SETTING: THE BLOCKS

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DISTRICT 3

District 3, also known as The Blocks by prisoners and staff alike, is where inmates are housed. District 3 is situated in the very center of the prison in an octagon shape, and has four floors. Above District 3 is the Orbital Tower and below it is District 6 and the Shuttle Port/Docking Bay. The cell blocks ring the outside of the District with the purpose of the center differing depending on the floor. All odd floors are designated for male inmates, while even numbered floors are designated for female inmates.

During the day, doors to all inmates cells will be left open. Inmates can travel around their cell block freely, but must receive clearance from a Gate Guard to travel into another cell block. They will of course be monitored by their collars.

There are two communal bathrooms on every floor. The bathrooms on the women’s floors are more luxurious and designed to enable privacy should they wish it. Women have 6 stalls with doors for their toilets and 10 shower stalls with curtains that close with magnets and even two long cushioned benches against one wall. The men’s bathrooms are more Spartan with no stalls for their long wall of showers and only a few of them still have curtains set up around them (the staff doesn’t really bother replacing them when they’ve been broken or torn down). Each bathroom for the men has 4 urinals and 4 toilets with stalls.

There is excess space between each floor of District 3, designed that way so that a squad of corrections officers can walk above the floors that the inmates are on and keep an eye on them. The floors of these “catwalks” are solid steel above the cells and one-way glass covered by thick mesh grating for the Core of the Blocks (where the cafeteria, library, Yard and recreation areas are). Inmates will not see them, but they will be able to hear them if they move around loud enough.

Navigation
The Blocks
The Cores
The Cell Blocks
Cell Block A
Cell Block B
Cell Block C
Cell Block D
Cell Block E


The Blocks

BASICS
District 3, also known as The Blocks, as mentioned before, is where prisoners are housed. Majority of The Blocks is general population, as it is believed that all criminals should be able to protect themselves against other criminals. Only the worst of the criminals (meaning those considered the most dangerous or known to cause too much trouble amongst the other inmates) are kept in indefinite solitary confinement. Guards travel on “catwalks,” security-clearance walkways above each floor that are made of solid steel over the cells and one way glass protected by solid steel mesh grating. It allows guards to watch events going on in the floor below them, but the inmates cannot see them in return (unless the inmate has an ability that allows this).


THE CORES
District 3 is four-floors tall and is the largest district of the prison. Cell Blocks surround the "Core" of District 3. Each floor has a different purpose for its Core.

Floor 1: The Yard. A simulated outdoor recreation environment. Includes a 30 yard field of Astroturf, a half length basketball court, a blacktop track running the perimeter, and a sectioned off area of weights to be used outdoors. All equipment must be requested from the corrections officers in charge of The Yard. This is also where all new inmates are brought after they have been processed. They will receive their “welcome” from Warden Malcolm Inos here and then informed of the daily routine before being taken to their assigned cell. Weather conditions are simulated in The Yard. Some days can be sunny and breezy, others so hot that inmates can collapse from heatstroke. It has also been known for it to pour rain while the guards force inmates to remain outdoors during their required “exercise period.” At the top center of each wall is a 6 foot flat screen video screen, used by the Warden and Head Corrections Officer when giving announcements. The Yard is also home to “Ringtoss,” an underground inmate vs inmate cage match that takes place after Lights Out. “Ringtoss” is live-streamed through a private video channel all over the galaxy and the usual audience is rich gamblers who make bets on which inmate will come out of the match still conscious.

Floor 2: Cafeteria. An open space filled with tables and a food counter on the East Wall that inmates use to receive their meals from the kitchen staff and inmates assigned to kitchen duty. There is a small kitchen behind the counter and space to fit up to ten workers, but most foods are prepared in District 4 and then transferred. There is nowhere to hide in the cafeteria. Cameras are everywhere. It is large enough to fit 200 inmates at one time and guards walk the catwalks above the cafeteria diligently during meal hours. There are also ten corrections officers and twenty robot guards monitoring the doors and walking the floor perimeter to theoretically make sure riots do not break out. This does not prevent all disruptions and bad behavior. Sometimes the officers will not even bother to step in to stop a fight.

