Wolf Block

by Stuart J. Whitmore

  “Proceed,” one of the men answered. “Lift six. You will be relieving Upholder Garker.”

  With a nod, Bunierti walked forward to the lift doors. She waved her wristcom over the control panel for lift six and did not have to wait long before the doors slid open. She stepped in briskly and the doors slid closed behind her. She could feel the quick drop in her stomach and moments later the doors slid open again. She stepped out and checked her HUD for information, then turned to her right and used her wristcom to identify herself to the door leading to corridor D. The door unlocked and she stepped through, almost running into the Upholder who stood facing away from the door looking down the corridor lined with prison cells. He turned abruptly, looking startled, collector in hand. When he saw Bunierti his face relaxed.

  “Thank you!”

  “For what?” Bunierti asked.

  “You are here to relieve me, right?” the Upholder asked in return.

  “Well, yes,” she confirmed.

  “I’m happy to get out of here,” the other Upholder said. “You’ll see, when your relief comes you will be thanking them too.”

  Bunierti did not know what to say in response, so she changed the topic. “I am assuming their schedule will be delivered via HUD. Is there anything else I should know?”

  The Upholder laughed. “This is Wolf Block,” he blurted. “If this is your first time here, there is not much I can tell you. Well, maybe just good luck!”

  With no further conversation, the other Upholder waved his wristcom over the reader by the door to let himself out. Bunierti rolled her eyes as he left and then looked back down the corridor and the prison cells that lined it on both sides all the way to the far end that ended with a blank wall. She noticed that it was quieter than any other prison block she had served in. She noted, too, that despite the ample lighting and the ability to see through the shield glass and bars that formed the wall between each cell and the corridor, she could not see any of the prisoners from where she stood. She decided to take a stroll down the center of the corridor to make her presence known and to verify that all prisoners were in place. Considering the behavior of the Upholder she relieved, she could not trust that all was in order.

  As she began to move down the hall, the first of the strange rumors from Wolf Block was confirmed. The prisoners were not just being quiet, she found that they were all standing at the back of their cells facing the back wall so she could not see their faces. Strange prisoner behavior was one thing, but Bunierti was not about to believe the rumors about strange disappearances of Upholders, prisoners disappearing and then returning, Upholders being violently murdered in the middle of the corridor with no evidence that prisoners were involved, and similar rumors. When she reached the end of the hall, she turned and began to walk back toward the door. This time as she walked along the hall, she saw that all of the prisoners had turned around and were slowly approaching the wall that separated their cell from the corridor.

  “Mind games,” Bunierti said quietly to herself. “I suppose weak minded people could be unnerved by them.”

  She turned around when she reached the door and now she could see that all of the prisoners had reached the bars and shield glass. They stood with perfect posture, hands at their sides, and remained silent. Bunierti smirked as she realized that they were making it easy for her to keep an eye on them this way. She settled into a comfortable stance and waited to see if her HUD would announce something for the prisoners schedule such as delivery of a meal. She tried to not watch the clock display in one corner of her HUD, but it was not easy and time began to drag again. When she got restless enough she decided to pace the hallway again.

  “Question your assumptions,” the first prisoner on her right whispered to her as she walked by. Despite not wanting to react, Bunierti was surprised enough that she glanced over at the prisoner. He didn’t look much older than her, although the standard prisoner uniform tended to mask age. His expression was flat as she moved on down the hall.

  “Question authority,” another prisoner whispered on her left. This time Bunierti resisted the inclination to look at him.

  “Some illusions are harmless,” whispered the next prisoner on her right.

  “Some illusions are deadly,” whispered the next prisoner on her left.

  “The pawn never sees the whole game.”

  “Sheep do not comprehend the upcoming slaughter.”

  They each had something to whisper as she made her way down the corridor. By the time she reached the far end she was gritting her teeth to avoid responding. She turned abruptly at the end to begin her walk back. She kept her speed as consistent as possible to avoid showing any response to their voices. When she reached the midpoint of the corridor, they fell silent. A few steps later, they burst out laughing in unison, the sudden loud noise after the silence startling Bunierti despite her attempt to steel herself against whatever they might do next. She wanted to scream at them to be silent, but she stopped herself, knowing that she needed to maintain her own discipline. When she reached the door and turned again, they fell silent in unison.

  The unpleasant experience of her second walk down the corridor effectively held at bay any sense of being restless. Bunierti stood in an alert rest stance and watched the prisoners, who were now turned so that the nearest ones were looking directly at her. She didn’t understand how they could coordinate their efforts, or how they could develop a way to coordinate their efforts while under the observation of guards, but she admitted to herself that they were effectively making her uncomfortable. Still, there was a wide gulf between mind games and the physical aspects of the other rumors, and she intended to keep that difference firmly in mind. As she stood there, watching them watch her, she wondered how the situation in this prison block could have been allowed to develop as it had. There seemed to be a significant dereliction of duty and Bunierti wondered if it was something she could root out, and whether doing so would advance her in Upholding or at least shorten her service time.

