Eye Can See You

Tw: Gore and Language

My lawyer and I sat patiently across from each other, trying to find a way for me to get out of my legal bind. I was in deep water now due to the fact that my past was riddled with horrible things. I was a part of one of the most notorious gangs in New York City for most of my adolescence and early twenties. I had been a part of drive-bys, drug deals and everything in between. But In the years following my departure had cleaned my act up, I had gotten out of the projects, and began to put my effort into a local community college. I went to rehab and freed myself from the vices that previously had plagued me. I was a completely different person for nearly a decade after I had left. 

Just when I thought I was off the hook completely, my old drug gang got busted, as the result of one person ratting everybody out, in exchange for his own freedom. It didn’t matter in the eyes of the law that I was just a dumb kid, who had worked his ass off to become something better. All they cared about was my involvement in murders, the illegal money possession, the stores we robbed. Same thing with the families of the victims, rightfully so. They wanted anybody who was even slightly involved with the death of their loved on to never see the light of day again. 

So that’s where we were. The two of us men, stuck in a drab concrete room, with two plain folding chairs and a rickety looking metal table with a single lightbulb hanging over us. Working aimlessly, trying to find anything that could set me free. We tried everything, we tried the clean up sob story, we tried to give more information about the gang, which none was needed. Whoever gave it all up immediately held nothing back. He’s lucky that most of us are going to prison for life, because he probably wouldn’t live another year with all of us free. 

“I don't know what we can possibly do to win this case,” my lawyer, Tom Harrison, told me, sweat forming along his brow. My thoughts were spinning around in my head aimlessly, unable to form a single idea within. I couldn‘t believe what he was saying to me. Well I did believe them, the crimes that I’ve committed over the past eight years were nothing less than heinous and tasteless, but I still couldn’t truly wrap my head around the fact that after today, it was likely I would never be a free man again. All because of some things I did in what felt like a completely different life. 

“I’m sorry Arthur, we’re stuck in a corner, the evidence is completely stacked against us. The judge already seems to have made up his mind about you before we even stepped foot in the courtroom, same with the jury. A black man who looks like you in this neighborhood definitely doesn’t help your case. No offense.”

“Who can blame them,” I said in defeat. I was big and intimidating, six foot two, almost two hundred and fifty pounds, and both of my arms were almost completely full of tattoos. I basically dug my own grave with my appearance. I had made an honest living for myself, but that didn’t give me much lenience. 

“Well let’s not waste any more time,” Tom said solemnly, getting up from his chair, and sliding his court documents into his briefcase. I think it would be better for you to get this over with quickly, like ripping off a bandaid.” I winced at his description, but got up nevertheless. 

“Here goes nothing,” I whispered as we trekked up the stairs to the courtroom.

“Do we have our verdict, your honor?” Tom asked, standing up before the judge. Tom had advised that I sit down because my sentencing was not looking good, and he didn’t want me to pass out of the floor, or have my knees buckle. 

“On 4 counts murder, 3 counts manslaughter, 2 counts money laundering, 12 counts battery, 2 counts tax evasion, we find the defender, Arthur Lewis to be guilty. He will receive the maximum sentence for his crimes, life in prison.”

“Augh….” I winced, and I held back tears in my eyes. I felt like a coward. How could I cry in front of everybody like this when I was getting exactly what I deserved. Whatever happened to me in prison would probably never be enough to repay all the hurt I had caused in the world. Tom patted me on the back and stood there by my side silently as I sobbed.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Lewis,” he comforted me. 

As the court adjourned and people began to file out of the courthouse a man in a suit and tie began to pace toward me, I assumed he was going to take me into incarceration. He was older, his hair was a wispy shade of gray, and wrinkles dotted the landscape of his face. 

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the suit man said. “I am Doctor Vance Powers, and I work closely with the prison system in the US, as well as many of the top rehabilitation specialists in the world.”

“Do I look like I give two shits who you are?” I said, tight lipped. I wasn’t usually this aggressive, but in the wake of my sentencing, and the appearance of this guy, my emotions were all out of whack.

“No need to get short with me young man, " he bellowed. “I believed I might have some good news for you.”

“What good news could ever make me feel better from what I'm feeling at this moment. I just found out I'll never be free again,” I cried out. 

