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[Phalanxman]

The year is 2053. The place: Sterling, Kansas. The land is used for food cultivation. What was once a small town of 3000, is now whittled down to only enough people to maintain the cultivation machines. You all live in a single apartment complex managed directly by The Computer. The time is 3:00 AM. All are asleep except for John Smith. He is being fed adrenals to keep him awake long enough to fix a malfunctioning harvester. This is the 5th day he has been kept awake. You three are heavily medicated through shock collars to produce servility. There is a thunderous explosion and Jason and Brian are electrically stimulated to awake and begin working. You gain consciousness as your muscle spasms die away.

[Glaciermage]

Brian hates being woken up. Once he gets control of his body, he throws his alarm clock against the wall. Then he remembers that the alarm clock hasn't worked in years. It's that damn computer that woke him up again! And only so he can work hard all day servicing more machines!

Brian is at his breaking point. Something must be done to restore power to flesh and blood. But for now he'll bide his time. He walks through his apartment. Broken appliances lie everywhere. A TV, coffee maker, even an electric can opener has failed to escape Buddy's fury.

As he gets near the door, Brian remembers hearing something like an explosion just before he was awoken. He heads down by John to see what has happened and what needs to be done today.

[Hyperlisk]

"I'm up!" started Jason. Ah, life... Waking up at the crack of dawn and sleeping just before it. It was almost natural to Jason. He was used to sleeping lightly during his travels as a runaway.

"I guess I should go investigate that noise..." sighed Jason. He hadn't quite felt like waking up yet, but what can you do? He knew that in life it takes hard work to get what you want. And he figured a little work now would pay off when his robot-self was doing the work.

Jason wastes no time throwing on pants, a shirt, and a jacket he had set out the night before and clambered into the hallway outside his apartment.

[Phalanxman]

On the wall near Brian there is a screen with the days orders on it.

Task List:
Finish repairs on harvester
Dump grain from harvesters into transporters (high-tech trucks)
Travel with grain to Chicago

Notes: Transporters arrive at 3:10 and leave at 6:00 AM. Grain dump must take no longer than 30 minutes.

At the foot of the screen is the body of John Smith, your co-worker. He shows all the signs of extreme exhaustion and malnutrition. There is a large piece of the harvester hull on John's legs. You notice burn marks where the electrodes from the shock collar insert into the skin. His body stiffens as the collar does it's magic. He pleads for water as he passes back into unconsciousness.

As for Jason, the automatic doors open as he enters the equipment room. Tools line the walls. There are benches. You notice a camera mounted on the ceiling. It turns towards you.

"Hello Jason. You look a little drowsy. I think you should do some exercises. You don't want to be inattentive when working do you? You know what happens when someone makes a careless error. Re-training!" emits from a speaker on the wall.

A flashback of your re-training after you were captured enters your mind. You can almost still feel the straps holding you down again.

The shock collar zaps you.

"Come on you hairless ape! Get down and give me 20!"

[Glaciermage]

Brian sees the predicament that John is in. He runs over to John and with all his might lifts the large piece of harvester off of John's legs.

Brian then starts shaking John. "You alright, Buddy? How in the world are we going to get this thing fixed in time?"

[Stars]

John wills himself to stay conscious in the hope that the shock collar will stop "helping" him wake up. He slides away from the spot where he had been trapped in case something else decides to fall on him.

"G'morning..." he squints at his savior, trying to get his face into focus, "...Brian." John looks up at the screen on the wall, trying to remember what he had just been doing before the explosion, then sighs. "No, I ain't all right. And I dunno how we's supposed to fix this deleted ((<- expletive)) hunk o' junk. I thought I had the problem figured, but then it blows up in my face, see."

John is still incredibly weak from hunger and thirst and being crushed by heavy machinery. He tries to stand by pushing himself up the wall, but he can't quite manage it. He gives up temporarily as an idea occurs to him. "Maybe...we can take pieces offa the other harvesters to fix this one? The orders don't say that they all has to be operational, just that the one needs to be repaired."

[Hyperlisk]

"Ouch! Uh, heheh... Right, of course! Nothing better than waking up to a nice workout!" replies Jason as he drops to the floor. He puts his weight on his left arm and begins doing push ups one-handed. "Nothing to it!"

As he is doing the push ups, Jason asks, "So what would you like me to do today, Computer?"

[Glaciermage]

Brian picks up a bunch of manual tools and randomly starts taking pieces off of other harvesters.

"Take these pieces and fix the harvester, John. I don't know enough about them to fix them myself."

[Phalanxman]

The speaker pipes up. "Do not try to cheat me, humans! You will never be successful. All harvesters must be intact. Otherwise, you will pay for the labor and parts. I hope that doesn't inconvenience you too much. Hehe" - The Computer

[Hyperlisk]

Finishing his push-ups, Jason heads down to the fields to find his friends staring at the harvesters. "So, you guys look like you're having fun. Can I help with anything?"

[Glaciermage]

Brian stops dismantling the other harvesters, and attempts to put things back the way they were.

"Hey Jason. You know anything about these stupid things? We need to get this one fixed, and fast. I don't mind doing the heavy lifting, but I have no idea where to begin."

[Hyperlisk]

"I don't know too much about their inner workings. Does anything look burnt out or corroded?

[Glaciermage]

"Yes! This wire is corroded."

Brian replaces the wire and fixes the harvester.

"Well, that's done. What's next?"

((I thought maybe it was time to move on to more interesting things.))

[Phalanxman]

(Just continue on. I'll interject when The Computer is needed.)