"Congratulations on your promotion to warden."
"Thank you sir."
"Tell me, How long has it been?"
"It has been two years since I have been promoted to this rank from Superintendent. I trust have done an adequate job."
"Actually, that is what we would like you to discuss with you..."

- -

Behind success is failure...

Behind freedom is slavery...

Behind the escape is...

...the will of the Mastermind,

...the skill of the Hacker.

...the persistence of the Associate,

...the mind of the Strategist,

...the strength of the Brawns,

...the validity of the Alibi

...the stealth of the Escapist....

...and the resoursefulness of the Engineer.

This...is the story of the unsung heroes of The Breakout.

"The Escape is Only Half Complete"

Digi-Evil

System Back-Up

Drive A:\Operating System\

Cellblock 42-B...

A certain inmate has lost nearly all her memory. The only thing she remembers are very vague.

Her emerald hair drapes over her face as she sits curled up on a corner of her cell. Alone.

Humans trapped in pods are conducted tests upon. They scream, they crack, and the only chance to save themselves is to press a red button. But sometimes, that very button is their defeat.

Over a hundred facilities like this are scattered all over the world. The agents of the EMSIC were lucky enough to find the one she was housed in. She was then captured and placed in a grey and grimy cell. The solitary she has inflicted on numerous humans is what she now experience.

"What is my whole name?" she says quietly to herself.

In all her flashbacks, she sees a particular symbol: an octagon inside a pair of brackets.

This same symbol is drawn in red all over her grey cell walls. The only identity she remembers is what she calls herself. What it stands for is something she can't remember.

"S-s-s-s-s-top CALLING ME THAT!" a shout from the cell next to hers snaps her out.

She crawls towards the right wall of her cell and presses her ear against it.

All she hears are a series of mumbles that she can't make out off.

"So you're say-ay-ying we CAN'T escape-cape?"

Escape...this certain word made a ring in her ears. A heavily guarded prison like the Extreme Malignant Supersystem Incarceration Center? They must be out of their minds.

A ray of hope...Freedom is within sight. All she needs is to join in. At long last she will escape the loneliness in her mind. Horror and grief will finally be forced out of her system.

A guard then walks to her cell and taps the bars of her cell with his bat.

"Prisoner 12-S-34, it's time to get to work." a guard calls out to the prisoner sitting on the floor.

She stands up and, using her hands, combs her hair to the side to show her face.

"My name...is VAL..."

---

To Be Continued