Part I
"Move it.," Phil's voice was cold and harsh. The chains attaching the ankle cuffs rattled as she walked blindly forward. The air seemed almost too dry to her, and the smell of disinfectant almost made her sick. It reminded her of hospitals. Except she was sure this place was much worse. Phil turned her to the right then pushed her forward. She growled lightly to herself as she started walking again. She heard footsteps, sounded like three people.
Two guards sounded the corner followed by a man in a military uniform. The two guards stepped to the side and let the General move forward. Phil reached out and grabbed Jacklyn's arm. "Stay where you are."
Jacklyn complied and yanked her arm out of his grip. She studied the new scents silently. The closest to her had on some type of cologne. His scent was musky, moldy almost. The other two… leather, metal, sweat. Guards probably. But the closest one…she wasn't quite sure who he was.
"Take the bit out of her mouth Mr. Johns.," his voice had a slight British accent to it. Phil complied and slowly undid the knob in the back. Then he slowly pulled the bit from her mouth. She flexed her jaw a tad, glad that damned thing was finally gone. "Why not remove the blindfold too?"
"Yes, Sir." Phil pulled the blindfold off. Jacklyn opened her eyes quickly, which was a mistake. The lights were at a normal level but to her, after no being able to see for so long, they were almost blinding. The chains rattled as her hands went to shield her eyes. "Fuck!!," she tilted her head towards the floor.
The General clasped his hands behind his back. "Greetings Miss Reed." Jacklyn slowly made herself look up, squinting in the light. Fucking Military, shoulda figured. She kept a frown on her face, staring at him silently. "I'm here to discuss a deal with you, Miss Reed. For your cooperation.."
She cut him off smirking, "You'll give me my freedom right?" The General had a puzzled look on his face. He nodded slowly to her, "Correct."
She smiled ever so slowly at him. "Well, I know," the smile faded replaced by anger, "That you and your GOV can go fuck yourself! Do you really think I'd betray my father? You're abso-fucking-lutely nuts. So why don't you cut the crap and show me to my cell."
The guards behind the General were staring wide eyed at her. The General had a sour look on his face. "Very well then. Guards!" The guards stepped up slowly towards her and motioned for her to move. To their shock she did so without defiance. Phil watched as she disappeared down the hallway.
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The cells and other hallways were lit with barely enough light to see. The guards had night vision goggles which told Jacklyn it was bound to get darker. She was stopped in front of a cell as one guard leveled his weapon at her and the other took the chains off. She stepped into the cell and heard the door clang behind her and lock. When she looked back the guards were already gone. She raised a slight brow as she caught a scent. "Who's there?" A faint whimper was heard then Jacklyn saw a pair of faint yellow eyes a few feet away from where she stood. What the hell??
"She's just a kid." Jacklyn whirled about to meet a pair of translucent green eyes. She narrowed her own and took slow steps. She felt a wall with her hands. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rena, but most people around here call me Ren. My cellmate's Ashley but we just call her Ash. That over there with you is Sil."
"I see…," the lights soon faded away altogether and Jacklyn frowned. "Well… I'm Jacklyn. But you can call me Jack if you want. So what are you in for Ren?"
"I'm an assassin. I killed a few senators on Kneblo."
"Ah. That explains your eyes then. You must be native from there."
Ren laughed a bit. "That I am. How'd you know?"
"Ehh… I read a lot when I was kid."
"Heh. You still look like a kid to me."
Jack smirked a bit. "Yeah, someone told me that not long ago. I had to prove 'em wrong. So what about Sil. Why do her eyes glow?"
A new voice, much softer than Ren's rose to Jack's ears. "Because they experiment on her."
"Experiment?" Jack raised a brow then glanced over to the pair of faint yellow eyes.
"Yep. She got sent here two years ago for hacking GOV files. She's only fourteen poor thing. She doesn't talk anymore either.," Ren said sadly.
Jack felt angrier for hearing that. It made her blood want to boil. "Bastards! We're humans just like them. Not fuckin' lab rats."
Ren laughed a bit. "Oh yeah? Tell that to them."
"Maybe I will…," her voice trailed off, "maybe I will."
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Even innocent people end up in Slam. It's sad really. People outside think we all deserve to be here until we die. They're wrong. Sil doesn't deserve to be here. She's just a kid for Christ's sake. Then again that's the GOV for you. They don't care whose life they fuck up.
And Ash… poor girl. She's about two years younger than me. She was with her brother when he attacked a GOV building. He was killed and she sent off here. If people knew the truth about people like Ash and Sil maybe they'd demand that GOV do things properly. Doubt it would do any good though, everyone is afraid to stand up to GOV.
Ren and I are alike. We both chose to do what we did. We both knew that if we got caught we'd be sent here. But Ash and Sil… they had no clue. Innocents do get caught in the crossfire.
I can't believe they're experimenting on people now. That violates the Croft-Howard Act. I doubt they care though… claiming 'What's the harm of using murderers for experiments when they've killed so many?' Problem is Sil isn't a murderer. And it's just wrong. We may be murderers and assassins but we are people too. We feel just like normal people do.
I've made up my mind now. I feel so sorry for Sil. She must be so alone and afraid. I won't let them hurt her. I won't let them hurt her anymore. There has to be a way I can save her…
