Location: Unknown
“WAKEY WAKEY! IT’S DAAAAYBREAKEY!”
Tony started at hearing the loud shout. He groggily shook his head trying to open his eyes and look around.
He was in … a prison cell?
How in the world had he managed to get himself locked up? He sat up on his prison cot and tried to clear the cobwebs in his head.
What was going on here?
The last thing he remembered was completing the take in process at the Gate facility and being ushered into a small 3x3 room that looked very high-tech. The polished steel walls had been giving off a soft hum and there had been blue gently pulsing LEDs, making him feel calmer than he should have.
The facilities attendants had told him to lie down in the preservation capsule that took up the center of the room and close his eyes. They had then left the room and he’d heard a hydraulic hiss as the door closed airtight behind them. Having been given no other instructions and not really having much of a choice other than to do as he was told he’d lain down and closed his eyes.
It’s true that he had peeped a bit. He’d just been curious what would happen once the process started. All he’d seen though was the blue light changing to orange and then to a white so bright that he had to shut his eyes really tight. No peeping possible.
And that was the last thing he remembered of his last day on earth. At the time he’d had no idea if he’d ever see earth again.
He’d also had no idea that they would shove him into a stinking cell just for peeping a bit. Did it really make sense that they would abort the entire process just for that?
Nope, no it didn’t. No sense at all in fact. Which would mean that there had to be another explanation for his being locked up.
The first step to understanding what was going on was to take a look around. Maybe he could figure out where he was or ask someone what was going on.
He was currently sitting on a low cot furnished with a rough blanket and a thinly stuffed pillow.
There was a small metal toilet in one corner of the small cell. It was attached to the smooth cement walls that enclosed him on three sides. He looked up and was greeted by the same dark grey cement the walls were made of.
A basin for washing hung right next to the toilet. At least he would be able to wash his hands after doing his business. A thought hit him. With a panicked expression he looked back at the toilet. He couldn’t spot any toilet paper anywhere.
He got up off the uncomfortable bed and walked over to the toilet. After looking all around he couldn’t spot any toilet paper anywhere. It was probably a weird thing to get fixated on right now. But that was outrageous. What did they expect him to do if he had to go for a number two? Use his hands?
He turned around towards the front of the cell and for the first time since he’d woken up turned his attention to what lay beyond the boundaries of his cell.
Right across from him there was an identical cell to his. Inside there was a man still sleeping on his little prison cot. Tony looked left and right and just saw more cells, presumably with more people locked up. Now it stood to reason that perhaps one of them would also be awake and might know about what was going on.
Should he try calling out? On the one hand he had no clue what was going on here and drawing attention to himself might not be the best idea right now. On the other hand he was already locked up in a tiny prison cell, what more were they going to do to him?
“Might as well risk it”, he thought.
“Uhm...Hell...”
Tony stumbled over the word, he cleared his throat and attempted another hesitant call.
“Hello? Is anybody else here awake?”
He waited a little. He wasn’t getting any reply. Although... hold on. There did seem to be something.
Somebody making a sound to his left. Were they trying to say something? Tony stilled his breathing and tried to listen.
“Chrrrschzzz......pfuhhhhh.....ckkrrrchzzzzz”. Someone was snoring. Disappointed Tony turned away and stuck his face to the cell bars, maybe he’d be able to spot something down the hallway.
…
Nope, nothing to see there. He couldn’t even see the end of the hallway from where he was.
He had no idea how big this place was.
He also had no idea why he even thought that knowing how big this place was might help him.
In fact, the more he considered it the surer he became that knowing the size of the prison he was in was some of the most useless information that he could want to know right now.
He needed to get his head in the game.
He took a deep breath and decided to calmly think things through.
He was locked up, in an unknown place, with no way out or anyone to turn to.
He needed to focus on the important things now!
…
…
Why would they deny him toilet paper? What captor was so cruel? What if he was a woman? What if it was that time of the month for him? As the woman.... That he would be if he was not a man.
Hold on... if this was a prison, then it was actually pretty likely that he was in an all-male prison. That’s how prisons worked, right?
In that case the people who were responsible for the sanitary supplies would have known that he wouldn’t be a woman. Is that why there was no toilet paper here?
Wait! What? Surely this wasn’t the time for considering the impact gender has on the sanitary supply structure of correctional facilities!
Hmm, that would probably have made for a killer essay. If he had chosen to stay in school instead of give everything up and start a new life in the Rift.
STOP!
WHO CARES ABOUT TOILET PAPER RIGHT NOW!
Tony berated himself for getting off track again. He needed to calmly examine his options right now.
Alright, deep breath.
Focus.
On the.
Important things!
Tony had been remarkably calm until now. A little put out, especially by the lack of toilet paper, but all in all he had been pretty accepting his current situation. This calmness now allowed Tony to really focus on what was happening to him.
What the fuck? Why am I here? What on earth is going on?
