“Wait, so you two know so little about Tartarus… because you just got here two weeks ago and you know so little about Tartarus because you’ve been stuck in one building for almost your whole life?” Empusa asked incredulously as they sat next to a building, a car in front of them which was their method of transportation now.

Petrol wasn’t impossible to find or get in this place, though Tartarus was pretty much one of the only countries (Prison) to use petrol and diesel still, especially considering most people were swapping to electric powered stuff.

Case in point, their car was a Nissan GT-R, a very powerful car… in 2020. It was currently 2075. Aaron was actually complaining that it was a floor based vehicle, and couldn’t hover.

“Well, pretty much… plus, I was thrown into the murder section despite my crime being breaking and entering, I was framed.” This was news to both of the Chained following Aaron around, not having known what he was in for, but assuming murder given where they were.

They had moved out of the murder area, or at least, they would be moving out of area 7 after tomorrow, but there was a bit of a hitch to them leaving, namely the fact that they were heading towards the territory of a Chained, and going around would take them through two other territories first.

That was too long for Aaron, and Typhon didn’t care who was going against them, claiming he’d just defeat them anyway, so why should he care?

Empusa was a bit worried for how uncaring the two were though; even Typhon who was suspicious of a lot of things didn’t truly place any of the other Chained as an equal, given his title and what he understood about the other Chained in comparison to him…

He was right in saying that his basic abilities were much higher than the other Chained, but he did have a disadvantage in comparison to them, namely that his ability that he had was made to empower other Chained. And that wasn’t useful in combat… especially not against an enemy who would get even stronger with said power.

So he would be forced to fight the Chained using enhanced strength and agility, his skill, and his nanotech chains, and nothing else… sure, Empusa could help, but she wasn’t a straight up fighter, even in her dragon-like form she wasn’t a fighter in the first place.

As for Aaron, his only abilities seemed to be his intellect, which Empusa was quite surprised with when the waste of space she thought he was began to spout off a lot of scientific questions about her abilities and a few other things, and his ability to pick locks and talk to people.

The talking bit was amazing for Empusa though, seeing as he managed to get to the core of the matter with most people he spoke to, and make deals to get them out of conflict…

At least, when Typhon hadn’t hurt them first, or her looks caused them to attack anyway… Women weren’t rare in Tartarus, but in certain areas, they didn’t get treated equally.

Nonetheless, the two in charge of their little group, though she was the only other member, knew too little about Tartarus for them to be effective leaders, even if they knew what they were doing within their fields of expertise.

“Looks like I’ll need to explain a bit about Tartarus, before you two do something stupid.” Typhon would have taken offense at her hypocritical nature, since attacking him was amongst the most stupid things one could do in his opinion, but he was busy injuring someone who got a bit too close to their car for his tastes.

“Well… I can admit that us not knowing about it is really dangerous as it is, I mean, I want to see everything in this place before I break out, but if I get killed because I didn’t know something, that’s putting a hamper on that.” Empusa felt his ability to understate something was amazing… dying did more than ‘hamper’ whatever plans a person had after all.

“Well, you do understand that Tartarus is divided into different areas?” Aaron nodded at Empusa’s words and she looked around.

“Well, there are a total of twelve areas in Tartarus. Area 7, is as you know, the murder section, this includes subcategories of murder such as assassination, manslaughter and such.” Empusa explained, watching Typhon throw someone into one of his friends, and then ducking so a chain shot over her head to hit someone a bit away from them trying to throw Typhon and their group with a brick or two.

“Each area has their minor rules between residents, for instance, within this area, murder is an acceptable response to any conflict, thieving is moderately acceptable, but trading and dealing is completely acceptable and cheating there is worth getting killed for.” Aaron seemed a bit surprised by this, as he wouldn’t have thought a prison would have laws.

“Well, Tartarus has been around for roughly fifty years, I mean, any gathering of humans has some rules they follow, even if said humans are rule breakers in the first place. The idea of trading being done fairly was made by the first group of murderers placed into this area. They stayed around of course, but others went to different areas.” She explained, and he got the idea, whoever was around first, they got together and argued through whatever problems they had.

“Well, let’s start from numerical order then… Area 1 would be first; it’s the Thievery Sector and is on the opposite side of this place, one would have thought that you’d end up there.” Empusa added, and Aaron just smiled at her admittance instead of looking sheepish about it.

