Voltaire Crater Prison: The Titan's Trap

December 5th, 2042:
Voltaire Crater Prison: The Titan's Trap
By: Ashley Rose
(With Addendums by Jonathon Frog)
A Newswire Exclusive, Reposted to VR News
Today was the first time Mei opened up about the Voltaire Prison.
(JF - Before she gets going here, let me cut in real quick. This is an unedited article Mrs. Rose posted on the Newswire last week about the Voltaire Crater Prison. She is currently aboard the Athena headin' out to Europa, and apparently is all chummy with some Long Dragon Syndicate big wig. Still, she got a few things wrong, and I'm going to put them right.)
It's one of the things she hasn't talked about much, in our conversations. I've heard quite a bit about the history of the Long Dragon Syndicate, their spiritual origins, and the faults of their leader, the White Tiger, but little about what happened in the months following his demise and the deconstruction of the Syndicate. 
To those who are not in the know, the Voltaire Crater Prison is a facility constructed on Deimos, one of the two Moons of Mars. It was originally planned to house the worst criminals on the face of the planet; international criminals nobody wanted or those no prisons on Earth could handle. Those select few who could cause fear and panic on a global scale. With the worldwide abolishment of the death penalty, Voltaire seemed like a good idea at the time. The problem was that about halfway through construction they realized there simply weren't any of these "super criminals" left. 
(JF - I disagree with Mrs. Rose on this point. There was a lot of hype about the Prison when it was pitched by the Global Senate, but there was never any doubt they intended to use it for the Syndicate. This was well before the murder of Bishop Two, and the downfall of the LDS, but even back then the Senate knew eventually the Syndicate would meet its end. Plus, there was still a lot of real bad dudes in the prisons. The Ultramax in South Africa, for example, which contained most of the Warlords from the 20th. There's also the infamous Chinese prison which held Sung Lee, the Cantonese Cannibal. I can assure you humanity will always spit out some vile creations. That hasn't and never will change.)
Then, the Hong Kong Commerce Center Massacre. When the smoke and rubble cleared, Bishop Two was dead and the invincible Consortium was reeling from a blow they had never expected to face. The Syndicate, who had been deemed mostly an annoyance (if a dangerous and well-armed one), was suddenly a threat that the world thought had passed into history. A bygone of a less civilized age.
The actual prison on Deimos was commissioned by the Senate in early 2031, years before any attempts had been made to colonize Mars. As the actual facility was mostly designed to be under ground, and no terraforming needed to be done, it was relatively simple. Production began in 2034, and at the end of 2037 the doors opened to welcome all the dangerous and violent criminals no one else wanted. At the time of opening, there was a grand total of 6 prisoners held there, 4 of which were in permanent solitary confinement. 
Most actual information on the Voltaire Prison is highly classified. Actual capacity, infrastructure, staff and all are kept guarded so as not to allow anyone on the outside to plan an escape. Despite several freedom of information requests, this information has never been leaked.
(JF - Again, not entirely true. There was a leak of the information about the Prison in 2040. It was posted on one of the EXnet newsgroups. Lasted about 45 seconds before it was wiped clean off the newsgroups, and all copies of the information were tracked down within a few hours. I got a chance to see it, and it wasn't remarkable. It was a hand drawn page with scrawled information about guards, shift changes, and a very odd little limerick in Mandarin. There's a reason it didn't cause an uproar, and why Mrs. Rose doesn't know about it.)
Mei was able to give me some information, and I'm going to talk about it in general terms here. I'm aware of the privacy concerns, but quite frankly, much of this information was passed off by the other escapees from the prison a few months back. I'm not distributing information that isn't already out there.
(JF - I don't agree. Mei seems to be very important and who knows what else she was privy to.)
The prison is split into four main sections. Receiving, where craft bearing supplies, prisoners and other such cargo arrive. Past that is the main Administration, staff quarters and "Check In" as it was dubbed by the guards. General Population was just past that, with this section split into four quadrants, where prisoners were randomly rotated on a weekly basis. Finally, far underground was solitary confinement.
Voltaire held around 180 prisoners at the time of the prison break. Due to the rotation Mei wasn't totally sure of an accurate number and new detainees either arrived or died on a constant basis. 
The fact that the number remained so low was quite telling of the more frightening aspects of the prison.
We consider ourselves living in a utopia. While many would argue with this statement, I do not. I believe that education and the human condition has been on a substantial rise for the last two decades, and with this has come a better world. We're not perfect, and maybe that destroys the ability to call it a utopia, but I believe we're there. Everyone born has opportunity.
(JF - Naive.)
This prison was our skeleton in the closet. Over the span of three years and during the dismantling of the Syndicate, 1,762 prisoners were sent to Voltaire Prison. Among them was Zachari Dahran, the man responsible for the death of Bishop Two. The standing population never rose above approximately 500, which is an appalling death rate, and not one that has ever been reported by the media.
(JF - We need proof of this, Ash. Prove it, find records, and we'll blow that place and whatever is behind it wide open. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no proof these numbers are even remotely accurate.)
Mei wasn't able to tell me much about why the rate was so high. Several of the other LDS members aboard the Athena said they were over worked, made examples of by the guards and were sent on hazardous jobs without proper safety gear.
What's going on at the Voltaire Prison? Nearly forty inmates died in the breakout earlier this year. While we have no definitive proof, and only the word of those considered the worst enemy of the modern world, it's worth investigating.
Category:Jonathon Frog
Category:Global Newswire
Category:VR News
Category:Mei
Category:Voltaire
Category:EXnet