Arthur grinned at Slap. "Sure." He walked back into the kitchen, rummaging in the fridge again. He found (rather unsurprisingly) no straws in the fridge, so checked some cupboars. he found an old pack of some mouldy straws. He quickly turned the tap on, then shut it off wuickly as well to prevent it overflowing. With the mould cleaned off, he took the starw through and handed it Slap. "Grub's up. An' watch it cause, if your stomach handles it like mine did, yer grub may well be comin' up."
~~~~~~~~~~
Dean followed Anni and Kix out with Jim. "The kitchen seems to have been rearranged since I was last in it. Normally there's some buckets under the sink but I checked just as you 2 came out here and there were no buckets. They might've been moved to the grinders or Station to mop up any messes."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dek was watching the Mudokon. And watching. and watching. No waking. Finally he got fed up, and slapped the mudokon twice (Is that OK Bullet Magnet?) and yelled at him, in his best Glukkon voice "Gerrup you lil' slave! Or I'll.....let the grinders make mincemeat out-a you!"
he turned to Praetyre. "Psychology. Fear is a great motivator. Remember that."

Praetyre replied to his superior
"Yes sir, but it's not much of a motivator when trying to get someone to regain the will to live. Now, it may be difficult for us strangers and Vykkers to motivate him, but what about a friend?"
Praetyre winked at his superior.
"As you're the boss, I'll be the errand Vykker. To the cafeteria!"
Praetyre deactivated the door security with his Vykkers Labs Security Implant, then raced out of the room, making sure to re-lock it before he left. He then took a brisk stroll around the corridors, getting to know the layout. As the lifts seemed to either be locked, out of order, or restricted, he took the only stairs leading down. As he walked down, he noticed the "To Grinders" sign, but was not concerned. He couldn't hear any machinery, and normally it could be heard from the end of a corridor. He opened one door to his left, which let to a large section of grinders. He then moved back into the hub, and took the door to his right. It led to the main area, and he could remember walking towards the cafeteria and the general layout. After a couple of minutes getting his bearings, he entered the cafeteria. It was crowded, and he could spot Slap, his hirer, a green eyed Slig, and a Glukkon who appeared to be the owner and highest authority in this facility. He then spotted a depressed Mudokon near a damaged security orb.
"Eh, looks close enough. I'll take my chances with this."
He then walked towards the Mudokon, pushing the security orb aside.
"Your friends operation is complete. He needs you now. He needs you to provide him the will to live."

IC: "You sure? I was thinking we could hide in this crate here until the threat has gone.I didn't think they'd find us. After getting into that one crate, we could even work our way even deeper among the crates by smashing through the walls, one by one. The wouldn't collapse. Onlya few panels or so, on one side"

Somi rolled her eyes. Some people had to complicate everything. "Just run. It's quicker and they're never going to come down here anyway. If the bit where they saw us is dangerous then this place is deadly for industrials." Without waiting for a reply she just ran down the half-ruined corridors heading towards the back half of the factory.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Anni and Jim began sloshing the water out of the buckets onto the ground, Anni pointing out the places where she'd planted seeds. Jim pointed to a patch on the ground where it looked like there'd been a small fire. "Hey, Anni, what's this?"
Anni glanced at the burnt patch and looked away quickly. "Uh, I dunno. Maybe there was a bomb thrown there by a slig or something, heheh... Well, that's all the water we brought," She quickly poured out the last of her water onto the mud, "Uh, if two of us go to the kitchen for more and one of us stays here with Jim? Kix, Dean, waddaya think?"

IC: Sturg merely 'shrugged' and ran off after Somi to their destination.

OOC: Paramite's don't have eyes to roll, though...

Dean volunteered to go to the cafeteria. "I know it quite well, so I could search to make sure there's no more buckets. Plus," *he whispered so Jm couldn't here* "Jim has been in your company longer so he probably trusts you more. Makes it easier for him. Also I wat to know what state Arthur's left my kitchen in."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Dek watched Praetyre leave for the cafeteria. How overly extravagant that Vykker was. He decided to stick with his methods while Praetyre was gone. He prodded Linc in the chest a few times. "Wake up! Now! There's an emergency in the stockyards! Your talents are needed immediately!" Nothing like a bit of healthy lying to get someone out of bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arthur watched Praetyre enter. "Ah, you're the new Vykker aren't ya? If there's someone havin' surgery I'll come along too. I could try an' wake him up."

After talking to the Mudokon, Praetyre was interrupted by a Slig, offering his help. Praetyre recognized the Slig from earlier. He had crawled out of an air duct nearly an hour earlier. He could be helpful.
"Thank you for your offer. If you are not a friend of the Mudokon we were operating on, then I'm sorry, but I cannot accept it. If you are a friend of him however, I will accept it. Right now he is still in the lab. My superior and I have had no luck in trying to awaken him. However, we do not read any signs of trauma or death. As such, we need someone closer to him, a friend, to wake him up. It's hard for us Vykkers to convince someone to live. We have a.. reputation for making you lose the will to live. But a friend would be able to add that alluring spark to life. If you accept, follow me up to the labs."

ooc: Maybe someone should PM bullet magnet. He hasn't posted in a while.
Ok, so so Somi did the paramite alternative to rolling eyes.
I'll post later....

Kix finally got herself to look at the garden without some Vykker invasion going on. For once, she was relaxed, and started to think about all the things that this garden could do for Anni. At last, she could think that Anni didn't have to run away from some Slig wanting to see her head attached to a bullet. This was finally something that Anni could enjoy in peace. And Kix didn't need to worry about her doing something crazy.

After taking a good look at the garden, she realized that Anni had already used the buckets of water on the tree. When she heard what Anni had suggested, she guessed that she didn't hear her suggestion about the guard towers' water tanks. She shrugged seeing that it wasn't a horrible thing and said to her peers, "Well, I guess I could go and refill some of the buckets. I mean it isn't any trouble."

While she saw that Dean and Anni were talking with each other, she grabbed a bucket and sent off to find a guard tower. She was still a little worried for Anni, since two Mudokons couldn't protect her from the rest of the wildlife of the Stockyards. But she remembered about Somi, and thought that it was all going to be alright.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=

Gappiqu was grasping at the ground the whole time, as if he was looking for glasses or contacts. He kept on trying to find something that was slightily sharded. As his hands and his legs kept on nudging themselves to find a piece of metal, he might a rough noise while scrapping the dirt on the floor. He tried to ignore all the sound around him, including the ones from himself and others, thinking that maybe they were distracting him. He tried his best to find metal, since he just wanted to keep his job and find Dionysia before she never forgives him.

As he breathed in and out loudily, thinking that the robot could shoot him any moment, at last cut his finger. Gappiqu looked at what his hand touched, and saw that it was a piece from the Order Bomb that wasn't destoryed. He grabbed the irregular shaped metal and pulled himself up from the ground. Gleaming in what he accomplished, Gappiqu decided to take a look around to see if Goresplatter and RG-49 were still in trouble.

He saw there was a dead body of a Paramite, but no one seemed hurt. Not even Goresplatter seemed to be touched. But he could both see that they were tried from the whole thing, so he decided he might as well as not try to cause a whole new problem. Yet he knew that the whole factory depended on what he must do.

Gappiqu sprinted over to RG-49, and when he reached to the robot, he cried out, "RG, I know that you have all the equipment that you needed to fix the Grinders within you. I know that they are all still in you. But I need you to help me using that equipment. There is a Boiler that is down due to accidental shooting, and we need to prevent the dent inside of it from inploding the Boiler, and causing a malfunction in the whole pumpage system. Now we do have quite some time, but each second we don't do anything might mean the hole is expanding a little more. Are you going to help me?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-==-==-=-=-=-=

Slap at last found that there was a straw in his hands, and now he could do something with his soup. He plucked the straw into the soup and pressed his mouth onto the straw. When his straw was inside his mouth, he started to suck in.

Slap was interested in the taste. He never tasted such a thing, since usually he tasted subsitute nutritional soup. But this was so sweet, compared to all of crude food given to him usually. He felt like he was in his happy place. The soup that Vykkers gave him were absolutely awful, but he still got use to them. This soup was still not the best, but it was a miracle compared to all of the other food he got. As he kept on drinking, he enjoyed every sip of it. This was just too good for him not to enjoy.

