No Rest

    Almost twenty-four hours later, Jane and Tabitha’s shift was beginning, well Jane’s anyway.  Jane arrived in the Psi-Block assembly hall with the other residents.  
    When she first came to Jotnar, Jane began to count how many shifts she had done to let her know exactly how many days she’d spent here, but she lost count even quicker than she had anticipated.  If only Jane knew the date she arrived here, as Tabitha had been so fortunate to gain knowledge of, then Jane would know exactly how long she’d been here.  In truth, Jane didn’t even know the date when she was removed from that temporary holding facility back in Australia.  She didn’t think it would matter, which it probably didn’t, and she had other things on her mind when they began taking her to Jotnar, like the fact that she was going to Jotnar for the rest of her life.
    The crowd of prisoners in Psi-Block had all been rounded up and prepared to leave for their daily shift.  Every inmate was ready, as were the guards.  As they waited, Jane’s mind calendar shifted forwards one square to the 18th of May.  Then more time passed, Jane thought this to be significant because she had been here for a while and nothing had ever ran in anyway short of clockwork during her entire incarceration.
    The waiting continued, what everyone was waiting for was a person; they couldn’t continue the shift commencement procedure until the Patrol Supervisor of Psi-Block opened the main doors for them.  It wasn’t long before enough time had passed before Jane saw a guard by the doors gesture for someone to fetch him.
    The person who was designated low enough to act as an errand-boy was a guard who hadn’t been at Jotnar much longer than Tabitha had.  Officially, there were only three ranks of Jotnar guards, there were the guards of each block, who were supposed to be all equals, and then there were the Patrol Supervisors of each block.  Even the Jotnar Quays has its own patrol of guards and a supervisor, who was also in charge of the Portcullis checkpoint at the eastern gate.  The third tier of Jotnar guards was the small handful of soldiers who live at the Governor’s mansion it Tannhauser and act as her bodyguards.  These soldiers were known as the Jotnar Sentinels and technically, they’re not part of the Jotnar guards, they officially count as members of Olympus’ Companion Guard and even wear the uniform of this organisation.  Their main duty is to protect Alison Riley from inmates when they work in the Solar Farms.
    The more subtle chain of command, which was created by the guards themselves, was basically that of superiority comes with experience.  Any guard who has been working at Jotnar for longer automatically expects more junior guards to follow their orders.
    This unwritten rule was what compelled this new young guard to return to the guard quarters in search for his Supervisor.  The guard climbed the stairs and arrived in the elegantly furnished guards’ level.  He looked behind him to the glass sliding doors, which lead out to the balconies full of manned gun turrets.
    The guard walked briskly through the padded empty hallways, the only guards that were still up here were sleeping so all was quiet, even the guard’s footsteps made little sound as he travelled along the thick-carpeted corridor.
    He moved from this broad central passageway to the cross hall, which lead to the quarters of the Patrol Supervisor of Psi-Block.  This guard approached the shiny metallic double doors, which stated the occupant of these quarters on its surface.
    The guard pressed the rectangular button emanating a soft blue light by the side of the door and they slid back into the walls.  He entered the living room of his Supervisor, the lights were on and his boss was nowhere in sight.
    “Sir?” he called.  “Are you in here?”
    He drew near the door to his superior’s bedroom, assuming that he had overslept.  In a way, he was right.
    “I’m coming in sir,” he announced and opened the door with the entry button.
    As the door slid away, the guard was greeted with a sight that wasn’t really unique in the world, but nonetheless surprising.  It was at least unique for Jotnar.  
    The room was well lit, allowing him to see the Patrol Supervisor of Psi-Block suspended from the ceiling fan by his own belt.  He might have been a tall man and yet his weight still wasn’t sufficient to keep the powerful ceiling fan from rotating.  It had slowed considerably, but not enough to bring the blades to a complete stop.  
    The guard took a steady step or two forwards, all the time without taking his astonished gaze off the slowly turning corpse.  His trousers had fallen down around his ankles because his belt was too busy linking his neck to the fan above, it wasn’t very dignified.  The man couldn’t help but continue staring at him, it was making him feel sick and he really should call someone, but he didn’t.
