I woke up in my "bed," once again before the forbidden bell rang. I looked around the cell to see that everything was just how it had previously been left.

"What's up with you?" Omega spoke to me in a sarcastic tone.

"Forced sleep deprivation." I sighed, "Had to get into the habit. After the four hour mark, I begin to scream until I go horse."

"And have you ever taken into consideration that maybe you have these nightmares as a teaching moment?"

"I know what you're going to say, and I have tried to stop the nightmares." I let out a yawn, "It's not as easy as you may think." I sat up and looked across the hall to see Washington halfway off his bed, asleep.

"Have you tried drinking a calming mug of tea before bed?"

"Sure, I'll consider that when we're in a place that only has liver, bread, and water."

"Sorry for giving out suggestions," I could feel him throw his hands in the air as he walked among my subconscious, "but I got to admit, there's a lot of crap in here."

"Pleasure to be of assistance." I spoke with a subtle, snarky attitude.

"Bitch."

"Ass."

Silence grew between us as I continued to look around the room. I directed my attention toward the cast iron bars as I took notice of a somewhat bent bar. I got out of my bed and walked over to the said bar. I wrapped my hand around it as the cold spread through my fingers.

"The hell are you doing?" Omega questioned me as I bent the bar.

"I can break out." I smiled.

"You are not thinking properly." He sighed, "I've been scavenging through your mind, and the best method of escape is to tag along with Washington and Maine."

"Perhaps you're right." I sighed as I moved the bar back into place.

"It's been about a month since we've moved in. Just try to hold up for a little longer."

"And how much longer will that be." My voice trembled as I walked back to my bed.

"I don't know." He spoke honestly, "I don't even know if the authorities will let us out."

"It... it's just so cold." I muttered as I morphed myself into a fetal position.

"You'll be fine." He made an attempt to comforting me, "Just remember that every second is one closer to the end."

"Hey, Omega?" I spoke weakly.

"Hm?"

"Try to stick to hate. This 'nice guy' impression you're trying to give off isn't working."

"Alright." He sighed as the bell began to rang.

"Oh well!" I plastered on a smile as I sprung out of the mattress, "Another day, another dollar!"


I was pressed up against a pillar by a man named Shorty, with the only thing separating us being my meal tray, which had its contents spilled across my torso. Shorty was convicted of one count rape and two counts murder of the second degree. He was caught in the act when killing the woman, and she died on her trip to the hospital.

"Seriously," I growled under my breath, "Why do you men only bother me when I want to eat? And how come I don't see any women attacking me?"

"Well, it's obvious that the men have some sort of fondness toward you." His breath smelled putrid as he began leaning a little closer.

"I swear, if you're willing to shuffle with my sanity, perhaps you should consult Red about how he broke his femur." I felt a wry grin sprawl its way across my face.

"Well then, I'll be sure to ask later." He grinned as he planted his lips on my mouth.

I watched him for a moment, not really thinking anything of it, and not returning the gesture. After my mentality had fully processed what had been happening, after he brought his hand to my stomach, I raised my knee and hit him in the place that no man should be hit as he fell over, "Never do that again!" I shouted as I placed my foot on his collar bone and put an almost bone shattering force onto him. He began shaking in fear as I watched him, "And if you dare do that again, I will personally neuter you and you will see that part of you in your meals!" I felt a force pull me back as a guard began shouting at me. I kept fighting back, saying, "I did that out of self defense!" multiple times as I was later thrown into a sealed off cell.


I paced around the dark, lonely cell. The only source of light provided came from the small square, with three bars, at the door. I used to thing that getting time alone wouldn't be much of a bad thing. Turns out that I was wrong. I would've broken if it weren't for Omega's help... maybe that's not as much of a goof thing as I probably make it out to be. Suddenly, a knock came to my door as I rushed to the sheet of metal and held the bars tight with my hands. Off to the side, a man stood with his back against the wall.

"Wash?" I spoke in a weak voice, for I haven't needed it for the past forty-eight hours.

"Thought you'd like a little snack." He hadn't turned his head, but instead, he held a shiny, red apple in front of me.

"Mela? Unas manzanas?" (Apples? [Itallian] Some apples? [Spanish])

"No, just one." He laughed, "I'm technically not supposed to be here, so hurry up."

I took the piece of fruit and watched it for a moment before looking back up at the man, "Glad to know you care, bud." I gave an honest smile as my stomach growled out.

"Don't say I didn't do anything for you." He sighed as he began to walk away.

"Hm." I muttered as I began to pace once again, taking bites of the juicy, red apple every couple dozen steps, "It's really comforting to know some people care."

"The two of you have known each other since you stepped on that piece of metal, right?" Omega began to question me.

"Yeah," I laughed, "back in the good ole days."

"You two were the only two to join Freelancer at the same time, from the same training group, without having any relation to each other, too."

"I never really understood that." I shrugged, "He was leaps and bound better than me. Heck, I was at last place of our training group... And Nevada was the one training us." My tone turned solemn.

"Sure there are many regrets, there." He spoke sarcastically.

"We were always told 'only one of you may graduate, and sometimes that doesn't even end up happening,' but that wasn't the case every time. Heck, look at Mex, Ari, and W.V. Two brothers and a cousin. Someone decided that they were the only ones to join out of the fifty trainees."

"But, if you hadn't been one to graduate, then you wouldn't be as strong as you are, now."

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have had as many scars." I laughed, "Before the project, the worst I had gotten was a shaving incident... fuckin' skinning my legs."

"Well, that sounds like that was torture." Sarcasm was laden in his voice.

"The problem is, I remember that I felt a lot of pain during that, but if I did the same thing now, it wouldn't have mattered."

"Very true, but it's not like you're going to do it again, soon."

"Yeah, but it's the principals." I sat down on the ground, now eating away at the core of the fruit, "And ever since experimentation... I just remember everything. If I think far enough back, I can remember the pain... not like how one can say, 'oh, it just hurt at that time,' but I actually remember the physical harm."

"Well then, don't dwell on it too much." He sighed.

"..." I looked around the empty darkness of the room, where light was only provided by the barred window of a door, "Yeah, that's so much easier said than done." I sighed, "I mean, what's life without memories? In order to learn from a mistake, one has to be able to remember what had previously happened. Without the memory, the body's useless... And after all, memory's the key."

"... You're such a dope."

"I know." I let out a slow exhale as I threw the seeds and the stem of the apple across the room and lied on my back, "Just... give me a couple of minute of solace, alright?"

"Fine." He huffed as he went silent, leaving me alone to my thoughts in a place that was well known as 'Solitary Confinement.'