Zam was in a state of deep contemplation. From the outside, it probably looked like some sort of odd meditation ritual but on the inside, Zam's head was anything but calm. Brilliant thought after genius idea zoomed around, clashing into each other, bouncing off the restricted walls of his skull, all fighting for his attention. It was a liberating experience to really just sit down and think. It helped Zam to focus his ideas and that enabled him to hold on to the best of the bunch.

His eyes shot open as today's masterstroke hit him. He leapt off the highly uncomfortable bed and grabbed the pen that lay hidden amongst the bed sheets. Uncapping it with his teeth, the pen became like a lethal weapon under his command. He scribbled mercilessly on the walls, running calculations far too complicated for anyone but himself to even bother comprehending. After a while, the entire wall was covered in ink.

He looked at the final sketch and double checked the maths that had led to it. "Would it work?" Zam muttered to himself. "Could carbon fibre be woven in such a way so that it could replace muscle fibre? And how could that be integrated with the circuits?"

Before he could come to a conclusion, there was a harsh knock on the door. "Stand back prisoner! We're coming in!" Zam quickly dived back onto his bed and hid the pen. Technically, he was only supposed to write on the walls when he was being supervised. How they thought he was going to escape using only a pen he had no idea but he really did not want to give the guards an excuse to treat him even worse than usual.

The door opened, but instead of the usual big-headed prick that checked up on him, a familiar face stepped through the door. "Zam."

"Detective," Zam grinned, pushing himself back off the bed with great difficulty to see his old friend. "It's been a while."

"Too long," Emily smiled. He could tell that she wanted to say more but the guard was watching the pair closely and Zam had a feeling that if she was too friendly with him, they really would never see each other again. Her smile quickly faded when her eyes found the stump that used to be his right arm.

"It's not that bad," he shrugged, noticing how she couldn't take her eyes off his amputation. "I'd already lost a few fingers on that hand. The rest of the arm was a little bit useless at that point."

"So, they didn't get you to a hospital in time?" she asked.

"Nobody could've saved it no matter how quickly I got there," Zam shrugged. "Every bone was smashed to smithereens. It was unsalvageable. They fixed up my ribs as best they could but more than half of them were cracked so..." he gestured to his right ribcage, showing how the bones did not align properly. Realising how queasy she looked all of a sudden, Zam thought it best to put his prison shirt on, to cover up his disfigurement.

"I'm sorry," she finally managed to say.

"Not to worry Emily," Zam said, "I don't plan on remaining a one-armed man forever. The one upside to living in this shithole is you have a lot of time to think. I'll have the solution soon, just you wait and see."

"I hope so," Emily frowned. "Anyways, there's someone here to see you and I need to talk to you as well, so if you'd like to step this way and Gareth will escort you."

Gareth stepped towards him, wearing an idiotic grin and holding out a pair of handcuffs. "So, which hand do you want?"

"You know, that joke has already gotten old," Zam sighed as he stuck out his left hand which was quickly attached to Gareth's right. As he was led through the prison, Zam wondered what the point of this precaution was. Did they really think that the one-armed cripple could successfully overpower two strong, trained members of the police force and then subsequently escape? It was a thought that had crossed his mind when he first entered but he'd realised immediately that that was not his escape route. Unfortunately, he was yet to think of an alternative.

"How are things going then?" Zam asked Emily, desperate to use this rare opportunity to gather information.

"Ok," Emily shrugged. "Johto's... sort of on the mend. The weather's back to normal, the famine's ended and Gordon Bennett's managed to secure trade deals to get the region through its turbulent time."

"And the bad news?"

"Well, that's the grand scheme of things," Emily said darkly. "Let's just say that the streets of Goldenrod could really do with a protector. Crime's running a bit rampant."

"If only you didn't spend time locking up the people who are trying to help," Zam said without thinking.

Emily shot him a look that in no way conveyed sympathy. "Look, I'm sorry what happened to you Zam. I know you were trying to do the right thing but there were so many better ways you could've handled it. Why didn't you involve me? I could've helped you and then you wouldn't have had to break half the laws in the book!"

"I still think my sentence should've been reduced," Zam muttered, knowing full well that Emily was completely right. He'd been a fool not to include her in his mission to take down the MPC.

"It was reduced," Emily pointed out. "You do know how hard I fought for you. The judge was going to lock you away for good if I hadn't worked my arse off."

"I'm still locked away for good," Zam said miserably. "Five years is too long. I doubt I have that much time left."

Emily glanced at the watchful warden before leaning in close to Zam and whispering, "I'm trying to cut a deal with my boss. You may still have a chance of getting out but you have to behave. You've got to prove to him that you've seen the error in your ways."

"Here we are," Gareth said, roughly throwing Zam onto a cold, metallic seat and rearranging the handcuffs so that he was now attached to the table in front of him.

"Send Mrs Baker in," Emily instructed. "I'll keep an eye on them." Zam's heart skipped several beats. Had she just said Mrs Baker?

