[Splat]

First Tuesday update, which should be the norm from now on. Friday is sooooo old news!

Good luck, Scrabtrapman! Though take some string; I think AlexFili and Dryadri are lost in there somewhere...
Right, on with the show. Anni's not in a happy mood after Nick threatening to kill her and all...

Chapter 37

Anni was sat deep in the heart of the derelict Rupture Farms. Somi was in her lap and Anni was hugging the paramite to her chest, but wasn’t speaking or moving.

‘Stupid slig’ Her thoughts said to her, ‘Thinks he can treat me like a little kid. Javi and Dean and Kix, too, they all think they can treat me like a little baby’.

Deep in the shadows of the fallen factory, she muttered aloud in a deep voice quite unlike her own, “I’ll show them. I’m not a baby. I’ll show them what I can do, and then they’ll see…”

Somi made an odd sound, wriggled free of her arms and ran away. Anni raised her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees, sitting silently in the brooding dark.

* * *

The pile of paperwork on Nick’s desk was now no higher than the width of a bullet and he was sat back in his chair, sorting through a handful of sheets and singing along with the intern channel on the radio.

Having Groll in the factory was making keeping up with his work a lot easier and they had spent the previous couple of days working through a list of little jobs that had been hanging around for ages but that he hadn’t been able to get on with because of the other list of bigger jobs. Now things were getting back on track, however; his inbox was almost cleared of two years of backlog and they might even be able to do the factory’s routine inspections this year – the last two years he simply hadn’t had the time. Groll was off sorting the electrics of a couple of the meat grinders that he had been meaning to repair for months, and in ten minutes some machine parts he had ordered would be arriving and he would be able to start work on restoring electricity to some of the derelict security towers around the stockards (which was something Arnie had been yelling at him to do ever since he arrived).

And to top it off, Anni hadn’t bothered him for nearly four days. Despite the stockyards mud, Javi, promising to do him in, and Razor being a snide brzstrk, things weren’t too bad for Nick right now.

Deciding he ought to get on with things, he turned off the radio and headed to the station to pick up his parts when they arrived.

* * *

Anni was looking maliciously up at the meat being mashed in the main grinders, “And so he’s all like, ‘I’m gonna feed you to the scrabs!’ And he grabs me and drags me out of the factory! Like he’s really gonna kill me!” Behind her, Expert grunted.

“What?” She asked, turning around.

“Nothing,” He muttered in reply, “Go on.”

She looked up at him unhappily, and then shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” After a pause, she asked, “Is Bela really thinking about leaving?”

“Where did you hear that?” He grunted.

She shrugged again, “I think I heard Groll telling Razor about it. Is it true?”

Expert answered slightly defensively, “He’s been thinking about it. His and my contracts expire in a couple of months, and he was saying it might be time to move on.”

There was something in his tone that made her suspicious, “What about you?” She asked. He didn’t reply and she turned. He was looking up at the grinder. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer immediately, but finally said, “Ghrzzing grinder’s gotten jammed or something. Turn the power down over there, will you? Don’t want it going crazy on us or anything.”

“Are you going to get Nick?” She asked shrewdly.

Before he could answer there was a scream of unhappy metal that made Anni clamp her hands over her ears, then the grinder blade jerked down its shaft three metres and a razor-sharp metal disk longer than her arm embedded itself in the wall beside her.

“Chkuhr, turn it off!” Expert yelled as the metal started screaming again. Anni ran to the control panel.

“It’s not working,” She yelled, jabbing at the controls.

Expert shoved her aside and started yanking cables out of the bottom of the control panel, “Listen Anni,” He barked, “I need you go and get Nick, RIGHT NOW! If he’s not in the office then there should be a key with a big, red handle hanging on the wall. Get that instead.”

Anni nodded and ran for it.

The security office was unlocked, but empty. Swearing to herself she looked around the walls for the key she was after but there was no sign of it. Then she spotted a big bundle of keys lying on a table, a big red one among them, and she grabbed the bundle and charged back to the grinders.

Expert had thrown himself for cover under the control panel as the grinder blade continued to squeal on its runner, throwing bolts and screws and shreds of meat around the room. “Expert!” She yelled to get his attention and chucked him the keys. He caught them, picked out the red one and jammed it into the console. There was a loud hiss and slowly the blade stopped rotating, the angry-metal sounds fading.

“Damn it,” Expert said, picking himself up. “Listen Anni, I better go and tell Arnie about this. Just… stay here.” He looked a little uncertain but hurried off. Anni sank against the side of the console, panting for breath from her run across the factory, wondering what would happen to the factory with the main grinders not working.

