The Riddler Speaks - Casefile #0075 (Patreon)

EDWARD: Umbaby asks: Were you in Arkham when Mr. Bolton was in charge? What, if you don't mind me asking, was your experience of it?

Ahahaha, yes - Lyle Bolton. Or, as he calls himself now: Lockup. It was rather gratifying to see him get dragged past my cell, kicking and screaming, swearing vengeance on everyone who'd wronged him, and threatening to break all of our necks. Considering that he made himself extremely disliked in a very short time, putting him in his us hardened criminals is likely going to have the same effect as throwing Jeffrey Dahmer in with the general population. Overall, Bolton took an old-school approach to asylum discipline. Sleep deprivation, reduced rations, random punishments... I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd thrown someone into an oubliette, or the medieval Cell of Little Ease. For me, he decided to make it difficult for me to think. One particularly memorable treatment involved injections of vasopressin into my scalp and neck, resulting in some rather spectacular migraines and a near-death experience. 

Mind you, the good ol' near-death experience is hardly new to me at this point. But, it was the first I had ever faced mortality by muscle contraction. Being open to new experiences doesn't always work out well, I'm afraid. I'd say it was inhumane, but the fact is that humans are one of the very few species which do torture their own. Suffice it to say that I spent most of Bolton's tenure insensible, in one manner or another. I understand there was a hearing at one point; that Harley Quinn made a scene about him, but I was unfortunately unavailable to witness it. Of course the minute Bolton was out, so was I. The amusing part of course is that in some senses, his methods worked. None of us broke out while he was in charge, but the bleeding hearts won't condone his methods. They also won't take the time and effort to prevent our escaping by any other means, and the result is a perfect cycle of criminal dysfunction; and I hope Bolton chokes on it. If he ever gets out, I have some lady friends who would like to make his acquaintance.