Metropolis - Goldilocks

Monday, May 11th, 2089 | 6:45am

As usual, Chris woke up from the vibrations of her b-link. It stilled almost immediately as it registered her increased heart rate. Sitting up, she stretched and looked out at the virtual window across the room. This morning’s scene was particularly breathtaking. She was looking out over a cliff as the sun popped its head over the horizon. There was a very faint smell of salt in the air. Standing up and stretching, her mind slowly awakened to the new day at Goldilocks.

Tiny was stirring from her cot as well. The woman had a really hard time getting up in the mornings. Chris was about to laugh about the woman’s muffled curses when the events of the previous day came rushing back, crashing down on her peace like the waves on the virtual cliff-side. She still didn’t know if she could trust the woman. On one hand, it was quite obvious Tiny had been lying to her, but on the other, she had just saved her from a serious beating.

The small moment of serenity the view of the sunrise had given her was slipping through her fingers. Wanting to hold onto it a bit longer, Chris opened her b-link settings and maxed out the sensory overlay. Waves that she could only see before now crashed loudly all around her, splashing salty mists that reached her with vivid clarity. She’d only ever seen the ocean once, as a little child, before her mother married Rin’s father., The scene before her felt more real than the memory.

Chris brushed her teeth at the sink and changed into a fresh pair of prison slacks. Meanwhile, Tiny managed to slump out of bed and head to the toilet. Knowing there wasn’t a physical barrier there always made it weird when Tiny simply disappeared from sight the moment she entered the designated toilet perimeter. It looked like she’d walked into the room’s wall and any and all sounds were blocked.

Making her bed and straightening her things, she watched the scenery for one more calm moment before she faced the day. Chris only had three more; she would have to make them count. Strategizing for the day ahead, she decided to walk to breakfast with Tiny. She might not trust the woman, but she could rely on her for protection, at least for now. Chris’ thoughts went back to who Tiny was affiliated with. The three main prison groups had all kinds of convicts in them, from all different races, but each had a concentration that defined them. There was the black/Asian group, the Russian/’international’ group led by the infamous Nika and the other predominantly white group.

Chris didn’t automatically assign Doris to the Asians; she had a feeling the woman was somehow involved with the mysterious leader of the third group. If she wasn’t the leader herself, she was probably someone very high up. Tiny, on the other hand, she suspected of being affiliated with the Russian group. It was a suspicion she’d formed over the last couple of days. Her tall roommate was always seen sitting with the Russian ‘hulks’. The table was comprised solely of large, overly muscular women who didn’t speak at all during meal times. Considering Tiny’s usually boisterous personality, it was a little strange that she chose to surround herself with such stoic figures.

She was trying to picture herself inside the political machinations of Goldilocks when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Chris jumped up and headed out the door when she saw that Tiny’s exit had been completely drowned out by the loud crashing of the waves. As she caught up to Tiny, she lowered the volume settings, but chose to leave the other sensory settings alone. She’d walked into a prairie theme and was quite enjoying the sweet smell of blossoms all around. It was almost enough to bury the feeling of dread surrounding that morning. In fact, both settings had been…

“What is it, Barbie?” Tiny asked, all grogginess gone from her voice.

“What’s what?” Chris asked, looking around, trying to find the source of the woman’s question.

“You,” Tiny explained. “You just sounded like you figured out world peace, or at least how to shovel your way out of this pit.”

“Oh,” Chris said. “Actually I was just thinking about that. You know the landscape settings on the b-link?”

“Ahhhh,” Tiny said loudly, making Chris cringe. She looked around warily, trying to see if there were any convicts close to them. “Y— How many times do I have to tell you to relax? Sheesh. Nothing’s gonna happen to you. Especially not with your boo around…” the woman slung an arm around her shoulders and winked suggestively at her.

Chris huddled uncomfortably, making the woman crack up laughing.

“Too easy, Barbie, too easy,” Tiny said, before getting serious again. “But as for what you were saying before,” she looked at Chris’ look of incomprehension and added, “The landscape thing.” Chris nodded. “You’re asking me about the weather and stuff right? Like why it’s so nice and sunny all of a sudden?”

“Yea….” Chris said. “I was actually gonna ask if they choose more peaceful themes.”

Tiny’s eyebrows arched up in surprise, “Oh, you still haven’t chosen a fixed one yet?”

