great great :D
so it's all because of Merrick... (this chapter reminds me a little bit of Nepharski's fanfiction "Chronicles of Virgil" ...although I have no idea why ^^) and Max... WTF?....how could he do this... there must be a reason for why he did that... I think I have a clue of what might happen... but I wont say anything ^^ one day someone should make a movie of this :D |
Attack of the new chapter!
2 replies is betterthan no replies, so next chapter it is! Warning: There's angry Sligs. That usually results in swearing. Those who don't like naughty words cover your eyes at those bits. Chapter 25: Confession of a Traitor Merrick eyed Max closely. He withdrew the proffered cigarette. “Heh, you keep sneerin.” He put the cigarette into his own mouth, joining the other one like a pair of rollers on a mangle. “So, who set the whole shebang up?” Max was cold fury “You already know that.” A smirk. “Do I? Well, yer pals seem ta think the tit in the chant chains planned it. Somehow I doubt that.” Max cocked his head “Planned what?” Merrick rolled his eyes “Ha. Like you don’t know that. You’re the one who bloody squealed to us about it.” Max shook his head “I was told to start a riot. I didn’t know anything about an escape plan.” Merrick smirked, and spat out the more us up of his two cigarettes “Funny, cause the Slig what heard your account says you said all about an escape plan, on the train, this afternoon.” Max narrowed his eyes. “Quit scrabshittin’ me mud.” “You already know who planned it. The one you’ve arrested. He told me to start a riot in the train station. I later overheard him mention an escape attempt to Larry. I put two and two together and worked out what they were doing. That’s what you already know, that’s all I know.” Merrick grinned “So, this Larry….Was he all there?” Max’s eyes glimmered, more anger bubbling like broth. “He seemed a bit odd. Everything Trevor asked him seemed like a rhetorical question, or like he knew what the answer was gonna be. It seemed more like he was instructing than discussing.” Merrick’s smile vanished, as though it had never been there “Why the sudden change of heart, scum? Why’re ya suddenly decidin’ ta lie to us? Not ta worry. We’re checkin’ stuff, we’re gonna talk to the big boss. You’ll get whats comin ta yer anyway, too late for you ta save yer skin now. We just need the clearance. Until then, I’ll let ya stew with yer buddies. See what they make of yer betrayal.” He spat the other cigarette out, and opened the door. The 2 Sligs outside quickly burst in and gripped Max. With Merrick leading the way, the 3rd interviewee was frogmarched back on his way to the mudokon cells. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trevor looked up from his slump as the door to his cell again opened. He was growing ever more despairing of this room, and he’d only been in it a few hours. The door then closed again, and the bickering of Sliggish voices reached his ears. “Get outta here! I’m speakin’ ta this slave alone! Don’t want you nosy tossers eavesdroppin’ on me.” “Our job’s ta guard the prisoner!” “Well right now I don’t care. I need ta speak with this slave. An’ as fer security, I’ve got stuff ta do involvin’ that. Ask the big boss himself if ya don’t believe me.” Trevor couldn’t make out the next argued conversation, Sliggish squawks punctuated with the odd intelligible swearword was all that he could hear. Finally- “Fine then. But 10 minutes. No more.” The clinkety clackety pitter-patter of Slig steps set off down the corridor, and the door reopened. The Slig walked in and sat down opposite him. “I’m surprised to see you here Arthur.” Arthur laughed. On his way back from Godrar’s, he had found out about the arrest and decided to make his way over. He’d also procured a bottle of brew from a Vendo, from which a quarter was already drained. “Don’t be surprised. Don’t be flattered neither. I do have some security business ta be getting’ on with while I’m here.” Trevor rolled his eyes. He was afraid slightly yes, never knowing what Arthur may be like anymore, but the fear was irrelevant. He was on death row anyway, a bit of a kicking from a Slig didn’t phase him anymore. “I’ve already been interrogated you bastard. If you’re here to berate or thump me get it over with and go.” Arthur took a deep swig of his Brew. “Getting an attitude Trevor. It’s not like I remembers ya.” Trevor was irritated. He’d been questioned repeatedly, knocked about, and had days to live at best. “Fond memories?” He said mockingly, the feelings of betrayal from years ago burning like flames in his eyes. Arthur’s head twitched. He again reached for his Brew, almost impulsively, or as a reaction. After setting the bottle down, now less than half full, he spoke. “You have no idea…no idea, how true those joking words of yours are. I came here ta try and work out why ya did it. And whether you really DID set up this lil’ escape plan, which I doubt, an why you’re lying if ya didn’t. But now….somehow I don’t feel like it.. Speakin’ about that would just leave a sour taste in my mouth.” Trevor leaned forwards in his chair, locking eyes with the Slig “Then why are you still speaking to me Arthur? What is it?” A pause. Arthur then gripped the bottle again, and drained the remnants in one gulp. An eye flickered to the security camera, recording all. “In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t liked it here much lately. My every move bein’ followed. Sligs off their rocker tryin’ ta make me rebel. The same Slig’s death on my conscience. Shit pay, no promotion hopes, enemies everywhere but not a single friend. Years ago, I used ta be happy. At Vykkers’ Labs, when I was barely more than a Sliglet, I worked hard. I cared. Then I saw some of the stuff the Vykkers did. Stuff that wasn’t needed. Things they did ta the Sligs an’ Interns, I didn’t give a shit ‘bout the mudokons. Things they did fer their own pleasure. I lost my interest in work. I didn’t wanna try anymore, not fer that end result. I had a Vykker friend, he got me out. I went ta the Barracks. Got some Slig friends. We hunted muds, enforced discipline, and were occasional odd job Sligs fer small time factories. An’ again, I saw unnecessary cruelty. Muds getting beat ta death by Sligs cause they wanted ta use ‘em as stressballs. They didn’t care about losin’ a couple of the natives they tracked, the fun was worth the money loss. My last bit of effort vanished. And I know hwy this all happened. When Sligs are young, they have the kindness beat out of ‘em at Barracks’. Usually. I didn’t- I went straight to a Labs. It was short staffed, they needed Sligs. I lost my kindness the harder way. I lost my effort too.” He looked at the empty Brew bottle briefly before continuing. “I wasn’t working well enough or fast enough. So I got a transfer ta FeeCo. Fer Sligs, that’s basically the Cartel’s way of keeping the unemployment figures low. FeeCo pay is bottom of the barrel, an’ so’s career prospects. I was fine with the nothingness of it, cause I didn’t need ta try. Then, Rupture Farms re-opened. They put out ads, I applied. They musta been desperate cause I got in. And then, things changed. The boss didn’t enforce the old militarist rule, the inst, instut, instata-” Trevor prompted “Institutionalised?” Arthur nodded with a mix of anger and gratitude “Yeah, that. It wasn’t there. We were allowed ta find our own jobs. The muds were treated as workers not slaves. Now, I was past carin’ about that. So I made friends, mudokon AND Slig. My old Vykker buddy ended up there as well. I made the odd enemy too. Or at least, antisocial. I remember one, some dark mudokon that mighta been female, but was so butch ya couldn’t really tell if she was one o’ them rare hatches or not. Slapped the heck outta me. But I was happy again. I became the flippin’ cook fer the Interns. Rest of my cookin’ wasn’t great, but the Interns liked my food. Then, some Slig nabbed my recipes an’ I was redundant. I had no way of movin’ up the ladder. An’ then, ta cut cost, I got quietly offered ta leave. An’ I was transferred here. An’ cause of the mud friends I’d made, I’d gone soft. I thought it might be similar here, or at least hoped. An’ it isn’t the same, not even close. A lot of me wants them old days back at the Farms, but part even wants the old days here. I was always in fights, bottom of the barrel, but I somehow had buddies. Even if them buddies, like you, were the biggest fuckin’ liability I could have. But I can’t have them days. All I coulda got was out. And I can’t even get that now.” Trevor looked at Arthur with a mix of pity and regret. ‘You could’ve had those days Arthur, if you hadn’t tried to fit in. You made things worse by trying to make them better, didn’t you? But worst of all, you’re gonna get yourself killed Arthur. That camera will have seen all this.' “A Slig’s average lifespan is 20 years. Maybe 25 if they’re lucky. I’m 18. The booze, the fags, the fights, an the damn stuff goin round in my head won’t have helped. I don’t wanna die workin’ here. But I’ve got 18 months ta run on my job, an’ no way out. You’re gonna die in a day or two. But at least you’re out. Me? If I’m lucky, I might mess up my job an’ get a quick death. If not, I’m gonna die of age in this place. Septik Snaks. The last great food franchise on Oddworld. My last restin’ place.” Trevor’s eyes suggested the merest of glances at the camera “Your job? This the guard job or the one you’re here on?” Arthur shook his head “Either. Doesn’t matter.” He glanced at the door. “I reckon I’ve five minutes left ta talk here. Security Centre’s a good 3 minutes from here. Barracks moreso.” He stood up and punched Trevor, before unholstering his rifle and aiming at the camera. A quick burst of fire, and the camera was blown to pieces. Trevor yelped “What on Odd was that for!?” Arthur re-slung his rifle “The camera was so we can talk candidly. The punch was so I’ve an excuse fer shootin’ the camera. The camera was also cause part of my new job involved that.” ‘Shoot a camera eh, Boss? There ya go.’ Arthur gripped Trevor and smashed his face onto the table, before throwing him back in his seat. “I’ll need ta rough ya up a bit so it looks convincin’.” Trevor spluttered, before regaining his voice “What do you wanna…gack…talk about? The sound of a security breach buzzer blared in the distance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Merrick’s henchmen entered the Mudokon cells precinct. One quickly unlocked the cell door, and the other slung Max in. One of the Sligs grinned through the classically jail-styled bars. “There’s yer friend. Maybe you should watch who he’s talkin’ too next time.” Larry and Jeff looked up to see Max tumble down beside them. Jeff went over to Max, who didn’t move from the floor but was clearly alert. Larry started to, but then the Slig’s words registered. “What do you mean?” The 2nd Slig cackled “Well, you was screechin’ on about who betrayed ya earlier. See if he knows the answer!” The guards locked the door, turned and left. Larry’s eyes widened in shock, then turned dark. He swung his head to face Max, who was still lying on the floor. Jeff had backed away, but Max didn’t look angry. He looked distraught. “What!?” Larry’s voice snapped like a whip. “Larry, it’s not like that.” Larry’s eye twitched. His mouth opened incredulously. “How is it not like that? You betrayed us? You Max, of all people?!” Max looked Larry in the eye, his own eyes full of remorse “Larry, I can explain.” The green skinned believer walked towards the prone Max “I don’t think you can.” “Larry, I can explain, please.” “No Max, please, I don’t think you can!” The smaller mudokon lashed out with a slap. The blow wobbled the much bulkier Max, but he was already laid flat so had nowhere to fall. Max’s resistance only seemed to aggravate Larry, and he reared back for another slap. ~~~~~~~~~~~ The Slig guards came pounding along the corridor, and kicked the door open, hurrying in one behind the other. They both aimed their rifles, only to see Arthur grinding Trevor’s face into the edge of the table, teeth gritted in anger. “What the fuck’re you doing!?” One Slig yelled. “What the fuck’re you doing?” Arthur retorted. “No, we asked first! What the fuck’re you doin!?” The 2nd Slig followed. “So? There’s 2 of you an’ 1 of me so I need ta ask again fer it ta balance out. What, the fuck, are you, doin’!!!?” Arthur snapped. The first Slig marched to point blank range, almost ramming the barrel into Arthur’s face. “Why’d ya shoot the camera!!!? This little shit coulda broken out!?” Arthur’s eyes narrowed “I shot it ya pillock ,so I could beat the hell outta him however I wanted without desk security pricks like you getting’ on my back fer it?!” The 2nd Slig fired his gun in the air “Well ya didn’t think it through very well did ya!? Ya bloody shot a camera, yer in deep shit now!” Arthur released Trevor furiously. “I don’t give a damn. What will ya do? Fine me? Stick me in the cells fer a bit? Ya can’t kill me for shootin’ a camera. An you didn’t think firin’ yer gun through either ya idiot! 2 gunshots? Merrick’ll swarm on here!” The first Slig lowered his rifle “This is your bloody fault!” Arthur rolled his eyes and made to walk past. “Never said it wasn’t did I, Slogbrains.” The two Sligs barred his way with their arms. “Lemme go past. I’m goin to the security office ta explain it ta Merrick. That’s what ya wanted isn’t it?” The first Slig, clearly the leader, or at least smarter, of the two, spoke. “You better go there. If ya don’t, we ain’t takin’ it in the neck. We’ll find ya and mess ya up fer it.” Arthur picked up his empty Brew bottle. “I’m so scared of yas! Look at this! Whole bottle of Brew an’ I’m standin, whole bottle! What makes you think you can do more?!” He laughed sarcastically, threw the bottle against the corridor wall, where it shattered, and marched off to the Security Office. ‘Whether Merrick’s here or not don’t matter. If he’s there, I can get outta this mess. If he ain’t, I can do what the boss wanted and maybe start ta find a way outta here.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Palms rained down again and again, slap after slap, flesh stinging flesh, the noise echoing round the cell. The handful of mudokons cramped into the room watched on as Larry continued to strike Max. After yet another slap, Max’s hand shot out, gripping Larry’s wrist. The bulky mudokon pushed forcefully, and Larry staggered back. But Max made no move in aggression. He remained lying there, the stinging slap marks bright pink on his already mildly red skin. Larry’s rage had subsided. It was replaced instead by a terrible wave of disappointment. “Why Max? Why….why’d ya do it? I mean, Roy and Stan, they heard us first talking about it. If it was anyone, I’d have thought it was one of them.” Roy, one of the onlookers, spoke up “Don’t be even stupider than you always are, Larry. We don’t like you, but we half self preservation. If we’d spoke up, we could’ve been linked as accomplices.” Larry sighed. “Why Max?” Max also sighed, before standing up and facing the wall. He beat it with his fist, before looking at his hand and seeming incensed. He struck the wall over and over, not stopping until he drew blood from his own knuckles. Finally he turned and looked at Larry, a tortured shell of the normally imposing goliath he was. “It’s not as simple as why Larry. Truth is, I never wanted to betray you. Nor did I mean to.” He sat back down on the floor, leaning his back against the wall. “I didn’t tell them, per se…..I was working. Cause of that whole Zulag rota there is now, there were mudokons from other Zulags in with me. When the nearest Slig was snoozing, one of them came over to me. He asked me what all the ruckus in the canteen had been about. What all the whispered conversation. I told him to leave it……He wouldn’t. He kept on and on, saying the Slig was asleep, nobody would overhear. So….I told him. Just to shut him up. I couldn’t think of a lie. I was irritated and when I get annoyed I don’t think fast. My voice got a bit raised. The nearest Slig, he” Max frowned, and wrought his hands together. “……he woke up. He heard it all and, when I went to file out, stopped me. He demanded I tell him about it.” Larry narrowed his eyes “Did he say he’d kill you?” Max nodded “Not just me. He said he’d get the other mudokon to tell him who the people I was talking to were, then kill them. In other words, kill you. He said he’d kill the guy I told too. Me, you, Jeff, Trev….All 4 of us. Maybe Roy and Stan if they got ID’d too. And a guy who got wrapped up in it cause he kept asking questions….Even though he had no clearance to do it, he could claim a workplace accident, or maybe just say we all planned it and use that as grounds….So I told him.” Larry was deadpan “How much?” Max hid his face in his hands “Almost everything. I didn’t say who planned it, cause then I knew you’d be dead. He pressed for the leader, I said I wasn’t sure who was quite in charge cause it was arranged together, but that when we were brought in he could probably find the ringleader. When they spoke to me again afterwards, I stuck to Trevor’s lie. They know it’s shit, but they can’t do any more….Can’t execute us until they can prove you weren’t possessed, and that me and Jeff knew it was a breakout. I’ll probably end up dead, but Merrick’s said he’s not gonna kill me yet cause he likes having an informant in with the mudokons……I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. But I couldn’t do anything else.” ------------------------------------------------------- So, some answers come out! What is next? One way to find out, reply! Lots of replies! Be as critical as you wish in them, just reply. Next chapter on its way in a week or so again. |
WAHOO!!! GO ARTHUR GO! I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT THAT SLIG'S PLAYING AT BUT IT'S FILLING ME WITH HOPE!
A great chapter, really moving after the slowness of some of the other recent ones which have just pounded us lower and lower into the dust. This is the beginning of the end, but suddenly it looks like it could be a good end! I really look forward to the next chapter; your promptness in posting puts me to shame! :p Also, I love you for the Dionysia reference and I owe you an Arthur in 'The Despicable'. |
:eek:
Great chapters Munch's Master! Man you really need to make this into a movie! I'd definitely go see it more then once then buy it on DVD! =P Gives me the creeps! In a really good way! :happy: I can't wait for next week's chapter! xD It's like a TV show or something! |
bwahr!!! I could become insulting now and blame you for getting a bad mark at the test tomorrow because I have to learn and what do I do??? ...
...I read this fanfiction !!! :fuzmad: ...and I enjoy reading it :) ...so much for "criticism" :fuzcool: (haha I hope my sentence was grammatically ... understandable O_O.... xD!) |
So nearly 2 months without an update....Yeah, sorry about that. But the creative juices are flowingg like a waterfall now, so the finale is in sight. And Splat, ya better believe you owe Arthur a mention ;).
