The cameras were all around them, they'd been recorded nonstop since he woke up on a transport. Tristin couldn't get away from them.

He awakened dumped roughly into a flight seat and strapped in. Another boy was strapped in next to him but the trip had been silent. Tristin had never been off-world before. He looked out the window and then wished he hadn't. There was nothing but pure blackness outside the window with a sprinkling of stars.  He closed his eyes tight until eventually, he fell asleep again.

Wherever they were going, it wasn't on Nexus. 

The landing was rough, but over quickly. 

"Be advised," a mechanical voice intoned through the comms. "We will be deploying to the surface of Helion 7 Prison Complex shortly. The environment is hostile at midday and at midnight.  The cycles touch extremes. It is recommended that humans do not venture out on the surface unless in protective gear. Your supervisor will advise more. Thank you."

The doors loomed large and imposing as they walked inside. There was another boy with him, but unlike Tristin, he was a true augment. His head was banded with a device that wrapped around his eyes and embedded into his skin. Tristin had never seen an augment like it before. Eye aids usually involved replacing the eye or growing a new one. This one was old school, older technology generally reserved for poorer families who couldn't get the newest care.

"I'm T," he whispered. The other boy turned his head to look at him. The eyes moved in several directions before settling on him. It was unnerving, like watching a chameleon read the room before approaching. 

"Alt," he whispered. 

Tristin leaned back to take the whole device. "What is that?"

Alt touched the top of his head. "It's my ocular device... Why are you here? You don't look like anything. Are you Neo-Tokyan?"

T shrugged. "Definitely not, it's a mistake. It has to be. I'm not an augment, I just have a spine augment that is slowly and carefully pushing my spine straight. I've had a lot of surgeries for it so far."

Alt shifted where he stood. "I'm not sure if it's a mistake. I heard you end up here even if you have a pacemaker."

T looked at him, he opened his mouth to argue when an old lady walked by. There was nothing outside that screamed augment to him. Just an old lady shambling.

A man clad in a gray uniform ambled by, tablet in hand. "Tristin Korbel and Althaiseus Reinhold."

Althaiseus? Tristin mouthed.

"Just Alt," the boy said, ignoring Tristin. His eyes continued to move in different directions. It was unnerving.

"Alt then. You are both in section C, follow me." 

Both boys were dressed in brown uniforms, they'd received them on the way in. The fabric was soft, and they had white long sleeve shirts underneath. He'd been told the nights were cold and the days were hot, such as went the cycles on Helion 7. Ideal for no one to run out onto the surface and remain for very long. A perfect prison.

Their shoes, they'd been allowed to keep, with promises they'd be issued larger ones later when they grew. The gravel crunched beneath their feet as they walked. 

"Stop a sec!" A motorcade rambled in front of them. A large black man with a metal arm rode on the back. Blood leaked from a scratch on his forehead. But it was the other man on the carrier that captured the boys' interest. He was unconscious and his hands were cuffed. He had augments that lined the side of his jaw in short blue lines that extended behind his head. On the top of his head was a bright red mohawk. The vehicle drove to the building and disappeared around the far side.

Their man clucked his tongue. "Ah, I wondered if he was going to end up here," he said. "Not everyone understands this is for their own protection," he muttered. "Right, let's go."

Before Tristin could who that was, a harsh voice yelled out at them from across the yard.

"Hey, new meat!" Tristin's gaze met those of a man, his heart sank when he saw that the man was leering at them. He blew a kiss at them and laughed when Tristin sidestepped away from him.

 There were so many people coming in with them, perhaps they could just blend in?

The man leading them ignored the other prisoners and made abruptly for the door. The door much to Tristin's surprise opened with a knob. Most doors slid open as soon as you approached and wouldn't open if you didn't belong there.

"Nothing hackable here I'm afraid." The other man was talking. Tristin, numb, followed behind, the deaths of his parents still fresh on his mind. "Everything is old school, mechanical. No AI in here as well." 

Tristin blinked. It was very different from what he was used to. Instead of gray, the world had shifted red and mauve.

"Top bunk," Alt called. 

"Bunks?" Tristin moved into the cell. The door was made of bars but the cells were mostly enclosed with a small window. There was a toilet with a sink on the back of it in the middle of the room. A mirror was stationed over the toilet.

The hallways closed in the from outside to keep the weather out.

"These stay open, so you may move around freely," the man droned on.

"But what about school?" Tristin said. "I had exams in three weeks."

The man lowered his tablet, and for the first time met Tristin's eyes. He blinked and looked at his tablet as if searching for an answer. He jaw set as inhaled. 

"Haven't they told you," he asked gently. "There is no need for that any longer. You may ask another resident, but you are for all intents and purposes home."

"But--"

The man held up a hand. "This is the refuge and many of the residents will spend the rest of their lives here."

He turned and walked away from them, quickly. 

Tristin stood just inside the door, dumbfounded. They had really failed. But had they ever really had a chance at success? This process was obviously in motion long before they'd come along. What had they been thrust into? Caohdan had certainly gotten wind of it, but this was a landslide. They never had a chance.

(1050)