16_Geiger mules

Throughout the meal, Herman had remained silent, patiently waiting for them to finish. He knew from experience what hunger could do, the longer it persisted, the more it pushed people to consider acts they never imagined themselves capable of.

After filling their empty stomachs with the scavenged rations, the worker gang began to relax. Full and sated, they seemed much more open-minded than before. That is when Herman spoke, his voice steady and confident.

"Alright everyone, first off, you need to learn how to survive in this environment. I am willing to…"

"Who the hell do you think you are? A newby still wet behind the years, coming here and telling us how dumb we are! Come on Jimbo, let's get out of here. We don’t have to listen to this demented fool." Beth said, standing up and motioning for everyone to follow her, causing the rest of the gang to hesitate and look between the two with uncertainty.

"Oh really?" Herman snapped, finally having enough of the aggressive woman’s antics. "Fine then, leave. If you don’t want to hear reason, then I certainly can't force you. I am sure you know all about the radioactive zones spread all over the area. Or perhaps you know how to cure the rads out of your body. Please enlighten all of us. I can clearly see the early symptoms of radiation sickness in nearly everyone in your gang. Or perhaps you can fight off or avoid the hordes of scavengers that will inevitably come for all of you.

Surely a proud and capable individual like yourself already knows all those things."

"Sigh…" Jimbo sighed heavily. "Beth… please. I don’t know why you have it in for Herman, but now is not the time for this. We have to stay united, now most of all. let's hear him out. It costs us nothing to listen."

The woman shot the giant a furious look. But then she apparently saw something in the man’s eyes and she finally acquiesced, silently walking back to the table and sitting down.

"Herman, please continue." The giant motioned with a huge palm for the man to go on.

"Alright, so…. First you have to understand that the situation has changed. What little remaining civility there was here, is now gone. Almost everyone from the queue is currently stuck in respawn limbo. The few undamaged respawn booths are systematically being shut off by the survivors. Those same people are soon going to realize that in order to go through the border control, they need to kill as many of the surviving queue members as possible."

"But we are the last in line, who will care about us?" Someone from the gang asked.

"Do you think they will care to politely check your paper slips before they slice your throats? They won't trust you, and you won't trust them, regardless of what your slips says. "Trust is the first thing to die in an apocalypse. And yes we are in one right now.” Herman replied.

"Which leads me to my other point: Survival. As I already mentioned, the land is covered in radiation zones. Some bigger others smaller. But radiation poisoning is what awaits all of us if we don’t take measures.

During my days living in the forbidden zones on Earth, I learned a few tricks to manage these things. The same applies of how to find food and water, craft weapons and avoid trouble.

I am uniquely suited to the situation all of us are finding ourselves in. And I am also willing to teach you everything I know.”

“However." The man raised one hand to stop the rising excitement of the group. "However, I have a condition."

"Condition!?" Beth scoffed.

"What condition?" Jimbo said with suspicion.

"Nothing too ridiculous, I promise." Herman calmly replied. "I want you to unblock the respawn booth at your section of the wall."

"No way! We blocked that for a reason! Do you want us to stay here for the next decade?" Beth snapped.

"I am sorry Herman, but I agree with Beth. None of us wants to stay here forever. What use do we have of respawning everyone else? They certainly don’t give a damn about us." The giant said.

"I see…" Herman muttered. "Jimbo, as it was already said I am new here. I haven’t had time to get to know you much. However I was left with the impression that you are unsatisfied with how things were run here: people divided into small gangs, constantly in conflict with one another for the stupidest things. Each time someone tries to do something good for the community, others always swoop in and push you down out of spite or greed.

You all said that you wanted things to change for the better. Well, now you have the chance to change this community!"

"Or… you can choose to do nothing. Hunker down and hope the bloodthirsty survivors leave you alone. Maybe you will live long enough to go through the border control or maybe not.”

“The decision is yours."

___

"And that is how you build a simple basic Geiger Counter." The old man said as he assembled the random collection of junk lying on the table for the 3rd time."

“Alright, now it is your turn. I don’t have more parts, so you have to train with this one for now. Ok, Alice, you are first. Just go slow and steady and you will be fine."

The worker woman sat down at the offered chair, looking a bit intimidated by the device. Still she took a deep breath, calming her nerves. Then she started tinkering with the parts.

During the procedure the rest of the gang watched with hushed curiosity. After she was done with the disassemble and consequent reassemble, the device clicked on, and the room filled wit the signature cracking noise of the counter.

"Very good Alice, you are a natural at this!" The apocalypse teacher said, making the blond woman give out a wide cheerful grin.

"Alright, who is next?"

___

While the worker gang was practicing, Herman carefully knocked at the inn’s kitchen door.

"Stapl…"

A knife shot out at the man’s throat, stopping millimeters away from his skin. Herman immediately froze, reluctant to even blink, lest he found himself stuck in the respawn limbo.

An array of suspicious mechanical eyes appeared from behind the cracked door. "Oh it's you." Staple said, retracting her hand and motioning for the man to enter.

Herman gulped down, then followed the grumpy bot.

