Light. Raw white, brilliant and unyielding. It was eternal, unflinching and oppressive. Thousands upon thousands of light sources were recessed between the diffusing white walls providing a nearly perfect radiant glow. Every item in the abode was the same, transparent, allowing that light to pass through it, not allowing for a single shadow to form. Her shower curtain, transparent plastic. Her couch, an inflatable plastic. Her bed, inflatable plastic. Her table, a single short length of acrylic on acrylic supports.
Sarah Covenry, the infamous "Darkshadow" (It wasn't her fault that Shadow, Umbra and Shade were already taken), was an umbrakinetic. She had the power to generate shadow and darkness and sculpt it. She had no idea how it worked. Several people tried explaining to her that summoning darkness wasn't possible but she could care less. It worked and that was all that mattered to her. Unfortunately, bright lights burned away the dark mists she summoned and so after she'd been captured by a group of heroes the government had placed her here.
They called it, "The White Room".
So the Darkshadow languished on that inflatable transparent plastic couch, holding up a sheaf of plastic sheets that looked much like they belonged to one of those old overhead projectors they used decades ago in schools. Even her books, one of the few things she was allowed were transparent, black ink on gossamer film. She wasn't even afforded the luxury of clothing. Clothing could be used as a veil, weakening the lights, making a shelter where she might summon some darkness without it being burned away by the lights. They'd also taken away her makeup kit after they caught her trying to use nail polish to paint over portions of the glowing walls. At one point, when she'd refused to return the acrylic cutlery they'd simply pumped in sleeping gas. At least she had television. Television, after all, was just projected light. It was completely recessed into the glowing white wall and, unlike regular televisions, displayed a glowing white noise when she attempted to turn if off. Simply put, it never was off.
Sleeping had been difficult at first, since they never shut out the lights. The constant light confused her circadian rhythm but after so many months she had adjusted. Thankfully, through the television and the calls for "Lights out" by the guards she could keep track of the hours and days or she likely would have long ago gone insane. The only deviation was once every few months when a criminal psychologist came in to see how she was doing. Apparently she was doing very well because he'd skipped his last two appointments and she'd not seen anyone since.
It was in the midst of this boundless, endless routine that a single envelope entered through her food slot. At first she wasn't interested at all in the contents. The transparent display was like everything else in her room and seemed useless but the paper! It was such a small thing. She found herself immediately cupping it carefully, tried to shield the envelope from the light with her body and see if she could draw any darkness out of wherever it came from into the envelope. Unfortunately, the paper was just far too thin, like shining a flashlight through your skin at night. She could draw up some wisps of shadow but not enough to do anything with.
It was only then, feeling disappointed that she bothered looking at the small device and pressed the button. Darkness immediately descended and Sarah almost ignored the message for the sheer wonder of it. After so long... Her shadows spilled out into darkness, filling it, and for the first time in more than a year she could feel again.
"-will be flushed causing your death," the device finished, "You have 5 seconds."
"Wait... what?" Sarah asked the device as she looked dumbly at the picture of a fingerprint on the screen of the small device, "Death?"
Unsure what was going on Sarah resolved to stab at the device with her finger, then her thumb, then each of her fingers in turn until something happened that didn't involve death. Then she also resolved to give the device more attention and listened to its message. A wicked smile came across her face. Out? She could get behind that idea.
Kaithe Dame,
ppppppppp,
rabidbacon,
Sky Blue,
Damycles,
Sep,
Noctis,
Autumn Moon,
Dion,
Archazen