1.02 R&M

High on the wall high above the door, the squawk box crackles and pops, coughing out a garbled order.

I reach for the Regulations and Morals, a thin white manual hanging from a plastic hook, and, flipping through it, find the daily schedule:

7:20 Wake

Put bedding away, clean room, wash up.

Prepare for inspection.

A simple illustration on the following page shows how the bedding should be put away. The futon must be folded twice and shoved up against the wall. The blanket and sheets folded neatly and placed on top. Failure to comply, the Regulations and Morals tell me, will result in disciplinary action.

As if being cooped up in this dismal little cell isn't punishment enough.

In all my years of studying and translating Japanese, I've never come across the language so curt, cold, and unambiguous. Your average Japanese will go to great pains sometimes, hemming and hawing, before they give you a definite answer, but within the walls of this jail words are not minced. Do it, the manual says. Do it or fucking else.

7:30 Inspection

Sit, facing front window.

Give number when requested.

All the Chinese characters have furigana, phonetic notations above the characters showing you how to read them. Out in the real world, furigana are only employed for the most difficult of Chinese characters: an uncommon family name, or an obscure word. Here in Limbo, they don't seem to take literacy for granted. Even the most basic Chinese characters have these phonetic nightcaps on their heads.

© Aonghas Crowe, 2010. All rights reserved. No unauthorized duplication of any kind.

注意：この作品はフィクションです。登場人物、団体等、実在のモノとは一切関係ありません。

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The first installment of No.6 can be found here.

No. 6 is now available on Kindle.