Rumors
Inside the guards' office, Leviathan checked the inmates' condition on the monitors.
There they were — suffering under torture. They had come here of their own free will, yet the brutal treatment had worn them down to exhaustion. Leviathan let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Haaah…"
The torture session was nearly over. A522 and A688, already released after hitting their targets, had been locked back in their cell. That left only two: A691, and A713.
"Lee Nayoon."
Of the two still enduring it, only A713 — Lee Nayoon — was the one in real agony.
On another screen, A691, Kim Yejin, had broken free of the pain and was sucking desperately at the artificial cock. But oral sex had never been her strong suit. For all her frantic effort, the Pear of Anguish still grinding into Nayoon kept expanding, crushing her further. By the time the session was winding down, Nayoon's pussy had been completely torn open.
— Static crackle.
"Ah — this is Leviathan. One for the recovery room."
[Confirmed. Okay]
Confirming that Nayoon's injuries were serious, Leviathan contacted the recovery room at once. Franken, already standing by for the end of the torture hour, reported that everything was ready.
As long as it wasn't instant death, physical damage was a matter of a few hours. Leviathan assumed today's session would simply end the way they always did.
"Time to head over…"
The end-of-session alarm sounded, and Leviathan rose. He needed to return the inmates to their cell.
— Clank. Thud.
The first door he opened was the torture chamber holding A691 — Kim Yejin. A thick stench rolled out the moment it swung wide.
The occupational smell of every torture hour: cunt juice, urine, blood, semen, more slick — every bodily fluid tangled together. Breathing it in, Leviathan stepped inside and looked down at Yejin, panting hard.
"Haa… haa… hngh… haa… ff… haa."
Beneath her chair sat the Pear of Anguish, jaws shut, withdrawn from her body. There were small bloodstains around the tip, but it hadn't forced her all the way to the limit — her pussy still held something like its original shape.
"On your feet."
Leviathan unlocked the chains on her piercings, the cuff anchors, and the ankle restraints, then gave the order. Yejin stood, thighs trembling.
"Haa… ha… nngh."
A soft moan slipped out of her. The second she was upright she locked eyes with Leviathan and shook. The uncharacteristic frailty of it made him meet her gaze with something like interest.
"…Hm."
Even holding his stare, she didn't look away. It was nothing like her usual bratty glare, or the way she ducked her eyes when she was afraid of punishment. So, uncharacteristically, Leviathan granted her permission to speak.
"What is it?"
"I… Leviathan, sir… Nayoon, she…"
She couldn't finish. Watching her trail off, Leviathan exhaled another long sigh.
What was he supposed to tell her?
By the book, the answer was something like What business is that of yours? — followed by demerit points or a beating. He simply didn't feel like it.
Of course he knew Nayoon's condition. Her biometrics streamed to his terminal; he'd watched the entire session on CCTV. He knew she was badly hurt and in a bad way. But saying so risked a mental blow he wasn't sure Yejin could take.
For all her powerful body, for all the way she seemed to revel in torture and pain, Yejin's mind was not especially strong. Everyone else misread her. Leviathan knew better.
And Cell 3, the one under his charge, was practically a collection of inmates like that. He hadn't planned it that way — but because he himself ran things close to regulation, the cell had naturally filled with people whose nerves were fragile and who looked out for one another.
That was why, when Kang Seoa's crisis hit, he'd been recommended as the right man to take her on.
At the very least, Cell 3 had far less friction between inmates than the others. Maybe that was why Leviathan had no desire to shatter the atmosphere.
"I freed you first. Haven't checked on her yet."
"Ah… aah. Yes, sir…"
Deflecting with words for now, Leviathan led the hesitant Yejin toward Cell 3. As they walked, he turned it over in his mind.
This revised program… honestly, it's a terrible fit for our cell…
The overhaul of the Prison Island program had complex roots. The island's programming had always shifted every few years to keep things fresh for re-enrolled inmates, but this time Seoa's suicide attempt and a string of other incidents had driven a wider swing than usual.
Unlike Cell 3, the other cells ran hot with competition. Plenty of inmates believed that if a cellmate racked up more demerit points than they did, they'd be the one spared from execution — so jealousy and spite were routine. Fights broke out. Factions formed. Something had to be done.
The result was the new program: build solidarity inside each cell, and at the same time make inmates suffer demerits and pain for things that weren't even their own doing — all of it meant to further erode whatever human-rights consciousness they still had left.
That was the revised program now in force.
But our inmates were already close. Push them like this and all you get is a rift. I'm honestly worried.
Leviathan fretted over the fresh conflicts it might breed. Especially setups like today's torture — loading one person's failure onto another. That kind of thing could forge a community out of strangers… or tear an existing one apart. He knew that well.
The other guards weren't ignorant of it either. Leviathan was simply the odd one out. Among the rest, the consensus was the same:
Inmates barely have human rights left anyway — why bother? If any of them start thinking that way, just bury the thought under demerits and torture until they can't think it at all.
Inmates were beings who had discarded even their own human rights. They were managed carefully for the sake of continuity, but if anyone decided to kill them, it wouldn't even count as a blemish. With Waltz Production's reach, they could erase every inmate on this island as if those women had never existed in the world at all.
It was the 2050s. For all the talk about the importance of human rights, AI and technology had driven the value of a human life sharply downward. Leviathan understood, better than most, just how dangerous a tightrope these people were walking — the ones who had thrown away the great shield of "human rights" that law and society still offered everyone else.