“Why don’t you just humor me?” the man said, grinning widely showing all of his pearly whites. I gave him a brief look of disgust, and let out a deep breath. Whoever this guy thought he was, I already wasn;’t a fan of him. “Come on, as far as I’m concerned, you have all the time in the world don’t you?”

“Better be worth my while,” I grumbled. 

“Very well then, Mr. Lewis. The majority of my colleagues and I have agreed that, due to the atrocities and amplitude of your crimes, we find it fair that we put you inside of a new project that the government has been developing.”

“So…what, I'm not going to prison?” I questioned, getting hopeful. My thoughts immediately began to change from a cold, dank and gray prison cell, to a cushy scientist's laboratory, where I was tested. 

“No, you are still going to be going to prison, for the rest of your life for that matter,” he began, and my heart sank, “but not the kind of prison you would think. This is a newly developed prison and you will be one of the beta testers. 

“What's different?” I inquired.

“Glad you asked. Over the course of the past few months we have been working closely together with some of the top scientists our world has ever known to develop a prison that hopefully can do a few key things for us. One, have it be completely self-sufficient, decrease violence rates, and make sure we don’t have to worry about you ever again.”

“What makes that so great, don’t you care about your inmates?” I wondered aloud. 

“Do you think I, or anybody else could give a rats ass about you? You’re a murderer with no family for pete’s sake. If it was up to me, you would be better off dead. Why would we have to worry about your well being if you’re going to be locked up for the rest of your life without parole, it doesn’t make sense does it?”

“I guess not,” I sulked thinking about what he had just told me. He was right, my life was essentially worthless now. 

“Look on the bright side, you sir have the chance to make history. You among your peers are the first of your kind. We hope to have these prisons across the world someday.”

‘Whatever, asshole,” I said as I was escorted out of the courthouse.

Not much happened in the next few days, the local jail was cold and unforgiving, but I was gone as soon as I came. In just a few days we were barreling blindfold through the desert to our new home. 

Walking through the long corridors, I noticed something strange about the prison right from the get go. The floor, instead of being something strong and sturdy like concrete, was squishy, as if I was stepping on a wet sponge over and over. 

“What the hell are we stepping on,” I could hear someone, presumably an inmate, yell. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who thought it was eerie. 

“Pipe down, you’ll find out soon enough, a guard bellowed.” Shortly after that I ended up stepping on somebody’s shoe and giving them a flat tire, and began to apologize profusely. I didn’t want to make any enemies on my first day. 

“Who do you think you’re stepping on,” the man in front of me said. It was a voice I instantly recognized. 

“Wait, Damon is that you?” I asked. He stopped dead in his tracks, and took a second to respond.

 “Arthur Lewis, I didn’t think I'd live to see you ever again,” Damon replied, confirming my suspicion. Damon “Skully” Barrett was a former ally of mine in the gang. We had tons of history, spanning back since we were probably five years old. We lived on the same block, and always hit the corner store together, shot hoops together, and rode our skateboards to school together. It was good to know there was at least one friendly face in the prison. 

“Are you the only other one in here from the old gang?” I inquired, lowering my voice from the guards’ earshot. 

“Well, as far as I can tell, yes. Some of the others weren’t.”

“What have you been up to man? We missed you after you dipped out on us,” he asked. 

“Believe it or not, after I left, I got clean. Sober and everything, led a completely average joe life before you dumbasses got busted.” 

“I guess we owe you an apology then,” he smirked.

“The only one that owes me an apology was whoever ratted us out. Do you have any idea who did it?” I asked. Tyson immediately went silent, I could imagine the smile sliding off his face. 

 “It was Rodrigo Savage, do you remember him?” Tyson asked. As a matter of fact I did. Rodrigo Savage was the cocky newcomer who had joined the gang right as I was about to bow out. He was one of the reasons that I had left to begin with. He was an overconfident loudmouth that was all talk. 

“He started getting really scared near the end of our dynasty, and rightfully so. We robbed the city bank, and he got identified pretty quickly, because he took off his mask, the idiot. He started panicking and left us pretty soon after. It wasn’t long after that he got caught trying to flee the country, and in questioning he gave up all his information about us. He only got two years of house arrest for that, can you believe it? He did the same shit as us, and he gets special treatment just because he ratted.”

“He better hope we never catch him again,” I scowled. 

“I don’t think he has to worry,” he grinned. “We’re going to be stuck here for a while.” He laughed together just like old times. 

