300 Feet Above

Seven: Immoral Interrogation

Little more than ten minutes later, I found myself being escorted down yet another staff-only corridor. Well-lit and floored with that familiar steel tread, the hall was completely deserted at this time of evening. By this time, I had lost all sense of direction—every hallway looked identical, filled with glowing LEDs and the same steel handrails.

It didn't escape my attention that the situation would have been laughable under different circumstances—at this point in the journey, I had seen more of the crew's side of the ship than anything else.

The Watchers remained at my sides, pistols away, but still firmly focused on keeping me under guard. At the front of the pack, Hisako marched forward with her arms clasped tightly behind her uniformed back.

She had not spoken a word since my arrest.

After another few minutes of walking in silence, we seemed to arrive at our destination. At first, I assumed we had somehow found a dead end—a large metal wall blocked our path, painted a dull matte grey. However, Hisako marched up to the smooth surface and drew out a small object.

The item in her hand was about the size of a key, but thicker and rounder in shape. Its cylindrical body was only a few centimeters in diameter and tapered at the end to form two thin hooks.

It was only now that I noticed the long, thin slot that adorned the otherwise featureless metal.

Sliding the strange device into the hole in the wall, Hisako gave a sharp twist and something inside gave way. Twisted sideways, the odd, hooked item was now effectively wedged inside the wall. Hisako let out a grunt of effort as she pulled against the cylinder, and, to my surprise, the wall moved.

With the cylinder acting as a handle, Hisako was able to open what I now could see was an extremely elaborate door—behind the smooth surface, I could now see gears and pistons built to hold it in place. Despite my predicament, I was impressed. Because it swung outwards, opening the door without Hisako's key would have been impossible.

The heavy metal door struck the far end of the wall with a loud clang, reverberating down the empty hallway. Inside, I could see a sparse room—concrete floor, a few LED lights and a single table and chair. In the far corner of the surprisingly spacious area, a bed was bolted to the wall next to a steel toilet.

"Please enter," Hisako commanded. Without any other options, I simply obeyed, stepping through the door and entering the room. The concrete was cold on my bare feet, and the glare of the LED lights was nearly blinding.

"Please continue walking forward, and sit down on the bed," Hisako ordered.

I did as I was told, crossing the room and sitting down atop the bed frame. At least I would finally get to sleep.

Hisako took a few steps into the cell, standing near the doorway. Oddly enough, I noticed that the complex door had a simple handle on its inside—surely I wasn't able to open it from in here?

"Please remain seated, Elijah," Hisako told me. Her neutral tone of voice gave me no indication as to her plans. Hisako reached out and tapped a small button on the wall that I had assumed was a light switch.

A quiet whirring noise came from above, and I glanced upwards to see an odd shimmer of light. After a few seconds, I could fully see the prison I was to be contained in—the large steel door could be opened from the inside because I had no chance of reaching it.

I was imprisoned in a five-square-meter prison made entirely of glass.

The opaque material made up three of the four walls of my newfound cell, reducing the area I had to move about. Instead of the entire room, my enclosure now ended at the foot of the bed—the table, chair and rest of the room were all locked outside.