The process for retrieving a prisoner from the upper containment area proved to be a simple enough endeavor. Simply pick a cylinder from the thousands listed in the computer and wait. And when you’re done waiting… wait some more.

  This sluggish procedure gave Foster plenty of time to run through the machine himself before both he and Justine joined Joseph by the retrieval station.

  “I can’t believe it,” she said, twisting her pain-free body from side to side. “We should patent this thing when we get back to Earth. We’d be rich.”

  “WE already are,” Hoover cackled while calculating his fake company’s holdings. “More than you probably know.”

  “Good for you guys, I think you should all plan for retirement.” Joseph said as he hurriedly moved from one side of the opening to another. All the while, he tried to catch a glimpse of his tube as it descended. “Me… I’m going home.”

  “And how exactly is he getting home?” Justine finally put a question to what she’d been wondering about ever since they stepped foot on this station. “I mean, can the machine send him home?”

  “No,” Hoover said with an air of finality that made the deputy scowl. “There’ll be no beaming up for him today.”

  “Is he right?” Justine asked a giggling Foster.

  “Probably. The transport system on the third level only sends things to and from Earth. My guess is all these prisoners got here another way.” Foster tapped on his tablet and a small hologram popped into existence. “Good thing for him, the station’s schematics lists an escape shuttle right above this chamber. I think he’s going to try and use that to make it home.”

  Justine looked at the schematics for a second and the large vehicle perched on top of the structure. She was about to ask for more information on this escape shuttle when a loud cry stopped her.

  “There I am!” Joseph exclaimed as he spotted his tiny prison floating halfway up the massive wall of cylinders. “At least, I think that’s me.”

  Following the deputy’s shaking finger, the others scrambled to see what he was talking about. It took a second, but they finally saw the pod in question. “Now there’s something you don’t see every day.” Justine said with awe in her voice.

  “No. You don’t.” Foster agreed. “Interesting retrieval method though.”

  And it was. Given the enormous size of the open space above them, the station builders should have employed a series of cranes or even a conveyor belt to ferry the tube down the requisite six-hundred-foot drop. But instead of anything so clunky, the canister had simply detached from the wall, then drifted precariously before lazily descending downward.

  “What do you think is keeping that thing up there?” Joseph cupped his eyes so he could see the tube better. “Could be a gravity well. They exist on my planet. But I doubt you would find them so close to a black hole.”

  “Maybe it has a propulsion system,” Justine said, wondering what he meant by ‘gravity wells.’ Completely entranced by everything, she stood on her tiptoes for a better look. “You know? Tiny rockets.”

  “Tiny rockets, huh?” Foster turned around and surveyed the empty stasis tubes still locked securely in place. Devoid of any external components, the tube’s sleek design was marred only by a small, foreign device attached to its top like an AC unit. Maybe a life support system, he thought. But why wasn’t it built into the tube instead of on it?

  “It’s most likely anti-gravity,” he said after seeing none of the tubes had these tiny rockets Justine mentioned. “After all. They’re floating.”

  “Yes,” Hoover agreed whole-heartedly. “It is anti-gravity. It’s the same technology that’s keeping your bodies from being crushed by the black hole’s gravitational forces.”

  “An anti-gravity device is a possibility.” Joseph said as he recalled seeing similar devices on spaceships that visited his world. Usually small and limited in scope, space faring races often used them for rec decks or games for the rich. However, in all his time at the Forge, he never saw anything close to this size and scope.

  To be honest, the sheer physics required for something this massive to function sent his head spinning. On the other hand, Justine could only imagine attaching one of them to a skateboard. “So, each one of these tubes is equipped with its own anti-gravity device?”

  “No,” Foster beat Hoover to the punch. “That whole area is.”

  “He’s right.” Even after everything they had been through together, Hoover was still surprised at how smart his creator was. “Everything above the opening is flooded with anti-gravity. There isn’t enough space for the necessary machinery to move the prisoners around conventionally. I mean... we’re talking about a structure 650 feet tall and 200 feet wide.”

  Justine’s tiptoe stance swayed precariously, so she rested her hand on Foster’s shoulder to steady herself. “Amazing…” she whispered. “It’s one big bouncy house.”

  “Without the screaming kids,” Foster said.

  “No, just fifty thousand monsters.”

