Metropolis - Goldilocks: Capsule Bay 237

Thursday, May 14th, 2089 | 06:00pm

The moment Chris logged out, she opened her b-link interface. She felt a little hypocritical, being so anxious to know her rank after she’d told the system to go fuck itself. However, the results she saw in the next couple of minutes would determine not only the rest of her life, but that of her sister as well. Chris sighed and was about to check the results when the guard started herding the women together for their trek to the cafeteria. Using the commotion as an excuse to postpone the inevitable for a few moments longer, Chris got in line and followed it out of the Capsule Bay and all the way past the first security gate before she checked her interface again. Her heart was beating wildly and she had cold sweat streaming out of about every pore when she opened the rank window.

[5453/5791: Pending Review]

Chris’ eyes widened. Not only had she not made rank, she’d barely made any progress from the day before. Bringing out her rank history just to be sure, she groaned when the number of ranks she’d progressed flashed before her eyes, seventeen. She wanted to punch a wall, kick a bucket, preferably one full of water. Maybe if she could cause the same kind of chaos that was going on inside her externally, she’d be able to calm down a little. Maybe if she could… Chris shook her head to dispel the unnecessary thoughts. Hot tears of frustrated anger were already welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Fists clenched, she forced herself to get a hold on her emotions. Neither anger or sadness were going to help her out of her predicament. But what would? Chris considered the once-more mocking presence of the ‘Pending Review’ label. It felt like the system wanted to give her false hope just so it could tear it away later on. Chris shook her head and focused. She had a meeting with Suerte the next day, but first, she’d have her conversation with the Warden. If her review was still pending by then, she’d at least be able to make a case. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered about her rank. If profitability was all he cared about, her rank should really be higher.

After spending a whole day with Foot, the accountants and Donovan, she was sure that she was quite a profitable player. Sure, there were still huge outstanding debts, but she would easily clear those in the next couple of weeks. It was a small price to pay for all that she was giving back, wasn’t it? Were long term investments not considered worthwhile at all?

Chris’ head was still reeling with the possible implications of her new rank – or maybe ‘final rank’ was a better term for it – when her group finally reached the cafeteria. Taking a few steps in the direction of her usual gruel dispenser, Chris had barely gotten around to re-acclimatizing to the permeating seaweed smell that always covered the cafeteria when a hand suddenly clamped onto her forearm, gripping it tightly.

“Keep walking, you little bitch!” Yaz growled, as she dragged Chris toward the dispenser, away from the entrance.

“Really, with the height?” Chris asked, moving out of the way of traffic and into view of the guards. “Again? Is that the only thing you can insult? My height?”

“You’re lucky it’s the only thing I’m doin’, now move!”

Yaz was taller and stronger, but Chris was more determined and held her ground when the girl tried pulling Chris her way. Chris looked back at the cafeteria’s entrance, trying to get one of the guards’ attention.

“I think I’d rather not,” Chris said simply, as if being cornered by convicts was an everyday occurrence.

Yaz’s fingers suddenly tightened around Chris’ forearm until the girl’s nails were digging sharply into her arm. Looking down, Chris watched the entire region of her arm turn white as the blood supply was cut off.

“I think you rather would, you lying piece of shit!”

“Lying? I never lied. You just assumed.”

“You made me assume.”

Chris didn’t reply, still trying to get the attention of one of the guards.

“Oh, you think they’ll help you?” Yaz asked.

Chris looked back at the girl, confused by her mocking tone.

“They won’t,” Yaz said.

Chris narrowed her eyes, and then she found herself looking around for Doris. The girl wouldn’t be able to pull off something like this without the woman’s help. Chris darted a glance back to the guards, just to be sure she wouldn’t be able to get their attention. Her eyes made direct eye contact with one of the stationed guards, but then the woman looked away a second later as if she hadn’t seen anything. That’s when Chris knew for sure that the guards had been bought somehow.

“And do you want to know why they won’t?”

