The Furry Forums
Creative Arts and Media => Roleplay => Serious RP => Topic started by: Cinder42 on March 28, 2015, 02:00:29 PM
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Victoria's paws pattered across the cold concrete floor in time with the bell-like clang of her single mechanical limb as it hit the ground. She carried a file tightly in her fangs, careful not to let a single page of the document fall out. It was from the engineers down at the shrapnel heap, and given where she was instructed to taken it, she didnt want to take any chances of less than perfection. She trotted to a stop, trying to be as quite as.possible.as.if she wouldn't heard and punished just for stopping to loudly. The heavy wooden door loomed before her, dark with a glossy finish.It was both beautiful and intimidating, standing like a beacon of claws and wealth in the dingy rust pit of the surrounding factory. She took a deep breath and focused on the shiny brass mail slot in the middle. She lifted the file carefully and slid it in, jerking back as if it was ripped from her grasp. It slipped innocently through and the little metal door clicked closed. Victoria's heart was racing, but her curiousity was peaked. No one had ever looked in the CEO's office, no one knew what it looked like. Tentatively, she took a step forward, raising her muzzle to the mail slot. She pushed the tiny flap, just peering into the dimly lit room, she saw a heavy oak desk, walls lined with bookshelves and-
She leapt back like she's been shocked, her heart beating out of her chest again. The flap slammed shut violently, hiding the dark, menacing eyes behind. Victoria was in shock for a moment before she turned clumsily amd scrambled off in a panic.
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Pick up the unit, twist the top cylinder, stick it in the machine, take it out the machine, put it back on the conveyer belt.
Angder scratched uncomfortably at his identification collar, they had put it on too tight, and he felt like it was suffocating him! Nothing he could do about it though, any adjusting just made it worse... He continued to work, and tried to ignore it.
Pick up the unit, twist the top cylinder, stick it in the machine, take it out the machine, put it back on the conveyer belt.
He glanced around absentmindedly, further down the production line he could see 59 struggling to do his task, his mechanical hand was jammed shut again, he had a real name, but he did not know it... Not anymore. Angder had only been here a month, and still did not truly understand how this place worked, but he knew that 59 was in serious trouble... He would have to talk to him about it when he had the chance... if he had the chance.
Pick up the unit, twist the top...
he paused, this one was a dud, the second cylinder was lopsided! he looked up from it, alarmed. The correct procedure was to put it to the side, but this was the third dud this week. handing this in would be a death sentence for someone further up...
He took the object, and hid it under his workstation, they would probably notice the missing piece further down, but working out where it happened would be difficult... or at least that was the theory... He then got back to work, praying that he would not be found out...
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Another boring day...
when Barrett was bored, he often found his thoughts wandering. He wondered if any of this was even legal.
probably not...
but hey, they paid him well. really well. and it wouldn't be any of his business, if the outside government came down on this place. That is, if they were even allowed to. really big corporations such as this tended to have a senator or two in their pocket. Maybe even the president.
but hey, that's none of my business. my business is order. well, their version of order.
His earpiece crackled to life, shaking him from his thoughts
"uh... we have a 10-66 near your 10-20, officer 065. Investigate and 11-40. how copy, over?"
"Good copy; 10-4. will respond."
He shook his head, thumbing off the safety of his rifle, rushing to where he was needed. apparently some worker was poking his(or her) head where she shouldn't, and barrett, with all of his tactical gear, assault rifle, and general loudness of voice. enough to freeze most workers in their tracks.
Some four footed thing was poking it's head where it shouldn't be. Barrett hated those. They found it because the corporation constantly monitored all of it's workers. which made his job a thousand times easier.
"ON THE GROUND!" he screamed, rifle ready, legs spread wide in a defensive posture "PAWS UP FRONT, JAW CLAMPED SHUT! NOW!"
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Oh damn.....
Victoria skidded to a stop as she heard the booming voice, her metal claws kick in up a couple sparks against the ground. She turned around slowly to face it, gulping nervously. She almost opened her mouth to defend herself but quickly shut it, remembering the results of such attempts by other workers in the past. It sent a chill through her veins.
She took a deep breath, lowering herself slowly onto the groumd and holding out her empty paw and claw. She let out a whimper of fear, want in to explain herself. Try to justify her actions. Anything to get her out of this. The only problem was that in the eyes of the factory she had no good reason. No justification. All she could do was look up at the guard feebly, waiting to see what he would do to her.
She wouldnt be shot and killed just for this right? Right!?
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Barrett grunted, throwing a small, glowing wire forward, and onto the deplorable thing standing in front of him. It immediately grew several times its original size with a loud, booming 'schlorp', encapsulating the thing in a ball of glowing blue energy.
What he had just thrown was a MK.2 tangle field. If the affected person tries to move, they will not only find it extremely painful, but also move extremely slow. Law enforcement agencies use a much more expensive MK.3 tangle field, which doesn't have the lasting effect of convulsions, nausea, dizziness, and confusion. The MK.2's side effects lasted several hours, whereas the MK.3's lasted just a few short minutes, and were much less present.
but hey, whatever saves them a buck.
Barrett scanned his surrounding briefly, keying on his radio"uh... this is 065. 10-97, and suspect 10-102. Awaiting instructions."
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Jacobs breaths were slow and paced, his legs making a steady stride as he ran along the catwalks overlooking the main floor. Running properly and maintaining stamina was important, because this factory allowed no time for fatigue, and he had already learned the consequences long ago for being late. And when it came to delivering messages and items to guards Jacob knew he would have to make it quick or be harrassed. His nails clicked along the metal grates as he turned a corner, his destination just ahead. Composed of concrete and steel, guard station 2 sat above the assembly floor like a harbinger of horror, reminding the workers below that they were always being watched. And that bad things would happen if they messed up. The grayfox stopped at the sold steel door and banged on it, stepping back as it opened.
Down below on the factory floor Andrew quickly got to work on a machine. Something in it had jammed, causing the gears and mechanisms inside it to stress until they broke and blew out the side. Three workers were filled with shrapnel and hauled off, becoming new test subjects for the "doctors" in the med clinic. God help those poor souls. Andrew quickly pushed the thought from his head and focused on the task at hand, grabbing a screw driver from his bag and jamming it into a bent panal.
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Angder kept his head down, he could hear things echoing around the factory, an explosion, someone being forced to the ground, try not to think about them, just keep working.
He almost reached for the dud unit... but stopped himself. if it had fallen onto the floor, or been found. He would know. just keep doing your work... keep working as if nothing was wrong...
Pick up the unit, twist the top cylinder, stick it in the machine, take it out the machine, put it back on the conveyer belt.
That was all there was to do... nothing to see here...
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Dark eyes narrowed, giving off a soft golden glow through their slits. Fem whatched through the heavily tinted windows, taking a brief moment to look up frim her paperwork amd assess what was happening. It wasnt unusuol for there to be a lot of noise around here, hell, around the begining of her promotion, full out riots happened almost daily. Luckily, she 'd put a stop to those quickly. She had debated weather or not to report the snooping runner outside to the guards, it was a minor offense after all. Every new comer was curious. This indeviduol was not however new. She had been here long enough to become a tester, she should know better. Now she whatched, rather bored, as the foolish pup was pinned to the ground by one of her guards. She sighed, hearing an explosion go off from somehwere out on the floor.
Another one......
"An engineer had better be on that by now...." she growled under her breath.
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Victoria tried to shallow her breathing, knowing that even too deep of a breath could set the field off. She stared at the guard and waited.
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A guard glared at Jacob from the door, an annoyed look on his face as if the fox had disrupted something important. He quickly held out the package he carried, a plain square box with a file on top, which the guard pulled from his paws before slamming the door in his face. That seemed to be the normal reaction when dealing with people who had names instead of numbers, but it was better then getting cursed at or harrassed like the assembly workers.
No.
He corrected himself.
Not workers, but slaves.
With a sigh, the fox turned around and sprinted back down the cat walks, the rest of his delivery schedule playing over and over through his mind.
Engineering parts room, anodizing, hydraulics testing, med clinic: bay 5. Engineering parts room, anodizing, hydraulics testing, med clin...
His thoughts were cut off as the sound yelling reached his ears, movment flashing in the corner of his eye that caused him to hesitate and stop. Self preservation gave way to curiosity and he looked, a grimace creasing Jacobs muzzle as he veiwed the scene. A guard had someone trapped inside one of their fields, a runner that the fox recognized. What she did or how bad she could of **censor** up in front of the CEOs office made him scared for her, but even if he could help, doing so would be a near death sentance for both of them. So as to not draw attention to himself, he continued on his way, trying to push the horrors of this place out of his mind.
The machine was an absolute mess inside. A sea of twisted metal and broken parts made up what was left of the gear box, jaggaed metal jutting out were the explotion ripped through the side that leaked oil down to form a black pool on the floor. Andrew didnt know how they expected him to fix this, the machine was basically as good as scrap and next to unstable. But with a heavy sigh he continued anyway. The shark started out by gutting the inside, then did his best to salvage the back which held the gear pins. The flame of his welder hissed to life, sending out sparks as he placed it to the gnarled metal that bounced across his goggles.
"Damn it DAMN IT!" He growled, realizing it was not going to fix the problem. The factory would not be happy, and he regreated what he would have to do next, but he got up, collected his tools, and made his way to the Cheif Engineers office.
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"command!" He almost growled into his headset, quickly adding on a "sorry..."
The guard chief had been very suspicious of his guards recently; any hint of anger towards the command troops had resulted in some of them being "fired".
One of his friends, jason was his name, yelled at the guard chief, and the next day, he was gone.
He could have sworn he saw a worker that looked very much like him. but with a soldered shut jaw, and a sullen look in his eyes. more so than most of the other workers, if that was even possible.
"Command, what are my orders?"
"sorry about that 065. orders are to let the thing go. The side effects should be a good enough punishment."
He nodded. He had been in a capture field once; they had 'tested' a mk.3 stasis field on him... It was not fun.
he shook his head. He almost felt bad for the thing. but he couldn't do that. if he did that, if he humanized them, his job would become impossible. He would have feelings for them. He would give them leniency. and then he would end up like Jason he nearly shuddered at the thought.
He pressed a button on the side of his plate carrier vest, and the field suddenly, and anti-climatically fizzed out. it was there one second, and gone the next, the only proof that it had ever happened was a small ring of metallic dust around the offending thing, and the terrible feelings she must be getting.
"sorry." he whispered to it, pulling it back up roughly. then, he stood back up, kicked it hard enough to look good, but not so hard as to hurt it permanently, in one of its fleshier parts.
"NOW GET BACK TO WORK!"
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Victoria's vision was fuzzy, and her ears rang. The ground lurched at her as her shaking legs buckled and then cought themselves as she tried to avoid throwing up. Food in this place was far too rare and valuable to waste like that. When the guard kicked her she yelped instinctively, thought in reality it barely registered amidst the rest of her symptoms, and she clumsily tried to run off, only her artificial leg really working properly.
She shook her head, trying to remember her delivery scheduol in the midst of her fuzzy thoughts. She struggled unsteadily to the runner bunks, a steamy, cramped, concrete room full of bunk beds and the few possessions some of the runners had. She made her way over to the far wall, supporting herself on the beds as she went. A large bullpen boarding there, displaying the orders for each runner in a jumbled mess. It was all pretty obsolete actuolly considering how often a runner was usuolly stoppednalong their routs by engineers and such with new orders.
The red, mechanical eye focused easily on the image before her, scanning the messy scripts, most crumpled, torn, and smeared with oil and dirt. Her natural eye struggled to keep up with it's adoptive counterpart, swimming in and out of focus making her even more nauseous. She had a delivery to the infirmary but there was no way in hell that she would be doing that in her current condition, so she just settled for a very new job posted haphazardly on the top. Charred and greasy, it looked pretty bad wherever it came from. "Explosion, sector 8, urgent parts." There were more specific details bit she couldn't be bothered with it then. She simplynscooped up an empty pack on her way out and went off in the direction of the supply room.
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Angder continued his work for some time, the shift was almost at an end in fact when he noticed the tiger standing right behind him, one of the guards.
He paused his work, and perked his ears up, first mistake. The tiger saw this and immediately grabbed the back of his collar.
"Pausing work? Are you nervous about something? Or do you just enjoy wasting time?"
Angder stammered slightly "You... You were standing right behi-"
The Tiger pulled on the collar and then let go, Angder yelped as he fell backwards onto the floor, the tiger then crouched down next to him. "Feeling guilty? did something wrong did we?"
"N... No... I just thought-" Angder tried to get up, but the tiger pushed him down with one paw.
"Well you paused your work! so you did something wrong!" The tiger examined the wolf in front of him, and noted the number on its collar
"So... 54? do you enjoy your job here?"
"wha... what?"
"you know that if you have done something wrong... well, there are worse things than death for those such as you..."
Angder tried to hide his fear, but could not help but tense up "But... But... I haven't done anything..."
The tiger Grinned seemed to examine Angder carefully, The tiger flicked the side of Angder's muzzle, causing him to flinch, after a long pause, the tiger got to his feet and looked to the side at someone Angder could not see, "It was not him" He stated simply, "It was someone further up" The tiger glanced back down at Angder and smirked "In case I am wrong though..." The Tiger kicked Angder in the leg, hard, Angder yelped again, above him, he could see a pair of medics watching eagerly, so he tried to hide the pain he was in. The Tiger smirked when he realized what Angder was doing. "Worse things than death" He whispered, just loud enough for Angder to hear. and then he walked further up, watching each worker carefully, picking his next target.
As the tiger moved away, Angder climbed to his feet, he was badly shaken, but neither his back or his leg were seriously injured. He moved over to his seat, trying to hide his limp, and returned to work, despite the fact he was shaking, some part of him was... excited? He had fooled the guard, he HAD done something wrong, and yet the tiger had missed it! He smiled to himself at that thought. He risked a glance upwards, the medics were no longer intrested in him, he could finally relax, he had gotten away with just a couple of bruises, bruises he would have ended up with anyway he had no doubt.
A few minutes later, the shift ended, Angder got up and moved to get fed with the rest of the workers. There was a time when this part of the day was nightmarish, but now it was the only thing Angder looked forward to in the day, and his only chance to talk with the other workers, and it was one of only two chances to eat...
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Duernab walked away snarling, he glanced back at the production line. an object was missing off the line, he went looking for it and what did he find? NOTHING! not a damn trace! doubtless HE would get the blame.
On the plus side, he was off duty now. He glanced up at the catwalks, a pair of medics gave him the thumbs up, he waved back at them. a lot of their work was created by his actions, and they appreciated it. He felt no guilt at all for the actions he committed. after all, someone was going to rough up some workers, may as well be him...
Moving away, he wondered what to do with himself. then he noticed a familiar sight. "Barrett! you old puppy dog!" He said, mockingly "I heard over the radio you actually got one for a change, so what did you do to this one?" Duernab slouched against the wall next to Barrett, an idiotic grin on his face.
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Andrew walked up to the cheif engineer's office, a grimy wooden door stained by dirt and out before him. He reached a hand out, hesitating for a moment before rapping it against the foor a few times.
"Come in." A gruff voice called from inside.
Letting out a deep breath, the shark opened the door. The office was quite small, just barley big enough not to be considered a walk in closet. Rusty filing cabinets lined the walls, some popped open with schmatics and papers hanging out of them, almost spewing onto the dust covered floor. In the middle of the room behind a beaten desk sat a black wolf, a cigarette smouldering between his lips.
"What is it?" The chief said, only taking a quick glance up at intruding worker before returning his eyes to the papers on his desk. "If you got that press fixed you really shouldnt be coming to me." He grumbled.
Andrew paused, trying to get his thoughts together before answering. "That machine is basically scrap, the explosion shreaded the gearbox. All the gear pins are bent and half the firewall is missing. The other half looks like swiss cheese." The chief engineer just stared at him like he was stupid, raising an eyebrow and saying "Well? Go **censor** fix it."
The shark grinded his teeth, getting angry at the response. "I told you, there IS NO fixing it!" But as soon as the words came out he realized what he had done. Faster then Andrew could react, the wolf reached over the desk and grabbed his ID collar, pulling him inward and almost chocking him.
"You have NEVER caused me problems 104 so dont you start that shit now! You are going to fix that **censor** machine or ill get the guards to break your **censor** legs and send you to the medical clinic! Understand?!"
The smell of tobacco and tar rushed Andrews nose with each word and almost cuased him to gag, but he managed to nod. "Good." The chief engineer said, releasing his collar and basically throwing him backwards. "Now get back to work! And if you ever raise your voice at me again I WILL make sure you stay in the clinic until you are nothing but metal!"
Quickly scurrying out of the office, he walked back through the factory over to the machine, still as he had left it. He ran into a close call, and swore at himself for not controlling his anger.
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Barrett's lip curled in an angry scowl as he heard duernab call his name. He hated duernab. He was actually one of the few whom he hoped got 'fired', and he wouldnt wish that fate on hitler.
Instead of remarking on the obvious oxymoron that he had.just said, barrett had simply leaned back onto the grimy wall behind him, shaking his head and letting out an exasperstes sigh, hopefully telling him that he was not interested in talking to him.
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Duernab continued to smile, and tapped his claws against the wall. It was unfortunate for Barrett that Duernab did not give a damn if he actually WANTED to talk. In fact, the fact he didn't was half the fun.
"So what? did high command tell you you couldn't do anything? or did you just Wuss out?" The tiger punched Barrett on the arm playfully "I tell ya, runners? boring! can't do a thing to em, its the jobs on the assembly lines you want! nobody cares if you hit one of them a little too hard!" Duernab grinned evilly. "or do you care about those numbers too much to rough em up a little?" He purred. "Of course, old Barrett the puppy, always the softy!"
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"I did my job." Barrett said laconically "its not my faul I'm not a brutish, addlepated moron, like you."
He gave no obvious signs of tensing, or even looking at Duernab. He figured he would either lunge at him with his claws, or his jaws. Both of which could be easily countered. That is, if he even wanted to fight. But, knowing duernab, he would fight. He would give some long, tough speech that was just hot air. Or just simply try and punch him. He knew his type, he had to deal with them all of his life.
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Duernab looked at Barrett, looking hurt "Oh Barry! I thought we were friends!" he exclaimed, trying to hold back his laughter "Do you even care how I feel?" The tiger grinned nastily "Of course I guess its also not your fault that you are something... SOFT!" The tiger took a step back "Look at you, when was the last time you even hit someone at full strength? Your the laughing stock of the factory!" The tiger looked at Barrett. "Tell ya what, why don't I find some way to sharpen those claws of yours? Some dirty work to pass on to ya, make a real dog out of ya!" He lightly punched Barrett on the arm again.
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Jackson whatched the unfortunate soul of Andrew retreat from the chief engineer's office, surprisingly unscathed given the sounds and conversation Jackson had heard through the door. He sighed and trotted up alongside the fellow, offering a friendly smile, an odd look given the horribly disfigured features that made it up. "Dont mind him too much, that lazy sack of hair and smoke probobly wouldnt even be willing to get his ass out of that chair to drag it up to Fem's office to report you." His face fell slightly at the mention of the CEO's name, especially her nickname. He shivered a little. Some things never change. His smile was bright and sympathetic again in a moment as they reached the machine and he looked it over. He gave an impressed whistle. "Man you've really got a hell of a miracle to perform for this baby." He turned to Andrew. "I could help ya fix it up if you'd like, she ain't a total loss."
Victoria trotted up to the scene of the explosion, the effects of the field weak enough do her to at least suffer them without showing it too much now. The place looked like a bomb was dropped. She took a sharp breath in and let it out slowly. These kinds of explosions happened here almost on a monthly basis, the one that had taken her eye and leg was only a little bigger than this, and in a different kind of machine, she still felt for the injured workers none the less. She grabbed the burlap pack on her back and swung it over her shoulder and into the floor, where it opened to reveil various tools and spare parts. Admittedly she had been pretty out of it in the supply room so she didnt know how much would actuolly be useful but she put on a dumb, triumphant smile anyway and just waited for one of the engineers to come pick through it themselves.
Jackson spotted the newly arrived runner and began to make his way over to her, becoming Andrew to follow. He picked gingerly through the objects, gathering a few in a pile at his paws and tossing the others over his shoulder for the other engineers to tinker with. Eventuolly he looked up at Victoria and smiled. "Would you actuolly mind rumning to the scrap heap and bring my friend here and I some scrap metal"
Victoria cocked her head in confusion, puzzled by the request. "Th-the scrap heap? Are you sure? I could go get you some different parts if you need them just-" she was cut off by a violent shake of Jackson's head. "Nah, we need scrap metal, stuff that ain't useful anymore." Victoria was still perplexed but eventuolly shrugged it off. "Well, then, how much do you want?"
"As much as you can carry! And make two trips!" Jackson said excitedly, sounding like a puppy. As Victoria retreated her bag and set off in her out of the ordinary mission,Jackson turned back to Andre with a eide Fri and a twinkle in his eye. "Im gonna show you how a real engineer fixes things."
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"Well, ill have you knoe that I practice knife fighting in my spare time, and alsox as nerdy as it sounds, am competent with a European shortsword and shield."
He offered the tiger a smal, sardonic grin
"And..." he gave a small.pat to a sick looking combat knife in a kydex sheath on his hip "I know of about... maybe thirty ways I could kill you right now."
He blew an annoyed breath out of his nose
"So kindly f**k off."
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"OOO! bark? You have plenty of that! Look out for me, I want to test your bite at some point." The Tiger walked away from Barrett, tapping his claws against the wall while humming happily, just before turning the corner, he looked over his shoulder "Remember Puppy! try to have a little fun for once!" he then walked round the corner, sniggering to himself. Barrett. What a god-damn wimp.
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((Sorry for the TERRIBLE typing in that last post TT))
Barrett growled under his breath, watching as the tiger tapped away at the wall. That tapping, that infernal tapping, had meant many, many bad things for the shepherd, most of them had to do with duernab. Hell, duernab and Barret's mutual hate was quite well known, if a fight were to start, the ahepherd was fairly sure a few of his fellow giards would side with him. The smarter ones, at any rate.
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Dispite Andrews burning anger, he couldnt help but crack a smile as Jackson walked up to him. "Its not that lazy ass getting up im worried about, cause i mean, god knows he wouldnt do that. No im worried about him radioing up to the guards to come beat my ass sensless, then throw me in the clinic and call it a day." He laughed. The good feeling didnt last long though as they returned to the machine, a look of half anger and half exhaustion creeped across the sharks face. "And eh thanks. Another set of hands could be really useful on this. To great minds right?" He stood back and scratched his head in thought, looking over the machine, which looked more like a kindergarten project then a press, as a runner came and went with supplies. Breaking his concentration, he collected a few parts left behind and grabbed his tool belt. "I hope that runner knows we need stainless steel, you forgot to tell her before she left. Also, that reminds me." Andrew reached out and grabbed another runner as he ran by.
A hand on Jacobs shoulder made him stop, nearly making him spill his package onto the ground. He hated when the engineers did that, just abruptly stop him like that, but then again it was his job to get anything they needed. "I need you to grab two torches with full acetylene tanks, and some ignitors. Quickly, if you can." The engineer told him. The fox nodded, deciding his current delivery could wait for later, and headed off to the supply room.
As the runner left, Andrew walked over and dug his hands into the blown out hole of the machine, digging out chunks of metal. "A real engineer eh? 002, if we ever get out of here, we are going to be the best damn engineers on this planet."
-
Sanders indicated a table with 3 other people sitting at it, a cat, a snake, and the fox who was called 59. the one with the mechanical hand "You are sure none of these people are..." Angder stammered... "Yes" Sanders stated, "I trust most workers to keep their head down even if they don't want to get involved... just stay away from Yind... she would give up her own grandmother if she believed she would get an easy life from it..." Sanders sighed. "You are probably not going to survive this you know..." Angder looked back at him "I have to try..." Angder stated "Even if it kills me"
He peered into his bowl, grey goop. same thing every day. Tasteless. artificial. He looked up. "So... Sanders told you the basic idea right" the 3 nodded, and then Frenix, the snake, spoke. "You want to plan an escape..." The cat, Krin, barely a teenager, shook her head and spoke "Its ambitious, I will give you that, but last time someone tried he well..." 59, the fox with a mechanical hand, smiled at Krin "You can say he was killed. no need to use codewords here" The snake glanced around frantically, then leaned forward "There are 3 doors out of here that we could plausibly use, the front entrance only opens to let new workers in, it is heavily guarded, but opens regularly and if we are quick." Angder shook his head "No way we can sneak through without being seen, and shot. exiting that way is practically impossible" The snake sighed "Thought you would say that..."
"The second one I know of is in the guards barracks..." The cat choked on her goop at that "WHAT? you can not be seriously saying?" The snake raised a finger to silence her. "Lightly guarded, not often locked... it actually looks quite promising if you ignore the location. someone small and stealthy COULD sneak out that way if they pick their timing correctly" 59 shook his head "If your caught you may as well break your own legs though" he stated "No way they would let a worker get away with sneaking into their place"
"The third option is we exit the same way metal comes in." Angder rested his head on his paw, and looked up at the snake "That is stupid, you would have to make it to the far side of the factory, and the door is guarded, AND you would need to..." Suddenly the cat spoke up "AH Yind! fancy seeing you here! you know... eating... when its time for..." 59 elbowed the cat, silencing her. Angder turned to see Yind standing right behind him. "I see there is a spare seat? mind if I sit down" she said. Angder smiled and tried not to look uncomfortable "Of course Yind, you are always welcome..."
They tried to keep talking about other things, tried not to act suspicious. Yind was a snitch, a grass, anything they said would go straight to the nearest guard. for all intents and purposes, their planning was over for the day. They would resume tomorrow...
Angder glanced nervously at 59's metal hand... for him, barely able to work? there might not be a tomorrow...
-
Jackson chuckled. "And you bet im gonna be charging up the ass for it!" He turned and grinned brightly as he heard the bell-like clang of the runner again, the sound of her metallic claws distinct as anything. "I have to admit im a littlesurprised," he said jokingly as the smaller canine aapproached, panting under the wieght of the shrapnel on her bavk. "The runners may be the fastest things on this floor but they dont usuolly use that speed go much beyond getting their hides to safety."
Victoria gave an indignant snort as she set her things down but it had no bite to it. His observation was true of corse..... usuolly it just wasnt said out loud. She cought her breath for a moment more before being shoed of again for another load.