  With the block once more silent and motionless, Bunierti had plenty of time to think. She regretfully acknowledged that this also gave her plenty of time to question whether she was taking the right approach by not responding to the prisoners, and to wonder whether this was actually what they wanted. Perhaps they wanted her to retreat into her own thoughts to avoid seeing what they were doing, and maybe they wanted to intimidate her from walking along the corridor to check on them. As she pondered her inability to see the prisoners at the far end, she became increasingly convinced that this was the case, and she prepared herself for another trip to the far end and back.

  “Order, order, order,” the prisoner on her right began to chant as she began her walk.

  “Chaos, chaos, chaos,” the prisoner on her left chanted.

  As Bunierti paced down the hall, the prisoners on the right maintained the “order” chant and the prisoners on the left continued to chant “chaos.” When she turned at the far end and headed back toward the door, the prisoners switched their chants so that, again, there was “order” on the right and “chaos” on the left. This time she smiled, knowing they couldn’t see it behind her face mask. It seemed so nonsensical to her that it struck her as comical. When she reached the door and turned again, the prisoners fell silent and she was left with a sense of relief that it had not been as disturbing as before. She stood by the door awhile, this time not dreading her next walk, and was about to set out again when her HUD alerted her to the arrival of the prisoners’ meals.

  “Meal time!” she barked, her first words to the prisoners sounding odd to her own ears after her long silence.

  The prisoners didn’t react to her announcement, unlike prisoners in other blocks she had guarded. After her relatively short time in Wolf Block, though, their lack of reaction did not surprise her. She stepped to one side of the corridor and waved her wristcom by the door reader. The door opened and an electric truck robot rolled in, pulling in a train of autocarts. Once it was fully wi
thin the block, Bunierti closed the door behind it. The robot rolled forward, and as it made its way down the corridor the rear-most autocarts detached themselves from the train and used basic optic guidance to route themselves to the delivery interface built into each cell. When the truck reached the end, it paused for its programmed delay before rolling back toward Bunierti. As it passed the now-empty autocarts, they attached themselves to the rear of the growing train. When the equipment reached the door, Bunierti opened it again, waited for the last autocart to roll by, and then closed the door.

  When she looked back at the prisoners, she saw that they were all standing motionless by the shield glass, each facing the prisoner directly across the hall. They showed no interest in the food that the autocarts delivered to their cells. Other than knowing she couldn’t expect normal prisoner behavior, she didn’t know what else to expect regarding their mealtime. It was up to them, she reasoned, to eat or not eat; it was not her responsibility to ensure they didn’t starve. On the other hand, she knew it was time for another walk, and she knew this would take her down the middle of their mutual stares. Grimacing, she stepped away from the door.

  “I’m hungry,” the prisoner on her right spoke up in a disturbing impression of a whining child. Bunierti walked on, biting back the response that wanted to burst past her lips.

  “I’m hungry,” each prisoner announced as she passed, each sounding childlike.

  This time Bunierti did not feel amused. It just seemed irritating and clearly intended to be so. There was no mystery or oddity, it was just obnoxious. When she reached the end of the hall, she turned abruptly and stalked back, wondering what asinine thing would come from them next. Silence, however, was the prisoner’s choice this time. She reached the door and turned to face them, and as she did they all sat down in unison, opened their food containers, and began to take synchronized mouthfuls. Once again, their ability to coordinate their actions troubled her, and she realized that it was not just strange, it actually posed a real risk if they could act together toward a goal. Bunierti knew that recognizing the danger was the first step to mitigating it, and she put some thought into how she might avoid letting their coordination give them the upper hand.

  “I want to know how it works,” she finally said to herself, as if it was an excuse for what she was about to do. She stepped away from the door, but instead of heading to the other end of the hall she walked directly to the first cell on the left, across the corridor from the prisoner she had looked at directly before. The man in this cell was clearly older, with ample silver hair mixed in with his dark brown. He did not break from his coordinated eating routine, and Bunierti paced back and forth in front of his cell to see if blocking his vision would make a difference. This seemed to have no effect. She was certain there had not been any audio signals given, and she began to wonder if it was a timed and rehearsed routine, using external events such as a guard change or meal arrival as the synchronizing guide. It seemed to be a reasonable explanation, but it did not explain how they could have developed it in the first place.

  “My wife and daughter were murdered while I was forced to watch,” the man in front of her said, startling Bunierti out of her thoughts. She glanced around and saw that the other prisoners were sitting still, facing directly out into the hall. She looked back at the man in his cell and noted that he had finished his meal, and the dissolution compounds in the packaging were already breaking down the food remnants and packaging. The meaning of his words finally made it past her surprise at having been lost in thought.

  “I’m sorry,” she offered her belated reply, knowing she didn’t sound sincere but also not knowing what to say. She wasn’t even sure it was true, and if it was, she didn’t see how it was relevant. Was he just bored or lonely and wanting to share what was on his mind? Or was there some meaning she was missing?

  “She’s sorry,” the prisoner behind Bunierti said.

  “She’s sorry,” the prisoner adjacent to the man she faced repeated.

  “She’s sorry.” The phrase was repeated all the way down the hall.