  With that thought keeping everyone silent, Joseph’s tube covered the remaining three hundred feet in less than five minutes. But for our intrepid explorers, those five minutes felt like an eternity. So, when the retrieval machine’s arms began to move on their own, the trio knew that eternity was drawing close to the end.

  “What now?” Justine asked. “Do we have to retrieve it somehow?”

  “No,” Hoover said. “The machine will take care of everything from here.”

  And true to his word, the machine did. Because as the pod drew closer, the clamps at the end of the mechanical arms hissed into operation. Then, the once dormant limbs rose upward and through the breach in the ceiling where they waited silently for a cosmic game of catch.

  A few seconds later, the tube reached the correct distance and slowed. When it stopped, the clamps swiveled around until they fit perfectly under the bottom of the pod. Another couple of preprogrammed moves later, and the alien glove finished its intended mission by depositing Joseph’s prize onto the metal slab.

  “Finally,” the deputy exclaimed as the final restraints locked into place. With the tube fully secured, all three of them rushed over to see what was waiting inside.

  “What is that?” Justine asked, unsure of what her eyes were seeing. Foster’s mouth began to open, but he couldn’t even begin to guess what they were looking at.

  “That’s me,” Joseph said, recognizing the contents of the stasis tube almost immediately. Well, recognizing might have been an overstatement on his part. “At least, maybe it is.”

  “What do you mean, ‘maybe’?” Foster leaned back in mock horror.

  “I mean,” Joseph’s earlier excitement gave way to hopeful concern. “It looks like me.”

  Inside the tube, they all saw lumps of sinewy orange muscles which were covered in a thick layer of tufted black hair. Pressed up against the lid, this squished together form of alien organic mass looked vaguely like his body. However, the deputy couldn't be 100% sure. After all, it’s not like he had a picture of himself from back then.

  But for the others, the unknown figure merely looked like a lump of undiscernible flesh and hair. In fact, the alien body was so crammed in there that it was as if these Arbiters had run out of the large sized tubes. Still, Foster knew identification would prove problematic without cracking it open.

  “So.” Justine cocked her head to one side in contemplation. “Is that your body stuffed in there? Or not?”

  “Yeah.” Foster just realized that during the last twelve hours of looking for Joseph’s body, neither he nor Justine had ever asked him about his original alien features. “What exactly does your species look like?”

  Joseph went into a thoroughly detailed description of a race of beings about eight feet tall with large, muscular limbs and finely articulated hands. Hands that were perfectly designed for building. “My species would most closely resemble, to you anyway, big game cats.”

  “Like tigers?” Foster looked more closely at the mound of muscle and flesh. “Or lions?”

  “No,” Hoover decided now was a perfect time for a joke. “Like cat people.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Kind of…” Joseph didn’t want to lie. So, he just admitted the truth “But not really. If you need an earth equivalent, you could say we’re more like a puma in need of a haircut.”

  The description of the Solon people brought up memories of his friend Mouse. Thank God he wasn’t here right now, Foster thought. Mouse would definitely find the existence of an eight-foot tall, humanoid mountain lion terrifying. “Let’s just hope eating my face is still off the menu.”

  Joseph smiled but never really answered.

  “So, you’re just stuffed in there?” Justine tried getting a better look, but the body was so tightly packed inside that the broad strokes of his anatomy were all she could see. “Doesn’t look very comfortable. I don’t even want to think about how your back is going to feel once we extract you from this tin can.”

  “Tell me about it.” Joseph put his hands on his human back and sighed. “Twenty years is a long time to lay in one place.”

  Allowing them to lament about chiropractic issues, Foster made his way to the upper part of the tube where he first noticed that odd-looking life support system. When he bent down to examine the oddly placed component, the first thing he noticed was it didn’t fit in with the pod’s overall aesthetic.

  “What have we got here?” The device resembled some of the old technology found on the reactor level. More steam punk than science fiction. “You know. I think maybe these things have been retrofitted to perform a different type of service than originally intended.”

  He raised his head, hoping the others might have some insight into this weird mechanism. Unfortunately, instead of finding answers,he found a manic Joseph in the process of wrenching at the tube door with all his might.

  “I think I can get it open,” he puffed out loudly from the unfamiliar effort. “I just got to wedge it open somehow!”

  “Wait!” Foster cried out. “You don’t know if the air on this station is breathable to your species.” He pointed to the strange, weathered device he found. “Plus, this thing looks like it's tied into the pod’s original life support system. That means it might be producing an effect the pod alone couldn’t accomplish.”