Jackson smiled at his new pile of raw material, eyeing it like a pup eyes a new toy. "Lets see what we can do with this lot......" he said wistfully, examining each peice. He looked up and around at the surrounding machines still in working order and locked onto one.the material was gathered up with a messy set of clans and he staggered off towards it, struggling with the load and dropping small peices as he went. He dropped by the maching. Letting the metal fall in a pile before him. He sifted it flat with his paws so that no peaches wear overlapping, and pushed the whole mess into the narrow gap beneath the chugging machine. It was dark and empty, not serving any perpose besides ventilation for the machine, but he could feel the intense heat against jis fur amd he withdrew his paws. He stood with a saticfied sigh and trotted back to Andrew, cleaning up the fallen scraps as he went. "This now we wait." He said with glee amd he took a spot next to the shark and began to reach his own working paws into the managed metal guts. "Parts like these cant much be of use anymore, " he held up a twisted peice of steel "so we gotta make new ones." He set the part aside in a small pile of similar objects that was begining to accumulate beside him. "Because ironically enough the biggest manufacturer of artificial limbs, military technology and weaponry, cant seem to make anything for it's own machines." He carried the new load over and retrieved the only one, carrying it back with care, deftly maneuvering mot of the carrying woth his already metallic hind leg. The claws made it very easy actuolly.
The metal was hot and malleable, but not melted yet, and with hammer in hand he auickly began beating it imto the rough sharp of one of the panels.
-
Shortly after eating Angder moved to his... bed... a sort of Sack laying on the floor, he was not sure what time it was outside, but in here time had little meaning anymore, so he lay there on the floor, looking at the 50 or so other workers in the same room, and went to sleep almost immediately.
One of the few advantages of being overworked. sleeping was actually surprisingly easy...
Meanwhile on the production-line, a Raccoon was working.
"Twist the top... in the machine... out the machine... on the conveyer belt"
"Twist the top... in the machine... out the machine... on the conveyer belt"
"Twist the top... in the machine... out the mach..." Something caught the raccoons eye, he reached for it, something hidden right under his work station...
-
Barrett sighed, blowing an annoyed breath of air through his snout. He was bored. He wanted to play some sort of game on his phone, but he was on duty. He couldn't do that. So instead, he yawned, scanning over the workers with weary eyes. He was glad his shift was almost over.
-
While Jackson worked on the metal, Andrew finished gutting the machine. He pulled out what was left of the gears and gear pins, and tried to reconnect a hydraulic hose which only succeeded in spraying himself with fluid. "Screw that, I would give dirt poor rates if it ment doing any work that didnt involve this place." He chuckled. He was sure both him and 002 knew it was never going to happen, but it was always nice to think and talk about, made the job seem to go easier. Yhe shark looked up as the other runner came, handing him a set of tourches before nodding and running off to probably finish his other tasks. "Heads up" Andrew said, tossing a torch over to Jackson. He looked back down at his, turning it on and adjusting the heat to an appropriate level. "Now lets see if we can do something!"
-
Kat stood in close line, head bent down, the sooty leather of another engineer's jacket inches from her muzzle. That was 490 and behind her stood 368, she could feel his shuddering breath warm against her neck. Even amongst themselves Riggers rarely knew each other by name, and so her true label was simply 501. No point in getting to know someone who might be dead the next day.
And here came the clank of shiny black boots on the catwalk, heralding the arrival of the Gang-Master. Something had gone wrong today down on the production lines. The smell of burning metal still filled the air and the Master was known for his short temper even at the best of times. He was tall, broad shouldered and reptilian with close-knitted grey scales under his uniform. On her first day here Kat had been told by other workers that he was a dragon. A Komodo Dragon in fact, and that a single saliva-ridden bite from him would leave you dead in hours. She believed it alright, daring only the slightest of glances up as he inspected the engineers closely.
"Fine." The Gang-master finally hissed, twisting an electro-whip in his clawed grasp. "You miserable dregs are fit for work, get to it!" And after a crackling lash of his whip the line of Riggers in unison stamped their boots with a thundering crash and bellowed the drilled response: "Yes Master, Sir!"
-
Jackson smiled at the shark's good humour. Other m emebers of the factory usuolly weren't nearly this kind to his friendly chit chat. He placed aside another large slab of flattened metal, later to be applied as an external plate. He picked through the pile of gutted out patterning to find things that could be salvaged, or at the very least built apon. The eventuolly amassed mound was carried bavk over to his spot out of the way where he began to work again, barely having to look down thanks to the routine of it all. It was as easy as tying a boot. He glanced nav over his shoulder at his companion, flashing another unintentionally grizzly grin. "So where'd you come from anyway? I imagine you had a life outside this place at one point?"
Frost sighed, lounging out across the edge of the scaffolding as she whatched the engineers repair the carnage of an explosion bellow. It wasnt fair! The other medics had swooped in and grabbed all the injured in seconds while she was stuck all the way over on the other side of the factory! Even at a full sprint everything was already clean by the time she even came within sight. Now there were just these engineers cleaning up, and the machine was too blown to bits to be functional so there wasnt even a chance they'd get hurt doing it. She ground her fangs in annoyance. If only one of them would just hit themselves woth something, or attack the other, SOME freak accident! She gave a huff and rolled over. It just wasnt fair.....
-
A bundle of paper, and an envelope arrived at one of the guard station 3. A wolf grabbed it from the runner, who immediately fled back down the catwalk. the wolf snorted, and looked at the package. "Duernab?" The wolf turned as the tiger approached. "Its for you."
Duernab sat down with the package, inside the envelope was the dud from the production line. He examined the piece of paper. "Worker 54... Oh. you are going to get it!" He looked up, and then smiled. "Actually this is exactly what I need, how long until barrett comes off duty?" He smiled nastily, "Also someone fetch a medic, I know some who would be quite excited to know what I want to do..."
-
"Officer Fulton, 10-66 in the engineering floor. You'll be accompanying officer Duernab." Barrett sighed, groaned, and stood. another job with F**king Duernab.... today's shaping up nicely...
"Copy. 10-4." He groaned into the radio, practically growling. He would definitely need to go out on the town tonight... find some booze, and a nice warm bed, with a nice, warm lady.
He shifted the safety back and forth on his rifle, a low, uncontrolled growl escaping from his throat as he walked to where he was told
-
Victoria jogged across the scaffolding at her usuol pace, the pack full of shrapnel bouncing gently against her ginger fur. The effects of the field still buzzed behind her eyes, her thoughts were a bit muddled, seeming to do just enough to get the next paw on the ground before fizzling out and leaving an ache in the back of her skull like it were being cracked open with a meat cleaver. She cursed the guards in her head, the image of the one she had encountered that morning flashing into her mind's eye for a moment. She waited for it to fizzle out like the rest and only had a second to puzzle over why it didnt before she smashed strait into that very same, very real, guard.
A startled yelp escaped her lips followed by a jumbled string of apologies, only to be choked off when she fully realized the situation. Her pack had fallen from her back and split open, spewing its contents all over the scaffoldingand raining bits down on the floor bellow. She stared at the huardnin shocked silence, her jaw agape with nothing to say.
-
"sonofa-" Barrett squeezed out, cursing as he tumbled to the floor, hands flying instinctively outward to keep himself from hitting his head
The security guard shook his head, climbing to his feet with a somewhat angry sigh. He honestly couldn't fault the worker... she just bumped into him. It's not like it was...
then, a wave of excruciating pain hit him, emanating from his left hand. The shepherd blinked, looked down, and saw what the cause of the pain was.
A particularly large piece of shrapnel had lodged itself in his paw, it's jagged metal edged gleaming faintly in the low, orange light of a nearby smelter
"F**CK!" he screamed, shaking his head, nearly kicking the thing that lay before him. but he stopped himself. He always stopped himself.
"Get the hell out of here." He hissed through clenched teeth "before I rip this f**cking thing out of my hand and shove it so far down your throat you'll be S**tting metal for a week. Got that?"
-
Victoria scrambled to her paws, panic flooding her viens and making her trip. For the love of the gods could she just catch a break today!? She could hear other footsteps pounding towards her from behind, clearly about to block her escape route. Of corse not, she was an "employee" of EverE, what was she thinking? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily. Only one thing left to do now. The only thing she and the rest of her work class was any good for. She opened her eyes wide, spun on her heals, and broke off into a full sprint down the scaffolding, he metallic claw banging the metal of it like a gong. She shot past the other guard, close enough to feel him brush the tips of her fur. At least she thought it was the guard, no way in hell she was taking the chance to look back and find out for sure. Her heart raced as fast as she as she tried to keep focus.
-
Barrett cursed. Had his hand not been wounded, he would be firing short, staccato bursts at the running worker, hopefully immobilizing it.
and, though he could fire with just one hand, his rifle was designed to be used with two. so he stood just as good a chance to shoot his fellow guard as he did shooting the worker.
so he simply keyed the microphone on his throat and said "Sector 22-B, we have a 10-91V! I am wounded, unable to pursue. Another guard is chasing after the 10-91V. I am awaiting medical help."
-
Duernab spoke up over the radio "Barrett? you injured?" even over the radio Duernab sounded annoyed. "Still able to accompany me?" He asked.
-
"my hand is F**ked. There's a thing of shrapnel like... an inch long stuck in the thing. nothing our med-techs can't handle, but I cannot go with you. "
"Again, this is security officer Fulton requesting immediate medical aid. Non emergency."
-
Duernab almost broke his radio as he switched it off in disgust, he glanced to the 3 guards accompanying him. "Barrett is out... now can SOMEONE please get a medic? We will need one after what I am going to do..." He snarled, and started drumming his claws against the wall as he walked, listening to the other three talk into their radios.
-
Andrew let out a sigh, looking over to Jackson. "Yeah, I had a life outside of this, one that I took for granted. I was an engineer outside of this place, but got mixed up in some shady business. It was nothing to bad, and I didnt do anything directly. But when the top of the pyramid fell, the lower levels did to, and I was guilty by association. Was suppose to go to jail yanno? But the bus ended up pulling in here. Thought it was a god send, that I was finally getting a break. Oh how wrong I was." He flipped a pair of black goggles over his eyes and touched the torch to the jagged metal, burning through it. "What about you 002? You had a life?"
Jacob could hear the screaming, but payed no mind. It wasnt uncommon for one person to be yelling at another in this place, and he didnt want to get involved and face punishment. The fox looked down at the package in his hands and gripped it tighter, an uneasy feeling rising in his throat. It was his last delivery for the day, but one that took him to the med lab, a place he dreaded going. They always looked at him with mad eyes, seeing that his body was still completely flesh. It made him uneasy each tim. The runner saw a "doctor" leaning against the scaffolding and approached, immediately out stretching the package to her. "Delievery for bay three, extra antibiotics and narcotics." He said to Frost.
-
Frost's head snapped to attention only to droop and her face slip into one of bored disappointment as she saw who it was who had addressed her. She looked him over with a bit of a underclass scowl a trait she still carried.from her days in her family's mansion as a certified aristocrat. She took note of him, a standard runner, but with a notable lack of any mechanical parts. She squinted, maybe they were on the inside, she knew of at least one worker around her who had metal teeth no one could see unless he bared them. It was some of her first work she had done for the factory, and admittedly some of her finest. She wasnt some scorned engineer or mad scientist like the other medics. She was an artist. She took great pride in the beauty and intimacy of her craft, not to mention the act of creating, and as she looked the runner before her up and down she strongly noted that she was in dire need of a new "canvas".
After the moment of distaste her face split into a sweet smile and she took the package gently, hugging it to her. "Oh thank you, ill deliver it to the infirmary right away!" She began to turn but stopped, turning back to the runner with a lok of inocent confusion on her face. "If you dont mind me asking, why wouldnt you delivernit strait there yourself? A big strong runner like you isnt scared of it right?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackson chuckled, shaking his head. "Damn...... that's some rough stuff right there. As for me though, I aunt got nothing waiting for me outaide these walls. I was born here, raised here, and for all I know, ill damn well die here. The only thing I may have is whoever my mom or dad's family were but for all I know they're both gone so theres a hell of a chance id ever meet em. A big dog named Richard took care of me as a puppy, like the big brother I never had....... he's gone to though......" Jackson's eyes got distantnfor a moment as he trailed off, smiling gently at the air in front of him. Something snapped him back soon though and his big goofy smile returned. "Folks around heretics me a lot of crap for "strutting around like I own the place" as they say, but I guess I jus got nothin to loose. This isnmynhome, why shouldn't I be comfortable in my own home?" He let out another chuckle as he beat a peice of metal bavk into sharp and measurednit up against another. "Love hearing stories about the outside though!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Victoria could feel her heart beat in her eyes and could barely hear the guard's demands over the pounding. She'd heard the lies before though, everyone had. Hell, you hot hurt when you stayed put and do your job, what made anyone think you'd get out unscathed when you actuolly did something? Her mind rushed to process the scafolding before her, matching it up to the map in her mind as she went. There was only so much farther she could go before ahe hit something bad. The guard station, the infirmary, any of the higher offices, all of them were good spots for her pursuers to get reinforcements as she knew they would. Even then she couldnt keep this up forever, she just had to hope that her expirience as a runner meant she could keep it longer than they could.
-
Jacob began to feel uneasy, this medic was looking at him the same way they all did. He almost let out a sigh of relief when she began to turn, but froze when she spoke again. The fox wanted to run, everything in him TOLD him to run, but doing so would surly land him in the med clinic. The sweet smile. The innocent look. The flattery. Jacob knew it was all fake. Fabricated to try and get him more comfortable around her, but he would not be swayed. Nobody was innocent in this factory. "Im not necessarily scared of it, but everytime I go in they tell me to give my package to a doctor. So now, Ive learned to deliver straight to medics, saves a hassle for everyone."
Andrew's ears pulled back a little and he glanced over his shoulder at Jackson. "Hope you dont mind if I say, but that sucks. I cant imgine growing up in a place like this let alone being born in it." He turned back to his work, finished melting the jagged edges off one side and moving on ti the other. "I havnt seen the outside world in some time, and my memory of it is a bit fuzzy, but if you have any questions about it I could try my best to answer them."
-
Duenab was pissed, he tapped his claws on the wall, losing all rhythm so it became just a series of irregular scraping sounds. A pair of medics turned up, and followed a short distance behind them.
The Lizard guard to Duernabs right spoke up as they approached their target "Sleeping quarters for 50 - 100" The lizard grinned "98, and 54 right?" Duernab grunted. "Damn right, Grunen, you get 98, official policy states he is new enough to be let off one last time with nothing more than a kick. but I want him to see 54 before 54 ends up..." Duernab turns to the medics behind them "Yea... that" Duernab grinned evilly. "You!" Duernab gestured to the rat on his left "Get the door, and as for you" He gestured to the third and final guard, a Zebra "you make sure no-one else interferes"
The Zebra spoke up. "What is the official policy on 54?" she asked, nervously. Duernab turned around and grinned "Conspiracy, possibly attempting to escape if our source in there is correct, Deliberate deception... the punishment for that... whatever I feel appropriate" Duernab snarled, a twisted smile appearing on his face. "Wanted to get Barrett to do it for me, 2 birds with one stone kinda thing... but I guess this way at least the job will get done...."
~~~~~~~
Angder woke to the sound of boots approaching, he looked up as the shadow stopped right on top off him... the Tiger looked down at him "54...?" The Tiger dropped an object next to Angder, the dud piece bounced off the floor loudly. "Care to explain this?" The Tiger asked, Angder looked up at him, he knew what was coming, and tried to crawl away. The tiger crouched down, and put a paw on Angder's chest, pushing him to the ground "That's what I expected..."
~~~~~~~
The entire room was watching 54's punishment... all except Sanders... Sanders was watching 121, or Yind. In a way they were not that different, both had more power than someone in their position was meant to have, both could even move where they were working and sleeping almost at will. but Yind payed the company, while he simply ensured doing what he said was a necessity. If he told the workers to jump, they jumped, not because he threatened them, but because they respected him. He knew what he was doing, and had a lot of respect. That made him dangerous to keep around, but also dangerous to kill.
Yind? she gave the company information, bribed them for an easier time, when Yind asked for something, you gave it to her, not doing that would get you tagged for doing something wrong, and the company always could find SOMETHING you were doing wrong. Now? Here she was, SMILING as 54 got kicked, and beaten. true, his plan to try to escape was stupid, and probably unworkable, but to ENJOY watching what happened to him... Still, at least the other 3 might get discouraged... he did not want anyone else to get hurt...
Sanders sighed, there was no escape from this place, you had to make do with what you had here, improve life for those in here, show the company that treating its workers well was better, and hope it listened. so far progress had been made, mouldy bread turned into the grey goop, for example... that was the sort of change they should aim for...
~~~~~~~
Angder lay, whimpering, the tiger had not held back, his leg was broken, bent and twisted out of position, his arms were covered in bruises... he peered up at the tiger, "pl,pl.... please just... st~" The tiger looked at him, "STOP TALKING" it yelled throwing a punch right at Angders Jaw, it connected and Angder blacked out, falling to the ground with an audible thud.
~~~~~~~
Duernab walked away from 54. "You two! medics! I think he's learnt his lesson, you take it from here" Grunen, who had pushed 98, a raccoon, as close to the wolf as possible, let go of him, allowing him to hurry back to his bed. Duernab turned to the room when he got to the door. "WELL? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? GET BACK TO SLEEP WORKERS!" The workers all climbed back into their sacks, and tried not to move. The medics loaded 54 onto a stretcher, and the 6 of them, led by Duernab, left the room. "I think that went well" Duernab commented "He won't be breaking any rules here for a loooong time, serves him right for laughing in my face when I was looking for that damn dud...." Duernab smiled cheerfully at the other 3 guards, the two medics were already heading to the medical wing. carrying the wolf...
-
Victoria cried out with the hit, crumbling to the floor and sliding several feet with her momentum. It was her back right leg, it throbbed with the pain in a sickening rhythm. Air hissed slowly through her teeth as she tried to stand again, only to feel a heavy, unfriendly wieght on her back. She tried to struggle but only wound up hitting her injured leg again witch instantly shot up an angry jolt of pain in protest and she fell still. What was the point? Even if she did get up she couldn't run.
Frost was a little irittated, she could sense his hesitation, he wasnt buying it and it infuriated her. She was the angel daughter of one of the richest families to ever touch this whole city, how dare he!? She quickly remembered he didnt know this though and kept it to herself. "Awww but why? Everyone's so nice in the infirmary!" She piped, deciding to keep it up simply to spite him. She reached out and grabbed him, linking her elbow with his and pulling him towards th infirmary. "Come on, ill show you, may be we just need to let you meet them!"
Jackson's eyes lit up and he tapped a thoughtful and unkempt claw against his chin. "Hell, I dont even know where to start, Richard and everyone used to tell me about it when I was a pup but I still have so many questions. What are plants like?" He asked exitedlt. " I mean, I heard green and soft but that cant be it."
-
Jacobs eyes grew wide as the medic hooked him, clearly intent on dragging him into that hell hole. He wasnt hurt, she couldnt just bring him in could she? COULD SHE? But he already knew the answer, it was yes, she could, and the fact that he had yet to be touch by anything mechanical made him a prime candidate. His fast thinking tended to save him in situations like this, and the fox quickly thought up a lie. "Im sure they are ma'am, but I had to run down to the chief engineers office after this delivery for something important, and if I miss that dead line hes going to be pissed. " He tried pulling back on his arm that was firmly in her grasp, planting his feet and stammering "S-so maybe w-w-we could meet the doctors sssome other time?" Oops. He mentally kicked himself for studdering, knowing he just revealed his nervousness.
Andrew continued the hot flame down the other side if the jagged metal, contemplating the question while the metal seared off. "Plants. Well, they arnt just green, not all of them anyway. Things like flowers are all different colors." He stopped for a moment, wondering if Jackson knew what a flower was. He explained anyway, just in case. "A flower is something truly beautiful, usually pop up in the spring after weather clears up like a field of rainbows. Smell good too, many fragrances that fill the air. Then there are things like trees and bushes, varying in species. Trees are tall and all green at the top, but change color during the fall to beautiful reds and yellows and oranges and browns." He paused again, smiling to himself. "Ive almost forgotten what that looks like. Almost." The shark continued back on his work, cutting off the last jagged edge and leaving a square hole where the parts blew out, ready yo be covered and welded again. "Sorry if its not much of an explenation, but there is a lot to cover on that subject."
-
Jackson's eyes sparkled like a puppy listening to a fairytale at bedtime. "Woah, Richard never went into much detail, he was never really much for descriptive language. All I really knew about were green plants and flowers. Fem was the one who told me about flowers. At night when I got scared as a puppy and Richard was off working on something, id go curl up with her and she'd tell me about flowers and this real nice girl she used to know named Avery, and all the flowers she liked to grow in their old apartment....." he trailed off at the end with a contented smile before suddenly perking up and looking around. "Where did that runner go? She should have been back a while ago with more scraps." He shook his head and sighed. "Ill just go get it myself. You try and get some of these new parts to fit that machine, okay?" And with that he dashed off towards the scrap pile.
As soon as he disapeared from sight, an old wolfhound working on another part of the machine a ways down looked up and hissed, trying to get Andrew's attention. "Hey, hey you, kid!" He held his head low and his old rusty metal jaw squeaked as he spoke almost as much as his dry old voice. "I wouldnt associate with that there freak if I were you, oup's crazier than a rabid cat with a smoke. He just ain't right." His eyes narrowed. "Why do you think he's so happy all the time? And he still got that hole in his head 'stead of a new eye. Hell, id be danced if you wake up one night woth his paws 'round your neck and that dopey grin looking down on ya. He's the last survived of that old rebellion years back and ain't nobody sees what he seen and gets out alright. Jus' whatch yourself son." The old sog's eyes were dull but looks on the shark with conviction be for darting back down busily to their work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost turned and pouted up at him, giving him her biggest puppy dog eyes. "Aww, that's a shame, you should come back later! Or even better! Ill come to the bunks amd get you after your shift and we can go meet them together! That't'll be fun!" She leaned up and gave him a sweet peck on the cheek and a gentle shove off. "Off you go, ill see you later!"
-
Duernab walked towards the nearest guard post, when he heard more commotion over his radio. "Tybalt? got the one that got Barrett? heh. let me take a look at this"
He climbed up from the factory floor, a couple of other guards also followed. eventually he came to see Tybalt and 305. "Right..." he crouched down next to 305 and lifted her head with one paw, so the runner was looking right at him, he also notes the number on her collar. "What are we going to do with you then?" Duernab grinned nastily, and then let her head drop again before turning on his radio "There are... err... five? yes five guards up here, including me, you know what 305 has done. what the hell do we do with her?" Duernab looked up at Tybalt, he did not know the deer, but he clearly was someone he could get along with... He smiled at him, and mouthed "Good work"
-
Duernab shook his head "You want to leave so soon? You caught her. Boss will want to know! maybe you will get a promotion" Duernab grinned, and then fumbled with his Radio again, and tapped his foot.waiting for his orders.
-
Whoever this medic was, she was a good actor. If it had been a fiffrent time. A diffrent place. Then maybe Jacob would of thought she was genuine. But to find her display of kindness, affection, and innocence in a place like this actually scared him more then if she flat out dragged him kicking and screaming in there. "Y-yeah, right" he said, wasting no time in running away when she shoved him off. The fox hurried back down the scaffolding, swearing inside his head. It was only a matter of time before the medic found out his shift ended in ten minutes, and that the clinic was his last run of the day. He needed to think if something to him busy so he had an excuse.
Andrew grimiced at the old dogs words, but mauled them over in his head. He knew 002 wasnt quite right, this place can do that to you, but he didnt think he was capable of anything like murder. He wouldnt push 002 quite out of his life yet, but would be weary. Picking up the parts from the ground, the shark got to work, firing up his torch once more and welding in the new gear pins.
-
"Christ guys, when a guard gets hurt he can't get any docs, but when one of the workers gets hurt you guys-"
"Shut the hell up fulton, and walk your damn self to the clinic."
The shepherd was quickly cut off by a smooth, bored sounding voice. His voice, and his deportment (If you could see him that is) all betrayed that he was a snobbish, self assured prick who 'Knows his place in the world, and that place is above all of you'
"But..."
"It's not serious. you can walk, you can talk. And I'm busy, so get the hell off the airway."
"Fine. And I get to decide what happens to that runner, I'm the one most directly affected by it. so, it makes a certain degree of-"
"Company regulation states that a beating will be delivered, at the discretion of the observing security officer. since you couldn't catch her, whoever does gets to beat the tar out of her. then I get to fix her."
There was a sigh audible over the radio as barrett started trudging to the med clinic, wincing slightly at the pain in his hand
-
Duernab grins evilly, hearing the instructions come through on his radio, he passes a baton to Tybalt. "Ok, I don't think we have met, but I want to see what your made of. I can hold her down if you like, though with that leg, I don't think its necessary."
-
Victoria tried to be as indifferent as possible as she was handled my the other guards, a form of "playing dead" so to speak adopted by most workers who had been in the factory long enough to get more than a dozen beatings or so. It was a sort of running experiment in an unspoken way, trying to see what may possibly be able to be done to ensure the lightest beating possible. Most liked it if they could get some good screams and sobs out of some but that could lead to making them too happy with their work to where after long enough there'd be nothing left of you to scream. And silence either made them bored or angry.
As she looked up at the guard who had cought her though she glimpsed a swift moment of sympathy in his eyes and her chest buzzed with a jumping hope as she stared at him pleadingly. Too bad that only made it hurt worse when the blow hit her back. She let out a choked yelp but the wind was knocked out of her too quickly to make much more of a sound. She gasped on the floor like a fish out of water, pawing at the ground as she tried to suck in air again.
-
Duernab sighed. "unless you are trying to cuddle it into submission I have no idea what the hell you think you are doing" Duernab forces Tybalt off the runner with his foot. "Look at you, its a god-damn number, 305 to be precise." Duernab said, exasperated. "Look, do you know what the numbers are?" Duernab grinned nastily, and pushed Tybalt against the railing of the scaffolding "They are the same as whats directly behind you right now, NOTH. ING. NOTHING. It stopped being something when it walked through the door. REMEMBER THAT! they don't need your apologies! They are things to be played with!" Duernab then stormed off. Another wimp, and this one is even worse than barrett...
As the Tiger walked he tapped the railing with his claws, an irregular tap. Duernabs short lived good mood had come to an end.