“Well, from what I remember, Area 1 had the basic rule that, ‘if you can’t keep your possession, it won’t be yours for long’. Basically, stealing is the way of life there. Killing someone for stealing from you is frowned upon though, as stealing is the method of competition, not murdering.” Aaron got the idea, even if people got angry with one another; it would be your own fault for being incapable of protecting your possessions.

“Area 2 was the Arson Sector, filled with people who like destroying things, it’s filled with a lot of rubble and burnt out places, but other than their habits of destroying things around them, they are actually pretty alright, they do nothing to each other really, very little crimes there.” Empusa herself was surprised when she found that out from one of her ‘workers’ as the place seemed to be filled with people who destroy property, but they do understand that some things were not to be destroyed, such as personal possessions.

Surprisingly reasonable people there, given what is acceptable there. Destroying a building was acceptable there, so a lot of their buildings are kind of rickety due to quick construction, most buildings were new and would be destroyed soon though.

“Area 3 would be the War Crime sector… not quite sure what its purpose is, but any crimes done during conflicts would get people placed here. Most of the people were originally hard-asses and uptight, very strict place at times… most Chained don’t go near that place though… someone dangerous stays around there normally.” Aaron wanted to know who…

But this wasn’t about the dangerous people just yet; this was about the places themselves… oh, and Typhon was done, his chains lurking around him, keeping people from approaching them due to fear after seeing him near-kill and actually kill a few people…

Aaron was a bit worried he was becoming desensitized to murder, but when you were surrounded by murderers, well… when in Rome, go do as Romans do… or at least accept what they are doing.

“In Area 3, not that I’ve ever been near that place, they look down on crimes harshly, and listening to a chain of command is considered normal… I recommend we stay far away from that place though.” Empusa was truly afraid of going near that sector though… for who was rumoured to live there…

“Ahem, continuing, Area 4, this place goes to… Rapists… bunch of degenerates there; no self-respecting woman would ever go near that place.” Empusa looked ready to spit venom, really, she was getting scales on her neck making Typhon pat her shoulder to remind her about it, as she spoke about the fourth area.

“Women in that area have little to no say in anything at all, treated as objects to be used and thrown away if needed, if one becomes pregnant, they are kept around until the child is born. A boy is born, and the father would keep it. A girl… and the girl would be sold to someone interested in… those, kind of things.”

Aaron looked a bit sick at her words, while Typhon clenched his fists in anger, worried that his sister could have been in such a place.

“A lot of the other areas dislike people from that area though, so they luckily stick to that area, though occasionally they raid other areas for unwanted ‘product’ as they call women… I hate that area…” She looked angry as well, and Typhon patted her shoulder, and she calmed down upon seeing that he was just about as angry as her, if not more.

“Right… sorry for going off track like that… where was… Area 5, right… okay, Area 5 was the area for terrorism, though they also include people who take hostages and were caught after.” Aaron looked quite unhappy with hearing about that area…

Sure, his parents were Muslim, but that didn’t mean that they were terrorists like most people accused him of, and he disliked the stereotype vehemently… besides, he didn’t even consider himself a Muslim, despite his heritage.

“Well, I’m not quite sure on what little rules they have there, but I do know that it’s kind of split between semi-religious fanatics, racists and the occasional professional kind of person… so obviously there’s near constant fighting around there, though they usually get policed a bit by Area 3, which makes both areas dislike each other a bit.” Empusa noted, and Aaron agreed that if someone stopped you from attacking someone you hate, you’d get annoyed with them…

“Area 5 is kind of the weaker between the two though, given that Tartarus doesn’t really have guns or bombs.” Aaron frowned at her words, and tilted his head.

“Uh… why doesn’t Tartarus have guns? I mean, one would think that if they don’t care about what we do in here, they would allow those.” Aaron asked as Typhon piped in, having understood this bit.

“Well, they probably don’t allow them due to fear of rioting and wide-spread killing, making Tartarus a near-permanent warzone… it would cost too much as well.” Typhon explained, and Empusa nodded in agreement.

“Oh, I see now, that makes sense… though I guess they obviously wouldn’t put the latest weaponry in a prison, I mean, if a trained assassin was given a Gungnir sniper rifle then we’d be in trouble.” Both Typhon and Empusa seemed confused at his words, and Aaron remembered that both were either born in this prison or here for quite a while, Empusa seemed to be in early-to-mid 20’s, she wouldn’t say exactly, but she entered the prison at age nineteen or so, so they might not know news about the outside.