When at last he finished his soup, he at last had all of his stress exhaused from his medical experience as a doctor. His horns relaxed, as he thought about the wonderful soup. Then his eyes got fized on Arthur. He knew he would have to ask him to make more soup every day, just because he made a wonderful thing. If only the world knew....

Slap bounced up into the air. He got a brillant idea on how to make a new product for Rupture Farms. Slap quickly got his laptop and rushed over to Arthur. He didn't seem to notice Linc or Praetyre, but he had a reason for ignoring them. He hastily typed onto his laptop, "Sir, that was wonderious soup! That was the best thing my tounge has ever touched in all of my life! No substitute nutritions made by the Vykkers could replace that or even compete with it. And this gives me a brillant idea. We can use the meat plant to make a new product. We can call it, 'Arthur's Special of the Day'. We can sell it to factories that has Interns, so they could also share the pleasent experience I had with this Interns. Think about it. You could have the biggest pay check here. You could hire all sorts of Mudokons and become the director of cooking around here! Think of the status you could accuire! Flying pants! Isn't that what you Sligs would love to have? So what do you say? I know a Chronicler that can protect the copyrights of your soup. This could be your big shot for freedom."

Slap at last calmed down and met eyes with Linc and Praetyre. They seemed to be discussing something about the Mudokon patient at the Labs. At last he was able to go back. He straighten his back and typed in front of the two, "Good day Mudokon worker and Praetyre. I see that you both are talking about the Mudokon patient. Being that I know both of you are concerned about him, I will be to keep a close eye on the Mudokons around here to make sure no one had to go through the same thing. By the way Linc, how did your friend get himself into a meat saw incident? Just curious.

And Praetyre, how is your first day so far? Probably you have already done a surgery already. There is far more around there at the Labs in store for you. It was quite frustrating for me yesterday. Yet you must understand, being a Vykker and all. But yeah, I am still talking with Arnie, so I won't come back to help you and Dek at Labs for at least 5 more minutes. By the way, has RG-49 capitivated Gappiqu and Dionysia yet? I know that the Labs were closed down because of that."

Somi lead Sturg up behind the functioning bit of Rupture Farms to the corridors she knew well and could smell other paramites nearby. "Ok, this is where all the paramites live. You can either stay here while I look for my friend, or you can come with me?"

ooc: Sturg, if you do come with me I probably won't RP with Somi for a while and post an overview of her search in a few days. If you stay it's up to you what you do, you could find someone else to RP with, or maybe you could meet that paramite that ran away from RG and Gore. I imagine he wouldn't be very friendly. Anyway, it's up to you.

IC:
"Well, if you and Dean wanna take these buckets, Kix, and fill them up in the kitchen, then me and Jim can wait here. Um... you could go to the watchtowers for water but it might be dangerous: there are lots of scrabs and other animals wandering around, and they might be living in the towers or something." Anni was a little concerned for the safety of her friend.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Krik had finished his work on Dionysia, and decided to leave her to wake up while he went to find that meech. It couldn't have gone far. He went down to the security office on the first floor and turned on the computer inside. Once it had loaded he began searching for information on meeches, and particularly how to track them. There were some nutters who still thought they could be found out in the wild, so there would be information. Who knew, maybe there was a whole colony hidden away in Rupture farms' stockyard!

OOC: Yeah, I have PMed him. Said he was suffering from a lack of inspiration. Maybe I'll try again later today.
IC:
Praetyre replied, after Slap was done singing the merits of this Arthur's soup
"My first day has been great, thank you. RG? The robot who's supposed to be in the storage room? He hasn't unlocked the storage room yet, so I'm guessing he hasn't captured them yet. Eh, I suppose we can cope for now. Better a small delay in treatment than hundreds dead from sabotage or other activities. I've had a run in with this Gappiqu character. Nearly got me torn to shreds in the basement. And this Dionysia person, I remember Krik mentioning someone by that name. So yeah, is Arthur a friend of the Mudokon we're operating on? Because if he is, that would be a real help."

Slap glanced at Praetyre a little frustratingly. All he wanted to hear was that Gappiqu was capitivated in a cell with Dionysia, with Chroniclers on the way to sure them for treason against the Magog Cartel. But prehaps he would like to meet this Krik person. Maybe he had some tracking device that homed on Dionysia's experimentation liquids that could lead the way to Gappiqu and her. He typed with his stern and frustrated look on his face,
"I don't think you fully comprehend the importance of capturing Gappiqu. He could be rather important with a wrench, but his emotions have made their way into Gappiqu's decision making. He has nearily killed me, you, and dozens of lives here at Rupture Farms through his hatred and laziness. For Oddness sake, he has nearily destoryed the Grinders and the Production Lines with his laziness of not completeing the pipes. He even has fell for a Mudokon. That is treason against Skillya. He makes Molt, an over aggressive Slig I worked on, look like an innocent little Meep! That is why I am so worked up on this single Slig. He is danger in my eyes and I don't want anyone dying in this factory because of him.

On the other hand, I am grateful that you are having a nice time here. I am found this occupation as doctor assistant quite new to me. But I hope you find this as easy as a piece of Scrab cake around here as doctor assistant.

To answer your question, I'm afraid that Arthur is not a friend of our patient. Or at least I don't think so. Why do you need a friend anyway?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Kix thought about this. The guard tower seemed safe and she had been going around the Stockyards for some time now and nothing bad as happened to her yet. It seemed safe. But she guessed that she was going into old property and other animals probably got terrorial around those parts. If it made Anni feel comfortable, maybe it would just be nice for her to just go into the factory again.

Kix replied rather thoughtfully, "OK, I will go into the kitchen instead. Maybe there no fear will strike me at the heart. But maybe Somi could escort us there to the towers when we find her. It will be simple and safe. Until then..."

Kix sent off to the kitchen, wondering if the towers were such a bright idea anyway.

IC: Sturg considered his choices...he didn't think the idea of hanging around with a bunch of Paramites he didn't know for too long in close proximity had the highest chances of coming out well. Plus, he was bored "K, I'll come with you"

Praetyre replied to Slap. He was interested, but not truly surprised at how dangerous this Gappiqu character was. Normally, the worst you would get from a Slig was an usurp job on a superior. This guy obviously had issues.
"It gives me great pleasure to see you again, Slap. Our superior and I have completed the Mudokons operation. However, I have been as far unsucessful in awakening the Mudokon, who shows no sign of death or trauma, but merely unconsciousness. It appears that what is lacking is an essential drive, a primal instinct, the key in the machine of his mind. The will to live. As I have already tried several routes, I concluded that only a friend would be able to give him that will, and so I went down to find his apparent friend. And the rest is history."
Praetyre leaned closer to Slap;
"By the way, I don't want to be annoying, but instead of having to carry that laptop about all the time, why not get an operation? Last time I checked, the Lips are Sealed Act only applies to facilities owned and operated by Vykkers Congloremate, not Magog facilities such as this. The only Inhabitants requiring mouthjobs under Magog law are suspected psychics, executive meeting attendants, and anyone related to the Deeyawn family. As you aren't any of those, you could cut the threads and not get prosecuted. Just a thought."

Arthur thought about Slap's offer. The intern seemed to have been made remarkably excitable by that slush of a soup. And that was just it, anyone could make it, so it'd be a big risk scam if he did try to copyright it. But still, the chance to be famous. 'I really can become a TV chef! I'll be on talk shows, have my own channel, be selling cookbooks. Factories all around Mudos will be wantin' me to sell em recipies an' goods. I'll be the most famous Slig since Valet or the NewsSlig!!'
"Sure, I'll take yer offer! I can't help but think it'll somehow backfire, but if you know all these legal chaps I'll give it a go. I'll send off a bowl of it to an ol' Intern buddy of mine from Irwin an' Humphrey's Labs. If he likes it, we're up an runnin!"
~~~~~~~~~
Dean nodded to Anni. "Maybe we should get a Slig to accompany us. Arthur seems happy enough with his cooking but perhaps I should get #7 Slig?"

