I step back and say, "No, no, no, I'm not here to fight you. Smit is my uh, new roommate. I came down here to help him, but I guess you did that for me. That was pretty cool…um if you don't mind me saying." He lowers his fist and sits back down next to Smit. Looking closer at him, I notice that his hair is black with shades of dark blue mixed in. The strands laid perfectly around his head. His hair is tied in the back and the rest goes down to his shoulders. I can only see the dark blue streaks as it reflects light from above.
He has dark brown eyes that match his hair perfectly. On top of that, he looks like he has clear tattoos all over his arms. I couldn't see them from far away, but some are small dots and patterns, while others spiral around his forearms and around his fingers. By the way his prison uniform is tight around his sleeves, it's clear this guy has the build to back up those fighting moves.
I guess I was starting to stare at him as he says, "Nice roommate you got here Smit. No one except me has ever come to your rescue before. But I can see he's got a problem with staring…" I quickly advert my eyes from going lower down his body and realize Smit is still in a lot of pain. I sit down on the other side of the beautiful man, leaving Smit in between the two of us. I put my hand on Smit's back and he coughs up a small amount of blood. There is also a large wound on the side of Smit's forehead. The man reaches towards his sleeve and rips off part of his shirt. He clumps the fabric together and says, "Here Smit, use this to stop the bleeding. I'm gonna go get supplies from my cell." He holds the fabric to Smit's forehead and says, "Hey 'roomie,' can I trust you to look after him until I get back? It'll only take a moment."
I give him a faint smile and nod as he runs off and climbs the stairs off of the main area. Smit's nose and face continue to bleed as he tries to stand up. I jolt back to reality and try to stop him, "Hey man, take it easy. You just got beat up pretty bad. You need to lie down. Isn't there an infirmary down here?" Smit coughs again and falters back down onto his seat. He takes a deep breath and says, "Of course not James, there's never been an infirmary down here. Whenever someone gets hurt pretty bad, we put them out of their misery by throwing them down into the tunnels to be left for dead. Early on, people tried to escape by getting hurt thinking they would be taken to an outside facility. But now, all they do is keep us alive to work, and when we can't work anymore, they get rid of us to make room for more prisoners."
"How awful…" I say quietly. "Even if these people were part of the rebellion, surely they don't deserve to suffer like this. Does the outside world know what's going on down here?" Smit coughs and proceeds to say, "They know exactly what is going on. They don't want anyone to be able to rebel against the creature so they send anyone that shows potentially destructive abilities here to rot with the rest of us. Back when the war first started it was just rebels versus the beast and its therianthropic army. The creature would enlist humans that wanted power and transformed them into terrifying creatures, half human and half animal."
Smit continues and says, "Then, as echos like you and me were born, humanity's fight against the beast finally shifted in our favor. We finally had the strength to fight back. But now, there are even echos who sell their soul to that monster in exchange for more power. The warden of this prison is a perfect example of how far humanity has fallen." Smit's tone falls to a somber tone as he says, "Leave it to humanity to turn on one another in the end…nothing more to it than that."
Just then, the man from before returns and is holding a watered down cloth and a bowl of brown mush that he says can stop the bleeding. The young man leans down and his serious face turns into a small smile as he applies the brown mush to Smit's forehead. He speaks up and says, "This is a secret remedy Smit taught me a while back. It's some dirt and minerals from the mines mixed with some other herbs from the cafeteria." He then asks me to help bandage Smit's head with the remaining cloth. Smit flinches in pain and says, "Ow! You could be a bit more gentle, you know? Ugh…I think I have a concussion on top of all this bleeding. But I have to say if it wasn't for you two I would have been thrown into the tunnels and left for dead."
As the man wraps Smit's head in the make-shift bandage, he moves his head towards me and says, "So, what's your name roomie?" I almost jump back in my seat from his blunt question. As I finish helping to tie a small knot around Smit's head I say, "Uh yeah, my name's James, I was thrown in here today. But I don't really know why.... I think I have amnesia or something like that. I can't remember anything from before this morning or before I was brought here…" The entire room feels like it has gone completely silent as I finish retelling the absolute vaguest recollection of what I have experienced today.
The man stops what he is doing and looks back at me unamused. He begins to speak but Smit stops him and says, "Well anyway James, this is Ren, he and I have worked on the same mining shift for a long time." Ren then gives me a small nod and continues to tend to Smit's wounds. Smit continues and says, "Once on a late-night shift, part of the tunnel collapsed and water started to flow inside. He was the only one who cared enough to try and save me. You should have seen it, he was like a fish outta water, he somehow managed to save me before they closed off the entrance for good. He swam through the current like it was butter. I should've died from all that water. Ever since then, he's always been the one to help me get out of trouble." Ren nods in agreement and says, "Yeah, Smit always gets into trouble in some way or another, and I always have to save him." Smit laughs out loud and coughs into his hands. I stare at Ren as he smiles with Smit.
Ren then looks towards me and says, "You know, where I come from it's impolite to stare at someone you just met James. You seem to like staring quite a lot. We'll have to give you a new nickname other than roomie." He looks at me intensely with his dark brown eyes, waiting for my answer. I don't know what else to say so I say the first thing that comes to mind, "Oh! I was just looking at your um, your hair. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with hair like yours before. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Is that its real color?" Ren's face seems to get flushed as he looks away quickly and says, "Yes–, it– it's real. Everyone in my family has hair like this…No one has ever–"
Smit notices the awkward tension forming and coughs loudly, "That's because Ren's from a place hidden from the rest of the world called 'The Abyssal Reef.' No outsider has ever been inside since the creature's first appearance." Ren gives Smit an evil look and says, "Smit, you know I told you that is a secret! You can't say that kind of stuff out loud here…I'm tempted to give you a broken arm alongside your bloody nose."
I sit in confusion from Smit's story as a large bell rings from above. Ren slowly helps Smit from the table and says, "Sorry Smit, it's time to go. They are ringing the bell for everyone to go back to their cells. Can you help me with Smit, James?" As I was about to help, a guard comes over from the stairwell.
Ren's face goes back to being serious and stern as he clenches his fists. The guard throws out his baton and it starts to crackle with electricity. He speaks loudly and says, "Hey new kid, on your feet, you're coming with me. The warden wants to see you."