12 Chapter 12 - Release

When you're locked in with the same group of people, time tends to fly differently. Sometimes, it's slow, as if nothing happened, but sometimes it springs into motion, and days, weeks, months pass by, like nothing.

I've been locked in here for about a year and a half at this point. I was slowly making aquintances with different people, and have been testing my 'newfound' abilities.

Between classes, I was haging out with Baulder, as per usual. This time, though, Meda showed up, which is quite the rare occurence.

"Heyyo," she said, for some reason quite happily. Something was telling me she was sad though.

"Hey, what's up?" I greeted her.

"Hey," Baulder said, quite shyly still. He was getting fonder of Meda day by day.

"So, the thing is..." she started. I knew it. Something was up, "I'm, uhh, getting released in a few days. Wanted to tell you that."

"Oh, okay..." I replied, "Wait, how long have you been here?"

"Remember when I joined up the gang? I took the blame for a blunder, and I was sentenced for four years. A year after I got in with them," she explained, more talkative than usual.

She seemed a bit uneasy. I can't tell why though. Being released is what we're waiting in here for. But for some reason, she looked sad about it.

"Are they gonna do something to you? The gang, "I asked.

"What? No, no. Why?" she asked back.

"You're being weird," I blurted out.

"Oh thanks, asshole," and with that, she turned around, and left.

Did I say something bad? I looked at Baulder, and he looked kinda confused as well. I guess he's not the sharpest when it comes to EQ.

I guess calling someone weird isn't really the best way to say goodbye.

After school, I got back to my cell, and to my suprise, I saw the Old Man just packing. Packing?

"Hey, sir, what's up?" I asked casually.

"Son, nice of you to get back in time," he laughed, "I'm getting released tonight."

"Everyone is getting released nowadays?" I exclaimed, surprised.

"What d'you mean?" he asked.

"My friend, Meda, she's getting released in a few days," I explained.

"Is she now?"

"Yeah, apparently she served all her years already," I replied.

"That should be okay then, right?" he said, "I'm getting released ahead of schedule. According to the Vice-Warden I behaved myself well enough to go."

"I guess you did... Is that common?" I asked, confused.

He stopped for a second, seemingly trying to recall the last decade or so of releases.

"It happens occasionally. Not a common thing, no," he finally said, "Albeit it's always scary. To leave this place. Not knowing how the world changed while you were locked up."

I guess he was right. I've only been here for a year or so, and I'm already loosing touch with the outside world.

After he left, I kept on doing the routine he told to do, spending most of my free time working out. I was already about ten to twelve kilos extra in weight, thanks to all the gained muscles. If this was a game, my stats would have at least doubled, if not more.

Usually, I spent these workout times with Francis, as he wouldn't leave me alone, but with time, I actually started to pay attention to him, rather than ignoring him. It was mostly about optimising my routine, and some knowledge about knots - as per my personal request.

About a week after the Old Man left, a pair of guards walked past my cell, when they thought I was just sleeping. They were talking about Halla.

"Stupid geezer, he thought he could get out of here," one of them said.

"Yeah, like we'd let anyone out like that," said the other.

"They should all just die in here," the first one laughed.

To this, I bolted up, ran to my cell door, and shouted after them.

"Do you know anything about the Nikolaj Halla?!" I was confused, pissed, and loud.

"What, he's your gramps?" the second one replied, laughing.

"ANSWER ME!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I saw the purple haze cover their eyes, and they walked back to my cell.

"Like everyone else," the first one started, "upon their release, ex-inmates are shot down. We can't let criminals back into the world," he said in a monotone voice.

"If we did, they would just start committing crime again," the other added in a similar manner.

"You're just toying with us in here?" I asked back, still agitated, but I didn't want to shout anymore. bringing more attention to myself is more then stupid.

"Essentially, yes," the first one answered.

"What about Meda? Andromeda Lawlett? Will she be shot as well?!" I asked, angry and scared.

"Yes," the second one said.

I turned around, ran to my desk, took a paper from my school notebook, scribbled down a sentence, and ran back to the guard.

"Take this to her," I ordered both.

"As you wish, Master," they both replied.

They left.

What the hell is wrong with this place. I thought I could just get my sentence done, and go back to the world after, but they just force us to break out?! This place is ridiculous. This isn't a prison.

This is a Torturer's Lair. And I am going to kill that Torturer, for what he did to the Old Man.

I just hope Meda will realize what I'm talking about.

During dinner, I rounded up my people.

Seeing Baulder and Francis at the same table made me feel weird. Somehow these people didn't quite match.

"So what you mean is that we'll all die, no matter what, Tentazione?" my italian friend asked.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"No matter what we do, how we behave, upon release, we'll be killed?" Baulder said.

"Essentially."

"Can we do anything?!" Francis seemed really agitated, but I can't blame him.

"Keep your voice down, if the guards notice we know, what do you think they'll do?" I told him off, "Besides, I have a plan. I'll tell you in the morning. Come to the Janitor's room on the second floor."

With that, the day was over, and I went to sleep.

----

"Nyeehehehe! And you didn't think of that as an option?" Los laughed at me. We were in his realm again, for some reason.

"Like you'd think of that as a prisoner," I replied, "Normally this wouldn't be the case. After our sentence, we'd just go out. That's how it normally works."

"But this place wasn't normal to begin with. You didn't get a trial, you were just put in here, even though you all have [Powers], and there were no measures to subdue those. It seems like a scam to me," he explained.

"Yeah... I thought about that one before," I mean it is weird, isn't it? A bunch of different criminals, with absolutely no security measures for our abilities? That sounds wonky, "I just dismissed it. I thought the Vice-Warden is just that much stronger."

He did seem ridiculously strong. Nerve gas is definitely OP.

----

The next morning I went to the Janitor's room. I opened it, and noticed that both of the boys are in there already. We were only waiting for the last member of our group, and we can get started.

"Hey, Dan, so... uh, like, do we know where we are?" Baulder asked. He had a point.

"I assumed we're somewhere in the western parts of the Despotic Union of the Americas," I tried a guess.

"I thought we're in Charybdis...? Just south of the Holy Neo-Roman Empire?" Francis said, entirely contradictory to my statement.

"Aren't we somewhere under Scandinavia? In the famed underground tunnels of Asgard?" Baulder proposed an entirely different idea.

"I guess we have no clue. I'll get a guard to tell me later, but first, we'll have to wait for Meda to show up," I concluded.

"That your girlfriend, si?" Francis asked.

"No, not quite," I replied instantly.

After a few minutes of waiting, we heard three rythmic knocks on the door, and I opened it up.

It definitely was Meda, disheveled, with a medium size bag in her arm. She came inside, sat down, took a few deep breaths, and slapped me in the face.

"What was that for?!" I asked her, confused, while rubbing my cheek.

"Don't EVER call me Andy again, or I'll murder you!" she whisper-shouted at me.

"If I just called you Meda in the letter, would you have come here?" I asked back, still rubbing my cheek.

The letter I sent her just said a few lines:

'Andy, you'll die if you get released. Come to the Janitor's on the second floor in the morning. We'll wait. Danny.'

It was the bare minimum I could send her, but I had a problem. Two guards just delivering you a note isn't really that trustworthy. I had to make it obvious, that it was from me.

"Even though you're right, I still want to slap you." she replied.

"I won't ever do it again. I promise," I said, "Now, onto the circumstances."

I told her everything that I heard.