“Oh, the Gungnir is a rifle designed by Valhalla weaponry, it’s a rail-gun… very expensive and difficult to use unless trained for its use, and not available to civilians… I only know about it because I like looking at things I’m not legally allowed to look at.” He joked, though Typhon and Empusa had to wonder…

How good was Typhon at breaking into places for him to know about experimental military weaponry? Empusa knew about Valhalla Weaponry, they were a weapons manufacturer that was based in Germany predominantly.

Typhon on the other hand was born within Tartarus and raised within the Cradle, so he knew little of the world outside Tartarus. His expression when Aaron spoke about hover-bikes was priceless, as he clearly thought Aaron was talking nonsense… when Empusa validated his words, Typhon just looked very confused.

“Ahem… again, we went off topic there, but yeah, guns aren’t allowed for that reason… that being said, it isn’t like guns don’t exist in this place… they just aren’t modern in any way, and only one or two people know how to get or make them.” Empusa added, and Aaron blinked… oh, make, so only if you knew how to make a gun, could you find one…

“Uh… who can make… never mind, we were talking about the areas anyway, before we got side-tracked.” Aaron realized that, and reminded Empusa about their discussion.

“Oh, yeah, yeah I remember now… ahem, going to Area 6, which is the area next to ours, that’s the Vehicular crimes area, such as hit and run, heavily speeding, causing accidents… filled with adrenaline junkies who want to go as fast as possible, and that’s how most arguments are decided, who’s faster is the one in charge.” Aaron liked the sound of that place; even if he wasn’t a racer… he liked speed.

“One important thing to remember about Area 6 is that no one enters the main streets, only travel through alleys is permitted… if one is found on the streets, well, no one will really care if you get knocked over, other than the racer that hit you.” Okay, so traffic laws are actually very important there…

“Skipping Area 7, I explained that first, would be Area 8, our other neighbour. Area 8 was the Assault Sector, filled with angry people who didn’t quite get away with murder, but attacked someone in some way. A straight one-on-one fight is considered an acceptable way to end an argument, and what the winner says goes… a place filled with ‘might makes right’ kind of people… lots of short tempered people, so Aaron, I’d worry about you there…” Empusa looked at Aaron as he looked offended.

“I am hurt by your accusation, I mean, when do I ever annoy people?” he asked with his arms wide open, even as both Empusa and Typhon stared at him blankly… even Empusa knew at this point that Aaron was annoying… though for some reason even his look added to his annoying nature.

As mentioned previously, Empusa supplied both of them with clothes, as well as finally being capable of wearing clothes, she had changed as well. She had also supplied the car and some supplies which they kept in the trunk.

Aaron wore a leather jacket and jeans, the jacket left open revealing a red shirt with a decal of an atom on it… Empusa wondered where she got that shirt since it wasn’t one she owned… and he also wore sneakers…

The leather jacket just made him seem more like an ass in her opinion… Typhon whole-heartedly agreed.

Typhon stuck to his original look for the most part, though he did at least change his shirts and pants often, alternating colours instead of just white this time… his only other addition was a cowboy hat, which did not work with his appearance, but he kept it because it apparently reminded him of his father.

Empusa stuck to a skirt, button up shirt and slippers, mostly because she needed clothes easy to get out of in case she needed to fight, as her transformations would destroy her clothes.

“Okay, I’m annoying; I’ll dial it down when we head there…” Aaron dejectedly accepted their claims, and Typhon and Empusa nodded to each other, both knowing that Aaron would likely still end up annoying someone…

“Area 9 would be next, they contained mostly hackers and such who tried or successfully exposed dangerous information to the world, tech is very scarce in this place though, and at most they sit around with Windows 10, hardly high-tech considering this age.” Aaron agreed, knowing that he used to have something much better on his home pc...

He hoped no one looked in his hidden folders on that pc…

“They dislike physical violence there, as intellect is what is important, and information almost worth more. General crimes aren’t quite allowed there, but most of them aren’t really strong enough to enforce it… though they blackmail the occasional killer or other criminal to protect them, make a deal, or have their kids train to defend themselves.” She admitted, and Aaron figured that made sense, if you were bullied long enough you’d try to defend yourself.

“Continuing, Area 10 is… well, very few criminals like going there, considering it’s the Embezzlement Sector… filled with liars, cheats and backstabbing, but everyone there is so ‘upper class’ about it that you’d think they were royalty or something… it’s annoying. Plus, at least other sectors are upfront about their nature, there… well, just about anything goes, as long as it is kept hidden.” Typhon looked very uncomfortable with the idea of going to that place after hearing her words.

