Darkness had fallen fast upon the land, as it was just 4:45 P.M now.

The night was very cold, as frost grew on the buildings, as well as the shrubs around.

The chilly winds were definitely big to be underestimated, as they rudely blew across the land.

But even though the weather wasn't all that favourable, the empire was still as colourful and spirited as it usually was.

Laughter, chatter and sounds of vehicles, filled the streets of Baymard.

The streets were almost devoid of snow, and the people all had very warm attires on to fight the battle head-on.

It was just past 4, and there were still a lot of things to do within the bubbling empire.

Hence for many, the night had come a little too soon for some people... as they wanted to gallant about the streets of Baymard gleefully.

But for others, night time felt like the beginning of a chapter in their lives.

'Beeeppppppp!'

"All inmates should head on back to their cells for lock up in 30 minutes time.

I repeat, all inmates should head back to their cells for lock-up!"

In Baymard's high tech prison for males, within Sector A.... an announcement rang out throughout the entire sector.

All inmates had 30 more minutes to round up what they were doing before lockup.

Somewhere doing laundry, while others focused on mopping the floors, or even doing light punishment that had been assigned to them earlier on.

And apart from those, one should know that all prisoners had weekly tasks to complete while here... and sometimes, some people proffered to do those talks just before they slept instead..... rather than waking up early and mopping the floors instead or doing other chores.

So after dinner, some people immediately did their chores like cleaning the floors.... so that they could sleep in tomorrow for a bit, rather than waking up really early to do janitor duties.

Hwy could choose when to do their chores daily, provided it didn't delay the smooth running of the prison.

Of course while others were doing chores, some just chilled in their cells.... as well as the cells of their friends instead.

Because during the day, all cells were left open for inmates to bond with each other.

Some were working out together by doing pushups, while others were talking about their adventurous escapades out of Baymard.

In short, the cells were left open during the daytime.

But when it was time for lock-up, all prisoners had to go back to their cells immediately.

Once the announcement rang out, Tybalt and the rest calmly went back to their cells.

Just before the announcement, they had made sure that they weren't seen together..... so as not to look too suspicious to the guards.

So they had been in different rooms or cells, found different things altogether.

Tybalt reached his cell and nodded at his roommate before finally jumping onto the lower bunk bed.

He placed his blanket over his head and waited for the next announcement.

"All cell doors will close in 3.... 2..... 1..."

'Bam!'

The doors were all automatic and were easily controlled by the guards in the control room.

Of course even though the doors were automatic, there was still a keyhole on each door as a secondary precaution... just in case they couldn't open or close any of the doors.

If the mechanism for a particular cell door is jammed or fails to work, then they would use the master key to do the job instead.

There were times where prisoners would be late for lock-up, and at that time.... the guards would use the master key to open some of the cells and send the prisoners in.

After lockup, all guards walked towards the exit door for the prisoner's sleeping quarters and just stood there.

Of course, they were waiting for the last announcement of the day.

"Its 11 P.M on the day

Now, it's time for lights out!"

With that, all lights within the prisoner's sleeping quarters went off automatically.

Followed by a massive 'bang' sound.... which was actually another massive metal bar door that sealed the exit.

The metal bars came out from the ground, as well as from above the door as if they were claws coming out of Wolverine's fists.

For sure, several mechanisms like this were now fully active once lock-up time had commenced.

In addition to that, the prison had several other escape-proof mechanisms too... if the prisoners actually attempted to escape.

Time passed by a little too slowly for some of the prisoners, as they had to force themselves not to sleep.... while waiting for the faithful hour to approach.

But the more they waited, the sleepier they became.

Some literally had to slap themselves hard just to stay awake.

After all, in addition to doing their regular day chores..... they had also been painstakingly scrubbing the massive cafeteria floors, tables, chairs and walls with just a toothbrush as well.

So how could their bodies not feel tired?

As for Tybalt, he calmly sat up on his bed and continued his countdown.

With the place this dark, how else was he supposed to know the time?

From the moment the announcement rang out stating that it was now 11 P.M.... he had begun his countdown from there.

Over this period of time, he had observed the wall clocks within the prison... and could now estimate how long it would take for every second and minute to pass them by.

All he knew was that at exactly 12:30 Midnight, he would finally make his move.

He sat for a while at the edge of his bed and fully concentrated on doing his job.

Time was once again a b**ch, as it really moved too slow for these prisoners.

"57.....58...59.....60." Tybalt said while counting down the past few seconds left.

Once Tybalt stood up from his bed, his roommate also did the same as well.

"Tybalt... Is it time?"

"Yeah... it's time.

Now, let's go!"