  Annoyed, Bunierti returned to her position at the door. As silence returned to the prison block, with the prisoners once again sitting motionless on the floor, staring directly across the corridor, Bunierti admitted to herself that the Upholder she relieved was right. She would be thankful when her relief arrived. Since she volunteered for duty, however, she had no idea how long she would be stationed there. The faint urges of her own bodily functions made her wonder, did the prisoners empty their bladders in unison? Did they synchronize the evacuation of their bowels? The thought was both amusing and irritating to her.

  When another Upholder finally arrived, several hours and many walks of the corridor later, Bunierti was eager to be gone from Wolf Block. She did not outwardly show it, however, and refrained from repeating the unprofessional behavior of Upholder Garker. Duty was duty; sometimes it was unpleasant, usually it was just boring. There was no need to verbally thank another Upholder for doing their duty. Bunierti made her way back to the Station W84 desk by way of a secured restroom. When she reached the booth, she saw two different Upholders and she felt some slight disappointment at not being able to demonstrate to the two men stationed there earlier that she had successfully served her first duty in Wolf Block with no ill effects. Even so, she would be proving Nongma wrong about being one of those who supposedly never returned at all.

  Chapter Three

  “Go ahead,” Bunierti said to her roommate when she returned to her quarters.

  Nongma shrugged. “Yeah,” she acknowledged, “you made it back. My loss.”

  “Shouldn’t you be doing something to get some marks, to get your account above zero?” Bunierti prodded as she started stowing her armor. “There are probably some men who would pay for… something.”

  “At least I could get paid, if that was something I wanted to do,” Nongma remarked, without insulting Bunierti directly. “But I’ll take extra duty instead of worrying about my marks balance. Won’t be the first time, won’t be the last.”

  It was Bunierti’s turn to shrug off her roommate’s comment. Before she entered Upholding she’d had enough men, of all ages, try to bed her that she knew she wasn’t lacking in appeal. “Money mismanagement, the core of poverty,” she remarked.

  Nongma gave a short laugh. “If you say so, but we’re not really supposed to speak poorly of our government.”

  Bunierti turned to Nongma, glaring. “Don’t you dare blame the government for your station in life, and don’t you dare even hint that I would speak poorly of the government.”

  Nongma yawned. “Well, remember that ‘street scum’ like me have pretty simple lives. We don’t get agitated for or against the government, we’re just looking for decent eats, a clean bed, and to stay out of the weather.”

  Still glaring, Bunierti turned away from Nongma and held her tongue. Despite the many things that came to mind, she saw no point in saying anything more to the other young woman. She finished putting away her armor and then settled once more onto her bunk to do some studying. Nothing more was said between them for the rest of the day. Bunierti was silently glad when the lights-out warning chime sounded. She was ready for the day to be over. As she settled in to sleep, she thought about the many other Upholders who were just now waking to begin their shifts, and she gave some idle thought to those who would end up pulling Wolf Block as part of their daily duties.

  When the lights turned on, marking the new day for the two women, they both arose quickly and prepared for the day. They left together to get breakfast, but said nothing to each other and kept apart once they were away from their room. Bunierti knew that many Upholders tried to build friendships within Upholding, which she acknowledged made sense for those who would be in it for the long term. She had no interest in making attachments with other Upholders, however. Her service would be valuable but short. As she ate her food at a large rectangular table, fragments of the conversations among the Uphol
ders around drifted through her thoughts. For the most part, she was focused on a test scheduled for her later that day. It wasn’t an advancement test, but it could serve as a precursor to one, essentially opening the door to it if she passed this one with a high enough score. Sometimes the tests seemed irrationally difficult and thus intended to keep Upholders in place, but she hoped this was not one of them.

  Before she could finish her breakfast, Bunierti was signaled on her wristcom that she was assigned guard duty for which she needed to report in one hour. When she saw the duty station in the alert, her heart sank. W84-88D. It was bad enough that she would be kept from studying, and might even miss the test, but to be assigned to Wolf Block again so soon rankled her. She said nothing, of course, and marshaled her thoughts. Duty is duty, and sometimes it was unpleasant. She gulped down the last of her food and washed it down with the dregs of her coffee before taking her tray to the cleaning station. She then hastened back to her quarters so that she would not be late reporting to Station W84.

  When Bunierti reached the station, she saw that one of the two Upholders in the booth was one of the men who checked her in the day before. He made no comment and showed no sign that he recognized her, and she was soon dropping down to level 88. This time she didn’t need any information from her HUD to find the correct door. She let herself in, and was surprised to see an Upholder sitting on the floor by the door. Before she could say anything, the other Upholder jumped up and ran out. Shaking her head, Bunierti closed the door.

  “Ridiculous,” she said to herself. She immediately regretted saying it as loud as she did, for the prisoners, standing at the bar-reinforced shield glass walls of their cells, repeated her pronouncement in sequence down to the other end of the hall. Bunierti remembered her thoughts the prior day about the prisoners possibly using external events as synchronization guides, and she wondered if she had just witnessed this in action. She also wondered if there was a way to throw them off, to disrupt their synchronization and weaken their apparent unity. As she began her first walk through the hall, she considered how she might disrupt the meal delivery and possibly disrupt their routine.