I sat on the rusty steel chair at the chow hall; the table was low for me, and I took a sip of watery, tasteless tea from a dented tumbler to prevent choking while trying to swallow the half-baked potato and hard, stale bread.
My mind was still stuck in the dream, the fourteen faces and seven figures still gave me unease as I drummed my fingers against the table out of anxiety, trying to draw my mind away from the dream.
"Stop it," I heard the voice of a man who was in the same chow hall box as me.
"Sorry, it's a habit."
Hmm... there are thirty-three thousand chow boxes the same as this one, yet I ended up with a guy who can't tolerate slight drumming...luck surely isn't on my side.
I sighed and picked another piece of potato, my hand was cut by the sharp edge of the plate, giving me a small sting, and I sucked the drops of blood flowing from the small wound.
"Finger-licking good?" A man with long sapphire-colored hair approached, followed by four people, one of whom was Gofyen.
These must be the fellow convicts hired for this job.
"This man over here is Saveliy Andreyevich, the last person," Gofyen said, patting my back, and everyone sat on the empty seats around me.
"Saveliy, I would prefer introductions on our way and not in the chow box, so finish your dinner quickly."
"Give me a moment," I said, finishing the tea, and picked up the last piece of potato with a worm wiggling out of it.
"If you are not going to have that, I will have it," the sapphire-haired guy said, picking it up.
"Are you going to give that to your bird?"
"Ha, I am not into a woman's panties," he said, rubbing his stubble as the group erupted into laughter while he tossed the crushed worm.
"Just like crushing them," he said, rubbing his palms across his pants.
"Now that you're done eating, let's get going," Gofyen interrupted, nudging me to get up, and we left the cramped chow box, and we walked across the chow hall to enter the corridor to the cells.
"Introduce yourself now that we are away from their eyes."
"Only this guy has to do the introductions between us," a man with relatively short hair in the color of chocolate said, throwing his arms around my shoulders as if I were his best friend.
"It's Saveliy Andreyevich," I said bluntly, avoiding his dull gaze.
"We know your name, Gofyen. Just tell us what is your count and ability are," a man with a basil-colored beard joined in.
"Sixteen, and I can make my body light."
"Sixteen? Are you sure you wanted to be touched by this twelve-swirled grime basta*d?" A man who was tall and broad-structured with mango hair playfully smacked the guy who threw his arms around me.
"It doesn't matter."
"Didn't know we got a catalyst among us," Gofyen said, walking past us.
"Now that you know about him, let him know about you before we meet Viktor's Marek," he said and strode forward, his hands in his pockets.
"I am Denis Mikhailovich, Twenty swirls. I can increase an ability's potential." the guy with sapphire hair said, his voice blunt, and looked around, he was in his forties with pimples.
"Maksim Olegovich fifteen swirls delayed attacks." said the mango-haired one, who looked like the youngest in the group with a scar across his right cheek.
"Nikita Sokolov here. Eighteen swirls. I can match my opponent's physical level during combat. Pleased to make your acquaintance," the basil-bearded guy said, cracking his fingers with the appearance of being in his late thirties.
"Roman Melnikov, twelve swirls. Yeah, yeah, I am the lowest, it isn't worth talking about, and I can freeze stuff," the chocolate-haired guy, who looked about my age, finally said.
"You can increase a person's potential? A potential man" I said jokingly as others chuckled.
"Can't be wrong with that," Denis laughed, his mouth agape.
"As you all know, tonight we will meet Viktor, just go to your respective cell, and I will escort you all to him."
"I would prefer a female escort," Maksim said with a low whistle.
"Then head to the other side," Roman bit back.
"How do you plan on escorting us to him? The cells are going to be locked." Denis questioned.
"I will use my ability," Gofyen replied, taking a step aside.
"And what is it?" Nikita asked, his eyes taking quick glances across the surroundings.
"You will know when it's time now. Please head back to your cells, and don't get to bed yet. I don't want the extra burden of waking you all up," Gofyen said, moving his arms and signaling us to enter our respective cells.
"Try to pick me up before 22:00," Nikita said, dismissing us with a wave, and entered Area 1 Block Л.
"See ya at Viktor's," Denis said, walking to his area, and we dispersed.
*****
"Pst~pst, pst!" The slight noise made me jerk for an instant. The bed let out a small groan, and I turned my head towards the dark space and saw Gofyen half-bent, waving his arms at me to enter.
"Saveliy...pst~ Saveliy, come here quietly," he motioned towards him, his voice sounding menacing in its low tone.
I walked towards the small gaping hole where Gofyen stood and entered it, the hole closing behind me, and I stepped out into another corridor where the cells were large and not as gloomy as Area 1.
"Your ability is pretty useful," I said, looking around, and saw the rest leaning against an empty cell.
"Has its drawbacks"
"Now that Saveliy is here, why don't you answer our question? You could have escaped the abyss with yours, but you are escorting us?" Maksim questioned.
"It has many limitations, but the main drawback is that I can't close the portal from the other side. If I open one and pass through it without closing it first, I won't be able to create another or close it from that side. On top of that, the range is limited to one kilometer."
"Essentially useless?" Nikita commented, stretching his feet.
"Not exactly, but to satisfy your curiosity, yeah."
"And you have to mark the place, right? Is that the reason why you were giving the bars a handjob?" Denis made a remark, moving his hands in a crude way.
Now that he mentioned it, Gofyen did that.
"Stop it, Denis," Roman said, swatting his hands away.
"Why don't you take us to Viktor's already? Don't want to be caught," I said.
"We got a cu*t between us." Nikita joked.
"I just want to finish the job quickly and get out of this abyss."
"Can't blame you, but don't be hasty, the escape of Viktor is important," Gofyen said and started to lead us to Viktor's.
"Got a girl waiting for you, Saveliy?" Nikita asked, matching his pace with mine.
"got a car, not a girl"
"Oh, looks like you got a money-making machine instead of a money-spending one."
We walked silently through the dimly lit corridors save for the periodic sweep of light, as all the cells were empty, and each cell was two times bigger than the one I was in.
"I've been into these shady businesses for a long time but never got imprisoned. I wonder why we are still able to use abilities, but we weren't able to use them during arrest or in custody? Even constables have fetters with them," Maksim questioned as Gofyen pushed open a door.
"They do have a large barrier; it's pretty weak in the center, but it gets stronger and stronger toward the edges." Denis said as our movements came to a halt as Viktor's Marek came into view.
"That's Viktor's Marek." Gofyen pointed to a man who was not even in his late twenties with a freckle on his left cheek. His ochre-colored hair fell down on his face, which had high cheekbones, and he was fast asleep.