Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24766402-20140409174455

So, yeah, this is my third pasta and I decided to put it here for review first and then publish it if it's any good/not too long.

'''Necropolis '''

 Kathleen sighed.

“I’m really sorry, Kat” – I said.

“Yeah, right.” – she replied half-heartedly.

“Really, I don’t know what happened to me.” – I said trying to rise on my elbows.

“Lie down unless you want to vomit again” – said the medic.

“We’re here.” – I heard the driver’s voice through the glass.

“What do you have for me?” – asked a man outside the ambulance vehicle.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Food poisoning.” – replied the medic.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, what a horrible night” – Kat said and sighed irritated.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“This one’s out, too” – said the medic.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What?! That’s the third hospital we came across” – Kat was obviously irritated.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“They said there was a massive collision at the regional road, the hospitals are packed.” – said the medic and turned to the driver. “Let’s try St Alban’s, Zack.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ok.” – nodded the driver.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“It’s a private clinic but the emergency service is open 24/7. It’s a bit further away from the center but at least there’s hope that they’ll accept you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Wonderful! I’m spending my evening in a waiting room full of sick people!” – Kat said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No, listen, go back home. Here’s some money for the taxi.” – I said and gave her my wallet. “That’s the least I owe you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We arrived at St Alban’s. I was taken to the emergency room.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“So, what have you had for dinner? Some seafood maybe?” – a doctor asked me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No, just pizza.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, right, with clams and shrimps, right?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No, a margherita.” – I said and started getting up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Lie down, you’ll vomit again.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“All right, that’ll be ablution in number 3.” – the doctor said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“A-ablution?!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do you prefer poisoning?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But I d-don’t.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was given anesthetics and the doctors proceeded with the ablution. I woke up in a dark hospital room. I heard a voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“H-help me..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was startled. A man with bandages over his head was calling me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I saw some strange fuss down there. They’re coming for me. I know it. I feel it!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m sorry, but I’ve just had an ablution. I feel as if my stomach was turned inside out. You know, like a sock.” – I replied.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“They’ll find me even though I don’t have my face any more!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Who? What are you talking about?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Them! Them! They’ll realise it’s me! But I’m never going back there! Never!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Sir, listen to me. What’s your name?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Gordon, my name is Gordon.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Right, Gordon; do you want me to call a nurse?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No! No, there’s no reason for that. They’ll say it’s from all the medicine, the operation’s consequences, emotional shock.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What operat-.. Oh, I feel dizzy, I can’t reach the button.” – I fell back on the bed. My vision was blurry as Gordon took off his bandages.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“They think I can’t handle change. But no, that’s not enough. I must disappear. Disappear.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I blacked out.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Air! I can’t breathe!” – I started struggling for air, there were bandages on my head. A hand caught mine.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Be good lad won’t ya?” – I heard a rough voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Who are you? What do you want?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Calm down, Gordon.” – another voice said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No, I-..” – my words were muffled by chloroform.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I opened my eyes. All I saw was white. White walls, white floor, white sheets, white clothes. Everything was white. Everything but a screen on the wall I was facing. I stood up. I had no idea where I was. I was in trouble. Suddenly, text appeared on the screen. It read:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“HELLO, GORDON. IN 20 SECONDS YOUR BREAKFAST SHALL BE SERVED. YOU HAVE 8 MINUTES TO FINISH IT ENTIRELY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Entirely? What the..? A panel came out of the wall with a tray on it. There were scrambled eggs, toast and some coffee along with cutlery and a napkin.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“My name is not Gordon.” – I told the screen. “There’s been a mistake. A personality switch. Whatever this place is, I shouldn’t be here. My name is Miles Baker, my address is Craven Road number 7, London. My brother, John, works at the Scotland Yard, ask him for more information.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The screen buzzed. Then text appeared again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PLEASE, FINISH YOUR BREAKFAST. YOU HAVE 3 MINUTES AND 18 SECONDS LEFT.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I picked up the cup of coffee and smelled it. It seemed ok but I hardly ever ate eggs for breakfast.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PLEASE, FINISH YOUR BREAKFAST. YOU HAVE 26 SECONDS LEFT.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I put the tray back on the panel. I ate the toast and drank the coffee.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Will you answer me now?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOUR TIME FOR BREAKFAST IS UP.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I repeat, there’s been a misunder-..” – I heard buzzing. I felt a searing pain. They were letting electricity through the floor. My shoes were made of light metal, I couldn’t move.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Don’t make it stronger, NO!” – the electricity kept going.