Anni shrugged. "If you're just going to the kitchen it doesn't matter. We could talk to Arnie about getting eater from the towers or something later."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Somi nodded. "Well, follow me, but be quiet!" Then she lead Sturg into the factory, keeping to narrow spaces and passages between the walls and under the floors and staying in the shadows in the way only paramites can do. She would look in the cafeteria and the R+R and the grinders, and then maybe the stockyards.
She lead Sturg by secret ways that only the animals knew about.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Krik had a piece of paper and was scribbling down information about meeches with one hand while continuing to search for information with two other hands.
Eventually he was satisfied and he laid down his pen, switched off the computer and headed downstairs and out to the stockyards where he'd seen the meech. He found its footprints (matching them with what he'd found on the computer) and followed them away from where he'd attacked it. The tracks were joined by another animal: a paramite if he wasn't mistaken... Maybe the meech had chased after it for food? But why not finish him off first? Puzzled, he followed as the tracks lead into a low passage heading into the basement of the factory. He pulled a torch out of his bag and continued.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dionysia awoke on the floor in the store room. She moaned painfully and looked around. Dr Krik was gone, but he'd left her aching all over and feeling sick.
She hated the times he ran tests on her. For those few minutes it was like he stopped caring about her, and started treating her like some common worker. She thought all vykkers were like that: when they were working they forgot all about their friends and only saw their work. It must be horrible for Krik, she thought, to come out of that working fervor and realise he'd hurt her till she passed out. It was probably his guilt that made him run off without waiting for her to recover to see that she was alright. She smiled to herself: she would have to be nicer to him later to show she had no hard feelings.
Clutching her painful arms around her chest, she staggered out of the room and down a flight of stairs. The walls seemed to be spinning around her. She felt so dizz she had to stop for a few seconds and regain herself. Her head was throbbing and she felt so sick...
Eventually she made her way to the R+R and stumbled along the rows of beds before flopping down limply onto one and clutching a sheet around herself as she lay, shivering and groaning.

