The alarm shut off as quickly as it came. Lynn sat up and waited for the door in front of her to open. Their sleeping quarters were small and compact, just big enough to fit a person. 60 of them lined the wall, 12 across and 5 high. She was thankful her little room was on the ground as she was no fan of heights.
To prevent inmates from wandering around the complex at night, the doors to their quarters were automated. They opened once at 22:00 for resting hours and opened again at 6:00 for waking hours. Lynn had first thought this to be quite silly. Even if an inmate did somehow open the door to get out of the nuclear complex, where would he go? The station was in the middle of space for Christ's sakes! But she dealt with it. After all, every person in here was dangerous, including herself.
She crawled out of her quarters into an adjacent room to get washed and dressed. Females went to the right and males to the left. At least Weyland Yutani had the decency to separate their showers. She wringed out her hair and went over to a locker with "063" on the top. She tossed in her white sleeping garments and pulled out a bright orange jumpsuit. "063" was stenciled on the left breast. It looked no different than her prison attire back on Earth.
Life was easy on Aphelion.
She had expected it to be a station so decrepit and rundown, Weyland Yutani was forced to go to criminals to get it back up and working, but the complete opposite proved to be true. Lynn did not have much experience with space stations, but judging from what she saw in the nuclear complex, the station was in top condition.
Perhaps the station was not so new in other areas? She couldn't be sure, since she had yet to see any other area of Aphelion other than the one she was currently in. She had been put to sleep after her training was complete in Earth and when she woke, she had found herself already on Aphelion in the same sleeping quarters she slept in now.
Weyland Yutani obviously did not want her or the other inmates to know anything more about Aphelion other than what was necessary. She briefly wondered what happened to the others. There was 58 inmates in total, including herself, at the nuclear complex. Were the other 379 in different complexes? She didn't know how big Aphelion was, but if the nuclear complex was anything to judge by, the station had to be huge.
She didn't put too much stock into this thought. She had been on Aphelion for two months now without incident, and if she and the other 57 inmates were fine, the other 379 were most likely fine as well.
...
Lynn sighed as she wrote down the pressure readings on the chart in her hand. Everything was within standards. As usual. Her stomach grumbled. When was lunch again? She peered over to her supervisor. He was a stout angry looking man who the other inmates jokingly referred to "the warden of the core". Mealtime occurred three times a day, but there was no way to tell time around here. Not a clock was in sight. She considered asking the warden - whos actual name was Murphy - but she knew he would just yell and gripe about the "rules" of Aphelion.
Lynn rolled her eyes. Her first day here, Murphy had been very clear about rules.
"Firstly, you will not ask any questions. Strange things might happen, and it isn't in your place to know why."
"Secondly, and this one should be without saying, you will not touch me or each other."
"Lastly, you may not, and will not, leave this complex under any circumstance. And there is no reason to either. This complex is self sustainable with sleeping quarters, a food storage, and anything else you will need. There is only one exit," Murphy paused and pointed at a large door at the front, "and I'm the only one that can open it. Follow me and my rules, and your five years on Aphelion will be short and sweet." He pulled a gun from his holster and brandished it about as if to threaten them.
As if any one of them were afraid of a gun. The only reason her and the other inmates followed Murphy at all was because the promise of freedom was better than the thought of killing some self important dickweed with a gun.
...
Murphy aside, her fellow inmates were actually quite agreeable.
Lynn had even made a "friend" during her two months here.
She had been poking at some slop on her plate when she saw a man with the number "376" sit across from her. She continued to poke around at her food trying to ignore his presence, but she could feel his stare boring into her skull.
She threw down her fork, "Can I help you? Or do you want to continue staring?"
He looked at her and opened his mouth mid chew, "I'm fine with staring."
...
And this had continued for days, him trying to make small talk during meal times and her blatantly ignoring him.
"You don't have to be a bitch you know. I mean, we're here for five years, we might as well get to know each other."
Lynn breathed in deeply, willing herself not to lose her composure, "I have no interest in getting to know you."
He was unfazed by her snarky behavior, "Why not? You might like me, I'm quite the charmer with the ladies."
She looked at him dumbfounded, "I somehow doubt that, you aren't all that attractive."
To this, he was silent before replying, "You've got a mouth on you, 063. Might be a dangerous quality around here for such a young lady..."
Lynn narrowed her eyes. He had clearly meant it as a threat, but she was having none of it. "Well, I'm sure I can take care of myself, I appreciate your concern though." She nodded her head in mock appreciation.
He only laughed, "Oh really! Well what are you in for little tiger?"
She mumbled, "Murder" beneath her breath. This wasn't completely true, but she thought it would be enough to make him go away, or at the very least, stop talking.
Instead he did none of those things. He became suddenly serious, "How'd you do it?"
She was bewildered. "Wh...what?"
"How'd you kill them?"
Was he serious? "Why does that even matter! I just did!"
He then became extremely excited and exploded into a long winded - and graphic - explanation of how he raped, killed, and butchered seven women. He looked to her, as if expecting some sort of praise, to which Lynn just gawked at him.
...
Despite their initial encounter, she had grown accustomed to 376 and their chats at meal time. She learned his name - Jeffrey - and that when he got out of Aphelion, he wanted to turn away from life of crime and become a teacher. To this, she said nothing and only raised a brow. Considering how excited he was to tell her about his previous murders, she doubted he was in any state to return to normal civilization. But it made her think about her own life. What was she to do after five years? If Weyland Yutani kept their word, she would be free to do as she pleased. She had never given any thought to her future. She had only cared about the present. She had only thought of herself and what helped her in the now, not in the after.
These two months on Aphelion had eased Lynn's mind. She was at peace and no longer stayed awake at night waiting for something dreadful to happen.
And it stayed this way. That is, until 376 went missing.
Author's Note ~~
Heyo again! Sorry this is somewhat late, I've been busy getting ready for classes. Ordering my textbooks and all that fun stuff...my birthday also passed! So there's that too!
Wanted to give a thanks to Ratboy. I took your reviews into consideration when writing this chapter! I had initially planned to spill the beans on why Lynn was in prison in the first place but I read your review and thought it over and decided against it. Yes, the first two chapters are fast because to me, HOW she got on Aphelion is not so important as to what is happening on Aphelion that will become apparent in later chapters. I don't want to give out any spoilers, but...Weyland Yutani definitely has a use for each and every single inmate so there was no "failing" the training. During the training, yes, Lynn saw the other inmates (imagine her training like bootcamp!), but when she got on Aphelion, she can only see and talk to the inmates that got put in the nuclear complex with her. The groups of inmates are completely isolated from each other on Aphelion.
As for the name Aphelion, I decided to name the space station this after listening to "Aphelion by Scandroid". Love that song.
Well...I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will probably have the fourth up soon. Shizz is definitely going to be happening very soon.