Chris leveled a stare at Yaz, trying not to cringe at the girl’s sharp fingernails digging into her skin. Chris shrugged, feigning interest, but mostly just wanting the girl’s grip to loosen up a little. She refused to look around for help from her new faction-mates; it would look weak and Chris didn’t know what Yaz had told who. It might already be common knowledge that she’d been at level 15 on her last day. Chris still remembered Sid telling her about Nicola’s 14 levels on her first day. If the other inmates really knew about it already, she’d never be able to live it down. Common sense told her that Yaz wouldn’t have had time to spread it around. Although the girl had been out of the game since before lunch, most people only got out a couple minutes ago. Surely, that meant she was still protected for a while longer.

“They won’t because I told them not to,” Yaz said with a feral smile on her face, eyes widened in manic glee. “It’s one of the perks of being the only daughter of Co-Soft.”

Chris wrinkled her brows in confusion, “The company?”

“No, the madhouse!” Yaz’s eyes twinkled with loony excitement as she chuckled at herself.

Chris didn’t know if the girl was laughing at a weird private joke or if she’d really lost it. The interaction was weirdly reminiscent of Chris’ first encounter with Doris.

“Now, now, Sugarcake and Sweety-pie,” Doris said, suddenly appearing by Chris’ side as if conjured by her thoughts, “what do you say we take this little chit-chat somewhere a little more… appropriate?”

Doris’ expression left no doubt that her words were an order. Chris didn’t know if she should be relieved or not. She wondered if her situation had actually gotten worse as the three of them made their way past the crowd she hadn’t even noticed gathering around them. Yaz kept her grip on Chris’ arm, but seemed content to follow Doris as she walked toward one of the dispensers.

“This isn’t over,” Yaz whispered vehemently into Chris’ ear. “I’m not going to let you pull one over on me like that again, you cheating bitch! Just wait, I’m going to get you.”

Chris pursed her lips silently. Anything she said would just make the situation worse for her.

“You think that little stunt you pulled set me back?” Yaz asked, challenge in her voice. “Well, it’s a lucky thing you didn’t fuck up my rank too bad, but I won’t forget this… Aya.” Yaz sneered.

Chris fought to keep her expression still. Having her identity revealed if she didn’t manage to become a player after all was going to be one of the worst things that could have happened. If she managed to pull through somehow, it would be okay because of her faction, but without it, she would be stranded, exposed and on her own. Chris knew Yaz’s identity as well, but the girl seemed to already have her future guaranteed. Chris felt her heartbeat increase, and forced it down a moment later. Now was not the time to break down and have a panic attack. Chris took one deep breath to clear her mind and looked ahead, keeping her expression completely unfazed.

“Cat got your tongue?” Yaz whispered, leaning into Chris even more.

Chris had to fight the urge to push Yaz away from her, and risk showing how much the girl was getting to her.

“Oh, wait, could it be?” Yaz said in mock-shock. “Could it be that our little Barbie hasn’t made rank?”

Chris stared straight ahead, refusing to let the girl’s words affect her.

“No,” Yaz said, nodding to herself. Each bob of her head an excuse to dig her fingernails deeper into Chris’ skin. “That wouldn’t be possible, would it? I mean you defeated a big bad guild all by yourself…”

They reached the line for the dispenser.

“Oh, wait,” Yaz said. “It wasn’t by yourself, was it? I guess they don’t take your friends’ achievements into consideration when handing out ranks. That’s just too bad, isn’t it?”

The line moved slowly. Doris was ahead of them, but she showed no signs of interest in their conversation. In fact, her trusty tall, dark-skinned and white-haired friend walked up and they began having a conversation. Both women chuckled at something the old, black woman said they paid absolutely no attention to Chris and her situation.

“You think you can play dirty tricks on me?” Yaz continued to rant. “I’ll show you dirty tricks.”

The line continued to move, far too slowly, but there was nothing she could do about it. There were dozens of women milling about, but Chris didn’t see a single friendly face. It wasn’t surprising considering there were maybe three amongst the five thousand convicts of Goldilocks who actually liked her right now. Chris suddenly felt very small, smaller than her height could account for.

