Chapter 41: Everything
For several long moments, the table remained silent.
The surrounding cafeteria buzzed with life as prisoners argued over stolen bread, guards barked orders from the walkways above, and trays scraped endlessly against metal tables.
CLANG!
CLISHH!
"Move it!"
"Keep the line moving!"
"Sit down!"
The chaos faded into little more than background noise.
At the corner table, however, every member of the group remained focused on Daito.
He finally raised his eyes from the untouched food resting on his tray.
"I'm still trying to understand what happened."
His voice was calm, but everyone could hear the frustration beneath it.
"What I fought..."
He paused, searching for the right words.
"...didn't make sense."
His fingers slowly tightened around the plastic fork.
"I've fought people who were stronger than me."
"I've fought people who were faster."
"I've fought Savages whose abilities completely ignored common sense."
He looked around the table.
"But Director Cassian..."
His eyes hardened.
"...was different."
"He never looked pressured."
"He never reacted."
"It was as if every move I made had already been decided before I made it."
The group fell silent again.
None of them could argue.
They had all witnessed Cassian dismantle Daito without showing the slightest effort.
Wei-Wan finally leaned back in his chair.
"Then perhaps..."
"...we should stop trying to understand him."
Everyone turned toward him.
"We should understand this place instead."
He lightly tapped the edge of the table.
"Tck."
"I've been watching the prison."
Champagne raised an eyebrow.
"You've been counting guard rotations again?"
Wei-Wan nodded.
"I always do."
He folded his hands together.
"This prison is wrong."
Those words immediately caught everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Avenor asked.
Wei-Wan glanced around the cafeteria before lowering his voice.
"The guards are aggressive."
"They enjoy violence."
"They're impatient."
"They're constantly looking for excuses to beat prisoners."
Almost on cue—
SMACK!
A guard struck an inmate across the face with the butt of his rifle.
"Eyes down!"
The prisoner quickly apologised while several others lowered their heads without protest.
Wei-Wan calmly continued.
"They rely on intimidation."
"But intimidation isn't security."
His gaze drifted across the room.
"The surveillance drones leave blind spots every eighteen minutes."
"The eastern corridor changes patrols three minutes slower than the western block."
"The maintenance tunnels aren't monitored during meal distribution."
"The northern watchtower repeatedly loses visual coverage whenever the floodlights rotate."
Wasabi blinked.
"... You figured all of that out?"
Wei-Wan shrugged.
"I had time."
Champagne let out a low whistle.
"Damn..."
Wei-Wan wasn't finished.
"The cell doors are reinforced."
"But the locking mechanisms are outdated."
"The power grid has several exposed relay stations."
"The armoury isn't protected nearly as heavily as it should be."
He slowly looked at each member of the team.
"For a prison that claims to hold the world's most dangerous Savages..."
"...its security is surprisingly weak."
Zachia frowned.
"I noticed that too."
He looked around the cafeteria.
"I kept expecting more soldiers."
"More checkpoints."
"More weapons."
"But this place almost feels..."
He searched for the word.
"...careless."
Wei-Wan nodded.
"Exactly."
He rested both elbows on the table.
"It's almost as if..."
He paused.
"...they expect people to escape."
Wasabi burst into laughter.
"Yeah, right."
She pointed towards the thick metallic collar wrapped around her neck.
"Maybe they don't care because of these ugly things."
The others instinctively reached for their own collars.
Cold steel circled each of their necks like a permanent reminder of defeat.
The Savage Suppression Collars.
Advanced restraint devices designed to disrupt Savage energy before it could properly manifest.
Even Brandon had been unable to force his apart.
Champagne clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
"I've tried breaking mine."
"It didn't even scratch."
Fah-jin sighed.
"And every time I try gathering energy..."
She winced.
"...it feels like someone's crushing my lungs."
The collars were working exactly as intended.
Daito, however, slowly shook his head.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
"That's not why."
Zachia frowned.
"Then why?"
Daito didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked beyond the crowded cafeteria.
Beyond the guards.
Beyond the reinforced doors.
His eyes settled on the towering administrative building that overlooked the entire prison complex.
Somewhere inside...
Cassian Vanderbi was almost certainly watching.
"...Because of him."
Wei-Wan immediately understood.
"Director Cassian."
Daito nodded.
"As long as he's here..."
"...nobody believes escape is possible."
Silence settled over the table once again.
Even among the prisoners seated nearby, Cassian's name carried an almost supernatural weight.
No one mocked him.
No one challenged him.
No one even whispered about him for long.
It wasn't respect.
It was fear.
Pure, unquestionable fear.
Zachia leaned forward, his eyes burning with determination.
"Well..."
"...we're not like them."
His voice carried enough conviction to make Brandon grin.
"We didn't come all this way just to spend the rest of our lives eating prison food."
Champagne smirked.
"Thank God."
He stabbed his fork into the grey lump sitting on his tray.
"I'd rather fight Cassian again than eat whatever this is."
That earned a quiet chuckle from Fah-jin.
Even Daito smiled faintly.
Only for a moment.
Then, his expression became serious once more.
"You're right."
He leaned forward until everyone instinctively did the same.
"But rushing in now would be suicide."
His eyes moved from one teammate to the next.
"We're missing information."
"A lot of it."
He pointed towards the surrounding prison.
"I want everything."
"Guard rotations."
"Maintenance schedules."
"Cell mechanisms."
"Power distribution."
"Communication systems."
"Surveillance blind spots."
He looked directly at Wei-Wan.
"You keep mapping the prison."
Wei-Wan nodded once.
"Already started."
Daito shifted his attention to Brandon.
"I want to know how the prisoners think."
"Who's influential."
"Who's desperate."
"Who's willing to risk everything."
Brandon grinned.
"I can do that."
His gaze moved again.
"Champagne."
"See how much strength those collars actually suppress."
Champagne cracked his neck.
"Gladly."
"Fah-jin."
"Keep watching the guards."
"They're emotional."
"Eventually, one of them will make a mistake."
She gave a confident nod.
"Consider it done."
Finally...
Daito looked towards Wasabi.
"You were investigating Director Cassian before we were captured."
Her mischievous smile slowly returned.
"Oh..."
She casually rested one elbow on the table.
"I found a few things."
Everyone instinctively leaned closer.
Whatever confidence had begun returning to the group slowly disappeared the moment they saw the unusually serious expression on Wasabi's face.
She lowered her voice until it became little more than a whisper.
"And trust me..."
Her smile vanished completely.
"...what I found about Director Cassian Vanderbi..."
She paused, letting the silence build around the table.
"...is seriously messed up."
to be continued....