Stray - Entry 13: The Prison
When I regain consciousness, I find myself trapped in a small metal cage, suspended above a pool of foul, stagnant water. B-12 is gone. My harness is gone. I am completely alone.
I twist my body, and the cage begins to sway. I twist again, harder this time, and it swings farther. An idea sparks. I rock myself side to side, again and again, building momentum until the cage slams into the concrete wall. The impact rattles the hinges, and with one final swing the door bursts open. I leap out, claws scraping against the damp wall as I cling to it.
The door to the room is locked, but I climb higher, squeezing through a narrow gap in the crumbling structure. It leads me into another cell just like mine but this one’s door hangs open.
As I step into the corridor, a horrifying sight stops me cold. Across the hall, a Companion is strapped to a chair, wires feeding into a nearby console. Its body jerks violently, convulsing as electricity courses through it. This isn’t detention. It’s torture.
The cell block stretches out before me with bare concrete walls, peeling paint, and exposed pipes. Sentinels patrol the corridors, their cold searchlights sweeping methodically back and forth. I flatten myself against the shadows, darting into open cells whenever their gaze passes too close. Inside the cells are grim remains: discarded limbs of inert Companions left like trash.
Using the debris, broken railings, and collapsing infrastructure to my advantage, I slip past the Sentinels, searching desperately for my friends.
At last, I find Clementine. Relief washes over me. She appears shaken but unharmed. Without B-12, I can’t communicate, but she gestures urgently toward a key hanging inside an administrative office across the hall.
I slip into a nearby guard room, crawl out through a shattered window, and inch along an exterior ledge. From here, I can see the prison’s U-shaped courtyard below: an overgrown basketball court choked with weeds, rusted fences, and Sentinels circling endlessly.
I snatch the key in my mouth and hurry back to Clementine. She unlocks her cell, then another secured door beyond it. I follow close behind as we finally slip out of the cell block.
In the next area, I spot B-12 on a floor below us, sealed inside a transparent box wrapped in humming laser walls and guarded by numerous Sentinels. Given the level of security, he must still have the Atomic Battery. I let out a quiet meow to get Clementine’s attention, and she immediately understands. We can’t leave him behind. B-12 is family to me now.
I follow Clementine as she helps search for a way down until we reach a hallway just outside the heavily guarded chamber. A reinforced door blocks the path, one that only B-12’s hacking abilities could open. Now it’s up to me.
I slip down the corridor and squeeze through a narrow window in a guard booth, dropping silently into the restricted area outside B-12’s holding chamber. Sentinels patrol in precise patterns, their searchlights sweeping across the floor as laser grids shift and hum. I move only when they turn away, timing every step.
At last, I reach a guard station housing the power switch for the forcefield. I flip it.
Instantly, alarms flare and Sentinels snap to attention. I bolt from the booth and dive into a nearby box, my heart pounding as sentinels search and glide past my hiding spot. Inch by inch, I creep forward, keeping low, moving only when the lights drift elsewhere.
Somehow, I reach the platform where B-12 lies. I grab him in my mouth and retreat the same way I came, slipping through shadows and cover until I reach the hallway where Clementine waits.
B-12 stirs and slowly powers back on.
"I felt like I was trapped in my lab's computer system again. All alone. But you came back for me. I can't believe it. You're a good friend."
B-12 opens the door, but the next room leads only to another locked barrier with no obvious way forward. We scan the space, and as I paw around, I accidentally knock over a small stack of loose bricks. Clementine’s eyes light up with an idea. She grabs one of the bricks and hurls it upward, shattering a glass panel above the locked door.
She crouches low, steadying herself, and I leap onto her head. She then stands fully upright to give me a boost, I spring through the broken opening and land on the other side of the door. A switch waits there. I jump on it and the lock disengages, allowing Clementine and B-12 to pass through.
Beyond the door lies the courtyard but there’s no way we can cross it without being spotted. Sentinels patrol the open space in overlapping paths, their searchlights sweeping relentlessly. Clementine notices a row of holding cells lining the courtyard, each fitted with a hackable control panel. She quickly pieces together a plan: we bait the Sentinels, lure them into the cells, and lock them inside.
Once again, it’s up to me.
I step out into the courtyard, fully exposed. The moment a Sentinel notices me, its eye flares red. I bolt. I sprint straight for a holding cell, zigzagging wildly with serpentine movements, because if it fires and hits me, it’s over.
I dash into the holding circle, loop around just long enough to trigger the sensors, then sprint back out. At the last second, B-12 slams the door shut, trapping the Sentinel inside.
With the coast briefly clear, Clementine moves into the courtyard, and we regroup near the center. A few Companions sit nearby, slumped and motionless. I approach one, trying to get a reaction, but it doesn’t respond. It’s frozen, hollow, almost empty. That’s when B-12 speaks, his voice heavy with recognition.
"This poor fellow. It seems that the Sentinels are ruthless when it comes to defying them. That’s what I feared. They have completely erased him. No more emotions, no more self-awareness, no more memories. Please, let’s not get caught."
To reach the far side of the courtyard, we’ll need to trap two more Sentinels. We repeat the process of drawing their attention, sprinting through the holding cells, and sealing them so Clementine is able to reach the far door.
But it’s locked.
Thankfully, there’s a ventilation shaft nearby. I slip inside, crawl through the narrow ductwork, and emerge in the next room. A switch waits on the wall. I hit it, unlocking the door and clearing our path forward.
The room opens into a wide loading bay with a wide sealed gate. An empty guard booth sits nearby, its consoles dark and silent. Clementine scans the space, then speaks with quiet urgency.
“This door! It's the only way out of this jail. I think we can open it from that control room over there. We have to find a way to get access to that room though. Let's look around."
A tall security fence blocks the route to the control room but it is far too high for me to clear on my own. I circle the area, until I spot a parked utility truck nearby. I pad over and scratch at its door, drawing Clementine’s attention.
"We're in luck. They left the keys in the door!"
Clementine jumps into the driver’s seat and fires up the engine. The truck roars to life as she backs it toward the fence, positioning it carefully beside the barrier.
"Hop on the back of the truck. You should be able to jump over the fence to access the secure area."
I leap onto the truck bed, then spring upward, clearing the fence and landing inside the restricted control area. The control panel is right where we hoped it would be. I slam the switch with my paw.
The gate begins to rise but an alarm screams to life.
Red lights flash. Additional doors rise open, and Sentinels enter the room, weapons charging with a deadly hum. I bolt, heart pounding, sprinting as beams scorch the air behind me. At the last second, I leap onto a crate, then vault onto the top of the fence as the Sentinels fire, shots slamming into metal below.
Clementine has already started the truck. More Sentinels swarm into the bay, chasing her as she accelerates. I race after the moving vehicle, zigzagging wildly to avoid incoming fire. Clementine glances back, reading my movements perfectly, and slows just enough for B-12 and me to jump aboard.
The moment we land, she floors it.
The truck bursts through the prison exit and roars onto the streets of Midtown, neon lights streaking past as alarms echo behind us. Sentinels will be in full pursuit, but for now, we’ve escaped.
