After one hour or so of drawing, Casper had finally finished his first sketches of the map he was doing.
It was far from perfect. He was not a skilled artist, just had a good memory. Nevertheless, it was still readable, and enough to be considered practical; and practicality was everything that Casper needed now.
When he finished, Anton approached him, looking very interested in what Casper had done until that point.
He examined for a long time what Casper had draw. Casper knew that Anton was a clever guy, he was surely trying to bring into mind what he had seen for himself in those times he stayed at the prison.
The middle-aged man was not joking around when he said he would analyze the potential that Casper had.
"They aren't a work of art or anything, but it's still acceptable. Seems that your memory is way good than your draw skills… And I think you are wrong about the position of this stair and that room…" He was about to pinpoint something else, but an alarm sounded, indicating that the lunchtime finally came.
Casper stood from the bed hastily. He managed to cut the side of his mattress, opening it and digging the foam inside until he had a good space to put all the papers and pencil there.
He turned the torn part of the mattress to the wall, hiding it completely.
At the same time as he was moving, the gate of the cell opened.
Anton, as sneaky as always, was already in front of the gate, taking a good look at the corridor.
After Casper had all his worries vanished, he finally could calm himself down a bit and head to the canteen along with his new partner.
While in lockdown, Casper had not eaten much. They gave him just a hard bread to eat and a glass of water.
In short, it has been two days that he was willing to have a great meal, even if it was the tasteless food of Halden. At least he would fill his stomach.
He and Anton took their plates and got served with average portions of food. They headed to a table and sat together. Some prisoners were there, and they seemed to become uneasy with Casper's approach.
"So… I have some questions for you, Anton." He murmured, eating huge spoonfuls.
"If it's not something scandalous, it's good for me. The walls have ears." He looked at the cameras positioned in the area, along with the Ridire that once in a while would approach the tables to peek at what the prisoners were doing or saying.
Not so far away an argument was starting, but punches were not flying wildly yet, so everything was okay until then.
"What's the schedule of this prison? That's an important thing to know."
"6 am is our breakfast; 11 am we can stroll in the courtyard for forty-five minutes…"
"Courtyard? C'mon we are in the underground, right?"
The middle-aged man shrugged, then giggled. He also thought that it was idiotic and even pitiful, but it was natural for them at that point.
"Yeah, it's not such an outdoor activity, but it's the most closer we get to it until now. Well, after this we have lunch at 1 pm; 6 pm we go outdoors again; 7 pm is dinner and after this… It's what we call dark zone." In the last parts, he inclined his body even more on the table, just whispering to Casper.
"Why is it called like this?"
"Because it's different from each person, and we aren't allowed to say anything related about it. But you are smart, you will find out what's the 'activity' of this time." Anton sat normally again and gave two discreet knocks at the mask.
It was enough for Casper to know what was going on.
"Whatever it is, that they call dark zone, they can't talk about it because it's restricted by the masks… Damn…" However, Casper would find a way to discover what was going on in that part.
"Ok, letting it aside, do we have a curfew?"
"Hmm… No. Most of the prisoners can't sleep after the dark zone, so they can't just impose a curfew and expect that everyone will fall asleep or be quiet. The only point is that you can't make any noise, except if you passed through the dark zone."
"Hmm, ok. Except for this dark zone, the schedule here is better than I expected. I was thinking of something more restrictive, but since things are like this it will be easier for us…"
Anton seemed to think a bit about what Casper had said. He seemed to be unpleased by that words. After some more time eating in silence, he looked to both sides, confirming if anyone could overhear them.
"Not quite, actually…"
"Hmmm…? Why?"
The middle-aged man sighed, rubbing his neck.
"Nobody here can do it. We can't attack the guards or try to escape." Once again, he tapped his mask twice. "As you can see, there are even some types of things that I can't say out loud, because of this thing bothering me. I need to think carefully about each word.
"In truth, if I could be able to act as I please, I would have escaped from here years ago. Anyone here would. The system of security of the prison is so poor like this because they don't need one, except the basics."
"What happens if you try? The mask does some sort of punishment?"
"You are intelligent, Casper. Think a bit about it a bit. You seem to know quite about these things already."
He started to think again, giving a brief look to the side and seeing that the guard was looking at them. That Ridire was quite eager towards Casper, and it really could represent a threat to have him interacting with others.
After Anton's words, the soldier started to process the information he had acquired until that point about the masks. He needed to think for a while to understand exactly how it was to have a mask like that.
"I have a guess…" He said covertly while pretending to eat his food.
Anton raised his eyes, showing that he was hearing well.
"It's like… your mind don't obey you, right? The commands you give to it don't do anything. It's some sort of situation when you think something but actually don't do it."
The man looked intently at Casper, then shook his head slowly, nearly imperceptible, but the soldier got that confirmation.
"So that's how it is… I see…" He noticed that something was off there, if that was the case.
Casper was going to eat again, this time seriously, but got interrupted when a Ridire approached them, looking back and forth to Casper and Anton.
"It seems that you two are getting along well here…" He said, narrowing his eyes, with both hands tightly pressing the body of the assault rifle he was wielding.
Anton was about to say something, but Casper did it first in the most carefree way.
"Sure thing! We are, actually. Wanna join
us?" At that exact moment, everyone in the canteen got silent, glancing at them.
Even the other Ridires guarding the place got pretty confused.
The one that was talking with Casper tilted his head to the side for a brief moment.
"W-what?" He stuttered.
"Yeah, wanna join us? We were talking about some interesting things." Casper gave him the fakest smile he could. "For example, I was rambling around, counting how many guards I could kill with a plastic spoon. Crazy, no?"
The Ridire gave a step back, raising his gun slightly and looking cautiously towards Casper.
He clicked his tongue.
"Enjoy this freedom while you can, bastard." He said turning his back to the soldier and walking away.
A while passed, and the canteen remained in that strange mood. It just dissipated after everyone headed back to their cells.
No one let Casper get up first. When the alarm sounded, they walked to their places hastily at the exact time.
The soldier himself was not willing to be the first to get out of there, so he remained until it was empty except for the Ridires, that kept looking at him with threatening eyes until he started to move on.
"So that's what someone that hasn't these things can do, huh?"
"It's quite dangerous."
"He is against all the rules here."
"It's like he is cheating, man."
"If someone here can do that thing, that guy can do."
"They are going to be threatened like this until the Forger can make a 'toy' for him as well."
Casper overheard these statements when he was passing through the corridors until his cell.
Smiling, he entered his cell and then fell on his bed, looking to the ceiling.
Anton kept looking dumbfounded to Casper as if trying to unravel a mystery. But he did not sustain the look for too much time.
"It seems that things will need to be going quite quickly, but until now, I am pretty optimistic…" He thought to himself.