  They listened to the device’s rhythmic breathing sounds.

  “I know the end of your search is near. Believe me, I know that feeling’s intoxicating.” Foster edged around the pod and placed a firm hand on the deputy’s shoulder. He waited for the alien to acknowledge his presence before continuing. “But I think we should run a scan first, just to be safe.”

  Joseph, on the edge of a hysterical breakdown, needed another couple of beats before his common sense eventually prevailed. “Fine.”

  “Hoover,” Foster returned to the small console beside the tube. “Can you perform a diagnostic to see if we can safely open the tube?”

  Hoover didn’t answer, but the small screen attached to the retrieval system began to run a series of complicated calculations. Mountains of data appeared then disappeared from the screen as the others tried crowding around the retrieval station for a better look. But all this lurking did was cause chaos.

  “Hold on,” Foster said, placing his tablet on top of the pod so everyone could see what he was doing. “Please relay the data to the tablet.”

  The AI didn’t answer verbally, but after a couple more seconds of images flashing on the screen. The holographic emitters once again flashed to life.

  “No, I don’t think opening it would be a good idea.” A detailed 3-dimensional image of Joseph’s alien body appeared in the air, with a series of numbers popping up alongside it. “The Kopiao normally breath an atmosphere rich in argon and oxygen.”

  “Kopiao,” Foster recognized the word from a college course he had barely paid attention to at the time. “That’s the Greek word for labor, isn’t it? Why did you use that? I thought you called your people Solons.”

  “I did.” Joseph’s mania allowed a bit of confusion to break through. “And we are.”

  “Hoover?”

  “Don’t ask me. That’s just a translation of what these Arbiter’s call this species.” Hoover explained. “The actual word is unpronounceable by humans since structurally you lack the vocal acuity to pull it off. But considering how much Joseph goes on and on about his people being known as builders, I thought that word kind of appropriate.”

  “Translation?” Foster’s mind immediately latched on to two words of his friend’s lengthy explanation. Translation and Arbiters. He was about to explore their meaning further when someone’s mania retook control of the situation.

  “But if we had an argon mix, then I could breathe. Right?” Joseph eagerly leaned forward and placed his hand on the pod. “I’m sure we could adjust the escape shuttle’s atmosphere to that specification.”

  “You would be correct on both accounts, Deputy Howlam.” Hoover waited a second before delivering his infamous bad news. “But for what you hope to do, this body would prove troublesome.”

  “What?” Confusion settled over the group, but especially Joseph. “What do you mean this body? And what do you mean ‘troublesome’?”

  “From what I’ve gleaned from the database, which isn’t much, this place is a prison. That means every one of those tubes is filled and sometimes stuffed with murderers.”

  Justine and Foster turned to Joseph, who was just staring at his body longingly.

  “So,” he answered their unspoken question without looking up. “That’s what the arbiters do. They pass judgment on planets across the universe. And if the crimes are serious enough, like murder, the offender is taken away.” Joseph motioned to the surrounding pods. “On my home world, this place is called the Invisible Prison.”

  “Why do they call it that?” Justine asked.

  “Because the rumors say that no prisoner has ever laid eyes on its gates.”

  “And no criminal ever will,” Hoover continued. “The whole incarceration process is straight forward. Well, at least as straight forward as the most complicated math I’ve ever seen can be. Basically, the human mind is erased. Then, the essence of the criminal is, for lack of a better term, poured into the empty vessel. Unfortunately, the process of extracting that essence lays waste to the offender’s mind.”

  “You mean it’s also erased.” Joseph’s confused voice belied a wave of growing anger. But still, he held out the hope of a drowning man. “Like the human brain?”

  “No, Joseph.” Surprisingly, the AI’s normally smart-ass tone of voice had softened to a conciliatory whisper. “Once the procedure is complete. The offender’s mind is physically transformed. The best way I can describe the process is squeezing an orange of its juice. The orange remains but its structure is completely twisted.”

  “What do you mean, twisted?” Foster studied the floating image of Joseph’s dream and his mind tried desperately to look for some other interpretation. Then, almost as if his friend could read his thoughts, Hoover explained it in a way the scientist could appreciate.

  “Foster, the process essentially strips down the pathways on a molecular level.”

  “Oh,” the scientist understood that explanation completely. Consequently, he also understood exactly just how screwed Joseph currently was. “Shit.”

