Time moved differently inside the prison, probably because there was no sense of time in prison and no one could tell what time it was.
Eventually, a mandatory assembly was called across the ward, one of the few events where officials and inmates shared the same space without barriers.
The hall they were led into was massive, built to hold hundreds at once. Platforms lined the sides, elevated enough for staff oversight but not high enough to feel unreachable. Officials stood there in dark uniforms, hands clasped behind their backs, faces neutral. Inmates gathered below in loose clusters, species mixing without any real order, the low noise of conversation filling the space.
Rin scanned the space as they walked in. "What's this about?"
"Doesn't matter," Xavier said. "It's never about what they say."