-
Victoria's already uneven breath hitched as she forum herself suddenly embraced my the guard. Her whole body tensed, much to the chagrin of the injured parts of it, amd her fur stood on end. This had never happened before and she genuinely didnt know how to handle it. Any sort of touch that didn't hurt seemed.... foreign. She could hear, or more feel, his words against her neck and they only added to her confusion. "I- " her stuttered out response was cut off as the guard was removed by one of his co-workers. The dense air of the facility seemed to hit her all over again as she once again found herself exposed on the floor. She whatched him get chewed out before the decidedly more violent guard moved off in a little fit of anger, reminding her of a little black void of rage as he stormed away. She turned her eyes back to the guard who had hit her and..... helped her, and flattened her ears a bit in sympathy. Usuoly no one gave the guards crap accept maybe the newbies, for the most part they almost seemed as close s the world's WORST frat. She leaned forward tentatively, looking him over. "I-Im sorry," she swallowed, trying to steady her voice "thank you"
-
Jacob had been running down the catwalks when had to stop, the way infront of him blocked by a scuffle. The guards had the same runner he saw earlier pinned to the floor, then hit her with a baton. But what happened next confused him. The guard dropped his baton and... seemed to be crying? Bending down and massaging the spot he hit on the runner before being chewed out by his colleague. As the tiger cane storming by the fox flattened himself against the wall to let him pass, adverting his eyes down to the floor. The other two were blocking the closest way down to the floor, and glancing back towards the clinic, he hoped they would finish this up quickly.
-
A drone quickly ambled over to victoria, propelled by a set of four, large rotors. They looked like they could cut a man's head off (and, in fact, if one looked closely enough, one would see the faintest traces of blood on the propellers, but they were whirring at a razor-fast speed, so that was invisible to the naked eye)
The drone was a smallish, squat thing, just what was needed and nothing more. In all honesty, the thing looked like a metal box with rotors strapped to it.
But, Victoria likely knew what that thing was. Most workers did.
It was the thing come to take her to the clinic, to replace all of her wounded limbs (and then some) with cold, hard metal.
"Worker 305, You are to lay on the ground, and make no further movements. Comply and you will not be harmed any more than necessary." The thing bommed, from tinny speakers
Though that was a lie. The tractor Fields, or "UFO beams" as the workers had come to call them, hurt like you were being crushed. It was said that if one of these came to get you, and not one of the medics (they tend to like to be up-close and personal when they grab their creations), you were an extremely unlucky, as The doctors that make many, many prostheses per day use those. Wainewright, one of the nice ones, used one, but many more used their own personal fleet of "Saucers" (though, as aforementioned, they looked much more like a box)
Duernab would be happy to see that thing take her off, most likely.
-
The Robot said nothing. If it could talk, if it could think, it would have sighed. But it could do neither. If it had an operator, he (or she) would likely have made a crack about how stupid Tybalt was. But it didn't, so the notional drone operator stayed silent.
With a loud, alien sounding "whu-whump" sort of noise, a blue field of almost blinding light enveloped Victoria, carrying her kicking and screaming away.
The thing had simply not been programmed to respond to such commands as the deer's.
Thankfully, the sheer amount of pain that the field caused made her black out within seconds, as the thing ferried her off (hopefully) to a doctor like Wainewright.
-
Victoria attempted to get up, perhaps try to help in some way, but the little metal drone was apon her in a second. The field it produced was just as painful as it was infamous for and she struggled and kicked out at it s she felt herself begining to slip away into unconsciousness. The guard had bothered to help her, and she did not want a kindness that rare to go to waste. As the world finally sputtered to black she threw out one last desperate blow in the air with her artificial leg, finding it colliding with the cold metal underside of the drone. There waa harsh metallic scratch as the two metals fought for supremesy, and eventuolly it was the soft underside of the drone that caved. It was build to fly around and carry workers. Sure, it could withstand a crash or two but they were cheaply made and rather disposable, they're fields had a habbit of glitching up after a year or two anyway. Her paw on the other hand had been designed to withstand the mileage placed apon it by a runner, so the hard metal practically tore through the drone's underside.
The light burned out and she hit the ground with a thub, hitting her head a bit and blacking out as she finally lost consciousness fully. The drone on the other hand was wrecked, a large, ugly gash and dent mating the operative underside.
-
Victoria's brows furrowed slightly at the voice, it was a guard's orders, she had better wake up, and quick. Her brows scrunched up slightly and a little groan slipped past her lips, every fiber of her body feeling like it was groaning alongside it in complaint of having to wake up. When one blacks out, they generally stayed that way for a bit, well, this was EverE, and words like "generally" didn't aply. And when a guard asked you something it didn't matter if you were dyeing in your bed, you perked up and answered.
Jackson trotted happily back out to his work station, a little bundle of metal in his grasp that he quickly emptied on the ground. He straightened up and sighed. "I didn't see any sign of that little runner, maybe she decided she had more important things to do."
-
Jacob stood there dumbfounded, confused and still trying to process what happened. Since when did guards care about workers? The fox watched as the deer picked up the other runner and started off towards the med clinic, knowing there was a was to save both her ass and his. "Excuse me sir " Jacob said, stepping in front of Tybalt as he came near. "I dont know why you did what you did, and Im not going to question your actions, but if you take 305 to the ned clinic then all you did would be for nothing. Please, if you want to help her further then take her back to the runners barracks. We look after our own so she'll be taken care of. Ill even finish the rest of her runs today but I beg of you, dont let the doctors get her hands on her." He looked back to the infermery, hoping he could convince this guard before the medics came out here to retrieve the runner themselves.
Andrew flipped up his welding goggles as 002 came back. He had already replaced the new gears, pullies, and belt inside the machine and was now working on filing down the edges he had burned off. The shark looked over the metal on the ground, mauling over hiw to go about making the panal. "Yeah, maybe. Though it would of been nice if she could of at least told us first before up and leaving." He said.
-
Jacob grimaced, knowing he would have to choose his next words very carfully. "Please, take the words of a fox whos been trying to avoid that place since he got here. It is a different experience for us workers, that place is not somewhere you want to go, and taking her there is going to bring her more harm then good." He stopped, letting his words sink in to the distressed deer. "But if you take her down to the workers bunks, ne and the other runners can look after her and make sure she recovers safely." The fox looked back at the infermery again, knowing the remaining time for his shift already ended.
-
Angder finally arrived at the medical wing. The two doctors, one junior, one obviously fairly experienced, immediately unloaded him onto a fairly dirty looking operating table, they strapped him down, even if he was awake he could barely move. the room obviously was obviously designed to be an ordinary hospital room, but it had since fallen into disrepair. It lacked a window, and the air seemed artificially fresh, obviously hiding the smell of the workers and the blood. along one wall was a row of cupboards, containing the tools used to amputate, and replace, the workers limbs.
"OK... broken leg, damaged arms, maybe even a jaw if we have time..." One of the doctors turned to the other. "Ok... this should be quite interesting lets~" The door, burst open, as a leapard wearing the uniform of a guard came in, panting slightly. "Lab 5... somethings gone wrong." The doctors turned to eachother. "Can it wait?" the experienced one asked. "No" the guard stated "That... thing almost~" The doctor interrupted. "I take it someone else will be looking after the worker then" The guard nodded "I would not worry." The guard said "There will be others, but next time, when you do an experiment like that make sure the containment is SECURE."
The two doctors reluctantly left the room, the guard slumped down in a chair. "OK..." he said into his radio. "We need a medic for worker 54. the ones assigned to him have other arrangements." A voice crackled back "Watch 54, do not leave him unattended, a medic will be there shortly." The guard sighed, and leaned back, placing his gun in his lap. "Understood" The guard relaxed, this kind of job was always fairly easy, even if he did try to escape, and somehow manage to undo the straps on the bed. He could not get far with that broken leg.
-
Frost smiled, wagging her tail excitedly as she thought about the runner who just left. Giving someone their first mechanical limb was the best! There was nothing like it! She hummed a perky tune to herself as she reminisced, only to be interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. She whipped around, her fangs bared wildly, only to see a confused, and rather frightened guard standing behind her. He was struggling to keep his cool. She could tell by his scent and sweat in is fur. The medics made everyone uncomfortable, even the guards.
The guard was a savanna, a large slim cat, but still scrawny enough to be awkward. He looked at the ground, the machines, pretty much anything but her eyes as he stuttered out, "Um, ma'am they sort of.... need you in the infirmary. Worker 54."
Frost smile sweetly, "oh alrighty then, thank you!" and she sent him off with a pat on the head. He scampered off, leaving her to skip casually to the infirmary where she made her ay easily through the familiar halls to the room. She knew the infirmary like the back of her paw.
"So what seems to be the problem here?" She asked as she trotted through the door, addressing the guard more than the injured. In the outside world one might wait for an officially named doctor but here they were all medics, they were all perfectly proficient but the name medic just seemed to have stuck among them.
-
The leopard looked up, looking a little bored. "Duernab" He stated simply. "he Went full out on this one. Broken leg, arms all bruised up, Jaw punched..." The leopard looked over at 54 "You have dealt with one of Duernabs victims before right? most medics have at least one of his. basically, replace the leg, and then decide what else you want to do from there..." The Leopard looks back at frost. "And yes, this is his first time here by the way."
The leopard was used to the medics odd ways, he learned that it was best just to be simple and straight forward with them.
Angder groaned, and opened his eyes, finally waking up, he tugged at the straps around his arms. then he realized where he was. "no... no..." Angder whimpers slightly.
-
Jacob nodded slowly, trying not to distress the deer anymore. He took one last look at the med station before continuing down off the scaffolding and onto the factory floor. "It just this way, not to far." He said, looking back to make sure the deer was following him. It might of looked quite strange and maybe even suspicious, seeing a guard cradling a worker like a child, but the fox didn't care. He had to keep himself busy, or else it was a one way ticket to the chop shop for him. "Here we are." Jacob said, opening the door to the runners barracks. "I believe 305's bunk is the sixth one down."
-
A light clicking of claws could be heard as an echo in the factory when it was quiet enough. A lone feline was wondering down the corridors. When the light wasn't present from the stale but sterile lighting of industrial fixtures, a faint green glow could be seen in the form of two pupils.
When the light returned to bathe over the Desert Serval, his eyes were revealed to be carefully installed and well designed prosthetic eyes. Though they were soulless and incapable of showing any form of expression or ulterior motive, it was plain to see that the feline had zoned out long ago thanks to his bored expression.
Many different factory workers quickly scrambled into gear. Runners hurried away to avoid the off chance of making contact with the feline. Engineers quickly ducked down under the machines and pretended to be busy. And Assemblers nervously hurried off to go back to their stations, hoping that they wouldn't be taken to the infirmary.
But this particular feline... didn't pay any mind. No... he was content with his daily stroll through the factory. Yes... he could walk outside of the factory, and around the neighborhood of his own home. He had that right. But he didn't, no... no... work was always the excellent place to be for a walk.
The dull hums of machines toned out all of his senses. The hissing of screws made him think of his work. And the workers... well they all did their best to ignore him. And that was the way he wanted it.
Should this be a typical and uneventful walk, the kind that he most enjoyed, he'd stop by every room once. Pause in the center. Stare at a wall for a few seconds. Turn... and leave. He'd do this for every maintenance room. Every Janitors closet. And EVERY barracks.
But something... yes something did bring the feline known as Leon back into reality when he approached the Runners barracks. His eyes whired to life, and he paused in mid stride. His paws clicked on the ground one final time. His glowing mechanical eyes settled on a group of three.
The lifeless gaze they had seemed to be able to pierce through their souls and judge them for all they were worth. And his expression wasn't giving much in the way of what he was feeling.
He narrowed his eyes, his pupils opening a bit larger as a small box hovered over each of the three. Scanning them for information. But he didn't need such a feature to tell what was going on. A guard. And two workers. The two able bodies hauling off a poor subject whom managed to get herself hurt.
“What... is the meaning of this...” Leo spoke out dryly. His tone increasingly becoming more venomous. He paused. His large ears and tail flicked with agitation.
The scanner software in his eyes finished querying the results for both Tybalt, and Jacob. But... the scanner continued it's work on 305. It brought up a medical diagnostics software once it noticed the bodies hormones were away from it's typical homeostasis and began it's analysis.
The feline's brows furrowed as he now turned and began to walk closer to the group in silence. His gaze settled on Tybalt. His eyes once again emotionless, though the glow did dim when 305 fell out of his sight. Anything said to him would fall on deaf ears. But eventually he came to a stop. His nose only a small breath away from Tybalts.
And... while his expression might not be the most telling... his tone sounded nearly acidic. He knew what these guards did. They hardly needed a reason to beat down the slaves. No... what infuriates him... is when they do it, and the only medic in the area is him...thus leaving him to deal with the useless sack of meat. Well... he did snap one day... and took the guard instead of the worker after the third time catching him doing this very thing. And now this guard is doing it?! Jeez, he had to meet with the CEO in a couple of minutes!
“Did you seriously... just create more work for me...”
-
Jacob looked over at the person who entered, his eyes going wide as he saw it was. If all the people to walk in on them it had to be him, the crazy surgion who had his own eyes removed. There was nothing he could do for 305 now, he just had to hope the guard would handle things. The fox backed up as the medic came towards them, trying to blend into the crowed of other confused runners while the servals focus was on the guard.
-
The Serval narrowed his eyes and glanced down to the unconscious girl. His eyes fell on the damaged electronics on her body, and then finally the wounds. Hmph, apparently his eye’s software had picked up these injuries first. Though it seemed pretty shaky on the injuries delt to her back.
The Servals eyes then flicked to the runner whom had been shrinking away from him. That seemed to be a normal reaction. It wasn’t anything that proved guilt. Or was it? The female in custody had multiple bruises, yet not everyone in the Barracks are showing an output of fear. An unusual amount of care was being used to hold her. If there was a punishment being delt, usually there would be more than one. His lifeless and mechanical gaze turned to Jacob. He gave the male a hard stare. His expression flat, and his brows pinched together contemplatively.
His eyes were already gathering information he could plainly see. The rapid rise and fall of his showed the faintest signs of fear. His eyes only augmented the fact with stronger evidence with a higher heart rate. His eyes locked into the males searchingly. Didn't this male stand next to Tybalt? Yes... yes he did. Curious curiouser.
His eyes returned to the girl. He studied her for a moment longer. The medical diagnosis returned to his view instantly. The results already completed... and were well... outstanding. Cruelty so bad, that he was sure a guard wouldn't be able to reproduce the same result without actively killing.
Conclusion? Attempts at investigation is not his job.
His gaze slowly turned back to Tybalt. A brow raising now as he regarded the information he received. His eyes software once more scanning over the male’s hormones. But… the feline instead disabled the feature in mid sequence.
“…multiple blunt force traumas detected. Blood loss. High Levels of adrenaline. Bile. Traces of disorientation. A trace of ammonia. Radiation... Mmm... familiar isotope traces from one of the bots. And…” his eyes shifted back to the female runner and back. “… shrapnel... no real signs of how that got there. Death is possible without proper treatment. Require a substantial amount of work”
The feline tilted his head. His tone not once shifting in tone.
“Was this the condition you found her in, officer? Or..." his eyes narrowed, "was this your doing. A Punishment? Seeing as she's in your custody, I am assuming you'd want her to suffer.... right?"
Obviously, this feline did not seem to interested in any additions to his already busy schedule. He impatiently taps his paws against the concrete ground, his claws clicking softly. "... Right, Officer nine-four-seven? You beat her. Cut her. Jammed metal into her body. Destroyed her leg. And had a bot lift her? And now you want her to endure the pain. That is what happened, and is happening, yes?"
-
Frost's smile twitch ever so slightly and ahe trotted over to the guard. "Well, considering you speak to me like it's my first day, im going to treat you like it's yours. I apreciate your help but now for your first lesson im going to let you know that when a surgion begins to work we reauire minimal distractions. So please would you kindly GET OUT? before my scalpel slips from your disrupting presence and wind up lodged in your skull." She turned back to the strapped down patient and slipped into a sickeningly sweet and gentle smile. "It's alright deary, i take exreme pride and passion in my work. You're in good paws. The paws of an artist!" She stroked his fur and patted his head.
-
The Gaurd left the room, walking out the door and shutting it behind him, obviously not Fazed by what Frost had said.
Angder tried to shift away from the medic, but it was useless, he could barely move. He felt her pat his head as she treated him like a child, the sadistic bitch was taunting him, and he could do nothing. He was starting to panic, he wanted to do something to defy her, growl loudly, Spit in her eye, hell, bite her paw. he probably could if he timed it right. Of course pissing off the person about to do surgery on you probably was not the best idea...
"What... are you going to do to me... Please... I don't want anything cut off, I just want to return to work..." Angder swallowed hard. pleading with the medics was pointless. He knew that. He just could not see anything else to try.
-
Jacob tried to look away when the surgion looked at him, but couldnt draw his eyes from those hollow cold mechanical ones. The fox expected the medic to interogate him, demand to know his role in this before dragging him and the other guard up to the CEO. But much to his surprise, and releif, the medic set his focus off of him. For now atleast it looked like he was safe. "Hey" He heard someone whispering in his ear, a paw placed on his shoulder. Jacob slighlty glanced back and peered into the face of a hyena, another runner by the ID of 496. "After this is all over, I need to talk to you."
Andrew, after sorting through the metal, began peicing it into the box. His torch flicked on with a hiss and he began work, welding the makeshift panel over the gear box he had repaired. "I swear, they really just need to get new machines because I have no clue how long this will hold." He said, pulling the flame back and flipping up his goggles. "Alright 002, hit the switch if you may."
-
“Is that so…” The feline hummed. The agitation building up in his voice. His tail began to flick, showing off his irritation. Obviously, it seemed that this cervine could not grasp hold of the concept of “ass covering” when it really was important.
The feline’s gaze slowly narrowed as he trained his gaze back to a source of movement in his peripherals. His eyes settling on two whispering runners. Not much information can be gathered like this. But that wouldn’t matter in a few moments. His gaze returned back to Tybalt.
His observing eyes quickly noticed the amount of care that the guard’s finger used. Holding onto the wretch like a lover holding a dying significant. There were no rules against such actions. Though normally, such behaviors have been greatly discouraged. Yes, typically this would have to be stopped.
The feline’s tail soon stopped twitching as his brow raised up. His gaze remaining fixed on the guards hands. But, the held a ghost of a smile. It wasn’t a warm smile either. It was a contemplative one. A calculative one. He wasn’t the type to do surgery… but experiments were things he did enjoy. A psychological one is always appreciative. Especially since it will give him a few key bits of information he’ll need for a later project.
His eyes soon resumed their glow as he reactivated it’s monitoring systems. His cold gaze returned to meet Tybalts eyes.
“Your behavior isn’t the most pleasing thing I have seen. But it’s not mandated to correct it. So… from this point on, I’ll officially acknowledge her confinement under your authority. Though I should warn you that her wounds are very severe. The lack of a proper treatment will only make matters worse in the future. Read up on company policies of workers whom are unfit. They are either removed, or edited severely. But… before I let you go. I need to hear an official statement from you. Do you take this girl under arrest, and take full responsibility for what happens to her there after. If not, then I will remove your spine. Her spine, and…”
The feline soon gestured to Jacob, “his spine. Fashion them into walking canes. And personally deliver them to the respective elder most relative in hopes that they may be able to walk with what back bone you have remaining.”
Leo paused. His glare was harsh. His paw clicked against the floor once more, "And that's no threat. Don't test me on this."
-
Frost stroked the wounded guard's fur gently and smiled gently. "Don't you worry yourself one bit, you're in good paws. An artist's paws. Once this is over you'll be better than new!" She turned around and trotted over to a rolling cart on the far wall, rummaging through the pile of medical instruments that lay thrown haphazardly there as she hummed cheerily to herself. She found a rusted syringe and examined it before popping the needle into her mouth and sucking on it idly as she made her way to the opposite side of the room to a set of drawers.
Her tongue cleaned some of the larger chunks of rust and dried blood off of the syringe and she eventually spit onto the floor beside her to get rid of it. The rust was just a little too much for her. She riffled through one of the drawers full of packets of clear liquid, eventually pulling one out and filling the syringe with it. The glass made a tiny sound as she flicked it, making her way casually back to the table to her patient.
"Now don't worry, you won't have any complaints, I swear it." She pushed the needle into the prominent vein of the guards forearm, grunting with frustration and giving it a quick shove when it was stopped by some excess rust she had missed, and shot the sickeningly sweet-smelling chemicals into the bloodstream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackson shrugged, wiping his paws on his hips as he hit the switch for the machine. It chugged to life, but the parts and pieces could practically be felt rumbling around. He sighed. "Sooner replace us than one of these old machines."
-
Angder struggled against the straps, he knew what was in that needle, he yelped loudly when frost shoved it into his arm, wincing as she gave it an extra push. He looked over to her. "I... you... How do you..." Angder whimpered, feeling his vision fade slightly. "What... what even are you..." his eyes clouded over, and he fell into a drug induced sleep.
-
"I am an artist, my little canvas!" She wispered exitedly, giving the unconcious worker a quick peck on the forehead before revisiting the cart again. She wagged her tail lazily as she tapped a finger to her chin, making a careful selection. She picked up a saw, tapping it on her paw thoughtfully, testing its wieght. "He's not gonna feel it....." she ran a thumb over the dirty edge. "Doesnt matter anyhow...."
She trotted back over with a little prance and streached his leg out, placing the blade at it's base. "I grew up in a very mice house, mister worker, amd in my house, we didnt fix broken things. We replaced them." She chattered iddly to the konked out patient as she began to saw down. The flesh squished and tore under the rusted blade, blood pooling around on the table. She snorted and splashed some off with her paw, soaking her white fur. "Damn lipped oerating tables.... should replace these....." she grumbled.
-
The feline gave the Guard a smile, before turning to Jacob. His gaze settled on him for a few seconds. Behind those souless eyes, the feline was searching for something. He didn't make it clear that he had found anything of particular interest. Just a smirk, and then a nod. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”
He soon turned around completely and left the Barracks. A quick check of the time told him that his walk would have to end now so he could continue with his appointment with the CEO. With a shake of his head, he began to proceed to make his way to her office.
His mind continued to run over the previous run in. A smile on his lips. This would be an interesting experiement to say the least. What happens to a guard when his morals are reactivated? When he see's the evils in his own actions. When he see's the evils in the factory. But... what also happens when he see's a bigger picture? The necessary evils that must be produced, that lead society as a whole? Will he be able to live with himself? Or will he revolt, and be put down like an animal?
All that will just have to start with one little fox. The poor hurt little thing. The feline at best gave her a week of survival with those wounds. And even if she did manage to be fixed, her shape would be too poor for regular work, and will require her to return to the medical bay for serious work.
Leo came to a pause in front of the CEO's door. His eyes flicked over it for a moment. A vicious smile on his lips had formed. He might be a sociopath, but unfortunately you must dehumanize to make significant leaps in progress. His smile settled into a much more pleasant one when he expunged the thought.
His paws rasped on the door a few times, delivering a solid few knocks. Before his paw found themselves on the door knob. He gave the door a gentle push and stepped into the office. The door closing behind him.
“Hello madame~” Leo began in a lilting tone. His paw pulled a small prism from his pocket as he stepped closer to her desk. he set it down, and gave it a few taps. "All is well I hope?"
-
Despite what was being done to him, Angder had a slight smile on his face. Frost was right, Angder could not feel a thing.
-
Fem sat up from where she had been working away on her paperwork, her hackles raising slightly as she adjusted the metallic wings that sat implanted near her shoulder blades. "Hello Leo," Fem was never afraid to use the first names of those closest to her. "I should be asking you the same question." She turned her rotating chair and looked at the feline with her own mechanical eyes. It was always oddly amusing to her, how the eye she operated now were the direct prototypes for Leo's, the very first eyes the company ever produced, they were like proud grandparents looking at grandchildren whenever they gazed at each other. You've been in here too long you sappy old poet. She cleared her throat, her face remaining completely blank despite her whirling thoughts. It was all so much like static. "Frost is reporting to me today as well so kindly make it brief." Most individuals she was familiar with would melt at the slight bit of civility shown by Leo in his greeting. He was aloof, powerful, and hardly bad looking for all it was worth, but Fem had employed him long enough to know good and well it was all an act. Just like all of them. It's important to put on a friendly face for your boss even if you are festering within. Poet again, you sound like ----- It was better to just cut to the chase with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost saw the smile on the patient and grinned, a genuine grin, not malicious or devious in the slightest. "See, you get it! Everyone's always telling me, 'don't do it Frost', 'you're a bad girl Frost,' 'DON'T CUT ME FROST," she paused to take a breath and swallow, gathering herself from the unexpected rise to a scream before turning back to work. "They just don't understand. This is my passion, it's what I love to do. Some people are passionate about riding bikes or collecting stuff, no one ever give THEM shit for it!" she sighed, resting her head on his bloody leg as she looked up as she idly clips away the last remaining strings of flesh that kept it attached. "I just wish someone would enjoy it with me...." She looked at him and smiled. "I like you, we should do this again sometime." And she began to cut off his left arm.
-
The only thing Jacob could do is stare back at the surgeon, his glare a bit cold as he tried to contain a snarl. The fox wasnt even the main focus in this situation and yet that FREAK kept looking at him. There was nothing he could do obviously, but he did let out a long deep breatg of releif when the medic left. Making sure no one else was coming in, Jacob approached the guard, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can lay 305 down on her bunk at the end, we'll have Red taje a look at her. He was a childrens physician before all this but he has a medical degree none the less. Dont worry, she is in good hands here."
-
Perhaps Fem was correct about Leo’s act. Perhaps not? Leo was more open with those he’d personally call the closest thing to friends. Or at least he wouldn’t throw them under the bus first when it came to research. He was… a fairly tricky bugger to understand. And even he couldn’t understand his own mind. Not that he ever wanted too. That would have defeated the purpose of the Journey before the destination. Besides, he did like his boss even if the jobs got kind of shitty after a while. And while he wasn't scared of her, like some of the staff had been. He did find her rather peculiar.
Leo raised a brow at the mention of Frosts name. A ghost of a smirk crossed his lips. “Oh Frost? Hmm… I guess the girl’s found herself a new toy. Poor thing.” The feline hummed, he soon gave a light shrug. It was obvious in the tone of his voice he really couldn't care for the safety of the poor soul that she was operating on. But, the psychopathic doctor was perhaps one of his favorites in the medical staff. While not the most mentally stable, he could see that she found pleasure in her work as an artist… than because she was bored and wanted to cut something open.
