Leveling Up With My Rebate System

The night shrouded Stone River in darkness.

The only source of light inside Nathan’s cell came from the screen of his phone, illuminating his face as his eyes moved across the screen.

He had spent the last couple of hours scrolling through articles, forums, memes, reels, and news reports.

His plan was simple. Learn how people escaped prisons like Stone River and find a way to do the same.

Publicly, Stone River was advertised as escape-proof. Reality said otherwise.

He found a post on Breaddit from a few months ago.

[Hypothetically, if you were trapped in a supermax prison with no powers, how would you escape?]

The post had hundreds of comments.

Most were jokes.

[@FlamingAnus069: Bribe the guards. Money solves everything.]

[@BootySeargent156: Get a genius brother, tattoo the prison map on your body, and wait for your chance.]

[@ConspiracyNutter77: Funny how everyone says you can’t escape stone river, but nobody asks why there have been "accidental" breakouts.]

Nathan frowned on the last post.

He clicked on the profile, but the account had already been deleted.

He closed the post. He’d heard rumors about arranged breakouts before. He’d dismissed them as conspiracy theories, but these days he wasn’t so sure about anything.

Movies made this look so easy.

The screen of the phone flickered and went black. Nathan plugged it to the power bank and stared at the ceiling.

Theo’s voice came from the other side. "Nathan. Are you awake?"

"Yes, what’s up?"

A few seconds passed before Theo responded. "Do you have anyone waiting for you?"

"Yeah. A sister and a father."

"No girlfriend?"

"No. I’m broke and relationships these days seem to come with certain...expectations."

Theo chuckled at the response. "Money isn’t everything you know."

Tell that to my mother.

"What about you?" Nathan asked. "No girlfriend?"

There was a moment’s pause. "No. a wife."

"Lucky man," Nathan replied.

"She’s gone," Theo’s tired voice answered from the other side.

The answer took Nathan by surprise. "Oh... What happened?"

Theo inhaled. "Do you know the Harvester?"

Nathan’s face went still. "Yes, almost everyone in this city has heard of him."

"He killed my wife." Theo replied.

Nathan went silent.

The Harvester was a serial killer who terrorized Arkis City last year.

He targeted married women with children, leaving behind gruesome crime scenes that made headlines for months.

"I came home one evening," Theo said, his voice shaky. "And found blood everywhere..."

"I spent weeks praying someone would catch that bastard. Then they did." Theo laughed bitterly. "And the court declared him insane."

"...An insanity plea." Theo’s voice was strained.

"A fucking insanity plea!"

A wave of silence stretched before he spoke again.

"So I did what the system and the hero should have done the moment they caught him."

Nathan looked up at the ceiling. He remembered watching the news. The outrage of the victims’ families after the verdict when the Harvester pleaded insanity.

What Theo did was against the law, but Nathan couldn’t bring himself to blame the man.

If someone ever hurt Catherine...

He hoped he would never find himself in that position.

"So you’ve been here for a few months, right?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah.

"What about you?" Theo asked. "You said you didn’t kill anyone. So how did you end up here."

"I was set up."

Theo snorted. "That’s the oldest line in the book."

Nathan shrugged. "I’m serious."

He explained everything. The job offer from his friends which turned out to be a crime, his innocence in it, the trial and the forced confession.

"Fucking Diabolical." Theo exclaimed. "That sounds like something out of a book mate."

Nathan did not offer a response.

"As for your friends." Theo chuckled. "What did you do to them? Sleep with their girlfriends?"

"I don’t know." Nathan’s eyes hardened. "But I’ll ask them myself."

"I like the attitude," Theo laughed. "It’s a shame, it won’t get you out of here."

Nathan’s eyes narrowed as he decided to ask the question that was on his mind. "Then what will?"

Theo shrugged. "Money, connections or a superpower. But you don’t seem like you got any."

Nathan hesitated then looked around his cell. "Are there cameras or mics in our cells?"

Theo raised an eyebrow. "No. Inmate privacy laws and stuff, why do you ask?"

"Nothing really." He leaned against the wall. "I have a sponsor. They want me out and are willing to pay to make it happen."

Theo was silent for a moment. "So that’s why you showed up broke yesterday and suddenly started throwing money around."

"Something like that."

Theo continued. "If that’s true, Moe can help you out."

"The plug? Isn’t he stuck here with us?"

Theo chuckled. "He’s more than a plug. Also Moe isn’t a prisoner."

Nathan’s frowned. "But he wears the orange jumpsuit clothes."

"For appearances." Theo chuckled. "He finished his sentence years ago. Instead of leaving, he struck a deal with the warden."

"The warden agreed to that?"

"Moe makes life easier around here. Gets inmates things the prison can’t officially provide. In turn everyone is happy and benefits"

Nathan’s interest grew. "What kind of services?"

Theo lowered his voice. "If you’ve got enough money? Vehicles, Fake paperwork, a riot. Heck, he could arrange for someone to get kidnapped if you wanted. He draws the line at killing though."

Nathan kept his expression neutral despite the excitement building inside him.

"Is he trustworthy?"

"I don’t know about that but he’s certainly reliable as long as it comes to money... or Lady Might."

The statement earned a chuckle from both of them.

"What about the prison itself?" Nathan asked. "I’ve heard the escape rumors. Are they real?"

"Yes, escapes happen. But it’s not as frequent as rumors claim."

Nathan narrowed his eyes. "How is it even possible to escape a supermax?"

Theo shrugged. "Anything is possible in a world like this. Some think the government secretly funds breakouts so heroes can recapture them for publicity, others say private organizations have a hand."

Nathan remembered the deleted Breaddit post. "If you could escape? Would you?"

Theo was quiet for a moment. "Every man here has thought of that. But, I can’t."

"Why?"

Theo passed a picture to Nathan. "My son."

Nathan collected it. It was an image of a seven year old boy smiling at the camera.

Nathan smiled. "He doesn’t look like you."

"He takes after his mother. I haven’t seen him since I got here," Theo said in a low tone.

"Where is he?" Nathan asked.

"He’s with my parents." Theo exhaled. "I’d rather he remembers me as his father than grow up hiding beside a fugitive."

Nathan nodded slowly. "I see."

Theo cleared his throat. "If your sponsor’s real..."

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"...and if they really are willing to pay..."

Nathan glanced toward the wall. "Yes?"

"What’s the price to help you out?"

"Depends." Nathan said. "What do you want?"

Theo sighed. "I don’t want to be on the run. But if helping you means my boy gets some help..."

His voice trailed off.

"...that’s enough for me."

Nathan rested his chin on his hand. "I’ll talk to my sponsor and see if it’s possible."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

They both said their good night and Nathan lay back on his bed.

A smile slowly formed across his face.

A sponsor?...I am the sponsor.

A few moments later, he drifted off in a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, a guard notified him he had a visitor.

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