    As he walked closer, he could see that both of the man’s wrists were cut and the blood coating his hands would occasionally let a little droplet fall to small neat puddles staining the carpet.  There was also a deep gash across his belly, making his intestines clearly visible and there was a phrase written on the wall behind him in his own blood.  All it said was, ‘My Eyes’.
    The remote control for the room was lying on the ground by the door for some reason.  He picked it up and turned off the fan, allowing him to stare directly at the dead man without him constantly moving.  Now he could clearly see the aspect of his boss’ appearance, which made him the most nauseous.  He could see his face.
    It wasn’t clear exactly where his eyes were, all that could be seen were bloody holes with the appropriate fluids dribbling down his face.  He soon realised that this was where he had been stabbed, the blood that cascaded down from these severe wounds was of almost sufficient quantity to mask further facial lacerations.
    His smile had been widened; something had cut from his mouth outwards on both sides to create a grotesque spectre that would forever be imprinted on the memories of the unfortunate man who discovered him.  He sharply left the bedroom and pressed his back against a wall of the living room.
    He suddenly felt so sick and he had to keep blinking because of how irritated his eyes were, as if the sight had damaged them in some way.  A few deep breaths moved in and out of the guard’s lungs and he gradually brought his communicator up to his mouth.
    “I need help,” was all he said and slid down the wall to slump on the floor.  
    No more than half a minute passed before two guards entered the room, shotguns ready for whatever their colleague needed help with.  All they found was the guard they sent sitting on the floor by the entrance to the bedroom.  They looked inside the doorway to see the Patrol Supervisor; one of them wished he didn’t.
    “Oh my,” one said to no one in particular, but then addressed the young guard on the floor.  “Did you find him like this?”  A slow nod was all that he gave in response to the question.
    “What do you think happened?” the other guard said to his partner.
    “Well I doubt it’s suicide.”
    “Can we check the footage?”
    “No.  There aren’t any cameras in the rooms themselves, just on the remote cleaning robots that Somnus controls.”
    “There still might be something that one of them saw.”
    “Yeah, we definitely need to check.”
    “It will be difficult to obtain, however.  We don’t have the authority to access those files.  Only the Governor and Patrol Supervisors can use Somnus’ eyes.  It’ll be a while before a new Supervisor is promoted so seeing as we don’t have our own to go to, we’ll have to request permission from the Governor through Somnus and she’ll assign a different Supervisor to the task, it’ll be a long time before anything substantial is completed.”
    “Who could’ve done this?”
    “It might be a guard wanting to become the next Supervisor.”
    “What?”
    “It couldn’t have been a prisoner, they can’t come up here.”
    “We still should check.  We’ve got the fingerprint and DNA information of all the inmates.  I think we need to process the room.”
    “I don’t think we have any forensic equipment.”
    “In the entire facility?  Why not?”
    “Their information is taken as soon as they’re arrested.  It’s so if they don’t get classed as a repeat offender or if the crime doesn’t warrant time in Jotnar, then the government has their information to catch them faster if they commit another crime.  We’re not supposed to need any criminal information once they come here.  This is Jotnar, no crime happens here.  That’s what makes it such unique place in humanity.”
    “We must have something, we need to bring down some of the scientists from their labs and see if there’s anything they can do.”
    “The guards’ information is on the database as well, aren’t they?”
    “Everything but DNA, for legal reasons.  Do you really think a guard could’ve done this?”
    “I don’t see why not, he wasn’t exactly popular.”
    “But for someone to kill him?…and in that way?”
    “We shouldn’t rule it out.  Nothing like this has ever happened before, there’s no procedure for this.  Who knows?  It might’ve been him,” he referred to the guard sitting on the floor not that far away from them.  He had to whisper so that he wouldn’t hear.
    “Let’s keep the true details from as many people as possible if we’re to be suspecting guards.”
