Chapter 4: Run

If Rosencrantz could get rid of one thing in the world, it would be change. He had a job which gave enough money, and he had access to spend said money on things he liked. A house, some alcohol, a book, and maybe a prostitute or two if he got lonely. Guildenstern had changed all of that. He threatened to make him change. Every day. Put wrenches in the cogs of the machine that Rosencrantz had built so carefully over the past several years. Today at work was no different.

Guildenstern brought in his T-doll wife to the factory today. Rose should've brought his aspirin to work today to counteract the impromptu "Bring your wife to work" day.

He put his head on his forehead, wishing he had the ability to rid his body of the pulsing headache brought on from the distractions brought between the two lovers. Eventually, enough was enough.

"Guildenstern." Guildenstern was hopelessly unaware of the tongue lashing he was to receive, busy from having a nose-rubbing giggle fit with a Springfield, ring prominent on her finger. Springfield eventually broke it apart with "Your friend wants to talk to you!" and turned Guild around to face Rose. However, Springfield and Guild still remained in their embrace, with Springfield holding her husband around her waist and Guild lovingly holding her hands.

Rose rubbed his forehead in mild irritation. "Springfield, do you mind if I talk to your husband in private? Classified work-related business, you see." Guild opened his mouth, seemingly to object, but Springfield hushed her husband first.

"Don't worry, my dear. I'll just be right outside. Work should come first, right?" With that, Springfield gave one last kiss to Guild's cheek and strode outside of the factory. The second she left, Rosencrantz's face returned to its normal scowl as he began speaking again to Guild, far less politely than when he was speaking with Springfield.

"Guildenstern. What is the meaning of all this? 'Bring your wife to work day?' Don't heap that nonsense on me after that talk last night! What are you trying to pull?" Rose shouted.

Guildenstern only wordlessly pointed to a sheet of paper taped to a column, stating "Bring your wife to work day!" in the monstrosity known as Comic Sans, all caps, with the janitor and his wife busy making out in the corner. Rose only wordlessly saw this, and returned to his work, silent and humbled.

The one blessing which resulted from that breakfast ordeal was that the commander seemed to be bored of her, and instead chose another doll to sup with him during lunch. Another girl, one who IWS couldn't catch a glimpse of, sat in her exact same seat from breakfast, and was forced to endure the same treatment as she did. But from outside, no one seemed to care of the ongoings of that table near the end.

IWS sat down with the rest of her echelon, which was thankfully far away from the table with the commander. Kar98k was busy trying to get G41 to eat with her utensils, Calico was busy jamming out to her tunes through her headphones, and Vector was reading her book, food already finished. IWS sat down with her food, and began to enjoy herself, letting the mindless chatter of the dining hall fill the atmosphere. Springfield's cooking was nothing short of heavenly. IWS could feel the tension seep out from her joints and relax a bit. Seeing as Kar, Calico, and G41 were all busy in their individual endeavours, IWS asked Vector, "What book are you reading?"

Vector wordlessly turned over her book to show IWS the cover. I, Robot, by Asimov. "Is it interesting?" IWS asked.

Vector shrugged. "I find the line between us androids and humans interesting to learn about. This was written quite a bit ago, yet the ideas towards robots remain static."

IWS nodded her head to show she understood. Vector continued, "All of us have been programmed with several laws. Some of the most important," Vector tapped the author's name on the book, "have been popularized by this man. The First Law states that robots cannot allow a human come to harm. The Second Law states that robots must follow all orders, unless it conflicts with the First Law. The Third Law states that robots have self-preservation, unless it conflicts with the First or Second Law."

IWS started feeling a bit lost. "There are a few others," Vector continued. "But those are the more important ones which limit how human we are. We are essentially inferior to the lives of humans."

There was silence between the pair. IWS offered, "I mean, we still have a consciousness, right? We're free to do as we wish outside of the commander."

"He controls every aspect of our existence. It's easy enough to get us to do what we want to do. But he can go to extreme lengths, and we're still forced to do his bidding. So I figure, what's the point? We're to do as we're told, like tools, and after we've gone past our usefulness, we're thrown away. So I expect nothing from this life." Vector, finished, returned to her book. IWS was about to ask a question, but some commotion started to arise in the mess hall. IWS craned her head to take a look. It was the commander, drenched wet by a glass of water, by the doll he was feeding. She inwardly smirked, thinking the commander finally got his comeuppance. The rest of her echelon seemed to notice the disturbance, but instead of satisfaction that she felt, it was expressions of horror.

The commander calmly wiped the water from his face and got up on the table. He shouted, "Everyone, stay silent and remain where you are! That is an order." Almost immediately, the entire mess hall became quieted. Silverware and dishes still clinked, and Calico's music was now audible through her headphones, but all chatter was gone. Then the commander added, "except you, of course," gesturing to the doll now below him, still seated with her now-empty glass of water.

Once it was obvious all of the mess hall's attention was on him, he cleared his throat. "While I am a commander in name, I like to think of our base more of a family. A family that works together to battle against the common enemy. And I, your generous and fair father. Isn't that right?" The commander, not even waiting for a verbal response, kept pushing. "However, when someone ends up threatening the head of the family, it's only fair that there is discipline, otherwise the family would never function, correct? However, not any sort of discipline would work. The only discipline which is effective on unruly members of the family must be clearly realized by them. They must recognize that they were in the wrong, otherwise the punishment means nothing."

The commander pulled out his side arm and tossed it in front of the doll. "Pick that up." The girl took up the hand gun, confused. "Do you recognize what you did wrong?" he asked.

The girl angrily responded, "No! What you did was wrong and inappropriate!" Vector clicked her tongue. Bad answer, IWS understood.

The commander didn't seem surprised by her response. Rather, his face looked more like a baby than ever, with the water still on his face, shining from the light. Innocent, and understanding. Without an ounce of maliciousness, he said, "That's alright. I order yourself to shoot yourself through your core."

Both IWS and the girl was confused. The girl echoed IWS's thoughts when she said, "What?"

The commander, still with his baby-like smile, repeated, "I order yourself to shoot yourself, with the firearm I have provided you, through your core. I want to see that bullet pass through you, and bits of your core break and coolant leak as it passes. And then see you collapse, as you quickly stop functioning as a result. That is an order. I will give you ten seconds."

"T-There must be some mistake! You can't possibly mean — "

"Ten."

"N-no. You can't possibly mean what you're —"

"Nine. Eight."

"C-c-commander. P-please don't make me do this."

"Seven. Six. Five."

"I'm sorry! I apologize for pouring that glass of water on you! Please don't make me do this!"

"Four. Three."

"Commander. Please."

"Two." The quivering sidearm was slowly being raised to rest against her chest, against her will.

"One." IWS saw most, including her members of her echelon turn away. She, however, could not.

"Ze — " There was a bang, and deafening silence. Then the doll slowly fell backwards from her seat and collapsed onto the floor. Black coolant started to leak from her chest and stained the floor, mixing with the dust and ground. The gun clattered next to her face, her eyes staring into infinity beyond the ceiling, and her eyes, too, lost the shine and focus of a conscious being.

The commander sighed, and got down from the table he was standing on, and picked up his gun and the spent shell. He asked nonchalantly to no one in particular, "Would someone mind cleaning up for me? Thanks. Be sure not to repair her. As you were, ladies." He sauntered out of the still-silent mess hall, and let the door quietly close behind him, invariably, like all good commanders do.

A/N: "What would there be in a story of happiness? Only what prepares it, what destroys it, can be told." -Andre Gide