2020-03-17 - spike - Trapped again Part eight

Author: spike
Title: Trapped again. Part eight.
Date: 17 March 2020

“Well, you’re not on your knees.”

Eric chuckled. “Still a bit wobbly though. God, that was a good workout.”

Wall sighed. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad normally. They always force you to go harder the first time, it’s the only way to set the limiter.”

“No-one forced me to do anything.”

“No threats?”

“No need. I’ve always been fit. I loved that!”

He gulped. “And you suggested a competition? Shit and blood, Eric…”

“I’d make it fair. Best of you on each against me. How does that sound? The tutorial said twice so… Another before lockdown?”

He nodded. “You’ll receive the summons when it’s time for the second one. OK, I’ll race you. The treadmill’s intelligent enough to handle three people at a time. You’ll have to ask the others what they want to challenge you to.”

Vex was the next to join them. He had a strange expression. A little haunted, obviously tired, but he looked happy. It was an odd combination.

“Are you OK?”

“I’ve never… I…”

“Let me guess. It’s the first time you’ve felt it… Little bit floaty? All the tension gone? You shoved it all into your exercises and you’re anger free for the first time in years?”

His eyes widened and he nodded. “I don’t care if it implies an extra five years to your sentence, Eric. Why the shit couldn’t we have been sentenced at the same time? It could’ve changed my life!”

“Changed your life more if I’d met you before you committed whatever it was, you mean.”

“Or that, yeah. Bloody hell, I beat my best by over ten per cent. All I can say is… Thanks! How did you learn that?”

“It was hard. I went through a meditative period… Sounded interesting, so why not try it. That’s when I found it… That ball of rage. Scared the shit out of me and I avoided looking for it for years. Learning to let it go was the real struggle, but… Just like you… Felt like I was floating the first time. That time it was one explosive burst, scary is hell, but after that, I learned how to turn the tap, so to speak. Let it out in more controlled trickles when needed.”

“So it’s not gone, then? Feels like it is.”

“Pain, loss, anger… They don’t just go away. You’ll always have the memories to fuel them. It’ll build up again over time. Don’t let it.”

“I can’t believe how good I feel. Tempted to just return to my cell and sleep. Might be the first good one I’ve had in ages.”

“You’ll only screw up your body clock. It’ll still be low enough for you to get a good night’s sleep after your forced wank. Probably feel even better and more relaxed after that.”

They returned one by one, all expressing similar experiences, all grinning. All happy for the first time in years. They started to argue about who’d compete on which exercises.

“I’ll leave you to hammer out who does what. You’ve got all day. My first lesson after a change and shower.”

Howard was the last, and he looked thoroughly exhausted. The moment he joined them, the instructor waved his hand over the panel. “Unlock and open. I’ll see you lot later. I don’t know what he said to you but I’m impressed. I’ve added a privilege or lock to each of your accounts. I’ll let you choose which one if you don’t have them all.”

There was a barrage of “Thank you, sir”s as everyone left the room.

How increased his pace to walk beside Eric as they made their way back to the cell block. “Sorry.”

“What about?”

“The punch to the head?”

“How long have you been doing it?”

He shrugged. “I was sent down in nineteen ninety-five. Before you say anything more… Don’t tell me how long ago that was, but the blacks back then were doing the same thing.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll only depress you. The doctor told me to put aside all concepts of time before I got to my cell and I can understand why. If it was that long ago… What happened to them?”

“A few died. A few fell foul of block eight. I was fifty when they sentenced me, so I imagine by the time you’ve been in as long as I have, I’ll be dead too.”

“You were fifty? Back then? Well, you certainly don’t show it!”

“Plenty of exercise, a healthy diet, very good medicine. I almost hope I am here to see you as the elder statesman.” he looked up at Eric with a grin. “Well, apart from me, but by then I’d imagine I’ll be in a wheelchair.”

“Oh, god. The very thought. As for the punch… Don’t worry about it. It’s a tradition by the sound of it. Who knows how long that’s been going on? Maybe the blacks who introduced you to the idea got it from the ones before them. Could’ve been going on as long as the prison has. Maybe longer.”

How chuckled. “I’d never thought about it like that.”

Eric swiped the panel, the doors opened onto block three and he glanced back as he made his way to his cell. “I’ll see you later. Cell tidy and then flute, for me.”

The thought of those stairs after the workout he’d had… This time, he did use the lift.

