The hours leading up to midnight were agonizing. Noah paced his cell, three steps forward, three steps back. He tried to connect with the prisoners in the adjacent cells.
"Hey," he whispered to the wall on his left. "You awake?"
There was a scratching sound, then a low, guttural voice. "I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy."
"No, you're not," Noah whispered back, harsh but necessary. "You're a man. You're angry. They locked you up because you remembered something, didn't they?"
The chanting stopped. A long silence followed.
"I... I remembered a car," the voice said, trembling. "A red car. Driving fast. The wind in my hair."
"That's right," Noah encouraged. "You drove a car. You weren't a pet. You were a driver."
"I was a driver," the voice repeated, gaining strength. "I went places. I didn't wait for the door to open."
Noah moved to the right wall. "Hey! You! Next door!"
"Squawk!" came the reply. "Polly wants a cracker! Polly wants a cracker!"
"No crackers," Noah said. "You want freedom. You're a bird, aren't you? Birds fly. Why are you in a cage?"
"Cage... cage bad," the voice squawked, dropping the parrot mimicry for a moment. "Wings... clipped."
"They can't clip your mind," Noah said. "Tonight, we fly. But first, we scream."
He worked his way down the line, whispering through the vents, shouting through the bars when the guards weren't looking. He spread the contagion of memory. He reminded the "dog" in cell 40 about steak dinners. He reminded the "hamster" in cell 45 about running marathons.
By 11:55 PM, the atmosphere in the block had changed. The mournful whimpering had stopped. It was replaced by a tense, electric silence. The air tasted of ozone and adrenaline.
"They're ready," Mittens whispered from the vent. "The shift change is happening. The fat cats are coming in. I'm going for the panel."
Noah stood at the center of his cell. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the stale prison air.
"Remember who you are!" Noah shouted, his voice booming down the corridor. "You are not pets! You are not broken! You are people! And people don't belong in cages!"
"Silence!" a guard roared, running down the hall. It was a heavy-set Persian in a uniform that was too tight. "Code Violet! Silence immediately!"
"Now!" Noah yelled.