Chapter Text
She’d never realized how high the spectator stands really were, but now that Uzi was down in the ring for the first time she really felt their looming-ness. From above, the few times she’d actually gotten to sneak a peek, the area was big but contained. Here from below, it was massive and exposing.
“- and the sand has to be raked every Thursday after set-up so there aren’t any shallow spots. Gives ‘em a bit of a better chance, ya know?”
“Uh-hu yeah,” Uzi replied on reflex. She wasn’t trying to ignore him, but actually being inside the arena itself was a lot to take in.
Worker drones filled the space, adjusting set pieces that rose and sank from the floor. It was hard to believe that the entire floor was a grid that could rise up to four stories. The up-close view let her see that the moving columns were only four thin metal dowel rods at the corners, but that allowed the workers to insert walls, tunnels, platforms, or whatever else was required for the upcoming matches.
And entire section of the floor was currently sunken out of sight, presumably being worked on from below.
“You won’t have to think about most of that with the job you’re doing, but it’s good for you to know how the usual day routine operates, ‘case we need to pull you for help elsewhere,” Charles, the bot showing her around, said. “Never know when someone’s gonna get tossed to the frenzy.”
“He-he, good one,” Uzi said, then realized that he was dead serious. “How often does that happen?”
The missing chunk of floor began to rise up, bringing with it a cave large enough to hide a handful of drones.
“Anytime the servants screw up enough. Or try to rebel. But don’t worry, you’re an actual employee getting paid, not to mention your dad. You’d have to seriously break some rules before the hire-ups toss you in. Not that your job’s much safer. Still can’t believe we had someone apply.”
The job that nobody wanted. That’s what set Uzi apart from most of the wimpy workers of this place. The catacomb society that had formed after the core collapsed seventy years ago was immense, but of all the easy jobs she could get with her dad’s reputation Uzi chose this one. She chose the one that would start her real journey.
Uzi looked to the far side of the arena. Three grey doors were the only visible feature on it. They were her dad’s design, silver and sturdy. And above each door was a marking. A skull, wings, and a barbed tail.
Charles followed her gaze. “You ready to meet them kid?”
Uzi’s motor skipped a cycle. “Uh, yeah, of course.” Yes. This is what she was here for. This is why she applied.
But as she was led towards the hidden maintenance hatch, her circuits started to buzz in a really annoying way. She was fine. She’d been dreaming of facing down one of these things since she was a little kid. No way she was getting nerves now.
They stopped at a part of wall that had the thin black outline of a door, but there were no handles, keyholes, anything. Charles pulled out a keycard and held it to the right of the door. The wall under in glowed green, and the door swung inward.
“This is the right access door, stage left to the arena. There’s another one on the left, but the both lead to the same hall.” It curved slowly to the right as they walked. Charles named off several of the doors as they went further in, but the buzzing in her circuits made it hard for Uzi to focus on what he was saying.
“Ah, here’s one you’ll need to be familiar with.” Charles tapped at the plate on a door, drawing Uzi’s eyes to the unassuming etching of a jelly jar. “The oil room.”
“Oil room?” Uzi said.
He waved his key at the sensor, and the door clicked. He opened it and waved Uzi inside.
When she stepped in, her oil tank lurched. Those weren’t jars of jelly lining the shelves.
Charles gave her a sidewise grin, and Uzi quickly rearranged her features into a nonchalant expression. So what if she was standing in a room where the leftover oil of dead drones was packaged up? Didn’t bother her. She’s seen worse.
He plucked one of the jars off the shelf. “These are rationed by the corpse cleansing crew, and unless the trainers say otherwise you just need one of each.” Sure enough, the jars were organized by the amount of oil in each. Though the difference was small enough that she would’ve grabbed them at random had he not pointed it out.
“Go on,” he said, and Uzi realized that he wanted her to grab the other jars. She had to tiptoe to reach.
“Hm. I’ll talk to Marge about getting a stepstool in here.”
“Bite me! I can get them down fine!” Uzi glowered. She tucked the jars under her arms.
“Sure kid. Now these here,” he patted a large metal tank that protruded from the wall, “are the oil reserves. Lets just say they hold a lot. Sometimes the trainers are going to have you add oil to the jars, and all you have to do is turn the valve here. Other times they’ll have you reduce the amount. You can’t fill the tanks from this side, so instead you can just poor it into this canister.” He showed her to a workbench. “Makes it easier to measure it out.”
Uzi gave him a thumbs up, and in doing so almost dropped one of her jars. Her reflex was fast enough to catch it, but it got her motor running. That’d be a bad screw up for her first day of work.
“Oh, right.” Charles reached under the workbench and grabbed a large metal pail. “That’s what these are for.” He placed his jar in it then held it to Uzi. She did the same before taking it from him.
“Those there have what we like to call the murder mulch.” He pointed to the large chest boxes at the other side of the room. “When the corpses are harvested, all the usable pieces are drained and recycled for new drones. But there’s always chunks that are too mauled to be useful, so they get turned into the murder mulch. I’ll show you how that works tomorrow. For now,” he pulled an absurdly large pair of tongs off the wall next to the door and tossed them to Uzi, “we’ll keep it simple.”
It was a bit awkward walking down the hall with a weighted bucket and unbalanced tongs, but she managed. It was only a sort ways before they stopped again. It was another door with the death marking on it. Here we are, the most secure room in the entire Catacomb. Nothing less for his lordship’s most valuable treasures.”
He wave his keycard and with hiss the door retreated into the ceiling. It was another door.
Of course, Dad. Can’t just stick with one. Uzi rolled her eyes, and Charles opened the second door as the first closed behind them. This one led to a hallway that had two much more normal doors, one at the end and one on the left.
Charles reached for the one on the left, then paused. “Remember not to get too close.”
The door opened, and for the first time Uzi could see one. Not stolen glances, not crude sketches, the real one. In full view. She was seeing the killer robots known as the Disassembly drones.