The Bellators

4:6:4

 In ancient times, man could only discern the time of day from the sight of the sun, thus without access to unrestrained nature they would be blind in time. Yet the further man advanced, so did their tools, their technology, until they developed the mechanical clock as a revolutionary device able to track the passage of time without the necessity of direct sight to the sky. In fact, there were very few true flaws with this device, for while the device could track time as it moved, it could not detect the precise time when relocated to another time zone. For the mechanical watch lacked any knowledge of its position in the world, and so if one was relocated far from when their clock was originally calibrated, their device would be rendered useless in a competition where even the natural sun would be victorious.

Yet technology rose fast, tweaking its flaws in a search for perfection, and eventually through the use of electronics came the digital clock, although that in itself was not truly the bound for in truth it merely functioned the same except for having different internals and a fancier screen capable of showing time other than in hands.

No, this was only a stepping stone, for the true revolution came with the internet, a way to know where one was in the world without needing to have sight of the sun. Clocks that accessed the internet could adjust themselves regardless of displacement, configuring themselves automatically to be correct anywhere. A truly perfect milestone in the journey for tracking time when technology had surpassed even the edge cases of nature.

Or perhaps it would seem that way, yet there was one remaining flaw. In the event where access to the internet failed, so would the clock's ability to precisely determine the time given the current position in the world. Thus if there were to be a jammer prohibiting such access, centuries of human advancement were rendered obsolete.

Thus even as perhaps one of the most advanced humans to ever exist, one who didn't only embellish themselves in technology but rather merge with it, exceeding the natural boundaries set by higher authority, rebelling against such to become a force whose power was only limited by will alone, the prisoner chained up in the brown rubber room can't calculate the time where they were trapped in.

Of course the opaque material of the walls which provides no window screens disallowed for the natural technique of judging time, as in this moment there were no solutions to find just how long she has been marooned to those energy chains that bind her off her feet, the chains coiled from within the projector reels, two with one along each wall beside her.

They are perhaps the only technology of the room that can be easily discerned, for while it seems the doors have an illusive mechanism given their translucent properties when viewing from outside, only the projectors are visibly made from more than simple tiling of the rubber.

So close the shoes are to the ground, yet they dangled only inches from, rocking ever so gently above the rubber floor with bumps in each tile, tiles separated visibly as though there were cracks between the plating.

Unable to learn the hour, the prisoner's head is just tilted down in misery, the body slightly hunched, the arms stretched out due to the persistent pull of the restraints, the ones who'd punish those even trying to budge against it.

The signature black hue of the cable signifies the type of running energy, and while perhaps this prisoner is not one who'd be specifically affected by its passive negation, she knew very well that she was not exempt from its defensive shocks.

Although in truth, the chains are not the true restraints holding the prisoner back, for if she so wanted, she can easily deactivate both in less then a second, in fact she could have freed herself the moment she gained consciousness. But the chains wrapped around her aren't physical, instead the understanding of the keen surveillance she was scrutinized under, watched from just about every angle simultaneously constantly. Even the briefest of shots would be caught, and if any of her cybernetic augmentations were found, that could result in ripple effects that'd spill to all her life, potentially shutting it down from her regardless of if she lived or not. As long as she was being watched, she couldn't make the move, even if it meant having to remain tied up for a time that couldn't even be discerned.