the knees, between them and the ankle cuffs there are vertical steel bars and they are connected by a transverse bar. The bars force my legs to remain in a slightly spread position" I explained and for the sake of example I tried to move my legs, the floor chain jingled slightly.
"You are also locked to your chair" she said quietly. She still seemed a little shocked.
"My collar is chained to the chair frame behind me, and my harness is chained to the chair," I said.
"Your security is really thorough..." she thought.
"Our meeting time is coming to an end now, we didn't have time to talk about your living conditions inside your cell," she said thoughtfully, "I'd like to see them too."
"That might be harder to arrange," I replied, "I don't think anyone outside can see it."
"Hmmm... I'm not an outsider. I'll try to arrange it."
She knocked on the door, which opened almost immediately, she took her dictaphone and stood up from her chair.
"We'll meet again," she said with a smile and left the room.