I was judged hours after I got arrested. They sentenced me to five years in prison. If Saveliy's memories serve me right, Saveliy wanted to get into prison because he was hired to help someone escape.
Ha, I thought I was inside the body of an innocent driver. Guess I am a criminal.
Beep!
"Move your feet," the guard leading me growled, and I took a step forward, following his guidance as I was blindfolded with my hands tied like a convict...even though I am.
If Mom saw this, she wouldn't be proud of it...heh, I am doing things that I never thought I would.
A door closing behind me, and it felt as if we were descending.
"Are we inside an elevator?"
"Sharp enough to figure it out?...yes, we are."
thidunk!
"We reached?"
"You got great ears, move your feet."
We walked for a couple minutes on a straight line without stopping or turning; it must be a long hallway or corridor.
"Halt," the officer said, making me stop, and he removed the blindfold.
"We are going to get you tested and cleansed. Get in," he said, pointing at the empty space where the tiles were colored in red instead of the ivory surrounded by a PVC strip curtain.
I entered the space skeptically and glanced around the almost empty room save for the work unit, where a woman in her early fifties was working.
"Shall we begin?" the woman asked, fixing her glasses, and I gave her a nod.
Whirr!
The space jerked for a moment, and I held my balance. As I looked at the ceiling, I saw there were mechanical arms descending towards me.
"Is this the machine that is going to test me?" I shrieked immediately after seeing the arms move.
Slosh!
In an instant, to my surprise, it showered me, and I got drenched almost immediately.
Fulfilling someone's purpose is harder than I thought.
*****
Prison of Abyss, a place that is preached about to almost all kids in every single house: "If you are bad, they will send you to the abyss, so listen." That's how people control their kids when they throw a tantrum or refuse to eat. Mom used to do the same with me, but now I am entering the abyss for real.
whirr-grng!
The thick metal door parted, leading me to a fenced pathway, and as we descended the stairs, I caught many glares from below.
"Your cell is No. Forty," the guard said, taking a look at the notebook, and led me to my cell, followed by growls and remarks from fellow prisoners.
My sweat trickled down my neck, and I started to perspire from unease at the foreign environment.
"These will be your new roommates," the guard said with a chuckle.
"I will lead you to your cell, from then on it's up to you if you want to become chummy or not."
"Hehe, guess it will take some time."
"Don't try to die tonight," he said as he opened my cell gate and led me into a small room, no more than seven feet by seven. Inside, there was a small bed that barely fit one person and a toilet beside it. There were no walls, only metal bars, except for the ceiling. The cells next to mine were empty for now, but it looked like someone had been there not long ago.
"You should have read the rules and regulations in the room you tested in, but as your probation officer, I am obliged to tell you again, but the best I can do is a gist of it...It doesn't matter, though, just follow what your fellow mates do, and you will be all fine."
Bold of you to assume I would make friends in here.
"It's the same routine every day. At 6:00 in the morning, everyone lines up and writes their name in the logbook. Breakfast is at 8:00. From 9:00 to 12:00, you do the task assigned to you. From 12:00 you line up to write your name again and get two hours of leisure. From 14:00 to 18:00, it's work again. Dinner is at 18:30. At 19:00, you make another entry. That's the final entry for the day. Then you go back to your cells and hope you wake up tomorrow. Once a month, you and I will have a meeting. Got it?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, good luck, Saveliy Andreyevich." he said, bumping my chest with his fist, and took his leave.
Arghh, what should I do now? It's 13:00, and today is the 17th of Zephyr. I can't believe I got pushed into prison a day after I got into custody.
The first thing I should do is try to find out why Saveliy wanted to get into this prison, but no matter how much I try, I can't get that memory...
Mhm, do I get a person's specific memory when I meet someone relevant rather than focusing? Considering what happened in the past, it must be the case. I knew Sis only after seeing her. I knew how Aeglet works after seeing it. I knew that Saveliy wanted to enter prison after being detained. By that logic, should I meet someone relevant here? Is he trying to make someone escape from prison? How will I find this relevant person? Should I go out and find the person myself? There is still one hour of leisure time...why is there even leisure time in prisons anyway? Should I go or stay here? The guard said since it's my first day, no task would be assigned...I should go...
I walked forward through the corridor. The ceiling was high and concave, shaped in layered curves with patterns carved into it, supported by pillars that were thick and tall and plain colored, but there were small cracks running up their surfaces. The floor was out of cement. On both sides of the hall, prison cells stretched in long rows, metal bars evenly spaced, and doors half open. Most of the cells were empty but in use, save for some where old men were sleeping. The air was stale, like old stone and vomit.
As I exited the corridor, I saw a signboard that read "Area 1 BlockЙ ."
From what I heard, at the test place, there are ten areas, each with thirty three blocks, and each block holds a thousand cells. That's thirty three thousand in an area with a total of three hundred and thirty thousand in the whole prison.
Damn, how am I going to find the relevant person? and I have only two hours a day.
I continued to walk, hoping to find someone else, and saw people gathered in a circle cheering.
"That's a lot of people, that would be a great start to finding the relevant person."
I joined the crew and forced myself through the weight of the crowd, making it hard, and covered enough distance that I could see what was happening.
Two people were fighting with each other by their abilities, their faces broken and battered, covered in blood
What the hell are they doing? Is this what leisure means?!?
Bump!
"Watch where you go, tw*t," a guy growled and pushed me down, and I fell in between the crowd, and it shifted to accompany my prone figure.
"Hey, cut it out, you bugger. It's the new guy they brought in today. Stop being so harsh on a rookie," a guy with keppel-colored hair said, lifting me up.
"Your name?"
"Saveliy Andreyevich," I said, rubbing my cheeks.
"Everyone stop the fight; we got a new contender," the guy yelled, and the crowd gave glances around as the two fighters withdrew.
Don't tell me I am going to fight.
"We got a rookie here, Saveliy Andreyevich. He is going to fight for us today since he just came in. Let's make him spar with Volk," he announced, dragging me to the center as I resisted.
"I didn't consent."
"Half of the asses are here because someone didn't consent, so shut up and fight," he said, tossed me into the made up circle, and his navel dulled to thirteen swirls, and opposite to me a guy with a frail figure with rust colored hair in his forties was standing, positioning himself to fight me.
I should have stayed in the cell.