When you were handed a file by a random running man you didnât really expect for things to end up the way they are, a strong jail cell, heavy chains holding you by your neck, wrists, and by your ankles, and a strange red ball of energy floating in front of you. You didnât even know that the file contained sensitive government information, but after glancing at the damn papers, you already sealed your fate.
âYou are to maintain this energy orb for the rest of your life by feeding it your own energy out put, you need to concentrate and put all of your focus on that energy orb for as long as you can, for the rest of your life.â A voice rang through your cell from a speaker right above you.
âWhat happens if I lose focus?â You asked as you went closer to the ball of energy, trying to assess what to do and prepare yourself.
âDonât worry it does happen for everyone, weâll just have to whip you back into shape, literally and figuratively. Now, go on before we decide to give you a demonstration of said whipping.â Yup, letâs not lose concentration that easily then. You took a deep breath aligned your hands with the ball. The ball moved forward to your palms, completely barely touching it, it felt comforting, it had some sort of warmth to it that you canât quite describe. You let out a breath and closed your eyes, then started slowly directing your energy towards it, it wasnât hard since the orb itself seemed to pull the energy to itself. This went on for a while, and surprisingly, there were occasions when the orb gave you a sudden burst of energy, as if refueling you. It didnât look like you had to worry about you losing focus, until you heard muffled noises, you couldnât really tell what it was since your focus was given to the energy orb, but then you grew curious, despite the thought of being whipped after losing focus.
Crunch, plonk, rattle. What was that? Did someone come into your cell? Was it somebody observing you? As your focus lessened towards the orb, your connection of it wavers, trying your best to stay connected, you gave it your full concentration again. Until you felt something poking you by your arm which caused you to open your eyes and break the focus you had with the orb, surely they canât fault you for that, after all they were the ones who started poking you making you lose your focus. That was until you saw what was around you, your once strong jail cell, rusted and tattered with holes with a decorated tapestry right above you covering you from the sunâs light, there was the orb now in a bright white color with slight hints of yellow, your prison outfit was tattered yet clean, your hair and some parts of your clothes were wet, and the chains around your neck, wrists, and ankles broke off and rusted which made you able to move.
âWhat the hell happenedâŠ?â You asked as you glanced around to notice two young boys hiding by a rubble, they looked terrified, and judging by that stick on their hands they were the ones who made you lose your focus.
âUm, excuse me. You two? What happened to this place?â The two boys flinched and shivered, not wanting to answer. Was it because of your prison uniform?
âAh, donât worry Iâm not going to hurt anybody, I was just taking care of this orb here when suddenly my focus was snapped, and when I opened my eyes this place doesnât look like how it was when I first came here. Can you tell me what happened?â The two boys shook their heads, not really sure if theyâre scared of you, if they donât know what happened. You werenât really the best with kids either.
âThe Mayor is going to be so mad at us!â
âI told you we shouldnât poke her!â The two boys shouted to themselves, was it because you did something? Were you the one who destroyed your cell without you knowing? Was the energy you put into your energy orb too much?
âWhat are we gonna do!?â
âDonât ask me! Youâre the one who did it!â
âHey! You came with me too!â
âBut I told you to stop!â The two boys argued and you can only watch, you really didnât know how to handle kids and youâd rather not, but you needed answers.
âHey, hey now both of you calm down, first of, is there any way I can speak to yourââ
âI heard that two stray boys came by to see the Guardian, say what are you two doingâŠ.â A voice, then a figure. He looked to be a young man at your age and his expression looked mortified when he saw you. What the hell did you do while you were concentrated on the orb?
âWhat did the both of you do?â The man asked as he saw the two boys huddled by the corner, he looked, stern and serious compared to his tone earlier.
âWe, just wanted to see if the guardian was a real personâŠ.. And, andâŠâ
âHe was the one who poked it! I told him not to and he did!â
âHey! You said you wanted to know to!â They boys squabbled yet again, the man pressed his fingers by the bridge of his nose. You thought this would be a good time to ask.
