Chapter 16
Spending a night in jail wasn't so bad. Although they confiscated my personal effects, including my wrist phone, I still ordered food delivery every hour. My guards were more than happy to take my food for themselves until the fourth time when the orders started to pile up on their desks. They demanded that I cancel the orders, believing I had set it up in advance. But in reality, I was just using magic to communicate with Jessica and have her place the orders for me.
Eventually, they gave me the food, which brought goodwill among my fellow jailmates. The next day, dressed in my best suit, I was brought before a Judge. This wouldn't be a full trial, only a hearing, but there was a way to get them to toss me into prison without waiting months. All I'd have to do is threaten the Royal Official and the Judge.
The downside to this whole plan is that I'd never go back to a carefree club owner and never work with Olivia again, solving crimes. But I could still hit up an S-rank dungeon since I can simply change my appearance. But, ultimately, my life is done here. Sure, I could make a new identity and change locations, and to be honest, I should just do that now. But I hate leaving things unfinished, especially after so many deaths. And I really should do something about my 'habitual wake of destruction wherever I go' thing, followed by my need to 'set things right in the aftermath' thing.
Maybe this is how movie vampires always end up alone in a dark castle in some random mountains after a few centuries of terror, wasting away for hundreds of years only killing the occasional nosy intruder. They just give up on life and reside to find peace in solitude. Actually, that could be a nice outcome. I'd have time to do research and experiment with magic and technology. I'm pretty good now, but there are still many secrets of the universe to uncover. Better yet, I could go live on Mars and plant signs for the passing probes with greetings from future Elon Musk. Maybe leave some empty beer cans for the Mars Rover to find. Well, that's all for later. For now, I need to make a mockery of the court.
~~~
"Yes, your Honor, I do intend to represent myself. I acknowledge what that means."
"Very well. The prosecution has already given their opening statement; you may now proceed to give your opening statement as well."
"Thank you, your Honor. I’d like to start by saying you're all a bunch of idiots for associating me with those two bloodthirsty Meta’s."
"Stop one moment. I will not tolerate name-calling in my court. Do not do it again."
"Okay, let me state it another way. That pathetic person calling themselves a Royal, not name calling, just a description, is an incompetent fool for not knowing even the basics of Vampires in the lore of this world. Okay, that last part may have been a little name-calling."
"Last warning, Mr. Korleven, I will have you charged with contempt if you keep this up."
I glanced at the Royal Official; the man was shot at about five feet tall. He had shoulder-length curly hair with bangs and a mustache that curled upward. His chin was enormous and round, but his head was very narrow. If it weren't for the hair to almost balance it out, he'd look like a real egg-head. He also wore a long red coat with a white fluffy collar as if he desired to look like the King. The best part was that his face now matched his clothes, as he was seething with anger.
"Got it, your Honor. The evidence I submitted to the court will show what a vampire is known for and how it differs from those bloodsuckers. When I say I am a vampire it is because I am like the ones known in your lore. And that means I can do this." I raised my hand toward the Royal douche and summoned his heart out of his chest. The heart kept beating, but the man suddenly felt pain and clutched at his chest.
"Aaah! I can't feel my heart beating! I then lit the heart on fire, and the man also burst into flames, screaming and running around in agony before falling to the ground dead.
The courtroom stunned into silence before the Judge shouted for the guards to shackle me with Meta cuffs. This also motivated the audience to flee the courtroom. Olivia was present, and she took out her pistol while the other guards surrounded me with weapons and a pair of blue glowing cuffs. I held my hands behind my back in surrender and let them cuff me. I glanced over at Olivia and smiled sadly at her, and I saw her mouth the words, "What the hell have you done?" I didn't bother to answer her and turned back to the Judge.
"I rest my case, your Honor."
"You are to be sent directly to prison. You will be outfitted with a Meta damping collar and you will never see freedom ever again. Remove this man from my court now!" The Judge yelled while slamming his gavel repeatedly. The man was pissed and afraid at the same time, and desperately hoping to resolve the issue without further casualties. I decided with this outcome that I didn't need to threaten him next.
Due to the Meta-dampening collars and the entire prison being outfitted with dampeners covering every square inch of the place, Metas, and regular criminals were intermixed and treated the same, at least by the guards. The inmates, however, tended to treat Metas like scum and always found ways to beat or shank them when they could. Significantly, few ever rose above the violence to positions of power themselves since it meant they had to powerful fighters, and most never had extensive training without the aid of powers. Being powerless was a massive vulnerability for former Metas.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As I walked into Gen Pop dressed in a new orange jumper, I got eager looks from the other inmates for fresh meat. I smiled at them predatorily before being pushed into my new cell. There were two bunk beds, one on each side of the cell, and a toilet and a sink in the center against the back wall. There was a shelf with books and even a board game. Two others were already in the cell, and one had a Meta collar on as well. He was an average-height brown man with patches of his hair missing. He had dark bruises on his face and a swollen lip. The other man was a six-foot-five black man with rippling muscles all over his body. He was bald but had a sizeable tangled beard. I also noticed the scars all over his body, which weren't fresh.