“Worse, they have the nerve to look so depressed about crimes even when they did it, or they don’t care about it, acting as if none of them are capable of killing or stealing.” Typhon really disliked how that place seemed to be, as it seemed everyone there just wore a mask and had their asses be jealous of their mouths for all the waste coming out of there.

“Well, we’re going to Area 6 at this rate, so we won’t deal with that place for a while at least.” Empusa caught his discomfort and Typhon huffed and looked away, not wanting to show weakness.

“Well, ignoring grumpy one here, Area 11 is the next place, that’s the Gang Sector, gang-related criminals go there, mob-bosses, underbosses, and so on… they are surprisingly sophisticated there, unlike their neighbours they are honest about what they do and how they are, but they act nonetheless as upper-class usually, though the occasional thug drifts through there, they are quickly taught to respect those around them.” Empusa explained, and Typhon liked this place much more than their neighbour by the sound of it… even Aaron agreed, backstabbing was something he didn’t like or comprehend all that well.

“The rules there are simple really, respect the ones at top, and inform them of what you are going to do to ensure you don’t step on any toes.” She explained, and Typhon much liked the sound of that place.

Everyone there knew everyone else was a gangster, so they didn’t need to hide their mannerisms from those around them, so it actually caused a strange change in what was originally illegal groups turning into respectable businessmen when there were no laws hindering them.

“Now the final Area, Area 12 to be exact, is… well, basically the homeland of the Chained. All Chained originally enter Tartarus from there, and then move where needed.”

Typhon looked up towards her at that moment, curious as to her words while Aaron blinked, then looked thoughtful…

“So, there’s a lot of Chained there, aren’t there?” he asked and Empusa nodded at his words, and then frowned at his smile as he turned to Typhon.

“So, that’s the easiest place for us to get recruits from, isn’t it? I mean, with Typhon being able to help out the Chained…” he asked, only for Empusa to shake her head, denying that possibility.

“I only joined because of my circumstances, and I only continue with my deal because I am that thankful for your assistance, and because Typhon would kill me if I didn’t follow our agreement.” Empusa frowned a bit at that last part, even if she herself said it… Typhon was still weary of her after all.

“Others don’t care about their looks, and will ignore that offer possibly, more others could try and betray us, and besides, it’s not like he can help Mechanical based Chained, can you Typhon?” Empusa asked, and Typhon shook his head, knowing that he couldn’t help there…

Though Aaron didn’t quite understand why a Mechanical based Chained would need help though…

Empusa caught his look and sighed, once more wishing that the two she travelled with knew more about Tartarus, or at least some basic things.

“Much like Bio-Chained, the Mechanical-Chained have an issue or two… for us, Bio-Chained, it would be the change in physical appearance… and the occasional change in… appetite.” She looked a bit uncomfortable as she spoke…

How did one say that most Bio-Chained practiced Cannibalism due to their changed nature requiring more nutrients than normal, most of which was found in grown humans and they tasted better… she would know, having cried the first time she ate someone…

“Ahem, as for Mechanical-Chained, their own robotic parts usually cause issues in their minds, trying to cope with the addition of both their own thoughts and the diagrams, programming and nerve sensors made by their unique mechanical advancements… some of them also seem to forget that they are human, and that is quite saddening.” Aaron blinked in shock at this explanation, now worried that they might meet a Mechanical-Chained and be incapable of helping them…

“Anyway, that’s the twelve areas, and their explanations, though there is a lot more you don’t know… like what Chained lives where for instance, though that will have to be explained another time… we were waiting for too long after all.” She looked up and Typhon and Aaron frowned…

The sun was setting, meaning that they wouldn’t be capable of travelling at night, due to how dark Tartarus got at night, lights were around, but they attracted criminals usually…

“What about the children who are born in Tartarus, by the way?” Aaron asked, and Empusa blinked at his words, looking to Typhon who didn’t quite care about the question, as even if he was born in Tartarus, it didn’t mean he had to care much about the others born in the place.

“Well… they travel around, and while many fall into crime due to the influences around them, some don’t and some just barely skirt the idea… after all, some parents don’t want their children to end up like them.” She explained, and Aaron nodded, accepting the explanation…

Children born into a prison, a dystopian society filled with eleven small countries and one land of monsters, struggling to survive by said societies rule…

Aaron felt sorry for them, and while he wasn’t in the position to help them, he internally decided that if he could, he’d offer them the chance to escape, especially if they were younger than fifteen…

“Alright, let’s go… Typhon, are you going to watch tonight, or you Empusa?” Aaron asked, and both Chained sighed at the words of Aaron, knowing that he couldn’t stay awake for prolonged periods of time like the two of them, and seeing as Typhon watched the night before-

“I’ll watch, you two go sleep.” Typhon spoke, even as Empusa was about to offer to watch, as she glared at him even as he looked to the car.