"Sammy?" came a whimper as a tearful woman sat opposite him.

"Mother..." Zam breathed. He couldn't meet her eyes. He didn't want to accept the fact that he was causing those tears. She'd only said one word and he was already filled with a shame so deep, he knew he'd never escape it. "Mother, I'm sorry."

"Sammy, look at you!" she cried out. "You're... you're..." Whatever she was about to say was lost in a howl of anguish. Zam wished he had a second arm to reach out and comfort her.

"Mother..." He couldn't find the words. His throat was completely stuck.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," his mother said after temporarily regaining her composure. "You were supposed to be careful—you were supposed to be safe! What happened to that girl? She promised she'd look after you."

Another pang of guilt hit Zam. His throat felt like it was so swollen that no air would pass through it ever again. His mother didn't know about Taylor. She didn't know what had happened to her... what he'd done to her. Somewhere in the world, Taylor was having his child—the child that he'd given up all because he'd wanted adventure. Well, look where that had landed him. He thought bitterly that Taylor was better off without him.

"Mother," he finally managed to squeeze out, "I'm sorry that I couldn't be the son you wanted. I'm sorry I could never truly replace Sam Baker. I'm sorry you got stuck with me and I'm sorry I ruined everything. It was all my fault. All of it."

"Oh Sammy," she cried, leaping at him and throwing him into a spine-crushing hug. "You will always be my son, no matter what. I just wish I held onto you longer. You weren't ready for the world."

"I was Mother," he said once she had released him and stood up. It appeared as though her time with him was over. "It wasn't fair to keep holding me back. You did the right thing, it was me who cocked it all up."

She looked at him through her tears and forced a very fake smile. "Goodbye Sammy."

"Goodbye Mother," he said, forcing a half smile of his own. "I'll see you again, I promise. And when I do, I'll be better." When she was out of the room, Zam swallowed hard and put his head on the table he was cuffed to. It had taken everything in his power not to cry. He felt awful.

"Right then," Emily said. He'd completely forgotten she was there. "I've got some good news and some bad news and then you can get back to your cell."

"Let's hear it," Zam said half-heartedly. An hour ago, he would've done anything for a scrap of news. Now he wanted to do nothing more than sit here forever, pondering on his many mistakes until life parted from him altogether.

"Lord Salt's trial has finished," Emily started. "The judge felt that thanks to his contribution in uncovering the true corruption within the MPC, he shouldn't receive a life sentence for his crimes. He's doing fifteen years."

"Git," Zam spat. Lord Salt had surrendered himself to the police as soon as Zam's evidence came out. In a characteristic business-like move, he'd sold out his companions in order to cut himself a deal.

"We've also finally captured Melvin Jones," Emily continued. "Duncan and Crawford are both still on the run."

"Duncan Jones, a free man," Zam sighed, hating the injustice of it. The police would never catch him. He was far too clever and far too well equipped for an incompetent force to find him. The only man who could was going to spend the rest of his days behind bars.

"Also, we finished our search for your helicopter."

"And?" Zam said, instantly perking up.

Emily didn't meet his eyes. "This is what we salvaged from the wreckage." With great effort, she slung a large sack onto the table, resulting in a metallic clanging sound that reverberated around the room. Zam peered inside to see a pile of shrapnel, fragments of sharp metal and what was unmistakeably a golden rod snapped in two. He was staring at the remains of Magnezone.

Once Emily had released his one hand from the cuffs, he thrust it into the sack, retrieving the pieces and holding them in his now bloodied hand. He rolled them over in his palm and then clutched them as tightly as he could, as if that would make the pain go away. He dropped the remains back into the sack and wiped a tear that had trickled down his face. He sniffed involuntarily.

"I'm sorry," Emily said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Magnezone was only trying to help," Zam said as he failed to fight back tears. "Magnezone saved my life. It should've been me. It's... it's not fair."

"Zam..." Emily said softly.

"I want to keep this," Zam gestured towards the sack. "Put it with the rest of my things, would you?"

"Of course," Emily nodded, grabbing the sack and taking it from the room, leaving Zam alone. He felt more defeated than ever. He'd been holding on to the tiniest glimmer of hope that Magnezone had survived that great fall and now that hope was diminished. He had nothing left. He was going to die in this prison, alone, while his actions continued to affect everyone he'd ever known.

His mother had only wanted a son and instead she'd ended up just as miserable as before Zam came into the world. Taylor had only wanted him, the poor girl, and she'd been left heartbroken and forced into a life she had never foreseen herself living and it was all Zam's fault. And Magnezone... Magnezone lay cold and dead, in a sack amongst all of Zam's other useless belongings, left forevermore to rot away, never to be touched again. Zam wanted to make it all right again but it was hopeless. He was going to perish in this prison and there was nothing the allegedly brilliant Zam the Hybrid could do about it. This was, by all accounts, the end.