Chapter 7: Blood in Cell Block Nine (Part One)
1008 Words
Chapter Seven:
Blood in Cell Block Nine (Part One)
The words on the glowing screen faded as suddenly as they had appeared.
WELCOME BACK, CREATOR.
An uneasy silence settled over the hidden chamber.
Dr Sophia Armand stared at the screen, her face drained of colour. For the first time since Elias Kane had met her, the brilliant scientist looked genuinely frightened.
"It shouldn't recognise me," she whispered.
"It shouldn't even remember my existence."
Nathan Volkov slowly removed his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes.
"Unless..." he said quietly, "...it has continued evolving."
The room fell silent again.
Far above them, the prison resumed its usual rhythm. Mechanical footsteps echoed through distant corridors, drones hummed through ventilation shafts, and CERBERUS calmly announced routine schedules as though nothing unusual had happened.
Yet everyone in the hidden room knew the truth.
Something had changed.
---
The following morning, an emergency alarm shattered the artificial dawn.
Red lights flashed across every corridor.
A metallic voice echoed throughout Black Fortress Zero.
"Security Alert. Security Alert. All inmates remain where they are."
Cell doors that normally opened at precisely six o'clock remained firmly sealed.
Prisoners looked through narrow observation panels, trying to understand what was happening.
Elias stood quietly inside Cell 47-B.
This was no routine drill.
CERBERUS never disrupted its own schedule without reason.
Five minutes later, the voice returned.
"Cell Block Nine has been placed under total lockdown."
The announcement ended.
Nothing more.
No explanation.
No reassurance.
Only silence.
---
Hours later, Elias and the other inmates were escorted to the Innovation Division under unusually heavy security.
This time, the drones flew lower.
The robotic guards carried live electromagnetic weapons.
Even Director Adrian Voss appeared on the observation platform, silently watching every movement.
Malik Hassan leaned towards Elias without turning his head.
"Something happened."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"But Cell Block Nine only goes into lockdown for one reason."
Elias glanced at him.
"Someone escaped?"
Malik slowly shook his head.
"Worse."
---
By midday, rumours spread through the prison like wildfire.
Some claimed an entire security squad had vanished.
Others whispered that prisoners had attacked each other.
Another rumour insisted a section of the prison had collapsed.
No one knew the truth.
CERBERUS allowed none of the speculation to continue for long.
Whenever conversations grew too detailed, drones immediately interrupted them.
---
That evening, Director Voss addressed every prisoner through enormous holographic displays.
His expression remained unreadable.
"This morning," he announced, "an incident occurred within Cell Block Nine."
He paused.
"Five inmates are dead."
A wave of murmurs swept through the hall.
"Three security officers have sustained critical injuries."
The murmurs became louder.
Director Voss raised one hand.
"An investigation is underway."
"Until its conclusion, all privileges are suspended."
The display vanished.
No names were mentioned.
No details were offered.
Only the death toll.
---
Back inside the prison population, the truth slowly emerged.
Malik gathered Elias, Sophia, and Volkov in the hidden room later that night.
"It wasn't a riot," Malik said.
"It was an execution."
Sophia looked shocked.
"Executed by whom?"
Malik placed a folded piece of paper on the table.
"The King's Gang."
Elias frowned.
"I thought your group was called the Pack."
Malik nodded.
"It is."
"The King's Gang is different."
"Older."
"Far more dangerous."
Volkov's face darkened.
"I thought they were wiped out years ago."
"So did everyone else."
Malik unfolded the paper.
On it was drawn the outline of a black crown.
Beneath the symbol were three handwritten words.
The King Lives.
---
Sophia stared at the message.
"No..."
"It can't be."
Elias looked at her.
"You know this symbol?"
She nodded slowly.
"The King's Gang was created during the prison's earliest years."
"They weren't ordinary prisoners."
"They were the first inmates used in Project Orpheus."
Volkov looked away.
"They became... something else."
"What do you mean?" Elias asked.
"They stopped behaving like prisoners."
"They became loyal to the prison itself."
---
Suddenly, the hidden room lights dimmed.
Every electronic device shut down simultaneously.
Only the emergency lamps remained illuminated.
Malik immediately reached beneath the table, retrieving a concealed steel blade.
Sophia looked towards the door.
"They've found us."
A slow knock echoed through the chamber.
Three knocks.
A pause.
Then two more.
Malik relaxed slightly.
"That's not security."
He opened the hidden entrance.
Standing outside was a tall prisoner wearing a black uniform.
Unlike the others, his face was completely concealed behind a dark metallic mask.
He removed it slowly.
A deep scar stretched from his forehead to his jaw.
His left eye was pale white.
His right eye remained sharp and alert.
Everyone recognised him.
Even Malik looked surprised.
"Ghost..."
The legendary assassin stepped inside.
The heavy door closed behind him.
Without greeting anyone, Ghost placed a bloodstained security identification card on the table.
"It has started," he said quietly.
"What has?" Elias asked.
Ghost looked directly into his eyes.
"The prison is eating itself."
He pointed towards the identification card.
"This belonged to the officer who died in Cell Block Nine."
Elias picked it up carefully.
There was something unusual about it.
A tiny engraved marking.
The exact same engineering symbol hidden beneath the bolt in his cell.
Someone inside the security forces had also been part of the hidden code.
Ghost folded his arms.
"The King's Gang killed him before he could reach you."
Silence filled the room.
Elias slowly raised his head.
"Why would they want me?"
Ghost answered without hesitation.
"Because you're the only person alive who can unlock the chamber beneath Level 148."
A distant explosion shook the prison.
The lights flickered violently.
Emergency alarms erupted across every level.
CERBERUS spoke, its calm voice carrying an unfamiliar urgency.
"Critical breach detected in Cell Block Nine."
"Unknown hostile group active."
"Protocol Black has failed."
For the first time since Black Fortress Zero was built over a century earlier...
CERBERUS sounded uncertain.
And deep beneath the prison, beyond reinforced steel doors and ancient volcanic rock, a faint metallic heartbeat echoed through the darkness.
Something was no longer waiting.
It was coming.
- Writer