Yaz continued to rant in her ear. The chatter Chris had been hearing from the rest of the room was slowly replaced by the girl’s incessant voice until it was all she heard. They were in a private little bubble, a hell of Yaz’s promised revenge. If Chris had known a week ago that things would turn out like this, she would never have talked to anyone. Perhaps it would have been best to sit alone, eat alone, shower alone, and just generally be alone. Would that have been a better alternative than her current reality? Chris looked ahead at Doris, who was picking up her tray. Had it ever even been a possibility?

Doris finally turned her attention to Chris when they reached the gruel dispenser, waiting for Chris to grab her tray. By now, Yaz had escalated her ranting to a completely new level until spittle came out of her mouth with every syllable. Chris could barely look at the girl, who suddenly resembled the character from The Poltergeist a lot more than she did the cheerful chatterbox Chris had met a week ago.

“You’re gonna burn, little Barbie,” Yaz said, a completely crazy look on her face. Her eyes were bulging and her smile was almost splitting the corners of her mouth. “Do you know what burned plastic smells like? What it feeeeels like?”

Yaz started laughing maniacally.

“Take her away,” Doris said simply.

Doris and Chris watched the black old lady take her away, cajoling and pulling her in turn. Doris sighed at the sight.

“She belongs to a very rich family,” Doris said, as if that explained everything.

Not knowing how else to reply, Chris nodded. Doris glanced at her and distorted her face into her usual smile, only this time, it had absolutely no effect on Chris.

“Yeah,” Chris said, needing to say something after standing mutely next to Yaz for such a long time. “I heard, Co-Soft.”

Doris nodded and directed her usual penetrating gaze toward Chris. After a moment, she seemed to give up on trying to find whatever it was she was looking for and nodded her head for Chris to follow.

“So doesn’t that make you wonder?” Doris asked as Chris fell into step beside her.

“You mean…” Chris said, trying to consider what Doris meant, “what must someone so privileged have done to still end up in this shit-hole?”

Doris snorted. “No need to be so aggressive about it,” she said, an ugly grin appearing on her mouth.

Chris didn’t say anything and Doris suddenly veered toward one of the tables and took a seat. There were already four other women seated at the end Doris chose, but there were three spots left open. Doris took one, leaving two free across from her. Doris motioned for Chris to take a seat and when she did, another woman suddenly appeared to take the final seat next to her. The woman was one of Doris’ old cronies, but Chris hadn’t noticed the woman following them. She was tall, bald and spindly-looking.

“But it must be pretty bad, don’t you think?” Doris asked once she was seated.

Chris nodded. Doris grinned sadistically.

“Just imagine, Dearie, in this world we live in, what must someone like that have done…”

Chris swallowed, realizing what Doris was doing. Chris nodded and felt the pit of her stomach sink, dread suddenly gripping at her insides. Even knowing she was being manipulated didn’t stop the words from having an effect. The old criminal’s simple words had done a lot more to infuse dread into Chris’ being than any of Yaz’s crazy ranting.

“I heard she killed over a hundred people one night. Burned them all in their sleep,” the tall and spindly woman beside Chris said.

“If you don’t know your facts,” Doris said, glaring at the woman, “don’t pretend you do.”

The bald woman looked sufficiently cowed and went back to focusing on her meal like everyone else at the table. Chris bit her lip and noticed that even the women at the opposite end of the table, out of hearing range in the crowded and noisy cafeteria were also silent in their meal, strictly avoiding looking at or drawing attention from Doris’ side of the table. Chris wondered how she’d missed all these signs a week ago. Had the women pretended better, or had Chris just been completely obtuse to the powers that be in the prison? She felt like sinking into her gruel, out of sight and out of mind, but Doris wasn’t having it.

No, the woman was already going into details about the crimes Yaz committed. How the woman knew any of this Chris didn’t want or need to know.

“She killed seventy-eight people and severely injured dozens more,” Dori said, her voice echoing in Chris’ ears, images of the crimes flashing before her eyes. “She was in a mental asylum…”

Memories of Yaz’s manic laughter bubbled up inside Chris’ head.

“and one night she went into room after room…”

Chris imagined Yaz running through empty hallways in a cut-up straitjacket. Whether or not it coincided with reality, she had no idea.

“She poured a gallon of fuel below everyone’s mattress…”

Images of Yaz’s bloodthirsty smile flashed before her.

