[ WP ] A new prison system has been implemented that stores prisoners in sealed underground vaults with only other prisoners and sustainable resource systems . Today is your first day being exiled to one .

The room was buried on the fourth level of the prison system, nearly a hundred feet underground. It was rumored to be the portal to a thriving ecosystem of convicts, each responsible for contributing to a better society. In reality, we simply called it the gateway to hell and so far as anyone knew, no one had ever escaped. 
 
 `` Convict 2271. Step forward,'' The warden called out. 
 
 He was a short man with a calm demeanor and a balding head, but he was the one man you never wanted to piss off. They say you always look out for the anger of a gentle man and no one was gentler than Warden McKay. 
 
 I stepped forward at his request, though it was largely a formality. Everyone in the room already knew my fate. I could feel the eyes of those I'd been accused of injuring behind the glass wall to my rear. I'd be allowed to address them before my sentencing, but there was nothing I wanted to say that was n't already said. 
 
 `` Convict, you stand accused of a number of crimes, many of them serious offenses. Today you will be offered a chance to redeem yourself and contribute to a meaningful society. You are hereby sentenced to spend the rest of your natural life underground. To the rest of the world, you are dead. Your sentence will be carried out immediately. Do you have anything you wish to say?'' Warden McKay spoke in a clear, practiced voice. This was something he did often. 
 
 He'd heard about other men crying and having to be tossed into the room, but he was n't going to be one of those. Not today. Not with his family watching. He'd made a promise to himself that he'd go with his head held high. At least he was't those condemned to death. 
 
 He looked the Warden in the eye and shook his head no. He also risked a glance back into the glass where his family was watching, but all he saw was a broken man standing before the mouth of hell. 
 
 `` Then go forth and prosper and may God have mercy upon your soul,'' Warden McKay said. He handed him a backpack that felt suspiciously light along with a single LED lamp and stepped back. 
 
 He could see the Guards take a half-step forward, ready to push him in if need be. Some did n't fancy the idea of spending their lives beneath the ground, but he was n't one of those either. He was going to find a way out or die trying. He took a step forward and then was through the doorway. The door swung shut behind him with a hiss. That's when the stench hit him. 
 
 It was the smell of death. He'd been expecting as much but the wave of nausea gripped him and sent him to his knees. He knew he'd have to keep going. He had to. He rose to his feet and opened the bag, hoping for a strip of cloth or a mask, but all he found was an envelope. Within that was a single pill and a note asking for forgiveness. He crumpled the note and dropped the pill. He'd never been a pill pusher anyways. He was going to escape. He'd made a promise after all and... 
 
 The ground gave way beneath him and he fell. He screamed until he hit the ground which was still littered with the bones and decaying bodies of the other convicts sentenced to the same fate, but his body did n't break. Something had broken his fall. 
 
 He felt other's rushing to his side, helping him off the flimsy cloth stretched across the mouth of the pit. At his feet, he saw the bones of others who had n't been so lucky. 
 
 `` What...'' He tried asking but his voice was raw from screaming. 
 
 `` Relax, brother. You're alive,'' The voice said. `` They meant for you to take that drop and they meant for all of us to die down here. There were never any plans for a society, but we've proven them wrong. Come with me and see what we've created.''