“I need less sleep than even most Chained, and Empusa can’t defend the car without turning into an animal, at which point you will wake up Aaron. Let me watch.” He explained and Aaron looked between the two of them… then sighed.

“Alright Typhon, though if we get another person to join us, you will be splitting watch with them occasionally… or at least Empusa, when you trust her.” Aaron once more showed his strange understanding of those around him as Typhon scowled, and Empusa realized why he didn’t want her watching…

He was still a bit afraid that Empusa might betray them, and didn’t like that… he had slept in the car as they drove around at this point, but it seemed that was just so that he could make sure that while Aaron slept he was ready to kill her…

“I… you are right, I don’t trust her…” he admitted, Empusa looking quite a bit depressed at his words, and walking to go sleep in the building they stopped by, an old thing, before she heard him continue his words.

“I don’t dislike her though… just can’t trust her yet.” He admitted, and she smiled a bit, even as Aaron swung an arm over her shoulder, though he didn’t mean anything by it, knowing that she’d kill him if he tried anything.

“See… he isn’t a bad guy, is he?” Aaron whispered to her, just under the decibel Typhon could hear at, unless he focused, as they entered the building, and Empusa smiled a bit at his words.

“Yeah… he’s a nice guy.” She added, even as Aaron took his arm off her shoulder, walking to sit at the flip out table they had set up before the conversation started about the different areas of Tartarus.

“Yeah, so it’s kind of obvious you have a crush on him by the way.” Empusa struggled to not squeak in surprise at Aaron’s sudden subject change, even as he sat down and sipped some water.

“…Was I that obvious about it?” she asked, finally getting done with her little scene, she wasn’t a little school girl after all.

“Not really, but I can see it pretty easily, I understand people around me and you care a lot more about what Typhon says and thinks than would be normal, even if you needed to worry about the guy who could kill you.” He said, looking at some canned food, not bothering to complain despite its bland taste.

“…Do you think he knows?” she asked, needing to know the answer to this, as Aaron chuckled, taking another spoon of his canned soup.

“Nah, Typhon is smart, though he doesn’t apply it to much besides paranoia and fighting, he is smart… but he knows very little about human relationships I noticed.”

Aaron placed down the can, looking over towards Empusa with a raised eyebrow.

“I mean, do you really think I could offer him anything he wouldn’t have gotten himself? The only reason he actually helps me out is because of his own pride saying that he has to. I’m not an idiot, despite how I act.” He said, and once more Empusa realized that there was a reason why both she and Typhon listened to Aaron…

Aaron understood people scarily well, he had managed to persuade Typhon, using his pride, into following him, and using Typhon’s leverage over her, managed to rope her into following him as well…

He had no true control over either of them, being the weakest of their group, yet the one who decided where they went and what they did for the most part, he was scary at times…

“I like looking for the good in others, I can admit, I like giving people the benefit of the doubt, but again, I know you won’t betray us because you care about Typhon and want to prove yourself to him, and he won’t betray me because of his own pride and because I’m agreeing to help him in his own situation.” Aaron said, taking a sip of water again, now emptying the cup before he looked at her…

She froze at the sharp look at his eyes, and for just a moment, she forgot that the one in front of her was much weaker than her, let alone that she was the Chained in the room…

“So yeah, going back to what we were talking about, he doesn’t know, though he is getting curious. He had a lack of human interaction, so he knows very little… he’s lucky I found him and not someone else, who knows how he could have turned out. Moody and anti-social he may be at times, but at least I haven’t tried to get him to murder everyone around him.” he noted, and Empusa agreed, she was quite thankful that he hadn’t agreed to Typhon’s wanting to kill her.

“So Empusa… you won’t betray us, and Typhon will protect me. It’s a strange situation where if he knew what I did, we’d both die likely, but could you guess it? That if we survive this strange relationship we have with each other, we’ll be capable of trusting each other, and that will be very important when we try to escape this place… after all…” he said, standing up, and walking over to a corner where a small blanket and sheet was pressed onto the floor.

“Khul ja Shem-shamayim… this place will be opened in the name of my heaven.” Empusa didn’t understand quite what he meant… but she somehow found it in herself to believe his words of escaping, even as she shivered at following Aaron, a being that hid its fangs behind a veneer of idiocy…