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I got it! I took the egg from the tray and put it in my mouth. The voltage went down. Then it was turned off. The panel returned to the wall.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“THANK YOU FOR FINISHING YOUR BREAKFAST ENTIRELY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">What kind of hell was I in? I couldn’t take my shoes off. The floor and walls were made of metal and I bet the bed was a great conductor as well. If I raise my legs next time, the strike should be more bearable. I don’t think their goal is to kill me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“HELLO, GORDON. IN 20 SECONDS YOUR LUNCH SHALL BE SERVED. YOU HAVE 12 MINUTES TO FINISH IT ENTIRELY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Let me get this straight. Every time I’m not obedient you’ll electrify me like a lab rat?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The panel appeared again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m a lab rat? Oh, you’re messing with the wrong guy.” – I lay on the bed with my legs in air. “How about a hunger strike? I have the right to know who I’m talking to. Speaking of that, I want my lawyer as well. I’m not the type who gives up quickly.” – unless my stomach muscles fail me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PLEASE, FINISH YOUR LUNCH IN 8 MINUTES.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The eight minutes seemed like eternity.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOUR TIME FOR LUNCH IS UP.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The electricity hit me. And it hit me hard. My tactic wasn’t working. The voltage went up quickly. I can’t hold on any longer. I was in pain. I jumped towards my only hope. The lunch.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“THANK YOU FOR FINISHING YOUR LUNCH ENTIRELY, GORDON.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was desperate. I sat on the floor for what seemed like eternity. I heard a noise. A door slid open in the wall.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU HAVE 18 MINUTES FOR YOUR PERSONAL HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I started laughing like a mad man. Fear, pain, fear of pain, facelessness, humiliation and all that with no physical contact with another being. I inflict pain to myself by not following simple orders. But why? Who do they think I am? What do they think I’ve done? What do they aim to accomplish? I fell asleep with those thoughts in my head.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">A buzz woke me up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GOOD MORNING, GORDON. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONVERSATION.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Conversation? Someone’s coming to this dump? Or maybe I should ‘talk’ to you, you stupid screen?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">A door opened behind me. It led to a hallway. It had no doors but mine. It seemed long. Was it truly this faceless?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“DO NOT HOLD UP AT THE DOOR”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">What the? Where’s this voice coming from.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“TURN LEFT AND WALK ON THE CENTRAL LINE.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I obeyed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“STOP AND WAIT FOR THE DOOR TO OPEN.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">A door slid open, much like the one from my room. This room had a chair in the middle. It was empty.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GO IN AND SIT.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I entered and sat down.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“HOW ARE YOU TODAY, GORDON?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The door closed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Where the hell are you?! Show yourselves! I am not that bloody Gordon person. He switched with me in that damned hospital he put those bandages on me! You have the wrong man!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“THANK YOU, THE CONVERSATION IS OVER.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The door slid open.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What do you mean ‘the conversation is over’?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PLEASE STEP OUT INTO THE HALLWAY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“This must be a joke. Am I supposed to pretend that I’m talking to someone?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“THE DOOR WILL CLOSE IN 3 SECONDS.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“This is a violation of my human rights. I won’t-..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I heard the buzzing.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU HAVE 2 SECONDS.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“N-no, I got it! I got it!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I left the room as the door closed. I went back to my cell. I didn’t sleep.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GOOD MORNING, GORDON. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONVERSATION.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The same process as before happened. I entered the room and sat down.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“HOW ARE YOU TODAY, GORDON?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m fine.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“ARE THE MEAL QUANTITIES PLEASING?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes, thank you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK ONE QUESTION.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I clenched my fist.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Where am I?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“IN NECROPOLIS. THANK YOU, THE CONVERSATION IS NOW OVER.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Crocodiles in the sewers, a hitchhiking ghost, Necropolis… I’ve been trapped in an urban legend. The city of blood thirsty human beasts. Hell on earth, whose location no one ever knew. I reached my cell.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“WAIT FOR THE DOOR TO OPEN.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Necropolis – Native Exemplary CRiminals Obliged POLIS. Nice word play. Completely matches the ambient. My brother would love it.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">So that’s what I’m considered. A criminal with evil inscribed in his genetic code. Who knows if anyone is looking for me? I fell asleep. I dreamt.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Nobody knows where it is. They say it’s in an underground bunker.” – said a news reporter.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Don’t think there’s something that nobody, even the Queen, isn’t let entering!” – my brother told me over beer.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“A carrot on a stick. If you’re good you’re awarded. The more they’re humiliated the bigger the prize.” – said a kid on the street.