The hearing went by relatively quickly. Upon pleading guilty, Tomlee received a sentence of fifteen years in Lucasta Prison. Once released, he would be put on probation for another three months. He got off lucky, or at least Fraser thought so.

“You robbed th’ Lucasta Bank?” Fraser asked incredulously. He had also pleaded guilty with Travis. It turns out the two were brothers. They had been given twenty years for shooting rival Rhust gang members. Dean, on the other hand, had pleaded innocent and was being detained.

Fraser and Travis now accompanied Tomlee, surrounded by guards once again. They were headed to the top of the building, where a Lucasta Prison escort ship was waiting for them.

“Yeah,” Tomlee replied as they climbed a flight of stairs.

Travis whistled. “I hear th’ security’s pretty tight.”

Tomlee shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Shut it,” one of the guards snapped before Travis could respond.

They stepped onto the roof just in time to see the escort ship in the process of landing. It looked like a large black box. The two wings that stuck out of the sides were short, as it was only a transport vessel, and the words Lucasta Prison were printed on the side with white letters. It definitely wasn’t the sleekest ship Tomlee had seen.

The wind ruffled Tomlee’s hair as the ship touched down, its landing stabilizers sending gusts of air outward in all directions.

The ship’s back door slowly lowered, and Tomlee was marched inside. The interior was similar to the police hovervan, with seats lining the walls. The only real difference was that there were no windows. Instead, it was lit inside with pale white lights.

Tomlee, along with Fraser and Travis, were securely strapped into the chairs with wide metal belts. Immediately they were locked into place, preventing any escape. The guards took their own seats but were free to move. They kept their hands on their guns. If any prisoners were to act out, Tomlee knew the guards wouldn’t hesitate to use force.

Soon, Tomlee could feel the ship rise from the ground.

The whole trip he tried to suppress his nervousness. Fraser and Travis didn’t seem to share his feelings and kept themselves occupied. From across the seats, the two of them engaged in a casual game of rock, paper, scissors. It lifted Tomlee’s spirits somewhat, and even some of the guards seemed mildly amused.

Their game was eventually interrupted when the ship touched down and the heavy back door lowered. Sunlight met them, and a gust of warm air ruffled Tomlee’s hair.

They stepped outside the escort ship, which promptly rose into the air after them, causing a cloud of dust to swirl up around them.

Tomlee blinked rapidly, hoping to get his surroundings. When the dust cleared, the sudden change in scenery came as a shock.

Behind them Lucasta was a mere speck in the distance, its looming towers now reduced to small flashes of light. Between that space lay a large stretch of orange rock and sand; the beginning of what was known as the Wasteland. It was said that if one were to go far enough south from Lucasta into the vast Wasteland, they would eventually reach what was known as Mirror’s Point. Past that was unknown; not even ships had returned.

This was the least of Tomlee’s worries as he was nudged forward with a guard’s rifle towards the largest iron fortress he had ever seen in his life.

Looming above them, it seemed to extend for a mile in each direction. If he had thought the Lucasta Bank large, this structure dwarfed it in comparison. Whereas the Bank had a serene appearance, the Prison lacked any aesthetics. It only had one purpose, and that was to keep the prison population in. The security was even more extreme. Surrounding the entire metal prison was a glowing wall of blue humming energy. Outside were several watchtowers, and Tomlee spotted prison guards looking down from their posts, their helmets glinting.

Tomlee felt his stomach sink. An iron stronghold, an impenetrable energy wall, guards, and an endless desert? If there had been any hope of escaping, it vanished.

They were led through an opening in the energy field, which immediately closed behind them, as did the giant metal door they walked through. Cold stares from guards greeted them as they entered the prison’s registering room.

If it weren’t already uncomfortable enough, they were all put through the prison scanning and registering procedure, which in the end had them all outfitted in the prison apparel. An ankle alarm was strapped to one of their legs that would immediately notify guards if the inmate ever entered a restricted area. It also acted as a tracking device.

“Ain’t th’ most fashionable,” Fraser tugged at the loose black clothing. The white words Lucasta Prison were printed clearly on his back, as was his inmate number.

“At least we don’t have th’ cuffs,” Travis added.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Tomlee paid them no mind, already memorizing his number. LPI-58-100. In other words, he was a Lucasta Prison Inmate on the fifty-eighth floor and the one-hundredth inmate on that floor. It turned out that the prison had a total of one hundred floors with a maximum of three-hundred inmates on each floor. Each floor was separated into two wings: the East Wing and the West Wing. The East Wing was made up of the female inmates, and the West Wing was made up of the male inmates. There was a maximum of one-hundred fifty inmates in each wing. The farther you went up in floors, the more dangerous the inmates.

