What Chains?

"So would any of you like to explain how this could've possibly happened?" the police chief questioned in a low tone. He and five other officers stood in front of a detention cell, beads of sweat dripping down their faces.

"Um..."

"Well..."

"You see..."

"We really..."

"...don't know."

The officers responded hesitantly in the face of the chief's muted rage. After all, what happened was an impossibility, or at least it should've been. And at the center of it all was the Creator, locked up with her hands and feet bound together, a ball gagging her mouth. As expected, she didn't care whatsoever about what was going on, even as the chief quickly lost his marbles.

"You don't know? You don't KNOW?!? HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW HOW SHE ESCAPED?!?"

"We don't know, chief. One minute she was there staring off into space. And the next, she just vanished."

"Vanished?" the chief replied sarcastically.

"Yeah. Like 'poof'," the officer mimed the sound of smoke.

"...the cell is sealed with anti-magic barriers to prevent any and all spells. Her hands and feet are tied together as tight as they can possibly be. Hell, we even gagged her mouth just in case. YOU DON'T JUST DISAPPEAR FROM ALL THAT!!! WERE YOU SLEEPING ON THE JOB AGAIN?!?!?"

"No, chief!" "We swear we weren't this time!"

"THEN TELL ME YOU NUMBSKULLS, HOW DID SHE ESCAPE?!?!?"

"Um... excuse me."

"WHAT?!?" the chief whipped his head around to face the Creator.

"Can I leave now?" the Creator butted in, her attitude an extreme nonchalance. She was rather thankful to the officers for giving her a place to finish refining the first verse and chorus of the song in her head. With that done, she didn't have a reason to hang around anymore, craving some new inspiration for the second. Not to mention, class starts in an hour. I'm not allowed to miss that, for some reason.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT-- hey, wait a moment. What happened to your gag?" the chief calmed down a bit, realizing that she was actually talking to him. Not only had she managed to stand up without anyone noticing, but there was no longer a gag in her mouth. In fact, he couldn't find it anywhere in her cell.

"Oh, that? I took it off." How else am I supposed to ask my question? It's rude to just escape without warning, she thought, unaware of the irony.

"And where did the gag go?"

"I dunno."

"Fine, then how did you do that?" the chief responded with an exasperated expression.

"Huh? Like this, see," With a quick pull of her wrists, her hands seemingly phased through the chains. A little jump and the feet cuffs fell off too. They clattered against the cell floor before disappearing entirely, almost like half-baked magic trick. Her audience? Well, they were gob smacked, mouths hanging wide open as she stretched her arms lazily.

"We should put in a call to the main branch for better barriers," one of the officers spoke up.

"And better chains."

"And better gags," the rest listed off seemingly in a trance.

The police chief, on the other hand, quickly came to his senses. "Look here, Miss. You can't just free yourself from your bindings. This is a crime under Article 97 of the Penal Code, maybe even Article 98 depend on what you do next."

"But why?" the Creator tilted her head in confusion. "My ride's here to pick me up."

"What are you talking--"

"Chief!!!" another officer interrupted, running down the hall. After taking a moment to catch her breath, she whispered into the chief's ear, stealing a glance at the Creator every so often. The chief's face gradually became a scowl the more she spoke, until finally...

"...you're free to go," he muttered, making no effort to hide his annoyance.

"Chief?!?" the other officers cried out in surprise. "You can't just--"

"The Content Farm Act, Article 3," he responded, silencing everyone within earshot. Immediately, they all looked over at the girl in disbelief.

"You mean, she's..."

"Yes."

"Ah," the officer responded, before going quiet. The cell block filled with an awkward air, preventing anyone from speaking. Well, almost anyone.

"Well, I'll just get going then." With a quick hop, she appeared on the other side of the cell door, startling the other officers, but she didn't pay a lick of attention. Instead, she started running down the hall, waving back with a genuine, "Thanks for the hospitality."

The chief and the other officers stared back in a stupor until she turned the corner, disappearing from view. To them, it felt like an illusion spell had just been released, unable to understand what they had just saw. However, they all knew one thing for certain.

"...put in that call now."

"On it, chief."