When he got to his cell, it was exactly as he’d envisioned it. Bare white walls with all his bedding, mattress and uniforms scattered across the floor.

“Activate.”

Pick up all the slippers… After what the PT instructor had said, he even checked in each one to make sure nothing was hidden. Hang up his uniforms, put the mattress back on the bed and then remake it.

He stepped back, reviewed his work, nodded, stripped and stepped into the cubicle, shoving his arms through the holes. “Cell, shower.”

Clamp, clamp, stretch, deluge, dry. Oh god, it was welcome though. He felt a hell of a lot more refreshed exiting the cubicle than he had entering it.

“Cell, guide me to flute grade one.”

The 3D map appeared on the screen with a dotted line indicating the route. He didn’t need that, just which corridor on the opposite side of the triangle to enter. He nodded and placed his hand on the door. “Open.”

Back out on the landing, he looked back at the entry… There was no door to issue a lock command to without stepping back into the alcove and he didn’t want to be locked in that.

“I wonder… Cell, close and lock.”

“Voice profile of Prisoner 50095223 identified.” The cylinder rotated into its closed state and locked with that familiar boom.

Down in the lift, across, swipe. The door opened to reveal the long line of classrooms on one side and doors further apart on the other. He made his way to number nine and swiped again.

There was a buzz. “This classroom is locked.”

Eric froze. He listened. He could hear some activity within. He looked around, sighed and knocked on the door.

Nothing happened, so he knocked again, harder.

The voice within halted, there was a pause and the door slid open.

It was an elderly man. He looked annoyed at the interruption but at the sight of Eric, he took a step back. “W… What is it? What are you doing here?”

“Flute grade one, sir? I was told to report here, sir.”

“You? A black? For what purpose?”

“This is the right place, isn’t it? I booked on the course last night and this is when and where it told me to be.”

“I… But… We’re halfway through the lesson! Why are you late?”

“But I’m not late, sir. My orders were to report here immediately upon completion of my post-workout shower. That’s now, sir.”

“Then why were all my other students here on time?”

“Time, sir? Time’s meaningless to us. You might not’ve noticed but there are no clocks here, sir. We only go where we’re ordered to. As for why I’m later than the rest, there weren’t any greys at our workout, sir. I imagine they keep us separate because that lot run away at the very sight of us, normally.” Eric sighed. “Sorry, sir, but the guard ordered me to tidy my cell before the shower and we were waiting for the gym instructor for what felt like an age. The other blacks said he’s usually late. Something about traffic, sir. Added to that, he wouldn’t unlock until everyone had completed their exercises, sir.”

“This has to change. We can’t have you showing up halfway through all the time, it’ll totally disrupt my lesson plan.”

“I suppose you could have a word with the instructor, sir. Maybe he could let me out before the rest finish. I was the first to complete everything today, sir.”

“Name?”

“50095223 Unknown, sir.”

“Ah, so you’re the mystery man. I didn’t mean your name, I meant the name of the instructor.”

“He didn’t say, sir. You could always ask a guard to escort you to the cell block three gym after this if you wish to speak to him, sir. He should be there for the rest of the day.”

“Very well, I suppose you’d better come in. Take your seat.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Every single one of them sat bolt upright when he entered. A few stared at the door and looked ready to bolt.

Eric glanced back. “Sir, I’d lock that door again or the room’s likely to be empty in a few seconds.”

“Very good point.” he chuckled and waved his hand over the panel. “Close and lock. I must say, you appear to be a man of good humour considering your situation.”

“I’m here for life, sir. The only choice now is to wallow in self-pity or like it. I decided to like it, sir. Surprising thing is, a lot of it, I do and as I am here for life, I figured, why not do something useful with it. You were the only music class with a space. Besides, I’m likely the only man…” He paused and surveyed the room more closely. There were a couple of women. “person in this room who’ll complete the entire lot. Even if it does take me twenty years, sir.”

Eric deliberately selected a desk between two of them and took his seat.

To say they looked uncomfortable was an understatement until one of them looked at him more closely. “Oh shit! You’re him!”

“Him who?”

“The one on the screens last night! The… How could they have absolutely nothing on you?”

“Oh, you mean captain Galloway? I know him. He’s as bent as a three-pound coin. What he said to his underling wasn’t informative. It was instructional. Pretty obvious he knew what that shocker thing’d do. It destroyed my chip. The one they replaced it with really did have nothing on it. Absolutely no life before the arrest. They wiped me. Erased me completely. You don’t think Unknown’s my real name, do you?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing. They did me a favour. I’ll make a life for myself here, starting with this.”

