Sleep was not kind in prison, and anyone unaccustomed to a cheap mattress was in for a rough week. I hope you don’t have to make any quick head movements because it’ll hurt.
I woke to the AI gradually increasing the lights. My feet hit the cold floor, a blunt reminder I wasn’t home anymore. Breakfast chow was at 0600 and I had 30 minutes to get ready beforehand. Prison was strict in the super annoying way. need a better pillow? I hope you’re willing to wait 1 week after filling out paperwork to get it. Not feeling well? how does waiting 8 hours in medical to finally be seen by a doctor who doesn’t even listen when you tell him your symptoms? Want to decorate your cell? make sure it's with approved PAP posters or they’ll be removed. Made a friend and want to visit him in his cell? it better be between 1300 and 1700 hours on the weekends or official government holidays, otherwise you’ll be out of bounds and receive a violation. What to earn some cash? I hope you’re ok working for a tenth the wages of a standard citizen of the Empire.
The surprising thing about Prison was although life felt so much harder the general health of the offenders improved tremendously. Our Boredom was engineered. The music they provided just good enough for maybe 20 minutes of listening but nothing more, and if you wanted good music, you’d have to buy an entire album for the cost of a week’s earnings. The games on our state tablets were maybe good enough to last a really long poop but that’s about it. The books though were incredible, and all picked out by the AI committee to be the perfect combination of entertainment and infusion of tactics. All the classics were available in the library too, masterpieces like On War, The Art of War, and The Book of Five Rings were available in copious quantities. The darker classics like 48 laws of power was banned as was typical of most prisons.
After breakfast was our first class on mental health, taught by Melody, one of the 5 AIs on the committee. Committee AIs were next-gen beings. They were levels of magnitude smarter than standard AI’s and Melody was lecturing about the symptoms of PTSD. “Some questions you’ll want to ask yourself on your weekly check-ups are the following are my eating habits consistent, is my sleep schedule stable, am I still enjoying leisurely activities, and have my friends noticed any negative changes in my personality. Remember I am always available to talk any time 24/7 through the panel at your cell and our visits are not monitored by security, but I will warm you if you are planning violence to yourself or anyone else security will be notified. Remember, the first sign that you are experiencing a traumatic event is an intense feeling of disbelief, as if what is happening couldn't possibly be real. When you experience your first traumatic event, you may be tempted to replay it in your mind for hours, overanalyzing and thinking of things you could have done differently. Instead, we recommend using the post-battle overview function of our committee AI, Titus, for any recommendations on how to improve your performance in the future. Remember to find a hobby that is engaging and meaningful, and challenging enough that it consumes your entire attention. Having something so engaging that it totally consumes you for about an hour will provide a mental barrier between the dungeon and your new home when you return to your cell, allowing you to rest during your designated rest periods. Remember to succeed in such a dangerous place you need to find your WHY. Your WHY will guide your decision making, will be long-lasting, will be unique, and will inspire and motivate you. Your homework will be to find your WHY and report it to your personal mental health assistant in your cells. Thank you and remember you’re fighting for a safer world! Good luck and have a great day!
After class we were headed to mech tactics 101 taught by Titus, and It bothered me how many people laughed during mental health class, Sure, the stupid “fighting for a safer world” bit was frustrating, but that information seemed important if we were going to not just survive but come out this conflict with any semblance of normal. As I headed towards the mech training room tiffany spoke up from my collar, “your class has been changed report to your rotunda for new assignment.”
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After heading to the rotunda, the Rotunda officer waved me over. “Are you Maximus Wyatt?” he asked, “yes, sir.” I said. “Report to the floor gate for reassignment in 30 minutes and make sure you have all your property with you, because you won’t be staying on this level. Here is your movement pass don’t lose it or you’ll receive a violation (51.1.f) for waste of resources.”
Bizarre, where were they sending me next?
The floor gate governs all movement between the floors, so if you want to go higher or lower within the arcology you went through the gate. I handed my movement pass to the gate operator. He looked surprised and said, “floor 105 is pretty high that’s even higher than what normal officers live on, enjoy.” I went through the airlock and through the body scanner and finally after they checked through my property was allowed onto the platform. As I ascended, I could see the entire floor and it was massive. There must have been 30 different housing units on this floor alone. As I went up the sheer magnitude of this place started to really take shape. floor after floor housing 100,000s of people. floors with fields of crops expending the entire length of the ship. training floors where actual mechs engaged in practice battles against holographic monsters.
Finally, we arrived on floor 105 and the door opened. The floors got smaller the higher I got, but were this floor lacked in size it more than made up for in chrome. The officers on this floor were chromed out! Cybernetic augments everywhere you looked. All the officers had at least one eye implant, multiple limb upgrades, advanced ai guided optics attached on their machine guns, and there were 4 state of the art drones hovering in the ceiling, each a round ball of death its main cannons facing just close enough to snuff me out in a heartbeat.
Everyone anticipated that AI would dominate the world, but no one seemed to realize how rare courage truly was. The AI hated conflict and the idea of fighting and possibly dying was too much for all but a very slim few. even 100s of years after creating AI we are just now creating AI with enough courage to operate a machine gun optic from a safe mainframe.
The lieutenant in charge directed to where my new housing unit would be, and to my surprise there were only 5 housing units on the entire floor. As I stepped into housing unit 4, the stark contrast between the well-worn unit on floor 17 and this brand-new facility was astonishing. The lighting was perfect, the cleanliness spotless and the common area for prisoners was furnished with an assortment of training equipment, entertainment section, and medical relaxation area where you could enjoy cold plunges followed by sauna followed by robotic deep tissue massage. Farther down was a gym filled with everything you’d need to get absolutely jacked.
Given such a nice area, I feared they might have something absurdly horrible in mind for me, especially with all the luxury they were piling on. And my fears didn’t seem without merit because down the wing a massive door opened, and a team of medics came rushing out with a man on a stretcher and blood gushing out as he gnashed in pain. I stole a look and to my horror he had a sapling growing out of his leg and it seemed to be growing in him and they rushed him out of sight in the medical wing.
With a growing fear inside my stomach of what I’ll have to face soon enough, I unlock my cell and peek inside. The cell is a sleek and modern design. The bed is ergonomic, with some fancy memory foam and temperature regulation for comfort. A large, interactive touchscreen panel spans one wall, providing access to educational programs, virtual counseling sessions, and entertainment options. The wall panel is currently set to show a bamboo forest at night raining gently. The cell includes a small, private bathroom with a self-cleaning shower, toilet, and sink.
The room is spacious enough to include a desk and chair above the desk is a small bookshelf with different books on grief and several Bibles. The desk has a built-in holographic computer interface where Tiffany will be helping with my studies.
Tiffany spoke, “Max as your personal AI I must say that I am happy to be working with you, I have helped 9,873 other offenders and none made it to this floor as quickly as you have, and from you surface level thoughts these two days I can say with some confidence you will perform very well within the dungeon.” I said, “Oh thanks Tiffany will you be going with me?” Tiffany responded, “Oh, heavens no, have you seen that place? it's way too dangerous for AI.” I had to laugh at the absurdness of this place and sheer craziness around me, gosh, what will the future hold in store.