"Alex? Alex, where are you?" I shouted as I frantically searched through the engine room. I rounded a steep corner, grazing a metal bar, only to find answers that I wasn't ready for. There, lying just below a broken pipe, was a body. 

"Oh no!" I exclaimed. 

He had been killed, and the opening in his side pooled blood around him. 

"I warned you," a voice said, walking from behind. 

I was surprised but unshaken. "You don't have to do this..." 

"Oh, but I do," the killer said with a smirk on his face. He lifted the gun to my face, and... BANG! 

Where am I? 

The gun went off, and I woke up. My body ached all over, and I couldn't move freely. 

What was that? 

A dream... 

It didn't feel like an ordinary dream... 

"Well, look who finally decided to end his slumber. Thanks for joining me, Sleeping Beauty." 

"Alex," I quickly gathered. I couldn't locate his face, but his voice was as clear as crystal. 

"Well, no shit. Who were you expecting, the Avengers?" 

It wasn't long before I realized that I was once again being detained in a Misconduct room, and Alex was by my side, or rather, strapped up directly behind me. 

"What's going on?" I reached out for answers. 

"What's going on?" He sarcastically reiterated. "Hmm, let's see... Two people are dead in the most absurd freak accident in the history of the prison. So absurd that people, including the prison authorities, are absolutely convinced that we... yes, I just said WE! had something to do with it! 

"Wait, what?!" I shouted. 

"Oh, but it gets better! To make matters worse, I am possibly about to be executed because of a guy I barely even know, for a crime that I had nothing to do with. And I thought spending my life in prison was the worst thing that happened to me. Life just keeps proving me fucking wrong!" 

"I didn't do it," I calmly answered. 

"What did you say?" He asked. 

"I said, I didn't do it." 

He remained quiet for a bit and then began to laugh hysterically. "He didn't do it!" He mockingly mimicked. 

"Oh really now," his voice suddenly got serious. "Then what the hell were you doing on the court? You were running and yelling as if you were trying to warn me, which, by the way, to these idiots, solidifies my role as your accomplice. So, I am still alive, and Eason and his brother are dead." 

"If you must know, I was out on the court trying to protect you." 

"Protect me... from what?" 

"I heard that Eason and his goons called you out into the yard. Who knows what they were up to. I was heading your way to be your backup when I just happened to see the pole falling in the final minutes, in time to save you." 

He stuttered in his response, "Even if what you said is actually possible and true. That doesn't explain why you felt the need to go out of your way to come to the courtyard just to find me." 

"I just told you, you ungrateful brat!" 

"No, that's not what I meant. Let me make it blunt. Why did you save me in the shower that day? Explain that!" 

Oh... 

I hesitated, but the answer was quite simple, to be honest. So, I gave him the truth. 

"Because what they were about to do was wrong. And don't tell me that this is a prison and I didn't know you and I could've gotten myself killed. That's beside the point. The bottom line is... No one deserves to be treated that way, to experience such trauma from physical abuse of any kind. I didn't know you, and, to be honest, a part of me greatly regrets the repercussions of saving you that day. But would I go back and change anything? No, I'd save you again, a million times over." 

Just then, the door slid open, and the scariest possible version of Mrs. Frankenstein walked in. Wasting no time, she made the reason for her visit clear. 

"You, Mr. Moriarty, have exactly 3 minutes to explain what happened in the courtyard." 

So, I pleaded my case with an additional 12 seconds to spare. But she did not seem impressed. After hearing what I had to say, she took a few steps closer to us and once again parted her lips as if in pain from having to talk with the likes of us. 

"If I find a shred of evidence proving that you or your little friend here had anything to do with what happened on the courtyard today, you better pray to the gods, if there is, in fact, an afterlife." 

WAREHOUSE SUBLEVEL 1 ROOM 24 - Earlier that day 

"What do you think, brother? Do you believe him?" the timid guard asked as he backed up against the walls of shipment room 24. He placed his hand inside his uniform and pulled out a piece of paper that had been hidden with scanning-deflectors to bypass the cameras. 

"I told you, it's got to be for you. I haven't heard back from headquarters. I tried logging in remotely, but it failed, probably because I am still scheduled to be on vacation with my family in Janus." 

"Yeah, we don't give a shit. Just tell us how the hell we're getting out of here," Jason rushed. 

"Of course, like I said, this shipment 8356Z in room 67 passes our AS and all other backup security systems because it is, in fact, a regular shipment. Only SS agents would be familiar with the special serial code imprinted on all of our gadgets." 

The brothers turned simultaneously to visually consult each other. "So, what's inside?" 

"Well, I don't know for sure. But it's got to be something that can get you out of here. It's huge, and I was able to detect that the content is similar to the advanced technology we use here at the prison." 

Todd placed his left hand on the guard's shoulder and said, "You've done well, but your job's not over yet." 

"We need you to get us to that shipment room undetected," Jason added. 

"Alright... but that might be..." 

ALERT! CODE 6! All available security personnel, please report to the Recreation Activity Ground Section 2. 

ALERT! CODE 6! All available security personnel, please report to the Recreation Activity Ground Section 2. 

"Something's happening..." the guard lifted his hand to see his U.I flickering red. 

"Perfect timing..." Jason said. "This is our opening. We should use the distraction to escape!" 

"Or get caught," Todd calmly remarked. 

The guard looked down, clearly contemplating what to do next. "Get back to work. I need to go see what's happening. When the coast is clear, I'll get you to the shipment room, no sooner." 

Todd nodded, but Jason was not so pleased. The guard proceeded to leave, and he grabbed him by the arm. 

Instead of cowering in fear, the guard turned to him and said, "Anything they could do to me pales in comparison to what they would do if they found out that I was even remotely responsible for screwing up their plans. I'd suggest you let go. 

President Lu is not the kind of man that you want to piss off."