“Imagine how many hours it would take a little girl like that to go to the emergency generator and back. One bucket at a time…”

Chris’ throat dried up and she realized she’d been mechanically working through her gruel during the whole story.

“Then she completed the trail of fuel to the door, readying to light it all up with a single spark...”

Chris swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat.

“The cameras show her doing this for hours, room, after room, after room…”

Chris couldn’t believe she’d tried to get this girl on her side. What had she been thinking, trying to team up with a convict she knew nothing about? Unconsciously curling her shoulders up protectively, Chris glanced at Doris and asked,

“Wh- What about the caretakers?”

Surely someone would have kept an eye on her. Chris had no way of knowing what kind of crazy the girl was, but the caretakers should.

“They all fall asleep at night,” Doris said blandly, “what did you think? She slit the necks of the three guards on night duty and took their keys.” All of these words were said with absolutely no inflection. Chris felt the blood drain out of her face. The woman talked about murder as if it were an everyday occurrence, as if she were talking about that day’s grocery list.

Chris felt sick to her stomach, but noticed once more that she was still mechanically shoveling gruel down her throat.

“Then,” Doris finished. “she left, set fire to it all and watched it burn. Hmmm. It must have been like domino fireworks, don’t you think?”

Chris looked at the criminal in front of her and saw something that chilled her to the bone. Doris understood Yaz, understood the motivations behind her actions; her tone even suggested something akin to jealousy. Chris couldn’t help but feel revolted. Her skin prickled and she regretted everything. She regretted not having fought harder… she even regretted taking her sister’s place. She had done nothing to deserve this! Chris hated herself the moment the thought occurred to her. It had always been there, waiting for a crack in her resolve so it could lodge itself in the dark side of her mind, but she’d kept it at bay… until now. She was disgusted at the whole situation, herself included.

“Birds of a feather flock together,” Doris said, as if she’d seen through Chris’ entire inner turmoil, “and well, Dearie…”

Doris looked at her carefully.

Chris couldn’t help but hold her breath, wondering what Doris’ verdict would be.

“Your plumage is just fell off.”

Chris sat there in stunned silence, wondering what had just happened.

“I told you she’s not what she seems,” Doris said. “You need to learn to listen… Dummy.”

Chris nodded, feeling more detached from her body with every passing second.

“Go now.”

Chris sat there for what felt like an eternity, trying to process the turn of events, but eventually she just bobbed her head, stood up and left. She took a handful of steps before Velma appeared out of nowhere and fell into step next to her. Chris looked at her, but the woman looked as willing to have a conversation as a statue. It was just as well; Chris felt the same way. They walked in silence until they reached Chris’ usual table. Tanisha was already sitting there with Freddy by her side. Needle was sitting opposite of them and Velma took a seat next to the woman when they arrived, Chris in turn took a seat next to Tanisha.

“Hey girl!” Tanisha said, “I was worried about you and had…”

The young woman’s voice trailed off when she noticed Velma’s and Chris’ mood. Chris felt a little bad for not being more sociable, but she needed a moment. They ate in silence for a long time. Some of the women were already leaving the cafeteria by the time Chris looked down and realized she was almost through her meal.

“You know…” Chris said, “This stuff doesn’t actually taste as bad today.”

She poked at the remnants of her gruel with her spork as if the mystery of the new taste could be found hidden inside.

“Really?” Tanisha asked, poking at her own gruel. “Tastes the same to me… If you can call it taste…”

“Hmmph,” Needle grunted. “Looks like the Warden wants something from ya.”

“What’s the Warden got to do with anything?”

Needle looked at Chris with a bored look, as if she’d answered the same question a thousand times in the last week. “Everything.”

Velma snorted, and Chris looked at her.

“Just do yourself a favor, Barbie,” Velma said, “don’t make an enemy out of him…”

Chris bit her lip and nodded before she picked up the last sporkful of gruel.

“…like you have of everyone else in this damn place.”

Chris looked up at Velma. She could have sworn her supposed protector had just muttered the last bit under her breath, but she wasn’t paying Chris any attention anymore.