The frigid air worked its way through Gemmei’s skin and after close to an hour she felt warmth would never return. That's how it always felt here, though. At the very least when she returned to the cool autumn air outside, it would feel positively tropical in comparison.

She soldiered on regardless, stacking box after box in the dimly lit HCC kitchen freezer. The extra workload helped build her core strength again, especially after spending nearly a month in the infirmary. Though if she started sweating too much the cold would wrap its fingers around her that much quicker. Despite the thick walls of the freezer Gemmei heard the work of other inmates as they slogged away in the rooms next to her, as the HCC boasted an impressive number of the large giant fridges to keep its sizable population fed. Gemmei wiped some frost off her HCC issued jacket then walked back towards the heavy iron door in front. It was time to collect another bundle of preserved pigs knuckles or horse giblets or whatever nasty stuff the Warden liked to keep the larders stocked with. Allegedly, if the monsoons got too bad, the only road to civilization became impossible to navigate for the food suppliers and the inmates were forced to eat whatever was left. Some said going back to the hole was a preferable experience to having to eat frog skin for a month.

The iron door swung open with a noisy creak and Gemmei stepped out into the bustling kitchen to catch a breather. Though the day’s meals finished hours ago the cleaning staff’s work continued. The large industrial preparation area with all its stainless steel countertops and big ovens, mixers, and cupboards had to be sterilized each and every night. Gemmei scanned the tightly packed kitchen slowly, then yawned and grabbed a nearby pallet to wheel some more boxes of chicken necks into the freezer.

Box after box went up, perched precariously on top of each other like a child carelessly stacking blocks. Gemmei wouldn’t have to be the one to pull them back down so she didn't put much effort into keeping them stable. Unlike the lagoon work, stocking the shelves could be done automatically without spending too much brain power. The routine seemed to put her in a trance, right up until Gemmei heard the big freezer doors swing open and shut again. The noise shattered her rhythmic pattern as if someone slapped her across the face. She dropped the box she carried almost immediately in response. Was it the foreman checking to see if she met quota again? She hadn’t failed for weeks, but that nosy micromanager was always trying to...

No, the footsteps fell too heavy to be that woman. Wiping her hands on her clothes Gemmei turned around to face the stranger. She saw the head of the intruder standing tall above the other crates and boxes before the rest of her pulled into view. Gemmei stacked everything one head taller than herself, and for this person to be even taller meant...it was her.

The large inmate swept around the corner of one of the shelves with a powerful stride. She stood so tall that from where Gemmei stood, she almost blocked the bare bulb hanging from above. Her shoulders were broad enough to block the entire space between the stacks of foodstuffs, and if that wasn’t enough her tree-trunk like arms quite easily shoved aside the containers poking out that might have blocked her way. The immediate image of one of those ancient statues standing guard over an old king’s tomb came to mind, especially from the woman’s stiff facial features and deep set eyes. The baritone grumbling that rolled off her tongue only added to that effect. “Shinshi Gemmei, stay where you are.”

A large puff of condensed air escaped from Gemmei’s lungs. Her neck kind of hurt having to look up at the woman, so she decided to stare at the pipes running along the far wall instead. “Can’t it wait? The foreman has me on probation. If I screw up my quota again, I'm getting fired. And who the hell are you, anyway?”

The last part was a deliberate attempt at pretend ignorance, as Gemmei and this woman, Machii’s personal executioner, had yet to be formally introduced. Everyone in the prison knew who she was, though. It was hard to miss a nearly seven foot tall titan known for literally punching another inmate's eyeballs out. “You know who I am, Shinshi Gemmei.” The enormous woman placed one arm up atop a stack of wooden crates as if resting. “You will address me as Nishioka. I have questions to ask you.”

“I can talk and work at the same time.” Gemmei gave more visible breaths as she moved between her pile of cargo and the shelves along the farthest wall of the freezer. Ice dripping from the corners of the unit meant that putting stuff there was a terrible idea, but Gemmei really wanted the space between herself and the gargantuan Nishioka. “Or maybe you can help out. Easier to answer questions if I have less work to do.”

Nishioka didn’t budge and just watched Gemmei fuss about with a box at the rear of the unit in total silence. Gemmei awkwardly flailed a bit as she struggled to push a box up to the top, having to halfway climb up the shelf to get it securely in place. When she returned, the iron gaze of Nishioka again fell on her with tremendous weight. “What are you doing here, Shinshi Gemmei?”

The words hit Gemmei harder than expected. Like Machii, Nishioka spoke with a remarkably compelling voice. The Houzou Hakkyou worked its magic far stronger when the speaker of an order did so with the right tone. Gemmei shook off her initial surprise, then started brushing debris off the next box she was going to load. “I’m working in exchange for currency, which can be used to purchase goods and services. Maybe you’ve heard of the concept before.”

“I don’t believe you.” Nishioka’s reply came back without any hint of malice, but her blunt delivery made it clear this wasn’t a friendly conversation. “You’ve been watching me, haven’t you?”

While bent over Gemmei couldn’t make eye contact, so she just stared at the ‘hog tail’ label for a while as she considered her response. “Yeah, well, you’re just so dang handsome. Who wouldn’t want to catch an eyeful?”