The feline pressed down on a button located on one of the faces on the prism. Soon the small object began to glow as it warmed up. Then finally it placed a projection in the air. A series of data located on small scrolling planes and cubes filled the room. Along with a few models of a handful of prototypes he was working on.
“Well… I have one extra thing I would like to talk to you today about. But first… a few of the implants I’ve been working on my own time. I’ve managed to successfully create three different units for our military customers. The first one is an implant that focuses on healing. The results for small cuts are instant, along with abrasions and some burns. For larger wounds. It’ll stop the bleeding fairly quickly. But the healing process will take a day or a few. Once again, it depends on size.”
The feline glanced to a nearby picture video showing ooze leaking out of a small wound and soon sealing it up with a fresh layer of skin. He then cleared his throat. “Naturally it won’t fix death. And it won’t fix customer stupidity.”
-
Fem nodded in approval as she studied the designs closely. machines like this had become far more complicated than they had been back at her first day at the factory but she prided herself on being able to keep up, and that she did, keeping well at or above the knowledge of any engineer or medic in the place. She narrowed her eyes, their pupils glowing gold and focusing, scrutinizing a small bit near the center of a mechanism. "Yes well, that's why we all have pups now isn't it....." She said absently in response to the death remark. "Like the squishy prosthetics for the body of the population...." Sweet mother if the gods.... She finally sat back, satisfied with the part being in its proper place.
-
Jacob shrunk back and quickly removed his hand, looking away from Tybalt. He had hoped the guard was beginning to see the horror of this place, and perhaps he was getting there, but the grayfox was pushing his luck. "We dont have individual rooms." He said, starting down the rows between beds. "Easier to watch us if we sleep in one big open area." Jacob stopped in front of a bunk, the matress thin and dirty and no sheet to be seen, the numbers "305" carved in the steel frame. "This is hers."
-
The feline gave a kurt nod with a faint smile. "Of course, madame~" he chuckled. His arms crossed as he looked over the results, "Though I think in return the stupidity is doing a favor for the world. The Gene pool has to be edited via natural selection some how!"
He continued to go over the various forms of data. "So... most approaches to this have been to exclusively use Nanobots. And within good reason. They are fast and efficient at what they do. But at the same time, expensive to produce, and can not be reproduced in the body. Their size also makes them easily degradable by the body's salinity. So I approached it in a much more different manner."
The feline waved his hand in the air to bring up an image of a live bacterial cell. "I did some heavy modifications to a culture of bacteria. Bringing the results to a benefitial level. The end result is it produces a medical gel that is excreted into the heart. It's then pumped through the entire body and remains active till it's needed. This is only a trace amount of course. It'll inject more once triggered by the body's hormones. This is to prevent it from interfering with any of the natural systems."
The feline then brought in another image of a nano-bot. "Now... naturally to stay competitive, I've also included nanobots. These are stored inside the implant in a safe solution designed to preserve them for long periods of time. They are only used for emergencies. These are released when severe structural damage is detected, vitality signs are dropping, or a, toxin, deadly mutagen, or virus has been located."
The feline soon found himself leaning on the desk, in almost a sitting manner is gaze now returning to fem. "The benefits? The implant is no longer required to be replaced every so often amount of months. Expenses to create have been greatly reduced. While larger wounds can take a little longer to recover from. It's capable of stopping the most prominent cause of death in only a few seconds that it started. Which is bleed out. Annnd... making modifications to it is as simple as injecting a syringe of plasmids directly into the implant. More efficient overall."
-
Fem nodded, a very feint smile growing on her face, something that was rare to say the least. "I admit I'm impressed Leo, you're creativity never fails." She looked at the designs closely cocking her head ever so slightly to the side as she did. "They appear to be very stable. How many times have you tested it?"
-
Leo cound't help but to reveal a prideful smile to the compliment. "Thank you, Madame." He chimed. He then added in a joking tone, "Does that mean I get rewarded with a kiss?" But the next bit gave him pause.
"Mmm..." The feline began with a thoughtful note. A claw gently tapped at his chin. How many times -did- he test this? His hand soon waved through the air bringing up his personal files. After a bit of digging, he finally came across his archive collection.
"Alright here we are. Quite extensively. It seems. Though I kept test subjects limited and under very close watch. First few testers only had a very limited exposure of a week. Which is around the time it takes for the gel to merge into the blood stream. Afterwards the implant was removed and minor wounds were issued. Once the iterations were successful, I began to prolong the exposure, testing larger wounds. Once stability was assured. I built an external version and tested it on myself for long term testing"
The feline paused. His expression thoughtful. Then he smiled, "Perhaps I am as bonkers as they say. But I can attest to it working properly after many cuts, burns, and gun shots. There is a certain amount of trust that is needed in test subjects for me to leave such a device in I'm afraid."
-
Jacob didnt look at the guard. Still didnt want to push his luck. He casted his gaze to the ground and kept it there as a wolf approached, an unsure expression on his face. "Red here can take a look at her." Jacob said, finally looking up again. "Just give us some time and we can get her back to health."
-
Victoria groaned a bit as she stirred, her brows knitting together in discomfort. She wearily lifted a paw to her temples and rubbed them, blinking away her unconsciousness. "Ughhhh w-what the hell....." Her eyes wandered over to where Tybalt sat and she froze, every muscle in her body going stiff. "Uhh...."
-
Red knelt down next to Victory and looked her over, a frown fixed upon his expression. "Try not to move to much, Ill do that as I examine you. But im telling you now, this may hurt." He said, letting that sink in before beginning his examination. He started off by placing two fingers to her throat, feeling her pulse. "Now tell me, where do you feel the most pain."
-
Victoria furrowed her brows, her ears flattening. "I'm not sure, it's sort of just.... all over the place." She gave a grim chuckle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fem nodded, a small frown on her muzzle. "Well then, would you say that if we handed this off to some of our nation's greatest warriors promising all you promised me, and in the middle of a wild battlefield filled with bloodshed and gunshots and perhaps even a storm, there was perhaps a flood of wounds that needed healing that could easily MAKE or BRAKE our ties to one of our largest and most valuable patrons, would your machine perform PRECICELY as it is promised?" Her mechanical eyes were piercing, their golden glow boring into the feline's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost smiled as she stepped back, sighing happily down at her work. She leaned down to wipe off a small smudge of blood on the equipment. "I've been wanting to do something like this for AGES!" she whispered excitedly, running her thumb along a metallic edge. It came away with a small bead of blood pooling there and she stuck it in her mouth to suck it off, continueing to speak around it. "I mean..... auntie Fem has those big sharp wings with blades for feathers...... that can cut a bear's head clean off!...... So..... why don't we try that with an arm?..... I based it on the cockroaches.... I used to think they were gross but their little legs are just so cute!......" She rambled on and on, letting her eyes wonder over the patient.
His broken leg had been replaced by a new one, rather standard fair really, if even a little basic. His left arm had been only partially replaced, cut off right in the center of the upper segment, a tricky amputation to be sure. She had hooked the prosthetic directly into his nerves and bones in hopes of giving it even more sensitivity and agility. It needed it if it was going to support her masterpiece. The crown jewel of this piece was the right arm, amputated with care and kept clean and tidy. In the old fleshy thing's place was what appeared to be a normal prosthetic arm, attached at the shoulder, synced to the body, and running normally down to the forearm. The beauty was from the wrist down. Designed much like the front limbs of a praying mantis, where the hand would normally be was instead a long, sharp blade, about a foot and 3/4 in length and polished to a mirror's shine.
Frost beamed at her work and threw her arms around the unconscious patient's neck in a hug before leaning back and kissing him on the forehead. "You are so lucky, my little cockroach!" She turned around, unlocking the wheels of the table and wheeling it off to the holding area of the infirmary, deer inside. She hummed lightly and pushed him into place between a very disgruntled mocking-bird who kept crying out that her insides hurt as she coughed up blood and a small white cat who had had much the same procedure done as the bird, a replacement of some internal organs with mechanical replicates, but was far quieter about the endeavor. Frost smiled once more at her creation. "Maybe with the help of that you can help us out, and maybe we can all be friends." She whispered as she closed a thin white curtain, making her way back out for whatever the rest of the day held in store.
-
The feline smiled calmly to the fox’s cold gaze. And he met the other with lifeless mechanical eyes. A softer green tone. His tail flicked across the desk as he listened to her. He might be one of the few who actually did not fear her, though held her at a high respect.
“Ah! Yes, yes… normally I’d say it’s not ready if I had just recently finished it. Buuut,” The feline began as he tapped his chin with a claw. “I am sure you’d be happy to know that if the product wasn’t working, you would have needed a replacement for me after I expired three months ago. Been trying at my own life up to this point. Even picked a fight with a local gang~”
He leaned forward And moved around some fur. Various scars could be found all over the body. Some rounded, Other’s in what could have been a large cut. “As I said, I took to testing it personally. The pain is still very much there. And it won’t regenerate lost limbs, or destroyed organs. Annnnnd anything that causes Instanious death, like a shot square to the cerebellum, the cranium exploding, the heart being punched, lungs torn open, evisceration, Gibbing, missing organs, etcetera, etcetera… can’t be fixed before the user dies.”
The feline hummed softly, “Once again~ What puts the product light years over other options, is that it adds survivability. First priority is always to stop the bleeding, which can kill you in just fifteen seconds if an important artery is open, or from a gaping wound. Usually the most common wound and cause of death. Then it solves the other problems.”
-
Angder woke up to the sound of coughing, and groggily opened his eyes, he was still strapped down, but with the exception of his left leg, all his limbs felt... odd. He shut his eyes, and tried to stop himself sobbing. He knew what must have happened. The upper part of his left arm hurt like hell, but it felt good as new from the elbow down, in fact it felt better than before. He felt the table, easily picking up every bump in it, he knew his hand was metal, but creepily, it felt like it was really part of him... Then he tried to move his right arm. There was a terrible screeching sound as the blade dragged along the table slightly. Angder opened his eyes, and tried to see what had happened. "I... I can't see my hand..." He stammered. "I... what..." Angder could see where his wrist used to be, he lifted his arm as far as the straps would allow, trying to see what had been done to him. "She... she... what?" Angder stared at the blade, some part of him unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
-
Red nodded, glancing slightly up at the guard before returning to Victoria. He checked over her body, inspecting each of her limbs and torso, looking over the diffrent scrapes and bruises she had. The wolf didnt take long though, and he finished off by tearing apart a peice of cloth and wrapping it around a still bleeding wound on her arm. "Im not what that doctor was talking about, she isnt going to die from these wounds." He said standing up. "Normally I would suggest two days in bed rest for a full recovery, but since that isnt plausible here just try and get a good night sleep. Youll be sore in the morning though."
Jacob stood a distance away, trying to blend in with the crowed while the guard was distracted. Unfortunately for him a paw decended onto his shoulder again, the voice of 496 low in his ear. "I need to talk to you, please." The hyena said, taking a look over at the guard before pulling the fox into the back of the room.
Outside on the factory floor a runner approached Andrew and Jackson, a nervous look in her eyes. She glanced around before asking a question to the two. "You guys are engineers r-right? Could you help us with something?" The runner looked around nervously again, closing the distance even more between her and Jackson and leaning in. "Could you help a few of us get our ID collars off?" She whispered.
-
Jackson's ear and eye twitched slightly. He remained silent though, his usually smiling face blank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victoria nodded grimly, this wasn't her first rodeo. She settled into her bed, getting as comfortable as she could. She whatched Tybalt out of one eye the entire time, gazing at him afterward. "Who are you?" She finally asked
-
"Thats freaking insane!" Jacob hissed, though talked in a low whisper. "Youre the only one with no metal parts, you can blend in. Look, we have gone over this plan over and over, perfecting it. But we cant do it with someone whos been to the chop shop." The hyena whispered back. The fox looked at him with an almost horrified expression, but realization was dawning in him. This plan could mean freedom, not to mention turn his bad situation with the medic into a blessing. He was reluctant, the consiquences of being caught would be extreme. "A-alright, ill d-do it." Jacob stuttered. "Good." 496 replied. "Now we just need an engineer.
The runner continued to stare at Jackson, becoming uneasy each passing moment of silence. "W-w-well can... can you?" She asked, shying back a bit. Andrew walked forward and put a hand on Jacksons shoulder before turning to the runner. "Is there a specific reasonyou and ... who ever else... want your collars off?"
"I cant say now, i just need an answer if you can or not." The runner replied.
Andrew nodded and pulled Jackson aside. "What do you think?" He asked.
-
Angder lowered the blade slowly, folding it into his arm, it was slightly curved, but he reckoned with just the right angle...
one of the straps falls away. Angder grins, and moves on to the next one, slowly freeing himself, once his blade-arm is free, he should have no problem escaping. Perhaps having a blade for a hand was not so bad after-all...
-
Angder stood up, and glances around the room. He looked at the other patients... He cut the bird and cat loose. "Don't leave the room. if you do you will be shot. Just take the opportunity to make yourself comfortable." He stated. "If they blame you for getting loose, tell them it was me..." He wondered, almost absentmindedly, if anyone knew they had escaped. Its not like he could do anything, if he tried to leave this room he would be shot. He folded his blade against his arm, and looked for somewhere to sit down.
He knew at some point he would be dragged away, to be experimented on, or possibly back to the main factory. but for now... For now he was moderately free, free to rest, relax, perhaps even forget where he was for a few minutes, forget what was done for him. He tries to scratch his neck, but then finds his right wrist tapping carelessly against his chin. Angder looks down, his metal leg clanged, his left arm was a little too sensitive, a constant feeling of things brushing against it. and his right arm...
Angder put his head in his hands, or more accurately, rested it on his hand and wrist. He would never be able to forget. Even if he somehow escaped, and made his way to the other side of the world, his leg, his hand... and his blade... there was no fixing that.
-
Frost poked her head into the infirmary with a wide grin. She had been informed by some of her fellow medics that her most recent little "art project" had gotten loose. And they were not going to risk their own valuable hides to clean up her mess.
She crept around the back of her creation as he rested his eyes, snickering slightly. She used to be quite offended when the workers here didn't appreciate her work, but she had since come to accept it. They were so simple that they merely couldn't understand, it was almost cute to watch their brains struggle with such an experience. She slid her paws over his shoulders and crossed them over his neck, resting her head beside his ear and whispering into it. "Good morning, my little masterpiece. My, you're up early."
-
Angder recognized the voice as the medic who operated on him almost instantly. He was tempted to try to run her through with his new blade, but for now he chose not to, not until he had more information. "Thought I would take a walk." Angder muttered, he then glanced around. "No guards... that's a bit dangerous... 'Specially given my new blade for a hand..."
-
Frost clicked her tongue thoughtfully and cocked her head, tickling his face with her large ears. "A whole infirmary ful of medics and sharps tools? You should have a little more faith in us." She giggled, running a finger over the length of the blade, smiling at the little drop of blood thay bubbled forth from her pad and rubbing it off on Adger's cheek. "So you like your little improvement? Im very from of it, myself."
-
Disgusted, Angder raised his left paw up to his face, and rubbed the blood off his cheek. and then looked down at his hand, fake, metal, and cold. He stared for several seconds, and then his eyes drifted to the blade. "I... I don't understand what its..." Angder stopped, the medic was crazy, no point trying to reason with it. "Its great, Thanks." he said simply, not betraying any emotion at all.
-
Frost squealed happily and huged him tightly, wagging her tail in excitement. "Aw im so happy!" She licked his cheek. I put so much work into it i was hoping you'd live it as much as i do!"
-
Angder yelps in surprise. Oh my god... this might just be genuine! She Genuinely is happy that I claimed to like it...
Angder forces a sheepish grin. "Guess... Guess not many people appreciate your work..."
-
Andrew cocked and eyebrow at Jackson before turning back to the runner, giving her a nod. "Ill help." He said in a low tone, moving closer to her. "I dont know what you have planned, and i dont want my ID to be mentioned, but ill help. Now show me which collar you want taken off." The runner nodded and led him back to the barracks.
Jacob paced nervously back and forth. He had never in his life planned an escape, let alone participated in one. What if something went wrong? What if someone recognized him? What if they were caught!? The fox let out a low whine, but quickly silenced himself when the runner returned with an engineer. 496 looked over at the guard still there and grabbed ahold of Jacob, then walked over to the Andrew. "We need to talk somewhere private." 496 whispered. "Have a place?" Nodding, the shark looked over at Tybal, be fore turning and motioning them to follow.
-
Lucy was up on the balcony with her body guard, Lennox. She is looking at one specific machine that a working was working on, her tail swishing like she was ready to pounce. Lennox looked bored as hell as he fiddle with his knife, throwing it in the air and catching it. Finnally Lennox broke he silence
"What are you waiting for? That machines not going to break just because you looked at it. Though i wouldn't be surprised if it did." Lucy turned and smiled, looking deceptively cheerful.
"I just had a sudden feeling something is going to go very wrong with that particular machine and i wanted to make sure i waas right." Lennox didn't look impressed.
"So what your psycic or something?" As he said that a scram sounded from down below. The machine that the Lucy was looking had one of its pistons come loose and as it pushed upwards it came right off and landed on a worker. It looked like he was trapped under amd seriously hurt. The other medics looks stumped by how that could have happened which Lucy took advantage of.
"Come along Lennox, better not let me prey die before i can play with it." Lennox followed, honestly not to surprised. Lucy went over to the worker moving quickly and lifted the piston off of him. As soon as the worker saw her his eyes were filled with fear.
"No not again! No please!" No other medic moved, they knew better than to take a worker from Lucy.
"Begging only makes me want you more. Lennox silence him." Lennox came over kneeled next to himand drew a baton.
"I'm sorry, i wish i could do something." Lennox whispered in his ear before knocking him out in one swift blow. Lucy picked up the worker, slung him over her shoulder, and the two walked off.
-
Frost sat back and looked at the blade armed worker for a moment, her face blank, blinking numbly. Slowly, she shook her head, her ears drooping. "No, not really, at least they never come up to the infirmary to bother thanking me." She bared her fangs a bit as she glared down at her paws. "Beauty is pain, buttercups, why can't you all just enjoy the F***ING journey with me!" She barked the last part breathing heavily. Seconds later though she was smiling and bubbly, hugging Angder once again. "You're different though! My little masterpiece!" She patted him on the head. "Auntie Fem is going to be so exited when I show you to her, and she's NEVER exited!" She bounced in place. "Ooooh I can't wait, I have such big plans for you!" She gave him a squeeze.
"Umm, Ms. Frost?" The white canine released her favorite art project and whipped around to face a tall, lanky blue heron in a stained white surgeon's smock. He peered at her disapprovingly over the dingy surgical mask that struggled to cover his long beak. "You have an appointment scheduled with the CEO that you are CURRENTLY late to." He tapped his clipboard impatiently with a long, tattered feather.
Frost narrowed her eyes, prowling slowly towards the infirmary organizer. The bird's features seemed to morph as she got closer, from impatience, to confusion, to fear. He eyed her warily as she got right up in his face, appearing unable to move as if he were afraid she'd smell his fear. Frost's eyes sparkled, and she reached for a scalpel sitting on a rolling table nearby, causing the bird's eyes to widen. She lifted it, her muzzled twitching, and brought it down directly at the beak. The heron lost it, squawking and ducking from the blow. The blade narrowly missed and Frost grabbed the surgical mask in her other paw and ripped it off. "You look so stupid in that mask!" She barked, eliciting a look of complete dumbfounded confusion from the unharmed bird.
Frost spun around, mask in paw, and tossed it to Angder. "Make sure he doesn't get that back, I have to go meet with auntie Fem. Get yourself all snuggly up in your bed again and we'll start working together when I get back." And with that, she swung back around and marched past the heron, who had since broken out into violent shaking where he was still crouched on the floor, and disappeared out onto the main factory floor.
The heron gulped, standing shakily and brushing himself off. He looked at Angder and straightened up, trying again to look dignified and presentable. He lifted his clipboard from the ground where it had been flung in his moment of panic and scribbled something on a page before looking back to the "repaired" worker, giving him a quick nod of acknowledgement, and walking swiftly from the premises.
-
Angder sat on the operating table he was on earlier... Working together... big plans... Do I... hang around.... where will I go otherwise... Oh shit... may as well see where this goes...
Angder rested his head on his hand. "I must be insane" he mutters.
-
Jacob glanced around nervously as they walked across the factory floor, tail nearly on end as they made their way to where ever the engineer was leading them. Normally their actions might of raised cause for concern, but the shark was playing it off nicely, going on about some made up project he would need the runners help for. Jacob couldnt really focus on it. Andrew led the two runners into a service tunnel, going over to an eletrical box and opening it up. "Alright, we can talk here. But you better shut up quickly if someone else comes in."
Nodding, 496 began to speak. "First off, I need to know, can you remove the ID collars? If you can, ill explain why." After the engineer nodded, the hyena went on. "We need someone to access the medical ward posing as one if the staff. That someone being Jacob. But in order to do that we cant have him wearing an ID tag he'll get caught instantly."
Andrew looked at them with a look of half confusion and half craziness. "Why the hell would you ever want to do that?!" He hissed. "You do understand what the punishment would be if they caught you right? MY punishment when they find out i helped? I know youre searching for freedom but it better be a damn good plan!"
The hyena waited for him to finish before speaking up again. "We know the risks, but we cant do this without your help. We can only take a few of us with us, and there us ine more spot left. For you. Will you take it?"
Andrew stared off into the open panel, thoughts running through his head. But eventually, he let out a sugh and turned to them. "Im in."
-
Angder looked down at the mask in his hand... he had barely taken in the fact frost had given it to him until now, he had caught it on instinct. he turns it over, thoughtfully...
He glances over at the camera. Moving over to it like a zombie. he reaches out, and, expressionless, turns it to face the wall. He then grins, hopefully they would write it off as a crazy worker, rather than an escape attempt. He put the mask on over his face, it fit fairly well...
He once again felt the itchy feeling of his collar on his neck, slightly too tight, he was half tempted to try to cut it off with his blade, but putting a sharp object so close to his neck seemed unnecessarily dangerous. but trying to sneak out with it visible was unlikely to work.
He moved over to one of the other workers, a lizard, he seemed to be unconscious, probably for the best... Angder reached down, and carefully cut a large strip from the lizards shirt, thick enough to hopefully cover the collar. It was fortunate some of the medics experimented on themselves, otherwise this really would be impossible, still, he had a suspicion it was not going to work.
Oh and so WHAT? does it REALLY matter? Lets just go stick it as far as possible to those **censor** maybe I should forget escape and shove that blade somewhere painful for the factory and th~
Angder stopped himself, he had to try to get out, that was his goal, if he got a chance to kill the iron goddess, one of the medics, or that damn Tiger, he would. For now he wanted out. He tied the strip around his neck, covering the collar as best he can, he then moved to the door, unsteady due to his mechanical leg.
He just had to pray no-one was waiting for him just outside...
-
"You'll never get out." Jackson said from the now open door, his face clean of any emotion. "She'll dice you up good." He ignored any reaction from the other creatures in the room and took a step inside. "There's no way out of here. There's no world out of hear, there's no where to go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost skipped pleasantly along the walkway, her freshly washed paws pattering on the metal. She stopped in from of the grand door of the CEO's office, opening it with no restraint or regard and trotted inside. "Hello auntie!" She chirped, bounding up beside the chair where the older canine sat.
Fem was stoic, but managed a small smile and an acknowledgement of the youngster's presence. "You're late, Frost. And I am a very busy dog, you had better make this remarkably swift." She swung her chair around with surprising strength, facing the little, white canine head-on.
Frost's grin slipped a little and she cleared her throat nervously. "Sorry Auntie..... I was busy with a new project....."
Fem raised an eyebrow. "I trust it was a successful one? We only have so many workers you know, and I would hate to have to send out another job opening."
Frost's smile returned and she nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes! This one was simply wonderful! I want to show him to you in person soon! All he needs is a little more work but I can do it, promise!" She opened her mouth to explain further but stopped herself, blushing slightly and flattening her ears.
Fem leaned forward curiously.
"I want him to be a surprise.....!" Frost giggled, wagging her tail.
Fem's eyes narrowed. "You know I haven't got all day." She hissed, her hackles bristling.
Frost's tail stopped wagging immediately and tucked between her hind legs as she cowered away from her. "P-please Auntie, I just want you to be super impressed and surprised when he's done!" She whimpered, slinking closer to the iron goddess.
Fem glared down, her cold, mechanical eyes meeting the sniveling canine's wide, watery ones. They stayed like that for seconds, grinding away in dead silence. Finally, it was broken by an exasperated sigh. Fem rolled her eyes and looked down at Frost. "I guess you need to get your man ready before you bring him home to your family." A small smile tinged her muzzle.
Frost grinned wide and threw her paws around Fem in an unreciprocated hug. "Awwww Thank you Auntie! I won't let you down! Promise!"
Fem slowly pried the white canine off and have a simple nod. "Now go ahead and get back to work."
Frost snapped her paw to her forehead in a mock solute and marched out the door, on her way back to the infirmary.
Fem groaned, spinning her chair back around to her piles upon piles of paperwork. She lifted a pen in her paw. "Stupid pup....."
-
Angder hurried down the corridor, so far he had met no-one, but he could hear medics and guards all around him, he had to get out... but where to?
Not important, He had no idea where he was, or where things were in relation to him, he ran aimlessly through the medical wing, his mechanical leg making far more noise than he would like...
He would find something if he can evade detection... perhaps there was an exit in the medical wing... Prehaps he would finally have freedom. Yeah, and perhaps said doors will be unguarded, and will have a device for regrowing limbs... this is hopeless.
-
496 quickly spun around as Jackson talked, snarling and swearing under his breath. "This dosent involve you 002, turn around and walk away. Now." Andrew held up and hand to the hyena and pushed passed him, shoving Jacob along. "Go and do what you have to do, we can handle this." He whispered into the foxes ear and shoved him out the door. The shark let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead, turning to Jackson. "Look 002, I know this may seem like a bad idea, but its not. The world out there is so much better then in here, and if you saw it you would agree. Hell, I can show you! I can come back with an armed militia and break you out! But i have to get out first. I WANT to get out of here. 147 and 496 want to get out of here. Please, im begging you, just walk away and forget whatever you saw and heard. Leave us to our fates."