    “Agreed, but the investigation will take longer that way.  You get rid of him,” he gestured over to the huddled guard by the doorway.  “And I’ll do my best to contact the Governor, it’ll probably take a while, though.  There’s no protocol for this situation, it will be tricky to find a solution.”
    Round about the same time this conversation was concluding, actually it was a probably a while later, Eric Lancer came to collect Tabitha Roth from Tau-Block and take her away to her new duty for Jotnar.
    Once again, they travelled across the courtyard by buggy towards the Pit.  Tabitha liked the way it looked without the clutter of prisoners on their way to work.  Soon, she was entering the Arena, Tabitha looked over to the corner of prisoners where she recognised Jane.  Her presence was rapidly becoming a reassuring constant.
    Something unsettled Tabitha about Jane’s expression, mostly because she could see it.  Every other prisoner in the room had their hoods fully pulled up, but not Jane.  Hers was down so Tabitha could see the creepy way she was looking at her.  Jane’s head was lowered but her eyes were turned up and unblinkingly fixed on Tabitha, as was the curved grin below them, which Tabitha wasn’t sure of the meaning behind.
    The many guards in the room were clustered around the hole in the centre of the Arena, there was a great deal of noise and commotion, it seemed as though a fight was in full swing.
    “We’re early,” Eric told Tabitha.  “Go wait with the rest.”
    Tabitha gladly placed herself within the corner with all the other prisoners, she sat down cross-legged next to Jane and began to nibble on her sleeve.  She never realised that she was doing this; Tabitha knew that she used to have a bad habit of chewing her own hair but fortunately, the compulsion had seemed to have stopped on its own since she’d been at Jotnar.
    “I have something to tell you,” Jane said quietly, she wasn’t whispering, it was just quiet.
    “What?” Tabitha said back, trying to copy her friend’s new speaking style.
    “Something’s happened,” Jane said.  “I hope it’ll make you happy.  Do you remember the guy who put that dent in your nose?”
    “You told me he was the captain of the guard in your block,” Tabitha said.
    “That’s right,” Jane said, not looking at her, with no change of expression.  “I did, didn’t I?  It seems I was wrong.”
    “What do you mean?” Tabitha asked.
    “I told you he was the Patrol Supervisor of Psi-Block,” Jane said.  “I’m recanting that statement because it’s no longer true.”
    “Has he quit?” Tabitha asked.
    “In a manner,” Jane said.  “But he’s quit more than his job, he’s quit his life.  He’s dead.”
    “How?” Tabitha asked, her head quickly turning towards her.
    “Suicide, I think,” Jane said.  “They found him in his quarters with his wrists cut and hanging from the ceiling by his belt.”
    “Why would he both hang himself and cut his wrists?” Tabitha said.
    “He works at Jotnar,” Jane said.  “They’re trained to be efficient and precise; he probably wanted to make sure there was no chance of failure.”
    “How do you know the way he died?” Tabitha asked.
    “Hmm?” Jane’s face softened and turned to Tabitha.  “I…er, overheard a guard talking when we were taken to the Pit.  I told you everything will work out in your favour if you just let things take care of themselves.”
    “Is that what happened?” Tabitha said.  “This is just nature sorting itself out, huh?  If that’s want you want to believe, then who am I to stop you?  It’s probably better for me if I join you.”
    “So how’s the fighting going?” Jane asked as a sickening sound from the hole reminded them both of where they were.
    “It’s alright,” Tabitha said.  “It might be scary and dangerous, but at least it’s not boring.”
    “That’s definitely true,” Jane said.  “You’re second fight’s coming up, you seem surprisingly calm.”
    “I suppose I am, for now,” Tabitha said.  “I’ve only had one fight; I might change after this one.  Do you know who I’m fighting, by the way?”
    “Yeah,” Jane said and nodded over to the opposite corner of the Arena.  “She’s over there.”
    “Is she behind the big guy?” Tabitha asked, seeing another smaller group of prisoners on the other side of the room.
    “That’s her,” Jane clarified.  The ‘woman’ was sitting down but Tabitha could tell how incredibly tall she’d be when she did stand up.  This wasn’t even what concerned her the most, though.  Tabitha could see how broad this woman she was going to fight was, and she suspected that not much of it was fat.
