In this place, all aspects of the lives of the prisoners were controlled and regulated. In terms of communication, it was expressed by the fact that they were forbidden to speak, whether it was to each other, to the guards or anyone else...

The punishment that went with the transgression of this rule was an immediate discharge of pain delivered by their collar and for this reason 3109 didn't notice that some of the prisoners in his cell were trying to attract the attention of the colossus...

Until now.

Following with his eyes the direction in which the gaze of the colossus seemed to be directed, 3109 distinguished to his left what appeared to be a prisoner frantically pointing at his collar...

He was far from being the only one doing this and some prisoners were even pointing at the broken collar of 3109 as if the message they wanted to convey wasn't already clear enough; Please! Get rid of our collars too!

The colossus was now faced with the decision of whether or not to help the prisoners and 3109 had a hunch that he wouldn't, which was a decision the former wouldn't have a problem with, at all.

The very direct approach that the colossus had shown until then made 3109 believe that the former's response to the issue would also be straightforward and immediate, and that was kind of what happened...

The colossus totally ignored the pleas of the prisoners and with his right hand he pointed successively to 3109, then to himself and finally to the corridor...

The translation here was again easy to figure; you and me, shall we get out of here?

3109 was stunned, his head ready to explode due to everything he had gone through during the last hours and especially the last minutes, at this point he was suspecting that he was dreaming, getting out of this hell couldn't be as easy as that, he couldn't believe it, he refused to...

The colossus stretched out his hand, "Nothing is certain in life, but if you take the chance that I am offering you, the odds are very low that you will regret it." He said in a warm tone.

3109 didn't understand the words but he grasped the intent, copious tears started running down the cheeks of his face which was still exhibiting a wary expression...

His way of displaying his emotions reflected just how much they were conflicting, on the one hand his heart wanted to cling to the hope that the colossus represented but on the other his brain was unwilling to have faith in him.

In any case, given his current situation, hesitating wasn't something 3109 could consider as an option, he just didn't have a choice...

He reached out with his right hand to the one of the colossus.

---

If 3109 had witnessed the action that had just taken place from the perspective of one of the prisoners, he would have seen himself disappear with the colossus when their hands touched...

It was a much more interesting point of view than his since at the exact moment both their hands made contact, his vision completely obscured and he fainted...

Passing out was even more of a pity taking into consideration that it prevented him from enjoying a worthwhile view.

---

[Several minutes earlier]

[Somewhere else]

---

Zorro was someone who could be labeled as bold and greedy when it came to certain things, it was these traits that had led him to his current situation; trying to pull off the biggest heist in raccoon history.

The room he was going to try to break into was a highly secured bedroom; a door with a handle that was unreachable for his 2 feet and 7 inches separated him from his objective.

The timing was short as the person who occupied the bedroom wouldn't close the door only when going to the bathroom, which was exactly what happened several seconds ago.

All in all, the risks were high and he didn't dare imagine what would happen to him if he was caught red-handed, but the temptation was too strong for him to resist, so here he was standing on the basin he was using to wash his food in an attempt to reach the door handle preventing him from reaching the treasure he was seeking.

---

[Zorro's POV]

---

I jumped once, then twice, then thrice, but still I couldn't reach the door handle with my paws...

The more time passed and the closer I was to the moment when I would have to abort the mission, but I didn't want to think of a conclusion where I wouldn't get hold of these sweet sweet...

"Zorro, you are trying to steal Lise's candies, aren't you?" I froze when I heard the familiar human voice behind me, knowing instantly that I had just gotten myself into an even worse mess than if I had been caught red-handed by the Matriarch.

The worst part in all of this was that the Patriarch's words were conveying so much certainty that I knew his question wasn't actually one, meaning that I couldn't get out of this situation by lying and therefore that I was screwed.

*OUAK*

I jumped out of fright when I saw the Patriarch's face literally inches from mine as I turned around, which had the effect of making me stumble from my basin...

"I'm looking for Lise, tell me where she is and I will forget that little incident." He told me in a dry and impatient tone, not even waiting for me to come to my senses after having tripped.

*SQUIK*

The sound of a door opening made me regret not telling the Patriarch where the Matriarch was right away, knowing him, he wasn't going to let what he saw slide now...

The Patriarch chuckled lightly, "Deals off." He stated, amused.