A few minutes later we came to a stop and our eyes were uncovered. Nothing could have prepared me for what my eyes were met with next. The layout of the room was normal enough, it looked like a cafeteria with several long wooden tables spread across it, but that’s where the normalcy ended. The walls were something out of a gore show or something, it looked like someone raided the ground beef section at the supermarket and stacked it all on top of each other, and lined every wall with it. The wall was a horrible bloody crimson hue. Little white blobs, which looked like eyes peppered the wall as well, which appeared to be completely real. Some were smaller, like human eyes, and some looked like they had been extracted out of a giant, almost a full foot in diameter.  They could blink, and their pupils moved around as they took in their new visitors. Some of the eyes were incorporated into the wall and others were attached to some sort of tendril which stretched out from the face of the wall. We all had one collective gasp, someone even threw up in the background. 

“What the hell are those?” I asked, looking at the guards. They said nothing in response, they just returned a steely gaze. I looked at Damon, but he was just as bewildered as me. A commotion began to arise until a familiar voice put an end to it. 

“Quiet down, everybody, I'll explain everything in a second,” Doctor Vance exclaimed, marching into the room. This right here is the wonder of our bio modified prison that we synthesized, by splicing together some human DNA together and making some adjustments for personality. It has twenty times better eyesight than what the average human does, and thanks to these special stems that they are attached to, they are able to achieve three hundred and sixty degree vision. 

“What’s the point of all this,” another inmate asked. “This is freaky.”

“The point is, we want to monitor your safety and well being for one thing. Prison rape and other violence is not tolerated here, many of you may want to reconsider your plans. That is all the information I can give you, the rest is sort of like an experiment. I don’t want to tamper too much with the data, so I'll let the rest remain organic.” 

With that rather vague ending, Doctor Vance and all the guards bid us farewell. 

“Meals will be served three times a day via a delivery truck, and they will be eaten here. Beds and cells are first come first serve. There is an emergency hotline to reach us if there are any further questions right here,” another guard said, pointing to a landline phone on the wall. You will be notified of your assignments each morning and they must be completely by the scheduled deadline or you will face the consequences. 

“Which are what?” Damon asked. 

“I pray that you never find out,” the guard nodded, and he and the others began to file out. 

“What are we supposed to do now?” Someone asked.

“Today is an adjustment day, " a strange voice said. I searched the room and noticed a large eye popping out of the ground, in the center of the room. It was a large spherical orb, a few yards in diameter. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Eyeleen, and I am your prison director. I will be giving out assignments every day as well as giving direction to you. As for today, like I said, you are welcome to get settled into your new and strange environment. Find which cell you would like and socialize and acclimate to the other inmates if you would like as well. If you have any further questions, ask me or any other of the eyes. That’s all for now, you are free to do what you need to. Work will not start until tomorrow morning. 

The next few hours weren’t bad, just a little boring. Damon and I had decided to room together, and nobody had bothered annoying us, until two men, in rough shape, entered our cell. 

“You look real pretty to me, boy,” one said, clambering into our cell and taking notice of Damon. 

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Damon said, sliding out of his bed. One of the eye tendrils began to take notice. 

“Come on Dennis, let’s get out of here,” his friend said. “I think someones watching us.”

“Shut up Carter, we aren’t leaving until we get what we came for,” he smiled and licked his lips at us. 

“I think it would be best for your health if you left these boys alone,” the eye said, its pupil darting between both of us. 

“I think not, we’re all alone here, " he said, inching his way closer, step by step.”

“Don’t you put a hand on him,” the eye said. 

“Or else what,” Dennis said, face to face with Damon now. “Are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?” 

“Hard way,” Damon said, balling up his fists. Dennis smiled.

“Good I like it better that way,” he quickly grabbed Damon by the shoulders and pushed him backward. Something lashed out at him, just as quickly as he pushed Damon. A tendril, whipped out at lightning speed, and impaled its way through Dennis’ torso. A look of complete shock was spread across his face, just for a few seconds, as he fell to the floor without a struggle. The tendril grabbed Dennis’ body and dragged it across the floor to the wall, where it absorbed his body. 

“What the hell,” Dennis’ accomplice said, before making a run for it out of our cell. Damon and I looked at each other as we quickly realized that prison was going to be a lot harder than any of us had ever imagined.