26th Timber, Late Autumn of 217
Overlord's log
That is IT. The Baron's secretary, ID 'Davette', has decided to make an official request that the workers produce three items of any kind, as long as the material is sterling silver. We have none. But ah, I have a solution to this problem. Today, one of the workers decided to arrange a party to celebrate the success of Steelgripped. The Baron's goons are sure to attend, as will I, to make sure that no suspicion arises. I sent a few trusted units do a little...remodeling in the secretary's quarters. I won't reveal details, I'm risking too much just by recording this, but...
I simply have to gloat.
End of line.
Later that day:
The Secretary of Barony Finances, whose position is purely superficial to everyone except the Baron, was making her way to the Nobles' Quarter, stumbling slightly thanks to a gift from the Baron in the form of rather psychedelic sim-chips. Entering her quarters, she suddenly remembered she had neglected to turn in the income report for the next season's taxes, whirled around and ran into the door. It refused to open. Bypass code reported as out-of-date. Strange. Usually when the codes were changed, everyone with clearance was given the new ones. She'd have a rather stern word with the maintenance personnel. Pacing her apartments, she spotted something amiss. One of the walls had changed slightly.
After a brief inspection, a hidden lever was found that caused the wall to slide open. Behind was a dark passage.
Apparently an escape route installed to guarantee their safety! How thoughtful of the dear Overlord to have had such comprehensive safety systems! The short tunnel led to another door. The secretary stepped through, suddenly taken by curiosity. This was so exciting!
As she stepped into the dark chamber beyond, a metallic sound alerted her to the floor being littered with something. Lamenting her lack of extra vision modes, she picked up whatever it was she'd kicked and lifted it closer for inspection. The moment she recognized the object as a flattened CPU casing she dropped it and turned around. The door wasn't there any more, just a smooth wall. From somewhere above, the sound of a door opening, and a series of metallic ticks, growing louder. They stopped.
"Good evening, unit Bandweathered. It seems as you are in quite a...predicament."
"Who's there?", said Davette Bandweathered, the seriously shaken Secretary of Barony Finances.
A light came on, revealing the garbage compactor littered with rusted piecs of robot frames, and on the ledge above stood Overlord Gamma Relieveflayer.
"What's the meaning of this? Call someone to get me out of here!"
Gamma tilted his head, as if considering.
"Nnnno. You see, I thought to myself: 'Gamma, you pure genius, what should we do about the nobles? They achieve nothing and expect extravagance for free! Wouldn't it be better to just have them all scrapped?'
But then I realized how useful our dear Baron and his servants were as a...focus of attention. As long as they are seen as the final authority, I can easily shift blame onto their incompetent little shoulders."
"This is an outrage!", the secretary said, with a hint of hysterical static creeping into her voice. "The Council will-"
"Do. Not. Interrupt. See, this situation here is kind of your - yes specifically YOUR - fault. The Baron, while demanding very high-quality service, still doesn't ask for the impossible. Unlike you. You are aware of what I'm talking about, yes? Your precious sterling silver, of which we have none and will not have anytime in the near future, at least within the ridiculous deadline you gave the project?"
"Well, I kind of like-"
"Silence! Did you even stop to think for one second about whether your fucking retarded 'mandate' would ever be possible to fulfill?! This is exactly why you are currently a quick lever-pull away from being irreversibly dismantled?"
"The Baron will-"
"The Baron will do nothing! Do you know why? You are expendable. You are nothing but a sycophant who happens to be in that fool Baron Steve's favor! And thus, no one will miss you if I happen to pull this lever here."
More ticking sounds as the Overlord took a few steps and pulled a lever. The secretary's scream of protest was drowned out by a rumble, followed by the screech of metal framing being crushed.
The Overlord closed the garbage dump hatch and stepped out of the storage. The Secretary was found later, during routine maintenance of the trash compactor. Officially, the Secretary had wandered off to take a look at the manufacturing equipment and staggered into a garbage chute during a mass dump. The Overlord's response was 'what a wasteful, yet unavoidable tradegy', coupled with warning against high-ranking officials making unannounced inspections around industrial equipment. The Baron handled the loss of such a 'dedicated, hardworking and loyal individual' with slightly suspicious indifference.
Author
Topic: Steelgripped - A robotic community fortress (Read 20443 times)