"Um… Leviathan, sir? I'm… I'm sorry for speaking without permission, but… I'm sorry… if we take too long… Nayoon, she'll…"
Yejin's voice cut through his thoughts. He had stopped walking without realizing it and stood frozen for a long moment; worried for her cellmate, Yejin had risked calling out to him.
"Ah… right. Still, you'll take a punishment for that, won't you? Hm… present your cheek."
"Yes, sir…"
— Crack!!
"Ugh—!"
Unauthorized speech. He could have issued demerit points without a second thought, but Leviathan settled for a light physical reprimand. "Light" by a guard's standards, anyway — one slap was enough to whip her head around and split her lip.
They had already lost too much time. He picked up the pace.
Past the winding corridor, they reached Cell 3.
"Inside."
"…Yes, sir."
— Clank. Thud.
Leviathan shoved Yejin into the cell where Jaehee and Seoa were already locked away. He checked the three of them with his eyes, then shut the iron door and ran a biometric scan of their bodies through his terminal — a precaution against hidden damage or injuries the torture might have left where he couldn't see. If anything turned up, he meant to ease their suffering with medicine or a sedative.
"Well… this much is fine."
No physical damage, no neurological flags. Leviathan reported as much to Control, then headed back toward the torture chamber.
Only Nayoon left.
"Hm…"
His stride quickened. The unexpected delay had left him restless. The status on his terminal for Nayoon was very bad. Physical damage was a given — her pussy torn by the Pear of Anguish, flagged [DANGER] — but the neurological readout transmitted through her Inmate Collar was also flashing [DANGER].
AI analysis of blood pressure, breathing, heartbeat, muscle tremor — even neural firing patterns — folded mental state into that neurological data. Until now, the only time he'd seen a neurological danger flag was with Seoa. Seeing it on Nayoon for the first time since her incarceration, Leviathan couldn't help but worry.
— Clank.
He opened the door and stepped into the torture chamber. Past the end time, the room was dark. And in the center of it, still locked in her restraints, Nayoon waited for him with her head bowed.
"…"
Even at the sound of the door, she stayed silent. Leviathan approached. Had she lost consciousness?
But at the sound of his footsteps she reacted — lifting her head slowly to look at him. Her mouth didn't open, yet the fine tremor running through her body told him her mind was unstable.
"…It's over. Let's get you back."
Knowing he shouldn't, Leviathan set his professional manner aside for a moment and spoke to her gently. Then he stepped in and freed her from the restraints.
"…"
As with Yejin, the Pear of Anguish had withdrawn and closed its jaws. But unlike Yejin's, the one beneath Nayoon's chair was painted in blood. A thick pool had already gathered on the floor, and the status display was tracking her blood loss. Not life-threatening — but serious enough.
Leviathan lifted Nayoon's freed body into his arms. Blood soaked into his uniform; he didn't care.
"Nngh… haa… nn."
Conscious, yet she offered nothing but soft moans. Something about it felt off to him. He hurried his steps.
They reached the recovery room.
"Bring her over here. A713, correct?"
"Yes."
Franken, already waiting, guided them to a treatment unit in the corner. Nayoon was placed inside; the capsule door sealed shut.
"How long will it take?"
"Mm… about an hour? By the way — neurological 'danger.' What do you want to do?"
"Give her a painkiller. She's held up well until now… I don't want the recovery process itself putting her through more pain and making her worse."
"Okay."
Unless a life was on the line, painkillers were entirely at the assigned guard's discretion. With Leviathan's go-ahead, Franken administered the analgesic so Nayoon could heal without suffering.
Treatment began. Leviathan switched the capsule to transparent mode and watched her ruined pussy slowly begin to mend. At the same time, a question took root.
Why had Nayoon's neurological readings gone wrong?
…It wasn't that there was no answer. There were too many, and that made it impossible to know.
Meeting her sister? But she handled labor fine after that… So is it the torture session after all — succeeding herself, then taking the pain when her cellmate failed?
He was turning it over when —
"What are you brooding about so hard? Want some coffee?"
"Ah… yes. One cup, please."
Franken offered him a mug from the side.
"Here. So — is that her? Section Chief Lee Min-seok's… no, I should say Asmodeus now. Anyway. His sister-in-law, right?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Thought so. She really does take after the wife. I got that feeling when she was up for execution not long ago, but in person the resemblance is much stronger than on a screen. At a glance you could almost mistake them for twins. Except for those huge tits, that is. Heh heh."
"She… does look a lot like her, yeah."
Treatment hours were always like this. For a full hour the assigned guard kept watch while the doctor mostly pushed buttons — and all either of them had to do was talk. They clinked their coffee cups like drinks and fell into idle conversation.
"Leviathan — neurological danger out of your cell. That's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Tell me about it. Something like a year, I think…"
"Hm… you going to call in a counselor?"
"No. I need to know the reason first before I decide whether to call anyone."
"Fair enough. Oh, by the way — you hear the rumor?"
"…What rumor?"
It was small talk, pure and simple — conversation drifting across topics while Leviathan kept his eyes fixed on Nayoon. But one line from Franken pulled even his attention aside for a moment.
"Apparently an S-Class is coming in soon."
Unusual, but not unheard of — up to that point.
"And as a disciplinary transfer, no less."
That changed everything.