“I’ve talked to the foreman as well.” Nishioka leaned hard on the shelf, tilting it precariously despite the massive number of boxes on it. The sound of the steel moving even reverberated louder than the condenser unit at the back of the freezer. Gemmei had to stop just to wait and see if the whole thing was going to collapse, because if it did, then her ass was definitely out of the job. “You’re paying triple the usual tax rate to work here. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Come on,” Gemmei gave an exhausted sigh and didn’t even bother trying to pick up the gross food at her feet. “I don’t get treated fairly anyway because of your boss. Don’t throw that back on me.”

“She says you volunteered to pay that amount.” Nishioka finally stopped leaning on the shelf, but it still dangled so precariously close to tilting over that Gemmei’s stomach did a little flip every time she glanced over at it. “Most inmates pay the foreman a tax to get a job here, but they make up for it by skimming food off the top to resell.”

Recognizing where the conversation was headed Gemmei changed her mind, and quickly scooped up another container to escort it to the back. “Yeah, you caught me. I’m paying extra so I can score some free cookie dough from under the warden's nose. What can I say, I’m an addict.”

Unlike before Nishioka now followed Gemmei towards the back. In her padded work clothes, Gemmei realized her own body couldn’t move nearly as quickly as usual. If an altercation happened she would be in far worse position to do anything about it, and against the beefy Nishioka the odds already looked really bad. The woman’s booming voice spoke even while Gemmei again scaled the shelves to slide in another box. “You only work here once a week, Shinshi Gemmei. With the added taxes, you make less here than you do as a dredger.”

Facing away from Nishioka, Gemmei pointed up to the ceiling as she worked. “Free air conditioning too. Can’t forget that.”

“And-” Nishioka sounded very close now. Frighteningly close. “I’ve been taking inventory after you leave every night.”

Hearing that stopped Gemmei yet again in her tracks, as if she herself finally succumbed to the freezing temperature. Without much else to say, she just shrugged and refused to turn around to face Nishioka. “Okay. Cool. Is everyone who works in the kitchen just super anal about the details, or is it just you and the foreman?”

“You haven’t been taking anything.”

Another very frigid pause passed. Eventually Gemmei did start repositioning the box again, but since it was already in place, she was obviously stalling for time. “Stealing is wrong, you know.” Gemmei’s warm breath could be seen rising even in between her words. Each time the freezer machinery kicked on and rattled to life it felt like it was growing louder in between the long silences. “We’re all here to pay our debts to society. I’m trying to set a good example.”

“Tell me what you are planning.”

Again the forceful tone nearly sent Gemmei over the edge as her Hakkyou tried to force compliance. She went with her usual attempt to bypass it. “I was thinking I'll finish up here, then see if anyone in the recc room wants to put some cash down on a ping pong game. I’m undefeated, see-”

“Tell me what you are planning to do against Machii.”

Direct questions could be the hardest to sidestep. Gemmei tried anyway. “I have nothing against your boss.” She slid out from behind the shelf and shuffled her way towards a corner, keeping her eyes up at the ceiling and away from Nishioka. “Look, what can little old me do anyway? You could snap me like a twig. I have nothing to gain.”

As soon as Gemmei reached the corner a massive palm set itself on her shoulder. What little light remained disappeared as Nishioka’s silhouette filled the entire field of vision. Nishioka’s incredibly overwhelming power easily forced Gemmei to turn around, and Gemmei didn’t even bother resisting. “Look me in the eyes.” Blinking against the biting cold Gemmei had no choice but to stare up at the woman again. Eye contact was terrible, the Hakkyou kicked in much harder in a direct conversation. “Tell me-”

The rest of the command disappeared under a shrill, pneumatic hiss. Nishioka’s expression couldn’t be seen as suddenly an enormous cloud of condensation sprayed out from above, as the pipes running along the ceiling burst in unison. In that corner specifically such a number of the conduits met that the cloud of frigid air blasted the large woman particularly hard, forcing her back almost instantly as she held both arms up to shield her face. Gemmei let out her own hiss and sliding along the slick floor, slipped past Nishioka. “Whoa, work hazard!” Gemmei let out a little token warning as she fled towards the exit. “Very dangerous to keep working here! I’ll go tell the foreman!”

Nishioka didn’t give chase. It was hard to, given how the low ceiling of the freezer forced her to crouch down to avoid getting sprayed in the face by bitter air. Even as she tried to move, the unevenly stacked crates blocked her from being able to do so quickly, lest she be responsible for spilling their contents. She let out an agitated growl and swung a fist out as if about to smash up an entire box of turkey livers. Yet, at the last second, she stopped, and just held her fist in place and squeezed. Gemmei noticed it right as she slithered her way out the door. Not good. Kokona had taken much longer to notice Gemmei’s lurking around, and this Nishioka lady hadn't fallen for the bait and set off the delicately balanced boxes either. The warden was right, Machii’s remaining henchmen were much more dangerous to cross.

She bit her tongue as she made a quick escape. Wouldn’t it feel great taking down a monster like Nishioka, though...? Gemmei couldn’t shake the thought. Trying to mess with the criminal boss of the HCC was treacherous enough. She really didn’t need her thirst for violence making things that much worse. It had caused enough problems in her life already.