Prison World Description

Discussion continued. I waited, my eyes roving over the surroundings. The entryway to the jail was built of the same prefabricated segments, with the arching ceiling over the booth, the layout of the hallways, and the setup around the door. The difference was in the protective measures. The entryway looked like a place that was triply fortified, with shutters that could drop down at regular intervals, and a very fortified booth. Painted lines traced along the floor, pointing to different destinations.

*****

It was such a messy prison system. A minimum of guards, the prisoners free range, without even a wall between them at the outside world. It was just… flat and marshy out in three of the four directions, with the fourth not being fantastic. Everything hinged on the ankle-worn bombs and other countermeasures that the prisoners wore. To run meant to have one's foot and calf blown off.

The shutter down the hall opened.

"You may proceed straight ahead. The prisoners you've asked to meet will be on their way to the table shortly."

The light from outside was bright as the shutter came up. Wind blew through as the shutter raised, but it wasn't because of the distorted portals and weather from that. We were too far off the beaten track, and things were more tranquil here.

Buildings were set down in tight clusters, for administration buildings, or in nondescript collections of apartments, fitting within the narrowest possible interpretation of code and then cramming that full of one-room apartments.

One set of a dozen prisoners were filtering into the buildings. Our visit had been timed by the prison to take advantage of the shift to the next exercise period.

- Beacon 8.3