The Cage

[Xeenah]

Previously...

~~~~~~~~~~


“Good morning, prisoner.
The date is...
October... 3... 29485, day... 2...
of your detention.”


If the words reached Cher's ears, they did not reach her consciousness. She was still wrapped in the thick of a deep, exhausted sleep after the emotional overload and stress from the previously, and her breakdown, after she woke up in the cell.

She stirred and sunk right back into a heavy, agitated sleep, a few dried trails of salt still clinging to her face.

[Xeenah]

“Good morning, prisoner.
The date is...
October... 4... 29485, day... 3...
of your detention.”


There was a slight pause before the month, date, year and day of detention. She raised her head slightly upon hearing the morning announcement.

A recorded message?... Yeah, probably...

She looked up to where the voice seemed to come from. The cell was essentially a square shaft. The ceiling had to be high, concealed as it was up there in the shadows. She could only see the central cylinder shooting down from above, ending less than twenty feet above her. The end of the cylinder was made of three disks, the bottom one diffusing a white, harsh lighting to the cell. She did not want to think about what the other disks were for.

In the storm of thoughts that overwhelmed her the previous three days, one of these thoughts was her worry about losing track of time. It was an unexpected and somewhat disturbing surprise for her to hear the announcement.

I wonder if it's going to be a daily thing...

[Xeenah]

“Good morning, prisoner.
The date is...
October... 5... 29485, day... 4...
of your detention.”


The cot on which Cher was sitting was consisting in a robust shelf of 76 centimeters wide by 2,1 meters long. Staring blankly, she was trying to keep her thoughts in check, hoping to herd some of the chaos of the previous days. She had no idea of how long she had been awake. In her mind, events were replaying, over and over, her eyes staring blankly, her sight turned inwards. Her thoughts were traveling erratically, jumping back and forth.

A tower field in the middle of a desolate area, her wrecked hoverbike smoking up on the ground. Her comlink is damaged, maps unusable, the tower field interfering with communications. Kotras answers. She quickly gives him what little clue she can to help him find her. A hoverbike accident? Odd... She is a skilled pilot, it runs in the family... She sits down, exhausted, dehydrated. Damn deserts... Then she sees them both. Kotras. Andrew. Relief washes over her. She's in Perpetual Wastelands, near OnTT's tower site. Her mouth is dry, her lips are cracked, Kotras gives her a Fizz, Andrew a coffee. Her migraine starts to recede, the coffee helping. “There's as much as you want”, he says... He informs Kotras and her about the warrant against them, and they banter some about it, Andrew not being tasked with making arrests in his line of work...

Cher blinked hard, shaking her head quickly. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to remember. Not now. She jumped up and started pacing in the cell. She stopped, frowning. “That won't do...” She knelt down and took position, starting to do push ups furiously, exhaling in rhythm. Drops of sweat started crashing on the floor, her mind focusing on the pace, her muscles increasingly aching, pushing her limits, straining to defy gravity and raise one more time... After several minutes, her arms gave out and she fell to the floor.

[Xeenah]

“Good morning, prisoner.
The date is...
October... 6... 29485, day... 5...
of your detention.”


Cher's voice went from a slur between her teeth to a resounding scream. "...ShuuuddUUUUP!!"


She sent her morning meal plate flying towards the general direction of the PA, panting in rage. A few seconds later, she felt dizzy and had to sit on the cot, then lay down. "Bastards..." She knew she wasn't that weak and her dizziness has been induced externally. There was no trace or smell of any gas, maybe her food...

...she couldn't finish the thought, falling in a dreamless sleep.