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Many convicts from the unsolved cases are said to be kept in there. Even the ‘Beast of Dorincourt’, the one who massacred his entire family with a sickle.” – I overheard a woman at the farmer’s market.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I fell into a void. I heard voices talking about the necropolis. I heard others harmonizing with them in a dissonant manner, just saying the wretched place’s name. I woke up with a scream. And what a sight it was. There was an armchair in front of a TV. Carrot on a stick.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GOOD MORNING, GORDON. BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED IN ONE MINUTE. YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO FINISH IT COMPLETELY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Fifteen minutes? Almost twice as usual. And look. No scrambled eggs. A prize for a good puppy.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I found myself inside the conversation room a few hours later.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR ACCOMMODATION, GORDON?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes, thank you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE RULES OF NECROPOLIS. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF SUBMITTINGA SPECIAL DEMAND. A FAVOURITE FOOD, AN OBJECT THAT IS NOT DANGEROUS, AN ACTIVITY THAT DOES NOT LAST LONG.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I… I would like to read a book”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“DEMAND ACCEPTED. RETURN TO YOUR ROOM AND WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was sent to another part of the hallway. A door opened and I found myself inside a library.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“SIT ON THE CHAIR NUMERATED WITH THE NUMBER 18 IN FRONT OF THE BOOK GIVEN TO YOU.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">On the table stood ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU HAVE HALF AN HOUR TO READ. UPON CEOMPLETION LEAVE THE BOOK ON THE TABLE. REMEMBER, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK OR STAND UP DURING THE TIME OF THE ACTIVITY. DISOBEYANCE WILL RESULT IN NULLIFICATION OF THE DEMAND ACCEPTANCE. HAVE A NICE READ, GORDON.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I opened the book. I heard a voice. Not the computer’s voice, but a man’s this time.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Feels good, huh? You’re lucky. Usually newbies are given literature such as ‘White teddy and pals’. I’ve read ‘Alice’ three times. It’s a good one.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I felt his hand on my shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Relax, I know you can’t reply, I don’t wanna startle you. I know what it feels like. I’m the first human being you’ve seen in a long time, aren’t I?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He introduced himself.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m number 33, the librarian. Since you’re sitting here all alone means you’re level 2, that’s a bit low. But don’t worry, there are people who never make it past level 1. I’m level 14, I’m trying to be good enough for the outside.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I looked at him.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, yes. If you get good grades up until level 15 you can become socially useful on the outside. You’ll learn that being a part of the system pays of soon enough. You can do some pretty interesting stuff. You do know this is a mixed gender prison?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was not aware of that.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I gotta go now. Remember one thing; I was here and talked to you because it was determined so. Everything is possible in Necropolis. Everything but coincidences.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He left. Fourteen levels before going out. What kind of sense is that?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“TIME FOR READING IS UP, GORDON. YOU HAVE 15 SECONDS TO LEAVE THE LIBRARY.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 1: Extreme segregation, complete isolation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 2: Simple cooperation, partial isolation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 3: Mutual cooperation, sharing rooms with other prisoners, but no talking, no touching, no messages of any kind are allowed.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We were animals. A herd of lost sheep. A prisoner tripped and hit me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m sorry..” – he said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PRISONER 23, DISOBEYANCE OF RULES 3 AND 7”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“N-no!” – his body twisted from the pain  caused by the electricity, he screamed helplessly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But he just tripped!” – I yelled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PRISONER 14, DISOBEYANCE OF RULE 3”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was electrified as well. The shock was very strong. I stood up as the power went down. I looked at 23 and smiled. He smiled sadly with blood running from his nose.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The next morning the screen woke me up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“CONGRATULATIONS, GORDON; AS OF TODAY YOU ARE LEVEL 4.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Good, it only took me a couple of weeks.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“YOU WILL MEET OTHER PRISONERS IN THE RECREATION ROOM. YOU WILL SPEAK TO PRISONERS 38, 7 AND 10. THE TOPIC OF YOUR TALK WILL BE THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF MALLOW.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">What?!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“ANY DISOBEDIANCE WILL RESULT IN DEGRADING TO LEVEL 3. HAVE FUN.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was confused. I went to the recreation room and sat down on my designated place.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, I think the change of time zones is a major problem for a travelling person.” – said 38.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Not as big as finding a good dog care service.” – said 10.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“In my humble opinion is that only Spielberg’s movies focus on important themes.” – replied 7.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I don’t believe it’s possible to enjoy a good film without getting used to time zone changes. What do you think?” – 38 looked at me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I-I… W-well, I don’t travel much so I tend to use mallow lining.” – oh dear God, we look like a group of people from Ionesco’s comedies.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Mallow has bad influence on dog’s hair, it makes it hard.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“That’s why E.T. was lucky enough he didn’t have hair!