Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Wang slowly cracked open his eyes, letting a sliver of light seep into his world. It wasn't kind. It stabbed through the darkness like a knife through fog, exposing the grim reality around him.
A single round window hovered above, casting a faint, dusty beam down onto cold steel walls. The whole place... it was shifting.
A boat?
Yeah. The lurching rhythm confirmed it. Metal groaning. Water sloshing. That dull, vibrating hum from beneath the floor.
Wang's gut twisted from the motion and the smell—metal, rust, piss. He tried to sit up but stopped halfway when a loud clink echoed.
What the fk?
His wrists were shackled. So were his ankles. And he was dressed in a stiff grey jumpsuit like a fucking prop in some dystopian film.
Where the hell is this ship going?
Before he could think it through, the steel door clanged open like a gunshot. A white-uniformed man stood in the frame—clean pressed, baton in hand, with a cold glint in his eye and a metallic bird badge gleaming on his chest.
"Number: 20410310777! Step out of your cell at once!"
Wang hesitated.
"I said out!" the man barked again, raising the baton.
Wang moved.
As he stepped out, the corridor stretched before him, a tunnel of cold metal and chained bodies. Rows of men and women stood in line, all in the same grey jumpsuits. Shackled. Silent.
He looked behind. Another uniformed man waited at the rear, motionless, hand resting on a holstered sidearm. The first guard walked, and like a mechanical snake, the entire line moved forward.
Wang followed.
When he finally stepped off the boat, the first thing to hit him was the sunlight. Blinding, raw, and unfiltered. Then the heat—thick and clinging.
Then the view.
Blue skies stretched endlessly overhead, while ahead lay green rolling hills and a coastline that looked almost... serene. Like a tourism ad gone terribly wrong. Except the dock wasn't peaceful—it was chaos. Prisoners pouring out like insects, coughing, staggering, some crying, some laughing hysterically.
Wang's legs trembled beneath him. Not from weakness. From uncertainty.
Then came a shout.
"Prisoners!" A plump, sun-leathered man in white uniform with a different badge—a snarling hound—stepped forward. A woman handed him a megaphone. He clicked it on.
"From this day on, y'all free! Ya hear me? Y'all are free!"
Silence. Dead fucking silence.
The man grinned wide like he was handing out lottery tickets.
"Y'all can explore the lands as much as y'all want, settle wherever y'all want, do whatever the fuck y'all want!"
The crowd buzzed in confusion.
Wang stared, not even blinking.
The man tapped a device handed to him. Suddenly—clank. Wang's shackles dropped to the dirt. Around him, one by one, the sound echoed—chains falling.
The crowd froze. Then erupted. Cheers. Screams. Some dropped to their knees. Some ran. Some cried.
Wang? He stood there.
Frozen.
He spotted the old man turning to leave and took a step toward him.
"Hey!" he called out. "Wait! Who are you? What the hell is this?"
The guards raised rifles in a heartbeat.
"Hands up!" one of them snapped.
Wang obeyed fast, palms in the air. But his voice still cut through. "I'm just trying to understand!"
The old man paused, turning slightly.
"I'm just a rusty old geezer," he said, voice casual as if they were chatting on a porch swing. "As for what the hell's goin' on... You're god damn free."
"Free?" Wang muttered.
But the man turned and walked off, unbothered.
Wang stood there with the ocean breeze tugging at his sleeves and the sound of celebration fading behind him. The word stuck in his mouth like dry ash.
***
The first thing he saw walking inland was a rusting billboard half-covered in moss:
WELCOME TO DARWIN
Australia.
So the rumors were true, he thought.
As he walked further in, the town looked like it hadn't seen progress since the 1880s. Dusty streets. Corrugated iron roofs. Timber storefronts with peeling paint. Saloon signs swinging in the wind. Music—bad music—and laughter drifted from broken doors. Gunshots popped faintly in the distance.
Wang kept walking.
People passed him by. Rough-looking. Hard. Every kind of accent under the sun. Old men missing eyes and teeth. Women with tangled hair and tired eyes screaming at their kids. Teens with makeshift weapons and tattoos etched deep into their skin.
Wang stood out like a virgin in a brothel.
He could feel their stares on him. One old man spat in his direction.
A branded mark.
It was on the side of his neck. He hadn't noticed it before. A burn-in barcode, maybe?
That's why they're looking at me like I'm filth.
He found a small shop and stepped inside.
"Excuse me," he said, trying to sound calm. "Can you help me? I think I was brought here by mistake."
The shopkeeper glanced up, then down—eyes locking on Wang's neck.
His face twisted in disgust.
"Sorry, mate. Don't want trouble. You're on your own."
The man turned away.
Wang tried another. Same response.
Another. Colder.
He was invisible, or worse—poison.
He wandered the town like a ghost.
No one would help. No shelter. No jobs. No kindness. Just judgment, suspicion, and doors slamming shut.
Finally, when Wang was about ready to crawl into a ditch and rot, a man approached.
Tall. Lean. Leather jacket. Slicked-back hair. Scar over one brow. A little too confident for a place like this.
"Hey there, buddy," the man said, voice smooth like whiskey. "You look like you could use some help."
Wang narrowed his eyes. "You offering help for free?"
The man chuckled. "Ain't nothin' free in this place. But I got a way you can make a lot of money. Fast."
"...Doing what?"
"Follow me."
Wang hesitated. "Where are we going?"
"To play a little game," the man said with a sly grin. "Bit of danger. Bit of fun. Big payout—if you make it."
Wang's stomach clenched.
No food. No water. No friends. No plan.
What the hell else am I gonna do?
"I'm in," he said.
The man grinned wider and patted him on the shoulder. "Smart choice. Meet me at the back of the Rabbit's Foot at noon. Don't be late. And hey..." He leaned in close, breath hot against Wang's ear. "Don't tell anyone. It's a secret gig. Understand?"
He winked and vanished into the crowd.
Wang stood there alone again, staring into the dust and heat.
"...I screwed up, didn't I?"
Q: Would you take the offer?