Praetyre turned to Arthur;
"Well, it looks like our friend here really liked your soup. Congratulations on your culinary skills. But since you don't seem to possess a friendship with this fellow, and since like I you are a member of a race that could be seen as tormentors.. no offense.. I will have to go back to my plan."
Praetyre then walked over to the sad looking Mudokon and began to speak;
"We have completed your friends operation. However, my superior and I are unable to give him the will to live. Only a close friend can do that. And since you seem to share a lot of affection for him, you are the only convenient and logical Inhabitant to help. Please, come upstairs with me."

Kix nodded her head in what both Dean and Anni had commented on. It did seem like it would be easier to walk a shorter distance to a guard tower instead of the kitchen, which did take a while to get to and get back to the garden. With the guard towers, they would be able to water the spices far more easier than it would with just buckets. Maybe Somi could lead them there, or maybe just a plain Slig... Then she remembered about Jim's fear. Prehaps that would beyond disturb Jim to no end.

Kix thought about it carefully and without having anything else to say, "Well, we could always just use one of the Mini-Snoozers in the Labs to guide us over to guard towers. Wouldn't be so hard to just have a mindless robot to protect us when we need it. So what do you guys say?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=

Slap heard Arthur respond rather excitingly. Sligs normally never yell in that kind of tone unless they are getting a promotion, so he was really happy by the looks of it. He perked up his horns in glee, and typed toward Arthur, "Great! All I need to do is approve it from Arnie, call my friend, sign some papers, and then your own your way to being promoted."

