Post by thejman on Dec 28, 2016 19:43:24 GMT
It has been years since the major disaster that nearly erased all life on Earth, but It didnt happen in my lifetime. I was born into a life of hardship; working payday to payday in order to feed my children. I work in a factory that processes all of the raw rare earth elements that are used to create Aether batteries. Equipment like this is extremely valuable to scavengers like I used to be...so the complex is guarded by the most ruthless force ever created..."Machines"
Everyday when I clock in, I pass by one of the 6 foot tall robots that stand guard over the doors of the facility. Its always standing there, breathing in the Aether from the air, and exhaling gaseous byproducts. its mechanism was very quiet, to allow it to sneak up on a target if necessary. Its head was shaped like a wedge, a bit of a dragonic shape could be made out with a pair of "Antennae" that resembled horns. The flat surfaces on either side of the wedge were decorated with streaks of light that told us the alert level for the day:
Green means little to no threat,
Yellow signifies moderate weather threats
orange tells everyone that the robots are on the hunt for infiltrators or scavengers trying to get inside.
But today...this was the first time I had ever seen the bot by the door decorated with a bright blood red color. It was also the first time i had seen it armed with actual weapons. I had no idea why, but it toted a ballistic shield and a baton in either of its hands.
I passed the bot as usual to put my card in the puch-clock, but the moment I was directly in front of it, it reached out and grabbed ahold of my arm with its hydraulic strength. I felt like my bone was about to snap as the bot threw me to the ground and began reciting pre-programmed speech:
"Threat allocated. Initiating security lockdown. come with me."
The bot dragged me like i was just a cardboard cutout to it, which i practically was. It threw me onto the ground and I pushed the fact that I knew what this was about to the back of my head. Before my eyes, I saw the feet of my boss; one of the four SKULLS that raided my village, taking me and making me work under the threat of my family coming to harm. I also saw that he was accompanied by two other combat robots armed with High-frequency machete's. I looked up further to see he was holding a severed head in his grip. the blood from the cleanly sliced neck dripped on my face and I retreated back until I ran into the bot again, which shoved me forward into a standing position.
I didnt want to believe what I was seeing. the severed head belonged to my wife. I screamed and spit every insult I held back at the skull-faced monster as the robot behind me held me back by my upper arm. I didnt stop until the SKULL nodded to the bot and it twisted my arm in its death-grip, turning bone to powder as it crushed my arm mercilessly.
"You disappoint me Smith, my manifest shows that some of my batteries are missing from inventory...and thanks to the bots, I know who it was, Don't I?"
I Knew what that monster was talking about. I had stolen the batteries and given them to someone I knew would get them to the right people, my last act of defiance. I told my family to flee the village, but I guess they got the message too late. My wife was dead, I could only hope that my child escaped. Though that single ray of hope I had would be crushed when an actual living and breathing guard came into the room with my daughter in his arms, wrestling her into the room for me to see. I couldnt help but try to hide my injury from her.
"Such a shame...she would have made a fine replacement for you."
My eyes widened at what the SKULL had just said, and had no time to react as one of the robots carrying a machete blade stepped forward and...butchered my daughter right in front of me. I couldnt do anything...I just stared...whimpering a prayer as the bot that held me back hoisted me up by the back of my neck.
"Praying's never done anything before, why start now. I want to hear an answer, Smith."
I Couldn't answer. What i was reciting was the very prayer i said for my daughter each night i toiled in this horrible place.
"So be it. Finish this, and make it memorable for me." The skull said to the drone holding me.
At those orders, the robot holding me forced me onto my back as I feebly threw punches into its metal frame with my one good arm. The bot responded by taking hold of that arm and tearing it clean off at my elbow. It was pure agony, as ordered by the SKULL. The robot went about breaking my body bone by bone until I could only lay there on the ground. I had lost all feeling to my legs with my back finally broken...and I knew what was coming next. I had seen these robots do it many times before to my friends in the village assault.