]Chapter 26: Reasons and Choices After hearing Max’s words, Larry slumped as well, deflated. “So now what?” Max shrugged “I don’t know. The Sligs will be checking the files, looking for anything to ask Godrar to execute us. As for Trevor, he must have had a reason for lying.” Larry cut in “Yeah, to save my damn skin.” Jeff spoke up “No….He’d know you could end up getting the chop as well anyway. He must have another reason.” Larry felt the venomous bite of treachery rise up in him again “But we’ll never know now will we, and he’d never have needed a reason if Max hadn’t told that damn mudokon.” Max’s voice cracked “I’ve said I’m sorry Larry! What more can I do?” “I’m sorry too Max. You didn’t mean to break our trust to the Slig, but you told that mudokon. He might have told the Sligs anyway. You broke our trust.” A cloud settled over Max “Trust? I didn’t break your trust. If I’d done that I’d have told that guy wilfully. I thought slow and so just told the truth to him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.” Max sat on the dirty floor of the so-called bunks, and stared into nothingness for a moment. Larry began to speak but Max looked up and cut in. “Do you know why I’m always so angry, bud? Do you know why I’ve got such an ill temper? It’s entirely to do with trust, that someone broke ages back. Back before I was here, before I met you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arthur, having ducked down a number of unconventional routes in order to avoid the majority of the bustle, and arrive from the other direction; hurried round the corner for the Security Room. He stopped abruptly as a trio of Sligs, one of whom seemed to be Merrick, but Arthur could not tell from his position, hurried out and…’Phew.’…Walked the other way, the direct route towards the interrogation room. ‘Strange that Merrick’s so late in getting’ goin’, he been busy at this s’posed thievin’ or summat?’ Arthur quickly gabbled out the Voicelock command and entered the Room, closing the door quietly behind him with a quick prompt. He was relieved to see that it was empty. ‘He don’t think 5 minutes ahead of his face. Mind you, I hardly think he expects any of us Sligs ta break in to this office.’ Arthur hurried to the central seat and swept his eyes across the monitors. Each monitor possessed 2 disk drives of their own, 1 for the current recording, 1 to copy or play archive footage. Arthur spotted one sscreen labelled as Interrogation Room #6, the room he had previously been in. After looking around the switchboard, he found a function to rewind that particular monitor, playing it back to just before he began to pour his verbal rage out to Trevor. Looking around again on the switchboard, he found a button marked “Delete.” He pressed it, and the video began to play from where he had paused, with text appearing on the screen reading “Press Again To Finish Deleting”. Arthur repeatedly tapped on the “Delete” button, random sections of the tape sliced out and replaced by the default, pre-recording static. He pressed Rewind again and watched as it played in reverse, intermittently going to fuzziness, the handiwork of Arthur’s deliberately poor cut-job. Satisfied, Arthur then turned his attention to the job he had been commissioned to do by his infuriatingly informed employer. He looked around for any screens labelled as some of the less inhabited areas, figuring that would be as good a place to start as any. “Nope…..Nope…..Hmm, Mayb-Oh, nope….” But barely a minute into his searching and the patter of pant legs and garbling of Sliggish outside was audible. Arthur froze, and quickly shut off his observations, hitting “Normal” On every button available, to revert the cameras to their usual maintenance. He made sure that the high-backed chair he was seated in faced fully away from the door, and finished closing his hunt down almost in tandem with the door opening. “Hey, whatcha doin’?” Arthur paused. The voice was familiar but unknown, one of the rabble that stayed in the same Barracks quarters as him. He affected a voice different to his natural, more South Mudosian and marble-mouthed; a voice he recognised a couple of the Slig who typically worked in this section as using. “Checkin’ cam’ras. I ‘eard ‘bout the shit in the interrorgance rooms an’ so I came ta check the footage. Is fooked. All full o’ schtatic n innerference.” He pressed “Play” on the button to show his inexpertly edited handiwork, taking care to let as little of his body be visible to the Slig in the doorway as possible. The screen showed the edited and static filled footage. Arthur knew the audio was still present, he had no idea how to remove that, but it was sufficiently intermittent to destroy any thread of the conversation. The Slig in the doorway snorted. “Heh. Musta damaged the recordin’ cable, that normally only happens with short circuits. That Arthur’s a proper bastard, an’ a lucky shot. I’ll go tell Merrick.” Arthur waved his hand distracted. “Yuh. Yuh do dat.” The Slig turned and left, and Arthur sighed in relief. He turned back to the cameras, and pulled open a compartment, finding a few blank discs. After a few botched attempts and trying the wrong slots, he slid them into a few of the disc drives, picking the cameras that he hadn’t looked at yet. He pressed the relevant “Copy” buttons on the switchboard, and waited for it to finish, worried that he might yet be caught. After another agonising minute, the copying finished and he hurriedly retrieved the discs, stashing them in a compartment of his pants. Glancing round the room and spotting an unopened bottle of Brew, Arthur hurried over to it and picked it up. “Mine now.” He took another quick look then turned to the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Larry cocked his head, puzzled. He didn’t bother with the words he had been about to voice and let Max speak. “It was when I got caught and brought here. I’d been a Tomahawker at my village, I think I told you. I was first freed when I was quite young, so was brought up to be able to help the Native resistance. The village I was at took on some escapees, they’d been freed by Abe, and wandered their way to us while he went off to continue heroic-ing. Bunch of them idolised the guy, the shmucks. They were decent workers, most of them. Some of ‘em wanted to go back and fight the Cartel full on, and some wanted to be like Abe, freeing slaves. Couple of them got quite pissy when the village Chief wouldn’t let them. The Shaman wouldn’t neither. There was a Slig raid on the village, we’d had a couple before and fought them off. But 1 of the slaves that got rescued was rather unhappy about not being allowed to bugger off saving slaves and fighting Sligs. He made an agreement with the Sligs- He’d let them in and muck up the Zap Henges, and he in return was promised safety as a Mudokon news reporter for M.O.M. He didn’t really want to do that, he just wanted to fight the Sligs face to face, violently, instead of just repelling them with Zappers and the Shaman’s powers.” Larry sighed “So that’s why the trust issue upset you. I’m sorry man.” A nod from the red colossus “Yeah. There was damn open fighting alright. Bunch of Sligs and Natives died. The bastard Sligs won, they had the better weapons. I got caught. No idea what happened to the guy who betrayed us, I expect he died cause he wanted to get into the thick of things, the prick. But it’s what made me so angry. Seeing so many of us get killed, and finding out later how we’d been turned on, that’s why I despise the Sligs. And it’s also why I wouldn’t deliberately betray you.” Larry nodded sadly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “There you are! Mind telling me what the blue bloody blazes happened here!?” Arthur had been heading away from the Security Room only to walk straight into a fuming Merrick. He stopped and hopped a step back to avoid being tentacle to tentacle with his ill tempered peer. “I already told the damn guards. That mud got under my skin, so I shot out the camera so’s I could beat him up without getting’ in trouble fer breakin’ them new mandatory Mud treatment laws. Funny how not long after this Factory introduces laws enabling more punishment, the Cartel pass a slave rights act cause they’re scared the mud terrorists are gonna go after ‘em otherwise. Means we have ta tread carefully ta be able to carry out the factory laws without breaking main laws.” Merrick open-hand slapped Arthur, staggering the slightly-potbellied Slig. “Don’t talk ter me like that, shithead. I’ll decide if yer lyin’ when I see the footage. Which makes me ask, what were ya doin’ in the security room, and why were ya there so long?” The erstwhile troublemaker cupped his stinging cheek, before glaring back. “I went there ta find you, sir. An’ I took so long cause I took a long way round so I could get a Brew” He held up the finagled bottle. Merrick took little notice. “Don’t believe you. You’re a liar, a troublemaker, a killer, a vandal, an’ a mudlover. Dunno if you heard but the mud in them interrogation cells, what you say you beat up, he’s getting’ executed tomorrow. Boss don’t wanna waste any time, risk any outsiders getting’ ahold of it or risk him workin’ his fuckin’ Spooce powers on anyone. It’s gonna be done in the amphitheatre, good an’ proper like the old days.” “Good. I wanna see him die. How’s it bein’ done? Shootin’ or grinder?” Arthur responded. A grin “Grinder wouldn’t fly with the Mudfuck Brigade that’s in Nolybab