Slap was then to be disrupted by Praetyre, who had a response to his previous conversation. He was rather surprised that another accident hasn't happened yet, but he guessed that yesterday was unusual compared to other operation days. But he was upsetted by Praetyre's last statement. He would have hoped that by the sopishcated vocabulary of Praetyre, that in that big skull of his had some logic. Slap was an Intern and Interns without speech abilities from the stitches, have been found having a difficult time trying to heal from their long session of mutness. They often have to try impersate their superiors way of speech, but find it unsuccessful. It takes them several monthes, even years, of being able to speak like normal Industerials. It is like trying to teach an infant how to speak as well. But in Slap's case, its worse. If he did get an operation, he would still have to use the laptop. Since he speaks better with the laptop, he has no use for his vocals.

However, Slap began to think that maybe he could find someone who could help him when he is off duty, to try and help him speak. But that would take a very long time. If only someone could help him... Slap didn't think he knew anyone that could help. Praetyre would be too busy on work and bickering with Dek, while Arthur would be too busy making soup and serving people at the cafeteria. He had to face it, everyone was too busy while everyone else wasn't great friends with him. It didn't seem easy. He would have to teach himself. Slap shook his head in disappointment, and decided to type to answer Praetyre, "I'm glad that the surgery you just performed was no problem in your experience of performing surgeries. I myself have experience of performing such taskes in more crowded conditions, allowing myself not to taking on such a large job. However yesterday proved myself wrong. Numerous injuries were reported and Dek and I had no ability to work on the same body all at once. Only once I believe were we working on the same body, and that was the most complex in that manner. A Slig had allowed a tragic descruction happen on his body, causing his eye, his arm, and parts of his arteries to be replaced by mechincal limbs instead. He later needed blood transfusion from our good friend Arthur, along with a sonar connected to his head. Rather tragic really. And then I had to control a Slig named Stuey, who had taken in some Chemical X. That Slig made my diognois skills be put to the test, and I nearily failed. At first I thought the Slig was prengent, but it was simply just a little adding to tissue that was making him grow in pain. I felt horrible about the whole thing, but then I had to operate on a Slig named Goresplatter, (I think you know him) who had grown legs with the side effect of being full of unnecessary endrinlin. Followed by a Mudokon who need an arm replaced, along with both of his eyes. Dek and I also had to control a Vykker who was insane. And then I think you met Wash here, who need to have some healing done on his body. I do believe he isn't healed yet, so he needs to rest in the Labs for some time being. Yet Linc needs attention as well, so go ahead Wash, you can do the whole wakey wakey thing with Linc.

As you can see that was a busy day. And a frustrating one as well. I didn't get much rest so you can see that is a problem. The Candle Wax Syndrome has inffected me at some extend, but I do believe I will get better. On the other hand, I might want to accompany you when I need to. I will leave you alone, and maybe I will discuss to you about my laptop's purpose."

Slap at last let Praetyre and Arthur read what he had wrotten, since it was a long one. He sat down beside them, thinking about what Arnie might say if he asked him again about paying for more changes. Slap started to believe that he could use that riches he has to help him out. It might be interesting for Arnie and Praetyre to hear that he had 600,000 packs of moolah stored in the bank.

OOC: The prodigal RPer returns! Sorry about the loooong silence, I've been rather busy at university with squid-related issues (Best. Excuse. EVER). I have also haven't been feeling good about the direction that my characters were going. Embarrassingly I designed them believing that W@RF was set before AO, and had set them but to be living in a brutal world... then I discovered otherwise, and their characters had to be altered quite a bit. I also had to drop their intended story lines, including a Prison Break-esque escape :fuxemb:. Though you guys have done well with Linc (there's nothing like a good will-he/won't-he coma drama to spark interest- it's like a soap opera!). Let's see what I can do...
Oh, and Wash has been sobbing in the cantina all this time- what a wuss.

IC: Wash was sitting on a bench in the cantina, staring into space for hours, only the metallic pulsing of the peculiar security orb to keep him company. His eyes were puffy and red, he was beyond crying, though the tears had come and gone of their own accord. Wash had met Linc only yesterday, why was this affecting him so much? It must be the culmination of these past events. The repeated injuries, the meat grinder fiasco (ooc: has anyone repaired that yet? There was quite a lot of wreckage) and of course, his previous weeks at the searexing RF on the coast, a brutal place.
Wash had no idea how long he'd sat there, time was meaningless, but he was jerked out of his mute stupor by a Vykker.
"...ted your friends operation. However, my superior and I are unable to give him the will to live. Only a close friend can do that. And since you seem to share a lot of affection for him, you are the only convenient and logical Inhabitant to help. Please, come upstairs with me."
A squeaky-voiced, effeminate, pasty skinned Vykker staring him in the face was not the wake-up call Wash would have preferred. It took a few moments to sort out in his head exactly what the creature had just said. Linc! Needs me! Again.. Wash was just about able to croak, in a raspy, sore voice.
"'Kay."