Chris shook her head.

“Huh, hadn’t pegged you for a swiper.”

“A… what?”

“A swiper… you know, someone who keeps swiping for the next option?”

“Oh… right… I guess,” Chris said.

“But anyway, you’re right. They turn up the ‘tranquility dose’ and get rid of all the rain and thunder whenever the kids start getting uneasy. And well… it’s about that time. Goldilocks only gets new prisoners once a month…. So yea. Friday’s gonna be a pretty big day.”

“So… why don’t they just keep it nice and balmy every day?”

Tiny smirked and gave Chris the look she’d always given to Rin, the look that said ‘it must be nice to be so naive’.

“Cuz then it wouldn’t be special. We’d all be acclimatized to it and go crazy anyway. Change is necessary. Staring at the same wall day in and day out would drive anyone crazy.”

“Yea… I guess,” Chris said, remembering her promise to keep an eye out for Sid.

Chris and Tiny walked up to a small crowd of inmates waiting by one of the partitions that led to the cafeteria. Stopping behind them, Chris checked the time: 6:59. The doors would open in one minute and the women would flood to the cafeteria to get gruel before Era.

Hearing a commotion, Chris turned around to see a group of unhappy women approaching the crowd. She stiffened, but luckily the doors opened in that moment and the crowd flooded into the hallway outside the cafeteria. By unspoken agreement, Chris went her own way after they reached the cafeteria. She needed to get out of there, and into Era, as soon as possible.

She stood in line for what felt like forever. Chris hadn’t been as aware of the sheer number of bodies around her since her first day at Goldilocks. She’d gotten used to the women over the days, but that morning, even with the beautiful prairie all around, she felt very vulnerable, like a gazelle in a pride of lions.

Grabbing her tray, she headed over to find a seat as quickly as she could. Happily, the table by the door hadn’t been claimed yet, so she sat down with her back to the nearby guards and her eyes to the rest of the room. Chris dug into the gruel as fast as she could, happy the viscous substance didn’t need to be chewed. At one point, she thought the food tasted oddly sweet, but the moment the thought occurred and she paid attention to her palate, the usual taste of fruity seaweed with a grainy, potato-like aftertaste took over.

She was halfway through her meal, hoping she’d be able to finish before anyone else came to her table, when someone approached the seat in front of her. Stilling the spoon halfway to her mouth, she looked up as the small black girl from the day before took a seat. Chris’ hand went back to the table, settling her spork down as she pursed her lips, unsure of the situation.

Chris looked around the room for the first time; she’d purposefully avoided doing so until now. The faces that looked back, confirmed her fears. Chris bent her head down and got busy with the process of eating again.

“I’m sor-ry,” the black chick said, her voice sounding like it’d been scraped over gravel. “I’ll sit somewhere else if you want me to. It just s-seemed like a good idea this morning…” Her head nodded toward the stationed guards.

Chris’ eyes flickered from the woman with the broken face to all the ones behind her. Even if she didn’t want to call unnecessary attention to herself, telling her to leave now just seemed cruel.

“No, that’s alright,” Chris said. “Stay. I’m almost done anyway.”

She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Stepping up to help her when she was being beaten was one thing, but in that precise moment, the woman wasn’t being attacked and all that Chris was doing was painting a bigger and bigger target on her back.

They both ate in silence. Chris could feel the woman wanting to say something a couple times, but Chris avoided having a conversation with intense gruel-focus. Eventually, though the woman managed to get a couple words in.

“Th-thank you…” the woman said when Chris stood up to leave.

Her words puzzled Chris, but the woman soon clarified, “For yester-day…”

Chris cringed. She felt like an ass. There the woman was, all bruised and swollen from a one-sided beating Chris had avoided by a hair, and all Chris could think about was getting away from her like she had the plague.

“I’m sorry I—”

“No, thank you,” the woman interrupted her with a sudden firmness in her voice. “I saw you. You tried to help. That meant a lot.” She nodded and added, “That’s all.”

Feeling dismissed, Chris walked off. The woman’s heartfelt words made her feel like one of the worst human beings on the face of the planet. Considering she was buried deep under the ground with thousands of thieves, murderers and God knows what else, that was saying a lot.

