Connected

The Ending

When I opened my eyes, I was met with the gray colored ceiling of the Detention Center. I rubbed my eyes, getting rid of the sleep that had accumulated.

Two weeks had gone by already and a nightmare had woken me up. Again. It was one that had only shown up in the last few weeks. A gorey sight added to the basement that already haunted my nights.

I sat up and flipped the smooshed pillow over. Then I looked out the window. The only things I could see were the clouds that looked like they were heading into town. Rain would be a welcomed sight.

I got up and brushed through my hair with my hands. When I finished, the doors unlocked and breakfast was called out. I joined the rest of the population and enjoyed a banana and oatmeal at a table by myself.

A couple others had tried talking to me when I had first arrived, but I chose to distance myself from everyone else. Everyone around me always got hurt in some form or another.

When I finished, we were allowed to go outside for a bit or to the library. I walked silently into the small library and picked up a book that I had just started the day before. Then I found the chair that I had taken a liking to. It also happened to look out into a field that surrounded the building. The notion of freedom was so close, yet so far away.

After reading for a bit a guard came up to me. "You have a meeting Ms. Y/L/N."

I shook my head. "I don't want any visitors."

This time she shook her head. "It's an official meeting. You can't deny this one."

"Oh." I closed the book and left it in the seat. Then the guard led me through several doors into a room where a uniformed officer sat, looking through some papers.

He looked up as I sat down. "Y/N."

"Officer Seo." My heartbeat picked up a bit. No one had told me what had happened at Lee Know's house. I didn't know what had happened in the basement.

I bit the inside of my cheek as the guard relocked the room and stood outside the door.

Officer Seo shuffled the papers a bit more before placing them on the table in front of me. "You can read through these."

I pulled them closer to myself as Officer Seo began pointing to a few things.

"This is the charge that is being served to you." He pointed to the line next to the singular charge. "This is the time sentence recommendation."

I read the charge. 'Severe manipulation of the Internet-World Wide.' Then the time they were asking for: '18 months.'

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Officer Seo?"

He looked up from the paper in front of me. "Hmm?"

"Why is there only one charge?"

He drew his hand back from the paper. "Despite the damage that you caused with the manipulation of the internet's time, nations have decided to show you some mercy. You were quite instrumental in helping to capture Rena and her associate Philip."

"And the other charges that Officer Han mentioned when he arrested me were dropped. Just like that?"

He nodded. "They were international fugitives. They had multiple charges against each of them in multiple nations. These other nations wanted to show you their gratitude."

"Oh." I looked back down at the time recommendation. Officer Seo reached back out towards the paper. "And, why is the time recommendation so low?"

He paused and I watched as confusion crossed his face. "So low? 18 months is too low?"