Rhea Patel, 29, a Policewoman

Rhea cursed her stupidity as she stormed down the hallway of the police station towards the internal affairs office. It has been such a great day so far for the young Indian woman. A great week actually! Her bonus was confirmed, her record was spotless, her assignments easy... And ten minutes ago she got an internal email that turned everything upside down.

The girl she strapped in accordance with the instructions for Jane F. Smith, 18, turned out to be Jane E. Smith, 19. Rhea did not even bother to check, obviously the young offender reporting to her desk had to be the one! Now she is paying the price for leaving even such a small thing to chance. The girl got eighteen strokes with a strap in place of the dozen she was actually meant to get; Rhea knew that would be the least base of her own inevitable punishment.

The internal affairs officers were harsh, but reasonable and fair. If there was any excuse, Rhea would have presented it and argued her case. In the past she had punishments reduced and even removed entirely on a couple of occasions that way; now, however, there was nothing to say. Her best (and only) best was to apologise and look as contrite as possible. And that would take no acting skills at all, regrettably. At least she did not have to face a long wait. The mismanaged punishment took place at quarter past; the email at quarter to told her to arrive at the hour, and there she was now.

Being a few minutes early gave Rhea the perfect opportunity to practice her "I'm sorry" face (again, that took regrettably little effort) and to promise herself time and time again to check even the smallest details in the future. She considers doing something that would be a demonstration of her readiness to be disciplined, such as stripping and entering on all fours, but while some of her superior officers would consider being more lenient for such a show, others made it clear they want the officer in proper uniform and standing tall until her sentence is passed. Without knowing who is on duty today Rhea could not risk making it worse and degrading herself unnecessarily too for her troubles.

"Good luck, R", she hears. Her friend, Beth, hurries past. "Sorry, cannot talk, but a shame about that Smith girl, hope you'll be fine!", she calls out as she rounds the corner and disappears. Beth is in full uniform (which covers all the essential parts of her, but still leaves quite a lot of skin open, at least in its summer/indoor variation), but judging by her hurried state, that might not continue for much longer. Still, Rhea has her own problems right now. Her watch gave a single short beep, indicating it is the hour. Bracing herself, she pushes the door open and enters.