PURGATORY

CHAPTER THREE

So Many Questions

A loud buzzer filled the area as another locked door opened.

"This way Miss T'Soni. Follow the red line, please."

This time Officer Bowman was escorting Liara through the prison. The young twenty something human was hardly a person you might expect to find as a prison guard at the notorious prison, but she was pretty handy with electronics and kept on top of things in that area. She had, during her brief stay there, invented a software program that allowed the staff to read outgoing messages without be detected. In her backwoods mind, she felt the accomplishment was at least worthy of a promotion, but the superintendent felt it wasn't even worthy of a letter of appreciation.

"Wait here" Stated Officer Bowman as she nodded to the control tower.

Another buzzer sounded loudly as the two of them paused, waiting for another door to open.

Stepping though the last secluded entryway was the asari in a bright orange uniform that closely resembled a smock a nurse would wear. However instead of a name tag or a stethoscope around her neck, PURGATORY was stenciled on the back of the blouse. .

The officer followed the prisoner through the heavy doorway. She was clad in heavy duty armor that allowed for maximum flexibility and comfort. Her boots went up to her knees and her pants looked to be weaved with a kinetic exoskeleton. Around her waist was a medium sized weapon that looked like if shot correctly, could bring down a charging krogan.

Her chest was covered with a type of armor plating while her arms and sides were exposed. Seemingly typical for the guards uniforms were the sleeves rolled up around her biceps which the asari thought made them actually larger than they were. Under the chest plate was a thinner material that made the Prothean Expert to believe it was more for flexibility and comfort. The asari scanned the prison guard as she completed the proper procedures for door openings and closing.

When she saw Liara looking at her gun, the newest guard snapped, "Don't even think about it." Placing her hand over the weapon as if to protect it, the somewhat mousey human stated, "It is programmed to be DNA sensitive. Even if you took it, it wouldn't shoot."

In a soft angelic voice like she had very little experience with humans, the blue asari replied, "I did not mean to imply." Turning away, she continued, "I was simply taken by how well suited you were against aggression." Her sparkling blue eyes peered in the direction of where a few other prisoners were standing. "And I have nothing to protect myself."

Taken by the innocence of the asari, Bowman stammered, as she moved down the next hall. "Well, keep your head down and you should be ok in her."

The both of them knew she was lying but even the false statement seemed to offer at least a little comfort to them.

With folded hands, Liara asked, "I have a question."

"Look I am just supposed to show you the essentials. Your associates will go in to the details more."

"Associate, what associates?"

Already feeling overwhelmed by the new inmate, Bowman briefly explained, "You'll see when you get one."

Gesturing with her right hand, the prison guard said, "This is the mess hall."

Unfamiliar with human slang, the asari questioned, "Why is it messy?"

The human woman chuckled, "No. It's just a human euphemism." Continuing their short tour, Kate informed, "It's where you'll eat."

Frightened by the idea of where she would eat was called messy, the asari didn't have time to process it as she was shuffled down another corridor.

"This is GP area."

More polite than she had heard in there before, Liara questioned, "What is GP?"

"General Public. That is where I was instructed to release you." Making eye contact with the tower, Bowman instructed. "Almost everyone is out in the pen."

Cutting off her next statement, Liara asked, "What is a pen?"

With a heavy sigh the human responded, "It's where everyone exercises." Seeing that the asari maiden was about to ask another question, Bowman interrupted, "I am just going up there for a second to finalize your release. I will be right back."

Nervously looking around, the young asari now found herself practically alone in the universe's infamous facility. She was standing in an empty room where she saw a few other prisoners walking by but they seemed to be moving with purpose. Those that did take notice of her barely looked at her. Lowering her head, she wondered where her friends were.

Standing against the wall like a lost puppy, the asari felt as if there was no one to talk to or interact with, at least none that she knew of. However from two levels above her, a pair of eyes looked down upon the new arrival. Shifting her weight from side to side the person studied the new arrival. At first, her innocence and purity radiated off the maiden and the stalker shivered at the anticipation of corrupting such a young and sweet thing.

But as the pair of light blue eyes trailed up and down the unsuspecting victim's body, the mystery woman moved closer with the precision of a deadly killer. Her presence was virtually undetected by the new intake.

Nearly biting her lip too hard, the voyeur drooled. Leaning over the railing high above to get a better look, the woman perched mused, "My Goddess aren't you a pretty little thing." The mystery woman's mind began to spin at the numerous things she could and would do with the new asari arrival.

Allowing her long nimble fingers to seductively graze the steel banister, the fascinated woman moved down the open corridor still admiring her new found toy. Enthralled with the fresh piece of meat, she was spying on, caused the highly skilled warrior to gently graze the bottom of her lip. Tracing the tattoo that started in the middle of her lip and down her chin, the predator mused, "Oh what fun I am going to have with you baby blue."

A moment later, the hidden woman chuckled, "Oh my lover is going to be pissed when she sees you."