The infamous Gil Zain strode into the crowded cafeteria, with all eyes on him. They looked at him as if he were a savage beast, but at that time, all he desired was a simple meal. Hunger gnawed at his stomach, driving him forward with a sense of urgency. He noticed the long line of people waiting for food and he eagerly maneuvered his way towards it, his immense hunger making it difficult to stay still.

He was especially surprised by the aesthetic of the large cafeteria. The white walls were devoid of any adornment and created a sense of minimalism that spoke volumes of the stark environment. Large windows, though equipped with sturdy bars, allowed feeble streams of natural light to penetrate the otherwise controlled atmosphere, casting gentle shadows upon the prisoners. Though the tables and polished tile were white as well, he couldn't help but be blown away by how spectacular the lighting appeared to be. Why did the environment appear to be so welcoming? After all, it was a prison, not a restaurant. The shiny white floor made him think about who mopped the place? They surely excelled at the task.

Perhaps a sense of trepidation lingered in the atmosphere. The prison had a stench of regret, burdens, and hopes. Even Gil, void of emotions could sense that.

"Excuse me," Gil said to the prisoner standing in front of him. "What's the food like in this place? It's not bad is it... please tell me it's not bad." He rubbed his rumbling stomach, hoping for a reply.

The prisoner immediately recoiled, his face turning pale as if he were speaking to the grim reaper. Without uttering a word, the prisoner fled, followed by the two people ahead of him in line.

I guess the food sucks, Gil frowned.

Watching them run also made Gil ponder on the fact that all of the prisoners came in many shapes and sizes. He noticed that some of the men were way older than him, while some seemed to be around his age. Some were ripped like bodybuilders, while some were scrawny like broken strands of grain. He wondered which prisoners were giving off the hopeless stench, and which prisoners were giving off the stench of optimism. It was too hard to tell. Regardless of the prisoner, none of them approached Gil... Not one.

Gil glanced around the enormous cafeteria once again to meet everyone's beating eyes. His cellmate told him he would be attacked by anyone; so far it seemed like he was in the clear. It seemed the crime he was accused of committing instilled massive waves of fear in his fellow prisoners... no one wanted to come near him.

His cellmate also informed him that he was going to beat him up during dinner, yet so far he was nowhere to be seen. Gil didn't really believe him, he seemed like the kind of guy that told a lot of lies. Perhaps he would be proven wrong.

When Gil finally made it to the front of the line, he was almost salivating. The spicy smell of chili was driving his eager nostrils mad.

"He-re... You go," the prisoner serving dinner said as he nervously scooped a large pile of savory chili into a metal bowl.

"How's the chili taste here?" asked Gil.

"Um... It's okay I guess, it's uh- bet- better than you'd think," the sweating young prisoner stuttered.

"Awesome!" cheered Gil as he reached for his bowl. He looked into the serving stands and could see multiple prisoners working in the cafeteria. Two were men, and three were women. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen a woman in about two days. All of the fellow prisoners he saw so far were men. As hungry as he was, he had a few questions for the worker.

"So... You work here for extra points?" Gil asked. "Also, I didn't know this tower had girls here too. I haven't seen a single one other than the ones working behind you."

The server almost began to hyperventilate now, hopefully his cold sweats didn't get into the gigantic bowls of Chili. "Did you... really do it?" the nervous server asked totally ignoring all of Gil's questions.

Gil sighed as he looked back behind the counter once again. That time, he made eye contact with one of the women working. Though she was somewhat far away, he could tell that she was beautiful, an ethereal beauty that seemed to defy the bleakness of his surroundings. He wondered could she have done to become a prisoner at Energia Tower. Surely it couldn't be anything worse than what he was being accused of. She was the only one whose eyes seemed to not display any fear of him. The staredown made him feel slightly uneasy... It was probably nothing.

"Well of course I didn't do-," said Gil before he was interrupted by someone rudely knocking over his bowl of Chili.

"My chili!" Gil freaked as he viewed the diaster with sad eyes. For the first time ever, he thought he finally understood what sadness was.

He glanced up and met eyes with the angry countenance of his cellmate. "Oh wow, so you weren't kidding about beating me up huh?" Gil joked.

The cellmate ignored Gil and went between the counter and grabbed two kitchen utensils, he banged them together to produce sounds like church bells.

"You guys know what this guy did right?" The cellmate screamed as he walked towards the other prisoners. Their attention was now locked on him.

"What's that guy's name anyway?" Gil asked the nervous server.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Uh... Vince I believe," the server answered.

"Eh, he doesn't look like a Vince but whatever," said Gil. He titled his head back towards Vince after mourning the loss of his chili once again.

"I said, you guys know what he did right!?" Vince screeched again.

"... Is it all true? Did he really do all of that?" a prisoner asked Vince.

"It's all true! He confessed to me in our cell! He had no remorse for it at all!" Vince continued.

"Can I have another bowl of chili?" Gil asked the server, almost ignoring Vince's escapades.

"Gillian Zain... Why don't you tell everyone here what you did," said Vince.

"You know my name?" Gil asked. "... Well I guess I did tell you my name in the cell, but I didn't think you were listening."

"Everyone knows your name! You're guilty of mass murder after all! You're the worst one here!" Vince yelled as he bawled up Gil's shirt.

Gil titled his head towards the many security guards who were stationed around the vicinity. Not one of them interfered, they only watched with grinning cheeks.

"I told you I didn't do-."

