Story Reader / Affection / Roland: Flambeau / Story
Roland: Flambeau I
>You may have experience as a commandant, but the current situation exceeds all your expectations.
You are in a small prison cell—judging by the steel cage in front of you and the limited number of furniture in the room, which includes a bed, a water basin, and a toilet, this is a prison for sure.
Meanwhile, a mechanoid with its artificial skin peeling off is guarding the room outside, its soulless eyes staring at you. At the entrance are the corpses of two other mechanoids.
It is not as if this is your first imprisonment, but it is your first time coming face-to-face with a Corrupted like this.
The door separating you two is strong, its sturdy lock capable of withstanding attacks from the strongest weapons, which is a silver lining in this situation. The Corrupted will not be able to damage the door, so at least you are safe.
You sigh a breath of relief and lift up your gun.
This is the third one.
The bullet pierces through the mechanoid's memory shell, instantly putting a stop to its actions. It drops to the ground by the door with a thud.
You immediately move closer and put your hand through the narrow gap between bars. Fumbling around its waist, your fingers find a metal ring. The cool sensation of metal relaxes you.
You finally find the key to the cell on the third "guard" "patrolling" the area. Not wasting any more time, you insert the key into the keyhole on the other side of the door.
After trying for the fifth time, you are finally able to free yourself.
Your short imprisonment comes to an end. The question that remains now is how to leave this place. As for how you got yourself into this predicament...
At first it was just a simple survey mission. After investigating all the nearby devices according to procedures, you found yourself in front of the main entrance of the prison.
The thick steel doors were wide open as the prison had long since lost its original purpose, but due to its unique power supply, some parts of it were still operational.
This place was infected by the Punishing Virus during the Great Evacuation. Most of the prisoners here escaped amidst the chaos, leaving behind the bionic mechanoid workers.
According to the scans, this area contains a huge amount of Corrupted.
For the conservation area nearby undergoing restoration, this prison is no doubt an explosive ticking time bomb.
In order to prevent the prison's radio jamming from interfering with the clean-up mission, Gray Raven and another team were assigned on a co-op mission together to set up comms equipment outside the building, while you scouted the uninfected areas and the prison.
The mission was going smoothly until you heard an explosion from deep within the building. You leaped inside the prison through its open doors without even thinking.
The alarms blared and the prison came to life, its red lights flashing inside.
You heard rustling from behind, and before you could react, something had grabbed you by your right arm.
Turning around, you found a huge mechanoid guard lurking in the shadows behind the door.
Prisoner confirmed. Captured. Awaiting next command.
The firm grip on your right arm did not loosen. You could not break free.
You reached for your gun strapped to your waist, but the mechanoid noticed and grabbed your other arm as well.
Warning. The prisoner is aggressive. More forceful measures will be taken upon repeated offense.
The light on the mechanoid guard's head turned red and the weapons on its shoulders aimed at your head.
Unable to predict the mechanoid's next move, it was best to just stay put and observe.
No new commands. Acting according to protocol. Transferring prisoner to cell C-04.
The mechanoid guard pushed you forward with its weapon as the doors of the prison closed up behind you.
But whenever you showed a sign of struggle, the mechanoid would raise its weapon as a warning, forcing you to give up your plans for a sneak attack.
That was how you were "transferred" to the cell.
Recalling the path you took when you were being "transferred," you soon find yourself in the warden's office.
Luckily, the area you are in has a relatively low virus concentration, and the mechanoids you have encountered on the way have shown no signs of infection. Their hostility dissipated after you took the key and Authorization Chip from the guard.
The office, simply put, is a mess. It is not hard to imagine what happened here. Even the specks of dust are frozen in time, and nothing has changed since the moment of evacuation.
Looking around, you find an old control system and a comms device under some old newspaper.
The system monitor lights up at your touch.
The control system confirms that the prison's emergency mode was activated due to an unknown reason. All passages leading outside have been sealed, and if you want to open the doors here, you need to activate the unique command in the main control room with the correct password.
Turning your attention to the comms device on the side, you find that its communication range is limited to within the prison.
You have no way to confirm if your signals will be picked up by the comms equipment set up by your team outside, but this is currently your only way to communicate in this closed-off space.
So you operate the device and send out a distress signal.
As you wait for a reply, you explore the warden's office and find a blueprint of the prison. Thankfully, your time has not been a complete waste.
Just when you begin to think that no one has received your message, the signal connection lights up.
...
The silver-haired young man stands in front of the comms equipment with interest, focusing on the flashing signal.
Interesting.
I wasn't expecting visitors except for myself.
I wonder whose luck was so rotten that the poor thing got trapped in here with me?
The signal continues to flash, pausing for a second before resuming, like the lamp on a struggling ship caught in a storm.
And this isn't a random shot in the dark... The one who sent this seems to be quite collected.
I thought this would be my one-man show. Color me surprised to find another actor onstage.
It's not my style to let such an interesting opportunity slip away, is it now?
He places his hand on top of the reply button.
