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3. Lexi - Prison II

Samantha and Nine—she got this nickname after she killed nine Peacekeepers during her arrest—wait for me next to their cells. When I was sent here, they were the first ones to introduce themselves to me. We didn’t become friends that day. It took us getting into a fight and a visit to the doctor to acknowledge that we are more alike than we could have imagined.

Samantha is chewing bubblegum while Nine is probably thinking about how to blow up this place, steal the director’s spaceship and go so far away, that no one will ever find her. I dream about that, too.

Nine is one of the craziest women I have ever met, and she’s not afraid to let anyone know what’s on her mind, while Samantha is reserved. I never know what she’s thinking about while Nine is almost like an open book.

There’s a perpetual bored expression on their faces, just like the rest of us.

Despite the CCC being overpopulated, there’s hardly anything to do besides daily jobs around the prison. It keeps us busy. The Confederation doesn’t care about us, and Earth is too busy trying to repair the ecosystem. We are doomed to perish here, forgotten by everyone.

Something has to change and soon.

“A supply ship just docked in the spaceport,” I let Samantha and Nine know.

My tone is low, not wanting anyone else to catch wind of it, as I want us to be the first to volunteer for the best jobs. In exchange for keeping this shithole functional, we receive credits that will allow us to buy things we need, like food or hygiene supplies. All in all, it’s a fucked up situation. But at least, I’m able to put away a few credits each month.

When Earth started the contract with the Confederation, creating more job opportunities than anyone could have dreamed of, many families chose to have many children. It led to a boom in the population, while many alien races had problems conceiving.

No wonder the Leading Council eagerly drafted the human beings when the war started. Several hundred million women and men were sent to push back the So'ok invasion, but it came at a very high price—the lives of more than eighty percent of the human soldiers.

On top of that, many women are manufacturing weapons and other things the Confederation demands. The poverty level is skyrocketing. Many are slowly getting addicted to new types of drugs or using virtual reality as a way to escape their problems. Children are forced to work too.

Lately, the So’oks are once again advancing. They won’t stop until every last one of us is dead.

Samantha pops a bubble while slowly scanning the crowd. Her perpetual state of boredom makes many think that she’s stupid. Only a very few know that Samantha used to work in the biggest Research Facility on Earth, looking for a cure for a deadly virus that appeared around thirty years ago and killed more than half of the entire female population within the Confederation’s borders—which expands across many planets and galaxies. She ended up here because she was framed by one of her coworkers to look like she was leaking information about the virus and the cure to the enemy.

Without saying a word, the three of us slowly start moving toward the front of the line up to SAGE’s screen. SAGE is the AI keeping the entire CCC running. No one tries to stop us because most inmates are scared of Nine. Last week, she attacked and broke the arm of an inmate before her drone could stop her. I didn’t ask what started the fight because Nine is fucking scary. I’d rather have her as a friend than an enemy.

SAGE displays a smiling face when Nine, Samantha, and I stop in front of it. Other inmates gather behind us.

“Happy Monday, everyone,” SAGE greets us. “Ready for a new week?”

Each Monday, the inmates can choose their jobs for the following week. The first ones to pick usually secure a place in the kitchen or the laundry area, while the last ones are stuck cleaning the bathrooms or worse.

Nine speaks before SAGE can add anything else. “Cut the bullshit and let’s get straight to business. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

AI has come a long way since it was created. SAGE, like many other AIs, can identify human emotions by registering our tone of voice, scanning body language and our vitals. But more than that, SAGE wants to be everyone’s best friend.

Nine’s blunt voice makes SAGE chuckle. “Noted,” SAGE says before turning her attention to Samantha. “Should I let Doctor Ryland know you will be helping her again?”

Samantha shrugs as if she couldn’t care less. “Sure,” she shrugs. “That works for me.”

Despite Samantha pretending that she’s a dumb blonde, Doctor Ryland saw her potential and has her help in the infirmary. Samanatha pretends to hate it but I know better.

SAGE winks before talking to me. “The oxygen filters in the Administrative Sector need to be changed. Can you take care of that?”

Saul might be the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever met, but one good thing came out of our tumultuous relationship. He taught me everything he knows about repairing all sorts of gadgets. I liked it so much that I even attended a virtual course and completed my apprenticeship as a spaceship mechanic. I learned a lot while working on my first spaceship, that I never got to see take off.

Being the only mechanic on the CCC won me a few privileges, like access to the library. I’m looking for information about my father and brothers, who have been missing in action for eight years after the So’oks attacked one of the allied spaceships headed to terraform a new planet. They have been declared dead, along with everyone else on board their spaceship.

Lately, more soldiers have disappeared. Of course, they have been listed as dead without a proper investigation.

This is what has me hold on to a foolish hope that maybe, they are still out there. I even wanted to join the army. At least, a younger Lexi did. I thought I would find my dad and brother this way. Only, women are no longer allowed to fight, because they are considered in constant danger because of the virus. The only fucked up part is that while on other planets, the female population is still in decline, on Earth, men are the ones who were killed by the virus, while the birth of females tripled. I would say that right now, eighty percent of Earth’s population is women.

How I ended up being the only mechanic here is a bit of a mystery for me too. But it can be explained by the fact that women with certain skills don’t get into trouble like me. Or if they do, they are sent to workstations.

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