Ultimum Carceron

Ultimum Carceron 9

Hours passed by before an aircraft, authorized by Warden Keung Song-Xu, reached the A25 floor of the security tower; a distress signal by Captain Amos alerted him to the fact that the Crimson Serpent gang had infiltrated the tower. In only twenty-five minutes, armored men and women, but mostly drones, entered the floor, expecting scoundrels ready to fight. Instead, the upstairs, of which the electricity had returned to, was covered in the remains of violently massacred people, some unable to be identified. The glass of the windows were gone, and the furniture was shreds of wood, metal, and cushion. The food and alcohol mixed with the remains of the victims.

When the clothing suggested that these were not guards that had died, that meant it was Crimson Serpent gangsters that had been victimized. Immediately, the drones and soldiers were sent to the floors both above and below for more fugitives. Carceron's deputy, Mr. Yeolothror, remained behind until the drones carried the bodies to the morgue. It was when the bodily remains were being checked for DNA identification and fingerprints when the warden himself arrived. A large jet swept with its wind the dust and particles clean off the bridge it landed on. Song-Xu independently rolled inside the tower on his wheelchair. The door was already open, and the crowd of drones divided to the two sides of the room so he could roll up to Mr. Yeolothror.

"Was it just him and his gang?" Song-Xu asked--or rather, his electronic voice box did. If he had been able to move his mouth to imply emotions of his own, they might have been of disdain.

"Possibly," Mr. Yeolothror said. "We can't find Smythe at all, or his body. The windows upstairs are completely broken. There was probably gunfire."

"Of course," Song-Xu said. He turned his wheelchair so that they both could go upstairs to the crime scene. "Was anyone left alive?"

"No, sir."

"Keep on looking for Smythe, consider the possibility of a third party, such as another gang," Song-Xu replied.

"Yes, sir," Mr. Yeolothror answered. "Also, I checked--only about thirty percent of our cameras and various security systems have been returned. A little over a half million inmates have been imprisoned within the last couple of days."

"Keep them all on mandatory lockdown," Song-Xu told him. "And were any of those repaired cameras local, like ten floors, give or take?"

"Yes, but those are for the hallways with cells," Mr. Yeolothror said. "I haven't checked their footage. The guards just started going through the footage, so if anyone involved in what Smythe did went through those halls, we'll know who."

"Good," Song-Xu said.

"Excuse me, Mr. Song-Xu!"

Both Song-Xu and Mr. Yeolothror's attention was directed to a guard who was pointing outside towards a drone hovering near a light--but they could see something hanging in front of it, a long object, like a fly caught in a spider web. The drone, blinking brief but sharp red light, moved closer to the object.

"It's a person," Mr. Yeolothror assumed.

He had assumed correctly, for the drone sliced through the wire but carried the figure back through the shattered windows of A25, to the feet of Song-Xu and Mr. Yeolothror. Gyueron Smythe Jr., their primary suspect in the infiltration of the tower, was lying, tied up tightly by thin metal wire, his face very bruised, his hair sticking up like he grazed static, the makeup under his eyes streaked down his face like tears, and his jacket had wide tears that could have housed small children. His eyes were half closed so that his long eyelashes were an inch longer down his cheek than normal people; usually this would indicate sleepiness, but instead he looked too weak to move.

Mr. Yeolothror crouched down and took out cuffs. Once flipping the man on his front, he bound Smythe's hands together, then he pulled the wire down off Smythe's feet, just like undressing someone, and tossed it out the window. He flipped Smythe on his back, but this time, he seemed to be aroused by the contact by the deputy, his eyes moving onto him and the warden.