A quiet young man sat in Cabin Three Fourteen of Railway 909 - a famous passenger train that traveled throughout the large war torn country of Espada. After Pazuzu's Meteor had catastrophically smashed into the Earth in 2015, many people took that opportunity to rekindle the flames of war and hate. People rioted and rebelled. Governments collapsed. Senseless and mindless violence occurred over the face of the earth for many years, until people had grown tired of fighting. But by then it was too late.
Much of the earth's population had been killed, and society was damaged past reparation. Filled with sadness and despair, the remaining citizens entered a state of depression. The eternal cloud of smog and flames from the meteor did not help their state of mind become any better, only pushing them down even further.
Years passed and a few brave men stood up to their war cursed society and took control of the lands, turning them into new countries. These countries, that had risen from the ashes of former continents, now ruled the devastated Earth as the leading powers : Espada, Lugar Muerto, and Kusagani.
Now, in year 2099, Railway 909 hummed along the ravaged surface of Espada. Plains of burnt grass and distant mountains were pretty much the only thing to look at, aside from the other passengers in the train. The young man sat alone in his open cabin. He pushed his platinum blonde locks of hair out of his grey eyes and stared at his youthful face in the window reflection and smirked. This was the face that got him out of the trouble he caused back in Los Egoistas - Espada's capital city . No one would believe such an innocent face could do such things.
He ran his slim fingers through his shoulder length hair. The prettier he looked, the more confident he was. He rubbed his thumb on his smooth silk skin and smiled to himself.
This young twenty two year old man's name was Ren, and he was on his way out of Los Egoistas to his grandmother's home in the poor Espada countryside. That is, until mysterious aerial bombers from nowhere flew over the train and dropped destruction on it.
There was a loud explosion and soon flames engulfed the entire front of the train. Instantly, hundreds of people died. Ren, who was close enough to feel the impact, tried to get up and run out with the other screaming passengers, but the suitcases above fell from their racks and slammed into him. He blacked out.
........
The small young man awoke later on a long sofa in a dimly lit room. He groggily looked around with a massive headache. It looked like a private library, with shelves of books covering the walls of the room and a few long tables in the middle. At the end of the room, on the wall where there were no shelves, stood two tall majestic doors. They were creaked open a bit, letting in a slit of light.
Ren quietly snuck over and tried to peek through. In the other room were many men and women dressed in fancy suits. Ren knew who they were: Espada government officials.
'What am I doing here?' he thought to himself as he eyed the meeting. He tried to step back, only to stumble into a chair and fall over.
The noise was audible outside the room, and all the officials knew Ren was awake. They burst into his room and flicked on the switch, quickly flooding the darkness with light.
"Good. You're awake," one woman said. Her tone was sharp and quick to the point. "Get up."
Ren rubbed his shoulder and hopped up to his feet. "What am I doing here?" he demanded angrily.
"Quite feisty for a criminal, aren't you?" a man said. "Come here. Have a seat."
'Criminal?' Ren repeated in his head. "What do you mean criminal?!"
"Your innocent face might work on some people, but it won't impress us," the woman said coldly. "And feigning ignorance definitely isn't the way to go."
Ren gritted his teeth and blew his hair out of his face. "I'm not faking anything. How am I a criminal?"
"You're a terrorist bomber," the woman explained. "You killed every single passenger on Railway 909. Except yourself, obviously. And until we get your motives out of you, you're staying put."
"T-terrorist bomber?!" Ren repeated in disbelief. 'What the hell is this lady talking about?!' he thought to himself. "I didn't bomb anyone! Or anything! Railway 909 ... I was just taking it to my grandma's house!"
"Of course you'd have an excuse," the man said. "Have a seat, son. We'll do your interrogation right here. Cut the lights."
As soon as the lights shut off, Ren felt himself get pushed down into the chair behind him. He felt his wrists get strapped to the handles. He was helpless.
"Why? Why did you do it?" Lights blinded Ren. He squinted nervously.
"I-I didn't do it!" he protested. "I don't know where you're getting your information from, but it's wrong! I didn't do it!"
"It's as clear as can be," the woman insisted. "Railway 909 was reported to be utterly destroyed, and yet on further investigation, you were the only one found alive. Unconscious, but alive."
"That's just a coincidence!" Ren cried out. "An unlucky one at that! I didn't do it!"
"Until you choose to cooperate with us, we have no choice but to send you to Los Desesperados," the woman said, blatantly ignoring Ren's pleas.
Ren's eyes widened in fear. Los Desesperados was a large prison for all the criminals of every country. It was the only prison established because it was only necessary to have one in the entire world. Los Desesperados's brutal reputation deterred anyone else from committing crimes.
Unless, of course, you were falsely accused.
