This doesn’t make any sense! 

I threw a mental tantrum as the hours I had just spent trying to figure out this mess were wasted. 

I'm sure of what I heard, but it just didn't make any sense! They wouldn't have come to the prison they plan to destroy unless they had no other choice. So... they brought the bomb with them? 

How is that even possible? 

And who are they working for? 

It could be the resistance, but that would be far from logical. The prison is full of resistance fighters. Plus, the resistance hates the government, not the people. They have never done anything to harm civilians before, let alone their own kind. 

Who would have a strong enough motive to kill not one, not two, but the entire prison population? That would literally be the end of the pri... 

Wait a minute... 

The 9th is in a few days... Could it be that... 

Someone is trying to sabotage the conversion! 

I fell onto the bed and closed my eyes from exhaustion. But no matter how hard I tried, my mind was plagued with haunting images, the stench of death sullying my subconscious. 

Beep Beep 

The dinner alert went off, and in ten seconds, the cell door flew open. I dragged myself to the lunchroom and quickly grabbed food and found a place to sit. The rest of the table remained unoccupied. This was, of course, because no one wanted to sit next to me. Well, maybe not no one... 

Damn all this noise! I need to think. 

"So what, you don't eat lunch now?" 

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. 

I looked up to see Alex looming over me, about to take a seat. "You're keeping tabs on me now?" I swiftly replied. 

"No..." He answered with a raised brow. "It just became pretty evident after Duran wouldn't shut up about it at lunch." 

"Is that so?" I tittered. "I see that you're on a first-name basis with a guy you barely know." 

"I'm on a first-name basis with you..." He quickly halted his eating to look at me more intensely, emphasizing his point, "and I've known you both a day apart." 

"Yeah, but I almost died saving you, twice!" 

"I noticed," he jeered, "but that's probably because you're a narcissistic jackass with a hero complex." 

Ignoring his previous statement, I turned to ask, "Is that also why you care so much about my disappearance at lunch? Concerned about my safety or yours?" 

He stopped the sandwich midway in the air, making it apparent that I'd struck a nerve. "Does it matter..." he asked rhetorically. 

No, I suppose it doesn't. 

We continued eating, my mind still trying to think up a plan. 

There are three checkout points when entering and leaving the warehouse, all of which are heavily guarded. 

It's impossible for me to sneak in or out. The only way for me to do this is if I remain in the warehouse, and that too is impossible. The computer would notice that my U.I. has not signed out, alarming the guards. 

"Coach Wells...?" 

Huh? 

I looked up in surprise at Alex's utterance, only to be met with a most unpleasant coincidence. 

"Well, look what we have here. Ain't this a small world—I mean prison?" 

Regenerate response 

Hoping… 

That it’s not too late…