Loud chatter from the floor rose to the top elevated floors as John paced his cubicle eagerly. His eyes constantly checking the scratched tally marks, confirming it was visitation day. Yet there was no Callista . "Where is she," he inaudibly spoke, his voice strained with anxious agitation. He pressed his body against the glass, stretching his neck to see over the railings. Small groups of prisoners and colonists conversed together, laughing and chatting animatedly. Being locked in solitude, took a toll on a person. But Callie making him a priority, to see him every morning, every visitation over the past few weeks, made it more bearable-A lot more than he'd like to admit.
"What's it like to be friends with the daughter of Marcus? I mean, you mention repeatedly she's always oozing guilt each visit, so clearly she's the reason you're here, right?" he asked freely, resting his head against the concrete wall, his deep blue eyes trained on the ceiling above him as he spoke. "That girl probably set you up to take the fall, Kane incriminating evidence in every aspect to prove you were guilty. Is that your story?"
"Shut up Murphy," Soren hissed. A tone he had heard on more than one occasion with the guards. He had pushed a button-Even pissed her off in the process. "So, she is the reason you're here," he confirmed with a nod of his head. "Some friend you got."
"So help me, if you don't stop the bullshit spewing from that mouth of yours, I'll find a privileged way to break your jaw." She threatened promisingly. "Nah, then who's going to keep you company for the remaining six days of the week until she visits again?"
He hadn't expected the friendship to remain after that. He figured she'd ignore his existence like the rest that had neighbored his cell. She had certainly caught him off guard the last day before her relocation. She talked to him freely without any hateful resentment.
"Callie feels guilty because I stole something, something to help her and I got caught. She never asked, and I never let her know what I was doing. She would've prevented it from happening, as hell bent as she is." Soren murmured quietly, her voice strained from the exhaustion. Soren hadn't been able to sleep. John had sat up with her since she returned to her cells, both unsure what to expect from the Council. He ended up talking to the walls until she was ready to speak. "We all know what happens in the skybox. It's a promised death sentence. This place sates the colony and the council, nobody wants to execute children. On this metal piece of junk, there is no room for mistakes, not even accidental ones."
"What's going to happen when she shows up and there's an empty cell, will Marcus have the decency to tell her."
"Watch your tone Murphy," Soren warned, releasing a heavy sigh as she slumped against the wall. "He's like the father I never had. I'm still pissed about the slander you spoke of last week." She growled, making it clear he was skating on thin ice. Footsteps drew closer and John closed his eyes, "I think your escorts have arrived," he muttered quietly as Soren snorted in response.
Brief muffled conversation was heard, but then her voice wafted through the glass as if she were standing in his cell. "Hey Soren," she called out meekly. Soren released an agonized groan of frustration. "Even on my last visitation day, you still look at me with that face." She sounded angry but her tone was apologetic. "I can't help it. I can't help thinking you would've been better off without knowing me because you wouldn't be here."
John straightened up once their voices became muffled, pressing his ear close to the wall. Soren demanded what it would take to remove Callie's guilt before offering a proposal. More words were said before new voices entered the conversation. John was so shocked, he never seen Marcus or Byrnes pass by his cell. While Kane and Byrnes discussed in hushed tones about Jenkin's crew, Soren moved back to the corner, leaning against the wall casually. "I know you heard what was said, hope you don't mind looking after her while I'm in isolation."
"I thought it was for my sanity that you were leaving me in her care," he quirkily remarked, furrowing his eyebrows together. Soren hummed in response, nodding. "It works for both cases, but she's your responsibility now."
"Look at you demanding a favor. We've barely known each other for four months." He joked lightly, to ease the tension settling between the cells. Soren released an irritated sigh, pressing the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "You know well as I do, isolation isn't out of reach, this place is a death sentence. You'll probably be around longer than I will." Soren paused, thoughtfully smiling to herself as before she spoke. "She's always going to show up, never doubt that for a minute. Guilt ridden as she is, it'll fade, but she'll still keep visiting."
Soren was wrong. She didn't know her friend very well at all. Start of a new month, and Callista was nowhere to be seen.
"Damnit," Callie cursed under her breath, the part slipping from her fingers and drifting a distance away from her. She glared in annoyance through the rounded tempered glass as she pushed her weight forward to close the space between her and the object. "Kane, get your shit together!" Sinclair's voice echoed through the headset, the frequency shrieking at the amplified octave causing her to wince at the feedback. Quickly, she grasped ahold of the object, cradling it to her chest as she exhaled a breath in relief. "Hey you got this," Raven reassured through a murmur. She already exchanged her broken part with the replacement with precise movement.
Callista let out a grunt, nodding her head slightly as she focused on her own task within the anti-gravity stimulation chamber. She was butchering a simple solar array restoration due to the fluid movement restriction of the thick gloves she wore. Her hands shook with every extraction of smaller parts that held the panels together. She slide the old section out, letting it float aimlessly beside of her as she gently secured the new panel effortlessly. Breathing a sigh of relief, she returned the smaller parts to their corresponding places, fastening the panel, grinning widely. "Good work ladies, I think you'll be ready for the next job," Sinclair's voice cackled through the ear piece.