"Mmm… looks like I got a new toy to play with," the black man said as he cracked his neck. I noticed both men had stuff on the two bottom beds, and knowing my way above average weight would not be suitable for the top bunk, I'd need one to move to the top.
"Look, I may not look it, but I’m very heavy. So, I will need you to move your shit to the top bunk on that side of the room. This side is mine," I told the big man.
"Ha, the little worm has teeth. Guess I’ll have to remove them before I stick all ten inches of me into that mouth of yours."
"You think because I have this collar on, I am powerless? Besides the fact that I can beat you easily with pure strength, let me teach you a little about real power," I said as my eyes shifted to a red glowing hue.
His screams echoed throughout Cell Block C, and when the guards came rushing to my new cell, they found the man sobbing in pain on the ground. His entire body was covered in sweat and blood as each of the scars had reopened all at the same time. More curious was that the other Meta now appeared to have been fully healed and was just staring at his flesh as he marveled in relief from the pain. While I was busy brushing off the big man's personal items and secretly disinfecting everything with magic. Then I plopped onto the mattress and smiled at the guards.
"We need a transfer to the infirmary and a medical member here right away," one guard said, speaking into a radio. They hesitated to ask what happened and decided it was best not to know. I had a feeling they would question both my cellmates soon, though. I doubt they would overlook the possibility of a Meta who still had powers. Which meant I needed to locate the former governor soon.
Since it was lights out, my plan would have to wait till tomorrow, but I could stall for time by chatting with my last remaining cellmate. "Hey, how are you feeling? My name is Jacik, what's yours?"
"Uh… Seiko. What just happened?"
"I keep telling these fools that I’m not a Meta. That my powers are not affected by these dampeners, but they don’t believe me. However, as long as they continue to believe their version of the truth, I can help keep you safe while I’m in here."
"I see. How do I explain any of this?"
My eyes furrowed. That is a good question. I should think more before impulsively acting. So, I thought about it now. It seems the best, or the only way is to shift the power source to something else. I had no items on me and was thoroughly searched before being sent in here, but that doesn't mean it was impossible to slip something in. However, I could have Seiko take the blame in a way that doesn't harm him.
"Okay, Seiko, here's the plan."
~~~
"Hey Doc, what’s the verdict?"
"Hey Steve," the Doc replied with a smile at her husband, the Warden of this prison. "Not sure what happened exactly. He’s got massive bruising and tears in places that we typically get with rape victims, but it’s worse. Like he went through a hundred of these unsavory events all at once. His body was so racked with pain that even his old wounds burst open, and he lost twenty percent of his water weight in his sweat."
"Is he talking about what happened yet?"
"He’s done nothing but mutter gibberish and whimper. I think his mind is broken."
"What about, uh…" Steve paused for a moment while referencing his inmate list. "Seiko? Did he say what happened?"
"Seiko had this device on him. He said it was a single-use artifact. It appears to be dead now," she replied while picking up a black metal cube with silver engravings on each side. He wasn't sure what the engravings were since they were layered circles with overlapping and strange symbols interspersed throughout.
"What does it do?"
"Did do. And apparently this," she pointed to both her patients in the two observation rooms. "It seemed to have transferred every wound, scar, trauma, and pain for Seiko’s entire life all in an instant to Roger."
"Where did he get that?"
"He said he made a deal with another inmate to acquire it, but he refuses to say who. He said he was afraid to use it, but when Roger threatened the new cellmate with the same thing he went through, he activated the device and pointed it at Roger, and it did that."
"Hmm… I’ll have to do a thorough investigation, but something seems fishy. I saw the video of what that Jacik guy did during his hearing."
"I know, I saw it with you, but he does have a collar and this place is so heavily warded, not even Meta’s could fly over this facility without falling out of the sky."
"True enough, love. Well, I’ll get to the bottom of this eventually. When you’re satisfied with Seiko, have him escorted back to his cell. Maybe now, with this, I can get the comity to approve cameras facing every cell. Prisoners shouldn't have the right to privacy."
"This is where I disagree with you. While I know it would help prevent most of the rape and abuse that goes on, it still violates their privacy, especially with a toilet in each cell."
"But they don't have privacy. Guards and other cellmates can see them."
"But there is no recording that could potentially be leaked to the public either. And you know if a rape ever got out on the net, it would be a nightmare for the prisons."
"True enough, I just hate these ethical dilemmas," Steve replied.
"That's why I love you. For a Warden, you still care about the charges under your watch. You know, if we can figure out how this device works and how to recharge it, we could let all the rape victims get their revenge."
"Martha, you are so devilishly devious," Steve chuckled in response. "But let's refrain from that idea for now. See you after work."
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