“So what is your real name?”

“Unknown is my real name now and it will be for the rest of my life.”

“Gentlemen!” Eric’s attention snapped to the front of the room. “We’ve wasted enough time and now I’ve got to start from the very beginning! If you want to discuss our newest inmate, save it for the common area!”

“Yes, sir. Sorry. It’s the first time a grey’s spoken to me, sir.”

He scrolled through a few screens worth of notes, gave a deep sigh and began.

“Welcome to flute grade one. In this course, you will learn how to read music. You will learn everything about the flute and you will learn how to play it. If at the end of this course, you still can’t, you’ll begin again and again and again until you can progress to grade two. For most of you, that may very well end with your release.” he looked at Eric. “But for you, I bloody well hope you’re a good learner because you could still be stuck on grade one flute for, as you said, twenty years if you’re not.

There’s no way to back out. Any request to withdraw from this course will be denied. You’re here until you can bloody well play to the highest standards. Until you could outplay someone in the London Philharmonic! Is that understood?”

A chorus of “Yes, sirs” along with a few disgruntled “but you said this alreadys.” went around the room.

“I know I said it already! We’re starting from the top, remember. You’ll just have to put up with it! Now, to save time, I’ve already noted this about everyone else. You!” He pointed at Eric. “Have you ever played any musical instruments before?”

“They taught us recorder when I was a kid in school, sir.”

“It’s a start. What size?”

“Sir?”

“How long was it?”

Eric held his hands apart. “About that long, sir… Might be a bit wrong though, I was a lot smaller when I did it. It was over ten years ago, sir.”

“Move your hands six inches closer together and that’s a descant.”

Eric nodded. “I do recognise the name, sir. Must be that one.”

“Did you learn musical notation?”

“Some, sir. I think I can still name most of them, but I can’t remember much else.”

“Let’s test you on that… Computer, bring up a staff, treble, all the note lengths, starting with the longest.” The screen changed to the five line musical score Eric was familiar with and each note length appeared. “Now… Name them.”

“I… I’ve never seen the first three, sir. I wondered why the semibreve was called that. I assume the one before that is a breve, sir? But they never covered anything beyond semibreve in school, sir.”

“And the rest?” He pointed at each in turn.

“Errr… Minim? Crotchet? Quaver? Semiquaver, sir. They didn’t cover anything smaller than that either, sir.”

“And what distinguishes them from each other?”

“In that order, each one’s half the length of the one before, sir.”

“You’ve got a good memory. Good, because you’ll need it. You certainly did better than some of these. Most of them couldn’t even name one!” he pointed at the spirally-squiggle at the start. “And that?”

“Treble clef, sir.”

“And that denotes?”

“Errr… I know it’s got something to do with how high the notes are, sir. The bass clef, they’re much lower.”

“Very good! It seems I don’t need to go over the first half of the lesson again, after all, you know everything I’ll be covering in the second half too. You had a traditional teacher?”

“I… I suppose she must’ve been, sir.”

“Which school?”

“I can’t remember, sir. It was up north, sir, not London. We moved around quite a bit when I was a kid, sir. Only settled down when I was thirteen. I didn’t get anything more on it after that, sir”

The teacher’s gaze swept the rest of the class. “Now why didn’t any of you know that? I’ll tell you why. Bloody modernists! They think it’s OK to play the virtual flute, or rather, get the computer to do it for them! Not me! None of you will be permitted to use a computer to do anything until at least grade five! And then it’ll only be for mixing, understood?”

There were a few groans. Eric glanced around the room with a grin. “Don’t know what you’re complaining about. It said we were learning flute, not computer programming!”

“Thank you, Unknown. Now, to continue…”

The rest of the lesson went over and over and over again the names and significance of all the basic symbols. He didn’t even bother naming the top two, sticking with the basics Eric had learned in primary school, and it seemed to be taking its time for it to sink in for some of them.

Finally, the teacher turned off his screen and leant on the desk looking at them. He sighed.

“Hands up who thought this was going to be easy?”

Half of them did.

“And those who thought it was going to be hard.”

Eric put his hand up. Only one other prisoner did. A woman wearing mid-grey in the corner.

He pointed at her. “Why did you sign up if you knew it was going to be difficult?”

