Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: No Compromise
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Solitary confinement is located outside Wing C. The cramped space, roughly five pyeong in size, is stuffed to the brim with an iron bed, desk, chair, and toilet.
Thrown in there like a sack of trash, I barely manage to breathe on the filthy tile floor between the bed and the toilet.
"No meal rations. Once a day, at a random time, they'll slide in a cup of water. Drink that."
Orca speaks to me in a cold, icy tone, like she's issuing an official notice. She steps inside the narrow door of the solitary cell and glares down at me, outlining my punishment ahead.
"No exercise time, no free time during that period. Let me say it again: once you're here, you're a villain. And villains who don't follow my orders aren't treated like people."
I can't see straight. Looks like I took too hard a hit to the head. The red haze filling my vision doesn't bode well.
"Right now, you're not a villain. You're a beast."
Orca's voice wavers. Maybe my ears aren't working right, but it sounds like her words are choked with muffled sobs.
"So behave yourself."
Her low voice drills into my ear. A chill settles over the tiny cell. My fragile grip on consciousness shakes dangerously before her declaration.
"This is a prison for holding villains. My duty here is to manage all the problems and isolate the villains. That's my justice."
In the cramped solitary cell,
she climbs on top of me and grabs my collar.
It's so tight in here, it feels like the whole world is filled with just me and Orca.
"Don't get in my way. This place is my justice, and I'll eliminate anyone who interferes, no matter what it takes. You—!"
This prison gathers all the superpowered terrorists in one place, and paradoxically, it needs peace and order to function.
The inmate population keeps growing day by day. In comparison, the number of guards is woefully small. Even if you select superpowered individuals, arm them with live ammo, and put them in charge, problems inevitably arise.
To prevent such disasters, they need people like Scardi. Powerful figures who maintain order from within the inmate population.
Women who wield influence inside and outside the prison,
and hold sway over the other villains.
"Your very existence is wrecking my prison—my justice."
Considering that,
my presence becomes a bigger headache than even vicious criminals like Creep.
"Once you're here, you're a villain. None of the inmates here are innocent. If anything, they get treated better than they deserve. Why? Because we're superpowered!"
Spit flies from Orca's mouth with every heated word. Hit with her cold saliva, I can't even pass out.
"Superpowered people are rare. And among them, those with abilities worth exploiting? You can count them on one hand!"
I just want to let go and rest for a bit.
But Orca keeps screaming.
"That's why the warden and the higher-ups are begging me to keep you alive! Even after you betrayed and tried to kill your own team! Stop pretending you're still a hero and know your place."
Only then do I grasp Orca's true feelings.
Even through my foggy mind, I get it now.
"If you want to live, shut up and play smart. You have no allies in this world."
She wants to kill me,
but she's holding back with the last threads of her reason and patience.
Because as long as I'm here, incidents and accidents never stop in the prison.
"If you want to survive in my prison, straighten up your act. You're stirring up the other inmates. Act like a proper villain. Drop the pathetic hypocrite routine."
The prison doesn't clear your name.
Once you're in, your personal story and grievances don't matter anymore.
"This place is my justice. No exceptions to my justice. Not even for you! My justice—!"
But her words sound so familiar, a hollow laugh escapes me.
Wasn't that the very phrase I used to shout?
"No compromises. No exceptions."
Emptiness washes over me.
In that void that dulls the pain,
I gaze at the bloodstained ceiling and swallow my blood.
The blood tastes especially metallic and bitter.
It's unsettling, like it's laced with poison.
"Don't make me deal with you anymore. Live like the other inmates. Disobedient villains only get death."
---------------------------------------------
Orca straightens slightly and exits the solitary cell door. Today, her thoughts are especially tangled.
Walking down the corridor lined with solitary cells, she sinks into her thoughts. With every step, a chill she can't control seeps out, leaving frost in its wake.
'Don't think about it anymore.'
She repeats to herself inwardly, trying not to picture Crow. But the human brain is so contrary— no matter how hard you try, you can't consciously forget something.
It'll probably take a lot of time for this to fade too. In the end, nothing withstands the wear of time.
Even the pitiful sight of the man she once admired will eventually melt away inside her.
She never thought of it as romantic feelings. She and Crow weren't close enough for anything to sprout like that.
She'd never been all that interested in romance anyway, or even rationality in that sense.
What she'd felt for Crow was surely just friendship or admiration.
Crow led the Hero Association, while Orca was more like a government official.
They didn't cross paths often.
Only when something required both the government and the Association to step in, or when issues spanned both organizations entirely.
Only then did they meet.
Yet paradoxically, lovers kept apart often nurture deeper affections.
Even if what Orca harbored for Crow wasn't love,
her interest in him had undeniably grown bit by bit.
'Forget it. No compromises.'
He shone brightly. Even in his dark clothes, Orca could see a blazing light in him.
'No compromises.'
Orca's assignment to the Superpowered Terrorist Detention Facility was largely because of him.
The longing for justice she'd held even before gaining her powers had solidified after meeting Crow.
There are many forms of justice in the world,
and hers was this very prison.
She couldn't pinpoint exactly where her justice and admiration began. Sometimes humans develop intense desires from tiny, trivial accumulations, yet fail to trace the source.
Like a little child whose dreams change from a single word of praise from their mother.
Humans are so small and insignificant.
They just flail desperately, gathering those pitiful bits to burn brightly.
'Damn it, I'm losing my composure again. I can't let this happen.'
Lately, Orca feels disgust toward herself.
Once she hated her own cold, cynical demeanor, but now she loathes the emotional side that can't maintain its righteousness.
Maybe he really is innocent.
Whenever that thought surfaces, a scream boils up inside her.
Her justice wavers. Her duty—her justice—is to guard the most dangerous place with unwavering coldness, but seeing Crow stirs those doubts.
'No compromises. No...'
She'd already bent her authority several times to help Crow,
and each time, cracks formed in the justice she'd finally discovered.
She'd sent him to Wing C with its clear hierarchy,
assigned a man to make his cell as comfortable as possible given the sex crime charges,
and already approved two visits.
Other inmates rarely get visitation rights at all.
'No compromises.'
That very vague contradiction was shattering the dream Orca had finally built.
A tiny flame gutters out in the rippling cold.
She knows it herself. What she'd told Crow earlier wasn't true.
It's not orders from above keeping her from killing Crow.
It's sentiment.
The sentiment from the days when they'd smiled at each other.
That's why facing Crow makes her take even harsher measures.
She can't accept that she's favoring him.
She told herself gazing at him from afar was enough to make her happy.
If she claimed she never wanted more conversation or closeness with him, it'd be a lie. But still.
Still, she is a correctional officer.
Managing the most dangerous facility,
one that must never crumble.
'Get it together.'
Since Crow arrived,
an ominous atmosphere has been brewing inside the prison.
Something is definitely afoot.
She absolutely cannot waver.
Orca must defend this place at all costs.
She'll do whatever it takes.
Justice allows no compromise.
Not even for the man she once admired. No exceptions.
She must break his spirit to maintain order in the prison.
That's what a correctional officer does,
and the proper way to handle villains.