When the door slammed behind her, Clarke felt it in every bone. Solitary. Just a number now. 319. Metal-matrix composite in a twelve by twelve cube was her home now. A toilet, sink, cot, and a skylight. At least there's a view. There was nothing else to do though.
Compared to the rest of the Ark, this place lacked color. Blue metal and off white cotton and rubber didn't feel like enough. The orchids she'd been able to keep in her room before would be returned to the Agro department. All of her carefully made art supplies would be given to other people.
Since they were on the side with the sun, the temperature reached an uncomfortable high. This would never be an issue, except the insulation and by extension the thermostat weren't doing their jobs anymore. Her father said that they'd been lucky to have lasted this long. The entire Ark was going to either fry or freeze depending on what side of the Earth they were on when the system failed completely.
The official word on the temperature abnormalities told the population that it was the next step in returning to earth. A lie that seemed to work.
Clarke lay down on the cot and stared out her skylight at Earth. The emerald green and sapphire blue ball hung there as if waiting for her children to come home.
The fire racing through her body contracted all her muscles at once. Her teeth clenched around the rubber mouth guard, agonizing pain radiating through her jaw. Infinity reaching out farther than Clarke had ever imagined before.
When the pain subsided down to levels she could think around, the interrogator, who sounded like her dad, or maybe Wells, asked her, "Are you sorry for your crime?" Why would they want her to apologize for trying to save everyone? It didn't make any sense.
"I - didn't - do any-thing - wrong." Her head lulled and her eyes couldn't focus. "Dad? - Wells? - Help m-"
When Clarke regained consciousness, or had she? She couldn't feel anything, see anything, hear anything. There was nothing to smell or taste. Nothing existed except her thoughts.
'What happened to my body?'
'I know I had one.'
'Where'd it go?'
'Where's the Ark? My cell? People?'
'I know they were all here.'
'Where is here?'
'Is there a here?'
'There's no here or there or anywhere. I do not like them Sam I Am.'
'Who's Sam?'
'My name is Clarke Griffin. I'll be seventeen in two months. My dad, my dad died trying to save everyone. I got locked up because I tried to finish what he started. This is a trick of lock up. Part of their reconditioning program. It's sd. Has to be, right?'
'Right?'
'Right?'
'I'm a person. And I live in space. This is just part of that.'
'Right?'
'Why are they doing this to me? I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
Explosions of light, sound, touch, taste, and smell overwhelmed Clarke and sent her into a panic.
"Are you sorry for your crime?" So loud and the light screamed at her eyes blinding her more surely than when she couldn't see anything.
"I didn't do anything wrong."
Thrown back in her cell, Clarke crumbled at the high pitched tone pumped through speakers she hadn't even noticed before and the blinding flashes of light pulsating at every angle.
The exposure to the high decibel levels every day for a week resulted in tinnitus. She'd hoped it would be temporary but when the echo of the tone didn't fade after a month, Clarke knew the damage was permanent. And yet she still tried popping the sound out of her ears through stretching her jaw.
She'd been doing that for an hour when her daily food got delivered through the slot in her door. Not in the mood to eat, she dropped the tray on her desk. The impact threw the food off the tray, along with a liner she'd always assumed to be attached. Underneath was a stripped down plastab with the message, "Hello? Is there anybody in there?" on it.
Looking around in suspicion, Clarke typed back, "Just nod if you can hear me."
After a long pause a new message showed up. "Nodding like a madman here! Got another 1!"
"Another?"
"Solo there's another that's found my bottled message, bt it might be a bit before they log. plastabs might not be the best bt they beat being alone all by yourself."
"Agreed. I have no idea how long I've even been here." The relief of having a conversation flooded Clarke to the point of tears.
"How many techniques have they used on u?"
"4. Electrocution, sd, and tone + lite. I guess 5 cause isolation. U?"
"U've been here less thn a month. Me? Electro, sd, tone, lite, temps, 0 sleep, suspens, overwrk, humil, near death, iso +. I've been here 2 yrs, they've given up on me. I float when I hit age. Fertilizer meanwhile."
Clarke looked at the methods and cringed. She hadn't dealt with extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation, stress suspensions, being worked to exhaustion, humiliation, or whatever near death meant. There were also the other unnamed methods to chill her. Could she survive all that? "Near death?"
"They kil sec thn bring u bck. - fun."
"How'd u get through it?"
"no way to stop be criminal."
"y?"
"I live."
"I tried 2 lie, but they knew."
"I hear they can."
A different color text showed up on the screen. "Caz I told u. We tell noob rulez."
"Rules?"
"rulez we honor 2 keep plastabs and not amped."
Amputation horrified Clarke. "Okay, what do I have 2 do?"
"1 no names, 2 nothing else 2 identify like r crimes or fam jobs, 3 line toilet with plastab when not using and finally most important #4 fuck guard whenever he wants. we call him Tallowcatch or Tal."
The first two were easy enough, but the third confused her. "Fuck the guard?"
"Yeah, suck his dick, or let him put it in you."
"?"
"sex, you know the way humans used to reproduce? some of the guards can do that for some reason. say it feels good."
"I don't get it, but I'll do whatever at this point."
The first person typed again. "u may like it when inhibitor wears off."
The second person added, "the shot u get every year kill desire 4 sex."
"Oh." She wanted to say that her mother lied and said those were yearly immune booster shots, but that might give away her identity. "if we can't tell each other r names, what do we call each other?"
"I'm Twist!" the second one typed.
"Hades!" the first informed. "u?"
"Vigri?" Clarke asked.
"Welcome 2 solo ship, Vigri."
"what do we talk about?"
"tell stories, send each other stik gifs, n nonsense." Hades also sent a little animated stick figure dancing. "Twist finds gross stff entertaining. b warned."
"And Hades is snooty wank." Twist said with an animated face sticking its nose in the air, and another one laughing.
"Get floated, Twist."
"Twist? How long have u been here?"
"1 yr i think."
"How'd u make it this far?"
"Masochism + not giving a fuck."
"Being a dalcop," Hades said, but Clarke ignored.
A quick look up of the word masochism and she got it. Twist enjoyed pain. "I need to learn to be like that."
"I teach u." Twist sent a pair of hands rubbing together.
"And with that I nap," Hades said. "Ltr dipshits."
"Ltr, tumorwad!"
"u could slip in something comfy. Like airtight box. Rt Twist?"
"Only if your bits r 1 wall so I can get u off while die!"
"it date thn."
What did Twist mean by bits and what the hell did they mean by 'get you off?' Clarke shook her head in confusion again.
"Vigri, u want 2 learn 2 enjoy pain? Or u rather hav chance 2 get out?"
"I doubt they'll let me out even if I do cave. Too dangerous."
"Intriguing, but say no more. Let's start, ok gorgeous?"
"Consider me ur grasshopper."
"A Kung Fu fan? remember lesson we learn from Lee-You."
"Little pieces that seem worthless to others can still be meaningful and putting them together can end up beautiful and overcome death?"
"Exact. Pain seems bad and has -$0 to most ppl. But u rather sd or pain?"
Clarke considered her options before answering. "Pain. I know I'm alive."
"Great. u might have future, bellibone!"