42 | Sitkolson

Chapter One | Orientation

Vinny glanced outside a barred window, noticing the rain had just begun. The silence was awkward, stale. He was looking for anything to distract him while the woman before him reviewed his papers meticulous. She read them line for line, working as if he wasn't even there. Her silence was starting to make him anxious.

"What caused you to change careers?" She asked him abruptly. Her monotone delivery felt more accusatory than inquiring.

"Uhm," Vinny readjusting in his seat uncomfortable. "I wanna use my abilities for good, but there's this whole... political side to the hero thing that I didn't like. I mean, I know it doesn't change the fact that superheroes are still saving lives, but when I found out they all have PR agents and managers, marketing even, it kinda turned me off from the whole hero thing."

Her next question, "Why did you choose to move states?"

He chuckled nervously, "Figured I probably shouldn't go work in a prison that has people I caught in it."

She continued to write notes in a file she'd opened. The woman reached to the phone on her desk, calling for another employee of the prison. Then, she addressed Vinny, "I see no reason why we shouldn't hire you. You start today."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you. Wait- Today?"

"Yes, Mr. Mauro. Today." The door opened, a far less uptight gentleman entering. "Officer Montgomery will show you around."

"Please," He smiled, "Everyone else calls me Piggy D. C'mon, kid."

He turned around, heading out into the hall. Vinny was happy to get away from that unpleasant woman, even if it meant following a stranger through a prison packed with some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. Vinny introduced himself to Piggy, who was treating him with a surprising amount of respect. He's not oblivious to the way he looks and fully expected everyone to look down on him the way that worker had.

They existed the office portion of the prison, stepping onto a long bridge with an even longer drop. Piggy handed Vinny a key card, explaining, "It's a temp, until they get you your own at the end of the week. That thing's got pretty high clearance."

"Do I... Need high clearance?" He hesitantly asked.

"You could say that." Piggy stopped before a very large, very secure looking door. He swiped his own key card through a reader and led Vinny into the first cell block. They walked out onto the third level. To their left, railings looked down to a common area and two other floors of cells. "This is block one. Pretty minor criminals. It's where I work. There's three other blocks. You've been assigned to block four."

"I'm gonna make an educated guess and say that's where the lifers are?"

He laughed, "You catch on fast. That's good."

Vinny wasn't nearly as amused. "Shouldn't I be, like, here? Not in charge of the super dangerous criminals, on my first day?"

As they walked, Piggy explained there was a severe lack of super powered guards. Even if Vinny's abilities were nothing flashy or fancy, he was still considered more able than any other guard in the prison. Piggy also elaborated as to why he was called on to give Vinny the tour and orientation. He was once a superhuman himself, but lost his abilities not too long ago due to a super villain attack. Before the incident, he was in charge of the infamous cell block four.

After what felt like ten minutes of walking, they finally reached an extremely high tech door. Piggy instructed Vinny to use the key card he'd just been given. His own no longer was authorized to access anything beyond this point. Inside, it looked nothing like the other cell blocks. Instead of bars, most cells were locked by energy fields. On the bottom level, against the furthest wall, there looked to be a cell that was blocked off by pure concrete.