    “I’m becoming less calm,” Tabitha said.
    “Why are you doing this?” Jane said.
    “You can get what you want from it,” Tabitha said.  “Can’t you?”
    “Well yes,” Jane said.  “But you can’t get anything that’s actually worth it.  Do you think you’ll get freedom somehow from it?”
    “It won’t hurt the cause,” Tabitha said.
    “So what exactly do you want as your reward?” Jane asked.
    “I want for me and one friend to get a shift working in the Solar Farms,” Tabitha said.
    “That’s it?” Jane said.  “You’re going to fight that huge person over there just for that?  Why?”
    “You said it was nice,” Tabitha said.
    “That’s what you’re risking your life for?” Jane said incredulously and let out a short involuntary laugh.  “You’re insane.”
    “I just want some new experiences before I slump into the same routine for the next sixty years,” Tabitha said.  
    “So you’ve given up on the escape?” Jane whispered.
    “Of course not,” Tabitha said.  “But neither did you and your still here.  I’m just looking at the worst possible futures, and if I do end up like you, no offence, I would like some good memories, like you got when you first came here.  I just have to find other methods to attain them.  I also think it’ll put us in a very unique position, or at the very least we’ll have a much better vantage point these other degenerates.”
    “You shouldn’t judge people Tabitha,” Jane warned.  “Especially when they’re your people.”
    “These aren’t my people, they’re so violent and unpredictable,” Tabitha said as a thought entered her mind.  “Jane?  Has there ever been a riot at Jotnar?”
    “A prisoner riot?” Jane said.  “No chance.  Not while I’ve been here, not before and at no point in the future will it happen.  Olympus is too powerful and they can afford to employ way too many guards.  There’s so many of them that large groups of them can get away with things like this,” she said with regard to the noise of combat from the hole of the Arena while guards voices cheered out in elation.  “Even if every cell in Jotnar was filled, which is far from being the current reality, there still wouldn’t be enough prisoners to even attempt at overpowering the colossal army of guards that are forever watching over this place.  Everyone here knows that a riot will just become one big excuse to execute most, if not all, inmates.  Somnus and its army of guards would slaughter every single one of us, it’ll never happen.  Why are you asking such strange questions Tabitha?”
    “I’m still thinking…” Tabitha said.  “…about ideas.”
    “Good luck,” Jane said.
    “You do know that if you think of any plans, you’re welcome to come forward with them?” Tabitha said.
    “No, I mean good luck with the fight,” Jane clarified.  “You’re up.”
    Tabitha looked over to see Lancer beckoning her.  He was about to come and collect her when she ran across the Arena and jumped right into the hole without a moment’s hesitation.
    Tabitha wasn’t even thinking about the fight properly, she realised that she was not afraid because her mind was too focussed on coming with plans for escape, as it was most of the time.  In front of her, the loser of the last fight was being lifted from the hole.
    The crumpled remains of the most recent Arena runner-up were hoisted out of the hole and lay down on the ground.  A guard motioned for the two nearest non-combatant prisoners to take him to the incinerator.  Unfortunately, Jane was on her way to the hole for Tabitha’s fight and she was roped in to disposing of the loser with another nearby inmate.  Tabitha couldn’t see this very well from down in the hole but she realised what had happened soon enough.
    In a way, Tabitha was glad that Jane wasn’t here to see the impending violence, what good could come from it?  She didn’t want her new friend to see her like this, either the victor or the defeated, it didn’t matter.  Several guards were doing their best to force the semi-reluctant woman who was to be her opponent onwards to the hole.
    Something didn’t feel right to Tabitha, it wasn’t the place she found herself in, it wasn’t the clamour of the people above her, it was the person who had left the Arena, it was Jane.  