âUm, excuse me? Can I ask, what happened? Iâm pretty sure before I closed my eyes this was a high-security prison? What exactly happened?â The man looked at you and sighed.
âForgive me, and these two careless young boys for breaking your concentration, Guardian of the Last Orb.â Wait, what did he call you?
âWhat do you mean by, last orb? Are you saying I was guarding the last orb? Is that the last orb?â You asked pointing at the bright white-yellowish orb, to which the man nodded.
âYes, after the Ten Years Long Genocide it was presumed that every orb that the world had were either destroyed or used to fuel war engines and weapons. You were discovered at about 43 years ago with that very same orb still intact and gradually gaining more energy, we assumed you were maintaining it since there were documents of prison inmates in the past being punished with maintaining orbs for the rest of their lives.â You nodded.
âYes that is true, after accidentally seeing a sensitive government file back then I was punished to maintain the orb. But what did you mean by the past? And whatâs with the 10 long years and 43 years, Iâm pretty sure Iâve been maintaining the orb for less than three hours.â The man shook his head.
âMadame, you were estimated to be guarding this orb for about two centuries now.â Two centuries? Two. Centuries. Your legs gave up and you stumbled back to the ground, you canât believe it. How were you still alive? Why were you still alive? Why werenât the other inmates who did the same thing werenât here anymore? Why didnât they stay alive like you did? Were you dreaming? Hallucinating? Were you hungry for so long youâre starting to lose your grip on reality? The man however tried to help you back to your feet, fussing about and sweating after seeing you drop down as the news hit you like a wave.
âMadame, please, you two! Get Aubert and tell him itâs Code G! Quickly!â The two boys ran out, presumably to get somebody else.
âYouâve got to be fucking with me, two centuries? How? Why? What the hell is happening?â Your mind was in a hazy mess, werenât you just talking to that person on the speaker? Asking him about what would happen to you? Why were you here now?
âPlease madame, calm downââ
âCalm down!? Why donât you try to be imprisoned for life and be punished, only to wake up and find out that itâs been 200 fucking years ever since you opened your eyes!â You shouted, scaring the poor man, only come back to your senses with a heavy breath.
âI, Iâm sorry, I didnât mean to shout. I just,â
âNo ma'am, I was inconsiderate of your situation. I apologize for that.â You sighed as silence wrapped the atmosphere again, the two of you just, sitting on the ground awkwardly. Until you remembered your sentence.
âMaintain the orb, for the rest of your life.â Does that mean, youâll have to continue your sentence? Judging by it, yes you should, you were a law abiding citizen after all. Despite being imprisoned that is. Hell, you donât even know what else you should do since everything you knew was now gone.
âSo, I think I should go back and um, continue my punishment. I was ordered to do so for the rest of my life, and I donât think itâd be wise for me to stop just because the people who ordered for me to do so are gone.â You stood up and went back to the orb, preparing to give your focus back to it.
âPlease wait, ma'am if I may be so brazen to interrupt you.â You tilted your head as you looked back at the man.
âActually, your punishment was already lifted by the state and you were given freedom when you were found 43 years ago. Although you can still maintain the orb as it was to be your possession. So, if I may, could you please join us for a meal? I would like to thank you for supplying the city with continuous energy.â Now that heâs mentioned it, there were a bunch of strange wires hooked up near the orb, so they were using you as an energy source huh? Not that you find it really rude.
âWell, after 200 years of not eating that does sound nice, but is it okay if we donât leave this place, I donât want to leave that orb unguarded seeing that it is an important relic.â The man nodded and gave you his hand with a smile.
âOf course, oh and, I forgot to introduce myself. Iâm Alzeinth, the mayor of the town.â You took his hand and shook it, you figured that he was considering the two boys looked like they were about to cry when they saw him earlier.
âCecilie, drop the honorifics, I mean it.â