* * *

Blissfully unaware of the disaster that his least favourite mudokon in the world had just barely averted, Nick had just finished putting the last of his freshly-arrived crates of machine parts in a store room and was now heading back to the security office. By the time he had arrived there he decided he would go around the old security towers and make a report of what work he would have to do on each to get them operational. They were kept locked, so he popped into the security office to get his keys.

His face fell when he saw the little place on his desk that definitely hadn’t been empty when he left. A moment later he was on the ground, looking under the desk, under his chair, and when he stood up his eyes were flashing with anger. He ran to a computer and entered his password to access the security protocols. A moment later he turned on the factory’s announcement system. How could he have been so stupid as to leave the office unlocked?!

“I want everyone’s attention!” He yelled into the microphone, and his furious words echoed around every room of the factory where the speaker system was working, “This is a message to whatever idiot has pinched my keys from the security office! You have ten minutes to bring them here or I’ll take this as an act of ghrzzing terrorism and shoot you myself!”

* * *

Working in the slaughterhouse was largely considered the worst job in the whole factory, and Kix was standing outside the door, looking rather ill and gulping for fresh air. Math appeared in the doorway, “Are you ok?” He asked with concern. Both mudokons were wearing bloody aprons and trying not to think about it.

She gave him a shaky smile, “Don’t worry; I’ll be fine in a minute,” She gulped.

At that moment, Nick’s message echoed through the ceiling over their heads. In the ringing silence that followed, Math said, “What fool would steal a slig’s keys?”

There was a long silence, and then the two mudokons exchanged significant glances.

“I think…” Said Kix slowly, “We should get over there right now.”

“Just in case,” Agreed Math, and the two mudokons ran for the office.

* * *

Anni was still sat against the console in the main grinders when she heard the announcement, and giggled to herself. “I bet he’s just lost them; who would bother stealing his keys?”

Several seconds passed before her eyes travelled up to the heavy ring of keys still hanging from the console. “Oh-h,” She said.

* * *

Nick was pacing around the office when the door opened. He spun round quickly, “Math?”

“Um,” Said the mudokon, “I was just wondering if your keys have turned up yet?”

Nick glowered at him, “You’re supposed to be working, not wasting time asking sligs stupid questions.”

“Well I was just wondering, you know, if you didn’t just leave them somewhere or something?”

“Do you think I’d be stupid enough to make that announcement to the whole factory if I thought I might have ‘just left them somewhere’?” Snarled Nick, who was getting slightly worried that he may have been stupid enough to make an announcement to the whole factory when he might have just left them somewhere. Hiding his fears, he strode through the door, making Math stumble back to avoid being ploughed down. Kix was standing just outside the door, and Anni was walking up behind her. “What, you all on break or something?” And then he noticed what was hanging from Anni’s hand. “You!”

Anni gave a nervous grin, “I can explain!”

“YOU GHRZZING BRAT!” Nick roared and charged past Math, raising his gun.

“Nick!” Kix screamed, and then he smacked Anni hard on the side of the head. She was thrown to the floor with a shriek and the keys went skittering away.

Totally wild with anger, he stood over her, smacking her again and again with the butt of his gun while she cried out; Kix screamed again, “Nick, STOP IT!” Math stood frozen.

And then Math was thrown aside by the hulking form of Expert who pushed past and grabbed Nick’s gun as he brought it up for another swing, twisted it from his hand and smacked him over the head with it, “WHAT IN ODD’S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, SLURG?”

“SHE HAS IT COMING! SHE WASTES TIME, SHE STOLE MY KEYS-”

“BECAUSE I TOLD HER TO!!” Expert roared, cutting him off. There was a long silence.

“Huh?” Said Nick.

“I told her to get your keys because the grinders were about to explode!” Expert roared, “Then I come up here and find you’re beating her up for saving all our lives!”

Anni was still on the floor, shaking. Kix was crouched over her, sheltering her with her arms and glaring up at Nick.

“Huh?” Said Nick again, who was beginning to get a very bad feeling about all this.

There was a whir of pants and Seven appeared on the scene, took in Anni on the floor, sheltered by Kix, Math picking up the ring of keys and Expert hulking over Nick. “What’s going on?” He asked dangerously.

Expert growled, “Get in the office,” He ordered Nick.

“But-”

“Now!” Nick obediently hurried in. Expert gestured to Seven, who followed, and Expert turned to the mudokons, “All of you, get out of here. Get back to work.”

