PITYING THE PRISONER | p.jm

o n e - c o r a

I roll over in bed and turn off my alarm. It's 6:30 in the morning, and — though I'm tired — I've got work to do. I put my brown hair up in a ponytail, as that's part of The Company's dress code. Since work doesn't actually start until 9:00, I go to the gym every morning. It loosens me up, clears my head. I put on some tennis shoes and workout clothes before I exit my quarters and head in the direction of the gym. The complex is pretty large, so going from my quarters in Residence Block D to the gym in the Amenities Block takes about fifteen minutes. On my way, I encounter my best and only friend, Jo Subin. She puts her hand on my shoulder as she sees me, a warm smile on her face.

"Hey, Cora. Ready to lose today?"

"You wish," I say simply. "You know I'm always going to spar better than you."

"Maybe, but I'm a far better shot than you are."

"Not for long, I've been training. I'll be able to beat you at shooting, too."

"I'm sure. That's what you get when you're the child of Lee Kwangmin and the Jess Abernathy."

"Yeah, yeah, mom was cool. She was cool, until she got caught."

"Don't remind me."

We enter the gym, scanning our timecards to check us in. Subin and I head to the sparring room, where we spend thirty minutes practicing our skills. Of course, I beat Subin every time. On our third go-around, I can tell that Subin's tired. I've been wearing her out for the whole match, and she hasn't even landed a punch yet. Knowing that my time to strike is now, I flip her and she lands on her back, losing the match.

"Jeez, Cora. Are you even real?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm real, Subin. If I wasn't, I don't think I could have been able to flip you like that." I laugh and help her up.

"Go easy on me next time, okay? You know I'm not very good at sparring."

"How are you supposed to get better if I never actually make you work?"

Subin dismisses my question, changing the subject. "Come on, let's run a little bit before we head out. It's only 7:30, we've got another hour and a half before work starts." I nod and follow Subin from the sparring room out into the main gym. We run for forty-five minutes before I retire back to my quarters, feeling energized and strong.

I take a quick shower and put on my clothes for the day, wearing a white sweater and blue jeans. I keep my hair up in its ponytail and double check to make sure I have my keycard, keys, and my ID. After ensuring that I have everything, I exit my quarters and walk towards Cell Block B, in the other direction of the Amenities Block. Block B is where my day's work takes place, after all. I use my keycard to open the door to the cell block. From there, I make my way down a few hallways until I come to the cell in which my week's work takes place. Cell #606, containing prisoner 400. His name is actually Michael, but that isn't really important to me. It's far easier to break them if you don't refer to the by their names. From what I've heard, he wronged The Company a few years back, and now we're getting our revenge on him. I glance through the one-way mirror halfheartedly, noting the dilapidated state of my "client." He's looking at the ground, as he always does. He never looks up anymore, I've taught him not to. Eye contact, or even looking up, is punishable by a bit of physical reprimand. He sits in the corner, slumped against the wall like a ragdoll. His right arm is chained to the mount on the wall, and he lets this arm drop to the cold floor of the cell. 400 is weak, pathetic, even. It took only two weeks to beat him into submission. I've dealt with far worse. This is my last day with 400, as I've already broken him. I'll most likely have a new assignment in the morning. I'm not going to miss 400, but I am going to miss how easy it was to break him. He made work very easy for me, and I like easy.