Bauer in this moment and choice of dialogue inclusion reminds me of Bly's encounter with the doctor. In Bly's book "Then Days in a Madhouse" when Bly refuses to open her tongue for the doctor to see he makes a point that he is in fact the doctor. In the highlighted text, it is a similar case of power dynamics and seat privilege in which the COs have a higher position and hence demand stuff rather than asking, with the expectation of ultimate submission.