The first thing Ivan and Rufus were forced to do - and so did the rest of the class - was clean up duty. They were assigned at various quadrants in level one to monitor. They would follow a guard and clean up anything that a prisoner may spill or the aftermath of altercations.
"What a shithole," Rufus muttered. He vastly underestimated the type of place this was going to be. At first, he figured it would be a rather clean and organized place--he was wrong.
"You fucking shitter! I'll kill you!" In the cells, people fought and fought, blood splattering on the floor, the walls, and even on other people. This resulted in people getting aggravated.
"I'll tear your ass a fucking new one!" Another cursed at another inmate, hurling himself forward and grabbing them in the head and bashing it into the walls. Before he could progress, the guard took action and pressed a simple button that was situated at his hip.
BZZZZTT!
The man let go, his body being struck with electricity. It was strong, the tendrils flowing throughout his body and attacking his cells. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
He did the same for the other inmates present. Their legs and body did the same thing as the previous--they all buckled and they fell on their knees. They begged for it to stop, a sea of pleas flooding.
The guard did not listen. Instead, he turned around and looked at Ivan and Rufus.
"Clean it."
It was a simple order and they listened. One at a time, the two students for Central Ergo Academy entered this particular cell and began cleaning up the residual blood that had been splattered.
"H-help..."
They heard them mutter, but they ignored the pleas that were echoing in their ear. They were in no position to help them for anything. Their only job at the moment was to clean up the blood that they spilled.
They did not spare any of them a glance. They dodged the tendrils of electricity that flooded the room, exiting as cleanly as they had entered. The guard whistled, nodding his head in satisfaction.
With that, their duties continued.
Once it reached mid-day, they were relieved of their duties and sent to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was mostly empty as their lunch was not something that overlapped with the inmates. The first level cafeteria was dull, a smooth marble white stretching far and wide.
A prison asylum through and through.
Guiding themselves to their individual seat, Ivan sat with Rufus due to them being the only people that knew each other out of the all the countless other individuals that were a part of their school.
The food wasn't bad. It settled in their mouth smoothly and they didn't have any need to convulse in disgust. However, it could be better. Regardless, they understood that these people - inmates and the deranged - did not have privilege.
Guards lingered, watching carefully. After awhile, Jessica came into the cafeteria, her face stern and hardened as if she was stone.
"Listen," he calmly spoke despite the exterior she displayed. "I understand that you all did not expect to be on clean up duty on the first day--but you'll have to work for greater opportunities."
She could heard the quiet complaints from students while they moaned about their duty of cleaning up after the bastards.
But--they had to learn.
"Gain experience. Do your duty perfectly. And when you, you may encounter an opportunity to witness higher floors."
After all, they were merely at the top of the Obsidian prison asylum. The dangers that they bathed in currently could not compare to the overwhelming insanity that lurked beneath them.
Like the unknown, it awaited for them.
~~~
Quantum City, earlier in the morning.
Waking up at 6 AM in the morning, Grace groggily forced himself up. His eyes were still half-shut, the tiredness creeping over his shoulder, having crawled up his spine. Walking barefoot to the corridors of the apartment floor, he was reminded that this was not his home.
Rather, a temporary household he'd live in for the rest of the month. Pushing this to the back of his mind, Grace walked towards the bathroom and took a piss. Afterwards, he remembered that he forgot to get his towel, so he walked back to his room and expelled the towel and necessities from his Dimensional Storage Ring.
Heading back into the bathroom, Grace unraveled himself, discarding the clothes to the floor before folding it and placing it on the sink counter.
A cold November day called for a cold bath!
Afterward, Grace dried himself and wore new shorts - black - and carried himself out of the bathroom and back into his assigned room. Getting his things in order, Grace went to the kitchen with a container of instant coffee.
"6:23..." Grace muttered to himself.
The kitchen area was small, but there was a large enough table to work with. Looking around, Grace shrugged before allowing himself to get a cup and filling it up with water. Heating it up in a microwave, Grace took it out after a minute and sprinkled the flakes of instant coffee.
Plummeting himself down to a nearby chair, Grace took a spoon and began mixing the water and flakes of instant coffee together. He didn't add anything else and kept it completely black and bitter.
It was not because he preferred the taste of it, but rather it was because putting sugar or anything else took more time. And since he did not dislike the taste of black coffee--he can enjoy it.
Been awhile since I had this. Grace thought. He had been so caught up in his own affairs and waking up with hardly any time to indulge in his own interests outside of striving towards his goal.
But...
For a moment, that was not the case.
Squeak!
The door to the apartment opened and a much more disheveled Wilson Gray walked into the apartment. His face was soured, the smell of cigarettes invading the space around them. Wilson looked to the side, catching Grace sipping on a cup of black coffee.
"Up early, huh?"
"You said to be ready by 7."
"Well, it was because I thought there would be another case that would be handed to me - us - once the sun rose."
"Is there?" Grace asked.
Wilson smirked tiredly.
"Today is your lucky day. There hasn't been anything in the morning, so I'll be showing you around the city in... thirty minutes."
"What will you be doing in those thirty minutes?" Grace wondered. Considering the bags under Wilson's eyes were darker than ever, Grace had a small suspicion as to what Wilson planned to do.
"I'm going to nap."