Tick, tock, tick, tock... it never stops... A boy stared forlornly out the tinted window of a luxurious sedan's backseat, his head pressed against the cold glass, his gaze fixed squarely on the overcast sky outside. Ah, of course, it had to rain too... his face gave away nothing, but he could sum up his feelings in exactly one word, subpar. He wasn't dreading the moment, nor did he hate the circumstances surrounding it, but he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospects before him either. It wasn't bad, wasn't good, just, subpar.

"Alright, should be getting there any second now." A voice from the front seats reached his ears, if only barely, and the boy sighed, brushing a stray strand of the untamed medium-length hair from his eyes to better see the shift from streets and overpasses to spaced-out apartments and houses, greens and blues visible between it all.

So there is a lake here, at least they were truthful about something for once. His gaze flicked over to the large body of water, despite the sizable compound built upon a chunk of land in its center, the sheer amount of water within the natural basin was impressive, even with the grey clouds dulling the color of it all, the boy could tell that the water had good flow, none of that murky brown crap, no way in hell.

"Alright, you ready?" The same voice prompted an "Uh-huh." of assent from the backseat passenger as the sedan rolled to a stop, an audible thud sounding out as the locks were disengaged. "Then let's get to it."

They parked in a nondescript lot some distance from the actual lake and trekked a minute or two to reach the water's edge, stepping out onto a large floating dock that stretched out about thirty feet or so before abruptly giving way to the depths of the water below. Reaching the dock's edge, the driver, a well-dressed and groomed twenty-something with light-brown, close-cropped hair, produced a pager-like device, pressing a button and flashing the boy a smile.

"Well, it all begins today. I'm sure you'll do great." The intoxicating sense of optimism threatened to overwhelm the boy, but he managed to keep his cool, opting to simply nod and stare at the water. It's not me I'm worried about, it's, well, the others, but it's not like you guys would understand that. Contemplating if he should start a conversation or not, the faint noise of and nearing boat engine greeted him, and shook him from his thoughts. It was a pretty nice craft, a RHIB outfitted with a fancy-looking motor. On it was just the driver, who didn't look all that armed, maybe I'm not a threat to them... Ha, yeah, right...

"Alright, after you" The boy took no further prompting, stepping aboard the small watercraft upon its eventual arrival and tuning out the world with its departure. He was glad for the noise of its motor, it meant he had to do less talking and less listening. And hey, in that regard the less the better. Right? But all things have an end, so the boat's motor died out, leaving his mind empty and his ears longing for the overpowering noise. "It's official, welcome to the Corlude Facility!" The man's cheery demeanor never failed him, and the boy was beginning to wonder if he was all there in the head due to it.

"Yup sure is..." He decided a response here and there wasn't the worst thing to do, and kept it short but polite, trailing off at the end to cue the man in that he wasn't up for it right then. He seemed to listen or was eager to relieve himself of babysitting duties as he ushered the boy forward from the island's dock to the awaiting concrete jungle before the duo. Glancing back at the water and the city, the boy felt a sense of long as his sight settled shortly over the boat drive, wishing he had the freedom to take the wheel and drive out of there.

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Trekking even further to the large metal gate, the spires of reinforced steel rising above, evidently they were designed to take one hell of a beating. Reaching the panel then constituted the entrance point the large section of fencing soundlessly slid aside, parting to allow the pair to cross the threshold, swiftly closing with a whisper of lubricated metal on metal as a heavy lock slid into place with a muted thud. The noise was drowned out by the pattern of light rain on metal and concrete, accompanying the two people constantly through their trek toward the first of the many buildings within the sizeable compound.

"Alright, Just beyond those doors are the admittance personnel, just walk right in and they will take things further." The man's cheery demeanor never left either, he carefully observed the boy as he walked toward the glass double doors before him, right up until the boy pulled the right door open and stepped into the small metal gatehouse's confines.

I wish that prick would stop acting like this was a damn school day. The boy watched the door swing shut, then took a deep breath and turned to face deeper within the building's confines. A counter was placed along the far wall, and in front of that were two men, one dressed similarly to the boy's 'escort' while the other was outfitted in khakis and a hoodie, both were engrossed in their conversation and seemed to not register the boy's arrival. "Excuse me."

They both turned to face him, and the man in the formal attire nodded to his partner before walking out through a back door behind the counter, leaving the boy alone with the more casually dressed of the two. "Oh, sorry, didn't notice you enter, I take it you're the new admittance?" The boy nodded and the man made his way behind the counter, standing behind a flatscreen monitor and motioning for the boy to come forward. "Right, now, name?"

"Jasper."

The man typed in something, presumably the name, and hit enter, then looked up at Jasper and gave a slight smile. "Perfect, now then, let's get moving. I'm Rowan, we need to move quickly, the presentation has already started. Good for nothing escort, always running late..." Rowan muttered the last part in the midst of a sigh and beckoned Jasper towards the same door the suit left through, pushing it open and entering the cold and rain.

"Now, lucky for you, you'll miss the boring stuff, but we should make it for group assignments. This building on the left is the gymnasium, the right is a study hall. And over there is dorm building one." As they speedily walked through the center of the compound Rowan pointed out specific buildings, giving a basic descriptor to them and moving to the next, it was clear they were heading towards a specific one however, a hanger-like structure situated in the back of the complex, the Auditorium, as Rowan explained once they grew near, having passed all other buildings of significance.

"It's pretty much used only for general assemblies and the like, not much else goes on with it. Alright, head on in and just find a seat somewhere, then wait for their further instruction, a more in-depth tour will happen a bit later, sound good?"

"Sure." Jasper turned away from the man with that simple reply, walking up to the second set of doors after stepping foot onto the island and pulling the left door outward, stepping within the brightly lit hallway beyond.

Jasper's delayed entrance attracted the attention of everyone within the building as the heavy doors shut behind him, the now third set, prompting glances from those seated and on stage. The speaker, a man perhaps in his forties, didn't stop, drawling on about something or other relating to the purpose of this prison complex. Soon enough those already in attendance returned their attention to the podium, with the dim lighting of the theater like interior Jasper couldn't discern any real details about the others, but he counted about 45 or so, about what he expected, and started to a cluster of empty seats near the doors, plopping down and tuning out the noise around him almost instantly.