Within hours, Ren found himself led away from Los Egoistas' government hall to an old creaky boat that sailed through the world's rough waters. It seemed like an eternity before the boat reached a large dark island in the middle of the foggy waters.
Ren shuddered as he stepped off the boat onto the cold stone of the mysterious island, followed by a few more fellow inmates. He took this moment to study his potential prison companions. There were three of them: a short stocky man, a tall athletic young man, and an old shaky man. The cold air whipped around them as he wiped the nervous sweat off his face. He was scared. Utterly scared. He had heard of Los Desesperados's ruthless stories back in Espada.
The air was thick with fog and mist, but when he squinted, Ren could see the dark outline of a tall, menacing building. In the distant, he could hear metal doors clanking and the bloodcurdling screams of a few inmates.
"Come along, worthless rats," the tall prison escort said. His tone was harsh and deadly. "Follow the torches."
Ren followed the barely lit stone path. The flames of the torches flickered in the wind, creating dancing shadows all across the darkness. The path was bumpy and full of cracks. Ren tripped countless times as he walked glumly.
It wasn't long before he found himself standing before a long set of stairs. He looked up. The seemingly endless stairs led up into a dark hallway.
"Up there is Los Desesperados," the escort said. "Start climbing, you worthless rats!"
Ren gulped and picked up his lifeless feet. Up and up he went, and soon he felt like he was simply walking up and down the stairs.
'Damn!' he thought. 'I have never seen any stairs this high!'
"Almost there, rats! Keep climbing!" The escort's booming voice jolted Ren back to reality.
After a many more arduous steps, Ren found temporary relief as he reached the top of the stairs. Taking a quick moment to catch his breath, he looked down into the blackness. There was a small light at the end of it.
"March!" the escort commanded.
Into the darkness, Ren and his fellow inmates went. He felt a hand push him into the white light, blinding him as he rubbed his eyes.
They were now in a small, metal room filled with caged windows. On the other side, Ren could see prison staffers typing furiously away at computers. Some stood and laughed by the coffee machines and snack vendors.
"Line up!" the escorted ordered. "The Director will be here soon so don-."
Then, as if on cue, the heavy metal door slid open, revealing a tall, slim man. His spiky brown hair was slicked back and held into place by his glasses resting atop of his head. He wore a white lab coat, and twirled his way into the room merrily, humming to himself.
"Hello, hello!" he said cheerfully. "My name is Taji Chalcedon, your savior and the humble Director of Los Desesperados!" His voice was peppy and bright, just like his shiny brown eyes.
Ren looked at him in silence. 'This guy is weird.'
"I understand all four of you are here because of the big bad world outside Los Desesperados," Taji continued. "Don't worry, my children! Los Desesperados will fix your mistakes in no time."
Ren wanted to ask him a question but before he could open his mouth, Taji whirled joyously out of the room singing loudly off-key. "Wait! I have a-!"
"Silence!" the escort shouted firmly.
The metal door slid open loudly again and young short scary woman walked into the room, followed by her assistant pushing a rolling table. Her black and white uniform seemed different from the other guards, as her golden shoulder pads seemed to signify a higher status. Her long black hair cascaded down from her tilted cap. Oddly, for a prison staff member, she was gorgeous, attracting attention from the male inmates. Ren, however, didn't care. He was more interested in the male guards.
"My name is Sakina Uriya, the Warden of Los Desesperados," the scary woman informed in a cold tone. "You will all report to me any troubles or concerns you have, although I guarantee you it will not make any difference in your stay here."
She eyed the tall athletic inmate standing in the center. "You look like you have a question. Speak now."
The man stammered over his words. "Y-you're very beautiful. H-how do you protect yourself from all these men?"
Sakina smirked and swiftly pulled out a pistol concealed in her uniform. "Like this." Before anyone could utter another word, Sakina shot him dead-center in his forehead. The ringing echoed ominously throughout the room.
The man fell back sliding to the floor, dead, as his blood pooled around him.
Ren and the other inmates stood completely still, stunned and shocked. 'Th-this woman is insane!' he thought to himself. He felt shivers go down his spine.
She motioned towards her assistant, who rolled the table forward. On the table were several burlap sacks.
"You will all receive an inmate bag," Sakina informed harshly, putting her gun away as her assistant passed them out. "Open them."
Ren slowly opened his bag and found the standard inmate uniform and few personal hygiene items.
"Every month, you will get a new one, replenishing your supplies," she continued. "Should you run out before then, oh well." She shrugged and gestured down the hall. "Come, you rats. I'll show you your rooms now."
She marched off down into the corridors, her heels clicking and echoing throughout the hall. As the group walked into the inmate cell sections, cheers and wolf whistles from the male inmates quickly surrounded them.
Sakina ignored them as she paced down further. She stopped in front of a few empty cells.