"He has absolutely no remorse for all of the innocent lives he's taken. He didn't receive the death penalty because they brought him in here to torture us!"

"Stop touching me..." Suddenly, Gil's eyes shifted and he quickly slammed Vince on a nearby table, breaking it in the process.

"Oh my God!" A prisoner shouted, as five to ten security guards tackled Gil to the dense metal ground

Wait... What happened? Did it happen again? Gil thought as he was brutally forced to his feet and handcuffed. He looked with new blurry vision and ringing ears to see a broken table and Vince being attended to by prison doctors.

Am I responsible for this? If I did, then I could als-... No that's not true... That's not true.

***

Gil looked to the ceiling with his entire body bounded to an intolerable metal chair. He couldn't move an inch, if he attempted to, he was met with more agonizing discomfort. The tight handcuffs on his wrists and his ankles assured him that he was not getting out... Why wasn't he scared though? Or angry for that matter. Was it weird that he wanted to be? He had been totally isolated and starved for hours now, yet he felt nothing. If only he could cry on que.

The reinforced door finally opened for what seemed like a century of boredom.

"Good news Gillian Zain... Your cellmate Vincent Rich confessed to what happened. After speaking with him, he wants you out of here," the warden Daryl Bowman said.

"Really!?" Gil smiled. "This is great! I can finally get some chili."

"Well... The chili's all gone," said Bowman.

"Aw, c'mon," freaked Gil as the painful handcuffs continued to desolate his wrists.

The warden slowly walked over and unlocked Gil's handcuffs. "If it was up to me, you'd be here all night... what you did is unforgivable after all."

"Well I... didn't do it...," said Gil as he held his now free wrists.

"So many people, killed by one evil young man," Bowman said as he slowly but ragefully walked around Gil like a wolf studying it's prey. "And now, that young man lies right in front of me. You escaping the death penalty is a miracle on the level of Moses opening the Red Sea."

Gil could tell Bowman was trying to invoke fear in him. Once Bowman was unsuccessful, he turned back around towards the door.

"Anyway, you should be given more points for that outburst in the cafeteria, but Vincent was practically begging for you not to be disciplined... Those in charge of me have taken Vincent's request. I don't know why, but you will not receive any kind of discipline for what happened. If it happens again, I'll make sure you suffer."

"Uh... Yeah, good to know!" gleamed Gil.

"Now about food?"

"Our workers will give you food before we return you back to your cell," said Bowman. Bowman then eerily walked close to Gil. "One of these days... I'll make you break," he threatened before exiting the room alongside Gil.

Maybe that would be fun, thought Gil. He had no idea what it meant to be mentally broken, perhaps it would been more entertaining than feeling nothing.

After being given a ton of crackers and pudding, Gil was escorted by several guards to his white emotionless cell.

"Hey man, I'm really sorry," said Vince as soon as Gil entered the cell.

Vince's apology caught Gil off guard. The sudden change in behavior was puzzling. "No problem, I'm just shocked that you actually stayed true to your word," said Gil has he ate a huge spoonful of chocolate pudding.

"I did not expect that slam, you really roughed me up!" exclaimed Vince.

"Did I now... I see," said Gil blanklessly. He then shoved crackers into his mouth.

"Uh... Is that all they gave you to eat?" asked Vince.

"Sadly, yeah. Luckily, this chocolate pudding is amazing!" smirked Gil.

"I don't get it," said Vince. "Everyone that leaves the isolation chamber always comes back a nervous wreck, but you seem unnerved. I have to admit I'm really impressed."

"Uh well... I've been diagnosed with what you call psychopathy. I didn't commit mass murder though. Even if I'm weird, I know I didn't do that. I think my diagnosis could have made them frame me."

"Wait... You're a psychopath! Doesn't that mean you're like a criminal mastermind! And I thought psychopaths could still feel fear."

"That's just a stereotype! I wouldn't hurt a fly and I definitely didn't commit mass murder," explained Gil. Gil wondered why Vince was acting so much differently than he was before. He spilled his chili earlier and now he was trying to befriend him. He wondered why that was the case.

"Are you being for real!?" asked Vince.

"For real!" said Gil as he ate more pudding.

"But who really committed that mass murder though, and why would they frame you!?" Vince asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't know a way to prove my innocence so I'm imprisoned for now. I wish I could leave this boring place though," said Gil.

"Aw man, that's rough. I at least committed a crime to get here. The news really paint it out for you to be the culprit, if you're really innocent that blows," said Vince.

"Yeah, it is what it is," said Gil. "Hopefully I get out one day... So what are you in here for?"

"Selling illegal substances and robbery. This is my fourth time here so I've got a ton of points I need to rack up! I need four hundred points to get out now, but that's nothing compared to your one hundred thousand," answered Vince.

"That's only a little more than a year of work! You'll get out before you know it," said Gil.

"Maybe you're right," said Vince with a melancholy smirk. "Well to answer your question yesterday, I'm Vince."

"I already know your name, but nice to meet you! I'm Gil."

"I already know your name too, but nice to meet you."

It appeared as if Vince would be a great ally despite their previous scuffle. He wasn't yet sure he could trust Vince; his drastic chance of behavior was sort of suspicious to him.

Sadly, Gil was unaware of the unbelievable hatred that was aimed at him in Energia Tower. As a person convicted of mass-murder, it was natural for flames of rage to be aimed at him. Gil also secretly directed the rage towards himself. The flame of hatred that was aimed at Gil wouldn't be satisfied until Gil suffered and was ultimately broken. Could one without emotions break?