It was cold today, like every other day… The walls were thin. The blankets ragged and old.
These disloyal thoughts passed over his head as the slow shrill beeps of the digital clock rang out; rising him from his slumber. The air was still, and he wondered if the air-cyclers had stalled again. Woe be the unlucky citizen sent to help out. Shaking his head to rid himself of these unessential thoughts, he dug through his refrigerator searching for any remaining nutrients-paste, his fingers eventually clutching the metallic cylinder. He stumbled through putting on his labour-wear and worked the mask around his face and mouth. Once he attached his identification tag, reading AED-#210-31570, he walked out the door, into the cramped and dirty hallway; the electronic lock beeping behind him.
He made his way to the lift, the long hall stretching in front of him, as the doors opened he spotted a fellow citizen inside. A shallow breath.
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AED-#210-31570 briefly looks around and heads inside.
“Greetings Citizen-AED-#210-59786, heading to the fagrotimas?”, he gives
AED-#210-31570 a curt nod, before returning to his usual blank stare at the wall. AED-#210-31570 makes his way to the opposite corner, stopping only when he reaches the end.
“Could you press G3 for me?” AED-#210-31570 asks, to which Citizen-AED-#210-59786 nods.
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The lift descends, slowly filling up as more and more citizens enter.
102: 3 citizens enter.
98: 4 citizens enter.
54: 10 citizens enter.
And so on and so forth.
A soft ding resounds across the enclosed space, and the tide of people departs from the lift, swelling across the room; before funnelling out the door. As he walked to the graviton-loop, the massive ceiling lights finally turned on, barely making their way to his location past the twisting paths and stacked upon buildings, all slowly built upon one another in the effort to maximize what little space they had, in the cramped darkened man-made cave, parodying a colony of ants. As he scuttled his way down the endless stairways and copious lobbies, he finally made it to the station. Checking the electronic sign, he realized the train would be there in 5 minutes. 5 minutes came, and the train arrived, on the dot as usual; he stepped in, in unison with the dozens of other citizens, he was alone yet surrounded. When he arrived at the side of the train, he grabbed the handgrip, next to the tinted windows. As the train departed and slowly sped up the coils
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increasing its speed as it passed through one loop then the next, a break opened between the mechanical monoliths of residential building after residential building and the occasional megastructure, AED-#210-31570 noticed the massive uniform steel doors, towering like mountains, the only way for the city to commence its trade. He pulled his eyes away from the sight and gazed upon the countless line of hanging bodies, their skin pale and starting to decompose, attached to each person's chest, a large sign listing their sins. ‘Show no reaction to this’ he thought, ‘if you show emotion, they know.’ After the sight had passed, he noticed a change, something different, the feeling of the place was off. But he was a loyal citizen, he paid it no heed and continued his vacant glance out the dark tinted window, as if a promise of what to come.
As he stepped into the factorium, a variety of smells overwhelmed him, penetrating his nose through the gas mask and stinging his eyes. Dejected and grudging, he once more prepared himself to start his shift, the low hum of machinery putting him to sleep as he started his task. The drill went in. He heard a click. Drill goes out. Drill goes in. He hears a click. Drill goes out. Drill goes in. He hears a click. Drill goes out. A dozen hours passed with no respite, and he slowly grew fatigued. A shrill clanging bell rang out, jolting him from his near slumber, and he put away his devices and headed to the exit, the urge for sleep accompanying his every movement. He handed his tools in and made his way to the exit, stumbling onto the train when it arrived. He went past the platform, up the stairs, in the lift along with a hundred others.
As his face caressed the pillow, he once again fell asleep.
He woke up. He went to work. Drill in. Click. Drill out. Hand the tools in. Go up the stairs. Sleep.
He woke up. He went to work. Drill in. Click. Drill out. Hand the tools in. Go up the stairs. Sleep.
He woke up. He went to work. Drill in. Click. Drill out. Hand the tools in. Go up the stairs. Sleep.
He woke up. He went to work. Drill in. Click. Drill out. Hand the tools in. Go up the stairs. Sleep.
He woke up. He went to work. Thump. Drill in… odd, there didn't seem to be a click. As he stared down, two pairs of empty eyes pierced him, full of pain, staring into his soul. Dead from sleep exhaustion, His body had collapsed on the conveyor belt and had kept moving. The drill had borne a 2-inch hole straight through his skull, and the soft, wet liquid was already starting to ooze out onto the conveyor belt. Blood and viscera covered me where he stood, and blanketed his work equipment. The tangy metallic smell filling the air, invaded his nostrils, piercing through the cheap mask, filling his lungs. He looked and saw how various bits of unidentified meat had covered the already grimy floor. He stood at the scene, hesitating, before realizing what he had to do. He shoved his body on the floor, an unidentified greyish liquid bursting out once more, and called for an overseer. The only thought passing through his head, one of annoyance at the mess he would likely have to clean up.