  To that one-word response, Joseph felt his stomach metaphorically slam onto the ground. Enraged, the Solon slammed his fists against the tube as hard as he could. The strike didn’t even make a sound. When he withdrew his hands, no one saw the tightly clutched Slinger.

  “So why keep them alive?” Justine asked, one part of her wanting to comfort Joseph while the other part wanted to smash the tube with him.

  On the holographic display, Hoover called up an axiom he’d found countless times in the database by whoever had built the station. An axiom that also perfectly matched the words etched on the marble column in the alien prayer room. It read: We shall keep the promise made. For the ones who fell, no others shall fall.

  “They don’t believe in killing. Not even their criminals.”

  “Yeah,” Justine’s voice grew even louder with frustration. “But being brain dead is not exactly living.”

  “That’s the problem with meeting your heroes, Agent Rushing. They may not live up to your expectations.”

  “Aliens aren’t my heroes, Hoover.” Her eyes started to well up again, but not with sadness. “This is inhumane.”

  As Joseph’s Slinger tip began to glow bright blue, Foster reread the floating words out loud. “For the ones who fell, no others shall fall.” What the hell did that mean? Who fell? And more importantly, what others won’t? Reaching, he asked. “So, there are no other bodies we could transfer him into. I mean… there are a lot of bodies to choose from.”

  “Checking,” Hoover quickly ran through the current manifest of inmates again. “There are currently 48,342 prisoners held within the confines of this station, Foster. And not one of them is suitable for transfer.”

  With those words, Joseph pressed the gun against the tube’s clear door. And much like Edgar’s laptop, the outer casing shattered, sending pieces of plastic flying everywhere.

  “What the hell!” Foster screamed as Justine raised an arm to cover both of their bodies from the ejected shrapnel. But before either could admonish the alien further, his old body sprang forth from its container and into the toxic air like a hideous jack in the box.

  Justine moved to speak, but a look from Foster caused her to remain silent. So, with very little hope, they all watched for a long couple of seconds to see what would happen next. But like Hoover had theorized, the deputy’s original form couldn’t adjust to the station’s atmosphere as the Solon gasped weakly for air.

  Then, as they all watched helplessly, the beast managed one last gasp before it quietly expired while dangling limply from the side of the tube.

  “Joseph, I’m...” was all the words Justine could manage before the emotions of the moment caught in her throat.

  In utter anguish, Joseph collapsed onto the floor and began to weep. So many years spent trying to get back home. So many nights wishing he could take back what he had done and who he had done it to. Those hopes were now crushed. Slowly, the truth finally began to sink in. This human body, this prison, would be a permanent one.

  Never again would he set foot back on his world or know peace with his people.

  “We should leave.” Justine helped an inconsolable Joseph to his feet. Together, they made their way back to the makeshift benches. “Can we wake the humans up, Hoover? Is it safe?”

  “Yes, Agent Rushing. I’ve already begun the process.”

  As the others staggered off toward the human prisoners, Foster remained with Joseph’s lifeless Solon body and tried his best to process what had just happened. And so much had just happened that Foster found himself struggling to make sense of it all. He would need time to place these pieces against a wall in another version of his Wallpaper of Mania.

  Still, there were more pressing issues right now. Like the twenty humans who were currently in the process of being woken up. What would he say to these people? What could he say? Hello, you’re the ticket to getting my life back…

  No, that was a stupid thing to say.

  We just saved you from a massive “alien conspiracy” …

  No, that was even more stupid.

  Stuck in a verbal, negative programming loop, he looked away from the dead body and back out of the reverse rabbit hole. As he did, thousands of ghastly chambers filled with brain dead aliens stared back at him.

  “You know,” Foster said to himself as that itch in the back of his mind to solve mysteries grew even more annoying. “For a supposedly peaceful group of aliens who abhor murder. They sure do kill a lot of people.”

  “I believe you humans call this irony.” Hoover said in his best computer voice before switching back to his default smartass. “But I call it one gigantic graveyard of hypocrisy.”

  “Hoover,” Foster said in a low whisper. “You know how much I hate hypocrisy.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Then you know what to do.” Foster took one more look up into the prisoner containment area and smirked. “You know. Just in case.”

  “Don’t worry, Foster.” Hoover sounded almost too relieved when he said, “I started that process ten minutes ago”

  To that, the scientist couldn’t help but smile. His little artificial intelligence program knew him all too well.