Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: A Drop of Sadness
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As we step out of Wing C, villains come into view, lined up and sitting against one side of the corridor. They sit there with their hands clasped behind their heads, staring at the ground until the guards call for them.
"Not that way—over there!"
In my hazy, half-asleep state, I shuffle along following the guards' shouts, clueless about where I'm headed or what's happening to me.
Only Creep and I are heading off in a different direction. We're making our way to the correctional officer's office at the far end of the corridor.
"Wait here."
The two guards keep their guns trained on us as they radio in.
"Ma'am, we've secured two inmates and are standing by in the correctional officer's office."
Beep—
A short burst of static and an electronic chime responds like an answer,
and before a few minutes have even passed,
"Good work. You two go help search Wing C first."
Orca enters.
"...Yes, ma'am."
The guards hesitate for a moment but soon leave the office at Orca's command.
They seem uneasy about leaving two dangerous criminals alone with the correctional officer, but they know just how strong she is, so they follow her orders in the end.
Now only the three of us remain in the office.
Creep and I stand side by side in the middle of the room,
while Orca sits at her desk, glaring at us in turn.
"Wing C is full of problems."
A cold voice.
A low, piercing analysis of the situation.
"Creep, it seems like all these issues started after you were assigned to Wing C. What do you think?"
"What? Well, if you think so, ma'am, then that must be it."
Despite her icy attitude, Creep just shrugs and fires back with a grin. Even though provoking Orca like this could get us both killed, she shows no fear.
"I heard you caused a scene in the infirmary."
"I didn't cause a scene. I just said it'd be nice if they could get me a pregnancy test."
Orca props her chin on her hand and glares at Creep,
while Creep beams right back at her.
"You're out of your mind. As always."
Orca's hand toys with her baton, making me uneasy.
Feeling this way is contradictory in itself, but right now, I can't even tell right from wrong anymore.
"This facility has no accommodations or support for pregnant inmates. And no one here is allowed to get pregnant. This is a prison. You're here to pay for your crimes, not to hook up with someone and have a baby."
"Does anyone ever get permission to get pregnant?"
Orca stands, gripping her baton, and strides right up to Creep. I can clearly see her right hand trembling as it clutches the weapon.
It's anger,
or disgust,
or maybe a sense of betrayal.
"Does that mean I should just dispose of you right here...?"
"Scardi would love that, huh? Without me around, that bitch would strut around like a queen again. You didn't kill me and sent me to Wing C just to keep her in check, didn't you?"
It's the effort of a human desperately holding back those three emotions, a manifestation of the intense feelings suppressed deep inside.
"Don't open your mouth unless I tell you to."
Orca grinds her teeth and threatens Creep. The tip of her baton hovers right between Creep's eyes.
Yet Creep doesn't even blink. She coolly tucks her lips inside her mouth as a sign she won't say another word.
"...If I dispose of you, Scardi will take over Wing C. Even if that happens, it'll still be under my control—that much won't change. But I want to resolve this incident as cleanly as possible."
Orca hands something to Creep.
"Take it."
An emergency contraceptive.
A small pill to prevent implantation.
"You swallow this, and Crow gets a vasectomy. We'll end this under those two conditions. Creep, you can keep living in Wing C."
And she tacks on a condition for me too. Orca's gaze shifts to me briefly. Her enigmatic expression makes it hard to read her thoughts.
Having to get surgery in a place like this is shitty enough,
but if it means preventing more incidents like this...
Then maybe following Orca's lead would be the smart move.
"..."
But Creep's reaction is entirely different. She stands there clutching the pill for minutes on end, making Orca and me tense up instead.
After agonizing over it, Creep finally speaks,
and says,
"Don't wanna."
The moment those words leave her mouth, a frigid tension descends. Even from a short distance away, I can feel the room growing colder.
"...What did you say?"
"I said no. Why should I abort my baby? Though I am all for my man getting that vasectomy! If any other slut gets pregnant, I might not be able to hold back and just kill her."
No real conversation is happening. I start sensing an ominous vibe.
"And besides! It's a baby we made out of love, so the prison should make some accommodations. You have to guarantee basic human rights. What kind of society are we living in these days?"
Orca glares at Creep and me in turn, suppressing her rage. But the tremors on her face and the twitching in her muscles grow more frequent.
It feels like everything's about to explode any second. I open my mouth to say something, anything, but
"Crow..."
Orca approaches me first and speaks.
"You tell me."
She comes right up to my face, grinding her teeth as she mutters. It's hard to even look straight at her.
"What are you going to do?"
She unleashes a blast of chilling menace and killing intent as she barks at me.
"Am I doing the right thing? What would Crow, apostle of justice, do in a situation like this? Why don't you give me some advice like you used to?"
But I can't utter a single word. In the mess of everything I'm dealing with right now, I have no idea what the right answer is.
"Fine. If you won't answer, I'll decide."
At the very least, I know the solution she's proposing isn't it.
She hurls her baton far away,
then uses her ability to form a sharp spike of ice from her fingertip.
Gripping the thing—like an awl or an icicle—Orca stands in front of Creep again.
She presses the tip against Creep's navel and speaks once more.
"If you don't swallow that pill within one minute, I'll pierce your gut right here."
Orca rips open Creep's top. Now fully exposed from the waist up, Creep silently glances back and forth between Orca and me, lips sealed.
"W-Wait a sec..."
I can't take it anymore and take a few steps toward them, but
"Don't move!"
Orca screams, stopping me in my tracks. Her shout freezes me solid.
"One minute. Exactly one minute. Swallow the pill."
Creep doesn't back down either. The woman who's always full of mischief hardens her expression the moment Orca's ability touches her belly and speaks.
"Is this justice?"
The powder-keg tension between them fills the room. Creep, powerless without abilities, keeps provoking Orca mockingly.
"Your justice applies to the baby in my belly too, huh. Honey, you should learn from her. Isn't this what uncompromising justice looks like?"
But Orca doesn't take the bait.
She just waits out the minute, issuing one last warning to Creep.
"30 seconds left."
"Yeah. 30 seconds."
The two of them
glare at each other like they want to kill.
"But honestly, even if I took the pill, it wouldn't change anything. Me and my man had a wild time before he got thrown in solitary. If I'm pregnant, it must've happened then."
"That just makes physical intervention even more necessary."
I have to step in.
But
I don't know what the right answer is.
"Looks like this is better than the pill."
Even so, I end up blocking Orca as she moves to stab with the ice.
"Wait! Just wait..."
Pain surges as her frigid ice touches my skin.
In my swirling, dizzy vision,
I endure the cold and plead with Orca.
"Th-there's no need for this. Fine, I'll get the surgery. That'll fix it, right?"
I have to stop Orca's extreme measure. If she uses her ability on Creep like that, it'll go beyond mere violence and cause permanent damage for sure.
"Don't do this. It's too much..."
Creep is definitely a vicious criminal,
a hopeless piece of trash with no chance of reform.
But maybe, just maybe,
like she said herself,
the baby could change her.
I'm not even sure if it's my kid.
But if I let Orca do what she wants, Creep will never be able to have children again. That's certain.
"Please... You're not like this."
As I finish speaking,
and look at Orca,
I see something strange for a moment.
At first, I think I imagined it.
But right then, a single tear rolls down Orca's icy face.
She, who I've never seen cry,
sheds a pained tear while glaring at me like she wants to kill me.