The Cyberbarian
You write all of your information on the dataslate, the stylus's laser etching into the crystal. After you are finished, the pink-purple crystal warps into a small point. The woman behind the counter touches this point with her finger, and her eyes suddenly glow. She blinks and the glow fades, and she motions for you to enter the cargo carriage.
You step into the metal box, inscribed with various glyphs and code. It hums as you enter, and inside there are about ten men, all clasped in chains. You take your seat, and the chains spring from your seat, attaching itself to your wrists. They tighten, and soon the carriage is moving. You can't tell what's outside, but you can hear men screaming. You hold your bile back.
Finally the carriage stops, and your chains retreat back into the seat. You are nudged along, and moved outside. You are in the Temple now. The bleak grey walls humming with code magic. Stalls and roads on the wall sport various inmates, who now wear new clothes. Travelling alongside them are strange beasts, each different from the last.
You are taken into the market stall, if you tell correctly, and are brought on a stand. The others are lined up next to you. Before you are men sitting in chairs, each emanating with power. Some are wearing massive suits of mecharmor. Others have mutations so disfiguring that it takes a while for your techno senses to see that they are human. They all chatter, until a floating skull walking on two robotic legs walks on the stage and speaks.
"Welcome Warlords and Masters. Here, Dr. Slava Slav showcases his new assortment of human product! Various criminals and psychos, all for the taking at the lowest prices around! Seriously, just ask any of Dr. Slava's competitors! Oh, that's right! Their heads are on spears outside his office!
Okay, okay. Haha. Let's get on to business! First off, here we have this fine young lady! Look at this marvel! Oh, and look at her too, she's just as fabulous! Haha. Okay, okay. She was arrested for?"The girl stutters, tears done her face.
"Stealing...""Oh, c'mon. You can tell us more than that! We want to know! Seriously, we have to do this. The stupid guards just won't give us your dataslates. Amirite? Of course I'm right!""I-I stole jewels...""Oh, trying to look nice, eh? C'mon, tell me. Who's the cute boy?" the "skull" says, and mechanical tentacles suddenly appear under his chin, and his red eyes flicker on and off, tilting his head sideways.
The girl breaks down crying, she falls down on her knees, hands on the floor. The skull suddenly stands straight, twitching.
"DON'T TOUCH MY FLOOR YOU INCOMPETENT MEATBAG!"Sparks fly as the girls collar turns on, and she stands straight back up. Her hands suddenly fly in a faux salute, even more tears down her face.
"Look, I'm sorry baby. It's just, the guy from the office, Jeff, he got the promotion. Well, it's better than being fired, but, hey? What do I know? You're the one being fired right now! Hahahaha!"The girl starts smoking, until you intervene stepping up and trying to tear her collar off. The skull stops laughing, and stares at you.
"Oh, so this is who the jewels are for? My my, girl, hunka hunka! Getting jewels to get his jewels, know what I'm saying?" the skulls eyes wink. Weird.
"Leave her alone! It isn't funny!""Not funny? Well, just look at the audience! Look at their big happy smiles!"You turn to look at the crowd, now all lifeless, except for a gigantic grin on their face, stretching their skin back. Their worried eyes dart from side to side, looking for help.
"Hey, I know what'll cheer your girl up! I'll just skip to the punchline!"Suddenly blood bursts as the audience have their heads exploded by a mechanical fist from behind. The girl cries more, and the skull continues laughing.
"Okay, we've had our fun. The show's over guys! Alright, you guys at the back take five!"Then the fellow prisoners fall to the ground as five bullet holes in each of them causes blood to splatter.
"Want to know something, meatbags? You two are the first people I haven't kidnapped and murdered in a long, long time. I like you two. Give me your dataslates, I'll give you your directions to the new place you'll be staying in. Oh, by the way, I'm S.K.U.L.L (Super Kool Uber Liberal Lobotomied-guy-used-in-science-experiment) You can call me Skull. I'll be seeing you two later!"You pick the girl up as Skull flies off. You carry her to the destination, and you arrive in a small crevice in the wall. You walk inside, and it's much roomier. By a lot. Furnished with couches and beds, with paintings and busts of...Skull? Anyway, there's a workdesk and a workbench. There's also a large window which you didn't see before. You can see the entire marketplace!
The girl finally speaks again.
"Thank y-you. My name's Mala.""I'm Tony Pierce."
1 MESSAGE IN DATASLATE!!!
~`''Hey hey hey! Look, we kinda got off on the wrong foot earlier and I kinda want to apologoze to both of you. Meet me in the market and I'll show you around!"
Author
Topic: The Chained Idol (SG) (Read 2487 times)