"I was the happiest kid in the world, when I got the call. You gotta understand, my parents and grand parents before them all worked in the excavation business for natural materials. I was supposed to grow up to be a damn mining administrator." 

Cam was the youngest man out of the group of prisoners sitting around the tiny rec-room table that was barely wide enough for a 3 player card game, but the whimsical tone he spoke made him seem like a child.

"I must have wrote 400 emails to few academies that were within realistic distance from my hometown, constantly checking for any vacancies for the CAV cadet course. The amount of money I saved was pitiful, but I was ready to sell a limb or two for any course that'd take me."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"I could think of a body part or two you could have sold to get the cash," the prisoner Dewall chuckled, prompting a low chorus of laughs around the tablle, aside from the oldest prisoner who shot him a hard glare.

"Shut the fuck up, Ennis. My rec time is too far and few between for your crap jokes. I want to hear the kid's CAV story." 

When the old man named 'Dent' spoke, there were very few in the K-12 who wouldn't listen. His military background before being sentenced put him on a high spot on the food chain, and his actions and demeanor in the 17 years he was incarcerated solidified it. He couldn't have been any younger than 55, but he was built in a way that would terrify anyone half his age. To no ones surprise, the highway truck robber Ennis Dewall shut the fuck up on command.

Cam held back as a smile as he continued his story, leaning further on to the table, almost squeezing himself between Trent 'Digger' Phillis and Wilton Dane