The robot grabbed me by the neck and forced its blunt hand into mid-section, impaling me on its own arm with its hydraulic strength. It kept repeating the process as the world became dark around me...and I felt nothing of pain anymore.
The joke was on them...now...I am finally free
Everyday when I clock in, I pass by one of the 6 foot tall robots that stand guard over the doors of the facility. Its always standing there, breathing in the Aether from the air, and exhaling gaseous byproducts. its mechanism was very quiet, to allow it to sneak up on a target if necessary. Its head was shaped like a wedge, a bit of a dragonic shape could be made out with a pair of "Antennae" that resembled horns. The flat surfaces on either side of the wedge were decorated with streaks of light that told us the alert level for the day:
Green means little to no threat,
Yellow signifies moderate weather threats
orange tells everyone that the robots are on the hunt for infiltrators or scavengers trying to get inside.
But today...this was the first time I had ever seen the bot by the door decorated with a bright blood red color. It was also the first time i had seen it armed with actual weapons. I had no idea why, but it toted a ballistic shield and a baton in either of its hands.
I passed the bot as usual to put my card in the puch-clock, but the moment I was directly in front of it, it reached out and grabbed ahold of my arm with its hydraulic strength. I felt like my bone was about to snap as the bot threw me to the ground and began reciting pre-programmed speech:
"Threat allocated. Initiating security lockdown. come with me."
The bot dragged me like i was just a cardboard cutout to it, which i practically was. It threw me onto the ground and I pushed the fact that I knew what this was about to the back of my head. Before my eyes, I saw the feet of my boss; one of the four SKULLS that raided my village, taking me and making me work under the threat of my family coming to harm. I also saw that he was accompanied by two other combat robots armed with High-frequency machete's. I looked up further to see he was holding a severed head in his grip. the blood from the cleanly sliced neck dripped on my face and I retreated back until I ran into the bot again, which shoved me forward into a standing position.
I didnt want to believe what I was seeing. the severed head belonged to my wife. I screamed and spit every insult I held back at the skull-faced monster as the robot behind me held me back by my upper arm. I didnt stop until the SKULL nodded to the bot and it twisted my arm in its death-grip, turning bone to powder as it crushed my arm mercilessly.
"You disappoint me Smith, my manifest shows that some of my batteries are missing from inventory...and thanks to the bots, I know who it was, Don't I?"
I Knew what that monster was talking about. I had stolen the batteries and given them to someone I knew would get them to the right people, my last act of defiance. I told my family to flee the village, but I guess they got the message too late. My wife was dead, I could only hope that my child escaped. Though that single ray of hope I had would be crushed when an actual living and breathing guard came into the room with my daughter in his arms, wrestling her into the room for me to see. I couldnt help but try to hide my injury from her.
"Such a shame...she would have made a fine replacement for you."
My eyes widened at what the SKULL had just said, and had no time to react as one of the robots carrying a machete blade stepped forward and...butchered my daughter right in front of me. I couldnt do anything...I just stared...whimpering a prayer as the bot that held me back hoisted me up by the back of my neck.
"Praying's never done anything before, why start now. I want to hear an answer, Smith."
I Couldn't answer. What i was reciting was the very prayer i said for my daughter each night i toiled in this horrible place.
"So be it. Finish this, and make it memorable for me." The skull said to the drone holding me.
At those orders, the robot holding me forced me onto my back as I feebly threw punches into its metal frame with my one good arm. The bot responded by taking hold of that arm and tearing it clean off at my elbow. It was pure agony, as ordered by the SKULL. The robot went about breaking my body bone by bone until I could only lay there on the ground. I had lost all feeling to my legs with my back finally broken...and I knew what was coming next. I had seen these robots do it many times before to my friends in the village assault.
The robot grabbed me by the neck and forced its blunt hand into mid-section, impaling me on its own arm with its hydraulic strength. It kept repeating the process as the world became dark around me...and I felt nothing of pain anymore.
The joke was on them...now...I am finally free