    Jane acted so strangely when she spoke of the murdered guard captain who had broken Tabitha’s nose.  Tabitha thought about what Jane had been imprisoned at Jotnar for, she had claimed that she had been a thief but now Tabitha wasn’t so sure.  Perhaps she was capable of so much more; Tabitha recognised the cold flat tones when she talked about the dead man.  Tabitha had initially thought Jane would be a useful tool in her escape.  There could be no greater one in all of Jotnar than the sister of a member of the famous Nyx Squad.  It seemed that the guards wouldn’t dare harm her so escaping with her greatly increased Tabitha’s chances of survival and she considered herself to be the lucky one who happened across her by chance.
    Now, Tabitha was starting to notice subtle qualities about Jane, disturbing qualities.  There was something about her that she actually liked, but also concerned her.  For some reason, Tabitha’s mind shot back to something Jane had said one time; it was one the same day that the Patrol Supervisor of her block was still alive and broke Tabitha’s nose after she fought with someone else who had recently died.
    Jane had previously stated all that the ancient Greek god Hermes was responsible for.  Among the list of people Hermes offered his protection to were thieves, Tabitha had assumed that Jane was contained within this section but there was another group of people she mentioned.  She had also said that Hermes protected liars, now Tabitha was entertaining the theory that Jane could’ve been referring to herself as one of them, rather than counting herself among the thieves.  Jane had also said that Hermes protected gamblers so that was good for the guards who spend their time at the Arena.  
    Tabitha had no more time to suspect Jane of deception because her opponent had entered the hole, it was time to fight.  Having so many things on your mind did offer the advantage of not having enough time to worry about the fight, but once it did begin, it did mean you were unprepared for the forthcoming battle.
    The woman came at her slowly but her thoughts still distracted Tabitha too much for her to react properly.  She punched Tabitha in the side of her head and she would’ve fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for the comfortably solid rock wall, which encircled them, breaking her fall.  Her shoulder felt grated by the impact but her new enemy didn’t care, Tabitha got the feeling that her sudden foe really didn’t want to be here and was trying to finish the fight as quickly as possible.
    She grabbed Tabitha, pushed her fully to the ground and pinned her down with a knee, ready to deliver the only few blows that would be necessary to end her life.  The situation greatly reminded Tabitha of another time in the Pit, except the roles were reversed and her opponent wasn’t quite as strong.  This woman was large, heavy and ridiculously strong for a human.  She brought a fist down with a fatal amount of force built up behind it, Tabitha managed to wriggle just enough to the side to avoid the hit and let the rock take the brunt.
    She didn’t even flinch when her fist pounded down onto the dense surface, she just promptly raised her hand once more and prepared for second attempt.  Tabitha still had enough mobility to move her legs freely, which she took advantage of by kneeing the woman in her lower back.  It didn’t hurt her but it did provide enough of a distraction for Tabitha to roll out from under her slightly loosened grip.
    Tabitha’s agility even surprised herself when she swung round after escaping the pin and kicked the woman in her jaw.  The lucky strike connected perfectly and actually knocked the victim of the hit to one side.  Tabitha realised that she almost died and still hadn’t been afraid, if she had the time to think about it more, she would’ve found herself seriously worrying about what this place was doing to her, but she didn’t.  Instead, she jumped at the woman.
    She choked the woman with one hand and hit her twice as hard she could in the face, she later regretted this when she saw what little effect it yielded.  The now extremely angry woman lifted Tabitha clear off the ground and hurled her into the wall, where she proceeded to prop her up and delivered several thundering blows to her stomach.  Tabitha felt a liquid be forced up into her mouth with some even seeping out of her and trickling down her chin.  
    She wasn’t sure if it was vomit or just saliva, but Tabitha wouldn’t have been surprised to find blood among the mixture if she bothered to inspect it closely enough.  Tabitha desperately thrashed about in an attempt to make the pain stop and once again landed a lucky kick.
    It hit her opponent in the side of her knee, causing it to buckle out of reflex.  Tabitha followed this latest attack with an uppercut to her chin, which made her stagger backwards.  Tabitha was silently impressed with herself that she managed to be the one responsible for having such an effect on something so large.
