The prison was always full of fighting. It was an everyday occurrence, but it wasn’t often that a person would go so far as to take it to death. When it did occur, not much was done about it in the prison.
The guards turned their heads and reported it as a casualty that couldn’t be stopped. What would occur, though, was whoever was responsible would get another blotch on their record, and currently, Gary had been called back to the Warden’s office.
She was seated in her chair, dressed in a heavy black uniform with a flat hat on top of her head. She had long painted nails, the tips colored black, similar to her thick black eyeliner.
If there was one thing that was clear, the Warden liked the color black.
“Gary Dem, do I need to remind you that your case hasn’t even fully been filed yet?” the Warden stated. “You are in here in the meantime while your case is being investigated, and because of what you have done, this will be added to your file, added to your crimes.”
Gary didn’t reply. With how long he had been in here already, and after listening to Elijah, whoever it was that wanted him in here would keep him in here until they got what he wanted, and he needed to get out before then.
‘Is the Warden really that strong?’ Gary thought as he started to eye her up and down. It was hard to tell, and even more so, his system hadn’t given him any type of quest, but she could very well be linked to the ‘escape the prison’ quest.
It might be her which was the reason as to why the quest reward was another Rank upgrade.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know. Yes, Altered’s die in the prison, but if your crimes are light and you ever want to get out of here, it’s best you don’t do anything, and remember, never get the guards involved in your dirty affairs.”
It sounded like it was the cue for their little meeting to be over, and with it, Gary stood up and gave a little polite bow before walking away, being escorted by the guard.
When he finally left the room, Warden Synca let out a big sigh.
“Why do all the cute innocent-looking ones turn out to be so rough?”
“Based on what I read about him, he seemed to be a good person,” one of her guards by the side said.
“Oh, what do you mean by that?” Synca replied.
“Well, I heard that the White Rose has had multiple requests. From corporations, different cities’ companies, all asking us to release Gary. In their statements, they have talked about how he’s helped them.”
“That’s standard for all these guys with quite a big backing. I heard that the gang he was linked to was quite a large tier 2 one, so you can ignore most of those,” Synca replied. “Do you really think someone so good would kill a newcomer on their first day?”
The guard didn’t say more, but he wanted to. A lot of the reports they had gotten, it wasn’t just from corporations, but they were also from the general public. People from the AFA, public citizens from Slough, to a bakery shop owner, and just the local residents.
It was something that had never happened before, and the guard in question had looked into it because he still remembered when Gary had pulled him back, just before that body would have slammed into him.
On the prison floor itself, Blackjack had been appearing more often. He had to since he had decided to make relations with one of the groups, or at least make it seem that way, but he was carefully waiting for the right time, and he had finally decided.
‘Alright, it’s time to make my move,’ Blackjack said. ‘I need to talk to that damn mutt. With him, the two of us can definitely get out of here, but I am a little worried. I mean, if he knows what I am, then what if a big fight breaks out?’
‘Is he stronger than me? I saw some of his strength, but I wasn’t able to gauge his full powers. It could be difficult if he was.’
Either way, he couldn’t be scared in this situation, but as Blackjack went around the place, he was unable to find Gary, no matter where he went.
“Oh, the green-haired guy?” one of the prisoners said. “The Warden called him into her office, but that was a while ago, I thought he would have been back by now. You know, usually it's just the standard stuff, an extension on your record, etc.”
Blackjack did find it weird, wondering where he was.
Gary, after his meeting with the Warden, the guard actually escorted him off to a different area. The hallways, he had been down them before, so he had an idea of where he was going. He was wondering what it would all be about, but upon opening the door, he could see he was in the visitors' room again.
There was no one inside, but on the other side of the glass, Gary could see Elijah was there again, and was on his own.
When Gary went to sit down, the guards on Elijah’s and Gary’s side both went away, allowing the two of them to talk in private.
“Thanks for doing this,” Gary said immediately. “You don’t have to risk yourself, with your position and everything, yet you’re coming here to see me.”
Elijah smiled for a moment, but it quickly went away as he wanted to get down to business.
“I got what you asked me for, an update on the situation. It’s not looking too good.”
Elijah went ahead to explain the details to Gary, how the members of Slough had a bounty put on them. So the city was being attacked by the local gangs in the area as well.
He then went on to explain how the Howlers were still there and the city where they were holding off, but the Phoenix Gang had made their move and now had entered Slough as well.
“Kai is smart,” Elijah continued. “It will be a long time until they take over Slough; you still have some time, we still have some time.”
Elijah wanted to tell him about how he had help, how they planned to get him out of here, but he didn’t want to say anything that would also give away their position, so he would leave it be for now.
“There is one more thing that I need to tell you. Kai wanted me to specifically make sure you get this message, and it’s up to you how to deal with it. First, your mother, she’s awake… and it seems like there is a visitor, your father has returned to Slough.”