Math nodded nervously as Expert entered the office. Kix stood up, helping Anni to her feet. Bruises were flourishing over her scarred skin and one or two wounds were bleeding lightly. “Math, take Anni to the cafeteria for me. And tell Dean what happened, but not Javi, ‘cus he’d probably go crazy.”
Math nodded and led the girl away.

Kix waited outside the office, hearing fragments of the conversation only when Seven raised his voice, “What on Oddworld possessed you to… …A high-ranking member of staff; you’re supposed to know better… …as Hell better hope Arnie’s in a better mood than I am!”

Eventually the door opened and Seven came out, “You’re supposed to be working, Kix,” He said tersely.

Before Kix could reply, Expert emerged and answered for her, “I’ll take her back to her post, sir.”

Seven nodded and walked away towards Arnie’s office. Expert quickly steered her the other way before she could try and get a look at Nick.

When they were a good distance from Seven, Kix summoned her courage and asked, “What’s going to happen?”

“'S up to Arnie,” Expert said, “Seven’s not getting involved in it.”

Kix was silent for a while as they walked towards the main lifts, “I always thought Nick was better than that,” She eventually said, doubtfully.

Expert sighed and shook his huge head heavily, “He’s a slig, Kix, and it’s the way we are to be aggressive when we’re pushed too far,” He paused, and then went on, “Muds and sligs don’t get on well; it’s just the way things are; always has been and always will.”

“We get on alright,” Kix countered.

Expert shrugged without looking at her, “Any other place I’d smack a mud soon as look at one,” He muttered, “Arnie thinks his rules can help us overcome our natures, but… Trust me, Kix; it never works when different species try to mix. That’s why I keep mostly to myself.”

“But you’re not like that here! You don’t have to be like that anywhere else!” Kix protested.

Expert shook his head, “Sligs are… scared, Kix. Hell, everyone’s scared all the time. Muds are scared of sligs, sligs are scared of the rules, and what’d happen if they broke them, and they’re scared of muds, of their physical strength and the powers they have, and what they can do. I’d rather die than be possessed, even for a second… And people who are scared of each other can’t get on. I can trust one mud. I can’t trust a species of muds.”

Kix fell silent as Expert winched them downstairs on a lift, but as they reached the ground floor, she asked, “Didn’t sligs used to be free, once?”

“Hell…” He muttered and spat on the floor, “Maybe… long ago… but not now. We hatch behind walls, live in ‘em, die in ‘em. I’ve never even been outside of a facility. It’s the way things are, Kix, and trust me; bad as they are, we’re too late to ever change them… Sligs might have lived under the sun once, but we never will again. If the muds ever won their war, and I’m not saying I think they will, but… if somehow they did, sligs would go down with the glukkons.”

Kix didn’t answer. She wandered away from him to the open front door of the factory, looking out over the stockyards to the smog-masked horizon in the far distance. Expert came after her and stood behind her, eyes low.

“This place is making me soft,” He grunted.

She turned and looked up at him with mingled pity and sorrow, “Why is that a bad thing?”

He shook his head, “Maybe it’s not, but it makes life so much harder. My contract with Arnie expires in a couple of weeks, Bela’s too, and we’re both going to leave. Sligs can’t live this way for long. It changes them.”

Kix turned back to look out at that distant, hazy sky, tears on her cheeks. “Things shouldn’t be this way,” She muttered.

Expert didn’t answer, but left her there and walked away, back into Rupture Farms.

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

When I was reading through W@RF 3 I reached the conversation that that last bit was based on and I was just like... whoa... I loved it, had to put it in. Original is at the top of this page, by T-Nex and Cyber-Slig (Expert's name had changed to CS for no reason by this stage). You guys rocked!

And to clarify for those who used to know, the grinders didn't actually break at this time in the RPG; Anni pinched Nick's keys for a similar yet entirely unrelated reason.
The actual grinder breakdown occurs later, but occurred in the RPG as a result of a much earlier breakdown that happened long before this story, which was a bit silly after the amount of time passed. Which is why I put the first breakdown here (plus the reason for Anni taking the keys didn't work outside of RPG Logic).
The events of this chapter lead to what is probably the most... well-remembered event in W@RF's history. Gotta say things aren't so fun for Anni from now on.

This part is so long! I've already written like 10 chapters of it and I'm only about halfway through. I suppose that's good in a way though, as it gives more time for the RPG to advance. I hope these chapters don't seem too padded.

Next chapter will be next Tuesday! In the mean time, reply!!!