They’re called megablocks. By nesting courtyards inside of other courtyards,
many times over, and building vertically, tens of thousands of people can
live on a plot of land not much greater than 60 acres. Most of these do not
contain prison cells, though they could be modified, if need be. When the
government of Birket built the first one, their idea was to give criminals a
place to live, but nothing else. They would have to farm for themselves, and
take whatever water rations they were allotted. Over time, other nations, and
private organizations, took pity on the residents of the penal colony, and
began to send them supplies. Now these gifts are airdropped on a weekly
basis. Furniture, entertainment, and of course food is shipped in from all
over the work. The leaders of Birket do not try to stop this. Their only
concern is keeping the guilty away from the Dead Sea and Jordan River, or
transporting them to Egypt when the appropriate asylum paperwork goes
through. For the four time travelers in this reality, this paperwork has not
yet gone through, and they’re not sure it ever will.
In other penal colonies throughout history, left to their own devices, the
people living there usually govern themselves, and this is true of the
Birket colony, though to no astounding degree. The internal leadership only
worries about whether someone has a place to live, and whether they intend
to cause trouble. Don’t cause trouble. It’s the only written rule, and it’s
posted all over the place. Stealing, murder, rape; these all fall into this
category of crime, along with a lot of other things, and they all come with
the same punishment. The original megablock is a prison within the prison,
does indeed contain cells that lock from the outside, and is reserved to
house all the ne’er do wells that disrupt the unexciting harmony of life in
the other megablocks. It’s rundown, dirty, and rationed. There aren’t too
many people in there since most of the colony residents are here because
they want to be, not because they have behavioral issues.
Leona, Marie, Kivi, and Heath don’t want to be here, but they are trying to
make the best of it. They arrived with two phones, which means that Ramses
will be able to trace their location. These devices were taken away from
them, and communication with the outside world is extremely restricted—which
helps to curb the population—but they’re confident that they will be
released soon. For now, all they can do is wait in the bare housing unit
that was assigned to them. There is hardly anything in here, because they
have yet to earn that right, but it shouldn’t matter much. Overall, it’s not
a bad place to live, which is why some people try to cross the border
intentionally. In some cases, it’s the best path to asylum, even if that
ends up being somewhere else. There’s only so much room, though, so they
don't encourage it. Newbies just have to sleep on the floor, and pretty much
beg for rations, and this is a fact that the rest of the world knows all too
well, which is again why not all refugees just flock here.
For the most part, representatives of the Birket government do not step foot
in the megablocks. When they do, it’s kind of a big deal. People know that
special circumstances have forced this to happen. That apparently isn’t
going to be okay in this situation, which is why one of them has had to make
contact with the group in secret. “Which one of you is Agent Leona Delaney?”
the young boy asks.
“Who is asking?” Leona questions.
“Senator Melville Honeycutt has a mission for you while you’re stuck here. I
would do it myself, but—” He presents himself regrettably. “...I don’t fit
the prerequisites.”
“You live here permanently?” Marie asks him.
“I have a certain medical condition that stunted my aging,” he explains. “It
would have made my life annoying, but I work here, because I can fly under
the radar. No one suspects the kid to be the inside man.”
“I assume that Honeycutt wants us to find someone?” Leona asks.
“You make it sound so simple. I don’t think it is. They don’t exactly take
census in the colony. If you’re here, people assume you belong, and no one
cares who you are, or who you were before your verdict. Yes, he wants you to
find someone. But you won’t have much to go on.”
“That’s okay,” Kivi says. “I’m sure we have done a lot more with a lot
less.”
The young-looking man takes an envelope out of his breast pocket, and hands
it to Leona. “Good luck. He’ll theoretically release all five of you once
you find your target.”
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