Claustrum Chap. 6 Learning the Laws As the rest of the place, the halls were dark, even dough it was day light outside. The torches placed about every twenty to thirty feet, lit up most of the hallway. Up ahead John could see rays of light, the kind of light that comes from daylight, this light burst ed through a door, Arelis approached the door and opened it and signaled for John to walk in. As he did, John shaded his eyes, the transition from darkness to light was somewhat of a shock to him. Once his eyes were accustomed to the light John found him self in aw, there, before him was the most beautiful place he thought one could create. He rubbed his eyes, in disbelief, how could all this be virtual it seemed so real to him. The marble floor, was like a mirror, one could see the reflection of the ceiling clearly on them. The walls were clean, and bright white colored, with groves and edges and molds, all magnifying the beauty of the room. On the center of the roof was a large dome, this was about forty feet in diameter, this dome had beautiful carvings of all colors and of man and woman, through out it, and in the center was a map of the world of Claustrum. John walked about the room with his head looking all about the room, he felt somewhat dizzy from looking around so much, yet he looked as if mesmerized. The height of the roof was that of about forty feet and windows where place symmetrically all around the room, for a total of twelve windows. These windows were crystal clear and one could see the clouds passing by on the outside. It was obvious that with so many windows, the room was well lit, and it gave a feeling of hope to one that walked the room. Under each window hung a large banners, each of the banners had laws written up on them. John walked up to one of the banners and saw that there were a set of rules written up on each of the banners. He quickly glanced over it and it read: Observe The Law Chapter II I. This body is given to you, to use while in Claustrum, until you have served your sentence. II. While in Claustrum, Inmates will not worship any Deity, other than those suggested by us, doing so will be dealt with harshly. III. Inmates will not participate in any guilds, clans, order or any group while in Claustrum. IV. All inmates must choose a Profession while in Claustrum. V. All inmates must observe laws within each town and its officials. VI. Inmates are to treat each other with respect, regardless of age, race or origins. VII. There is no confrontations within Claustrum, all feuds will be dealt with harshly. VIII. All inmates must respect all computer controlled characters (CCC�s). IX. All inmates must obey all computer controlled characters (CCC�s). X. All inmates must keep order and peace at all times. �This is the Study� Arelis paused to explain this to John, then proceeded to walk again. Then he turned and stop in front of one of the large book shelves. He picked up a book, with out even looking at the title, then turned and walked towards one end of the room, and placed the book on top of a table. �Please sit here� Arelis said as he showed John the chair. Johnathan looked about the room, still impressed with the size of everything, and the beauty of it all. He then did as Arelis had asked and walked over to the table and sat down in front of the book. �So, what is this?� John asked. As he opened the book. At first glance John saw that it was a book of rules, and that more than likely was the rules of Claustrum. �You must read it from beginning to end� Arelis stood directly in front of John, his hands folded in his chest but out of view from the long cloak sleeves. The book was quite large, Johnathan lifted one side of it looking for the name of it, �Phew, that�s a lot of reading� he exclaimed. He glanced over at the other people in the room. They sat reading oblivious to his presence. �Call for me if you need me� Arelis walked off, leaving John in the presence of the other readers in the study. John did not like the quietness of the room, he sat up and started tapping his fingers on the table loudly, but this was stopped quickly by the sharp looks of a nearby reader. He then stood and walked about the room, he passed a couple of shelves and focused on one of the books, he could not read the name of the book, the title was blurry. He pulled it out of the shelf and opened it. This he could read, and understand, it was a book a laws, similar to the one that Arelis had given him. He put the book back and walked over to another section of the library and picked up another book, this book too had what seemed to him the same text and form of the previous book, he opened the front of the book and began to read. Claustrum Inmate Guidebook, The Department of the State, Division of Corrections, Chapter 1356-10-12, Inmate Rules. Presented here are the Rules and Regulations that all Inmates must read and apply to. He put the book down and opened another, same page, same content. After looking through a few books, he was convinced, the entire book selection was that of the same book. He went back to the table, sat and covered his face with his hands, he then looked back to the other man reading the books. �Are you actually reading that?� he asked the man to his side. The man straitened and looked towards John �yep, you have to pretty much read the whole thing� the man answered. �Read the whole book?� this to John seemed kinda of absurd, why did one need to read a whole book of rules to stay within a prison, �Just lock me up and leave me be� he muttered to him self. �Yes, you must read all of it, only then can we leave here� �what if I just say, that I read it� John asked as he glanced around the room. The man leaned a little closer to John �OK, let me rephrase that, see that guard over there?� he pointed towards a man that sat at one end of the large room �he is in charge of making sure that you have read the book, and to make sure that you have done so, he will ask three random questions, you must answer each correctly before you can leave this part of the house of resting� Johnathan nodded, implying to the man that he understood, he looked towards the guard that sat at the table, this man was not much older then the first guardian that he had talked to, the man sat down staring at the table, looking at the large book before him, it was apparent that the man was not reading the book, but he was just sitting there, motionless, waiting. Johnathan walked up to the guard, and stood motionless looking down on him. The guard looked up at John without concern �Name?