She shoved her tray onto the conveyor belt with unnecessary force, trying to wipe away the slimy feeling that had overcome her. Chris turned and was about to walk out when she noticed the inmate bent down on the floor, wiping away bits of gruel.

Waiting for the woman to get up, she approached her cautiously and asked, “Hi, I’m Ay—Chris…”

“And I’m busy,” the woman said in bored irritation.

“Sorry to bother you, but do you know Sid?” Chris said, unconsciously picking at her fingers.

The woman sighed, straightened and finally looked at her.

“Look Ch—,” she began, but suddenly stopped when her expression changed from irritation to interest. “Wait… you’re Barbie, Tiny’s little girlfriend right?”

“… I’m her roommate, yeah.” Chris answered, unsure about how she felt using her ‘relationship’ with Tiny as an in with the woman.

“What do you want with Sid?”

“I just… want to talk to her.”

“’Talk’, huh?” the blonde older woman said with a smirk. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“No, I…”

The woman held her hands up with a laugh, “Look… girl. I don’t care what you do in your free time, just don’t let Tiny hear about it…”

“No,” Chris said, feeling like the woman was going to start a rumor about her and Sid the first chance she got. “I would never chea— do anything with. I’m not…”

Flustered, she could feel the blood rushing to her face, which only made the woman laugh all the more.

“It’s not you I’m worried about…” the woman said, looking at something behind Chris with a huge smile.

Turning around, she looked in the same direction and spotted Tiny only a few tables away. Chris turned back to the woman when she noticed the growing group by the door. She was unsure of what the woman had meant by the comment, but she didn’t have time to stay and find out.

“So… How do I… Do you…. Could you…” Chris fumbled rapidly with words, not sure of what to ask exactly.

“Yea, yea, I’ll tell her, this should be interesting anyway,” the woman said with a discomforting grin. “Go with Stacy and Sid will be there with a scrumptious snack for ya at lunch.”

“Sta—” Chris began to ask.

“Just go already, or you’ll miss the deck.”

“Thank you so—”

“Git,” the woman said impatiently and Chris left.

Quickly, she made her way to the door. The group, or ‘deck’ as she guessed at the term’s meaning, looked pretty full. She wasn’t sure how many slots were left, but it could only be one or two. Chris’ legs moved at a nigh on run, but her eyes still unconsciously scanned the tables for Tiny when she didn’t see her in the spot she’d been in a moment before.

The woman always stood out, so it wasn’t hard to find her, but when she did, her eyes bulged at the sight. Her large roommate was two tables away, tray in hand, talking to Doris, who had no tray in hand and was nodding. Chris’ eyes remained glued on the pair as she made her way to the door. Another inmate had joined the deck; if she wanted the spot she needed to keep moving, even if her insides were screaming at her to stay.

From a distance, she couldn’t hear or even guess what they were talking about. She squinted, trying to read their lips, but without Aya’s body she couldn’t see that far away. A moment later, when they went their separate ways, it didn’t matter anyway. Chris kept looking at the retreating figures, thoughts boiling, all the way to the door. She reached it just a couple seconds before two other women arrived and started forming the next deck.

The ten of them were led out the door, away from the noise and smell of the cafeteria and toward the Capsule Bays. However, even with the growing distance between them, her thoughts remained on the women. Doris had never mentioned Tiny, had she? And Tiny had actually warned Chris about Doris… How did they know each other? More importantly, what kind of relationship was it?

As she marched in line behind the other women, her thoughts kept returning to a growing suspicion. The more she tried to reason against it, the more certain she became, and by the time she entered her capsule, she was convinced Tiny worked for Doris in her faction.

Betrayal and anger boiled deep inside of her. After the woman had saved her the night before, she’d been finding it hard to hate her, but not anymore. The only reason Tiny’d helped her was because the women in charge of the beating had been Doris’ goons. If Tiny had let her fight, she’d only have gotten in the way, maybe even injured Doris’ toys. Chris didn’t understand Doris’ fascination with her, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with her.

The woman was merciless and the moment she found out how much of a fraud Chris was, how much she sucked at the game, she’d be discarded like yesterday’s trash. No, she wasn’t going to cry and beg for protection at either of their skirts. It wouldn’t be easy, and she didn’t know if it would work, but the moment she left the real world, she knew exactly what she would have to do when she came back.

First though, she had another game to play.