Hudson opened the heavy door and exerted a great deal of effort doing so. Agent West and Hudson walked through the doorway, and the door clanged loudly when Hudson closed it.
They had entered a long, narrow room, about seven feet wide and fifty feet long. The wall on the left was lined with cells. Instead of bars, the cells were separated from the hall by thick metal, concrete, and a large window of shatterproof plexiglass.
A smile appeared on Hudson's face as they walked down the bleak, grey hallway. "These are my people- my number one fans," he said, gesturing towards the depressed prisoners in the cells. "I see the five of 'em every day, and I'm the only person they ever see. Yep, I've been working at P-FAH for almost six months now, and they've been keepin' me company all this time." As Hudson and Agent West walked past the third cell, Hudson slowed down and turned to the prisoner, a woman in her mid thirties. "Isn't that right?"
She glanced up at him with disdain. "Bite me, Hudson," she said, her voice muffled by the plexiglass.
Hudson snickered. "Number one fans," he repeated.
"Is that Lucy?" Agent Hudson asked hesitantly.
"Aw, no, that's just Janet. Lucy's the last one." Hudson continued walking, and Agent West followed. "The next one's Matt, the newest arrival. He used to be sedated down in the basement laboratory because his ability was too strong for him to be left in a regular cell."
"Too strong for a maximum security cell?" Agent West asked, astounded, as he continued to move to the end of the hall.
"Yep. But the geeks down in the lab made some kinda helmet that blocks his powers. Now he can stay up here with the rest of us." He stopped and looked towards the prisioner. "Good afternoon, Parkman! How's it goin'?"
Matt Parkman, wearing a cumbersome, metal helmet, was sitting on the edge of his cot, looking down at his feet. With a defeated look in his eyes, he glanced up at Hudson without speaking.
"He must still be tired," Hudson commented to Agent West. "Let's go see Lucy."
Agent West followed Hudson to the end of the hallway. A shiny, silver outfit that resembled a spacesuit hung on a hook mounted to the wall. "Just in case she ever decides to put up a fight," Hudson explained. "I only had to use it once, right after she first got here. Man, was she a handful then! She's pretty tame now, though. Hasn't powered up in months." He and Agent West turned towards the cell. "I'll let you in."
Hudson swiped a key card to open the door to Lucy's cell. As Agent West walked into the bland, cold cell, he noticed that the room was sparsely furnished; a cot, toilet, and sink were located on the back wall, and a small, metal table with two metal chairs sat in the middle of the tiny room. Agent West sat in one of the chairs as he looked at the prisoner he was about to interrogate.
Agent West was surprised to notice that the prisoner in the room was a teenager, possibly around eighteen years old. She had brown hair and extremely pale skin, and she looked incredibly tired. As Agent West sat down and placed his file on the table in front of him, Lucy Tyler looked at him with curious, dejected eyes. Her expression changed for the worse, however, when Hudson popped into the cell.
"Hey there, Lucy," he said. "Be a good girl and answer all the questions this guy has for you, okay?"
She looked at him with dagger-like eyes.
"She hasn't been talking lately," Hudson said to Agent West. "Maybe she'll say something to you. I heard they picked you for this job 'cause you're young and they thought she'd relate to someone closer to her age." He looked back at Lucy and smirked maliciously. "Have fun, freak."
Hudson left the cell, locking the door behind him. And Agent Smith was locked in a prison cell with a dangerous mutant teenager.