“I like a challenge, sir. Don’t get many of those in here, sir.”

He pointed at Eric. “And you?”

“There’s very little that’s worthwhile if it’s easy, sir.”

“These two… Pay attention to them. These have the right attitude. You need to push yourselves, not think you can just lie on your back and slide through. When this course is over, you will all be tested. You will all be required to perform before an audience in the assembly hall, and if any of you fail…” He shook his head. “Do you really want to repeat the entire thing again? So I expect you to learn, to study, to revise.”

Eric nodded. “Sir, a suggestion?”

“Yes?”

“Have a look at the public domain archive, sir. Thousands of books on every subject under the sun, all free, as far as I can tell. I only started on it myself last night. Selecting reading material.”

“Reading material? For what?”

“I’m going to be teaching myself, soon. That really will require some effort, and not just up here, either.” he tapped his temple.

“You?”

“Yes, sir.”

“A black?”

Eric shrugged. “Don’t see why not, sir. We’re held to much more rigorous standards than the rest, sir. I know what happens if I… make a mistake, sir, and this lot’d faint at the thought of some of it, sir. They might think losing the odd privilege is a punishment.”

The one next to him glared. “Well, it is!”

“When you’re a black, you’re a lifer. How would you like to lose all of them? That’s the least of the punishments against us. Ever heard of the demerit system?”

He gulped. “They wouldn’t! Everything? For weeks?”

“Or years. Or the rest of your life if you really mess up.”

“Blood and shit! You’re just making it up! You have to be! You’ve barely been here a day!”

“Oh, we got a very personalised induction. One specifically written for the blacks. We know exactly what they can do to us, and it isn’t pleasant. I’m not going to say what… Apart from one thing… You know the penalty for… A little bit on the side? A little rumpy-pumpy?”

“What?”

“Sex?”

He gulped. “I… That thing looks nasty! The rest of my five years? In one of them?”

“What grey are you?”

“Three, why?”

“Ask a grey five what happens? Then ask one of us. It gets worse the darker you get, y’know.”

“Worse? Than that?”

“Oh yes. You think five years is bad, try life, even after release. That’s what the darker greys are threatened with, and it gets even worse for us. They’re practically torture devices for us. Electrified. And on for life, too. Impossible to remove and illegal to even try.”

There were a few gasps from around the room.

“Look, just… Stop looking at the blacks like they’re something to be terrified of. If you stopped running away at the sight of us, you might get a few new friends, eventually. I get on well enough with ‘em and I’ve only been here a day.”

“But you are a black!”

“But do I deserve to be? At most I should be mid grey for what I’ve done. I know they like to look all scary and threatening, but… I don’t. And I’d appreciate it if, for me at least, you’d just come over and chat once in a while! I’ve planted the seeds. I’ll get them to be more friendly eventually. I can be pretty persuasive.”

“But the things they’ve done!”

“Oh, so what? We’re all in here together. As far as I’m concerned what happened outside, stays outside. Any crimes committed in here’s a different matter. Then you give ‘em hell. We’ve already received our punishment for what we did out there. We’re black for life. Or as the induction so kindly put it, you’ll never feel the breeze on your cheek, the kiss of a raindrop, never pet a dog or smell a flower. You’ll die within these walls and good riddance, but we hope that won’t be for a very, very long time.”

“Ours wasn’t like that!”

“You’re due for release eventually. You’re here to be rehabilitated. To learn to be good, honest, valuable members of society. We’re not a part of that world anymore and never will be. They don’t care about rehabilitating us. I won’t say it’s all punishment, no reward, because we do get privileges, but we don’t get anything else. No commissary for us. Just… A little understanding goes a long way.”

Eric looked around the class to find quite a few shocked expressions. A couple even had tears in their eyes.

The teacher smiled. “What are your plans? What do you want to teach?”

“Carpentry, sir. I’m a master craftsman and I intend to only teach the traditional skills. No computers, no robots. The only machines are the manually operated ones like lathe and drill, sir. Everything else, by hand tool. Maybe a little computer work for design, but beyond that, no.”

“You’re a traditionalist yourself, then!” his smile widened. “I… might have an idea for you, but right now, class dismissed. Unknown, you will accompany me to see this PE teacher. We’ll talk on the way.”

“Yes, sir.”

The class disbanded and once everyone was gone, the teacher ushered Eric out of the room, locked the door behind him and approached the guard.

