Subverting The World [Cyber] - Chapter 19

Nurse Jenny didn’t bother admitting minor cases to her infirmary anymore. Thanks to quick-use injection patches, even the flu could be knocked out in seconds. Unless you were seriously injured, you’d be treated on the spot—no need to step through her door.

But if you were seriously hurt… that could be useful.

So, Prisoner 1005 decided to make that happen.

He provoked his cellmate repeatedly—taunting, insulting, pushing all the wrong buttons—until the guy finally snapped and beat him within an inch of his life. Bruised ribs, bloodied face, no retaliation. All part of the plan.

It worked. He was sent straight to the infirmary.

Inside, he found Jenny—alone. She was the sole medical staffer on duty.

The walls were plastered with posters: sculpted abs, thick thighs, bulging glutes. Male physiques of every shape and size. 1005 felt a chill go down his spine.

“You like muscles, huh?” he asked warily.

Jenny didn’t skip a beat. “These are educational aids,” she said bluntly, smacking her own thigh with enthusiasm. “Not like I’m decorating with contraband. Just look at that muscle tone!”

Then, staring at him up and down, she added casually, “You’ve only got the butt. Everything else? Kinda disappointing. You should work on that.”

1005 took a sharp breath. His mind raced. This nurse was unpredictable. But if he wanted to stay in the game, he had to adapt.

“I want to change my gender,” he said suddenly.

Jenny didn’t blink. “Cool,” she replied, pulling out a case filled with artificial organs. “What’ll it be?”

1005 stared. “You keep that in here?”

“Of course,” she grinned. “The Warden’s really into modification, so I figured gender reassignment might be next. Seems I was right.”

She tilted her head. “The Warden asked you to do this, didn’t she?”

“Uh… yeah,” 1005 lied, going along with it. “That’s right.”

“Great! Hop on the bed.”

As soon as he lay down, everything went black.

When he woke up, Jenny was smiling at him.

“Surgery’s done,” she said cheerfully. “I fixed your ribs, too. Took one out, actually. Makes your waist look nice and slim.”

1005 forced a smile through gritted teeth. “Thanks.”

“Men should have tiny waists,” she nodded approvingly. “Now, back to your cell before someone notices.”

He got up, borrowed the infirmary’s internal comms system, and made a request: to be transferred to the women’s unit.

The request was approved. That night, 1005 would be in the female section of the prison—and by shower time, inside the women’s bathroom.

Shower Time.

The setup wasn’t all that different from the men’s side—same layout, same corridor, just mirrored.

Men were rotated in batches, each group getting fifteen minutes to rinse and leave. Women had more flexibility: a whole hour, since the lines were longer. Those who didn’t feel like waiting could do something else and hop in later.

1005 waited patiently, keeping an eye on who was coming and going. In the final 20 minutes, the place cleared out.

He moved.

There was a stall marked “under maintenance.” He slipped in.

To the untrained eye, nothing seemed broken. But 1005 spotted faint dust on the floor—a sign of tampering. Looking up, he noticed the ceiling panel slightly dislodged. Screws loose. It hadn’t been fully sealed.

The repair crew must’ve planned to return.

No ladder, but that was fine. The showerhead was mounted high and sturdy—just right for climbing.

He hauled himself up, unscrewed the loose ceiling panel, and crawled into the space above.

Just as he thought: water pipes. Hot and cold. One was marked “damaged, repair pending.”

He followed the heating pipe along its path. It ran over both the men’s and women’s cell blocks. If he could get far enough along it, he could drop into the sewage system and escape through the middle level.

It was possible.

But there was a snag.

The men’s and women’s schedules didn’t overlap. Aside from time in the yard, they were always kept apart. That meant… he couldn’t meet Randy. Not even in passing.

1005 sighed.

Back to Jenny.

“I need to switch back,” he told her.

She patted him on the back like an old friend. “Try not to tick off the Warden again, okay? You’re lucky she still lets you play around.”

He nodded quickly.

Back in his cell, he was now alone. His original cellmate was still in solitary after their “fight.”

The cell block was built in a circle, with facing cells and open lines of sight. If anyone saw him messing with the ceiling and ratted him out, it was game over.

So, he gathered everyone on his floor and made an announcement.

“I’m planning to escape. You see me do anything—keep quiet. Because if word gets out, we’ll all know there’s a snitch among us.”

A textbook prison move.

He’d just dropped the classic prisoner’s dilemma. If one of them tattled, they’d all know who. And life would get… very uncomfortable for the traitor.

After that, 1005 got to work—sawing through the ceiling panel, trying to access the heating duct.

Meanwhile, Shi Xu sat in her office, unmoved.

The more holes she patched, the more seemed to open up. It was like playing whack-a-mole with geniuses and madmen.

But she didn’t try to keep up anymore. No point in plugging leaks when they created themselves.

Instead, she studied where they’d try to go. How they moved. What they used. Because each so-called “loophole” was just another lens—a way for her to watch them.

One such loophole: gender identity.

In this prison, inmates had the legal right to choose their own gender—and didn’t need to file any kind of formal notice.

Harmless? Usually.

But under the right circumstances… it became a weapon.

So Shi Xu gave it a little nudge.

She had the central A/C set to “deep freeze,” sparking an artificial flu outbreak. Jenny would dismiss it as a seasonal bug. But in truth—it was summer.

Nobody noticed. The weather here was fake, regulated by auto-temperature controls. The prisoners had no real sense of time. No clocks. No calendars.

Another form of punishment.

No one knew how long they’d been here. Or how long they had left.

To make the loophole even more appealing, she made sure the men’s bathroom showed an “Out of Order” sign during male shower time—and the same for the women’s side, flipped accordingly.

If someone wanted access to the other side, it had to look reasonable.

Then it happened.

A flag appeared in the system: “Prisoner 1005 has completed gender reassignment.”

Shi Xu smiled slightly.

She blacked out a section of 1005’s cell camera feed—just long enough to give him confidence. To let him think he’d slipped past her notice.

Then she gathered a squad of bionics and began her rounds.

1005 heard them coming before they arrived.

Ten bionic guards always marched in rhythm, footsteps sharp and echoing. His pulse jumped. The ceiling panel wasn’t finished. No time left.

He shoved the panel back into place as best he could, but it sat crooked, refusing to lie flat. His palms were sweating.

He could only hope she was headed somewhere else.

“Cell check.”

Please not here.

“Routine inspection.”

Don’t look up.

“No. 375, why do you have this in your cell? Contraband. Confiscated.”

Closer. Too close.

He stood by the door, doing his best to look innocent.

Then she arrived.

White uniform. Blue tie. Colder than her eyes.

“1005,” she said calmly, “why weren’t you at the door when I came by?”

“I was working out,” he lied smoothly, gripping the bed frame. “See? My hands are red.”

A misdirection. Offer a small lie to cover the real one.

“Oh really?” Shi Xu stepped in. “Don’t block the entrance.”

He moved.

She pulled out a white cloth, wiped it across the bedframe.

“No sweat on the bar,” she said.