Vignettes

Chapter 1
The Prison

Chapter Description: An introduction to an unusual center for kidnapped children.

Connor almost tore his shirt taking it off, just in time to see the color fade from the band on his underwear. By the time he reached for the button on his jeans to undo it, it was gone, replaced with an elastic band, so he just pulled them off, even as he felt his boxers tightening. Too scared to worry about embarrasment, he pulled the simple white briefs off as well, and then his socks, which seemed to have crept from his ankles two-thirds of the way to his knee.

He stopped, just for a moment, to catch his breath, but the man behind the desk gestured impatiently at the uniform, and Connor reluctantly pulled on the flyless white briefs and then the orange jumpsuit. At first, the jumpsuit was hugely baggy, but as soon as he pulled it on, it began shrinking, and in moments it fit him, if anything, a bit snugly.

"I’m glad you’ve chosen to cooperate." The man looked down at the list in front of him, and Connor took the chance to glance in the mirror at the back of the room. Even in the short time it had taken to get them off, he’d lost more than a few years. His five o’clock shadow was gone, and the face looking back at him looked like it would take five months to grow that much hair. Not a child, fortunately, but no longer an adult, either. The jumpsuit had a large number "15" embroidered on it. Connor wondered if that was an ID number, or his age. Certainly the face in the mirror suggested that the latter was a possibility.

"Now then, as a new prisoner, you’ll begin at age ten. In the even of good behavior, you can be promoted to as old as thirteen, or sixteen if you become an assistant to the staff. In the event of poor behavior...well, younger than about five becomes more trouble than it’s worth, so that’s generally the lower bound. Do you have any questions?"

Connor had about a million, but the most important--why he was here in the first place and when he could leave--still weren’t going to be answered. "Assistants? You capture people and some of them help you run this place?"

"Yes, of course. The privileges are quite significant. In addition to allowing them to be older, we restore a fair amount of the knowledge we restrict to the younger children. I hope in time, you’ll come to see that cooperating with us is the best way to make your...stay...comparatively pleasant."

The knowledge they restricted? Connor had no idea what that meant. The man apparently took his silence as evidence that he had no more questions, since he pressed a button in front of him, and Connor felt the jumpsuit grow tight. In the mirror he saw the number counting down, and he could feel, as well as see in the mirror, that he was getting shorter. His reflections features changed, softening a bit, and some freckles spontaneously appeared on his nose.

"One more thing. Your first few week is considered a probationary period, and we add some features. They won’t bother you now, but when we remove them next week, they should serve as a suitable warning."

"Features?" Connor asked, but got no answer.

"Now head down the corridor and turn right, and you’ll be taken to the dormitory for boys your age."

Connor walked down the hallway, and, without thinking about it, one hand reached up to pick his nose.