TTD

Prologue: The Cold Echo of the Abyss

By trennui

5 min read

The atmosphere of Grey Street Women's Prison never ran out of haunting sounds. The clash of iron against iron, the heavy thud of combat boots on concrete, and above all, that thick, suffocating air reeking of despair, hatred, and sweat.

Alice sat motionless before the ice-cold stainless-steel table. On her head and shoulders, bright red tomato sauce, crushed breadcrumbs, and sweet corn kernels dripped down her light-blue prisoner uniform.

Opposite her, the "grand eagle" of the cafeteria—Bertha, a giant inmate with arms covered in tattoos and a bestial look—laughed uproariously, thrilled with her stunt.

Her laughter echoed, prompting her subordinates to join in, before she uttered those bitter words: "Bon appétit! Now everyone knows who you are. You just made a huge mistake..."

Alice did not blink. Beneath the layer of sticky sauce, her ash-gray gaze did not betray a single ounce of fear. On the contrary, it was calm, like the surface of a deep lake before a storm.

In Alice's past world, violence was nothing new, and humiliation was merely the first step of an impending purge.

Chapter I: The Silent Night and the Muffled Judgment

That evening, in cell 404, dark and damp, pierced only by faint rays of light from the outside security lights, Alice wiped off the food remnants embedded in her blonde hair tied up in a bun.
She did not say a single word to her cellmate—a young girl convicted of a minor drug trafficking offense who was trembling in the corner of her bed.
“P… Please, don't mess with Bertha anymore,” the young girl whispered in a voice choked with tears. “She has an entire gang behind her, from prison guards to corrupt wardens. No one survives here if they oppose her.”
Alice turned, her piercing gaze barely brushing against the young girl. She flashed a cold, chilling smirk: “Who said I was opposing her? I'm just waiting for them to walk right into the trap.”

In reality, Alice was not an ordinary prisoner as her appearance suggested. The secret federal files—which Bertha's gang had no access to—indicated that Alice was formerly an undercover agent specializing in dismantling transnational criminal networks.

She hadn't entered this prison by mistake, but for a specific mission: to destroy a money laundering and arms trafficking ring deeply rooted within the judicial system of Grey Street.

Today's cafeteria tray incident was simply the perfect pretext to attract the attention of the entire prison cartel.

Chapter II: The Showdown in the Exercise Yard

Three days later, in the prison exercise yard—a cramped concrete space surrounded by sharp barbed wire under a leaden winter sky—tension reached its peak.
Bertha and four massive goons blocked Alice's path as she went to get water. Chewing betel nut and flashing a sardonic smile, Bertha concealed a sharpened piece of metal behind her back:
“You've had a great vacation lately, kid. Looks like the lesson the other day wasn't enough to sink into that thick skull of yours.”
Around them, dozens of eyes locked onto the scene. No one dared to intervene; everyone held their breath, waiting for the usual bloodshed of Block A.
Alice stopped. She slowly pivoted to face Bertha. Her unbuttoned prisoner jacket revealed a slender yet robust silhouette.
“Do you really think I'm scared of you, Bertha?” Her voice rang out, deep, cold, and perfectly audible in the freezing yard wind.
Bertha roared with anger and lunged at her, knife raised: “Arrogant bitch! I'll shred your face to pieces!”

But the script did not unfold as Bertha expected. At the exact moment the blade was about to reach her, Alice didn't retreat an inch.

With blinding speed, she ducked to the left, executing an arm bar of surgical precision worthy of high-level martial arts.

CRACK!

A sound of broken bones shook the yard. Bertha let out a piercing scream of pain, dropping her weapon to the ground.

Without stopping there, Alice pivoted and swept the giant's legs with a clean, formidable kick, sending her crashing heavily onto the icy concrete.

The four accomplices tried to intervene, but Alice morphed into a veritable whirlwind of steel.

Chaining together close-combat techniques of the special forces, she neutralized each assailant in seconds: a surgical strike to a pressure point for the first, a takedown using the opponent's momentum for the second.

The entire yard was petrified in silence. In less than a minute, the undisputed queen of Block A lay on the ground, groaning in pain and terrified.

Chapter III: The Truth Explodes and Justice Triumphs

At that exact moment, deafening sirens wailed. Dozens of guards armed with electric batons swarmed the yard and cordoned off the area.
“Ceasefire! Down! Get on the ground!” shouted the prison warden, Director Miller, through his megaphone.
But as he approached and realized that the person lying on the ground was Bertha—the notorious kingpin controlling internal trafficking—while Alice stood upright, calmly waiting to be cuffed, Miller's face drained of color.
Behind Miller, a group of federal agents in plainclothes burst through the security cordon. Their leader flashed his official badge to the director and declared in an icy voice:
“Director Miller, you are under arrest for criminal complicity and corruption within Bertha's network. The internal investigation is closed.”

It turned out that the falling food tray days earlier had triggered a miniature camera system carried by Alice, recording all evidence of collusion between the prison administration and Bertha's gang.

Alice's patience wasn't weakness, but the necessary strategy to gather the final piece of evidence against the corrupt system.

Epilogue: The Light Beyond the Walls

One week later, Grey Street Prison was completely restructured. The corrupt officials were cuffed and led away under the astonished gazes of other inmates.

Bertha and her accomplices were transferred to a dark, isolated high-security federal prison where they would never threaten anyone again.

In the director's former office, Alice had changed into clean civilian clothes. She gathered her personal belongings ahead of her departure. Her undercover mission had ended in a resounding success.

As she stepped through the main entrance, the heavy iron gate slowly opened, letting in the warm, brilliant light of a spring morning. Outside, the wind blew strongly, carrying the scent of freedom and life.

Alice took a deep breath, a slight smile of relief pulling at the corners of her lips.

She took bold, determined steps toward the future, leaving behind the darkness of the prison walls, heading toward a world entirely governed by her own choices.