now. Shooting, all proper and clean. But you ain’t gonna see it. I don’t trust what you’ve said, so I’m puttin’ you on Barracks leave. The Boss wants all the Sligs possible in the theatre to watch it, just keeping a few back to supervise the muds, an’ then there’s the injured ones an’ the ones unfit to wach, like you. I don’t need no paperwork,, I have all the authority myself. You’re stayin’ in the Barracks and likin’ it. If ya wanna see the death so much though, find a way ta hook the TV up to the camera in the theatre, ot likely that’ll happen though. Once the mud’s dead, I’m gonna look at you. Hope that yer story’s the truth, if it ain’t I’m comin’ for ya.” Arthur produced his baton and looked at it, before swinging it at his Brew bottle, smashing the neck off. He replaced the baton at his belt, and , to avoid the sharp glass, tipped the broken bottle up, letting the Brew pour out of the end into his mouth. He gulped it down and refocused on Merrick. “Sure thing sir.” Merrick punched Arthur between the eyes, who collapsed against the wall from the force of the experienced Slig’s blow. The Brew bottle fell to the floor but didn’t break. Merrick was quick to retrieve it before too much leaked out, and he sloshed some of it into his own mouth before spitting down the neck and handing it back to the dazed Arthur. “I can’t wait till I get yer. I really can’t.” With that he walked past and left, followed by a cohort of his security drones. ‘Talking to Trevor’s got me in it deep. Every time I talk to them damn muds it gets me in the shit. Why did I fucking bother? I’ think I’ll go tell Larry what’s happening tomorrow, might cheer me up.’ He rummaged in a compartment for his cigarettes as he walked towards the slave quarters. Sorting through the pack, he selected a cigarette and then fumbled for his lighter as he continued on his way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I never said it was deliberate Max. Never said you wanted to do it. Maybe betray was the wrong word to use. You cost us the escape, I know you didn’t mean to. But it doesn’t change that Trevor is gonna be dead in a few days if we don’t do something. We need to think of a way to get him out.” Max sighed “No way I see of doing that, not without busting out the entire factory. It’ll be that guarded, and there’ll be no staying here afterwards. We’d need to find a way to escape properly and let’s be honest- we’ve got nothing.” Jeff spoke up, snapping out of his reverie “Ain’t cool stuff. Done the boilers. Done the Vents. Done the packing rooms when we all hid in barrels about 3 years back. Done the train now too. Nothing chill left ta get us out, and if we need to get out all the other duders here too to be safe I can’t see no way to do it, Larry.” A disappointed nod “I know Jeff. We ain’t got anything. But we have to think ,we have to try someth-“ The door to the corridor running past the cells burst open loudly, cutting Larry off. Arthur walked in, a broken brew bottle in his hand, a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and an unreadable yet unpleasant look in his eyes. He walked to the bars and pointed at Larry. “Got some news for ya about Trevor, might cheer ya up.” Larry hurried to the bars “What is it?” A grin “Don’t get so cheery. He’s getting’ executed tomorrow. Nice an quick an professional, getting’ shot.” Arthur smirked, the new cigarette smouldering in the corner of his mouth. Larry shook his head and sighed “What’s happened to you Arthur? Why are you being like this?” Arthur’s eyes narrowed “Whats happened to me? Ive become NORMAL! That’s what! I’m a normal Slig with abnormal shit still happening to him on yer behalf!” He roared, the cigarette fell some distance from his mouth into the cell. “Now look what yer made me do, lose a perfectly good cig.” He punched Larry in the stomach, dropping his former friend to all fours. A Slig moved forward, possibly to join in, possibly to stop Arthur before he brought more flack onto another group of guards. The Slig stopped however as Arthur then turned and left, eyeing the Slig who had made to stop him. “Ooh, concerned fer them, mudlover?” He reached into the Slig’s own pants-pocket and pulled a cigarette from them. “I lost mine in your area, so I’ll count it as 1 of your cigs. So here’s me collecting what ya owe.” The other Slig sneered back “Gettin’ all tough now? I heard about ya trashin’ the prisoner’s cameras. Good job, idiot.” But Arthur had already ignored him and left, and the Slig found himself talking to a closing door. Larry picked up the cigarette, extinguished by the filthy and damp cell floor. He regarded it sadly. “He used ta be swell. Shame what’s happened.” Jeff mumbled to nobody in particular. Stereo nods from Larry and Max. “And now Trevor dies tomorrow. We’ve got about 6 hours to come up with a foolproof rescue plan to save the entire factory.” Larry tossed the cigarette to Jeff. “There Jeff. I remember you saying you used to like a type of them before you got caught. See if you can light it up.” Jeff nodded “I did. Mine had nice green stuff in though.” He fiddled with the fag, unable to light it he just started unwrapping the rolled paper cylinder. Larry couldn’t tell whether he was doing it just to have something to occupy him, or whether Jeff wanted to just swallow the tobacco in the centre whole. A sad sigh from Max. “I wish this factory was as easy to open up and make fall apart as that cigarette, Jeff. Doesn’t look like there’s going to be a light on the horizon this time.” The unofficial leader of the group nodded “Me and Jeff got lucky once before and Abe busted us out, from separate factories. You and Trev don’t look like you’ll ever get that fortunate chance. And lightning isn’t going to strike twice for us.” The 3 sat in a trio, still apart from Jeff’s fiddling, entirely silent. Unspoken words hung in the air, unsung lamentations passed through their minds. Trevor’s death approached. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DONE~! Hope you enjoyed it. Read, Comment, criticize, but above all: Replies are love. Love me with replies and I love you back with new chapters. Don't love me and I still love you back with updates cause I'm just that darn nice. |
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Dude, can anything be done for poor Arthur? Will he ever get things back on track? Tearing open the factory seems ominous. Could there be hope yet? Also, show me love by reading my story in return! What would you say if I stopped reading yours until you read mine? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Right, I give up. Post more chapters!!!! EDIT: HAHA! Vengeance is mine! |
awesome chapter! :D:D:D
why aren't there more fanfictions like this one?! |
Finally got done reading everything, and I love it!
I'm eager to see Arthur have a happy ending, and Jeff is still tugging at my heartstrings. ;-; Write! Write! Write! :D |
Ok, here we go. This chapter, or at least, the ending sequence of it, has been boiling and brewing, sat in transit for 4 years. And since it has been such a very long labour, it's only appropriate that it is also a very long chapter. I believe Microsoft Word put it in the region of 3500 words, just about reaching 6 pages. So be warned, if the first post in the topic is a Tower of Text, this is certainly a Battlement, or at least a Spire.
Chapter 27: Shaman's Death Click. Tappity tap. Clockity tappity tap. Trevor’s fingers reverberated off the table in his interrogation cell, tapping out an old native tune. He dared not whistle for fear of bringing the Sligs down upon him, suspicious of his powers or simply annoyed by the noise. So his hands flittered over the desk, occupying his body and sending his mind back to easier times, to the times of freedom. His memories were abruptly and sharply contrasted as the door to his cell swung open. ‘Oh great, what’s this clown here for? My execution isn’t for another hour or so yet.’ An unfamiliar Slig grabbed him and unfastened the bolt holding his ankle shackles to the wall of the cell. The shackles themselves stayed at his feet, the wiring-filled metal still functioning as a chant suppressor. His wrist shackles were similarly unfastened from the bolts holding them to the ankle shackles, enabling him to be easily marched. The Slig hauled Trevor out of the cell and outside, where a further 3 Slig were waiting. The quartet enclosed Trevor, one either side, behind and in front, and inexorably forced him along the corridor. Confused as he was, Trevor knew that discretion was the better part of valour, or at least here, silence was the better part of keeping your face intact. The guard took him town an unfamiliar series of passages, across unknown walkways, but Trevor began to establish a rough bearing as to where he was heading. ‘Why are they taking me here?’ The troop continued, through an automatic door that slid open as they walked through, past a desk with some black-cad, beige-skinned sticklike figure sat behind various sheets and stationery, and through a further door. “Here he is boss. Bout an hour ta go before the executeration, just like ya asked.” A curt nod and the Sligs responded, and backed to the door. The tall form barked out “Ain’t yer gonna leave? Even if he does have “scary powahs”, I has cameras and I has you outside the door. So get out.” The Sligs were confused but followed their superior’s wishes, exiting the office in a hurried stumble. Trevor stood, until Godrar harshly yelled “Sit!” at him. Trevor took a seat as instructed, and the owner of the factory also moved back behind his desk, reclining into his armchair. “Why did ya just sit then? You ain’t a Slog, you’re a slave. A rebel bastard mutineer slave, but you ain’t no animal.” “…-” “Ah! I said you’re no animal. I didn’t say you were yet sufficiently high enough up the food chain ta speak, just ta not act like one of our produce.” Godrar’s confusing-to-follow undermining tactics had begun. “Now I’ve brought you here for a reason. I don’t do anything without a reason or purpose. Your life’s gonna have no purpose in about 53 minutes, but I don’t intend to just kill ya. It’d be a waste of resources.” He leaned forward “But you clearly had a purpose before we caught ya. Your purpose was ta break out of here, seemingly with some other muds. I know that your main reason was ta get away from here, but there’s more than that. Why only take a few slaves? In fact, why take any of the other scum at all? Why not use your powers, if they weren’t blocked, ta possess a few Sligs and have them just lead you out the door? There’s stuff you ain’t tellin’ me. Over the next 50 minutes, you’re gonna tell me. You’ve got nothing ta lose from it. Ya might get a stay of execution or even a reprieve. We’ll have to wait and see what ya tell me. So start talkin’, you’ve moved up to that level of the food chain now.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Hit me.” Eyes narrowed, red glares passing between the 2 faces. The tension was palpable, something was going to give, and when it did it would explode tremendously. “Sure.” A pause. “Ow! I didn’t mean like that yer bastard. That gag’s as old as our mother.” Chuckles, and a shuffling, papery sound. “I got two pair, tens an’ aces. Oh, an Queen high.” “Two pair fours an’ Valets, nine high.” “You frickin’ suck at cards, Hoole.” “An you suck too, Colm. Hearts flush, 2, 5, 6, 8, Queen.” Arthur’s head looked up from his own hand. “Well I dunno bout you, but I got a mighty strange hand. I got three 7s, a Boss, an’ fer some reason, an Intern McGready card from Unhappy Families.” “You been fiddlin’ the deck Neal?” The one known as Hoole asked. Arthur smirked. “If he has he’s fiddled it worse than a Vykker messes round with its dangly parts at bedtime.” “You know a lot about what Vykkers do at night then?” Colm asked. Neal grinned. “Course he does. He’s told ya about that old Vykker friend of his right? An’ he used ta work at the Labs.” “Aye.” Arthur nodded, tossing in his inexpertly fixed hand. “Every night I was kippin’ with a different vykker, ticklin’ some skin flaps below its belly button. Not sure what it was about but they seemed ta like it.” He cracked a sarcastic smirk and lit up a Lungbuster. The fifth Slig at the table sighed “Pity I didn’t have that on record. Be useful blackmail material.” Arthur nodded “I’m sure you’ve got enough on me already. Besides, know what happened to the last Slig who tried ta blackmail me?” The air turned colder, and all 5 Sligs leaned in closer. “No, what?” “Neal knows.” A nod from the table’s dealer “I do. It weren’t pretty….What happened, ta be specific, was” he deadpanned, his face grave. “he got away with it.” Snickers from Neal and Arthur as they leaned back, leaving the other three at the table slightly deflated. “So…..” Said Neal, idly flicking a couple of coins “Wanna go in again? Or are you so embarrassed at losin’ all yer Moolah that you’re gonna quit?” “More disgusted that you’re such a hopelessly shit cheater, ya mean.” Hoole retorted. A glance at the barracks clock from Colm “It’s a bit early ta piss all my Brew money away. An’ besides anythin’ else that execution happens in about half an hour. I’m one of the lucky ones who gets a sit-off this mornin’ ta watch it. You ain’t are ya, Chev?” The fifth Slig at the table, evidently Chev, shook his head “Nah. I’m on Oddamn cell duty fer the mudokons, over in Zulag 2 or 3, don’t remember which. I’ll pick 2, it’s nearer.” A 2nd headshake “I’m on patrol duty round the corridors. Pointless job if yer ask me but apparently someone’s got ta do it.” Muttered Hoole. Arthur grunted “I’m not doin’ anything. Merrick’s all suspicious of me, the paranoid bugger, an’ won’t let me leave the Barracks until after the execution. But what the lord of security cockups doesn’t know is I need to go see the Boss, an’ I mean the big Boss, about summat. Security business in fact, which I shoulda done yesterday but forgot. Damn annoying as I wanted ta see that mud die after all the shit he’s put me through” Neal nodded “Don’t worry, we’ll give yer a nice description of it. It’ll make the Rillette Slaughter Saturday roundup of the Scrabfights look like amateurs.” “Alright. See you all later then.” The five Sligs tossed in their cards, collected their winnings, Neal leading and Hoole trailing by reasonable margins each. Each went their separate ways, and before he left the Barracks Arthur made sure to check he had the stash of security discs on him. He set off on a quickstep to Godrar’s office. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Godrar stared Trevor eye to eye. Trevor coughed. “I didn’t lie. Truth be told I didn’t really think of those solutions you suggested sir. In hindsight I shouldn’t have done.” “If ya weren’t on the death watch anyway, that cockiness would be the end of you. You did lie. Was it to protect your friends, the others that got brought in and interrogated?” A pause from Trevor “What does it matter what I tell you?” The factory owner grinned “Not much at all. Your little pals won’t be executed. I’m sure that the story you fed to the Sligs was fake, but I’m not going to have them killed. The ringleader’s too much use to me as it is, if I kill him he becomes a martyr. The other slaves prob’ly know you’re lying so your death will make them hate the leader more, an’ they’ll want him to break out even less.” Trevor looked into nothingness for a moment. Godrar’s words were too true, whatever Trevor said made no difference. “Fine then. I was lying to the Sligs. I was protecting my friends. But you know that anyway so I have a question for you, sir. Why are you questioning me about things you already know?” A flash of light as Godrar lit a large Lungbuster, the Paramite-silk woven luxury cigar filling the space between the 2 figures with smoke. “Because there’s 1 thing about it all I don’t know, or at least don’t understand. This loyalty, sacrificing yourself fer your friends. I know about the idea, but I see no way that it makes any sense. Care to enlighten me?” Trevor shook his head slowly “I can’t. Sometimes there’s things more important than yourself, but you said yourself you cant understand that, and if you don’t understand it now nothing I say can make you understand. Larry’s a dreamer. He never succeeds but he dreams. If me dying means he keeps hope, keeps fighting, and maybe 1 day gets lucky or makes a change to the minds of the other mudokons, then its worth it.” Another cackle. “Well then it wasn’t worth the effort. This factory ain’t gonna get brought down by just a handful of mudokons.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arthur walked through the front doors of Godrar’s office into the foyer area, ignoring the small collection of Sligs stood outside. Why they were they he didn’t know nor care. Alberto the Chronicler didn’t even look up at him, engrossed in his papers. Arthur shuffled his feet and slouched against the wall besides a couple of chairs. Till nothing. Low mumbles emitted from the Chronicler “hymm….orders from Flub Fhyuels…mhmr, …psshh…-onomy of scyale,…hrm, mbhm,….down thirteen percent.” His head tilted up, but only to pick up the receiver on his personal phone. He dialled a few numbers into the Fone and then waited for it to ring. Arthur cleared his throat loudly and looked pointedly at Alberto, who slowly flicked his gaze over. “Yis?” “I’m here to see the Boss…again.” Alberto held the Fone to his ear “Nyo appointment. Go h’away.” “He’s expectin’ ta see me, and uh, it’s kinda important business.” He produced the discs and waggled them in the air. “Ah yis, hello. Hold please.” Alberto covered the mouth end of the receiver with his hand. “I’m unaware of such business. If you feel h’it is so h’important, go through. h’I will not be held responsible though.” Arthur nodded and hurried straight through. Alberto resumed his fonecall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Boss, I got tho-Whoops!” Arthur walked straight through and froze in his tracks when he saw Godrar sat talking to Trevor. His mind weaved through possibilities, confused entirely by the situation he was seeing. Trevor looked at Arthur almost unseeingly, but puzzlement was visible on his features, even moreso when he noticed the discs in Arthur’s hand. Godar was unfazed. “Don’t barge in.” He kicked his desk, and a drawer slid open, pressure activated to compensate for the lack of available limbs. “Stick them in there. How many you got?” Arthur paused “um…4.” “4’s not enough. I said to get as many as you can. Go back and check again, get more.” A vein pulsed in Arthur’s forehead, his eye twitched, but he said and did nothing in retort. “Um…sir…you ain’t possessed are ya? Talking to this terrorist an’ all with no security?” Godrar didn’t even look at him. “What I’m doin’s none of yer business. Go do as you’re told. Do it now, Merrick’s watchin’ this guy’s execution so won’t be around, an’ I don’t want him tryin’ ta get away in the shuffle afterwards with nothin’ ta get him definitely red handed.” Simply dropping the discs into the drawer, which Godrar then tapped shut again, Arthur turned and, glancing at Trevor again with confusion still etched on both their faces, walked out the door. Godrar’s eyes flickered to a wall-mounted clock. “Ah. Almost time to go. You’ve got about 24 minutes ta go. Getting’ the guards and takin’ ya there an so forth means….we’d better get goin’ now.” He pushed a button on his desk. “Right, you 4, get in here. Time ta get goin’.