Jacob hurried along, feeling like he was going to have a nervous breakdown. The plan hadnt even started and already someone found out. But he managed to collect himself, taking deep breaths as he set his mind to his mission. He needed a medics uniform, so he needed to kidnap a doctor. And there was only one who knew his face. The grayfox spotted Frost making her way from the CEOs office and climbed the scaffolding to catch up to her, jogging up to the wolf. He froze for a moment when he approached her, staring at her trying to form words. "H-h-hey-y I ne- need to sp-peak to you."
-
Jackson looked at the shark, shaking slightly. There was more life in his eye than before but he still looked hollow. "Wouldn't you rather just stay here? Stay in line, do your job. You'll be safe, I'm sure of it!" His voice cracked and his tail tucked between his legs. "You just have to keep Fem happy! She was nice when she was happy!" His teeth ground as his eye welled slightly with tears. "There's no where to go, no way out of here! This is all there is!" His voice was slowly rising in volume.
Frost turned to the worker and smiled brightly. "Well hello my little canvas! Ready for your tour of the infirmary?" She spoke perkily, putting an arm around his shoulder.
-
Andrew put a hand on Jackson, looking into his eyes and giving him a small smile. "But there is man, there is so much more out there. Have you ever seen the ocean 002? I can tell you it is the most beautiful thing you will ever see, and the CEO isnt going to take you there, no matter how nice she pretends to be. We arnt safe here, and every day I have to watch my back so im not hauled up to the chop shop. 496 says he has a plan to get out, and if it has any chance of working we have to get out. I know this has been your home, the only place you know, but this is a very horrible place compared to were ive been. Inside here Im just factory number 104, but out there I am Andrew Farrier! Thats who I am, and you can be someone else too. You dont have to be 002 anymore.
Jacobs ear twitched at the word canvas, his body tensing as the medic wrapped her arm around him. "Eh n-not exactly, I still have some stuff to do. But there is someone hurt in the east maintenance tunnel and a-and I figured since I couldnt join you in the hos-spital Id come get you t-to give you a shot with this guy." By now the fox was pratically shaking from nervousness, trying his best at flashing a smile.
-
Frost cocked her head curiously, debating. She was pretty happy with her little masterpiece, didn't want to keep him waiting, maybe he'd want a friend though, he seemed a bit down in the dumpies. She blinked and smiled, giving a quick nod. "Why don't you bring him up to the Infirmary doors and I'll meet you there, I want to show you something too!"
-
Jacobs eyes widened a bit, he hadnt planned for her not wanting to come with him. "I actually, uh..." he stopped and thought for a moment. "Do you think you could show me where they keep the stretchers?"
-
Angder ducked into a side room as a pair of medics walked by, what he saw inside shocked him beyond words, on the operating table was a wing, it must have belonged to a worker once, but now it was on it's own, yet they had strapped it down, and it looked like they had been... experimenting on it, many of the feathers were replaced with some kind of aluminum foil... Angder felt physically ill... of course they don't waste the bits taken! but this...
Angder staggers out of the room, and right into the path of a guard...
-
Frost pointed to the infirmary with her tail. "Right over here, sweety!" She said brightly, reaching for the worker's hand. "We wouldn't just leave them out here to get all dirty, would we?" She began to tug him towards the dreaded doors. "Dirt and grime on the patients makes it hard to see where to cut."
Jackson shivered at the shark's touch, looking at him pleadingly, his eyes wide and watery. "Please....."
-
Jacob closed his eyes and took a silent deep breath, letting the medic guide him along. He had to calm down, or risk his nervousness making him screw up and ruin the plan. The fox tried to think back to normal hospitals, how kind and friendly everyone was, and then told himself that thats allll this was. And the person dragging him along was just another nurse. Reopening his eyes, he smirked a little, feeling more confident. "No, of course not. I assume you keep the stretchers in a clean place along with the other supplies right? Oh, also, we may need a blanket too. The cause of injury was a fallen shelf, gashed the guy open pretty well so we need something to cover the wound while we transport him. Infections are not fun when trying to make art right?"
"No 002, I asking you, please, let us go through with this." Andrew gave Jackson a warm smile, but caught 496 out the corner of his eye, tapping his wrist and motioning to hurry up. "Please, take a walk with me 002." The shark said.
-
Angder was lifted off the floor by the guards, one of them kept a gun pointed at him as they dragged him back towards the infirmary, ahead of them, Angder heard a familiar voice... Frost. Angder tries to reach his surgical mask, wanting to remove it before Frost sees him.
-
Jackson took a deep breath, nodding nervously as his ear twitched.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost trotted along the girders with the fleshy little worker, swiftly rounding a corner to see a sight that stopped her dead for a moment. She cocked her head at the guards carrying her masterpiece back to his bed, her eyes wide, but calculating, like a wild deer approached by someone, and deciding weather or not to bolt. Those eye locked with Angder's and her ears drooped. He still wasn't happy, was he?
-
Angder looks up at frost, he had the mask in his hand, he was able to get it off his face thankfully. He slows down and finds himself looking at his feet. One of the guards, the cheetah from earlier in the operation room, gives him a shove, and Angder stumbles slightly as he continues on the way to his room.
He glances back at the person with Frost, a look of sympathy and sadness, whatever reason He had to be here, it could not be good for his health.
-
Jacob grimaced as he saw the guards shoving around a worker, one that has obviously been a victim of the hospitals cruelty. The worker looked in rough shape, the most prominent change being the weird bew appendage that replaced his arm. The fox turned to Frost, not wanting to look or think about the look of sadness the worker victim had, but a look of confusion crossed his own face. Was the medic... sad? Because that sure was the expression she had.
-
Frost whatched the guards cart off her beloved artwork and her gaze fell to the tile floor in front of her. She quickly became acutely aware of the worker still standing beside her though and quickly perked up, clearing her throat and covering her little frown until it was replaced by her trademark grin. "Erhem.... well, where were we?"
-
Angder was forced back into the familiar room he had set out from, the two gaurds force him onto the table. "Straps are cut clean through." "What did you expect... bluntly I am surprised he did not risk trying to cut US clean through." Angder raised his head at that bit of dialog. "If I thought there was even a chance I would survive attempting that. one of you would already be dead." Angder stated. The guards laughed, and moved him to a different table, strapping him down. "One of us should watch him."
"I will do it." The cheetah states. "Frost does not scare me, and we don't want him to go exploring again." The cheetah grins, and sits down in a seat opposite the row of operating tables, keeping his gun in his hands.
-
Jacob looked at Frost with a confused look on his face. He almost felt bad for the wolf, and had to tell himself that she was probably the one to fo that to that worker. Still though, she genuinely looked sat. And hurt. "Ehh... we were going to get a stretcher."
-
Frost blinked, holding up her plastered smile as she nodded her head vigorously. "Yes, yes, that's it!" She turned quickly on her heels and trotted briskly down the hall towards a supply closet, her tail twitching unnaturally as she went. She yanked the door open stiffly and back up, presenting the closet's contents like a chef may present their prized dish.
-
Jacob slowly walked after her, glancing around the hospital as he went, hoping after this he never had to come here again. He glanced over at Frost as he stood in front of the medical cabinet, unnerved by her unnatural smile, but continuing to search the cabinet. The stretchers were easy to find, but he looked for something else, something he came here for. There. His hands froze as they glanced over the spare medical uniforms, instanly becoming nervous again. "So uh, you looked as if you knew that..." The fox grabbed the stretches and "accidently" made them fall onto the floor. "Oops, uh, sorry. Mind giving me a hand?"
-
Frost was not facing the worker, instead gazing after where Angder was taken, shuffling her paws distractedly. She barely even register what the worker behind her had said before leaving him there alone and walking after Andger. "Sorry, dear, I have to go, please... just.... I'm sure you can do it, love..." She rambled absently as she departed.
-
Jacob couldnt believe his luck, the medic just left him here with access to the cabinet. He wouldnt waste this opportunity. Glancing around to make sure no body was watching him, the fox grabbed a uniform that looked his size and quickly shoved it into a blanket, then grabbed a stretcher and shoved the blanket inside that. A smile came to his face as he ran from the medical ward and back out into the factory, stretcher in hand. He had done it, but the hard part was still to come.
-
Angder sighs. "How do you cope."
The cheetah looks up. "what?"
"How do you cope with this? beating us, cutting us open, working us until we die with no hope or dreams."
The cheetah leans back, and sighs. "I just do my job, its simple as that."
-
Frost entered the holding room, approaching Angder with her ears dropped. "why were you out there? I told you to stay here and wait for me." Her eyes searched his face hopelessly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victoria cocked her head at the guard, a small frown adorning her muzzle. She gulped and opened her mouth, her voice a meek whisper. 'You can rest on one of the empty bunks for a while if you like. They aren't much but they're a little better than the floor." She managed a tiny smile. "I doubt any of the workers will have the balls to kick you out."
-
Angder really did not want to piss off frost, Right now he was getting his limbs cut off and replaced and that was when she seemed fairly happy with him. If he pissed her off...
"I... I..." Angder stammered. "I... just..." he sighs, and looks away. He had no good explanation frost was likely to accept.
-
Frost sighed and sat down beside the gurney, looking at the floor between her paws. Her icy-blue eyes slowly lifted to meet Angder's. "We start work tonight." She said flatly. "Until then, I'll find it in my heart to forgive you, as long as you find it in yours to be patient" Her eyes were slowly brightening to their usual spark and she placed a gentle peck on his cheek. "I'm not giving up on you, my masterpiece."
-
Angder yelps as she gives him the peck. he then struggles to smile. "Thanks..." he states.
Work? experiments? more replacement parts?
...Why not just ask?
"What kind of work will... will we be doing?" Angder asks.
-
Frost paused, smiling at his interest. "Preparing for your new life, silly!" She wagged her tail happily. "I'm not going to let a piece as fine as you go back out on those assembly lines! Especially not as a worker!" She shook her head. "No, no, no! I have a much more dazzling job in mind for you, dearest!"
-
Angder opened his eyes wide. "r...Really?" Angder's eyes lit up, and he genuinely smiled. "Thanks..."
-
Nobody questioned him on the way down, no one was suspicious and that made Jacob almost giddy. He reached the maintenance tunnel with a huge smile on his face, holding up the stretcher as Andrew and 496 turned to look at him. There was also another person there Jacob hadnt seen before, but he was to excited to be happy. "You have it?" 496 asks, taking the stretcher from the fox and opening it up. He unfolded the blanket and pulled out the uniform, a grin coming to his own muzzle. "Good, now put it on. 378 should be back soon." As if on que a cat slipped through the door. "We got it, but 331 nearly got caught. They drug him to the medical wing." The cat said as she stepped forward, handing 496 a key card. "But now we can get in to chemical storage.
Distipe hearing the news that they were a man down, a smirk came to Andrews face. This was the closest hes ever been to getting out. "See, things are falling into place perfectly." He said, turning to Jackson.
-
Jackson gulped and shuddered. This isn't right. This isn't right. What will F@#$%$^E#$%^M think? He blinked hard a good several times, trying to clear his cluttered head. He was scared, there was only one person he could ever go too when he was scared..... He gave Andrew one last frightened look, before turning and dashing away across the factory floor, disappearing among the milling workers and massive machines.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost grinned genuinely at the worker, her face taking on a much warmer tone than usual. "You're welcome, my little beauty. Don't worry, no one's ever going to hurt you again." She deposited a small kiss on his forehead, as a mother may do to her pup, and trotted off into the infirmary. As muich as it pained her to have to leave her magnum opus behind, she had work to do. Maybe one day he could accompany her, and help her with her art, so she wouldn't always be working alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Victoria gave a small huff. He had saved her life. She owed him. He looked pitiful over there, not threatening at all, but.... She pushed the last fearful thoughts down and eased herself up into a sitting position, scooting gingerly to the end of the mattress and leaning her back against the wall for support, leaving the entire top half of the bed vacant. She patted the empty space, trying her best to be assertive through her apprehension. "Come on. You look like a sad little fawn down there shivering in the cold."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackson sat in front of the heavy wooden door, his pulse racing but his mind numb. He lifted a paw and knocked steadily. There was a long pause before the sound of rustling papers and slightly rusted joints could be heard from inside. There were a few muffled curses before the door was pulled open, revealing a very disgruntled CEO scowling down at him.
Her expression looked like she was ready to rip the head off of any medic or guard who thought he or she was important enough to make her leave her desk full of work to come greet THEM at the door, but as her gaze fell on the withered, cowering Jackson it managed to get worse. "What the hell do you want?" She growled venomously. Jackson flinched, his wide, bloodshot eye making it's way up her frame from the floor to meet her contemptuous mechanical ones. He was at a loss for words, blubbering and stuttering like a mad-man. Fem growled and gave a quick stomp, the sound reverberating through the metal floor and silencing the stammering worker. "If this is another one of your attempts to curl up at my feet like a helpless puppy and get things to go back to 'the old days' again, so help me-" Jackson's head snapped up, startling the old mutt out of her sentence. "They're trying to get out....!"
Fem was dumbfounded for a moment, staring at the sniveling worker in shock. Slowly, her dropped jaw closed and her face regained its hawk-like intensity. She raised an eyebrow and looked him over again, as if appraising him for sale. "Come inside, I'd love to hear more about this little.... development." Jackson slinked into the dimly lit office, his tail between his legs and his eyes on the floor. She closed the heavy door behind them, and though it closed slowly and carefully, it still seamed to shut with a condemning boom.
-
Andrew was about to run after Jackson but the hyena quickly grabbed him and slammed the door. "Stop, if you run after himethen they are going to get suspicious."
"Hes going to get the CEO!" Andrew hissed, ripping his shoulder from 496s grip.
"I know I know, but this situation is still salvageable... we just need to come up with a story. And **censor** fast."
"I think I have one." Jacob spoke up, walking forward. Now listen up, and for the love of God dont forget it."
_____________________________________________________________________
Before Andrew knew it he was standing infront of the heavy wooden door to the CEOs office. In truth he was scared out of his mind, but on the outside he looked calm, almost bored, as if this was simply just an inconvenience out of his day. Reaching out, he knocked three times on the door.
-
The heavy door was opened slowly, revealing the pale, worn face of Jackson. He looked up at the shark's face and his eyes filled with terror. He started to stutter, trying to get words out, only to be settled by a metallic wing placed gently over him in an almost motherly fation. Fem, stepped into sight of the doorway, her wing draped over Jackson comfortingly, but the sharp feathers flexing and twitching dangerously and her dark synthetic eyes trained on Andrew. They twitched and flickered menacingly as she looked the beast over, her lip drawing up in disgust. She gave Jackson's side a gently pat but it was plenty to startle him into looking up at her pleadingly. She gestured to the door and he gave a small, nervous nod, slinking out past Andrew, keeping his eyes on the floor and avoiding his gaze as best he could.
Left alone, she returned her fierce gaze to Andrew. "Care to join me in my office?" She stepped back, presenting the empty room with an unfurled bladed wing.
-
Angder stayed silent. Deep in thought. He then made a decision... He would wait. A promotion would make his life bearable, losing that opportunity was not worth it... the chances of escape were far too low.
-
Andrew didnt look at Jackson as he passed, instead keeping an eyes on the CEO, who he propmtly gave a smirk and a small head bow as he walked into the room. The shark kept his composure, maintaining the same unamused look as he stood in the middle of the room, folding his hands behind his back and taking a quick look around. The office was very much like the ones he had seen when he met with leaders of crime syndicates, just maybe a bit more formal. He also knew how to act . Stand up straight, place his hands behind his back, and look forward, it showed respect. And whatever he did he couldnt show nervousness or fear, it displayed weakness, and in confronts such as this that could be deadly. It was the same rules in this situation. "I think 002 should be sent to the doctors for a detox, thats why I came." He spoke up, looking forward. "There was an incident when we were working on a burst pipe down in one of the maintenance halls, and he was not in the right state of mind when he left, spouting things that could get a few workers including myself in some hot water. If youll allow me ma'am, Id like clear up and explain any misconceptions there may be."
-
Fem eased herself into her large, leather chair, looking at the engineer with quiet contemplation. Her features were serene, much mirroring that of the shark, her open contempt leaving the office with its primary target, Jackson. She gave a small nod, gesturing for him to continue, her eyes' now dim light casting a feint golden glow on her desk in the dark room. Even fewer lights were on than usual.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost's tail wags in rhythm as she hummed a perky tune. Her hips swayed as she twirled over to another rack of medical supplies, dropping the rusty scissors with a clang on the dirty surface. On the operating table lay a sedated raccoon, a significant portion of his throat now seeming to be made up of a series of complex tubes and pipes. She smiled down at her handiwork, running a paw affectionately over the fine parts as if strumming a harp, wiping off a few stray specks of blood from the shiny surface. Trachea replacements were difficult, but she always loved a challenge. She had only ever had to do a few before in her lifetime, her finest being on her own auntie Fem, herself, when her voice had begun giving out. She frowned slightly, thinking of the old canine. She was in such poor health, the years of running the factory taking such a toll on her.... The smile was quick to return though. That's why whenever a problem began to pop up, they just replaced its source with something new!
She patted the raccoon on the head, giving him a friendly smile. "You're a cutie, it's a shame the guards got over exited like that. Keeping you alive after they rip the throat out is such a delicate procedure." The raccoon stirred, beginning to come to. "At least you'll have a beautiful new voice now!" She chuckled as the raccoon's eyes fluttered open, looking at her with dazed confusion before slowly morphing to fear. She leaned down, placing her muzzle right beside his ear, her smile becoming dangerous. "But you want to know something?" She whispered, looking into the creature's terrified eyes. "You're still not nearly as cute as my masterpiece!" She struck him hard in the stomach with a her paw, eliciting a cry of pain from the creature that quickly turned into a chorus of screaming as it heard the sound of its own voice.
Frost grinned in delight and trotted out of room, leaving the guards to deal with the patient. At least they'll have some nice music to listen to now that I replaced his old vocal chords. This is so much more refined! She trotted down the hall happily, swaying her hips to a different tune now. The tune of a screaming patient with harmonica reeds for vocal chords.
Post Merge: August 30, 2015, 03:22:09 AM
Frost's paw steps grew steadily faster as she approached the bedding area where her favorite project presided, finally nearly a run by the time she rounded the corner and pushed through the clear plastic flaps that hung over the door. She made a beeline for Angder's cot and greeted him with a grin as she plopped herself on his chest, her eyes gleaming as they stared wide into his. "Hey there beautiful! I just got done with my last surgery of the day, and boy was it a doozy!"
A few medics working nearby lifted their heads at her statement. Medics worked in shifts and went home in their downtime just like any other job, but Frost NEVER took time off. Sure it was available to her but she never took it, hell, she was the one they all gave their late-night surgeries to when they were tired and just wanted to go home because they knew she would happily do them. There was no "last surgery of the day," unless she was dead. Things were changing.
The white jackal reached up and began playing with the wolf's face. Squishing his cheeks around and stroking his fur with her thumbs as if she were examining a detailed antique. "He got his throat SHANKED OUT by one of the guards with the help of an assembly worker of all things who got mad at him and wanted revenge! It was so messy! His blood was EVERYWHERE! I keep thinking there should be a way to mop all that up and put it back in so we don't waste any but it never works, kinda sad really, but the point is that I got to do his surgery and it was SUPER fun and I even got to try out this brand new thing I've ben wanting to do, where you add instrument parts so they make beautiful music whenever they talk. I would love to get an orchestra of those together someday! I just have to figure out how to get the brass instruments not to sound like farts! Do you have any ideas?" She giggled and chattered on like that for a solid several minutes at a break-neck pace, recounting her day and all her exited thoughts on him like a kindergartener telling their parent about their day at school. All the while she continued to poke and prod at him and absently, as if studying each part for flaws or simply admiring. Finally she fell silent and looked at him quietly, a little smile sitting on her face. "So are you ready to go?" She asked suddenly, her tail wagging. "We have work to do."
-
Angder nods, and tries to smile, his face was slightly sore from the poking and squishing, and he felt a little sick listening to Frost... was this such a good idea?
"l..Lets go... about time I got a promotion." Angder states.
-
"Im going to get right to the point, 002 was hallucinating due to a chemical spill." Andrew continued. "We were working on a corroded pipe down in maintenance hall C and requested the help of a few runners for assistance and material gathering. I have all their identification numbers if needed. But as we were working one of the runners knocked into a storage shelf and it fell, spilling a few things on the floor and over 002. One of those being an industrial solvent." He stopped for a moment, letting his word sink in. "We were to busy trying to help the runner that the shelving fell on that we didnt notice the effects of the chemical at first, but then 002 started to freak out. Backed into a corner and stared going on about how we wernt allowed to escape, and that posing as guards and medics was a bad idea and that we should put down the uniform. I did my best to calm him down and wipe the chemical off his snout, settle him in the corner because, well to be straight, I didnt really want to send him up the the med bay. I turned my back to help the runner and 002 is running out the door, yelled something about the CEO. So now Im here. And I have evidence supporting my claim, along with testimonies of the other workers." Andrew finished, not moving as he waited for the CEOs response.
-
Fem listened quietly to the engineer's spiel, taking it in with calm contemplation. When he concluded, she stared at his in silence, before cracking a small smile. "You certainly didn't need to go to all that work of making up a story." She took in the shark's features with her growing smile. "I've known 002 very closely for a very long time, we've been through many trials and tribulations together to get this facility where t is today. Did he tell you what ever happened to his eye?" She waited for a response, but safely took the silence as a no, and shrugged. "not surpising, he never did like talking about that day, and he likely hardly remembers it anyhow, he was only a puppy at the time.... not to mention his mind being so hopelessly scrambled at it is." She looked away idly, brushing some dust off of a nearby shelf. "Yes, I'm perfectly aware he has completely lost his mind." She turned her sharp gaze on his, her eyes like fierce candles in the dark room. "However, he always comes through for me when there's trouble in my kingdom."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost's heart skipped excitedly, and she took Angder's big blade hand in both of hers, leading him off through the white hallways. She glanced back at him repeatedly, her smile wide like an exited puppy. Slowly, as they progressed, the walls grew darker and darker, until they once again became the same dark, dingy brown as the factory floor.
They made it to a large, open room, full of weights and practice dummies and other training equipment. Frost beamed at it all, her tail wagging vigorously. "Welcome to the gym!" She said perkily.
-
Angder glances around, and grins "SO... I am being promoted to a guard?" Angder moves over to the weights... and tries to lift one... of course as he was doing it effectively one handed he had little success.
-
Andrew only shook his head, walking forward and standing right in front of Fems desk, a small smile on his face. "A story? This is hardly a story. Why would I go through the trouble of coming up here and presenting myself to you if I had something to hide? Because, to be forward ma'am, there are a lot of easier ways to slip into the shadows if you have been caught doing something against the rules." He spoke casually, as if talking to his boss who he had known for years. His face still had no sign of fear or nervousness, even after calling his bluff. He had expecred her not to buy it right away, they never did. "But I chose to come up here and explain myself because Im not guilty of anything. And I have no doubt that 002 can be reliable when weeding out trouble, but in this instance he was on a chemical high fused with a drug induced paranoia. He could of seen and reported any number of things."
-
A new face had just arrived at the factory. His name was formerly Riley Barrens, though he guessed that really didn't matter before. Now he was worker number...well he didn't really know, he was too busy looking for a way out when he was given a number. He did his best to recall what may have been said and the number 426 came to mind. He shrugged his shoulders, like it really mattered, he wasn't going to refer to himself as a god damn number anyway. To do so would be acceptance, he was not about to go ahead and just accept this. Riley jerked forward as a guard gave him a rough shove, he had been standing completely stationary whilst he was in thought. Honestly, he had done it on purpose to test the guard, and from the look on said guard's face, they knew all too well that was his intention.
Riley kept his mouth shut, wanting to cursed the guard right to their face, but he was no idiot, he knew that would be a quick way to earn a beating or two,so he moved along the work floor, allowing himself to be guided to his work station. He was going to cooperate just for now. He didn't want to get his ass kicked already. The way he walked probably screamed that he was new here. He walked like a man who treasured his dignity and pride above all things, like a man yet to be broken and who was unwilling to be made to do anything he didn't feel like doing. It was a walk which told any observant onlookers that this man was arrogant, and that it would almost definitely be his undoing in a place like this. He stuck out like a broken thumb, demanding to be snapped into place.
-
Fem's sly smile instantly dropped to a deep frown. This is practically insulting. She leaned over to her intercom and pressed the button connected to the infirmary. "Frost, would you and three other medics kindly report to my office as soon as possible. I need to brief you on retrieving an engineer for programing. Thank you." She turned to the shark, a sly smile returning to her face. "thank you for informing me of this, 104, I very nearly sent an entire fleet of guards after you and your little colleagues." She leaned back in her chair. "That would be a shame, seeing as you have so much potential."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost's ears perked at the sound of the intercom. Auntie fem never uses the intercom system, you had to schedule a meeting weeks in advance. She turned to Angder, pouting. "I have to go...." She grumbled, looking at the floor. "Some guard will come by soon to help train you I guess.... I'll be back....." She gave him a half-hearted hug and sulked off down the hallways again, her tail dragging behind her on the white tiles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(I hate to do this, but i can't finish this right now, I'll have to later so please hold on unless you just have something to say unrelated to this incident)
-
"HELP!" Another cry for help came from the assembly line and the medics all looked to see who it was. They all groaned with disappointment as it was just Anny. Her arm had gotten caught in one the machines but she was doing more damage to the machine than it was to her. Two workers came over and after a lot of pulling got her out. While most would lose an arm, she only had minor scratches and a couple nuts stuck on her metallic skin. The machine however stopped working. A medic came down to examine her but found nothing else wrong.
"Number 39 why did you stick your hand in the machine?" The medic asked
"I dropped my candy in the gears. See?" Anny held up a sucker with grease on it from the machine and proceeded to lick it. The medic didn't question the crazy girl any further.
"Frickin Steel types, why do they have to have steel skin? Number 39 too take a break while the engineers fix the machine." Anny did as she was told and went to wander the halls. Guards didn't really bother her as she didn't go places she wasn't suppose to and she was normally worth the effort.
-
I guess work can't wait any longer.
The leopardess dragged herself from the desk she'd occupied in the large, communal office the medics used for various reasons. The feline was on the prowl, and her silent aura of dark intent flowed out and polluted the air around her. It was like a toxic miasma that showed her complete unwillingness to pretend she was anything different than what she was.