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Number 10 chuckled. Maybe this was the first flaw in the system.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Maybe E.T. didn’t manage to find his way around because he didn’t get used to the solar time zone!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">10 and 38 started laughing.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“E.T. had different problems. He had to call home.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Oh God, making four adults talk about random topics is humiliating.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Did you know that a well trained dog can answer a phone?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The three started laughing. This was fun. Unless this was also the aim of rehabilitation. Looks like laughing isn’t forbidden. I joined in.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 5: Imposed conversation.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Manchester United is the best team in the world!” – said 24.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I disagree, the Red Devils are the best team in the universe!” – replied 21.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I hope I’d have the option to choose the topic on level 6. Football, the one thing I never had any interest in.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What do you think of David De Gea?” – 24 asked me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, I-I.. He has a very remarkable haircut, definitely.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 6: You’re not allowed to talk about yourself, the situation you’re in nor the reason you’re here.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“We meet again! You got here quite quickly.” – said 33, the librarian. “Remember me?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes, I do.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“So, you’ve read ‘Alice’ and the ‘Three Musketeers’..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I can speak to other prisoners.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Now you can choose outside children’s literature.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">But I can’t touch them.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do you have anything about Miles Baker?” – I asked. Hopefully he’ll recognize me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What? Who?” – the librarian seemed confused.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Miles Baker, he’s a jazz musician, quite famous in London.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, I should look around in the music section. I don’t remember seeing anything about a Miles Baker.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The news of his disappearance was quite big.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Really? Let me take a look at the guide.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, he left a pizzeria and it was as if he sunk into earth.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Meh, not a really spectacular disappearance. When did that happen?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Come on, show me you know who I am, I’m not Gordon, show me you’ve been wrong.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Two, maybe three months ago.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Please show me you know.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I can’t rememb-..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I fainted for a moment. Then I heard a voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Prisoner 22 asking for permission to engage in physical contact with prisoner 14.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">It was a woman’s voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GRANTED.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Prisoner 33 asking for permission to bring prisoner 14 a glass of water.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“GRANTED.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder. I felt two people bring me to my feet again. Then I saw her face. It was beautiful. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. She looked like an angel.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Y-you can talk to them?” – I asked between two sips of water.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“That’s a matter of the level you’re on.” – the librarian told me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Were you scared because you lost track of time? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” – her voice was melodic, and yet so calming. She was number 22.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Look what I’ve found! Ta-daaa.” – said the librarian handing me an issue of the ‘Rolling Stone’ with my face on the cover.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I had to get some sleep. I lay on my bed, grasping the magazine. I have to get out of here. I don’t know how. But I will.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 7: You can ask permission for a private conversation with another prisoner.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I wish to speak to number 22.” – I asked the computer.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She didn’t have to accept my call.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Our meeting was set inside the botanic garden. In a place such as Necropolis, seeing such beauty. It was a privilege.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hello, 14. You know, many of the prisoners don’t know there’s a garden here. I decided to meet you here.” – she picked up an orchid. “It’s my duty. I take care of the plants with a few more colleagues.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She looked at me and smiled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’m level 13, which means I can choose the ‘socially useful’ work.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I still do nothing.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, that’s the next step, level 8.You’ll be given a job that isn’t interesting but if you’re good it’ll last shortly and you’ll be able to afford yourself some pleasures.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Like seeing you? I didn’t think you’d meet me.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She smiled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“May I touch you?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, it depends. Are you a good guy?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Seriously.?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You know, this place makes everyone good, there’s no alternative.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She lowered her gaze.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Some things here last forever.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She then looked at me again.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Dear God, what a conversation! I’ll be blinded by the light of the moon. Or maybe the sun.