Sitting back down at the table that is now in a slightly different position, Wayne and I talk.

“You sure you don’t have an ability?”

“Yeah, I swear.”

“Well, I hope for your sake that you’re lying to me.”

“What are you talking about, isn’t that it? She just threw me across a room and I didn’t do shit about it, what more could she want?”

“She’s definitely going to want to fight you now. Didn’t you hear the warden, she was all like ‘You’ve done enough Red my dear! For if thou want to further this act of violence it shall be with an honorable duel!’ So now you have to take her on in a match.”

“She didn’t say any of that! And what do you mean match?”

“Oh, that’s basically what she said, but how do you not know what a match is? You know, two people go up against each other to see who’s best? Do they not have those outside of the facility?”

“I know what a match is but why would we be having one here?”

“To rank up. That’s what matches are for.”

“Yeah, the outside world doesn’t have ranks so I don’t know what that is. Have you really never been outside this facility?”

“I used to be in another facility but some bad stuff happened there and the next thing I knew I was here.” The light in Wayne’s eyes seemed to dim when he spoke, then it suddenly returned.

“Well, anyway, everybody here has a negative ranking so if they break even they can go to the disciplinary wing. I’ve never been there but I hear you have a lot more freedom and things like that.”

“What’s your ranking, how come you haven’t been to the disciplinary wing?”

“Oh, I’m not allowed to leave this wing, because of my ability, haha.”

“What is your ability? You said you have a catastrophic level one, didn’t you? So why were you letting her throw you around like that, were you just lying?”

“I tell you what, I’ll tell you my ability when you tell me yours. And if I was lying do you think I would be in the max wing? Anyways, you have more pressing matters to worry about, like Red beating the shit out of you, publicly, in the ring.”

“Publicly?”

“(Attention all unauthorized personnel will now return to your courters.)”

“Well that’s you, come on I’ll show you the way back.”

Walking through the halls back to my cell, “So what happens if I don’t go back to my room?”

“Hmm, they will send an agent or a number of them depending on how strong you are. They’ll subdue you and take you back to your room. From that point, you won’t be let out of your room until they decide. You wouldn’t be the first to have tried it.”

So, “They do have agents here.”

“Of course, this is where the agents come from dude. If your the highest-ranked for a set amount of time you get to become an agent! Then you get a special rank and go out into the world, completely free!”

“So all the agents have an ability?”

“No, more like all the people with abilities become agents… If they can get out of here that is. Oh, by the way, I’m an exception since I don’t have a ranking and I can’t compete, but don’t ask anyone else what their ability is. They’ll assume you’re trying to get a leg up on them in the matches. For that reason, it’s a big no-no to ask what someone’s ability is.”

“Then why did Red-lips ask me for mine?”

“Shhhhh! It’s Red okay, just Red. The reason she can is because she’s Red.”

Turning the corner into the max we were greeted by something, a pair of red lips. “Oh, haha, hey there Red, what you doing here?”

She stood up from leaning on the wall, walked over to us, and grabbed our shirts. Pinning me against the wall she spoke while holing Wayne off to the side. “Tomorrow, breakfast—you’re going to skip it.”

She then slid me further left on the wall, placing Wayne where I just was. “You’ll show him the way to the arena.”

“Of course, I got you! No problem!”

While holding us against the wall for a second longer she glanced at me.

She must really hate me because with every second she looks at me her face gets redder.

She then let go of us both, turning, and walking away.

She’s definitely a raging bitch but look at that a—she turns around and looks at me surprise written all over her face.

Fuck can she read minds?!

She instantly turns away, walking a little faster and making her way around the corner.

Wayne looked at me shocked, “I’ve never seen her act this way? You sure you don’t have any mind-altering abilities?”

What?

I reach out grabbing Wayne’s shoulders, “So that is his ability?”

“Wo, wo, calmed down dude, who are you even talking about?”

letting go of his arms I sigh, “Never mind.” And walk into my room shutting the door behind me.

“Hey, wait, don’t forget about tomm—”

“Hey, bitch. What happened to me being someone you have to keep an eye on? You going to let me fight Red knowing what I’ve done?”

“(Click) Is that you trying to get out of a match I’m hearing? Do not worry, I’m confident that I can stop the match before any permanent harm can come to you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about the rankings or matches and what else aren’t you telling me!”

“I’m afraid those benefits come with cooperation so of course, one who has not cooperated will not get the benefits. Get some rest before your match tomorrow, I’m looking forward to it. (Click)”

So that’s what’s going on here. She wants me in a match so she can try and figure out my power. And did she say she would stop is before “I” get injured. So even without knowing my power, she is confident that Red-lips will beat me.

I can see why. She threw me, and everything else for that matter, around like we were nothing. She’s incredibly strong.

So are these shirts! To be able to support my whole body weight while being thrown around by it.

Now I have to decide what I want to do moving forward. I have to take the match no matter what choice I make.

Do I fight using my power during the match or do I keep acting like I don’t have one, now knowing that it’s possible to become an agent? My best course of action might be to try and get on the inside so I can find that fucking agent.

But once I make that decision I can’t go back. Still, I won’t tell them exactly what my power is if I go down that route, I’ll have to make up something similar or tell them it’s more limited.

Worst case scenario is I fight using my power and they find out exactly what it is. If that happens I’ll just have to get better at it without telling them. So I can eventually catch them off guard, but that will take some time since I don’t know how fast I can improve my skill with my power.