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Shortly after Ivy left my cell, I washed and dressed and knew exactly what I had to do.
I wasn’t sure if the Supervisor would speak with me but I had to try.
I stepped out of my cell. The other prisoners were already heading to the pits to either fight or make their bets on those who would. I would have to go down there later to take my position in the lineup.
First, I had something else I needed to do.
I drifted down the long hallways in a direction I hadn’t walked in a very long time. I passed a gang of fighters who eyed me with jealous eyes. I so rarely looked up from fighting that I never really noticed the atmosphere of the place I found myself in.
Had it always been this dismal and depressing? Or did it only look that way because Ivy made the world seem so much brighter?
I crossed the gangway and climbed two flights of stairs before reaching the guards standing outside the Supervisor’s research facility.
There were no other fighters in this part of the prison. They knew better than to look or act menacing anywhere near the Supervisor.
I stopped half a dozen yards from the guards. They stiffened, aware of my approach, but did not open fire.
It was a good sign.
“I’m here to see the Supervisor,” I said. “I need to speak with him.”
“The Supervisor is busy,” the guard on the left with the dented visor said.
Dented visor? From when I kicked him in the head?
Great. This was sure to make things much easier to get what I wanted.
“I don’t want any trouble,” I said. “I have something I need to speak with him about. Just let him know I’m here. I’ll accept whatever decision he makes.”
The guards were silent and didn’t move a muscle for a good thirty seconds. It’s a long time when you’re just staring at someone.
Finally, the one with the dented visor spoke but it wasn’t to me, it was to the communicator in his visor. He spoke in a much softer, more respectful tone than the one he barked at me.
“Prisoner 43567 here to see you,” the guard said.
He was quiet a moment as he listened to the response.
“Yes, sir,” the guard said.
The guards moved to one side, turned sideways, and let me approach.
I eyed them warily as I shoved the door open and entered the research facility. The guards followed hot on my heels.
What did I think? That they weren’t going to follow and keep a close eye on me?
I entered the facility. It was busy with scientists rushing to and fro, busy with their experiments.
The way I remembered it.
It wasn’t easy for me to return to this place. It’d always seemed so futuristic compared to the prison outside which was basic by necessity. Any advanced computers or wiring could too easily be used as weapons against their captors.
Already, the first fight in the pit was underway. I could hear the roaring voices of the crowd. The monitors balanced on metal tabletops blinked and whirred as they recorded the fight in intricate detail. It was hard to tell what they were measuring.
The Supervisor stepped from the terminal where he was discussing something with one of his scientists and glanced in my direction. He nodded his head thoughtfully.
He was nothing if not thoughtful.
He approached me with his long strides. I was reminded of the hope and expectation he harbored toward me when I first came here.