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arthur walked out of Godrar’s office, past Alberto who was still on the Fone, and past the 4 Sligs, who walked past him and into the office as he left. He only barely recognised 1 of them; the other 3 weren’t familiar at all to him. Luckily he didn’t seem that familiar to them either, as they passed without comment, just a brief mumble by one of “Mudlover’s suckin’ up ta the boss now.” Arthur continued walking, torn between going back to the Barracks to avoid Merrick’s ire, and doing as Godrar said and going to the security room. The decision ended up being made for him, as he bumped into Hoole. “Arthur! Whatcha doin’ here, Merrick still wants ya in the Barracks don’t he?” Arthur nodded “Yeah, but I’ve gotta go to the security office first.” “Says who?” “The big boss himself. Wants me ta do summat for him.” Hoole laughed “Sure! You an’ yer wacky ideas. But seriously, go back ta the Barracks, I’m patrolling here, I don’t wanna get lynched if Merrick sees you out an’ about. I’m gonna escort ya back now before I get into trouble” “Serious Hoole. I gotta go to the office.” Arthur wouldn’t be swayed. “Whatever mate, just cause ya lost some Moolah on the cards this morning don’t mean ya should take it out on me, I lost cash too. Now come on, back to the barracks.” Hoole took a step forwards. “Why wont ya listen when I say I need ta go to the office?!” “Cause it can wait. Ya didn’t need ta go earlier.” Arthur nodded “things changed, the boss told me so just now.” A grin again from Arthur’s poker pal. “Quit bein’ daft. I don’t care hwat you’re really tryin’ ta do but whatever it is it’ll get me in trouble, so just shift er arse with me back to the bunks.” Hoole gripped Arthur’s arm, lightly but with a sense of purpose. Arthur sighed “Cause I can’t. Sorry Hoole.” He punched Hoole in the gut with his free arm, then swung the Slig’s head into the corridor wall, knocking him unconscious. A quick glance around told him nobody and nothing had seen it, and with the cameras set to be examined anyway Arthur could cover things up easy enough. Arthur dragged Hoole’s limp form round the corner, and spied a nearby door. He continued hauling Hoole through the door, which turned out to be to a workstation, empty due to the slave lockdown and forthcoming execution. Leaving Hoole lying there off the beaten track, Arthur muttered another “sorry” and hurried on to the security room. ‘Smooth enough. Amphitheatre’s nearer than the bunks from the security room so I’d better head there when finished, easier ta get lost in the shuffle as Godrar said. Bastard.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A hurried figure entered the front-entrance elevator, which was already occupied by another. Quick nods were exchanged. “He’s up doing the execution. I’m supposed to be there as well, especially considering my position. But I can’t risk it.” “Not to worry. By the time he notices we’ll be well away. Even if he did send after us it wouldn’t matter. Corporate espionage is a severe offence but with your circle of friends and my legal wranglings we’d get nothing more than repayment and a hefty fine, which I’m sure can be covered anyway.” “Not easily but yes, it can be covered. I still have our joint firm to fall back on. It’s not even my name its made out to but that’s the benefits of having well-positioned colleagues.” “And careful paperwork. Oh the joy to be had there.” The 2 figures exited the lift and walked round to the vehicle bay, a quick voice recognition entering them into the staff section. “I trust you can operate a Vykker Pod?” The first figure asked. “I wouldn’t own one if I couldn’t.” was the simple reply. Both figures climbed into their Pods, and one dialled the other immediately through the inbuilt videofone, keeping the connection open. “Merrick will certainly be caught.” The 2nd one said. “He was a means to an end anyway. Shame really but that’s the greed of Sligs. And without the connections we have he won’t escape Skillya.” The 1st replied. “Up until our departure we could have pinned it on him.” “Still may be. I’m sure you can find a way, once you’re back at your old office.” “It is quite possible. Him or dear Raymond. I still find it quite extraordinary that he is the one under the most suspicion. You must cover your tracks well.” “It’s the benefit of a station that doesn’t immediately relate to financial matters. I still think you were lucky, but I suppose that’s the thing about Godrar. So certain he sees all that is hidden, he doesn’t see what is obvious.” “Indeed. But we had better get going, sooner we’re away and cutting all trace the better.” “Straight to Nolybab it is, then.” Murphy and Alberto’s Pods rose into the air, and took off slowly, the Vykker and Chronicler in equal hurry to escape the scene. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chev idly opened the door to the mudokon cell quarters, due to relieve the current Slig on duty at this time and miss the anticipated execution in doing so. He was most surprised when he saw the Slig he was to relieve, simply lying against the wall. “Oi, lazy fuck! Time ta move it.” Chev slapped the Slig but got no response. He looked up and down the passage, along the row of cells, and everything went green. Then black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trevor hung slumped in his shackles. The chant-blocking mechanisms had been attached to a bar hung from a wall of the amphitheatre, preventing him from running away. A few Chant Suppressors floated around here and there, just in case the shackles failed. The room itself was high and circular, 3-above ground floor tiers were arranged around all the walls. The room was used normally for either factory addresses, press statements or sometimes by illegal fights of all varieties by the Sligs. And of course, executions. ‘So here’s the end. No rescue, no Abe, no last minute breakout. Figured he’d let me down. Not like I expected it to happen anyway. Well Larry, good luck, hope you can find a way out soon my friend, but you’re without me now. You’ll have to be your own voice of caution now, but even when I’m a Weirdo in Necrum I’ll be pulling for ya. Hope you get the others out too. Jeff and Max deserve that much.' Trevor stood heavily, as Godrar finished reading off the list of offences for which his death was deemed necessary. After a brief grunt from the Glukkon about “That bloody Murphy, should be here considering this is his department. Prob’ly designing a new torture device, the sick freak.” He gave a nod to the firing squad. Merrick was stood by, officiating things. A few Sligs were still trickling into the amphitheatre, packed thickly by the machine-aided thugs’ bodies. Several fought and squirmed to get front row views, and many aimed down their own sighs at him, mocking and grinning, pretending that they too were performing the execution. Merrick slapped his baton on the ground. “Right, firing party! Get yer guns up!” The standard party-size of 6 Sligs raised their weapons. “If ya ain’t loaded already, load up and expect a pay cut!” 1 Slig reluctantly uncocked his rifle, slipping 2 roudns into the firing chamber and snapping the barrel shut again. Merrick grinned. “Aim and wait!” He rose his club again as the 6 sighted down their weapons. Trevor sighed, and looked back at the 6 gun muzzles. He was sweating, shaking, and struggling to avoid cracking, but he couldn’t crumble. He was going to die, but not going to die a disgrace. The Chant Suppressors seemed sluggish, or maybe that was just that his eyes were seeing everything in slow motion. Adrenaline seemed to turn the world into treacle; he glanced up at his shackles, immovable and irresistible as ever, then refocused on his executioners. The noise from the onlooking Sligs was an incoherent rabble of guffawing, heckling and chatter. Merrick’s baton swung down. A quick burst of gunfire rang out. ----------------------------------------------------- So there you have it. Just 2 or 3 chapters to go, which may or may not be including the epilogue, so the end is very much in sight, only question is- is there a light at the end of the tunnel, or just depper blackness? To find out quicker, reply! Please feel free to come with critiques and comments full of love/hate/indifference, every word counts. Also HUGE +respect to you if you did make it through that above chapter in 1 sitting. |
inexorably = Good word!
executeration = Stilton. Another cackle. “Well then it wasn’t worth the effort. This factory ain’t gonna get brought down by just a handful of mudokons.” = Redeem'd! And following that... wow... Has Godrar really messed up so badly? And is Trevor really dead? I read the chapter of the title and thought 'Oh pants'. |
this is the best chapter so far ^__^ +rep!
the Sligs seemed more Sliggish to me in this chapter x3 very imaginable as always :) |
And here we go. The penultimate penultimate chapter, in all likelihood. Might end up being 31 or 32 but we'll have to see.