    Tabitha wasted no time in charging at her, she tried to tackle her to the floor but the woman just took it and held her ground, which she then ensured her keeping of this ground by hitting down hard on Tabitha’s now exposed back.
    Tabitha’s knees gave way and fell to the ground, she tried to return a few fruitless punches to her stomach, with an unsurprisingly limited effect.  She responded by roughly taking hold of Tabitha’s face with one hand and delivering a violent blow to the side of her head with the other.  As Eric Lancer watch Tabitha crash to the ground and not move, he could feel his newfound wealth slipping away.
    The increasingly ferocious woman Tabitha was being forced to fight reached down with the intent of ending her right now.  Tabitha felt herself panic and scuttled through the wide gap between her legs.  She had no idea what she was about to do, Tabitha had always been partial to improvisation and so put her survival in its hands.
    Tabitha jumped to her feet and leapt on the back of her opponent, clasped her right arm air tight around her neck while her left clutched at her right wrist, applying even more pressure on her trachea.  She struggled to breathe as Tabitha’s choke hold continued on this woman.  Tabitha even went so far as to wrap her legs around the woman’s lower body and sink her teeth into her shoulder to provide an even greater stability.  Every single part of Tabitha’s body was efficiently used to inflict pain upon this woman with no surplus.
    No air had entered the woman’s lungs for longer than she was used to, she gasped for relief and flung her arms behind her back in a desperate attempt to remove this small-unwanted creature that was doing her harm.  This effort proved itself unsuccessful so she lashed out from every angle and her right fist managed to find its way to Tabitha’s face, which was firmly biting down on the woman’s left shoulder.  The blow took Tabitha by surprise and her tooth grip was broken, but only for a moment, she soon increased both her biting and suffocation forces.
    The alarm of the woman severely lacking oxygen began to increase dramatically and arm flailing soon gave a visual indication of this panic.  She backed into the rock wall surrounding the interlocking pair to dislodge the unwanted passenger.  It didn’t work so she repeated this action several times, with each attempt having much more energy behind it than the last.  The only result she obtained, if any, was that Tabitha further intensified her various gripping body parts.
    Tabitha didn’t have to wait long before the pain from being pinned between a rock and an exceptionally aggressive woman came to a halt.  She soon lost the will for it and settled for just staggering around the hole as the lack of oxygen made everything go dark and quiet.
    She passed out face down on the solid rock floor, with Tabitha still clinging on top of her.  Tabitha could’ve just let go, then she would have been counted as the winner of this fight and the unconscious loser would’ve gotten to keep her life.  Tabitha could have done this, but she didn’t, her iron grip around the woman’s throat remained as rigid as ever until Tabitha was certain of her rival’s death.
    Tabitha staggered to her feet and looked down at the most recent murder victim of Jotnar.  Standing up was easy, but maintaining this state proved tricky, Tabitha was battered and bruised all over from the fight.  The clamour of cheering above and around her sounded incredibly muffled and far away.
    A hand appeared from the strange world situated higher than herself, with her legs still shaking she took hold of it and looked up.  The hand was attached to an arm that was attached to a smiling Eric Lancer.  He helped her out of the hole and once more escorted her from the Arena, leaving behind the crowd of spectators talking and yelling about the dramatic fight they had just witnessed.
    Tabitha looked around for Jane’s face, it took her much longer than it should have to remember that she was absent.  Eric helped Tabitha enter the tunnel, which lead outside the Arena and back to the access lifts for transport to the surface.  
    Eric Lancer supported Tabitha’s battle-weary body all the way back to her cell as he looked forwards to collecting his winnings later on in the day.  He didn’t really care about the money, Eric made more than enough from his high position, he just liked to win, to destroy the people with which he spent most of his time.
    “Lancer?” Tabitha mumbled.
    “Yes precious?” he said in an upbeat tone.
    “Do I get my reward now?” Tabitha asked.
    “Not quite yet,” Eric said.  “You’ve made me some money but we’re not quite through.  Don’t worry Tabby, it’ll come soon.”
    “How many more fights?” Tabitha tried to query with as little words as possible.
    “Just a few,” he said.