There wasn't anything going on in this god forsaken hell hole. Akasha was hoping that she would walk out to find that something interesting was happening. There wasn't. There hadn't been. There probably wouldn't be, either. Apparently that frightened brat Jackson had come running through looking terrified, but that could mean nothing. The feline had mixed feelings on the child. Ultimately it didn't matter, so she always ended up letting it go.
Pausing for a moment, she smiled hearing cries for help. Upon peering down, she saw it was that girl again.
Damnation, it's just that girl. I always think something good is coming my way and it's one of those loonies causing more damage than they're worth. When are they just going to get rid of those worthless workers, eh?
Akasha was tired of the let downs. She wanted a victim patient to work on. It looked like there was a new worker, though. Uppity one too. Whether the machines or the guards tore him up first, that was anyone's guess.
Akasha watched him like she was eyeing up prey. Make no mistake, she'd have one of them on a table. It was all a matter of time. Leaning against the railing she smiled at him. A thin veil of kindness over an ocean of intensity.
Welcome to hell everyone
-
Frost trudged through the white halls, her lip pouted out in disappointment. I was really looking forward to working with my little guy.... She sniffled as she made her way to a couple other medics, pawing them half-heartedly to see if they were busy. Eventually, she got an old lizard who happened to be off duty for a spell and was making her way out of the infirmary when she spotted a pale shape out of the corner of her eye. She approached Akasha, a leopard she had worked with only a couple times in the past, and tapped her on the shoulder. "Auntie Fem needs some medics up in her office, you coming?"
-
She didnt buy the story, but it was alright, Andrew wasnt scared. He knew this could happen with what he was getting into, and a serene feeling came over him, because 496 has told him something before he came up to the office, something that would give him the last laugh. The shark simply began to laugh, leaning forward and placing his hands on the desk. "You know Fem, youre not what I expcted you to be. You actually seem sane and reasonable, which is surprising to me for some reason. But Im going to tell you now, this isnt over." The grin never left his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a zippo lighter, opening it up and flicking on the flame before setting it on the desk. "It dosent matter what you do to me, Im still going to be there to watch you burn."
Jacob walked across the factory floor, acting like he had seen most medics act, as if he were above everyone else. The clothes he wore were not of a runner, but of a medic, his ID collar long taken off and given to someone else to take his place. Someone else to take the fall. The orange in his fur pattern was died black with grease and a few more patterns were added to his features, giving him a completely different appearance. A new identity. Though 496 said the escape plan had failed, he gave Jacob different orders and, then handed him the pit-pocketed keycard to the medbay.
-
Anny was wandering around the factory floor and saw a medic she had never seen before, and she thought she knew all of them. Most medics ignored her and she hoped this one would be her friend. She walked up to Jacob still licking the greasy sucker which was almost gone by this point.
"Watcha doin'" Anny asked Jacob.
-
Fem was frozen for a moment, a rare sight indeed, only her face moving in small, erratic twitches. This is my utopia. I built this company from the ashes of its former idiocy. AND I BUILT IT FOR HER. Her lip twitched up into a fierce snarl. "The skum will suffer, and from those ashes they too will rise to their glory." Another violent twitch, this time to smile. It's been so long.... since there were ashes.... She flaxed her metallic wings, their sound one of sharpening knives. But to get good ashes you have to pull out what's left of the branch.... Her snarl returned and deepened before she began to laugh as well, a dark chuckle, with no hint of levity, staring down at her reflection in the quickly burning desk. The old tyrant before her really did have a foolish liking for flammable furniture. Not to mention hard to clean. Getting his blood out of this trash was nearly impossible! Her face rose to meet the shark's grin with her own wild-eyed glare. "I have to say, no one's spread this sort of chaos in my kingdom for quite some time." She stood and passed over the desk, ignoring the heat on her paw-pads. "I am this place you know. Sane? Reasonable? I am what my factory is, and when you go spreading chaos and disorder...." She was in his face with startling speed, especially for one of her apparent age. "I follow suit." Her eyes were nearly blinding bright as she pinned him against the wall opposite her desk, holding a paw to his throat. "I dare say it is a shame, genuinely. Jackson was ever so fond of you. The poor thing was blubbering like a puppy as he told me about your little plan! Oh what would he think of all the nasty lies you told about him?" Her face showed no emotion for his plight, simply look at the shark as if he bored her. She could feel the intense heat on her back, clearly beginning to sear her fur and flesh, but again, she ignored it. She moved slowly, putting her muzzle centimeters from his ear and whispered. "We can both burn here, dearest, but what you fail to realize is that both of us can be put back together, and I'm the one with a say in what goes where." She raised a bladed wing, plunging it deep into the shark's chest and letting it protrude again from the back, her head retreating to look him in the eyes. "You're clever, I'll give you that. We can even put that to good use." She twisted the blade, nearly feeling the inside of his gut on her synthetic nerves. "But I assure you, no one will spread discord in our factory as long as I'm here." With that, she drew the blade out in a quick swipe, and smashed the entire apparatus into the aquatic animal's skull, knocking him instantly unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost's head shot up to the sight of flickering light through the blinds of fem's office, along with the sound of commotion. She let a terrified squeak escape her muzzle and took off up the stairs and across the scaffolding. Her blue eyes were wild and nearly teary. If something happened to Auntie Fem, what would she do!? Where would she go!? This was the only place she could be free, she could be herself! Andger was starting to understand, but only Fem and the other medics truly got her. Fem gave that too her, Fem let her live! Her paws pounded the metal and she nearly crashes straight into the heavy office door. It was hot, and she could hear the crackling flames now. She whimpered, unsure of what to do, only to have the door be opened for her and find herself face to face with a bloody, startlingly disarrayed Fem. Her back was nearly burned free of fur and bubbled like frying oil, her tail charred down to nearly a fleshy stub. The old female glared down at her, her animatronic eyes seeming to burn as fiercely as the flames that engulfed her office. She dumped the motionless body of a shark at her paws. Staring at it in silence along with the stunned Frost. Her eyes slowly began to soften as she calmed herself before she spoke, raising her eyes to meet Frost's. "Get him to the infirmary. Rebuild and Rewire." Her voice was flat, but the order snapped Frost to attention. "O-of coarse." On any other day this order would have rendered frost an elated mess, a rare and delicate procedure to be sure, but in this moment she found it difficult. "What about you? I always do your-" She was cut off by a burned paw on her shoulder and was surprised to find herself looking up into almost motherly eyes. "Don't worry, I can wait. My burns aren't life-threatening." Fem patted Frost's shoulder lightly before letting it slide off almost drunkenly, portraying her true state of mind. She turned and passed Frost, making her way to the infirmary. "Get some guards and runners to clean this mess up, it shouldn't spread, and I need to send some letters to some investors about a minor setback in correspondence. It was high time I got myself a new office." She called back over her shoulder.
Frost looked off after Fem, her fur bristled uneasily. This was an Auntie Fem she hadn't seen in a long while, not since she first was brought to the factory...... and it both frightened her.... and made her smile.
She quickly scooped the hefty shark up and struggled to carry him on her own back to the infirmary, luckily, she was met half way by a couple of helpful guards who assisted her in the rest of the trip, as well as strapping the beast to a table. She looked at his unconscious form, a bit wary of her usual perky demeanor at a time like this. So instead of a "nose boop" or a playful "cheek peck" she merely touched his face with a smile, a bit somber behind her eyes. "This place is changing, I think, Brusey, and you get to change along with it."
-
(Holy shit Cinder, well done. That was awesome!)
Jacob jumped a bit as someone asked him a question, his nerves still a bit on end, but composed himself quickly. He turned to find someone staring at him with a sucker in her mouth, a worker perhaps. "Returning to the med bay." He replied, putting on a scowl. "Lea..." But he stopped, staring up at the scaffolding as Andrews body was dragged out of Fems office and over into the hospital. This wasnt good. "E-e-exuse me I-I have business to attend to."
-
Anny followed curious as to what was happening. She crunched the last bit of sucker.
"Did someone get hurt?"
-
(Good work Cinder, you get many Internets, and lots lots of cake)
Watching quietly as the greasy, smog filled factory continued to work, the leopardess was about ready to start a betting pool on a couple workers when she felt a telltale touch to her shoulder. Turning, she saw a familiar face. "Ah, Frost. Yes I heard Fem's announcement. I'd be glad to help." The felines tail gave an unabashed swish of excitement. It was a nice break from the dull day that the factory was caught up in but it was more than that. If Fem is making an announcement for medics, then something must be happening. Something big. A new project? Someone needs "some work" done?
As exciting as it was, it didn't blind Akasha from the world around her. It only took the feline a moment longer to notice the fire light coming from Fem's office. While Frost ran up to the office, Akasha called some guards who quickly called more and made their way on up. Once Akasha was at the office she was given a rare moment of pause. This was not a side of Fem that was seen often. She was, send and maybe even a bit motherly to Frost. More than that it was her calm and rather selfless decline for immediate help that caught the leopardess off guard. What the devil happened in that office? What in the world is happening to this place? Tearing her gaze away from Fem, she turned and followed Frost as they headed back down.
Once they were inside a suitable modification workshop an operating room, Akasha smiled down at the unconscious shark, "Someone's getting the full work up today." Glancing over to Frost her smile wavered a bit. Taking a deep breath she raised a paw and ruffled the hybrids head fur a bit. "Come on. No need to be so somber. It's time to get to work, right?" The feline smiled a bit playfully and arched a brow softly. Akasha started prepping the equipment they would need for the full Rebuild and Rewiring. This was going to be fun a lot of work.
-
Frost let a smile break through again and wagged her tail, the weight of the odd circumstances sliding from her shoulders. She trotted over to a rack of scalpels and blades, far more organized than in her usual offices, so it ironically took her a bit to find what she was looking for. She fingered through the varies sharp tools cheerfully, as if their razor edges gave her some manor of comfort. "Do you want to work on the brain or should I?" She chirped over her shoulder at the other medic. "One of us can 'Rebuild' and one of us can 'Rewire'" She trotted over to the table with a small smile, poking around in the new hole on the patient's chest. "You could probably do a new lung apparatus and chest plate here, which is fun in it's own right." She braced her paws against the edges, pulling the wound open slightly. "I never got to hear him speak.... maybe if he has a low enough voice I could..... I have a saxophone reed around here somewhere...." She mumbled just as much to herself as too Akasha now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackson watched the whole ordeal from the floor below the office, his ears flattened and his eyes tearful and horrified. How could all of this have happened? He tucked his tail tightly between his legs. I didn't want this. I didn't want anything..... He reached up a paw and knocked the side of his head a couple of times, trying to clear all the static from his skull again. So many things were so unclear.... One thing was clear though.... He was going to make it up to Andrew somehow....
-
Angder begins to train... it is hard work, and he is sweating by the end.... it is only made harder by the fact he was only able to use a hand gun due to his blade.
~~~
Sanders Spots Riley immediately, he was currently working and unable to do more than look over to him. but already he could see he was going to be trouble. Sander's sighs... he had heard something about trouble up near Fem's office. That meant harsher measures for the rest of the workers because some fool thought they could make a difference.
Sanders sighs. This one did not see what happened to 54... He makes a mental note to Talk to the new guy after his shift. He would see sense... with luck.
-
"It looks like it..." Jacob mumbled, proceeding up the scaffolding. He didnt even hesitate to walk into the med bay, more concerned about what was going to happen to 104. And see if he could stop any of it. It took a while, but he finally found the surgery room where they held the engineer, opening the doors and stepping inside. The fox froze when he saw Frost. A small prayer went through his mind that the medic didnt recognize him with his new fur color and markings before stepping forward, taking a glance at the still body of 104. "Hello, is there anything I can assist with?" He asked.
-
Riley sat down at his work station on the conveyor belt. He looked at the items passing him by, he wasn't sure what they were. He wasn't even sure what he was meant to do with them. He looked up at the guard. "Well if you want me to work here you should probably tell me what you expect me to do..." The guard smacked the back of his head as hard as he could and glared at him, assuming he was playing dumb.
-
A salamander appears next to Riley, which is odd because neither Riley nor the gaurd saw her approach, indeed workers moving freely at all seemed to be a rare sight. Yet here she was. The gaurd prepares to hit her but backs down at the last moment as the salamander gives him a cold gaze, the guard Snarls something under his breath as he leaves. Yind then sits down next to Riley. "So playing dumb or actually having issues?" The salamander asks. "I am Yind by the way, I have not seen you before so I am guessing you are new."
Yind begins to do Riley's work, sticking it in the machine on the side, bending the bits with it, and then doing the same thing on the other side, creating an S shape with each bit. Doing three before passing the fourth to Riley.
-
"I'll go ahead and handle the Rebuild, if it's all the same to you." An array of
toys implements was at was spread out before the leopardess. Everything from a small power saw for the chest plate to scalpels for soft tissue, and some more exotic equipment were there. Though the feline didn't show her excitement as overtly as Frost did, she was bouncing on the inside. This was a rare pleasure, as most modifications operations were minor ones, done in response to minor injuries.
Both ends of this operation were a joy in their own ways, but today the feline medic felt like getting her paws dirty. Akasha took a look at the hole and nodded gently. "Oh definitely. There's more than enough damage to call for a replacement. I believe there's a little prototype that needs testing too." Akasha took a medium sized metal tray and left the room. When she came back there was a cloth over an object that was quickly removed. "Ta-da, fresh out of R&D." It looked like a regular lung apparatus but there was additional wiring hanging off the bronchial area. "This will require both of us. It gets wired into the nervous system. Cool right? Improved oxygen absorption for optimal performance in the subject. No irritation from airborne chemicals. This guy will be feeling great once he comes to. Or at least he aught to."
Glancing back, Akasha saw the newcomer and shook her head. "I don't think your services will be necessary. This shouldn't be too complicated. Besides," the feline looked him over again, "you look a bit tense." Staring down at the shark she smiled a bit darkly. It wasn't often she got to test out a new prototype-especially not one like this. Fun indeed..
-
Riley stared at Yind, cocking his head curiously. He watched her as she worked and copied her movements when the time came for him to try it out. He makes a decent recreation of what she did but it's not perfect, some rough edges here and there.
"Yeah, I'm new here. Guess there really isn't any hiding that." Riley shrugged, not like he was gonna hide it anyway. "Well... I'm Riley." He had noted how the guard had reacted to her. He wanted to question it but he didn't know whether he should at this moment in time.
-
"Look... I know what your thinking Riley. You probably already have plans... Escape, Public outcry, I know the drill." Yind looks straight at him.
"So? whats the plan new guy? And it better be good I have heard a lot of escape plans." Yind smirks. "Though hell, maybe yours is actually decent."
-
Riley shrugged again, continuing to work as he spoke. "No plan to escape at the moment. I just got here. How would I even know what to do in order to get out?"
-
"then your smarter than the last group." Yind states. "Guy named Angder wanted out pretty badly. Only earlier today he was dragged off... actually it might have been yesterday... not many places in here you can see the sky I am afraid."
Yind points to a worker with mechanical leg further down the conveyor belt. "See him. He was dragged off in a much worse shape, an accident on the conveyor belt, stuck his fingers in a machine. God knows why they replaced his leg." Yind turns back to Riley. "You want to escape. you need a plan, a setup, and you need friends." Yind says simply. "Otherwise you will have issues."
-
"Well thank you I guess. Is that you suggesting to be one of those 'friends'? That's awfully forward of you, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." He went to shake Yind's hand as he had just finished working on something.
-
"E-excuse me for being uneasy. I-its my first day on the job." The fox replies, scratching the back of his head and stealing a short glance at Frost. "Do you mind if I atleast spectate? Just to see how operations are done here?"
-
Yind nods. "I am glad we understand each other I am 121 if you need my number..." Yind pauses for a moment. "That was not quite what I meant to say." Yind sniggers and stands up. "Take care. You do not want to end up with a broken hand on your first day of work."
-
Riley sat there and stared in disbelief, he looked extremely confused. "Did you just hit on me? My number is 426 by the way. At least, I think it is."
-
Yind examines Riley's collar, rubbing off some of the dirt that was already beginning to accumulate on it. "Yea, that's your number..." Yind moves back. "Oh and that was not quite my intention but... well... perhaps I should get to know you first."
-
"My thoughts exactly. This isn't exactly the place for such things after all." Riley sighed. "In a dingy, oppressive factory... Is anyone here because they want to be?"
-
"Some of the guards... most of the medics..." Yind states. "Basically the worst of the worst... though I would get comfortable, after all this is where they want you to spend your entire life" Yind sighs, "honestly for the majority of us, we take whatever we can get to make life bearable." Yind points to another worker, a small fox turning a hand crank. "That machine is not reliable, most days a screw falls out, and the engineers find it easier to put a new one in due to friction warping the original. So that guy, 257, he collects them. Puts them under his sack, and hordes the damn things. Says someday he will have enough to... I don't know trade it with a guard or build his own gun or something, in truth its an obsession, he does it because its the thing that keeps him sane. That's why the factory has not stopped him doing it."
"You see we all have our coping mechanisms down here." Yind states. "I should get going. I think the guards are getting restless"
-
Anny was getting bored. She was sucking on another sucker and the working on the assembly line. No one knew where she got her candy and she often handed them out to those who wanted one. Unfortunately she only had one friend and he wasn't here for right now. He was busy else where at the moment. So for now she decided to do her work as best she could, but her dent kept bother her. There days where it was just really itchy and today was one of them.
-
"Well, hopefully I won't be here long enough to need a way to cope with it. Definitely won't be here for my whole life either, not a chance in hell. They're lucky I'm bothering to cooperate right now..." Riley waved to Yind then went back to work. "Alright, go and do whatever you need to before the guards decide to kick someone's ass. They seem particularly fond of doing that from what I've seen." Someone so friendly in a place like this and they happen to be the first person I meet. What are the odds of that? Wonder how genuine she is.
-
Yind smiles, and walks back to her work station.
Need to keep an eye on that one... She thinks to herself. Seems like exactly the sort they want me to keep out of trouble... or drop into it.
-
Frost cocked her head at the newcomer, blinking silently for a few seconds. She stepped towards him, her wide eyes narrowing in scrutiny as she circled him like a prowling cat. She neared his face, her nose twitching before her face broke into one of almost cartoonish disgust. "No.... sorry cutie-pie, but you smell like the factory floor, and look like you carried it in on you too." She poked his face, not noticing the oil that came away on her paw. "Old blood is one thing, but we don't want any of that floor-sludge up in our operations! Clean yourself up or sit in the corner!" She barked, turning swiftly back to her work, where she immediately stopped to fan girl over the new breathing apparatus.
"This thing is great!" She squealed excitedly "We'll have him fixed up good as new, maybe then he can even start training with my Andgy!'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
Akasha watched Frost as she circled and examined the strange newcomer, smiling all the while. When she finally laid into him over the condition of his hygiene she snickered and shook her head gently. I knew there was something else about him. Good think I wasn't the one to notice. Once she'd returned to the table the leopardess leaned in and spoke quietly to her. "If it had been me, I would have made him use the emergency shower AND sit in the corner. Over the smell of the factory, and fire and soot on Sharky here, I hadn't noticed. Besides we don't want a day one doing an R&R do we?"
"The new apparatus is incredible. Let's hope it holds up. Yeah?" Leaning back she looked over their vast array of tools and sighed contentedly. "Looks like we are good and ready here." As she pulled on a pair of gloves she locked eyes with Frost and offered a grin that was pure delight, "Shall we, Doctor?"
-
Jacob stood completely still as Frost came over to examine him, trying his best to stay calm. He let out a small sigh of relief as she called out his smell instead of his bluff, simply nodding as she turned back and walked over to the table. The thought never occured to him that he should of cleaned himself before putting on the disguise, he couldnt remember the last time he had an actual shower let alone was clean. And even though the thought of it was nice, it would be impractical, and would without a doubt wash away away the grease and blow his cover. "Sorry, it seems I spent to much time down amongst the workers. And while I would go get a shower, it would be usless since I intend to go back down there and will most likely get dirty again." He said, walking over to the corner and leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. "I shall observe from here then."
-
Quinn was on break and waiting just outside the factory floor.
"Come on where is she?" Quinn said checking his phone for the time. Anny should be getting off work any moment.
"Hi friend." A friendly voice said from behind him. Quinn jumped before realized it was Anny.
"You scared me, Anny." Quinn said holding as hand over his heart, trying to calm down.
"I thought it would be funny." Anny said scratching her dent. Quinn just smiled.
"Its fine. I got you chocolate bars this time. Be careful though, they will melt if you have them in your pocket too long." Quinn looked around to see if the cost was clear and they quickly made the exchange.
"Thanks." Anny said and put it in her pocket.
"Remember..." Quinn put a finger to his muzzle meaning to keep this a secret. Anny nodded and the two went separate ways.
"I wish she new how I really felt...*sigh*...oh well back to work." Quinn went off to get dressed into uniform.
-
News travels fast amongst the workers, so Connor quickly learned of what happened to 104. Setting the CEOs desk on fire took guts, and the hyena would admit, it was guts that even he didnt have. Hes not sure what made the shark snap, and it cost him a trip to the medical center, but in a way 496 was relieved, because whatever happened it was enough to distract the CEO so she didnt send guards to kick his teeth in. Yet. So he went back to work, trying to slowly drop back into the shadows and remove himself from the radar. And speaking of news traveling fast, he had heard there was a new worker. There was enough time between runs that he took a trip down the assembly line, looking over the workers and spotting the newbie. And the salamander that just left him. Connor knew of 121 and heard things, nothing good in the slightest thougj. While he didnt work with her personally or even really talked to her, he still heard that she was a snitch, turning in workers to guards to benefit herself. It made him sick to even think about her. The hyena was about to turn back forward when he accidently ran into someone, a hard "thunk" emitting before he fell back onto the floor. "Sorry." He said, rubbing his head as he stared up at Anny. "My bad, I wasnt watching were I was going."
-
Riley finished working and rose from his work station. He looked up at the surrounding guards, wondering if they were watching him. He started to look around, wondering where to go. He felt tired, he needed rest, maybe just sit down for a little while. Maybe he should find that Yind woman, she knows the place better than he does. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Where would she even be? Is there anyone else around here who maybe be slightly trustworthy? Is she trustworthy? Maybe enough to keep around for information but not for anything important like for plans to leave this place or something similar. **censor** I hate this place already.
-
The workers moved slowly to get fed, and to turn in for the night. Some groups huddled together, a small group of 3, a fox, a snake, and a cat. seem particularly nervous as they sit down at their table. Sander's moves over to the group, and seems to say something quietly to them. He then glances around again, looking for Riley. He gestures to Riley, telling him to come over.
Yind was nowhere to be seen. She had come off duty early. As normal.
-
Riley sat down at the table with the fox, snake, cat and Sanders. It was the closest one to him and he didn't feel like walking particularly far at the moment. The tedium of the work had worn him down a little and he felt almost numb from the boredom.
-
Sanders looks the newcomer over. "So... how did it happen?" He asks. "No-one comes here of choice. Not without being lied to."
-
Riley stared at Sanders. "I put someone in their place because they acted like they were big. Guess they were as important as they like to think because it landed me a prison sentence and then I was dropped off here." He sighed. "It's a nice and fair world we live in isn't it? I can be turned into a slave for speaking my mind."
-
Sanders nods. He had heard this story before. "Place gets anyone it can. I thought it was important I talked to you though.."
"I try to talk to all the new people who come here. My name is Sanders I am one of the most experienced workers here. If you need help, come find me. Even the guards respect me a little." Sander leans in slightly. "I also... well.. I know you won't like it here. I want to keep you out of trouble. I know what you might want to do. Not only will it not work. You will hurt everyone here..." He turns to the other three at the table. "As these people know all to well."
-
Riley stared at Sanders then glanced at the others at the table. He shook his head. "Sorry, no can do. I can't sit tight and wait. I will eventually try to get out, or I will try to destroy this place from the inside out. But as it stands I am willing to sit here, wait for the right moments to come along and bide my time. No point risking my neck stupidly so early."
-
"Then you will end up like Angder" The cat mumbles. She was a tabby, obviously quite young. "He said similar things and I believed him." The fox leans back. "We never got as far as trying to escape, they found out while we were planning, Angder was beaten into the ground." The fox explains. "Haven't seen him since. Probably some horrible robotic monster by now. either that or... or he will end up like me."
The snake snarls, glaring at the other two in his group. "I still~"
"ON FIRE!?" A voice behind Sanders yells. "Shh! Keep your voice down, that's what I said ain't it? someone went into her office and~" Sanders goes white hearing the other table talk about recent events. "Please excuse me." Sanders heads to the other table to find out what happened.
The snake stands up, and Gestures to Riley. "Lets go get you something to eat. you two stay here." The fox sighs, obviously not satisfied with what the Snake was doing. "If you must. get us some stuff to." The snake nods. "I will try." And heads to what could be called the canteen. If you were incredibly imaginative, gesturing for Riley to follow.
-
Riley looked like he was about to stand up but he hesitated and ended up staying sat down. He shook his head. "I don't want handouts or charity. I will get on like everyone else does and that will suit me just fine." He looked at the others at the table. "So who is this Angder guy exactly?"
-
The snake sighs, and walks off. The Fox sniggers slightly. "another worker." His face drops remembering him, his metal hand began to tap on the table slightly. "Poor guy... he was roped into a scheme like the rest of us... with what happened to him he has probably been completely rebuilt, assuming he even survived."
The cat looks up a little, "He was always reckless" She says, quietly "thought we were invincible as long as we did not give up. 'Sooner or later the place will collapse, may as well be us to do it.'" She quotes. "But now..." The fox droops his head, "One of the gaurds came in here, found an excuse to give him hell. Broken leg, smashed arms, probably a broken jaw..."
-
Riley shrugged. "He sounds like he was reckless, like he never had a plan to begin with and simply wanted a way out with zero waiting. I am almost offended you would lump me into the same category. I am not an idiot, I know how to be patienr, I know how to wait, even if it takes years,"
-
"Sanders says we should just stay put..." The cat mumbles. "Life is improving... we should just stay quiet. Head down. Accept things and strive for change by proving its better for the company..." The Fox shakes his head. "This place rives everyone mad in a slightly diffrent way. They call me 59 by the way, and this is Krin." The fox gestures to the cat. "The snake is Frenix. I don't think I caught your name."
-
Frost grinned, her mind completely absent from the stranger in the corner, as she nodded and got to work.