On with the story! Chapter 28: Choices Merrick slapped his baton on the ground. “Right, firing party! Get yer guns up!” The standard party-size of 6 Sligs raised their weapons. Many Sligs in the amphitheatre also aimed at Trevor, imitating and magining that they themselves were performing the execution. “If ya ain’t loaded already, load up and expect a pay cut!” 1 Slig reluctantly uncocked his rifle, slipping 2 rounds into the firing chamber and snapping the barrel shut again. Merrick grinned. “Aim and wait!” He rose his club again as the 6 sighted down their weapons. Many of the would-be marksmen in the crowd kept their guns aimed. A couple put their fingers to the trigger, further heightening the mockery. One finger in the crowd tensed. Merrick’s baton swung down. A quick burst of gunfire rang out from a rifle in the crowd, cutting not through the mudokon but through his shackles. As Trevor fell from the shackles he clapped his hands together. The chant suppressors did no more than hover, acting purely as eyes in the sky. A burst of light shone from his hands and in an instant the mudokon was gone, the suppressors doing nothing. Merrick’s voice had already barked “Fire!”, but the firing squad’s bullets hit nothing but the wall behind the now empty shackles. Arthur lowered his rifle and quickly smashed his own body back through the pressing crowd, bursting into the corridor. ‘And now the shit hits the fan.’ Merrick’s eyes registered what happened slowly. No corpse. Broken shackles. Gunfire that rang out before the execution salvo. His eyes flickered to Godrar. “What the HELL!?” Godrar’s own eyes snapped into the crowd. He spied a commotion, Sligs looking confusedly at one another and down a corridor. His mind raced and assembled a mental picture rapidly. “Whoever it is, get after him!” The Sligs started slow but accelerated through the door. Arthur sprinted as fast as he could away, turning down a side corridor as the rabble began to give chase. He sprinted down the corridor, through a door, and turned on his heel, rapidly tapping in the standard locking code. Immediately he set off on the move again. ‘OK Trev, time you fulfil your part of the bargain.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Interrogation Room the day prior Arthur glanced at the door. “I reckon I’ve five minutes left ta talk here. Security Centre’s a good 3 minutes from here. Barracks moreso.” He stood up and punched Trevor, before unholstering his rifle and aiming at the camera. A quick burst of fire, and the camera was blown to pieces. Trevor yelped “What on Odd was that for!?” Arthur re-slung his rifle “The camera was so we can talk candidly. The punch was so I’ve an excuse fer shootin’ the camera. The camera was also cause part of my new job involved that.” ‘Shoot a camera eh, Boss? There ya go.’ Arthur gripped Trevor and smashed his face onto the table, before throwing him back in his seat. “I’ll need ta rough ya up a bit so it looks convincin’.” Trevor spluttered, before regaining his voice “What do you wanna…gack…talk about? The sound of a security breach buzzer blared in the distance. Arthur looked Trevor in the eye. “I want out. I’m past my limits, I want out. Trev, you and Larry know this factory an’ its weak points better than anyone. You can get me out.” Trevor looked back, his eyes uncomprehending. “You’re serious?” “I wouldn’t joke about this.” “I’m on death row, Arthur. How in Odd do I break you out when I’m set to die?” Arthur punched Trevor, keeping up the pretence of roughing him up. “I break you out, you break me out. You’re gettin’ executed tomorrow, if I can interrupt the execution you can bust me outta here.” “How do you intend to do something as insane as that?!” Arthur slapped Trevor again “Look at it this way, if it fails I’m out anyway cause I’m dead. Neither of us have anythin’ ta lose. I’ve got a job ta do for the big boss, involves sneakin’ into the security room. I turn off them chant blockers, I break you outta your chains. You can use mudokon powers right?” Trevor nodded “I’m a Shaman. Well, Shaman in training but I learned most of the skills. If you break me out of the shackles I could teleport out, provided I rested myself up enough for it.” “Right, then you get me out.” “How?!” Arthur slammed Trevor’s head onto the table again. “I dunno! Figure something out! Get a distraction for me or summat!” Trevor’s mind raced, they had little time left. “Erm…free the others. Find a way to get Larry and the others out. Larry’ll be able to get himself out, and that’ll divert the security. Find a way to tell him about it.” Arthur punched Trevor again. “Right.” He pinned Trevor to the desk as 2 oafish Sligs burst through the door. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Godrar looked to Merrick. “Get after him too, shit head. Whoever the rebel was he just freed a top security prisoner. Your head’s gonna be on a platter fer Skillya! Who the fuck is the mutineer anyway?” Merrick was already moving “I know just who it’ll be. That Oddamn Arthur.” Godrar’s eyes flicked at hm “What!? He wouldn’t dare.” Merrick paused. “What makes ya say that sir?” The confusion and chaos was making Godrar’s thoughts sluggish, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Because after the ordeal with that other Slig he wouldn’t rebel.” Merrick shook his head “No other Slig woulda done it. If it had been an accident he wouldn’t have turned an’ ran. Has ta be him.” “Then gun him down ya little Slurg!!” Godrar roared, unfathomable anger bursting forth at the idea of him being tricked by a common guard. Many Sligs were still in the Amphitheatre. Merrick hurried out, barking orders at Sligs to get moving. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Security Office, the day prior The Slig turned and left, and Arthur sighed in relief. He turned back to the cameras, and pulled open a compartment, finding a few blank discs. After a few botched attempts and trying the wrong slots, he slid them into a few of the disc drives, picking the cameras that he hadn’t looked at yet. He pressed the relevant “Copy” buttons on the switchboard, and waited for it to finish, worried that he might yet be caught. After another agonising minute, the copying finished and he hurriedly retrieved the discs, stashing them in a compartment of his pants. “There’s Godrar’s job done, cover provided. Now for Trev……” He paused. “Shit. No goin’ back if I do this. I don’t even know all the details about how he’s being executed yet. This is just a fuckup waiting to happen.” Glancing round the room and spotting an unopened bottle of Brew, Arthur hurried over to it and picked it up. ‘Mine now. This might help me choose easier.’ He took another quick look then turned to the door. ‘I can’t go through with this. Not yet, I don’t know enough.’ He also saw a pen, and stashed that in his pants as well. ‘Might come in handy if I do go on with the plan. Can always write a note sayin’ why I did it, if all else fails.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arthur continued running. No sirens had begun yet, but he ran into enough trouble as he turned into the path of a milling Slig on patrol duty. Wasting no time Arthur swung his rifle into the Slig’s jaw, not missing a step and continuing running. He ducked into another side-room and paused for breath. He was hardly in peak physical shape anyway, and his age was taking a similar toll on his stamina. After a couple of deep breaths of air he ran again, the sounds of his pursuers drawing nearer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corridor outside security room, the day before Merrick punched Arthur between the eyes, who collapsed against the wall from the force of the experienced Slig’s blow. The Brew bottle fell to the floor but didn’t break. Merrick was quick to retrieve it before too much leaked out, and he sloshed some of it into his own mouth before spitting down the neck and handing it back to the dazed Arthur. “I can’t wait till I get yer. I really can’t.” With that he walked past and left, followed by a cohort of his security drones. ‘Talking to Trevor’s got me in it deep…whether or not I do go through with his plan. Every time I talk to them damn muds it gets me in the shit. Why did I fucking bother? To get out of course. I just hope this risk pays off. I know enough about the execution now, and it’s time I made my choice. I think I’ll go tell Larry what’s happening tomorrow, might cheer me up ta see some hope again…But I can’t just tell him…How ta get a message across…….’ He rummaged in a compartment for his cigarettes as he walked towards the slave quarters. Sorting through the pack, he selected a cigarette and then fumbled for his lighter as he continued on his way. He glanced to ensure the current walkway was empty, and ducked into the shadows, producing his stolen pen. He carefully unrolled the cigarette, carefully letting the tobacco tip onto the top of the cigarette packet and ensuring it wasn’t lost. He scrawled onto the rolled paper, a quick note with as few yet as rudimentary details as possible. Once done he carefully poured the tobacco back into the paper and gently rolled the cigarette back up, licking it to ensure it re-stuck together. He stepped back into the light, and felt an ironic twinge of significance in the gesture, before resuming towards the Mudokon bunks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trevor landed heavily in the Mudokon bunks. Larry turned round to see his Shaman friend lying on the floor, and helped him to his feet, a couple other mudokons stood nearby, one locking shut the cell door on a trio of comatose Sligs. “Trev, the plan’s working! We got the note.” “You did…Good, good. Before we go, we gotta help Arthur out. Need to produce a distraction.” “I saw, and I’ve got one in mind. The Boilers.” Trevor looked at him “Boilers? As in several?” Larry nodded “All of them. Gonna try to blow the factory, biggest distraction and toughest one to deal with. Jeff and Max have already taken a bunch of the others to 2 other Zulags, they’re gonna try and open all the cells to get as many guys on it as possible. We’re taking the place down.