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She started walking towards the exit.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Wait..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’ll see you again in the library, 14. In the meantime, why don’t you read ‘The Taming of the Shrew’?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She smiled one last time as the door closed. <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">So that’s what she meant. When she told me to read Shakespeare I thought it was a provocation, some kind of love challenge. But instead she was talking about Necropolis.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“So, we’re getting cultivated now.” – I heard a familiar voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ah, yeah.” – I replied the librarian.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Good. I bet it won’t be long before you start reading Orwell.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Maybe..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He knows it, everyone does. Accept the mechanism and you’ll survive. Or else.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“By the way, congratulations. No one has ever had a close encounter with 22.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Level 8: You are given a job that is socially useful.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, 14, you get the cookers. Yer job is to clean ‘em. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less.” – the chef had a strong Scottish accent.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“All right, 7.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Don’t touch the food. When cooks finish the meals just scrub the remains with a spoon a throw them out. Be precise and don’t waste yer time on chatting. We’ll get along well.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Thanks.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I had this absurd feeling. I entered Necropolis thinking it was hell. Now, I have clean clothes, sheets, a job and maybe in time I’ll make friends. It’s really peaceful here. Nobody complains, nobody tries to escape. I feel content. I could even forget everything else. I waited for the door to my room to open.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hello, 14.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She was there. In my room.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“W-what? 22, what are you doing here? You can..? They..?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Level 13. I can, if you agree that is. But first answer my question.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She approached me.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Are you a good guy?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She kissed me. Passionately. We started undressing. As I lay there, just looking at her, I started thinking again. Can a man be truly happy in Necropolis?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I cleaned the cookers again. Then I saw a bucket of water. No..?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes.” – I said as I took the bucket.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oi, 14, get back to yer post!” – said 7.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Listen to me! I am not prisoner 14. They call me Gordon, but that’s not my real name. My name is Miles Baker! This place brainwashes you! That’s a violation of human rights!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PRISONER 14, VIOLATION OF RULE 001.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“We have less dignity than lab rats!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“PRISONERS 7 AND 12 STEP AWAY FROM PRISONER 14.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Whatever any of you had done, you have the right to a fair trial!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I felt the electricity. It gradually started becoming stronger.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I know what you think! That it’s impossible to confront Necropolis! That the system always wins! But this is a weak point of it! Necropolis is a public institution. And as such, nobody dies in it!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I felt the electricity get even stronger. I poured the cold water over myself. It hurt like all hell. The light bulbs started exploding. Then there was darkness.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“A power cut.” – I heard 7.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“He made a short circuit. A fuse probably died.” – that was 12.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Miles, how are you?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">They helped me get up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Brilliant. And you, what’s your name?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Ned. Ned Karpowski.” – 7 replied.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I heard a clap.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Bravo! I knew it was you! I was impatient to see your brave act of defiance. We have a hero, great!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The librarian seemed angry. At his side stood a bald chubby man.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Will you be kind and tell us how to get out of this chaos?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Listen number thirt-.. What’s your name?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Harry Duffron, librarian, mass murderer, sickle virtuoso at your service.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You! You’re the ‘Beast of Dorincourt’. The mad man who killed his family with a sickle!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Let’s call it group therapy where everyone feel better except for one. Or is it the other way around?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I clenched my teeth.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You still don’t get where we are, do you, Superman? We’re in a place where society throws away people it wants to forget. That’s the basic rule of Necropolis. Rule 000: No one leaves Necropolis alive.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Everything here is run by the main supercomputer. If it breaks down, which I’m afraid just happened, nothing functions anymore.” – the bald man said.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But there must be a manual system for opening the doors.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You’re wrong. They’d predicted that. We’d rather be left trapped like mice than let out.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But there must be a sewer or something?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, but not even rats can move in them, and you look quite big to me.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“How do you know all of this?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Very simple. Because..