Arc One: Awakening

Chapter 9: Hero of Flame

"Once the prisoners are restrained, wait for further orders. Take your place next to the other officers and keep your eye out for... Hey. Are you listening?" Roderick clapped his hands and the boy beside him flinched, eyes wide like a frightened alley pup.

"Sorry, Officer Cadwell," Gabriel said, snapping to attention and attempting to ignore the loud clangs and intense wails pervading the correctional compound.

With his large collection of keys jangling on his chain and emitting their ominous death call, Roderick paused and shoved the recruit against the wall. "Listen, lad. You've got a smell of grass about you, and that doesn't sit well with me. To be successful in this business, you have get your hands filthy, make sure you go home stinking of sweat, and if you're lucky, find a bit of blood on your shirt. Understand me?" The boy surveyed his surroundings perplexed, and he shook him by the collar, permitting the stammered 'yes, sir,' to serve as a satisfactory response before he released him. "Fix your uniform."

Gabriel evened out the wrinkled neck of his overcoat and prodded the loose strands back into his snug hat as he hastened to catch up with his superior.

"Now, as I was saying," Roderick continued, "once you've taken your position with the other officers, keep your attention on the crowd. Some of them get rowdy when the shockers go off. Master Ironstrike has asked for the intensity to be set at a five, but sometimes he'll request changes halfway through a punishment. Do you know how to change the settings?"

"Suspend the incoming flow of electricity, switch the left dial to the desired strength, and then calibrate it to the neck braces," Gabriel replied. "After the velocity has stabilised, the machine is ready to be used again."

"Good. You paid attention to your training, which is more than I can say for some." An agonised screech rattled his apprentice, and Roderick huffed. "If you go into the cells looking weak, those criminals will eat you alive. Literally if you get too close to some of them. Ironstrike likes them skinny. Feel more pain that way."

The stout officer nudged him as though they shared an inside joke and let out a choked laugh. Gabriel recoiled at the whiff of acrid smoke from his breath.

"You'll get used to the sounds they make," Roderick said.

How could anyone grow accustomed to sounds of agony? Gabriel thought. What purpose was this supposed to provide other than to fear the industry families? "I don't mean to step out of line, sir, but should we really be punishing people like this? I thought that this kind of punishment was reserved only for serious offences."

"What do you suggest, huh? Slap on the wrist? A 'don't do that' and send them on their way?" Cadwell stuck his chest out, acknowledging a few supervisors of the same rank at the security booth. "It's not our place to question it. We have our duty."

From behind them, resonant bells tolled and stomping boots neared at speed. Roderick swept Gabriel aside as a group of officers marched an inmate to her new home.

"Ah, Cadwell," the willowy captain at the forefront of the march said, signalling for his brigade to halt. The pounding heels ceased, and the woman suspended between them groaned, seeping blood and sweat in a puddle beneath her knees. "It's been a while since I've seen you here."

"Mostly been working near the warehouses these past few months," Roderick replied. "Taking a fresh lot to the shockers today, though."

"Judging by your companion, you have the honour of guiding a rookie into our ranks."

"This is Gabriel. He's green in the eyes, but he passed his training with excellent marks. I have high hopes for him."

"Is that so?"