The Systemic Lands

Chapter 181: Day 399 (5) – Prison and Punishment

The Prison building was one big block like the other buildings that took up two by two building plots. There were two RMPF soldiers standing outside. They saluted and opened the doors. The walls were quite thick, so it was a bit like walking through a short tunnel. We came to a circular room and there was a pillar in the center of the room.

Around the edge of the room were sixteen rooms. For four of the rooms there was a glowing blue field in front of the room, or cell and the walls were also glowing. Based on the size of the cells, the exterior walls had to be quite thick. I put my hands on the pillar.

The first thing was that the Prison required upkeep. For each stat a person had, it cost 100 points per day to contain them. Laura was costing 23,500 points per day. That wasn’t going to continue, hard stop. I was annoyed she was even in here costing me points to begin with. Putting someone in prison required purchasing a Prison Rod and touching them for 100 seconds with said rod within the city. Then they would be teleported into a cell, which would remain active for one day, unless points were paid.

If only it worked outside the city, that would be nice. A quick way to teleport back. The Almighty System wouldn’t make anything that easy. The Prison Rod cost 10k points. What a waste. The Prison was a waste. The cells could be upgraded to nullify level 2 skills for one million points each and level 3 skills for five million points each. Automated food and water for one million points.

Nope. “Clarissa, why are we wasting points?” I asked. There was a long stretch of silence.

“It is secure, and it is a Prison. Also, we routinely put her back here, there is no initial cost,” she finally said. I rubbed my forehead. Minus Michael points Clarissa.

“Not using this place anymore for high stat people. It is a waste of points and a risk. Even if points aren’t being charged, I don’t like this, since it is just asking to waste points on pointless people,” I said.

“Well if someone has no stat points, it is free.” I paused from the rant that I was building up to at that. I checked the pillar again. “Okay. But better to just get rid of people.” I noted the prisoners were listening in from their cells.

“They can hear us?” I asked Clarissa.

“No. They can see us though. The force walls are unbreakable as far as we can tell. Even with skills,” Clarissa said. Acid Shot. The person jumped in the cell, but the acid ran down mid-air and didn’t do anything. No flicker no vibration. Just the same transparent glowing blue wall. The floor wasn’t damaged either. Interesting how some items and buildings were much sturdier than normal.

“The city buildings are quite tough,” I noted. I would have to test the others.

“They are. Anyways, shall we go through the cases?” Clarissa asked.

“Sure, let’s hear it.” I followed Clarissa over to a cell and looked at the middle-aged man inside.

“Claimed a person stole from him outside the city, then killed that person. Was subdued by other people who came across the scene,” Clarissa quickly summarized the issue at hand.

“What is the problem?” Just kill him and call it a day. Or use him for testing.

“How far do Purgatory’s laws extend.”

“Anywhere where people are grinding. Kill him.” It wasn’t worthwhile to try and salvage this person. Wasting my time was a far bigger crime. Getting caught was a bigger crime than killing a person here. We went to the next cell. There was a naked woman screaming. Even though I couldn’t hear her it was obvious.

“This woman, claimed a man raped her. The man denied it. She then got violent and started screaming,” Clarissa said. The woman was clearly unhinged and hitting on the transparent wall and clearly shouting with how her mouth was moving.

“Mentally ill?” I asked.

“Maybe. She refused to be physically inspected by Doctor Katz when it was offered. She claims she is a victim, but there is no evidence. No signs of a struggle. The man wasn’t scratched, but no alibi.” This was much trickier.

“She got a regeneration when she arrived?” I asked.

“She should have. Everyone gets one. But there isn’t any data about mental illness. Some mental conditions have been fixed, but we haven’t seen anything major, or at least people speaking up about it. Some people don’t want to talk about medical conditions and people can refuse a free regeneration, well it is a refusal if they don’t share their medical conditions accurately beforehand,” Clarissa explained.

What an annoying situation. Believe the woman, and possibly let an unhinged person free. Or kill her and punish the victim of a horrific crime. There was no good in between or really any in between. I could see why this person was put in here for me to decide. No one else wanted to deal with this nonsense.

“Any opinion?” I asked Clarissa.

“I honestly don’t know. Either mentally ill, or a victim. It could be both, but this is a gray area.” I was getting a bit annoyed I had to figure this out.

“The man?”

“He is known, but he has been adamant in his claim he didn’t do anything. He was watched for a while and never bragged and was fairly broken up about the situation from what was observed and reported,” Clarissa said.

I rubbed my forehead. I could feel a headache forming. I didn’t want to deal with this. This was exactly the kind of situation I didn’t want to deal with. I couldn’t do nothing or pass the situation to someone else. I looked at the screaming woman in the cell as she began flinging shit at the force field and smearing it in mid-air.

“Kill her,” I let out a sigh after I made my decision. Even if she was a victim she was unhinged. “She is unhinged. Regardless of the crime, order is paramount. Someone this unhinged who can’t function in society, we don’t have the resources to deal with her. Also the fact she is in here, not the man implies that you and other people knew she has issues,” I said.