� he simply asked. �Johnathan Baird� John responded in a firm voice. �Have you read the entire Inmate guidebook?� Johnathan looked to the right and then back at the guard �yes I have� he responded with out hesitation. �very well, I have three questions, you must answer correctly before I can let you pass to the next stage of your stay at the house of resting� the guard said calmly. John nodded at the man, he knew that he did not studied the guide, but he figured that being an MPF officer might give him the advantage, he may even know how to answer the CCC. �First Question� the Guardian paused a second, then looked directly into the eyes of John. �What happens if you are caught fighting other inmates?� John looked at the guardian and gave a mocking smile, after all he knew that your sentence would be stretched for a certain amount of time. �Your sentence is prolonged� was his reply. The guardian sat back down and looked at John, �please return to me when you have read the book through� John walked back to the table, where the man he was talking to earlier was looking at him with a mocking smile on his face, John sat quietly. �I think we all have tried that, but I don�t think anyone has made it passed on their first attempt� John simply nodded at them man, whom all of the sudden dropped to the ground. John turned to see a tall man walking in, his eyes so dark and deep within their sockets that it seemed that he did no have any eyes. A scar ran across his chin. The close he wore was light blue and very elegant, the trims seemed to be made of gold. As the man walked in the study, everyone in the room dropped to the ground placing their foreheads on the floor, John look around and seeing that even the guardian did this, he to dropped close to the ground. The man walked around each person in the room, stopping in front of each inmate and inspecting them closely, �Bow properly� a shout was herd, then a whip lash. This was herd a couple of times. He walked over to John and stopped. John had his forehead about an inch from the ground and his hands close together below his chin. The man gave a loud laugh and said �well it seems that we have a newbie here, will someone please show this gentle man, the proper way to bow, before royalty!� He then slashed the man next to him �you there, show him the proper way to bow� John looked up at the man that now was sitting up, his knees together and his hand together at the elbows and close to his stomach, he then kneeled and touch the ground with his forehead, and kept there. Johnathan sat up and did the same. �You see, it only takes about a minute to learn things while in Claustrum� the man�s hard whip touched the neck of John �Sit up� John did so, the man facing him, slashed his whip with all his force on John�s face, slashing the chin, John did not flinch, but tightened his mouth �that is so you never forget me� John eyebrows tightened, blood began to drip from his chin. The man noticed it and raised his arms once more and swung, Johnathan stopped the blow a couple of inches from his face with his right hand. �Once is more than enough� John said, as he held the mans wrist in front of his eyes. �Don�t worry I never forget a face� The man�s eyes shined with anger, yet at the same time fear gripped him, he pulled his wrist from Johns hand and acted as if he was going to swing again, John sat as if expecting him to do so. �we will see� the man said and he quickly turned and walked away from the room, John stood and wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand. �Oh man, that was stupid� the man that had spoked with him earlier said. He also stood as he shook his head in disagreement with John. �Do you even know who that was?� He asked. John look at his bloody fingers and rubbed them together �I don�t know and I don�t care, that is not a way to treat any man� he said as he wiped the blood on his pants. �You obviously don�t know, otherwise you would not have done that, that is Master Brum, the son of Lord Gillium� the man explained, but Johnathan did not heed his explanation. His mind was somewhere else. �Why do I bleed? I thought this world was virtual?� The man could not believe that John didn�t even care about Master Brum, here he was asking a question that to him was the most stupid question, anyone had ever asked. The man paused a second and responded �That is also virtual blood� Johnathan then moved his mouth and chin around, the pain to him had been to real, the slash was felt all right �how about the pain how do they manage to influence pain in a virtual world?� �While you are awake in Claustrum, your body in the cocoon feels pain, pleasure and fatigue, this is done by electrical, cold and heat waves� Johnathan remembered the conversation he had with the Judge, but the Judge had not mentioned pain, he had just mentioned on how to keep the muscles working while in the liquid in the cocoon, but now it was all beginning to make sense to John, how clever was this whole world. �You know that Master Brum is never going to let you go from here� the man explained. But John did not pay attention to this, he walked back and sat down at the table and began to read, the man looking at him in disbelief went back to his table and also sat back down and began reading his book. A few days went by with out any problems, Johnathan was getting used to the whole prison feelings and was learning all the laws of Claustrum. On the fourth day however Master Brum came back into the room and everyone bow down as they were accustomed to. However John did not bow down. He sat reading his book. The man walked behind and slashed him across his back with the whip. At the sound of the whip a couple faces looked up to see what was going on, and they all stared amazed. John had Master Brum pinned to the ground holding him by the neck. �Do never lay a hand on me!� he demanded, as his fingers tightened on the mans throat, John noticed the mans dark eyes, they seemed to be popping out of his face now, but they were full of fear, he grasped at John�s firm hands trying to loosen the grip from his throat, but with out success, the man�s ayes darkened and he passed out. Johnathan let go of his throat and stood up, �how can you fools let this man treat you in this way?� he glanced around the room, everyone was now sitting up and staring amazed at what had just happened. �Are you all cowards?� he demanded once more, the man he had talked to earlier tried to say something, but John�s eyes lost focus and and darkness appeared all of the sudden, and he fell to the ground.
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