<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/QwfjIQ5.png?2)</div><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>NAME:</strong>Mai Lee Xiaong (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=333213.msg15874349#msg15874349)<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong>Plain prison coveralls and her hair is a<em>mess</em><br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong>PODS<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong>Sarah<br/><br/><hr/><br class="clear_left"/><br/><em>The Girl was crying. Thinking about what had happened. She didn’t notice The Empress sitting next to her. “Who did this?” The Girl didn’t say anything as The Empress’ arm went around her shoulder. “This is my fault. I should have protected you but I didn’t.”<br/><br/>Wiping tears away, The Girl looked up at The Empress. “This… I can’t take it anymore! My world is…” Her body shuddered. “My world is <strong>over</strong>!” <br/><br/>The Empress looked at The Girl for a good long while waiting until The Girl recovered from her sobbing. Then The Empress slapped The Girl across the face hard. She had never done that before. “There. How is your world now?” The Girl stared at her before another slap came on the other cheek. The crying didn’t start again because The Girl knew the woman wouldn’t care for it. <br/><br/>“You’re still alive aren’t you?” It was a moment before The Girl nodded. “Pain doesn’t end the world. Neither does despair or people using you because they think they own you.” The Empress stood up. “The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you have a lot more pain coming. And the only way to make it stop is to make sure nobody owns you.” She held out her hand and The Girl took it and stood up next to her. The Empress didn’t let go but looked The Girl right in the eye. <br/><br/>“So go out and <strong>own the world</strong>, Mai.”</em><br/><br/>The flat voice that was broadcast in wherever the hell she was penetrated the fog and the pain that seeped into every atom of her head. The memory seemed to slip away and she did everything she could to hold on to it.<em>Mai. My name is Mai.</em>Something about ‘18 months of debris collection’ and ‘full reinstatement of term’ smacked her like a sore dick in the face.<br/><br/><acronym title="In Mandarin">”Fuck me.”</acronym>Mai said out loud, rubbing her temples. She finally opened her eyes and the first thing she saw on the floating HUD was a picture of The Girl in her dream. Only in that picture The Girl was all grown up.<em>Mai. Mai Lee Xiaong. That’s me. And I did all those crimes.</em>Well. There were ones listed as ‘not proven’ but the ones she was convicted of…<br/><br/>A pimp? A human trafficker? An (unproven) blackmailer, kidnapper, and voyeur? That was<em>her</em>? It didn’t seem to make sense...or maybe it did.<em>Goddess, it’s fucking freezing in here!</em>She got out of the chair or whatever the fuck it was and looked around. Whoever had put Mai in this place…<br/><br/><em>PHI-828. The name of it is PHI-828.</em><br/><br/>Whoever had put Mai in PHI-828 had not bothered with things like comfortable temperature or even anything but the most utilitarian and<em>ugly</em>set of underwear that she had ever seen. She got up and nearly stumbled over. Between her pounding head, the freezing temperature, and, worst of all, the amnesia it was a miracle she was able to stand at all, much less focus on her surroundings. Four other people, all women, seemed to be a bit ahead of Mai. Bother. More important than them was a locker in front of her with her name on it. She eagerly opened it but was disappointed at the contents.<br/><br/><acronym title="In Mandarin">“This is the shit they give us?!”</acronym>Mai snarled as she saw the outfit that wouldn’t be fit for a prisoner!<em>Wait. You <strong>are</strong> a prisoner!</em>Laughter burst out from Mai’s lips before said laughter nearly split her skull in half. She swore again and then heard one of the women say something.<em>Because no one cares if a bunch of convicts freeze to death?</em>the crazy colored hair woman said in English.<br/><br/><em>English. Mandarin. She speaks English. I speak Mandarin without thinking about it. That’s my native language. But I understood what Crazy Color said perfectly. And the file on the HUD was in English too. I can speak and read both languages.</em>Of course. Mai was from Singapore. Almost everyone spoke Mandarin and English there. Despite everything Mai smiled a little. It was all coming back to her already. She only hoped she was doing better than everyone else.<br/><br/>“I agree,” Mai said in English. “We should really complain to somebody.” Mai paused when the ridiculousness of the statement struck her. “That is, when we find somebody.” She started to put on the hideous coverall. “Banana and pretzels are the best hangover cure. Ginger tea and asparagus also help.” Mai winced as pain came back to her. Even getting dressed was hurting her head...and that was without even<em>trying</em>to think how she knew all of this stuff. “Don’t ask me how I know that. My head hurts enough.”