I paused for a second before adding a bit more. “Next time, the magistrates or judges or whatever sort this kind of mess out. Put an emphasis on order. That is why we have them. If they can’t do their jobs replace them or I will,” I said to Clarissa.

“Understood. I will make sure to convey that.” We made our way to the third cell. I wondered what new headache I would have to deal with.

“Last case,” I could already guess. They were dressed as a traditional Jew. With the hair, the clothing, the head covering, and the facial hair. “They protested being able to proselytize and pray in public. And not being able to set up a synagogue. He began yelling about persecution.”

The man appeared calm sitting in the cell. There was a bucket and nothing else. “I am going to talk to him, unless there is more?” I asked Clarissa.

“Only that he refused to wear the gray clothing.” I could see how that would send bad vibes. I let out a sigh.

“I am going to speak with him. Hopefully there isn’t a mess,” I muttered the last part. I went over to the pillar and chose the option to unlock the cell. Clarissa had added me into the permissions for all the city buildings, otherwise this wouldn’t have been possible. The force field immediately disappeared.

There was a bit of a smell. “I am going to ask you questions. Your best bet is to answer honestly and succinctly. Do you know who I am?”

“The person in charge,” the Jewish man said as he got to his feet. I let out a sigh.

“That is true, but you clearly lack context if you don’t know my name. I am guessing you were put in here on the day of your arrival, nine days ago I would guess. Were you?” I asked.

“I was.” I let out another sigh.

“Do you know why you are in here?” I asked.

“The oppression of my people is not new or unique.” He was being oppressed because I was a dictator and wanted order, not because of his religion. Now how to convey that?

“While true, that wasn’t what I asked. Do you know why you are in here specifically?”

“I refused to hide my beliefs and wear clothes that are forbidden. I would rather die on my feet than be subjected to this prison camp.”

“This is the city of Purgatory. You have been transported by the Almighty System for unknown reasons along with everyone else. I arrived here before you and set up laws and rules to keep order and the city functioning with the constraints placed upon us.” I took a deep breath and continued.

“The colored clothing is important to recognize people and who they are affiliated with. You can worship how you want, but you are not allowed to try and convert people or have ownership of a building for a place of worship. Do you understand?”

“I understand, but I refuse. I live by my faith. And will die by my faith.” I looked at Clarissa who shrugged.

“I am Champion Michael. What’s your name?” I asked trying to find a way to bridge this gap. The man wasn’t a Karen, violent, but he was causing trouble. Still, he was willing to have a conversation so I would make the effort.

“Yaakov Acker,” the man said.

“Yaakov. I can’t change how this city is ruled for one person. There are important reasons why the city is structured the way it is. My time is also incredibly valuable. Is there any way you can be convinced to follow the rules and laws that have been set up? Please?” I asked. There was long stretch of silence as he considered the question. If he refused, he wouldn’t be leaving alive. I couldn’t afford dissent, especially after Laura.

“Is there any way to return home?” Yaakov asked.

“No. There is no way to return home that I know of, or anyone knows of. I suspect we will never return to Earth, but that is just a guess,” I replied.

“All religions are banned?”

“Yes. It doesn’t matter. If a Muslim shows up, they won’t be allowed to pray in the streets or set up a mosque. A preacher tried to set up a church and that was shut down. While gatherings aren’t outlawed, they can’t be used to preach.”

“People need faith. My hair and clothes?”

“You can keep your hair however you want it. As for your clothes, we provide new clothes to everyone, since it lets people know you are new here. Out of respect I will authorize a larger clothing allotment, but it will have to be in gray, and you can keep your head covering. We can consider it like personal jewelry,” I said, hoping that giving that much ground would resolve this issue.

The reason why I was putting up with this, was that there would be other people like this in the future. Better to have a way to deal with them now.

“Thank you. I can pray?”

“You can pray as much as you want. As often as you want. But no preaching. You aren’t being persecuted for your religion. Let me make that clear. This place is just very strict. Clarissa. Let’s arrange for Yaakov to join the next arrival on rotation. Once he completes the full rotation, have President Bob offer him the position as one of the people dealing with new arrivals if he wants the position. I think this experience and understanding will help others who have similar feelings,” I said.

“I can arrange that Champion Michael,” Clarissa said.

“Yaakov, is there anything else?”

“I have many questions still. But it seems I must endure,” he said stoically.

“While I won’t apologize for your imprisonment, and won’t ask you to apologize for ending up here, I ask you take the time to understand the situation here in Purgatory first. I will add, that there will be no second chance. Life is cheap here and people have powers. This isn’t America or even Earth anymore,” I explained.

“Thank you for the warning, Champion Michael.” He inclined his head slightly, which I took as this issue being resolved and he took my offer. Great thing about having absolute power, I could cut the red tape wherever I wanted to.

“Clarissa, can you show him out and arrange things with one of the guards. He can spend the night at my place and be escorted to the arrival tomorrow to be put in the rotation. I am going to deal with Laura,” I said.

“Very well, but don’t decide anything until I return,” Clarissa said, and I nodded at that. Yaakov followed her out of the Prison.