"I thought we had enough qualification to work a job a month ago when we passed the exam," Callie muttered irritably while changing out of the suits in the locker room. Raven glanced over at Callie with a slight smirk. "Where was your focus Kane?" She teased with a pointed look, pulling a tanned tank top over her head. Callie pushed her legs into her cargo pants, averting her gaze as she danced the fabric onto her hips. "Wouldn't be because you missed a morning visitation at the prison station would it?"
"I thought roommates helped one another out," Callie groaned a complaint, muttering a sarcastic 'thanks for the forgotten wake up call.' Callie adjusted the bag full of books on her back, fastening them securely between her shoulder blades before releasing a nervous breath. Reyes eyes curiously studied the bag, knowing from the previous night, that Kane requested it to be delivered in his office. Raven argued that it was a bad idea to wear a bag loaded full of stolen books but Callie disagreed. Hiding in plain sight was a better alternative, a less likely strategy of not getting caught. "He's a total tool," Reyes coolly muttered with a roll of her eyes.
The halls were empty other than an occasional guard on patrol. The late rotation perhaps sat leisurely over a nice cooked meal in the cafeteria after their long shift. Some probably returned to their quarters for the evening, relaxing as a three bodied family. The adolescence undoubtedly found an abandoned hall to loiter around aimlessly until curfew.
"No, he's not." Callie defended offensively with a shake of her head. She pressed her arms against her chest looking at Raven through narrowed slits, unable to handle Reyes assumed judgement. "Finn needs to stop feeding you the rumors that circulate around the prison station. Rumors are to entertain the prisoners. They're stir crazy and filled with gossip." She pointedly justified. Callie denied the circulated speculations Raven spoke in whispers during stimulation. "Speaking of Finn, he's a little disappointed you haven't visited him, at all," Raven pointed out as they trudged down the halls together. "Promises are meant to be kept, and besides, he has his promised time with you anyways. What's the big deal?" Callie muttered dismissively, coming to a slow halt, adjusting the straps of the heavy bag, fidgeting to avoid Reyes penetrating eyes. "Just make time for him, he's your friend too Callie," Raven sighed, before separating herself, heading towards their quarters, deserting Callie.
Evenings were far different than morning visitations. There were a lighter load of guards, less colony population to monitor interacting with the prisoners. Bellamy had waved her into the prison station, muttering he'd input the data so she'd have more time. He didn't even bother to check her bag, which she hadn't even thought about until it was too late. Visitation ended an hour before curfew. Conjugating small groups of prisoners in hushed murmurs were the majority body on the floor, there were hardly any of the free roaming colony members to be found. "Didn't think you'd ever grace me with your lovely presence," John mused as he neared closer to her, breaking away from his escort with a quickened pace. A small smirk pulled at the corner of her lips, an edgy chuckle escaping. "Sorta of slept in. My roommate thinks you're too much of a tool to waste my time on, so she didn't bother waking me." Callie admitted honestly, playing with the frayed end of the ashen hoodie.
"And here I thought you stood me up on our fourth date," he joked casually. Callie sat with her back against a pillar, her legs pulled up underneath her as she stared questionably up at him. "Not like I'm keeping track of our visits or anything," he mumbled sheepishly, taking a seat beside of her, stretching the length of his legs as he relaxed. The conversation was less strained with each visit. Soren was occasionally brought up, wondering if she was safe and hoping she hadn't lost her mind. John kept the conversation he last had with Soren to himself. She didn't believe she was safe, nor did he. He didn't need to worry Callie.
"So, what's in that," John murmured, nodding his head to the bag resting at their feet. He watched Callie out of the corner of his eyes as she fidgeted under his gaze, nervous antics surfacing. Her eyes darted towards the colorful woven knapsack. "Callie?" He repeated quietly. "A few books," she muttered quietly, deciding she could trust John. John hesitated, frowning as he let his eyes bore into hers. "You have books?" he whispered in a hushed tone, cautiously looking around, gauging how close other neighboring groups were. "Callie, that's illegal. What possessed you to bring them to the prison station, are you asking to be locked up?"
"Why do you care besides they could be my own books," she argued stubbornly. John sagged back against the pillar, his face neutral and voided of any emotion. "Nobody owns books, maybe handwritten journals if you're lucky enough, but all books are kept under strict surveillance in the archive," he deadpanned in a serious tone. His palms rubbed against his forehead.
"I don't understand why you're so worried," she muttered dismissively, shrugging carelessly. He glanced at her sideways, licking his lips tentatively, speaking. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, the one that doesn't get caught," he pointedly stated, quirking a brow. "What are you even talking about Murphy?" He shook his head in disbelief, pressing his lips together. "They check bags, with every entrance and exit."