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The bald man smiled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“.. I projected Necropolis.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">We shook hands.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Enoch M. Muir, glad to meet you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The Enoch Muir? The one who projected buildings for which he knew would collapse?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Sooner or later. It was interesting, you know, waiting for them to go down.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes, but good old Enoch left experimentalism.” – the librarian joined in.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, level 13 was immediately offered to me if I design a ‘full box’, a steel plated box.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I heard thumping.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What was that?” – I asked, startled.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The prisoners from level one. They are trapped in their cells. I assume they’ll leave in a plastic bag.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I didn’t want this.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was desperate.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, consider them lucky. It could be a better death than you think. I just wonder where the Archangel was in the moment of the black out.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">A shadow passed over the faces of all the present prisoners. I was confused.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Who is the Archangel?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The Archangel is the most dangerous element here. He thinks that he’s been blessed with the power to tell good from evil.” – said Enoch.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The Archangel has killed hundreds of people on the outside.” – said Harry.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“The psycho would follow them home and then massacre them with the first object he found, be it a broom, newspaper or a door mat.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well, we have to do something.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The story of the archangel scared me out of my skin. I left the kitchen. This place is inhumane. Maybe they are born criminals but people can’t be treated like this. My leg slipped. I fell into a pool of some liquid. Blood. Someone has been dragged through the doorway a few yards in front of me. I followed the trace. A man lay in the library. His face was disfigured, pages of a book were stuck in his mouth. I picked it up. It said ‘Bon Ton: How to be a Perfect Gentleman’. So that’s what the archangel does. A shiver went down my spine. I heard a thud. I saw prisoner 38 beating the living crap out of 17.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Wait, what happened?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“He couldn’t keep quiet while the Archangel was killing the other guy. He almost blew my cover.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">The other one stood up and hit 38 with a chair.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I wasn’t crying, I was laughing. I love torment.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He said it with a smile.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Do you really think they’ve stopped watching us for even a moment?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was scared.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yes, so run. Run while you can.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">He started mutilating 38 with the chair’s leg.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Run away from us! Run away from the Archangel!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I started running. I tripped over a dead woman. I sat with my head between my knees. I can’t believe this. Then I saw a light. A person was on fire and she was running towards me. I took off my shirt and took the fire out. Too late. Then I heard a click of a zippo lighter.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I didn’t like her, she had too much makeup.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">No.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I’ve always hated vulgar women.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She stood there. 22.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Archangel..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“My name is Celine, that’s just my nickname.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Are you going to kill me too?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I don’t see a reason for that. You’re so nice and polite. Why would you die? You’re not even supposed to be here.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">She approached me and put her arms around my neck.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Celine, I can’t let you what you want.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“But you can’t stop me. I do what I have t-..”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Her arms dropped, she became motionless. Her sentence was cut in half by 17.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No!” – I yelled desperately.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You thought you’d get rid of me that easy?” – he had a maniacal spark in his eyes. “It’s your turn now.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Rage had built up inside me. I looked at him. Straight in the eye. Then I charged. I took him down. I started punching his face. Blood started flowing. I put my hands around his neck.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You don’t have the guts to kill me! You’re not like us!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“No, I wasn’t, but do you forget where we are?!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was blinded by the sudden light. Looks like the power came back. I let 17 go. He started coughing. I felt someone’s hands on my shoulders. I heard a voice.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Calm down, Miles. It’s all over.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I felt a needle in my neck. I blacked out.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I woke up next to my car. That voice. It was Gordon’s. I started laughing. My laughter got louder. Bad food, hospital rush, it was all an act. And I, I even helped them. I can’t believe that I thought a system like that would fail so easily. Whether I like it or not, I was at the official Necropolis testing. I proved hell pays off. But how will I ever prove I’ve seen that hell?

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">I’m tired. I’ve been gone for a long time. I want to go home..

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">All comments are appreciated. Cheers!

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:115%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif""> <ac_metadata title="Necropolis - Review"> </ac_metadata>