*Huuuuuum—!*
The cavernous groan of industrial extractors saturated Ward One West, churning air thick but no longer thick enough to choke.
Inside.
Harsh fluorescent tubes buzzed and flickered.
Rows of cold iron cages stood like sepulchral niches.
But change had come!
Deafening silence yielded to faint coughs, weak moans—no longer soul-rending shrieks!
In a corner, the youth who had writhed, hemorrhaging frothy blood, skin mottled purple, now stirred. Eyelids fluttered, cracking open a sliver. Beside him, an elderly man, trembling, dabbed a damp cloth at the crusted blood and medicinal residue on the youth’s chest and face. The youth no longer convulsed in agony, merely emitted a feeble sigh, turning his head slightly.
Several cages away, a boy sipped cautiously from a cup of