They can’t do this to me! I paid to be transported through the Rift. I should be on the other side right now. Starting my new life! Not locked up in a prison Cell somewhere underneath Euro-City!
He sat back down on the little cot and put his head in his Hands. Was it really all a scam? Had he taken out that huge loan against his Habitatpod for this? To be cheated out of his money? He didn’t deserve this! He’d been planning and saving for this for years. Surely it couldn’t end like this!
As his thoughts started spinning, Tony started to get angry. This kind of bullshit surely wasn’t something that X-Life (Crosslife) could get away with. There were laws! He was a 3rd circle citizen! Sure, he was actually dirt poor and technically didn’t deserve to be a 3rd circle citizen but laws are laws and luck is luck and he inherited his priviliged citizenship fair and square!
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So that being said, there is no way that this was okay!
He wouldn’t take this sitting down!
Tony got up from the low bed again. Angry now.
They fucked with the wrong guy today. If they thought he would just lie down and go back to sleep they were dead wrong. Time to wake everyone else in here up and see what they thought of all this.
He would start a rebellion if he had to! This was a gross violation of his rights!
Tony took a big breath and was about to start making a real racket, planning to wake up the other people being held captive against their will when he heard a door slam and footsteps began echoing down the hallway, accompanied by quiet conversation he couldn’t quite make out.
Tonys anger immediately died down. Now that he might have someone to shout at, he quickly thought better of it. After all, he was the prisoner here. God knows what they were planning to do to him.
He nonetheless got up off his small bed and walked back to the front of his cell. To try and see what was going on. Maybe the person that had just entered the room, building, cellblock or whatever this place was, was willing to answer his questions.
The footsteps continued echoing through the hallways, kept stopping and after a short pause continuing, slowly getting closer to Tonys cell. He positioned himself as close as possible to the corner of the cell where the noises were coming from, straining his ears, trying to catch snippets of quiet conversation that he could barely make out.
A male voice, “They all seem to have slept through Joes stupid antics. The colonel would not have been happy if he had to explain to management why the fresh meat was awakened prematurely. What bet do you think he lost this time?”
They had to be talking about the loud shout that had woken Tony up.
Whomever the guy posed the question to did not seem to deign him fit for a reply. After a few seconds of nothing, Tony heard the same voice speak again.
“Oh wow, look at this guy! He’s huge, I hope we can convince him to join the force. Would be nice to have a rhino like him in the field with us. Fucking mountain goblins keep sending bears and those yeti looking monkeys our way every time we set foot in their territory.”
Now Tony could hear a disinterested hum from what he supposed to be the person accompanying Mr. Chatterbox. That however was all the encouragement Mr. Chatterbox needed.
“With this guy we can counter their Yetis with our very own Big-Foot, hurr hurr.” Tony heard Mr. Chatterbox snicker at his own joke. He sounded a lot closer now.
The other voice gave off another disinterested hum and a short mumble. Tony still couldn’t make out what the second person was saying and he was getting more and more curious what the two of them were doing. Surely, they hadn’t decided to just come in here to look at their prisoners sleep the day away like zoo animals.
Tony also didn’t really understand what Mr. Chatterbox was talking about. Something about a force and goblins?
Mr. Chatterbox couldn’t let his attentive audience get bored and didn’t give Tony the time to work through what he’d just heard.
“Oh and have you checked her out already? You think the gate messed her up somehow? I heard rumours about it malfunctioning sometimes. Old Buckley says that he once saw an arrival go wrong while he was stationed down at Fresh York and it was NOT pretty! Guy came out with two heads. You think something like that happened to her? I mean she doesn’t have two heads but damn if she isn’t the ugliest arrival I ever seen.
Hey, at least the air force will get a new member huh? Just hand this one a broom and off she’ll go. Hurr hurr” More snickering could be heard from Mr. Chatterbox.
Tony was beginning to understand that Mr. Chatterbox was one of those people that didn’t actually need a second person in order to have a conversation. He was perfectly comfortable conversing with himself. On top of that the words made absolutely no sense to Tony.
It was complete nonsense. Something about New York, Arrivals and two heads. Tonys face was scrunched up in confusion as he continued to listen, trying to make sense of Mr. Chatterboxes words.
Mr. Chatterbox and his partner were coming closer. They seemed to methodically move from cell to cell, stopping at each one before continuing on to the next one.
The second person seemed to be mumbling something now. Tony turned his head and pressed his ear to the iron bars of his cell, straining to hear what was being said. He thought he could make out a female voice.
“...mumble...mumble...any...mumble...progress...signs...”
Tony couldn’t hear anything clearly. But at least he now knew the second person was a woman. He wasn’t sure how that would help him at all but didn’t they always say that information was power? Maybe this was the piece of the puzzle that would help him figure out what was going on, or even help him resolve this entire situation.
Mr Chatterbox needed no more prompting than that little bit of mumbling in order to launch right back into his next observation.
Tony tried to look around the corner again. Just trying to catch a glimpse of his captors. Sir Chatterbox prattled on.