"Sorry for that…" Staple said with a deep frown. "When will these people get out of my inn?" She said, the hostility clear in her voice.

"I, amm… I will bring them outside in a few minutes." Herman replied with an awkward tone.

"Good!" She snapped. "Sigh… I am sorry Herman. It’s just difficult to deal with that rabble on daily bases. Sometimes I wonder if me and Topo did the right thing in coming here. Maybe we should have joined our brothers and sisters in the rebellion." The mechanoid said, kneeling down and gently stroking the feathers of a plump hen. While the chicken in question quietly pecked at a bowl of seeds in the kitchen corner.

"Maybe I can help? I am sure I can arrange something with my son." Herman suggested.

"No no, don’t bother him on our regard. He has more than enough problems than to deal with two rusty old bots. Me and Topo will decide what to do. Maybe we can get another job inside the walls. Preferably something that doesn't require dealing with humans. Speaking of which, what the hell are you doing with those idiots out there?" Staple motioned towards the kitchen door and the inhabitants beyond. They are no good!"

Another hen chose that moment to hop on her extended hand, using it as a perch. Staple tilted her head in curiosity, then moved the adventurous chicken near the seed bowl, causing it to hop off her arm and dash towards the treats.

"Well..." Herman hesitated. "They have been exploited and lied to their whole lives. I suppose they are a product of their environment. I want to show them a better way. Maybe giving them purpose will be good for them… Or maybe I am just being an old fool and lying to myself. Time will tell I guess. That being said, attacking you and the hens is not something I agree with…"

"Bah! You give them too much faith." The bot scoffed. "They won't hesitate to betray you when they get the chance. You will see. Once they get all the use from you, they will stab a knife in your back. With your history you know this better than I do, I shouldn't have to point it out."

"Yeahh… You are probably right. Still, I want to try. Maybe this time it will be the exception and something good will come out of this."

"Pha, I wish I would be so optimistic when I reach your age. Just… Be careful."

After which the two friends quietly watched as all four of the hens gathered up around the bowl, eagerly pecking at the precious seeds. Eventually Herman broke the silence, a sudden thought coming to his mind.

"By the way, what are they doing here?" He said, pointing towards the critters.

"Oh them… I think they got lost in the commotion. They did hatch in this kitchen, so I guess they came back to familiar ground." The mechanoid replied.

"Hmm… I did see Polya a few hours ago. She didn't seem concerned about them whatsoever." Herman said.

"O reeeallly…" The bot muttered with suspicion.

Squinting her eyes she began inspecting the hens, even lifting them up and carefully examining each one. Eventually all the hens were thoroughly body searched.

The result?

Eight small wooden pieces with unusual shapes. Each one of which used to be hidden among the feathers of the plump critters.

"What are they?" Herman asked with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"A puzzle!" Staple declared, a grin edged onto her face.

___

"Hmm I think this piece should go over the one with the two protruding squares." Herman helpfully said.

"Yes yes, I got it." Staple muttered, her mind fully absorbed by the three-dimensional puzzle.

Eventually, the final piece clicked into place, signaling the completion of the object. A small wooden rooster figurine with tiny emerald eyes.

"That looks nice. Why all the secrecy though?" The man asked as he inspected the rooster.

"Hmm… Polya knows my fascination with puzzles, though I suspect there is more to this. It might be magical artifact." The bot said, experimentally shaking the figurine.

To both of their surprise the rooster’s eyes began to glow, immediately followed by the quiet muffled sound of crowing, causing the bot and human to exchange startled glances.

"H..hello? Is this thing on? Helooooo?" The voice coming from the rooster said, the tiny emeralds flickering with each word.

"Polya?!" The bot exclaimed with surprise.

"Auntie Staple! I see you have found my contraband phone. Isn’t it great, now we can talk whenever we want!"

“Polya you foolish girl, how could you use the poor hens as mules. Shame on you! Shame!”

"Ah, give her a little slack. She really misses you that’s all. Plus you have to give her points for creativity." The old man said.

"Hey Herman, it seems you come to my rescue yet again. It is a good trait for a sidekick, yes yes. Keep it up and I might elevate you to an executive sidekick!" Polya declared.

"Creativity? You know my husband is the chief of the border guards, right? How am I going to explain to him that I have a forbidden magical artifact?"

The voice from the rooster went silent for a bit.

"…Very carefully?" Polya said with hesitation.

"Sigh…. ah what the hell..." The bot said with resignation. "Polya I saw your last fight. It was quite memorable. I liked your costume as well, but you are too skinny! You need to eat more! How else you are gonna find a good husband if you are all skin and bones?"

"Staaapleeee staaaaawwwp!!!" The mighty chicken defender squealed in embarrassment.

"Stop? Oh this is only the beginning. We haven't talked in so long, and I have A LOT of things to say on the matter. How are your cooking skills? I hope by now you can make more than sandwiches?"

"I’m telling you, the way to a man’s CPU is through his stomach!" Staple confidently declared, as if she was some great sage imparting wisdom to her young disciple.

"Noooooooooo!" The embarrassed disciple cried in defeat as her aunt switched into lecture mode about the mysteries of finding the right partner.