O. Redmon, Jr., ©2010
As the three rested comfortably, the inhabitants of Outpost 30 were laden with much dread and despair. The Principle became extremely irate and vengeful. To have a pair of lowly assembly line underlings and an outright insubordinate maintenance bot make a mockery of his authority infused him with bitter anger. He became terribly suspicious of the other Assemblers, assuming some of them may have aided the three runaways in their escape plot. Although the outpost was short two Assemblers and an operator, The Principle’s mission remained clear; to produce the exact number of Assailants expected and to remain in total control of the facility. In order to punish the remaining bots for their assumed betrayal, he reduced the line positions by half, affixing a single bot in a bi-port permanently, totaling a meager fifteen to struggle on the line. They toiled twice as long and twice as hard, lacking repair and proper maintenance. The drastic reduction meant that there would be no further rest cycles. The recharging pods were taken completely offline and removed due to The Operator’s ingenious power failure trick. The bots were bombarded with constant energy from their locked bi-port connections which painfully overcharged their systems. Regardless of the cruel treatment, the fifteen assembly line bots continued to obey their oppressive overseer and produce the Assailants without failure, fearing for their lives. As a result, thirteen terrified Assemblers lingered without any function or purpose. Of these thirteen, The Principle designated Larry, Savannah and Jay for retrieval of the escapees, Og, Annie and The Operator. One by one, the remaining ten were swiftly terminated and dismantled. Their deafening screams echoed over the repetitive banging of the assembly line. Their usable parts were recycled and the rest was deposited into Divisionary Lake. After watching the last of the ten perish, The Principle left his quarters and headed towards the maintenance bay. Everything was still in disarray. The entry doors remained damaged and the entire space was tossed about, but the maintenance assist units were swiftly making repairs throughout. The Principle’s chosen three stood shoulder to shoulder, frozen and blank. The assist units were scurrying around, modifying and equipping them to bring in the fugitives. “Assemblers, you three were selected to undertake this retrieval operation due to your affiliation with the escaped units”, The Principle declared, towering over the three recruits. “The fugitive bots must be found and returned. I expect no less than satisfactory results from you.” “I don’t understand, sir”, Larry inquired. “In what way are we associated with the three runaway bots? Personally, my contact with the two Assemblers was minute in scale and I’ve only had marginal maintenance time with the Operator Major.” “You fail to comprehend, just as the rest of your pathetic builds. There is not any action or reaction that transpires within these walls that I do not have complete knowledge of”, The Principle scoffed. “You three before me have had interactions with the escapees in some manner. I anticipate your knowledge of them will aid you in their capture.” Savannah was just as confused. Surprisingly, she spoke with mild confidence. “With all due respect, sir, I’ve never socialized with any of them. I would avoid them all, at best. I wish not to be a disappointment to you, but I believe I may be more harm to this operation than good”, Savannah replied. “You will not be a disappointment, subordinate. None of you will. Once you are complete, your renewed purpose will guarantee the return of the rogue units”, The Principle forcefully stated. “My disappointment lies with the fugitive Operator Major”, he bellowed as he turned away. “My trust in him was damaged due to an error. A programming error that I have personally deleted. I will only accept his return and the return of the two renegade Assemblers to me! They will be deactivated immediately! Nothing less will be acknowledged! Nothing!” Jay glanced at his two peers and then gazed toward The Principle. He was nervous, but he pushed himself to speak.
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