Floor 3: Recreation Floor. This floor is designed for indoor recreation with a small weight lifting gym, lounge with television, built-in chess tables, and even a larger room with a swimming pool. The pool is monitored at all times by guards and it is also used by inmates for physical therapy. All supplies must be requested from one of the guards. Inmates will receive a standard DEADLUS-issued swimming suit (speedos for men, a one-piece suit for women). Inmates are only allowed access to the pool for half-hour increments and only 10 inmates can be in the pool at once. If an inmate refuses to leave the pool, they will be shocked until they do and then paralyzed.

Floor 4: Library, Restricted Computer Lab. The Library is massive and most of the books are readable to inmates through the generosity of the translation chip that has been installed into their brains. All law books on the other hand, inmates will find are strangely difficult to read. The language is dense, detailed and verbose. It may even seem to some of them that the chips are malfunctioning because the longer an inmate spends reading on of these books, the more the language shifts and they cannot understand it. Any complaints to the guards will be told that the inmate must visit one of the prison physicians to get it fixed. Inmates are given leave to use the computer lab, but the computers are closely monitored and all access by an inmate’s code is logged. Inmates can surf the web, but only sites that have been approved by the Warden and anything else has been heavily blocked. (That means accessing porn will take more roundabout technological know-how than your basic hacker). Various computer games are available for playing, but anything considered too violent will be immediately blocked and the inmate’s lab privileges suspended. They will also find that chatrooms, instant messaging programs and email hosting websites are also blocked. Sorry inmates, they can't have you forcing communication on poor unsuspecting civilians.

THE CELL BLOCKS
All cell blocks are designed with cells on the walls and a long corridor going through the center. The door of each cell is made of a near unbreakable metal alloy that absorbs kinetic energy and rebounds it back at the source. The doors are solid with only a window near the top and a slot to allow for inmates to fit their hands through so that heavy wrist shackles may be put on or removed. These doors need a keycard that only correctional officers designated to that specific cell block have to open them and always slide open to the right. There are five cell blocks and four different cell designs depending on which cell block an inmate may be assigned to. All of these cells use artificial lighting with no windows except the one in the door.

All odd number floors are designated for male inmates while the even numbered floors are for female inmates.

CELL BLOCKS A & C
Cell Blocks A and C are the only ones designed identically. Average prisoners are often put in these blocks first. Each Block has four floors and 30 cells per floor. These cells are designed to be occupied by two inmates. Each cell is outfitted with one (1) bunk bed, one (1) desk and chair, one (1) double-layer shelf for putting things on, one (1) steel-encased shelf for a television high on the wall, one (1) toilet, and one (1) sink.


CELL BLOCK B
Cell Block B is designed for the inmates that are considered the weakest and/or easiest for officers and guards to manage in larger numbers, but can also be where inmates that are very agreeable and behave well are re-assigned to as more inmates are in closer contact with each other. It is also the only block that co-ed cells are permitted as these inmates have known to behave with less aggression towards prison personnel and other inmates. B-Block has 3 floors with 10 cells per floor. All of the cells are designed to hold four inmates. Each cell is outfitted with two (2) bunk beds, two (2) desks, two (2) double-layer shelves, one (1) steel-encased shelf for a television high on the wall, one (1) toilet, and one (1) sink.


CELL BLOCK D
Cell Block D is set similar to Cell Blocks A & C only more spacious, with more lenient guards and few corrections officers. Inmates from this Block tend to be less combative and more focused on staying out of trouble than the average prisoner. Often those who receive transfers to D-Block are the inmates that have shown continuous good behavior, that the guards like or have struck deals with in some manner or another. This Block has 4 floors and 20 cells per floor that are designed for two inmates each. Each cell is outfitted with one (1) bunk bed, one (1) desk, one (1) shelf, one (1) double-layer shelf, one (1) steel-encased shelf for a television high on the wall, one (1) toilet, and one (1) sink.


CELL BLOCK E
Cell Block E is a special Block directly beneath B-Block. It is the block that “cooperative” inmates who provide information to the guards and prison administration are put in for their own safety (also known as "snitches"). The Gates to this Block have additional security to prevent other inmates from breaking in. This is also the cell block that the Investigations and Explorations Departments can have inmates transferred to if they want direct access to them, because they can receive specialized keycards to access the block without guard escort or supervision. The inmates who have been transferred here are not expected to adhere to the same routine as the other four Blocks. There is only 1 floor to E-Block with 24 cells and each cell is designed for a single inmate. Each cell is outfitted with one (1) single bed, one (1) desk, one (1) single shelf, one (1) double-layer shelf, one (1) steel-encased shelf for a television high on the wall, one (1) toilet, and one (1) sink.