Subverting The World [Cyber] - Chapter 17
Eight new detainees were still undergoing intake procedures. Their identities, now reduced to prison numbers from 1002 to 1009, had lost all personal meaning.
Among them: No. 1006 was elderly at 77, No. 1007 had prior offenses, and No. 1008… well, he was just a salesman when arrested.
Now back in control, Shi Xu oversaw the processing—each new arrival entered one at a time to be interrogated, screened, and assigned a cell based on their case profile.
“Prisoner 1002.”
He sauntered in with a cocky grin, slouching into the seat across from the one-way mirror.
“Yo, 1001—looks like you’re running the show now, huh?”
Shi Xu didn’t flinch. She barely raised her eyes as she spoke calmly:
“Sit up. Address me properly—as Warden.”
“I ain’t—”
“Second violation. Shock level: 20.” Shi Xu tapped a stylus on her desk. The antique tool had become her favorite item here.
“You’re pushing it. I’ll outlast you in here!” he spat.
“Third strike. Threatening a prison official. Shock level: 30.”
The voltage did its job. He dropped. Writhing.
Gasping, he finally muttered, “…Warden…”
“See? That wasn’t so hard,” Shi Xu said, her voice laced with icy satisfaction.
From behind the safety glass, he glared at her silhouette—hands folded, posture effortless, voice calm. That’s what real control looked like. And he hated it.
“What’s your rap sheet?”
“Nothing big. Robbery, homicide, attempted murder…”
“Stacked up to a couple hundred years?”
“Bought most of it off, actually. Victims’ families negotiated.”
Shi Xu briefly considered—maybe there was merit in the justice-for-sale system.
“What’s your role in your organization?”
“I’m not important. Just a nobody.” His tone was evasive.
Shi Xu glanced at the floating victim list tied to his record.
All the deceased were rival gang leaders.
A “nobody”? More like a professional assassin.
She marked his file and waved for the next.
Prisoner 1003.
“What’s your crime?”
“Forgery. Paperwork stuff.”
“What kind of documents?”
“I faked a land ownership certificate for a children’s park, then used it to get funding.”
Shi Xu chuckled. “Is that a gang operation too?”
“Anything illegal, we’ll do,” he said proudly.
Shi Xu shook her head, baffled.
“And the 500-year sentence?”
He leaned in. “I ticked off the company.”
Prisoner 1004.
“What’s your crime?”
“I’m an accountant.”
“Next.”
Prisoner 1005.
Another arrogant entrance, quickly neutralized with a shock.
“I’m the fourth-in-command in the syndicate.”
Shi Xu skimmed his file. “With only a preschool diploma?”
He puffed up. “I’m here to deal with you. Escaped prison once before.”
Shi Xu pressed the stun button again.
Prisoner 1006.
He was supposed to be 77. But the man who entered looked no older than mid-30s.
“Good day, Warden,” he said cheerfully, clearly prepared.
Shi Xu read his file: minor robbery. A store. Corporate employee.
“Why’d you rob a convenience store at your age?”
“To get in here,” he replied. “There’s food. No rent.”
“Didn’t you work over 30 years? No savings?”
“No, ma’am. Commission-based. Even sold my organs to keep up with the company loan. Barely made ends meet.”
“You have pension insurance listed.”
“Ah, but unless you hit the full 30 years, it’s void. I was laid off at 29 years, 11 months, and 29 days.”
Shi Xu stared.
He smiled. “Efficiency issues, they said.”
Something in Shi Xu snapped. She could relate, if only slightly.
“So why not go after the company itself?”
He looked at her as if she were naïve. “Can’t blame them. If there’s no company, who’ll employ people like me next? I can’t be selfish.”
His brainwashing ran deep.
Shi Xu leaned back. Both worlds—real and virtual—were deeply broken.
“Next. And put him in a private cell. If he wants to retire, let him.”
Prisoner 1007.
This one raised red flags.
His name: [Toy Craftsman]
But his profile? Completely inaccessible.
Name depth: 133—higher even than Shi Xu’s own.
She flagged it. This man was more than he appeared.
Prisoner 1008.
Just an ordinary man.
In a room full of monsters and manipulators, he stood out for how normal he was.
If not for his profile tag:
[Player popularity: High]
[Holographic Immersion Player]
Shi Xu took note.
Prisoner 1009.
“Warden, he’s doing something… odd,” a bionic guard reported.
“What kind of odd?” Shi Xu didn’t even look up. She rarely did during intake.
“He’s performing a mating ritual. Possibly flaunting a luxury—uh—‘double diamond’ modification…”
Shi Xu finally raised a pinky and pointed at her nail. “Replace this size with that.”
“Understood.”
Soon, a squad of bionics stormed in, knocked him out, and removed the offending accessory—permanently.
“Should we list this item online?” the medical unit chimed in. “Discount available for bulk sales—”
“No. Trash it. Some things don’t deserve to be sold.”
When No. 1009 was dragged back in, dazed and sore, he still smirked.
“Back again,” he said. “You’re not gonna call me by that ridiculous prisoner number, right?”
Shi Xu looked up and said evenly, “Your name is… ちわわLittle?”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Got it. ちわわLittle.”
He winced. “Okay, fine. 1009 it is.”
“You want to know how I got back in?” he smirked. “Well, I’m not gonna tell you.”
“No need. Someone paid a lot to have you return,” Shi Xu replied. “Probably because my winning odds are rising.”
“Exactly. They needed someone to disrupt your advantage,” he admitted proudly. “And I’m perfect for this environment.”
Shi Xu had already read his profile.
[Imitator]
His entire game? Imitation and manipulation.
He’d pose as others, extract information, gain trust—and then remix it all into fake “interviews” to push pre-written narratives.
He didn’t sell products. He sold lies.
Here, in a prison of minds and secrets, that ability could wreak havoc.
Shi Xu made up her mind right then and there:
This man wasn’t walking out of here alive.
He was exactly the kind of variable the system needed to eliminate.
And she would make sure of it.