I'm wondering about the order of things for this prologue, at the moment. Should it be kept as: Purgatory, Planet, Escape; or should it be: Planet, Purgatory, Escape?
Different orders of events could dramatically change things, which could be a good thing. If we start off planetside, we could either be captured by the antagonist, or we could be preparing for our new job assignments aboard the Purgatory, as we were promised a decent salary for whatever job we've been hired to do.
Those that were captured, as that doesn't have to be all of us, are subjected to physical and psychological torture, drug testing and gladiatorial combat.
Those that were hired for specific jobs perform those functions, but all employees must at least watch in the arena, but are encouraged to participate as well. Weekly ballots determine the designated torturers/torturees.
Most employee's would have need for psychological help after those sessions.
Soon, however, the antagonist would leave a haunting message over the loudspeakers. "See you at the bottom." Followed by the sounds of the engines cutting off. Mass riots, confusion and terror before the ship crashes in the Shadowland-like area of the planet.
After that, everyone (employees/ex-employees and prisoners alike) are forced into a mad scramble for survival. Most surviving prisoners hoard the chemo for themselves, still seeing the employees as the enemy.
Our groups, however, would see that we're all essentially in the same shipwrecked boat. We'd set aside our differences so long as it means we'll be able to live and escape from this nightmare we're all living.
I know this is different that the ordered lists I'd made above, but I just kept evolving the thought as I wrote.
