The Statue Factory (Patreon)

In the future, the government comes up with a groundbreaking idea to reduce the tax burden associated with criminals: turning them into statues and selling them. This becomes possible thanks to the mass production of a solution capable of altering the physical state of matter. Since criminals turned into statues become “objects” that can be owned, this punishment is meted out to those sentenced to life imprisonment. The inmates are suspended from a machine, naked and with their hands and feet shackled. As they are lowered into a vat filled with the solution, the criminals express regret, but it is already too late. The machine slowly submerges them in the liquid. A few minutes later, the criminal is lifted out, completely solidified. At this point, the inmate is not dead but remains conscious and fully aware. The next person in line watches the entire process unfold and senses their own impending fate. The solidified prisoner is not sold as is but undergoes a reprocessing stage. During this process, the prisoner is reshaped into the pose desired by the buyer. They are left to spend the rest of their lives helplessly frozen in a pose they did not choose. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of these statues is donated to support the victims’ recovery and self-reliance.