“I need you to escort me to the gym.”

“Of course, sir. Follow me.”

He returned to Eric. “Now they’re out of the way… Why didn’t you tidy your cell before you went for your workout?”

“I did, sir.”

“So why did the guard who inspected it insist you do it again? Not up to standard?”

“Perfect sir, when I left, that is. I knew what to expect when I got back though. He’s the one who made the mess, sir. Blacks aren’t permitted any possessions. Anything found in there and it’ll be a world of hurt, sir. Even an empty chocolate wrapper.”

He gulped. “Nothing?”

“No, sir. I’m fine with it, I don’t need anything, anyway. They feed us and the food’s good. There are books and things to watch on the screens after lockdown. What idea did you have, sir?”

“You say you’re a master with wood… Have you ever tried making an instrument?”

Eric froze mid-step. “I… I can’t say I have, sir. Oh god, though, that’s a good idea. I love learning something new about my craft and the thought never even occurred to me, but… Flutes are just as much metal as wood aren’t they, sir?”

They swiped through into the common area and crossed it. Quite a few greys still fled at the sight of him but this time, more remained seated and even smiled as he passed.

“Recorders aren’t. Some flutes, the most advanced flautists swear by them, only have the holes. There are quite a few woodwind instruments that rely entirely on wood.” He sighed. “Of course, most of them are made of plastic these days. Only antiques are made of wood.”

Eric chuckled. “Thank you, sir. Something new for me to learn again. I’ll have another dig into the archives when I’m back in my cell, sir.”

“My idea… Once your students gain enough skill, have them make some. Make it a class project. Doesn’t even have to be woodwind. Many instruments in the old days relied on wood.”

“You think the prison might have the world’s next Stradivarius?”

The old man chuckled. “No, no. But it would make for a nice, useful skill for them to leave with. Especially if they could leave with their instruments after learning how to play them.”

Another swipe, another corridor. Eric pointed at the door when they were level with it. “The gym, sir.”

The teacher swiped the door, but a buzz sounded. “This door is locked.”

He sighed and swiped again. “Unlock and open.”

“Permission denied. You do not have access.”

“Guard? Could you…”

“Of course, sir. What’s this about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“This prisoner was half an hour late for his first lesson this morning and I believe that time could be regained with a quick chat with the physical trainer.”

The guard nodded and swiped the panel himself. “Unlock and open.” He lowered his voice in an effort to prevent Eric from hearing. “You know you’re not meant to mention time to… to them, sir?”

The door slid open and they stepped inside to find fifty extremely sweaty greys working themselves to exhaustion.

Eric chuckled. “It’s alright, sir. I’ve given up on the concept of time. I just knew I’d arrived halfway through a lesson. I suppose that does give me something to work with then designing my own, though.”

“Own what?”

“Lessons, sir.”

The guard responded with a grunt.

It was a couple of minutes before the instructor spotted them and jogged over. “Unknown? You can’t be here. The door was locked for a reason!”

“I brought him here. We need to discuss punctuality.”

“What do you mean?”

“He arrived at my class when I was halfway through it! It can not be allowed to continue like this. Haven’t you ever heard of alarm clocks? Every computer has that functionality!”

“Now look…”

“No, you look. He booked onto my course and believed himself to be on time because he was ordered to report to it immediately after his post-workout shower. That means the delay was here. Try to get in early! Everyone else manages it or failing that, at least let him go the moment he’s completed his exercises rather than hold them all until the last one’s finished. Fortunately it was only my first class on this course but as things progress it will become very disruptive. He needs to get to me on time!”

“You know how it is with me, Andrew! I have to take the kids to school before I”

“Can’t you just have your car do that? Everyone else does it that way.”

“We used to, before they lost their mother. I need to be with them until they’re in safe hands!”

“Just… Unlock the door for him. Please. You can lock it for the rest. None of them have seen fit to book onto a course and this one shows promise.”

“Alright. I know it’s not fair on you, the way they run things. You can’t expect any one of them to be punctual when they’re constantly told time doesn’t exist anymore. The moment he’s finished, I’ll let him go.”

“Thank you.”

The instructor turned his attention to Eric. “As for you, I’ll expect even more effort next time, make sure you’ve finished even more quickly.”

“Yes, sir. I will, sir.”

“Good… Now…” He grinned and returned his attention to Andrew. “Get out, there’s a good chap. You’re the one being disruptive now.”