Her movements with the blade looks violent and deranged, but if one were to look closely, she never cut anything she wasn't supposed to. Not even a nick. The sort of precision and controlled chaos that could come with utterly loving one's job after thousands of surgeries. She left occasionally for more tiny metal parts but would return in seconds, practically skipping with glee. She worked almost daintily with a needle, threading tiny wires instead of string, all around throughout the shark's brain. They thought about removing a replacing parts of the subject's brain when this concept was first proposed, but one extra smart medic years ago had stepped in and put a stop to it. Keeping the original brain intact and just changing up connections and such was so much more reliable. Inexperienced medics were scrambling brains left and right in the old days.
She looked up at her fellow surgeon with a pleasant smile, continuing to work with her paws. "Did you ever hear the reason we call this a 'Rewire?" She asked, her ears twitching casually as she tried to make conversation. She leaned over slightly, looking past her for a moment to also pose the question to the stranger in the corner. "what about you, carrot cake?"
-
Riley groaned in annoyance and shook his head as he heard the use of a number for identification. "No don't use your numbers to refer to yourselves. Not to me. You aren't a number, you are a person. Alright?" He sighed and paused for a moment before speaking. "My name is Riley by the way, nice to meet you all I suppose."
-
59 shakes his head sadly. "I wish I could"
-
Akasha started in on the
subject patient in her own sorry of disturbing display. The leopardess lacked the violent cuts of her hybrid colleague, but instead possessed an unnerving speed. First, the flick of metal on a sterile tray and a scalpel swiftly cut down the front of the shark's chest. Then the feline swiftly pulled back the skin and clipped it back. The small power saw was in her grasp in a heartbeat. Every quick, precise movement hinted at something dangerous within; the look in her eyes when she turned the saw on did more than hint at it, though.
Without any particular care for any sort of professional composure, Akasha sawed right down his chest plate and pulled the two sides away from each other with a few grunts and a snarl of great effort. Once she had the insides of his chest cavity exposed, she smiled, a look of supreme satisfaction. "Well, well. Looks like Fem broke part of his rib cage too." There was indeed a visible fracture, though it was fairly minor. "Bone just doesn't grow back as strong though, and he'd be in partial traction to make sure he didn't re-break it. We ought to just replace it really.." The feline was looking for an excuse, to be sure. Glancing at the old lizard Frost had found before Akasha, he merely shrugged and nodded.
As the feline went to fetch a new chest plate made from a light metal alloy she caught Frost's question. "Something to do with old practices, I believe. They literally use wire, so that's probably it." Akasha glanced to his other lung, undamaged and thought for a moment while feeling over a an area on her lab coat. The feline snapped out of her reverie and got moving on the replacement lung apparatus. It was disturbingly quick work. Akasha was clearly very comfortable with pulling apart and reassembling people, as well as experienced.
-
Frost's smile widened at the leopard's answer, not many people knew the real reason, unless they were close to Fem. "You would think that, wouldn't you? I guess it's kind of true. If you ask auntie Fem though, it's actually named after a shepherd mix who used to work here apparently." Frost continued to work idly, stringing more wire's through the shark's brain and connecting them with staple-like clamps so tiny that they had to be held with a pair of tweezers in order to even be handled individually. "She was one of the first ones they ever really did this on, but it was really flawed. She tried to kill herself by shoving her head into the components of one of the machines and got half of it totally shredded!" She stuck her tongue out in a look of goofy disgust, though it was clear it really exited her more than it grossed her out. "They had to rebuild like a fourth of her brain and replace one of her eyes. It was done awfully though! There were a bunch of exposed wires and it was always dirty and infected and oozed gross blood and puss all the time!" Her face became genuinely disgusted. "Not to even mention she went totally bonkers! Fem said she used to run around the factory telling everyone that her eye could see the future!" She giggled, getting into the excitement of her story-telling and speeding up her work. "She couldn't remember her own name, and no one else knew it, so they all just called her 'Rewire'." She paused, snipping off the excess the wiring and beginning to sew the finished product of her surgery up. ".....she ended up dying later when she fell off the scaffolding one day and landing in the components of another machine, nothing left but a nice pile of ground doggy!" She whipped some blood from the stitch on the shark's forehead. "I don't think even we could fix that."
-
Riley stared at 59 in silence for a few moments. The silence was seemingly impenetrable and all consuming. His eyes were piercing and filled with fire. Suddenly his fist hit the table, causing it to jerk a little. He spoke with his teeth gritted to force himself to keep his voice down. "That's just not right. You're stripped of everything, even your identity and with that you lose your dignity and then your own self worth. That's unacceptable, I'll do something about this someday. I just have to wait. The moment will come, whether it takes five days or fifty years." He relaxed a little as he finished speaking, he felt it was better to let that stuff out when you can, never bottle it up.
-
"Angder said the same thing." 59 said sadly. "I don't even know what I was, let alone who." He points at the plate on his head. "God knows what they did to me, and why."
-
Riley glanced up at the metal plate as 59 pointed to it. "They did that to you? Like...the guards, they did that to you? How did they even?"
-
"Not the guards. The medics. Trust me. The guards make the medics look soft."
The snake returns with a few bowls of grey goop, and passes them around, there is an extra one for Sanders, he was still talking quietly
~~~
Angder left the training room, exhasted, he heads for his new room, feeling... unreal. Like he was dreaming.
He knew it was real. but as he walked, his mechanical leg clanking against the walkway, the gun on his back... below he saw the workers, not his shift thankfully... his shift. their shift.
Angder finds himself grinning. No more being beaten no more eating grey goop. Angder rests his hand and wrist on the railing, and listens to the factory. his hand tightens on the railing. he looks down at the people. Workers, except one, a fox... in uniform. A guard.
What was he? What had frost done to him? The fox below grabs a worker off the line, Angder could not see what had been done wrong, but the fox obviously could.
There is a creaking from the railing.
There was a short argument, the fox was yelling loudly, and reaches for his baton.
The railing snaps, Angder looks down at the broken bit of metal in his hand, he makes one last glance down at the worker on the line, and then moves away, leaving the bent broken railing. blotting what he had just seen from his mind.
-
Blood and gore had never bothered Jacob in the past, but this... this experimentation, made him sick to his stomach. And he had to listen to what Frost was saying without trying to show his queasiness. "So this worker is going to go crazy?" He questioned, shifting the weight on his feet as his nerves frayed a bit more, realizing the situation could get worse. 104 was one of the only ones who knew of his disguise, and if he lost his mind he could very easily blow it.
-
Anny looked around to make sure no one was watching as she slipped a piece of chocolate into the grey goop to make it taste slightly better and chowed down.
------
Quinn was also in the room but he was on guard duty. He was distracted though as he watched Anny eat, slightly angry at how wrong this was. Guards often got better food than what handed to the workers and he wished he could hand his off to Anny. However he needed to eat to and it was already hard enough to get candy to her. Maybe one day this company won't be so cruel.
-
As Akasha was finishing up her end of the new lung apparatus, she had the chest plate prepared. "Oh no, he won't go crazy. Those were different days." Akasha explained the situation in a very bored manner. It was clear she didn't really want to have to explain this. At least not when she was in the middle a such a great operation. "Well.. I mean. He could go crazy. Everyone responds in their own way. For the most part, though, things are re-wired so thoroughly that the subject thinks and remembers what we want them too."
Akasha looked to Frost, "Darling, could you write the apparatus into the nerves? I'd hate for you to miss out on any fun. Quickly glancing back to the greasy medic in the back she smiles and then watches Frost work. As the hybrid busies herself with the last bit of work. From that position it would nearly impossible for anyone to notice her pull a small cylindrical injector and press it to the shark's last real lung. "So," Akasha continued as she slipped the injector into her inside pocket, "I believe we are about done. Just let me finish the chest plate." The process of detaching the rib cage was a quick, but sickening thing for most watchers. The attachment of the synthetic piece was just as quick though, and less messy.
-
Frost nodded along with Akasha. "Yeah, he'll be a regular 'boy next door' when we're done with him!" She chirped cheerily. "Like I said, we don't even move anything in the brain around anymore, just tweak some things." She connected the last of the tiny wire filaments linking the lung apparatus into the rest of the nervous system, before lending her paw in the reattachment of the ribcage. She smiled and hummed as she began to sew up the wound, checking her manors and offering the needle to Akasha when she was half-way through to let her finish the stiches. It was one of the few bonding behaviors medics in this place really shared oddly enough. a bizarre workplace tic to be sure. However, all the longtime medics seemed to be familiar with and almost automatically sew only half of a large cut, before handing the needle off to their college.
Frost's eyes wondered again to the medic in the corner though as she let the leopard work and she couldn't help but let her fur bristle. This guy seemed so familiar.....
-
"The medics huh? Guessing these aren't just people who fix you up after work related injuries or a brush up with an angry guard. So tell me more."
-
59 Sighs. "Just pray you are never injured enough to find out." The fox starts to eat his Goop.
-
"Will do." Riley nodded and started to quietly eat his own goop.
-
Akasha hadn't even been entirely paying attention. The feline seemed preoccupied with something. Suddenly blinking and looking down, the leopardess smiled. There was still that sense of dissonant serenity. The medic should not enjoy reprogramming a person's brain and pulling apart their body, but she did. Now, however, there was almost a look of affection on her face. Akasha took the needle in one hand and ruffled Frost's headfur with the other. "Thank you very much darling," was all she said, then she got back to work.
-
Jacob tried to glance away as they removed the rib cage but couldnt tare his eyes away, his guts seeming to shift in the most unpleasant way. He composed himself as he saw Frost looking at him again, simply giving her a short smile. "So exactly do you go about reprogramming? Surly you cant just make memories by adding a few wires." He asked.
"Is that... candy?" Connor asked, giving Anny a confused look. He lowered his voice. "It wont be good if they catch you with that, you know that right?"
-
Angder enters the guard post. Starting him off up here made sense. Away from the people he might know, away from the brutality the factory employed. Somewhere he could do his job without feeling guilt or anger. It was what he did. Nothing more, nothing less. Some part of Angder realized this.
For now? for now he kept going. He was in a good spot. He would have actual food today, he would sleep in a bed, not a sack...
Yet it felt wrong. He was no longer a worker, he was not quite a guard, even here, the other guards saw his collar, they knew what he was, perhaps better than he did.
He moved to his post, and sat down, his job was to monitor the deliveries to the post, the various messages the runners would relay up here. If he had to he could also descend to the factory floor quickly to help stop any trouble that might occur.
He hoped to any gods out there that would not be necessary.
-
Jacob tried to glance away as they removed the rib cage but couldnt tare his eyes away, his guts seeming to shift in the most unpleasant way. He composed himself as he saw Frost looking at him again, simply giving her a short smile. "So exactly do you go about reprogramming? Surly you cant just make memories by adding a few wires." He asked.
"Is that... candy?" Connor asked, giving Anny a confused look. He lowered his voice. "It wont be good if they catch you with that, you know that right?"
"No one will care. It's just candy." Anny ate her slop which actually tasted better now.
-
"No one will care?" Connor asked with a small laugh. "The guards will care. Do you really think they would let us have a luxury such as chocolate? But hey, its non of my business. Just dont get caught with it."
-
"Sure I won't. Plus the guards like me." Anny said as delusional as ever.
Quinn was on patrol I the hall getting really bored. He wanted to see Anny but he would have to go out of his patrol boundaries and that would raise suspicion.
"*sigh* patrols suck."
-
Yind slips away from the workers area, One of the guards notices, but turns a blind eye. Yind heads up to get onto the catwalks above. She takes another glance at Anny. She had suspected for a while. but now she was as certain as she could be. One of the guards was responsible for the chocolate, nobody else had the power to sneak it in so consistantly. She would have to report this.
She wondered if maybe she could have found out more, the chocolate itself was no big deal. More disturbing for the factory was the idea of there being a leak, and exit to the outside world. Yind wondered if maybe it could have been a way out...
Too late now, she had committed, she needed to file her report and then return. She starts to head up the metal stairs.
59, Krin, and Frenix finish eating. Sanders had stormed off, furious about the attack on Fem. Frenix nudges Riley. "Yea. Some guy set fire to The goddess's office, heard he got torn in two from the attempt. Your going to want to keep your head down for a while, its likely things are going to get quite harsh on us workers for a while." The snake grins. "Still totally worth the attempt though, I would love to shake that guys hand."
-
Riley clenched his fist tight, digging his claws into his palm a little. He hadn't even really started eating at all. The slop could barely be called food and he was having trouble getting it down anyway. "I can't tell if I respect that person for his audacity and bravery, for resent him for doing something so utterly stupid and risky with almost no hope of getting away with it." He let out a sigh, he needed to relax before a guard noticed he was tense and used it as an excuse to assume he was up to something.
-
Connor just shook his head. He had heard of Anny before, and how she wasnt quite right in the head, but luckliy for her metal skin she could get away with things like this. Still though, it wasnt going to be good for her if the guards caught on. "Well, just be careful." He said. The sight of her chocolate had only reminded him of hiw hungry he was, his stomach starting to growl. "But if youll excuse me I think im going to get something to eat myself."
-
"Ok see ya friend." Anny finished her food and went to go get ready for work. Her dent was really itchy and this actually made her slightly worried. It was hard to explain but it only itched when something bad was about to happen.
-
Yind arrives at the guard post, she knocks on the door. "h...hello? its 121... I..."
On the other side of the door Angder glances behind him, one of the the other guards nods. "Let her in."
Angder opens the door, and watches the salamander. He recognized her instantly. Yind looks up at him, then slowly inches forward, eyeing Angder's blade.
Angder steps back to let her in. One of the guards beckons her further inside. Angder shuts the door and sits down. Whatever she was doing was nothing to do with him. He just opened a door.
Behind Angder, Yind discussed Anny's chocolate, and the possibility of a traitor in the ranks. Angder blots it out. the less he knew the better.
-
Frost chuckled at Akasha's touch, letting her attention flit over to the patient's face. His face was peaceful in his unconscious state, aside from a bit of his teeth that hung out over his dry lips. She poked his upper lips gingerly until it covered the imperfection and patted him on the head. "I wonder if he and my little Angd-y will get along...." She mused, "He's big enough that they could probably work together." She lifted one of his arms, rather large and muscular compared to her petite frame.
Post Merge: November 10, 2015, 11:56:10 PM
Jackson made his way warily into the cafeteria, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the workers. He didn't know who all knew what he had done, but he really didn't want to face any of them right now. Even those who didn't know it had been doomed by his actions, and he didn't want to have to look into the face of that. After getting his food, he sat down at a vacant table in the far corner of the room. Usually if something happened, this was where the guards would drag workers away to discipline them. It was a regular old table, and the repeated abuse here was just a coincidence, but it still made most of the workers avoid it, and Jackson felt like it was where he belonged.
-
Javib had waiting for an answer to his question but didnt recieve any, shifting uneasy. Perhaps Frost had not heard him. "E-excuse me, but how exactly does this reprograming work?" He asked again.
-
Akasha finished the stitches and looked the subject over. Everything went together well. He should be functioning perfectly once they get him back up on his feet. Not that there was ever any doubt, they did have the two best medics doing the R&R. Looking up to Frost the leopardess smiled softly and extended a hand for a firm handshake. "Another successful operation, eh? Let's get him on his feet and see him work."
-
Anny was working in factory floor while Quinn was on duty. He couldn't help but watch her as she worked on the assembly line, wishing there was someway to get her out of here. He knew that was impossible though.
-
Frost smiled at Akasha and took her paw in the handshake, flashing a rare but nonetheless irritated frown at the other medic in the corner. "How on earth do you not already know?" She scoffed. It was true she had passion for her work, honestly, but it came so easily that she didn't even think of it, so she positively loathed when someone asked her about the technical side. it was like someone asking an artist about their sales models instead of what made their art great and unique. After dropping Akasha's paw she walked right up to him and poked him roughly in the chest. "I know this job is fun, and you might just think it's a game, but it's not, and once you're out in the infirmary, you had better know what you're talking about. You're very lucky to be here, you know. Act like it." She turned with a huff, running her fluffy tail under the beast's nose. "If you really need to brush up, Auntie Fem keeps a copy of the journal for all of the medical procedures we do here, (I add to it all the time!), so you should go ask her for it. I'm sure she'd be happy to help out one of her highest paid employees to remember one of our company's TRADEMARK procedures." Her voice was low, oddly resembling Fem's as she spoke, her eyes dangerous. As she finished and came to stand by Akasha again, she once again flashed her usual bright smiles. She will tear your freaking legs off....
-
Angder feels a paw on his shoulder. "Hey. 54. We have a job for you." Angder turns his head to see one of the guards, a fox, in full uniform, even an assault rifle on his back. "One of other guards in. Quinn. He is down on the factory floor. On duty. Near workstation 32B. Us three are bringing him back here for questioning." Angder nods and stands, scratching at his collar as he does so. He then moves to the door. Not even acknowledging the third member of their crew. Who was a zebra.
As he leaves, he notices a separate group leaving, heading in the same direction. Angder narrows his eyes as he spots someone he recognized. Duernab.
Duernab was tasked with collecting Anny. He had heard of this metal creature, honestly he was surprised she had been hired, or that she was on the factory floor. Duernab knew some medics and scientists who would kill to test things on her. Still... they were likely to get their wish now. At least that was Duernab's intention.
-
Jacob tensed at shrunk back as Frost snapped and approached him, cant helping but look uneasy as she neared him. "I- Im sorry, today is my first day remember? I-I-I dont know much about company procedures, expecially something as extensive as a rewiring." He spat out, getring a mouthful of Frosts fur. The fox knew it would be risky to continue to push the subject, but he had to know exactly what they did to 104, or if there was a way to reverse it. Rewiring sounded bad, and he didnt know if the shark would wake up the same person. If not, he could take one look at Jacob and easily rat him out, which made the grayfox slightly panic.
-
Quinn was patrolling the factory floor and noticed Anny couldn't stop scratching her dent. Something bad was going to happen, something really bad.
"So itchy..." Anny whined to herself and looked up at Quinn pleadingly, like she needed help.
-
Angder approaches Quinn, letting the fox do the talking. He barely heard what was said, but got the basic idea. He was being taken back to a nearby guard post for questioning... The fox was trying to be nice about. Angder glances nervously at the Zebra. The Zebra seemed just as uncomfortable. All three of them had guns. Though none were out and ready to use.
"Quinn, we need to ask a few things." The fox states. "can you come with us please..."
~~~
Duernab watches the group with Quinn. He pauses his own group, wanting to hold back until Quinn was out of the picture. Then they could handle Anny.
-
The leopardess arched a brow and watched Frost dig in to this supposed new medic. It wasn't impossible he was a new medic, but it just seemed more and more unlikely with each time he spoke. Akasha found it hard to believe that this fox had been dropped into the factory with zero training or even a lick of understanding of what was, indeed, a trademark procedure of the company. Amber eyes narrowed into a predatory look as she watched the fox sputter and stutter and trip over his words. As Frost walked back over to the leopardess she smiled back and patted her on the shoulder. "Very well spoken, darling. I think I'll take my turn with this little whelp.
The leopardess walked over to him and pointed toward the door. "Out." It was a command, not a request. "We're going to have a private conversation." The leopardess leaned in and her voice got quiet and intense so only he could hear what came next. "Unless you want me to pull your secrets out of you in front of Frost, who loves Fem so very much." The leopardess wasn't sure if the fox had anything big to hide, but something was off, and invoking Fem's name was the surest way to put anyone on edge around here.
(Sorry for the tardiness)
-
"Why what's going on?" Quinn asked a little on guard. He may not have been in this facility long, but he new that people taken in for questioning did not have a pleasant experience.
Anny looked up from her work and saw all the two games guards with quinn including Duernabs group. Her head had stopped being itchy, so it was obvious what the bad thing was. This was a trap.
-
Jacob couldnt help but stared wide eyed as the other medic came over, the fox backing so far against the corner he was nearly climbing up the wall. He couldnt help but panic as she began to speak, ice running through his vains aa she mentioned pulling out secrets. The vulpine gave his best effort to put on a confused expression, but hes not sure how it turned out, simply mumbling "a-alright" before scurrying past her and quickly leaving the room.
Once the door was closed behind him, Jacob leaned against the wall next to it and breathed heavy, feeling like he was going to vomit from anxiety. He had pushes the subject to far, showed just how little he actually knew, and now they were suspicious of him. 104 was lost, and Jacob wasnt about to join him. He had to make himself scarce and real **censor** quick.
Taking a look down both ways of the hallway, he took a deep breath and composed himself the best he could, getting off the wall and starting down opposite the way he came, still looking for the chemical storage room.
-
The fox swallows, reaching instinctively for his pistol at his hip. "Please... don't make this harder for all of us. Just come with us." The fox twitches nervously. He knew Quinn to a certain extent...
Angder watches, silent, almost solemn. He was also strangely still, his left hand hovering over his pistol. His blade folded up, He did not need to keep it out all the time. He could flick it out at a moments notice. A quick cut across the stomach if Quinn went for his rifle, or a slice towards the head if he tries to get his pistol. Simple... simple... Angder notices Anny watching... Angder looks at the ground. He... he was not making things worse... this would have happened without him... he was Simply doing what he needed to survive himself.
...Right?
~~~~
Duernab Notices Anny watching. "Stay back." he whispers to the other two guards in his group. "If we are lucky the bitch will do something dumb. Then we won't even need to interrogate her... I know some medics who have wanted to get their hands on that metallic piece of dung for a loooong time." Duernab grins cruelly. He had come prepared of course. He reaches down for his taser. last he heard, metal conducts electricity surprisingly well..
-
The leopardess quirked a small smile. She could have sworn that she saw a flash of worry before the confused look came across his face. Akasha turned and strolled back over to Frost and patted her on the shoulder, "I'll just be a minute. This one requires a more.. delicate touch. You're a bit much for the little runt, darling." The leopardess smiled sweetly and ruffled Frost's headfur a little then turned and headed for the door. "Try not to wake him until I get back, yeah?" The feline called over her shoulder as she approached the door.
When she opened the door and stepped out she looked down one end of the hall then turned and saw this mysterious 'medic' heading down the hall. The leopardess' first instinct was to call out to him, but then again, maybe he was heading somewhere interesting. Acting panicky, intrusive and insanely suspicious then turning tail and leaving once you're under the spotlight? How very interesting. I don't get interesting very often around here.. The feline watched the subject stranger head down the hall and followed at a safe distance. Just as they went to round the first corner she stashed her lab coat in a storage locker, making her less noticeable.
-
The halls of the medical bay were a complete maze to him, having never been in here before being a gift and a curse. Though, as he rounded the first corner and began down another hall he passed multiple medics, all seeming to pay him no attention what so ever. Which was good for the fox since it seemed he blended in. But the last encounter with the doctors working on 104 still ran through his mind, and he knew he had acted suspicious. The leopard nearly called him out on his bluff, and when she realized he wasnt at the door it would be all but confirmed. Jacob assumed he had ten, maybe 15 minutes to find the storage, collect what he needed, and got the hell out of there before the medics got done with their conversation. It wasnt much time, but it was all that he had.
His eyes looked to a sign on the cealing the said "Storage" with an arrow pointing to the right, and he turned and went down another hallway. At the end was a steel door with a keycard slider next to it, one that blinked green when he slid his keycard through. The doors handle turned and he stepped in, looking over the shelves that lined the room fillied with miscellaneous hospital items and equipment. But a grin came to his face when he saw what he was looking for, a door that read "chemical" on the left side of the room. Taking a quick glance back down the hall, he closed the door behind him.
-
[I believe enough time has been allowed for interference]
The leopardess slipped into a doorway and her ears turned back as she listened for his footsteps to move further into the storage room. The doorway she had slipped into thankfully to an empty room, otherwise there might have been some concern over her rather unusual behavior. Her eyes, usually so sharp with a look of professionalism, skill and intellect, now bore a different disposition all together.
Though her gaze was still sharp, it was edged by instinct, by power, a primal urge to hunt her prey and see it cowering before her might. Many medics were openly eager to chop up the workers and that made people comfortable in an odd way. Whenever you saw a medic crowded around a wounded worker you knew they were being open with themselves, and you knew what to expect. Akasha had always been very professional and much more reserved. It was because of that that no one knew what to think of her. Some assumed she had a more lofty position and was merely jaded and put off by the place. Some assumed she didn't have the same urge to experiment on people. All were wrong. Though she was a bit jaded it wasn't for the reasons everyone thought.
There wasn't enough sport in this place. There wasn't enough thrill for her to get excited. Workplace accidents were boring, unless they weren't accidents, of course. The leopardess heard the door close and she strolled out of the doorway with a look of dissonant bliss on her face. A quick glance back showed her that no one was paying this hallway any mind. When she got to the door she slid her own card and admitted herself into the storage room, much to his surprise, she would imagine. "You know.." the leopardesses words rolled off her tongue with a hint of danger behind them. "I don't remember telling you to go snooping around the medical area." Akasha kept her eyes on the stranger subject prey, and typed in a series of commands on the keypad then swiped her card, locking the door from the outside.
"So, since you decided on a change of venue, let's have our conversation here. Let's start with why you're here." The leopardess watched him the vulpine with an intense, predatory gaze. There was no doubt that he wasn't getting out of here unless she let him. Unless, of course, he thought he could get past her.
-
Jacob froze as he heard the door open behind him, his heart nearly exploding out of his chest when her heard the medic speak. He was about 3 feet away from the chemical storage, looking over a shelf when Akasha came upon him. He hadnt expected the two medics onversation to end so soon, hell he thought it had just started, but this medic had ended up following him, and there was no way he was going to bluff himself out of this one. The fox slowly turned back around to face the leopard, staring at her for a moment before replying. "Does it matter why Im here? I know how this is going to go." He shook his head and leaned back against a shelf, placing his hands down behind him. "It dosent matter what I tell you does it? In the end tou are going to try and cart me away to perform what ever twisted experiments you have in mind." Jacibs face looked calm, but his breathing was heavy, some of the grease covering his fur color starting to bead with sweat. "You dont really care about what answers I have do you?"
-
[Hello everyone?]
The leopardess eyed him up as she noticed how close he was to the chemical storage room. "Well if you keep that attitude up then I guess you'll never know. I can be quite reasonable when people have something to offer me." The feline walked slowly towards him, but not directly at him. The way she approached him was much like a predator eyeing up prey before it made it's attack. This assessment would not be far off if applied to the leopardess. "I don't know everything that went down in Fem's office, but I do know that there was quite a bit of fire. People don't just magically come up with the tools for arson out of nowhere. Even if it was a set of matches and some grease, it was no accident. It was an attack."
