District 42-Chapter 91: The rescue part 1

"S-so... Are you saying that you can split the handcuffs with this? Just like the Frelsi... That’s amazing! It will help lots!" Alfar needed to tell Olaf to be quieter because the other inmates were starting to get suspicious about what they were talking about.

The man fell silent at the same moment and kept fidgeting his fingers under the table.

"So... Do you think you can do it today, Anton? Is it something that takes too much time or...?"

Anton didn’t even need to thought about that matter. He just nodded, seeming pretty confident in his abilities.

"But, anyway, Anton needs to say that, at the same time that break a mask can be useful, it is a surprise box as well."

"I can imagine why, since the handcuffs have this sort of individuality... but I don’t quite get it..." Alfar was trying to think about that question.

Anton was satisfied with his answer, since he would find it a bother to keep talking about the masks with someone who had zero knowledge about it. Alfar had, at least, the basics.

"Yes, you are right. The handcuffs are individual, each has its own singularity, be it a Noble, Exile, or Common.

"And, as you can guess, break the masks partially doesn’t exactly means that you will be free of all the restrictions it imposes on you. That is, you will have some limitations when using the broken masks, but they vary from person to person."

As he finished his explanation, he waited for more questions, but none came.

The middle-aged man found it to be very amusing, he loved to show off his abilities sometimes.

"Don’t worry about the outcome, though. We just need that the three of us together can walk through the corridors, the rest we think about later."

Both of them nodded in agreement getting more and more excited about the plan. Now that they had a way to deal with the masks, the path towards Casper seemed to be even shorter.

"What we will do isn’t something difficult, not now that we have the Ridires and the handcuffs out of our way. The lunchtime just started so we will have plenty of time to discuss a lot of things." Anton made them get more closer to the table and then started to whisper the plan to them.

While hearing everything, Alfar also realized an important factor that he nearly let slip out. Nonetheless, he preferred to say nothing about that.

The Dark elf looked a bit dumbfounded and feeling lost in Anton’s way of act and think. He kept trying to think excuses for what he concluded, but his mind couldn’t find anything.

"If Anton could break the masks like this, why he didn’t do this a long time ago? Why someone with his abilities couldn’t escape from Halden? He could manipulate Olaf just as better than Casper did, right? And he was my acquaintance, so it’s not like Casper has something he doesn’t..."

Anton at some point exchanged looks with him while explaining his escape mission, but his always darting eyes didn’t let any of them find something about each other.

In the end, Alfar brushed it off and decided to pay attention to the plan before he got lost in the reasoning.

...

It was about 7 pm, and the dinner was right there. In some minutes the alarm would ring, then all the eight blocks of Halden had to open its cell’s gates and the prisoners have their last meal before the Dark zone.

Anton was already in front of the gate of his cell. He knew exactly what was the hour, and so he kept waiting until it frees him.

The middle-aged man held firmly the white cube in his hands, preparing himself. His plan was about to start, after weeks of planning, soon everything would be back to normal. Every effort he did until then would pay off and his objectives would be in reach. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Alfar and Olaf were sitting on their beds, waiting for something to happen. They didn’t have an accurate grasp of the time like Anton had, but their stomachs were telling them that it was coming.

Both were lost in their thoughts, worried about their future, their fate. Because it would be decided in that night. If the White warrior couldn’t be rescued, it would be the end.

So, they waited while touching their masks. One could nearly hear another’s heartbeat. They didn’t exchange words of comfort, nor motivation, or pessimism. Both were quiet.

The day of their escape was still to come, but they felt like that was the so-called day.

The same chills and apprehension they thought they would have, appeared suddenly. The exciting sensation of finally reach their biggest dream filled the atmosphere.

Alfar closed his eyes and remembered the feeling of don’t have walls everywhere he went. The possibility of seeking his own schedule, his dreams, and aspirations.

It was crazy, because the people from the entire district were, in fact, prisoners. But just to do not have those gates stopping him was a relief itself.

Olaf had his own thoughts about that. He had goals and ideals, in which he could just pursue out of Halden.

His place was with the Frelsi. He was trying to change something he always wanted to change, but inside there he was with his hands tied.

All the other prisoners felt the same thing as well. Thanks to Alfar’s and Olaf’s efforts, the negotiations could progress doubled that day in the outdoor activities. Now, all the inmates of Halden knew about the plan, and most of them were willing to take part in it.

That day, all of them waited for the dinner with their hands holding the bars of the gate and looking intently outside.

The same could be said for the Ridires, and even the scientists and nurses because of the anxiety that was showing up in their hearts, and they felt the need to watch over their surroundings, pay attention, be prepared.

However, everyone knew inside that the day of the escape, of the chaos, would last to come. They believed so.

Without Casper, no one could walk by themselves.

And when the alarm ringed and the cell’s gates opened, they realized that those feelings vanished... maybe completely, maybe not.

Anton pressed the button of the cube, the blue complex holographic keyboard appeared in front of him and he started to type quickly.

Not so long after, Olaf and Alfar felt a strange hint of... Freedom. They lost a lot of pressure on their minds and could find a different kind of strength inside them.

"That’s the signal!" Both of them thought at the same time and then left the cells.

It was time for the rescue.

...

Casper was laying down on the ground and looking at the cube in his hands. That White cube surely was a life savior at that point, and he felt glad for taking it back with Anton before he was thrown in the lockdown.

His mind was still dizzy as hell. He felt that he could faint or vomit at any time.

Currently, he could not find the strength to eat, so he had lost a lot of weight and muscle mass.

However, among the disconnected and strange thoughts that he had, and also the incredibly inconsistent reasonings, he could find one or two things that would be worth it for him.

After days of trial and failure, working for hours and hours nonstop, he could finally use that cube for something more impressive.

"After... A-after sometime you really get the hang of these things..." He giggled, talking out loud to not get lost in his thoughts.

Casper passed these last days forcing his mind to discover how to operate properly the control panel of the security system.

When he could take a good grasp of it, he used the connection with that system as a bridge that would help him to invade all the network of Halden.

All of the devices there were interconnected on a single network. If one could infiltrate it, they could have access to all sorts of things, although not exactly control them.

Now, Casper was looking at all the data present within the network of Halden’s complex.

He typed for some more time until he could find what he was searching for.

"So... That’s all the data about the Exiled masks, huh? I see... Of course, the masks are just like devices and they will have something to feed them. In this case, it’s not just Indigo energy, but they have all sorts of lines of programming code. That’s what makes them do what they can do..."

He sighed, and that sigh seemed to take a part of his soul and energy away.

"I need to be quick. If I mess up here, everything will be for nothing." The soldier gritted his teeth and kept typing, slowly, weakly, but steady.

"If you don’t do this... Your only power will be taken from you!"

While Alfar, Olaf, and Anton ran against the time, even debilitated, Casper did the same, and the results could ruin or save the only chance they had.