Praetyre could tell from Slap's facial expression that he felt somewhat pained discussing his muteness. He subsequently remembered his languages teacher in university, then slapped himself on the forehead like he had just caused a riot after an unintentional double entendre while working on a patient needing to be airblown. He could remember his old teacher telling him about the difference between mumbling and language. They were controlled by different nodes in the brain, and when disused could atrophy. Even if Slap hired the best language tutor in the business, who would cost more in a month than his laptop's power bills in a year, he would need surgery to reactivate or replace that part of his brain.

Praetyre then listened to Slap's monologue and replied;
"Well my friend, if we're going to be sharing war stories, I have quite a few. But seeing as I have to save our Mudokon friend upstairs, I'll just give you my shortest one.

10 years ago, when I worked at Slog Hut 403, there was this Slig, Arrack, who was real into dancing. And by really into it, I mean enough to scare the Valet. He spent all of his free time practicing dancing, listening to music and.."
Praetyre leaned closer..
"Asking the boss for... oh Odd, this is hilarious... a dance girdle! He was a little weird, true, but he was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. But one day, he lost his balance and fell into a vat of new GE chemicals we were going to feed to the Slogs. They ended up nearly devouring him, and he got the front of his face caught in the disposer while running. I had to literally remove the entire front layer of his skin, and then, due to this idiot and drunken superior of mine, was badly taken care of and got a massive infection. When we popped it, there was so much blood and pus on the floor, it made the anaemic Chronicler visiting the place tear his own stomach out. Fortunately he survived, but the sheer experience of this has greatly deformed him. Under court order, he has to wear a 6 centimetre thick plasteel mask within 50 metres of anyone except his dermatologist, his family, or registered medical officials, even when sleeping. Believe me, I've seen him, and you don't want to see him. I had to take medicine just to prevent myself from vomiting on his lovely carpet. Poor guy. By the way, I don't know where the toilets are."
Praetyre turned away to the Mudokon, hoping no one was put off by his story if they accidentally heard it.
"Ok buddy, let's go."
Praetyre headed out of the cafeteria, and traced back his steps until reaching the stairway hub.

Ralph left the grinding area through to where the stairs were, but decided against going up them, instead going through the door on the other side. Walking through the passages for a short time he found signs pointing out the different rooms and decided to head for the cafeteria; there should be someone who could help him there.

As he came in the doorway he took a quick glance around the room, taking note of who was there. Hmm, must be my lucky day, he thought, seeing the glukkons there. The older, more experienced looking one was most likely the boss, so walking straight to the table where the glukkons were standing he looked directly at Arnie and spoke,
"Hello there! I hope I am not interrupting anything of importance, but I'm a new arrival here and I understand that around here, even the mudokons come directly to you to seek employment. You are the boss of this factory, correct? If so, I'm here to offer my services."

IC: As they continued, Sturg grew bored, and since he saw nothing around and they were in a hidden area, he decided to ask a question "Hey, since this is meant to be passages only us 'anaimals' know about, are they used often for raids, or anything? And how much farther are we going?"

Anni was puzzled. "Why are you suddenly so interested in robots and stuff Kix? Anyway, for now it'd be quicker and easier to just go to the kitchen, and maybe we can get Somi too help us look around the stockyards later."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Somi replied to Sturg, "Sometimes a few of us come up to steal food, when we can't find enough to catch. But most of us don't want to upset the industrials; they mostly just leave us alone when we don't do anything. Paramites once tried to attack the factory and they just killed us all. I was a baby then, and a mudokon, the one we're looking for now, saved me." Somi had already spied on the kitchen and the cafeteria, and hadn't seen Anni. "It might take us a while to find her, so have patience."

IC: "Sure, tell me if you need something." Sturg tried to sit quietly, but the smell of easily accessible food was hard to resist "That food is really far too tempting..."

Praetyre waited for the Mudokon to follow him. After a couple of minutes, he stuck his head out of the hub door and yelled;
"Hey, you coming?"

Wash was leaning over Linc's still form. He glanced sideways at the monitor, and the Vykkers and Interns standing around, watching intently. He raised a fist and thumped Linc's chest, immediately waking him.
"Hey everyone, I'm back!"
*Put your glad rags on and join me, hon/We'll have some fun when the clock strikes one/We're gonna rock around the clock tonight/We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight...*
Wash Straightened his leather jacket and made a double thumbs-up.
"Heyyyyy!"

"Hey, you coming?"

Oh crap...

Wash stood up, knocking the bench over. He stumbled over it and hurried after the Vykker. That was a peculiar turn.

Praetyre watched the Mudokon come to him. He then began to walk up the stairs and towards the labs.
"To quote a certain terrorist; follow me" he said while walking up the stairs.
Praetyre then opened the upper hub door and walked up to the lab door.

OCC: Sorry i've been gone so long guys, it's just my internet has been down a long time. I don't think i'll try to rejoin, since I'll probably just complicate things. Just making it official Mech is not in this anymore, even though you probably forgot about him.

ooc: Mitsur, you don't have to leave, I thought you had some potential. If your internet is alive again, you can either start again with your character, join again and ignore what happened before, or make a new character to bring in.

