Warden smiled, giving Meck a shiver. “I always like to greet my new wards before they go into stasis. Let’s see, you are,” he paused to glance upward, “Mathias Meckler. Prisoner MM18082031. How very nice to meet you, Mr. Meckler.”
Everything about you seems so real, Meck thought. Hard to believe you’re an AI.
“Do you know the nickname for my prison?” Warden asked.
“Yeah, Lunatraz.”
“Do you know why people call it that?”
Meck shrugged. “Because of Alcatraz, I guess.”
“Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary housed some of the most notorious criminals in history, from Al Capone to Machine Gun Kelly. The freezing, shark-infested waters of San Francisco Bay made it escape-proof, but that didn’t keep prisoners from trying to escape. Do you know why?”
Meck shrugged again. “Hope?”
“I’m impressed,” said Warden, nodding. “They could see their freedom, waiting across the bay, so they devised all sorts of hare-brained schemes. But there’s no hope on Lunatraz. Earth is nothing but a distant blue ball. Nobody has ever tried to escape from my prison, and no one ever will.”
“You can save the speech,” Meck replied. “I just want to do my time and go home.”
“Your time, yes.” Warden consulted his files. “Seven years. You’ve been quite the outlaw, Mr. Meckler. Tell me, what is the reason for all this mischief?”
Careful, Meck told himself. He’s looking for deceit. Don’t blow your cover.
“I grew up poor. I’ve never had any money.”
Warden eyed him. “Money,” he said at last. “Well, you won’t need that where you’re going. I run a tight ship, and I don’t tolerate any nonsense.”
“Fine. So can I go into stasis now? No offense, but I’m kind of bored.”
“Oh, are you?” Warden mocked. The human reaction known as sarcasm was among the hardest to program, but Warden’s creators had nailed it.
The AI programmers had made him middle-aged, perhaps fifty, with pencil-thin eyebrows and a pointed nose. Steely eyes and slicked-back hair enhanced his sneer. Warden could have been based on a stern minister, or maybe an army drill instructor.
Suddenly, the cold face grew pensive.
“Three days can be a long time,” he reflected. “Especially if you’re alone, in the dark, unable to move. I can certainly see why stasis might be preferable.”
Meck swallowed. “Listen, Warden, I didn’t mean to—”
“Three days might give a troublesome young man enough time to adjust his poor attitude.”
“I’m sorry, sir. Please don’t—”
“Enjoy your solitude, Mr. Meckler.”
The screen went dark and Meck was alone. No sound, no light, nothing.
He sighed relief. The first encounter with Warden was over, and the AI had accepted him as just another prisoner. Now Meck could enter Lunatraz and begin his work. He had a mystery to solve.
For the past eighteen months, the prison had been the site of strange events. Most were accidents, all were fatal.
Last November, three inmates suffocated when their cell block sprung an air leak. Before that, two cellmates carried out an apparent suicide pact. And in the most recent incident, four laundry workers burned to death when the sprinklers failed. The fireproof doors had closed prematurely.
Warden always gave a viable explanation for the tragedy, but back on Earth some risk experts had begun to whisper. Too many misfortunes, they said. No place could be this unlucky.
Deep analysis of the accidents revealed an intriguing pattern. The dead inmates were those with the highest IQs. In other words, only smart prisoners were dying. Or maybe they were being murdered.
But why? Did Warden feel threatened by them? Had they uncovered a secret? Mat Meckler, an undercover investigator on his first solo assignment, intended to find out.
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