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mudokon Cells, the evening before The door to the corridor running past the cells burst open loudly, cutting Larry off. Arthur walked in, a broken brew bottle in his hand, a freshly lit cigarette in his mouth, and an unreadable yet unpleasant look in his eyes. ‘This is the right cig. Just need ta get it in the cell.” He walked to the bars and pointed at Larry. …………………………………………………… Arthur’s eyes narrowed “What’s happened to me? I’ve become NORMAL! That’s what! I’m a normal Slig with abnormal shit still happening to him on yer behalf!” He roared, the cigarette fell some distance from his mouth into the cell. “Now look what yer made me do, lose a perfectly good cig.” Inwardly however, his words were very differently. Inwardly, he simply said one word. “Bingo.” …………………………………………………… Jeff fiddled with the fag, unable to light it he just started unwrapping the rolled paper cylinder. Larry couldn’t tell whether he was doing it just to have something to occupy him, or whether Jeff wanted to just swallow the tobacco in the centre whole. A sad sigh from Max. “I wish this factory was as easy to open up and make fall apart as that cigarette, Jeff. Doesn’t look like there’s going to be a light on the horizon this time.” The unofficial leader of the group nodded “Me and Jeff got lucky once before and Abe busted us out, from separate factories. You and Trev don’t look like you’ll ever get that fortunate chance. And lightning isn’t going to strike twice for us.” The 3 sat in a trio, still apart from Jeff’s fiddling, entirely silent. Unspoken words hung in the air, unsung lamentations passed through their minds. But then a soft whisper came from the sedate Jeff. “This cig’s not normal. You better see this.” Larry half crawled, half shuffled over “Jeff, please can this be impor-” he fell silent. Words were on the cig. The top corner had been burned slightly from the fraction of the cigarette that had been smoked, but no meaning had been lost. He read the tiny, cramped writing, kept as simple and grammatically lacking as possible in order to fit the message. “Larry keep quiet Trevors breaking out tomorrow need a distraction im opening cells think of something you get out too from Arthur.” Larry glanced at his 2 companions. “Bloody hell.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trevor looked frantic “Won’t they all just head for the exit? And what about Roy and Stan?” Larry shook his head “I told them to do what I said. Since the plan is working so far, a few are doing that. We always had some guys who supported us, they’re the ones that Jeff and Max have taken. Some probably have gone straight for the exit but that’ll help too, creates another distraction. And Roy and Stan don’t matter. They can’t sell us out now, the plan’s already in motion. They were reluctant but now they’ve not really got a choice.” “It’s a big gamble nonetheless. I thought your distraction would be just a handful of you making a run for it.” Trevor was still apprehensive. “It was going to be, but the others wanted to get away too. They seemed to get a fire under them when they saw us breaking out. I wasn’t gonna say no, we need the help.” “And if this backfires there’s going to be a lot of deaths.” Larry’s eyes looked uncharacteristically haunted. His optimistic gleam was there, but so was a coldness. The coldness of reality. “There’ll be a lot of deaths anyway Trev. But we’ll get a lot of us out, hopefully the majority. We’d all die in this factory anyway. Nothing to lose. Abe was never gonna come here, can’t sit in blind hope.” Trevor sighed “That’s similar to what Arthur said. Whatever happens we get out, one way or another.” Larry nodded. “We’d better go. Got a Boiler to blow ourselves. Can you deal with one yourself, teleport there?” Trevor nodded “Probably. I’ve got about enough in me for 1 or 2 short distance jumps. But I can only deal with 1 Boiler, otherwise I won’t be able to get out myself.” Larry nodded “1 should be enough. I’m taking one, Jeff and Max have got 1 each, if we blow 4 Boilers the remaining 2 will follow.” “I’ll take the one the furthest away, give you the best chance. Good luck.” Trevor began to clear his head, channelling his mind to the task at hand. “Good luck to you too, Trev.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Corridor, earlier Arthur punched Hoole in the gut with his free arm, then swung the Slig’s head into the corridor wall, knocking him unconscious. A quick glance around told him nobody and nothing had seen it, and with the cameras set to be examined anyway Arthur could cover things up easy enough. Arthur dragged Hoole’s limp form round the corner, and spied a nearby door. He continued hauling Hoole through the door, which turned out to be to a workstation, empty due to the slave lockdown and forthcoming execution. Leaving Hoole lying there off the beaten track, Arthur muttered another “sorry” and hurried on to the security room. ‘Smooth enough. Amphitheatre’s nearer than the bunks from the security room so I’d better head there when finished, easier ta get lost in the shuffle as Godrar said. Bastard.’ Arthur entered the security room cautiously, and saw that there was 1 Slig on duty. He walked towards him. “Hiya! I uh, need ta use the camera system. Check some stuff fer the boss.” In his mind he had still yet to finalise his decision. Save Trevor, back out. He had seconds to choose. The other Slig looked back “No ya don’t. I know who ya are, Arthur. Fu-“ Arthur had already produced his truncheon, and struck the Slig over the head. He yelped in pain before another blow silenced him, dropping the Slig into the icy waters of unconsciousness. “Wrong place, wrong time.” Arthur thought, as he dragged the Slig out of sight from the main corridor with a bitterly amusing sense of déj* vu. His decision had been made, no going back now. Arthur turned to the security console, and saw the section labelled for the Chant Suppressors. A board of dials and switches was situated beneath a small touchscreen, currently showing text, reading “Suppression Trigger 1. Prevents all chanting attempts.” “Trev needs these off fer it ta work.” He looked over the switches, and saw one labelled “Security Setting.” Currently it was on “1”, there were 4 positions. He flicked the switch to “2” and a message came up on the touchscreen reading “Warning: Suppression Trigger will now only prevent open chanting.” He flicked it to 3, another message came up. “Warning: Suppression Trigger will only activate upon emission of Spooce. This is only recommended in agricultural situations involving Spooceshrub harvesting.” Arthur ignored it and flicked it to 4, watching the screen again. “Warning: Suppression Trigger set to minimal setting. Trigger will now only activate in the event of a large energy field or sustained chanting. This is only recommended for high security, low-slave-intensity work environments.” Arthur looked at the other dials. He spotted a button labelled “Routine Setup.” He pressed it, and saw the screen bring up a list of options for the Suppressors to run. “Scan area for spooce fields…Scan area for Mudokon bio-readings…Camera scan routine 1…Camera scan routine 2…” He came to one reading “Systems scan” and tapped the touchscreen. Another message “Warning:No internal scan required for Supressors for the next 15 days. Risks system security. Proceed anyway?” Arthur quickly tapped on “Yes”, and hurried out of the office. Before he could go to the amphitheatre, he had to get to the mudokon bunks again. He all but ran. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gunshots were ringing out, drawing closer. Arthur rounded another corner and saw a large group of mudokons. He recognised one amongst them as Max. The burly mudokon seemed to be leading his fellow slaves on a specific purpose. Arthur himself was utterly perplexed. ‘What’s Max doin? Is this the distraction? They’re gonna get massacred if they come this way!” Arthur quickly turned in the opposite direction to the mudokons. He heard shouts from them, some had spotted him. He prayed they didn’t give chase. He risked a glance over his shoulder and fortunately, they didn’t,, following the purposeful Max down a different route. Unfortunately, as the Mudokons disappeared behind the corner, Arthur’s own pursuers burst into view. The Sligs paused. Arthur one way, a big crowd of mudokons the other. The indecision bought Arthur a few valuable seconds, and he dug down deep and continued to flee, adrenaline powering his unathletic body beyond its normal limits. After the pause, gunfire resumed, and the Sligs turned in 2 directions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mudokon Cells, earlier. Arthur walked into the mudokon cells. “Oi there!” The Slig on duty turned from his seat, half asleep at his post. He was soon put into full sleep, Arthur’s baton again proving handy. Arthur snatched the cell keys from the Slig’s hand and rammed them into the lock, quickly turning it. Larry and co. were riusing too their feet, but Arthur didn’t pause to discuss the next move, or even greet them. He was already leaving through the way he had came as he called back “Do whatever you’re doin, quickly.” Chev idly opened the door to the mudokon cell quarters, due to relieve the current Slig on duty at this time and miss the anticipated execution in doing so. His eyes were looking down, thinking more of his lunchtime plans, and aims to win back his poker money. He was most surprised when he saw the Slig he was to relieve, simply lying against the wall. “Oi, lazy fuck! Time ta move it.” Chev slapped the Slig but got no response. He looked up and down the passage, along the row of cells, and everything went green. Then black. Max turned back to the others, quickest to react out of all the mudokons in dealing with Chev. Larry grinned. “You’d better get on with what you’ve got to do. I’m waiting for Trevor, provided all goes well. Should be a few minutes, but you need all the time you can get.” ~~~~~~~ Godrar, having left the amphitheatre, was on his way to his office, taking a private route and heavily flanked by a quickly drummed up escort of Big Bros. A mutineer Slig, an escapee Mudokon, and he still hadn’t got the proof on his backstabbing colleagues. A warning siren suddenly went off, and Godrar paused. “What is that?” One of his guards spoke up “Uh’m…it’s the boiler siren boss. Doncha know?” “Of course I know that ya prick! Why’s a boiler siren going off!?” As he said that, another, identical siren went off. The 2 were slightly out of phase, creating a grating and distorting effect that was hell on the ears. “This can’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening. I gotta get ta the office now!” Godrar hurried faster to his office. He needed to access his PA. ‘The idiot Sligs will be so single-minded in pursuing his rebellious guard that they won’t think about the Boilers! How the hell have the Boilers gone on the blink anyway?” The heavily pressured Glukkon finally reached the office door. Unable to waste time with the entry code, having no available digits himself and unable to rely on the clumisness of his bodyguards in using the panel, he barked out the emergency Voicelock prompt, and the doors hissed open. He looked to Alberto’s desk, and the Chronicler…..wasn’t there. ‘This can’t be happening.’ For the first time, Godrar crumbled. --------------------------------- So there you have it. Replies are most definitely encouraged now, this was such a pivotal chapter that I'm dying to know what you think. I've had this chapter in my mind for almost 4 years now. I hope it was worth it. Critiscisms encouraged, comments always welcome. Next chapter should touch down in a week or so. The end's in sight! |
Can't wait to hear what happens next! Poor Larry/Arthur
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Need... More...
Interesting chapter, with the added information on previous scenes. Would have been more affective without the wait between chapters but that I guess is unavoidable. YAY ARTHUR YAY!!! |
I'll print out this story :D this is soooo great please please write a sequel!! I luv this chapter <3
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