Year 2035, February
21:00 P.M
Crei Prison No.2, Frankfurt, Germany
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"Ah, wait. Here's a tissue."
I handed an old woman in front of me some tissues I had with me and she took it gladly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome . . . Wait, your wound!" Quickly, I put down the beef soup I held in my hands and changed the bandages on the old woman's right arm.
Both of us were in my prison cell, where she was just brought in there that night. Her right arm was injured, but it appeared that she had been treated beforehand. So, right then, I merely requested clean bandages from the nearby guards and changed the old one for her. Surprisingly enough, they allowed it. We sat on the floor as she let me do my thing. Half of her face was also covered in bandages, probably hiding a deep wound underneath.
"I'm assuming they don't have any other spare cells," I said to the old woman as I tightened her bandages. "This prison cell only has a single bed."
She smiled at me. "I can sleep on the floor."
"Huh?" I shook my head. "No, you can sleep on the bed. I will be the one who will sleep on the floor. Also, I'm sure that your stay here is only temporary, and there would be an empty one for you come tomorrow morning."
The old woman spoke, "Ah, yes. You are talking about the disappearing prisoners, right?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah. It has been a thing for quite some time now. I'm sure the guards have something to do with it."
"Hmm. We are left in the dark, I suppose."
"It's unintentional. But yeah, they are doing some stuff behind our backs. Maybe they will reveal it later on." I looked at the old woman and she just smiled at me. For one, I was glad that I had someone to accompany me in this cell. Not that I wanted to, but having spent so much time by myself, I needed someone like her.
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The next morning, both of us went to the spacious yard of the prison. It was 'spacious' in a sense that, every one of us prisoners would only make up about 80% of the total area.
Nonetheless, when we arrived, a bunch of children had gathered at the far end of the yard.
"Hey, what's going on kid?" I patted a young boy's head and he turned around to face me.
"Ah, Mister Ludwig. Look over there. Those robots are . . . Doing it again."
"Hmm?"
I perked my head to see what was happening up front, and my mouth gaped. There were three men that had their hands tied up, kneeling in front of a few Anciles. One of the Anciles stepped forward and formed a crystal-like blade from its right arm.
"I did nothing wrong! What did I do?!" yelled the blond man in front of the Ancile, who was about to be executed.
ASSAULT AGAINST FELLOW PRISONERS. REQUIREMENT MET FOR EXECUTION.
The blonde man's eyes widened, and he stood up in an instant. Before he could even move, the Ancile slit his throat with its blade. The man choked from it and fell down onto the floor, blood gushing out from his exposed throat.
I looked at the children around me. Of course, their expressions were that of fear and hatred, but it was not uncommon. Every prisoner had accustomed to the sight my eyes laid on right then, where a few of us would break the rule and get punished.
I clenched my fists. "Kids, get back inside. Now." They didn't need to see it over and over again.
"Mister Ludwig?" said a young girl as I ushered the kids back inside the prison.
"Get inside," I said to them.
The old woman's mouth curved downwards at my action. Even though she didn't utter a word, I knew what I was doing didn't matter in the end. Those kids had seen everything a dystopian-like place could offer. They wanted to cry their hearts out, but doing so wouldn't change anything.
After being in the prison for so long, even they gave up on hoping for 'heroes' to save them. If the kids didn't believe in saviors, would us adults cared too?
I doubted it.
Once everyone was back inside, a soldier in his dark blue military uniform approached me. He halted and tilted his military head in my direction. "It's not rare for these kids to see stuff like that. Why do you even bother bringing them back in?"
I looked at him while a few kids clung onto my shirt. The soldier had long, unkempt dark hair with his military hat partially covering it. He was thin for a soldier, and his height was about the same as mine. I would dare say he was 173cm.
"Are you listening, 'green' prisoner?" he said.
My eyes trailed off to his military uniform. There was a black name tag sewed onto it with 'AEGIS USER' printed out, placed at the left side of his chest. He noticed I was staring at it and grinned.
"I'm sure you've never seen my face before. My name is Reinhart." He then glared at me. "Now, you haven't answered my question yet."
I gulped. He gave the same vibe as that woman, Yvonne. Getting under his skin would only complicate things. "They don't need to see the executions over and over again . . . Sir Reinhart."
He raised his eyebrows at my answer. "Ho . . . I see."
Without warning, he kicked my stomach hard and then sent me flying with an uppercut to my jaw.
"Mister Ludwig!" cried a young boy next to me when I fell onto the floor.
"Arrrk!" were the words coming out of my mouth as Reinhart lifted me up by the neck.
"I'm sure you have been here for a long time . . . Ludwig. And to see that you are still acting so naive annoys me so damn much. You see, this world is already cruel to begin with. The kids should already have that idea engraved inside their minds by now, and you're just being stupid."
He let go of me and I gasped for air.
Reinhart then sighed. "Maybe a kick at your head would make fix it."
I looked up in his direction when his boot hit me hard at the side of my head. A moment later, I was pulled into an everlasting darkness.
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My vision was blurry for a few seconds before the sight of children made me jerked up. I looked around, and sure enough, the same children from back at the yard had gathered around me. A rough texture under my palms had me tilting my head. It was a wooden table.
"You were sleeping on this table for two hours straight, Ludwig," said the familiar old woman just at my left side. "We are in the cafeteria right now. You fell unconscious and the guards brought you here."
I blinked. "Oh, wait . . . That guy kicked me in the head!"
"Uh-huh," nodded a few kids.
I rubbed my dark hair and strained to focus my vision. "Damn, it still hurts." Slowly, but surely, I calmed myself down and looked at those people.
"These kids protected you while you were unconscious," muttered the old woman after a few moments of silence. "The guards wanted you to undergo a procedure called, an Aegis Implant."
"Aegis Implant?" I glanced at the kids and they shook their heads. "I've heard that name a while back, but nothing came to mind."
"What do you think is the purpose of everyone being kept here, Gray Ludwig?" asked the old woman.
I thought about it for a second. "Well, aside from containing those who had been identified as 'green', there's not much I know. The missing prisoners could have gone through the Aegis implant procedure I've been hearing about."
The old woman considered my reply. "No one has come out of the procedure alive so far. However, no children were involved in the Aegis implant whatsoever."
I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know? Oh . . . You--"
"Yes. I eavesdropped on a conversation between that same man who kicked you and Yvonne. This happened while you were unconscious."
"I see."
'No one came out alive?! What kind of procedure is the Aegis implant?' I thought.
"It's almost lunchtime," said a young, blonde girl next to me.
"Oh. Welp . . . Gotta get myself ready if I don't want to get scolded again," I said.
Before I realized it, a few weeks had gone by within a blink of an eye. Perhaps it was because of the same, monotonous activities that the prisoners did, over and over again. However, there was one thing that bugged the prisoners, including me. A quarter of the prison's denizens had gone missing, and we all knew too well the Aegis implant procedure was involved.
"I wonder if my turn will come," I mumbled as I lied down on my own bed. Strangely, that sort of remark would get me to be hit in the head by the old woman. But she had gotten her own cell, so I was back to being alone there.
"Gray Ludwig," called a man's voice.
I got out of my bed and Reinhard' figure came into view. He was standing by the cell gate as he opened it for me. The object in his right hand glinted.
"A handcuff for you, Ludwig. It is time," he said with a grin. "Oh, don't worry. It will be quick. Make sure you don't make any noise when we get there."
His eyes stared at me like he was directly peeking into my soul. I knew what was going to happen to me, and it had to do with the disappearing prisoners. Though, I hoped it was not that, as I couldn't imagine what horror awaited me.