“Oh my god this one is a dwarf. I haven’t seen any lilliput people since I left earth.”
Incidentally that one sentence contained more useful information than all the garbage that Mr Chatterbox had said before.
Tony now knew two things with certainty. One, Mr Chatterbox was not just unprofessional in general but also had absolutely no regards for social propriety and two if the mans words are to be believed Tony might not be on earth anymore.
Which incidentally would also mean the rest of his drivel might make more sense than Tony gave him credit for. Goblins, Yeti, People with two heads? Could it be true?
Did that mean that Tony had been sent through the gate successfully? Had he been sent through the Rift just to then been locked up?
Why? Why lock him up as soon as he arrived? It just didn’t make sense.
Tony didn’t get time to think things through any further than that.
For the first time Mr. Chatterboxes silent counterpart said something that could be made out clearly, “Moderate your language please. The facility management does not appreciate the use of derogatory terms inside it’s boundaries.”
Of course Mr. Chatterbox had a reply for that, “Sure thing, no need to get your panties in a bunch. It’s just who even cares anymore? This isn’t earth, with all it’s political stuff and crybabies about this insult or that hurtful word. Here a fucking goblin is a fucking goblin and a slimy fish person is a slimy fish person. Why can’t I call a dwarf a dwarf?”
Again Tony heard the somewhat squeaky but emotionless voice of the woman that had the dubious pleasure of being accompanied by Mr Chatterbox. Because Tony was sure now. She was in charge and Mr. Chatterbox was her escort or something.
“First, Facility management has found that this kind of language has a tendency to upset the Arrivals, especially in the first few weeks after their arrival. Second, some might argue that a person of short stature is not actually a dwarf, which becomes an important distinction seeing as dwarves actually exist on the Shard.”
Mr Chatterbox surly reply could be heard, “Well I haven’t seen any of them real dwarves yet. Far as I know it’s all just crazy talk. People here are no different than back on earth. Bloody attention whores.”
The woman again, “Officer Brixon, if you can’t abide by the rules that facility management has set out then I’m sure that there are alternative assignments that can be found for you. Ones that require no contact with the new arrivals.”
There was a short pause as Mr. Chatterbox seemed to try and make sense of her words, then, “But the only place where there will be no new arrivals would be out in the....” another short pause, then Mr Chatterbox quickly backpedalled. “Of course I know how to follow rules! In fact, I’m one of the best rule followers in this entire contingent. You’ll see.”
“I’m sure I will.” she replied.
That seemed to be that. The way Tony saw it he had just heard a LOT of useful information. His mind was spinning a little with all the revelations. Dwarves? Slimy fish people? Goblins? There had been no talk of any of that back on earth.
Popular propaganda taught that entering the Rift was supposed to deposit him in a modern-day garden of Eden where he would help build humanities paradise. Or something like that at least.
While Tony hadn’t bought in to all that paradise talk, whatever was going here right now was definitely also not what he’d expected.
What was happening? And why was he locked up if he really had been transported through the Rift?
Tony leaned against the side of the wall, still facing the metal bars but had stopped following the progress of Mr Chatterbox and Miss By-the-book.
Mr Chatterboxes spirits seemed to have been dampened since being told off by Miss By-The-Book which meant that things were silent enough for Tony to really try and concentrate on what he’d heard.
Tony could still hear their footsteps but since he had stopped paying attention, he was completely blindsided when a face appeared in front of his cell bars all of a sudden.
“WAAAAHHH”, Mr. Chatterbox gave out a loud shout that startled Tony and caused him to look up from the floor that he’d been staring at with wide eyes.
Tony was looking right at a skinny white man in his mid twenties with rainbow coloured eyes and dirty blonde hair, wearing some kind of uniform that was two sizes too big for him and the face of someone who’d seen a ghost.
Miss By-The-Book rushed into his field of view looked into the cell and took in the situation. It seemed that she didn’t like what she saw because a deep frown formed on her face and she raised her arm so that the palm of her hand pointed at Tony.
She was short, thin and had brown hair that was tied into a strict bun. By Tony's guess she was probably also in her twenties. She wore dark clothes and a lab coat. Her eyes were covered by some kind of reflective glasses that he couldn’t see through.
Tony was mighty confused at what was happening right now but she had a rather hostile look on her face so Tony decided to raise his hands and quickly look as non-threatening as possible.
Mr Chatterbox seemed to have caught himself and proceeded to raise a metal baton in the direction of the cell as well.
Miss By-The-Book said “Who are you and how did you infiltrate the arrivals?”
All that Tony managed in response to that was a confused “Huh?”
Her hand started emanating an orange glow and she repeated her questions, “Who are you? And how did you infiltrate the Arrivals? If you move or fail to answer I WILL fire.”
Tony had never been more confused in his life. What did she mean with infiltrate the arrivals? And why was she threatening him.
And most of all, why was her Hand glowing orange?