Praetyre knocked on the lab door, and called out to the Mudokon. He was obviously somewhat out of it due to a recent traumatic experience, and as such Praetyre exercised a careful, parental attitude.
"Don't feel bad. I've had the experience of a friend getting heavily injured too. Hell, my aunt was killed in the Lab 13 incident. So don't think you're alone. Come along."
Praetyre turned to the door;
"Sir, I've got the Mudokon's friend. You can let me in. Is our patient okay?"

OCC: Ok, I guess i'll get back in then. I know you guys'll probly accuse me of trying to get attention for my character, but i'm not. Ok, here we go! Leaving off from Mech's discovery in the freezer! Heres the previous part, since it's so far back:

Still OCC: Ok, now to start the next part.

Mech reeled back from the freezer door, clutching his stomach, which was threating to forcibly and disgustingly eject it's contents. He eyes burned the sight in front of him into his brain forever. Letting out the first adult scream of terror he'd ever had, Mech slammed shut the door, and pushed his back against it, breathing heavy. He shivered invoulintarily, and dashed away from the door, and turned back toward it when he was roughly 10 feet away. The rusted-metal, frosted door glimmered innocently in the dull lamp glow only an industrial section can have.

Mech stared at it. The door continued it's illusion of innocence. Mech stared. This silent Steef vs. Innocent Door continued for many moments, until Mech finally averted his eyes. He walked away from the door, still facing it. He didn't want that thing at his back until he was a good 50 feet from it. He went into the nearest corridor, and read the sign above him:

RUPTURE FARMS STORE ROOMS

What the hell Mech thought. Anything's better than the door again.

He opened the store room door, paused, and looked at the inconspicous freezer door again.

Something behind it thudded against the door, and the light above it went out, plunging it into darkness. Metal being bent reached Mech's ears, but he was already running, halfway through store room #1.

The thing behind The Door gave an indescribable sound, and subsided.

OCC: You never will find out completly what is behind That Door- at least from my writing- but rest assured, Mech will see it again.

OOC: I might of made an unintended reference to "the thing behind the door" when Praetyre talked (last post on page 10) about the Slig that got in an accident and became vomit inducingly hideous. Interesting..

Wash looked upon his friend for the first time since he was wheeled into the O.R. He had never seen anyone with so many machines connected to him. Tubes, wires, linking up to displays that bleeped out of sync. Linc himself lay still, only his slow breathing indicating that he was alive at all. He was very pale and gaunt, looking very ill. Wash looked uncertainly at the Vykker who had brought him.

ooc: Mitsur, so as to avoid confusion, I just want to remind you that W@RF is set after AO. The factory has been reopened by a glukkon called Arnie who is a reasonably nice guy. Mudokons are well treated. I just want to make sure that's clear before things start going wrong. BM got a bit confused by that and it caused him to struggle for a bit.

MM, Slaveless, where art thou?

OOC: Hi y'all. I had some problems with my computer the past few days, but fixed it around half 9 last night.
IC:
Dek looked on in a hopeful mood as Wash stood over Linc. "Come on, wake him up already!"
He turned to Praetyre. "I asked you to get me some food. Where is it?"

Praetyre was surprised at the speed the Mudokon went in and the door opened, but followed. He then heard his superior inquire about food.
"I'm sorry sir, but I can't recall such an order. If you did, then I'm sorry. But it seems this chap called Arthur has made an absolutely smashing recipe for soup that Slap enjoys. Of course, that's designed for those poor souls who have cruelly been denied the delights of opple and Scrab pies. So us Vykkers might not enjoy it as much."
Praetyre turned to the grim looking Mudokon.
"After I used my Palm o' Pain, his heart briefly started beating and solved the blood pressure problem. However, it then died, and I could not get him up with pushes. My superior came in and suggested a pacemaker operation. And after getting Krik out of the room, giving myself a mild injury, and putting your friends taken out bits in a jar, both of us trying to motivate him in several ways, and me going to you, here we are. And sorry again if you heard what I said to Slap. My superior and I are quite competent."

OOC: Err sorry I haven't been posting a lot. Lots of homework to do and that kind of stuff.

IC: Kix down on the ground thinking about what she had been doing these past few moments. Suggesting guard tower as a source of water, worrying intensily about Anni, and thinking about this escaping Mudokon. All of which are a bit nutty for her to consider doing. She started to mist her eyes and replied to Anni, "I'm, I'm, I'm just worried about you guys. I thought Snoozers could help us clear wildlife out of the Stockyards, since Jim is scared of Sligs. And the whole guard tower thing, I just believed that we could bring the hose here, and we could use it every time we come here. There, the garden could be worked on in minutes, instead of spending about an hour trying to control the garden, we would use only 15 minutes. And guys, you might not like to here this, but a Mudokon today has disturbed me. I don't know his name, but I do know he is brownish grayish, and wants to save everyone here from slavery in Rupture Farms. And I got reminded of the time Buddy died two years ago in these Stockyards. I don't think you were around when that happened. I just didn't want that kind of loss happen again. But if it makes you feel any better, I will go to the kitchen, all right?"
-=-=-==-=-===-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==

Slap hated to tell any of his war stories at the Vykker Labs he grew up at. Most of them leave people throwing up or passing out over the horror and gore that had happened there. In fact, he only gets a little dizzy from those subjects these days, since he is use to them. Slap tried to ignore them, but he could help but feel pity for all of those sad souls that were tortured in manners that are illegal in his mind.