Finally moving into a position where she had him not more than twenty feet away, stuck between her and the chemical storage room door, she continued. "So there's an attack on Fem, whispers of a conspiracy going on, and I find you sneaking around here." Crossing her arms in front of her chest, accentuated as nicely as it was by her form fitting tank top she smirked at him. "It may sound rather corny, but I do have ways to make you talk. Afterwards, I'd be more than happy to patch you up, and ensure that you won't have the capacity to tell your co-conspirators that you were compromised.. but if you were willing to talk to me.. I might just be willing to hear you out."
-
A quick smirk twitched across Jacobs muzzle, gone almost as quick as it came after Akasha had finished speaking. "I doubt it." Is all he replied, returning to his calm blank expression save for a new lip twitch. As she moved to block him in he slowly reached down behind him onto the storage shelf he was leaning agaist, grabbing onto a syringe laying there and tucking it into the sleeve of his uniform. He was being cornered, like prey, and was getting desperate, the needle he now held being his last line of defense if the medic pounced. But for now, the fox would just talk, tell the medic what she wanted to hear, but not everything. "But Ill play along." He replied, eyeing her sharply. " As by now you probably already know Im a worker. The uniform was easy to get, as was the keycard and arson tools. I wont name any numbers, but there are a few good pick pockets. As for what Im doing here, well, I was told to retrieve some chemicals. For who and what for I dont know, I-I dont even know what they do I was just given a list. They chose me because I dont have any visible mechanical parts, so Id blend in more." He was stretching the truth of course and even made himself seem a little more scared, trying to see exactly what he could get away with.
-
Frost gazed after the two departed medics for a moment, a small smile resting quaintly on her muzzle. That "new medic" reeked of factory floor and was full of more crap than a bed-pan, but she wasn't worried. Dummies like him got thinned from this heard fast here, and now that he was thrown into the fire, chances are his unemployment was going to end with him on her operating table rather than on the streets. That's what these poor simple souls didn't understand when they came here unprepared. Naïve and fresh out of some fluffy, hippie med school. Once you got a job here in the big leagues, it really was "do or die".
She shrugged, trotting out of the empty room, making no effort to clean it up herself, that sort of job was suited to something just like him. She giggled. Maybe she should even replace his hands with cleaning tools when she got her paws on him again. For now though, neither were of her concern, she had bigger fish to fry.
She couldn't help but let out another chuckle. Maybe "fry" wasn't the best choice of words....
She rounded a few corners, making her way through the maze of halls that made up the deceptively massive infirmary. It was genius really. The deeper part here built like a maze intentionally to confuse and patients who might stumble out of their rooms by accident, but memorized by heart by all of the medics to go pick the poor darlings up and help them back. She rounded another corner and scurried down another hall of rooms, listening to the chorused moans of their inhabitants. She rolled her eyes at them, the room she was looking for would be dead silent, not full of whiners like these guys.
It took a couple more turns for her to find such a place, the groans and whimpers fading slowly behind her. Auntie Fem was smart, not going to make herself a target by waiting in some special extravagant room at the end of a long empty hallway, but she certainty wasn't going to stand for a hall full of pussies and their constant complaining.
This hall was full of quite, serene little sweethearts, sleeping of some more intense procedures in blissful silence. Frost looked through the tiny windows at each one of them with a motherly smile, blowing them each a little kiss through the shatter-proof pane, eventually stopping at the fabled door she was searching for, exchanging the sweet kiss for a wide grin and spirited wave.
She dropped down off her tippy-toes and swiped her key card to unlock the door, dashing inside as soon as it was open and wrapping her beloved "aunt" in a tight embrace. When she pulled away, her arms came off sticky, covered in blood and bits of seared flesh from Fem's back. She smiled sheepishly up at her mentor who just gave her a serene smile and pat on the head. Once one knew there was absolutely no danger of death, controlling pain became a lot easier. Frost giggled, nuzzling into the touch cheerfully before making her way around the back to assess the damage.
-
The leopardess watched him and her eyes flicked towards the movement of his arms, but unfortunately she couldn't see what he was doing. There was something going on behind his back, and he was probably furnishing some kind of weapon for what he presumed would be a fight. 'Why is this little impostor looking for a fight?' The feline medic sighed in frustration and shook her head. "You know. I have my own schedule, and my own agenda to look after. I was hoping we could work together towards a common goal. Unfortunately, it looks like you're more interested in giving me little bits and pieces. I want the whole thing." The leopardess stood, her entire body like a tightly coiled spring, ready to burst at a moment's notice.
"I don't believe that you have no idea who it's for. All the workers here know one another, so I find it hard to believe that some shadowy figure approached you in a dark corner, gave you a list, and you had no clue who the person was or what exactly they wanted. You're going to give me the list, then you're goin to tell me who gave you the list, and then you're going to tell me who you were going to give them too, cause you're sure as hell not just gonna leave them sitting out in the open." The feline did not have weapon, she left her scalpel set in the lab where they'd done the R&R. Wait! Suddenly, something clicked. This conspirator came in asking about the effects of the rewire for a reason.
With a smile that was full of venom she offered him one more thought. "Of course.. I could just have you detained since you've confessed this much. While the guards are questioning you, I can go probe the mind of you're little friend back on the operating table.." There was a dangerous glint in her eye, and while she wasn't certain he would have all the answers, he must have some part in this whole thing.
-
Jacob sneared as she called out his bluff and threatened him, and could tell she was tensing in case he attacked her. Deep down he was terrified, because he knew if she got out of here and did everything she said she would do it would be all over, for more then just him. The fox tried to look unintimidated, his eye twitching a bit as he glared at her, the leopards words mauling around in his head. It was something particular she said that caught his curiosity though, his face relaxing a bit as he let out a simple. "Hmmm."
She mentioned her own agenda and working together? Could be just a trap to get him to talk more, but he was already in some pretty deep shit, there wasn't much more he could lose. "Alright, how about this." He started, cocking an eyebrow. "You want me to trust you with everything I know? Show me that spilling my secrets will be worth it. Tell me what you have in mind and how we will be "working together", and I promise you I will tell you everything you want to know. No more lies, no more bullshit." The fox swung his arm out and tossed the syringe onto the shelf next to him, crossing his arms infront of him to show he no longer had any weapons. Jacob was sure he didnt need them anyways, he was almost positive that if it came down to it he could just over power the medic. "Yeah you could detain me and search through 107s memory, but he doesnt know everything I do. A lot was changed and discussed after he left to save our hides. Sure you might get the guy youre looking for, but you wont get the full story. There is much more to that."
-
Akasha watched him with an expression that grew progressively more and more bored with the whole situation. Sighing deeply she pinched where the bridge of her muzzle came up between her eyes and groaned. It was obvious that whatever facade of bravery he put on for her was not impressing her in the slightest. Taking a deep breath, she crossed her arms before her and glared at him. The leopardess' gaze was full of contempt and she was very quickly losing her patience.
"Actually, how about this," the feline mimicked the fox's opening words then cut into a rapid-fire string of comments. "I'm the one in control here. You think you have the cards because you have the information, and outside these walls, that'd be a pretty fair assumption. In these walls, however, you are at the bottom of the food chain, and I am right up near the top. You are at the mercy of the medics, the guards, and Fem herself, and when they find out what you've done, they'll give me free reign to figuratively and literally dig through your brain." The feline took a very pronounced step forward and kept her gaze on him, "You see, you holding the cards doesn't mean anything when we can just take the cards away. I'm giving you the chance to make this easy, but I'm out of patience. Tell me everything now, or things get ugly.." Despite the fact that her frame was definitely not built for strength, she was somewhat tall and definitely fit. It was obvious that the medic did not consider herself to be at any sort of disadvantage.
-
Jacob sneared at her again. He was staring to get angry, and the tone of Akashas voice as she mocked his words irritated him, his ears twitching before pinning back in annoyance. A low growl escpaed from his muzzle as he began to speak. "I have more cards and more control then you may think." He stood as she took a step forward, their bodies only a few feet from each other. While she was definitely taller then Jacob, the fox was built more, especially in his legs. "Am I nervous? Am I scared? Yeah, I am. But lets get one things straight medic, youre not the one Im afraid of. You may have more power then me out there, but in here, locked in a small storage room with a worker, what allies do you have?" The vulpine stared her down placing his arms behind his back again.
His paws subconsciously slide up the small cylinder tied to his back, hidden underneath the medic uniform. He could still continue on with part of the plan, but he wouldn'tbe leaving this place, and Connor wouldnt get the chemicals. With a sigh, he decided against it, and placed his arms back infront of him. "But luckily for you I dont feel like dying today... so ill comply." Turning on his heel, he slid the keycard down the reader and the door to the chemical storage opened. "I wasnt given a physical list, just some names." He continued, stepping into the new room and looking over the shelves of chemicals. He grabbed a small tray and would everyonce in a while place a vial on it, finally turning back to face the leopard, handing the tray out. "I was telling the truth when I said I dont know what these are, or what they are going to be used for. "One step at a time" is what I was told."
On the tray were seven vials, easily recognizable by Akasha. Five of them read Ketalar, Pentothal, Brevital Sodium, Forane, and Suprane, all basic surgery anesthetics, while the last two read Diprivan, a muscle and nerve relaxer, and morphine, which of course was high dose pain medication. To finish the list Jacob reached back into the room and grapped a gas cylinder, the label stating "Nitrous Oxide".
-
The fox grabed Quinn's arm, Quinn seemed to reach for his pockets, trying to find some way out of the situation. then there was a scream, the Fox and Quinn turn suddenly towards Duernab and Anny. Angder kept his eyes fixed on Quinn, not wanting to acknowledge what was happening. Quinn went for the gun he had. Angder slices up with his blade, knocking the gun onto the floor, and spilling a small amount of blood from Quinn's hand, then giving him a punch to the head to knock him out. Angder then grabbed Quinn, dragging him away.
Anny's screaming had not stopped, the fox risks glancing over at Duernab. There was a crunch as Anny's hand was forced into a nearby machine... the fox looked away, Angder was already some distance away, not even acknowledging the horrors around him.
~~~
Once Quinn was at the Guard-post, the fox took over. Angder went completely silent, barely hearing the world around him, listening only to his own heartbeat.
This was not his fault. this was what would have happened regardless. This was the only way. There was nothing he could do.
It was not his fault.
As soon as he was able, Angder returned to his quarters. His bed. A real proper bed.
He slumps down on it. staring at the ceiling, expressionless.
-
Frost smiled, humming a lighthearted tune as she snipped away the excess bandage from Fem's chest wrap. Her opal eyes searched the older canine's face, tracing the subtle lines that laced it beneath her dull fur. Sure Auntie Fem was getting a tad up there in the years but more than that, the stress of the work she did for the factory was enough to give anyone a few grey hairs around the muzzle. The CEO took no notice of the little vixen's studying gaze, her own eyes seeming to intensely scrutinize a small smudge on a tile of the floor. Frost knew that face, the way her brows furrowed, how her mechanical eyes subtly dilated in and out like an adjusting camera lens. She was thinking, the gears in her head hard at work just like the factory she ran. She had been like this for the past hour or two since Frost started working, and to her it was a thing of beauty.
Reluctantly, Frost reached over, giving her mentor an energetic couple of taps on her opposite shoulder, quietly clearing her throat for effect. Fem's eyes instinctively swiveled in their sockets to look at her, their amber glare boring into her like a hawk before relaxing with the rest of Fem's features. She straightened up a bit from her slightly slouched posture, regaining the couple of inches or so she had on Frost in height and looking down at her expectantly.
Frost just wagged her tail, beaming. "All done!" She chirped happily. "Your new skin grafts should be healed in a week or so so don't be too rough on them! Are you sure you don't want me to make you a new tail? It would be so beautiful, I promise!" She looked up with pleading eyes. Fem just shook her head, letting a small, dry excuse for a chuckle escape her lips. "Sorry dear, I'm sure it would be lovely but I have far more important matters to attend to right now and getting myself a new tail just isn't a priority." Frost let her eyes fall to the floor, crestfallen. Fem, rolled her own amber pair and sighed. "Maybe for your birthday next year." Frost immediately perked up, a wide grin splitting her muzzle in two. She wrapped her elder in yet another tight hug, clinging on until she eventually pushed her off. The brown female gave her a stern look, her back straightening to her full, usual, business posture. "I'm going to resume work in my old medical office, be sure that you bring all reports there until further notice, the workers should have moved all of my paperwork that survived the fire by now." Frost giggled and put a paw to her forehead in a mock solute, watching Fem return with a curt nod before exiting the room, her paws making brisk clicks on the floor as she made her way deeper into the infirmary to her old office.
With a girlish sigh, Frost put the scattered instrument back on her kart and exited the small holding room herself, making her way through the halls at a light skip, a smile lacing her lips as always as she thought about her destination. After all the hard work and excitement that day, she was looking forward to checking up on her little masterpiece. He was so cute, she knew he would be just the thing to calm her down. She waved to a couple of guards who flinched a bit at the gesture as she made her way down a familiar hallway towards the guards quarters. They and the infirmary were connected of course for easy access in case a patient needed to be restrained better or a guard needed urgent medical care, but that didn't mean there wasn't a little hint of tension between the two factions though. The guards may strut around like hot s*** on the factory floor but here they were only second rate, living with the constant knowledge that any one of these medics outranked them to the extent of having their entire fate of ending up on the unemployment line and the chopping block in their hands. Frost just chuckled at this. Some medics even went so far as to exploit this at every turn, often keeping a small "harem" of guards at their personal command, this was never really Frost's style though. She had had people waiting on her muzzle and paw for her whole life so the magic of it was lost on her, plus, she only had eyes for one guard.
She turned a quick corner, whirling around to slide her key-card through the door before swinging it open, letting those eyes fall on the very guard in question. She was grinning at first as she entered Angder's room, crossing it to sit herself cross-legged on the bed beside him, beaming at him, only to notice his sullen demeanor and let it fall. She frowned, reaching out to place her finger on his nose. "Hey, what's the matter?" Her eyes searched his face and body for signs of injury. If any of the other guards tried to bully him or something Mama Frost was gonna have their heads.
-
Riley was at his station on the work floor. **censor** did he hate this place. It wasn't even the fact he didn't want to be here. ...Well it was, but if the work was less tedious then it would be slightly more bearable. He growled to himself quietly as he worked. The tedium feeling like it was boring into his mind through the back of his skull. Knowing this place a guard got bored and decided to actually make a hole in his head with naught but a hand drill and sheer determination.
He paused for a second. He was pretty sure he heard about someone else getting hurt recently. Apparently, the person in question was being smuggled some kind of treat. They deserved whatever she got anyway. Getting special treatment like that. Personally, he'd like to be able dish out some of his own justice to them. Unfortunately for him that wasn't going to happen anytime soon though. He'd just have to wait and see if he could find out about someone else who gets the idea they deserve to be treated differently to the rest of the workers in their head. He'd have some fun if and when that happens. He'd either sell them out to the guard, or show em what for. Maybe both.
-
Jackson reached up, giving his erratically twitching ear a good hard *WHAP*. It was an annoying tick that he had picked up when he was a puppy, around the time *&^%^%&$#*^&(*)_(&*^*(*&&. He bopped himself again, a little lighter, blinking the greasy smog from his eyes that always hung in the place. Was it always this suffocating in here? Anywho, the twitch tended to act up whenever he was stressed, probably a coping mechanism, he recalled even pulling the folded thing down and chewing the tip sometimes when he was younger and had yet to grow into them, but he'd at least managed to kick that part of the habit. He frowned deeply, trying to preserve this little bout of coherent thought as long as he could. The muddy bees in his brain were always just an occasional thing he had to cope with. They came along with the sudden fear and the pain in his chest, he remembered some kind old mainecoon calling them "panic attacks" once when he was a puppy. They were never a big deal before though, just crashing in from time to time out of nowhere and buggering off to do their business after a few minutes, or hours, off shaking on the floor a bit. He'd only gotten better at coping with age too! But now, ever since Andrew and $%^&$%#@^&*^&*_^&%&^&&*&*)_)@$#%$!##!@#$$#%^^(&^$@#$&^&*!$%^&*()(*&^#W@#%$%^()*^&%^%$@#!@^&*&)^^&$%&%^*%&^(#$%&^$%*^&*(^&**)((_&UGHFD$%D&*^#$@GNM>KOVRREW!@##%&*
Jackson didn't feel himself stumble until he blinked the smoke from his eyes again. Smoke and grease and.....fabric? He slowly raised his head to look up into the, likely unhappy face of the worker he had fallen into, and was currently hanf way in the lap of. An unfamiliar face on the floor to someone who, despite such a shotty noggin, knew everybody. He blinked, pushing himself up slowly and helping the chap to his own feet, shaking his head briefly before offering a weak smile. "U-*cough*-sorry mate." He rubbed his head with dirty paw and sighed. "I wish I could say that never happens but I don't want to start off our meeting with a lie." He offered the paw to the stranger, dirty as it was, his other one and his new acquaintance's were no better. "The name's Jackson, I don't know yours, and that IS unusual."
-
'Jack walks into the factory with his new work clothes on and ready.' "Hmh they give me this as my first job I wonder how its going to go this time?" 'Jack went on and on talking to himself the entire way to his work station over in mechanical.' "ohhhhh finally something I understand!!!" 'Jack rushes over to his dirty computer with its dusty screen and frowns.' "oh they mistreated you didn't they?" 'Jack dusts of the screen and works on trying to get the computer to turn on so he has to get under the desk and mess around with stuff down there.' "ohhhhh I didn't say anything to any of my co-workers. I'll have to wait until after this." 'He continues talking to himself while he works.'
-
Riley looked at Jackson's outstretched hand for a moment. He could tell from the dirt that it was the hand of another worker. He clasped the hand in his own and shook firmly. "It's fine. I'm sure you didn't intend to knock me down, though I was working, and I'm pretty sure I'm still meant to be. As much as I don't like it I should probably get back to it." He paused for a moment to dust himself off. "The name's Riley by the way, and the reason you didn't know that is because I'm pretty new here."
Riley went back to working, talking as he did. "You say it's unusual for you to not know someone's name around here? How come? Been here for an especially long time or are you just that friendly?" Riley stopped short of saying 'or have you just bumped into literally everyone here', that was no way to treat someone who has yet to wrong him.
-
Jackson smiled, stooping to collect some scattered components from the floor that had also fallen in his blunder. "Ah, I see, nice to meet you, Riley. You could say I've been here a long time..... was born here after all." He shrugged and chuckled wryly. "A good two thirds of these guys have either raised me or tried to eat me." He lifted his armful of fallen comonents onto the work station and began sorting them, handing one piece off to Riley to be secured to one of the pieces in his pile. "However, I strive to make the friendliness a reality as well."
-
Angder Jumps as Frost touches his nose. He had been miles away, barely aware of her entering, the sudden jump back to reality shook him slightly. "I... I'm fine..." Angder winced thinking over the past few hours... He sits up. He knew medics had the power to make a guards life hell. he would have to tread carefully...
An idea crept into Angder's head though. He knew he would be doing things he would regret as a guard... maybe he could do some good as well. He grins slightly.
"Actually... there is something wrong... I get the impression one of my coworkers... or cogaurds I guess? I think they really hate me." Angder states. "I... I don't think they like the fact I am here now. Its... making me uncomfortable, and slightly scared." Angder looks over at frost. "Thank you for bringing me here, its much nicer than being a worker."
-
Riley felt a shiver go down his back as he wondered about how a child could have been born in this place. It's a factory for god's sake. How does that even happen? A few ideas of how whizzed through his mind with such speed that he couldn't cut them off. Each of them were unsettling to him in their own little ways. He had stopped working, unable to process how an infant was able to survive here, let alone reach adulthood, or how such a person could grow up without being bitter, hateful and angry at the world for placing them here, out of all the places. He snapped out of it long enough to voice the questions racing through his mind. [size=78%]"[/size]How does that happen? Being born in here I mean. What happened to your parents?"
He would have kept going, continuing to spout question after question if he didn't suddenly get struck with a certain though which may as well have been a brick to the head for how hard it hit him. This guy may have never even seen the outside world. This, this, could be all he knows. Riley didn't really know how to deal with that realisation. He was just going to pretend it wasn't true until Jackson himself confirmed it, but he wasn't going to ask... He'd rather not know.
-
Akasha watched him head into the chemical storage room and watched him very closely as he went from shelf to shelf. The leopardess still didn't believe his story, not entirely, anyways. Though nothing would bring out the truth like a brush with death. As this worker looked around the shelves the leopardess grabbed the syringe and pulled back the plunger pulling a pocket of air into it before she slid it behind her back and into her belt. When he came back Akasha looked over the chemicals and sucked in a quick breath. "Well well, quite the shopping list you were given. Very interesting. 'One step at a time' you were told? That would imply that you had contact with someone. Who was it?" It was a demand, not a question.
The leopardess gazed directly into his eyes but then dropped her gaze slightly. It probably wouldn't be clear to him, but the feline was catching more of his shoulders and chest in her gaze so that she'd be able to notice him reaching or leaning towards anything. "You know you're not leaving here on your own terms, and I know that you know that. You've either got something up your sleeve or you really think you can handle the things that I'm willing to do to you.."
-
"Alright plug this here and that there and there we go!" 'Jack stands up and pushes the button to turn on the computer and it works the computer flashes to life.' "Yea there we go, alright time to go and meet a few people." 'Jack walks out of the office and into the main part of the factory.'
-
Jackson's smile faltered for a moment before he forced it back on again. The twinge of pain was brief, he never really knew his parents, sure as hell didn't remember them. He gave a weak shrug. "Well um.... I'm not entirely sure how it happened, I never got to really meet them. Richard used to tell me stories about them but looking back on it.... it's pretty clear he didn't really know them either." His eyes got a bit glassy as he continued working, no longer looking at his new companion. "I'm pretty sure Richard just sort of found me and took me in, my folks probably split as soon as my fuzzy little butt popped out. Can't really blame em' I guess." He let out a half-hearted chuckle, trying feebly to perk up a bit. "Heh, I guess I turned out okay though, right?"
Now that was a bit of a punch in the gut, and he quickly shut his mouth. An image of the shark walking into Fem's office flashed through his mind. Never mind....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frost was elated to hear of her baby's gratitude, but couldn't shake the frown brought on by the idea of him being hassled by one of the other guards. She narrowed her eyes, glinting like opals. "Who is this big ol' meany?"
-
Riley could see rather clearly that'd struck a nerve, he assumed it might have been a sensitive subject but wasn't expecting this bad of a reaction. He cocked his head and glanced over at Jackson. "I can't really answer that question, I hardly know you much at all..." He put on a slight smile, nothing much be he did his best to make it heartfelt. It wasn't that he didn't empathise with the guy, he did, that's why he didn't really feel like smiling. "However, I'd say someone raised in a factory from birth who hasn't offed themself or gone absolutely raving mad has turned out pretty damn okay." He paused for a moment and glanced down at the floor. "Don't sweat it about not knowing your parents by the way, it's a hell of a lot more common than you'd think, pretty sure most of the people I knew didn't know theirs." 'Knew'? Like he didn't still know them. He needed to remind himself he was going to get out of this hellhole before too long.
-
"He... he is a tiger. Orange with blue paws... I think he is called... duernab?" Angder spoke slowly, almost innocently, in truth he was both excited, and scared. Of all the guards, Duernab was one of the worst, getting rid of him he was certain was a good thing. Still, he knew he was... different... now. He was not the person who entered the factory a few months ago, or even the same wolf who was scooped off the factory floor... was it really only a day or two ago?
Still. He had more power now. He could strike at the core of the guard network, if he was careful, he could save lives. He would have to tread carefully... He was able to do the right thing. He grinned without meaning to. This was not some nightmare, he had wanted to do something about this place. Frost had given him the power to do so.
-
Jacob leaned the gas canister against a shelf before looking down at the tray of chemicals. "Im not sure what you plan to do with that information, but then again it dosent really matter what you have planned. Im almost positive the CEO already knows who he is." He looks back up at Akasha, letting out a sigh. "How do you think 104 in there ended up on your table? Anyway. There was grease smuged over his ID number so im not to sure what it is, but hes a hyena. One of the technicians I believe. He has an implanted left eye and right foot, so hes been in the clinic before."
The fox once again leaned against the shelving, stuffing his paws into the pockets of the medic uniform. He looked Akasha over up and down, still wondering what this doctor was doing with him. Sure she could be trying to get information out, but there were easier ways to do that. What was she doing? He gave her a small look of confusion while he thought before continuing on. "And like you said, I know im not leaving here in my own terms. Im cooperating so I get out of here with my life, and most of my limbs still attached."
-
[Holy shit I'm falling behind]
The leopardess considered his words for a moment or two and then took a deep breath in and held it, slowly losing herself in thought. This laborer could be useful to her, he certainly had something to do with someone. Akasha would need to be more in the know in order to see what's coming. This wasn't a movement that could be easily quashed and if the worst was going to happen, then the medic was going to do what she did best. Endure. Survive. "If I let you walk out of this room without reporting you. It will be under the assumption that you report to me."
The statement assuredly was not what he was expecting. The leopardess was looking at him with a very serious set in her eyes though. The feline was sure that this complicated his understanding of the situation and would be very happy to find out she was right. This worker owed her his life, and she'd be sure to remind him of that in the future. If he forgot it, then she'd remind him of it once she got him on her table.
-
(As am I it seems :/)
Jacob listened silently as she talked, seeming a bit caught off guard by what she said. He didnt think he would get out of here Scott free, let alone with out a fight. The fox looked down to the ground in thought and scratched behind his ear, a small smile slowly coming to his face as his fingers reminded him of the grease that covered his fur. This was perfect. The medic was going to let him go, weary sure, but still wanting something to gain from this, that means she could probably vouch for him if need be, and he wouldnt have to use plan B. The knowledge of this relieved Jacob, he didnt like the idea of having to blow up the room to make his escape, and besides, he didnt trust the pipebomb strapped to his back. Connor had made it out of the differnt chemicals in the factory, and after grabbing the meds Jacob was suppose to use it to blow up the chemical storage room. But now the situation was different, and he had a way out. Not to mention under all the grease he had a different fur color, and different fur patter, all he had to do was wash it all off and hed dissappear back into the crowed.
He looked back up at her, tapping his foot in thought. "Alright, sounds reasonable. So, where do we go from here?"