“Listen up!”

Tomlee was jolted to attention by a group of prison guards marching towards them. The voice had come from the man leading them, a towering muscular giant with a shaved head. He wore a Lucasta guard uniform, but the way he carried himself told Tomlee that he was the one in charge. As he got closer, Tomlee noticed that the man’s face was heavily scarred with what looked like to be burn marks.

The troop of guards stopped in front of them, and even Fraser and Travis seemed intimidated by the giant man as he spoke.

“These guards will escort you to your cells. If any of you try to stir up trouble, they will not hesitate to beat you to a pulp. Understood?”

This was followed by a series of nods.

“Good,” the man continued. “Behave yourselves, and you may be moved to lower levels. If not, I’m sure the inmates in the upper levels will be happy to meet you.”

With that the man strode off, leaving the new prisoners with the guards.

▋ ▋ ▋

The number 55 glared down at Tomlee, and he squinted as the elevator doors opened with a hiss. Past the doors was an enormous hallway lined with humming cell windows that appeared to be made of the same kind of barrier that surrounded the prison. He was hit with a sense of vertigo when he saw that the floor and ceiling were both transparent, providing a view of both the bottom and top floors. On all levels, guards could be seen patrolling in their black uniforms.

“Guess this is our stop, huh?” Fraser said.

Travis gave Tomlee a reassuring smile. “You’re on floor 58, right?”

Tomlee nodded, a feeling of loneliness settling upon him. He hadn’t known the twins for very long, but they had helped ease Tomlee’s anxiety. Although being criminals, they had treated him kindly enough.

The twins were pushed forward, and Travis called over his shoulder. “Maybe we’ll see ya again, huh?”

Fraser laughed and pointed upward at the transparent floor. “He’ll see us right through th’ floor!”

They both laughed good-naturedly, and Tomlee allowed himself a small smile before the elevator doors closed, leaving him with one last image of the twins being escorted to their cells.

The elevator began moving again.

56

Tomlee took a deep breath, glancing at the guards surrounding him, their hands on their weapons. It was said that the inmates became worse the higher the floors went. Just how dangerous would they be on floor 58?

57

His heart beat faster.

58

The doors hissed open, and he was pushed forward by the guards. He recovered, and was immediately ushered down the giant hallway. As he and his escort marched forward, he was able to get a clear visual of the cells through their transparent windows. There was a maximum of two inmates per cell, with two bunks, a sink, and a walled-off portion where Tomlee guessed hid the privy. What really drew Tomlee’s attention was that each cell contained its own small elevator big enough for two people. It puzzled him. Giving the prisoners access to a personal elevator just didn’t make sense.

He didn’t observe each cell for long, though, as there were several prisoners watching him from inside their enclosures. There were inmates of all sizes and stature, but he didn’t sense any malicious intent from them. If anything, most of the inmates regarded him with tired eyes, as if they’d been working the entire day.

They stopped in front of a cell with the number 75 above it.

“Welcome to your new home,” a guard used a keycard to disable the humming cell window. “I’d wish you good luck, LPI-58-100, but in here the only kind of luck is the bad kind.”

With that, Tomlee was shoved inside, and the cell’s window reactivated behind him with a hum. When he turned back to the window, the guards were already marching back down the hallway.

He was alone.

“Well, didn’t think I’d be getting a cellmate anytime soon,” a voice said behind him.

Startled, Tomlee whirled around.

When he had first looked into the cell he hadn’t noticed anyone, but sitting there on one of the cots was clearly another young man.

Similar in build, the individual’s hair was a black unruly mess, which complimented pale skin. Freckles were spread across their nose, but what really drew Tomlee’s attention were his cellmate’s eyes. At first glance they appeared to be normal blue eyes, but upon closer inspection, Tomlee saw that they glowed with mechanical energy. He swore he heard a whirring noise as the eyes dilated and focused on him. It was common for people to replace lost limbs with mechanical parts, but Tomlee had never seen a mechanical eye, let alone two.

“Something on my face?” the pale young man asked. His demeanor matched his eyes: cold and calculating. He seemed to study Tomlee closely.

“No, but if you don’t mind me asking…” Tomlee said hesitantly.

“What happened to my eyes?” his cellmate finished the question.

Tomlee nodded.

“I lost them in an accident. Don't worry about it.”

The sentence was said casually enough, but Tomlee could sense that there was more to those words. Although they were mechanical, the eyes practically burned with hatred. Something must have taken the young man’s original eyes…or someone.

“So anyway,” Tomlee’s cellmate changed the subject, spreading his arms. “Welcome to prison. My name’s Zero.”