He waited there, thinking that Arthur was going to respond. He continued to think of ways that Molt can remain in the factory. Prehaps just a small talk with him will do. He continued to think about this subject while imagining of the pain Molt must of gone through. Prehaps worse than the Slig Praetyre had talked about.

Anni knew about Buddy, and she had the book he had made with a list of all the times he'd tried to escape. "Don't worry, Kix. I wouldn't try to escape now Stivik's gone. And I would tell you if I did. It'd be a lot quicker to go to the kitchen, and I don't like those vykker's robots. Anyway, do you know how to control them? You and Dean can go to the kitchen now, and get some rubber pipe or something, and when we see Somi she can show us to the tower and we can set up a pipe from there to here so there's always water." She was getting a bit excited by her ideas now. "And if we can find a pump or something to put on the end of the pipe, we can leave the water on at the tower all the time and only turn it on when we need it. If we tlk to Arnie, I think he'd get someone to help us!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Somi was currently on her way upstairs, rather more slowly than she would have liked, because having Sturg with her meant she couldn't just climb her web and go up that way. So they were winding their way up slowly in the wrecked part at the back of Rupture Farms. Somi was planning to look in the R+R and have a quick glance in the grinders. "Almost at the top now," She called cheerfully to the meech behind her.

Kix began to smile after hearing what Anni had talked about. At least her new ideas were getting Anni to think and allow them to plan for the future. Kix grinned at her excitement in the end, and thought that she did good. She replied happily, "OK, that's great. And actually, I don't know how to control a Snoozer. But I guess Arnie could set us up with someone other than a Slig. Maybe if he is still in the kitchen we can go talk with him. For now, let's look for that plastic pipe, Dean. Let's roll."

Kix grabbed her bucket and went off.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-

Isaac was disappointed by the reaction of the Mudokon he just saw. It didn't really appeal to him much that some Mudokon was stuck up and selfish to no end. In fact, 2/3 of the Mudokon here that he met were just that. He tried to think that those Mudokon were probably just the only ones that were like that, but he didn't know for sure. He just had to wait and see.

Isaac roamed the Grinders as he was puzzled on that subject. He didn't believe that if these Grinders could look this new that it didn't have barrels. As he searched for the barrels, he saw one its side. He smiled to himself in victory, but when he went over to it, he saw that there was a ledge. And on the ledge showed a whole area of barrels. It was marvalous, as he saw Sam carrying some of them. Sam was carrying them over to a conveyor belt, just waiting to be used for production. It was set in a manner where it was below another conveyor belt that duped food into it. But that conveyor belt by far was not even twitching. Maybe that was because Matthew was in control of the belt, and was waiting for meat to come by onto his belt. And as he could see, that one had a sign gleeming above it, 'Scrab Legs'. If that one was just for one product, what did other products get? Isaac pondered on this, as he found the answer, for there was far more belts, just like the next one. And they all seemed to be flowing into belts that exited the Grinders and into the Production Lines. As he could see, Isaac didn't believe that eight Mudokons were going to keep Rupture Farms running.

Isaac was trying to imagine that maybe new Mudokons were coming any minute. Maybe they could help him or his brothers package these products to make the Glukkon here proud. Yet he was losing hope. But he guess they had to deal with the lack of activity. He grabbed his barrel and set off to the meat saw he needed to go to.

OOC: Is it OK that I tried to form ideas how products are stored at the Production Lines?

Mech was still running when he reached the third storeroom. Then, when his lungs were about to burst, he collapsed to the dusty floor. The crates on the walls watched him impassively as Mech struggled for breath. Finally, though, he managed to sit up. Even though The Door was far behind him, he was still terrified it would somehow release the beast inside. Mech forced himself to calm down.

He took stock of his condition, and noticed he had somehow ripped off a chunk of his synth-skin. The metal circuits and plates beeped and glowed in the darkness of the store room. Mech ruffled through his sack o' crap (as he liked to call it), and grabbed his flashlight. He turned it on and set it so it was pointing at the ceiling. Then he grabbed a can of insta-fire (Just like the fire that survival expert you saw on TV made!), and lit it. He turned off the flashlight, not wanting to waste precious batteries.

As he sat by the warmth, Mech began to doze off. Strange figures and voices shouted at him. Releasing himself into the flood, Mech slipped toward sleep.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The insta-fire was almost out when Mech was jerked awake. Shaking away the sleep, Mech grimanced. A bad taste was in his mouth, and he was still groggy. Shouldn't of let myself sleep in the middle of the day. he thought, and pushed himself up. He grasped his katanna's handle to reasure it was still there, and started to make his way through the maze of boxes.