The fluorescent lights of the courtroom hummed, a sickly57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawdLWeQTpy
counterpoint to the judge's monotone pronouncements.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NkGyVTh9Q
Joshua, twenty-four years old, felt the cheap wool of his57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxAwWLRM6w
borrowed sweater prickle his skin. His usually vibrant,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxlIuRhIIA
brightly colored fursuit lay forgotten somewhere in his57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGxKupCHox
parents' house, a stark reminder of a life that felt impossibly57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFqMucWind
distant. He'd worn a simple, grey sweater at his lawyer’s57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARISWSw4wV
insistence, a desperate attempt to appear less… well, less57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ219seYk8n2
him . Less furry. Less of a target. The strategy had clearly57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dre3ENbOI
failed.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0BjW8VwIN
The gavel fell, a sharp crack echoing in the cavernous room,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCK3hhDiZK
and the word “guilty” hung in the air, thick and suffocating.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DySWuUx6y
Fifteen years. Fifteen years for a Tumblr post. A post, he57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDsHF08Jz5
reminded himself numbly, that had been a poorly worded,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH390tFHF7n
angry rant. A cry for help, lost in the vast, chaotic landscape57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSToZKsLRAW
of the internet. A cry that had landed him here, surrounded57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dBIZYHvyS
by the harsh reality of the legal system’s cold indifference.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHN4SoxXhg
The initial shock was a physical blow, a wave of nausea that57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpobA2joCx
left him weak and trembling. He’d expected a slap on the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgS7bUkoq7
wrist, maybe probation, community service. Anything but57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRCG8g9XLd
this. This brutal, finality. He looked at his lawyer, a woman57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2ATrkrnC3
whose face was as devoid of expression as the cheap, plastic57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MyIZRuVFv
pen she held. She hadn’t even tried to fight harder, not really.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8MhRgZU5t
He’d caught the weary resignation in her eyes, the unspoken57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1GoQzUzj9
understanding that the system, in this case, had already made57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ceGCXN3je
its decision. His lawyer hadn't even bothered to mention the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYraPFCimRU
appeal process. It was as if she, too, believed that fifteen57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NN5dhxqSb
years was a fair punishment for an online outburst.
The walk to the transport vehicle was a blur. The cold steel57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6ZYDoEd1D
of the van's floor bit into his thin socks. The air inside was57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUFnHRoVTO
stale and thick with the metallic tang of fear and despair. He57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVOBtKfrmf
sat hunched, his head bowed, trying to disappear, to become57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1B3fMlGWnH
invisible. Around him, other prisoners – hardened criminals,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5pUOJTib7
their faces etched with years of violence and regret –57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqjwq5q2LM
watched him with a mixture of apathy and something akin to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkTHvv1vBy
contempt. He was a new arrival, a lamb amongst wolves, and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkBzSTD6hI
they knew it.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdDkr3j3Tq
His naiveté was a crushing weight. The world he knew, the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJlbdzoP7M
world of online communities, conventions, and the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMCEMJu4AD
comforting anonymity of the internet, seemed light years57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1q8EuddaY
away. This was a different universe, a harsh, unforgiving57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSKOm8fB6P
reality governed by brute force and unspoken rules. This was57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93rmosNfiw
Martin Correctional, and it was a place where apologies57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWwXHycj0B
were meaningless and compassion was a luxury few could57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNnlsCRef3
afford.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdjVQTKwMq
The journey was punctuated by the rhythmic clang of the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVc2YEnzbRy
van's metal body, a relentless soundtrack to his plummeting57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRweG1teke1
despair. Every bump in the road felt like a hammer blow57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBk1T17FvX
against his already shattered confidence. He stared at his57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewYSeLFSCt
hands, noticing for the first time how shaky they were, how57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QRNSx6Cvf
pale his skin had become. The vibrant, life-affirming colors57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhChssQyTd
that defined his online persona, the joyful chaos of his57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaB262ZHhOZ
fandom, seemed to fade into a dull, lifeless grey. The vibrant57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgn835C2ryE
colors were replaced by a sense of impending doom.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5z5qdt3u9
He tried to remember the words of his lawyer, but they were57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrlpnTIb9A
already dissolving into a fog of fear and disbelief. He tried to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu208bjQHkq
think about his parents, their faces etched with worry and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiVoAt1VLT
disappointment. He’d heard their voices in the courtroom,57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLoTlDxc0FP
hushed whispers punctuated by occasional sobs. But the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZB8s5W3nv
distance between them, the sheer physical and emotional57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIYGAOWUiM
chasm that separated him from his old life, felt insurmountable. He’d betrayed their trust, their hopes, their57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9WNKNbtcj
dreams. His own dreams.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjM7tEWyIM4
The van screeched to a halt, and the heavy metal doors57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp30OybdVMQ
groaned open, releasing a wave of stale, suffocating air thick57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbGWzVdppA
with the stench of sweat, mildew, and something else…57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYNFbZ55pw
something acrid and indefinably unsettling. It was the smell57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerDObtmIfp
of fear, he realized with a shudder, the smell of desperation57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEwIxwf71Z
and despair. It was the odor of Martin Correctional, and it57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd8QJ4YDkBt
clung to everything, a suffocating blanket of hopelessness.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpmVoxlJSC
The prison was a concrete labyrinth, a maze of corridors and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURykAbfx3V
cells that seemed designed to disorient and demoralize. The57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmdFrZpGmc
sounds were a cacophony – the rhythmic clang of metal57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUk8XzKsueE
doors, the shouts and threats of inmates, the distant thud of57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyI1Mj0RNY
fists against flesh. The air hung heavy with the weight of57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrdVWRJcJV
violence, both present and past, and every shadow seemed to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx65lDP1St2
conceal a potential threat. The fluorescent lights seemed dim57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTFT4vkP4n
and incapable of penetrating the darkness that permeated57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8l1gEDkMmq
every corner. It was a place where hope seemed to wither57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjNbyx36sI
and die, where the only currency was violence and brutality.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeWkfY8Cad
He was a stranger in this world. He didn't know the rules. He57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cDAkPB6si
didn't know the players. He was alone.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCn6tMS6dvI
He was stripped, searched, and processed, each step a further57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGgOMBA5vf
degradation, a stripping away of his identity, a reduction to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdUTOLWPF5
the lowest common denominator: a number, a prisoner, a57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43asCjYmNd
potential victim. The guards were indifferent, their faces57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeikPe1Mury
hard and unreadable, their movements efficient and57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmqeJ6n21x
emotionless. They were cogs in a machine, and he was57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVO5uC43k28
merely another piece of raw material being processed by the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHadOnDSyq
system. He was stripped of his clothes and individuality.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBFWZBzE6P
As he was led down a long, dimly lit corridor, the reality of57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEvmIauYH6
his situation began to sink in. The fifteen-year sentence57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7RduVOUmv
wasn't just a number; it was a life sentence, a death sentence.
He felt like a puppet in a dark show of cruelty. This was the57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXHDjnoUQd
grim beginning of his new existence in the abyss of Martin57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEYCzd9PMS
Correctional, a prison where survival was a constant57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbD29lEWEOw
struggle, and where even the slightest misstep could prove57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuW6PBSfSjJ
fatal. He was a newcomer to the game, and he had yet to57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lqjP7z9We
learn the rules, even to understand what the game actually57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAulpjubBDG
was. The future remained a dark, unknown road, where57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBLKO473x7
every step felt dangerous and uncertain. The fear was real57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MqbleB3gV
and visceral. He had no idea of the kind of transformation57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQj56vathg
this place was capable of fostering.
ns3.148.165.9da2
