EXPOSITION

Buy N' Large had been in control since 2070, successfully taking over all businesses and governments, becoming a global socialist authoritarian superpower. This conglomerate was fully aware of the people who protested against the new economy, who knew the superpower had created a completely unfair system and that freedoms were being taken away. These kinds of people were painted by the mass media as "terrorists" and "threats to society." As the years went on, protestors became more aggressive towards the global superpower, and BnL had failed to curb the situation with their new robots known as STRI-KRs (Special Terrorist, Rebel, & Insurgent Killing Robots). Merciless drones whose only purpose is to kill anyone BnL deemed to be a threat to their government.

A final solution was created. BnL planned to send as many obedient followers as possible into space by polluting the entire Earth. They started with removing all clean renewable sources of power, removing incinerators from garbage dumps and expanding all landfills to create a garbage overflow, all this being conducted behind closed doors and lies. BnL later acted as if they were going to fix the problem, and began sending those who obeyed into their new star-liners and abandoned Earth to begin a five year plan known as Operation: Cleanup. Robots, directives and protocols were designed solely to make humans believe something was going to be done about the garbage, when in fact nothing was happening. For BnL, the plan was working wonderfully.

As for the humans that were against BnL, they were left on Earth and were ordered to be exterminated by the STRI-KRs, creating a living hell for the ones who opposed the global superpower. Many had learned to adapt to the harsh wastelands and became survivalists-for the lack of a better term-forming separate gangs and militias with different ideas and beliefs. Now it's the year 2109, BnL's promised cleanup operation has one more year until it draws to a close.

Chapter 1

A convoy of three trucks and ten scratch-built dune buggies were driving through the desolate lands miles away from Chicago. One of the trucks carried food and water, another had ammo and miscellaneous parts. The third was a tanker, carrying precious eighty-nine octane gasoline.

Out from the horizon, catching up to the convoy fast, was a horde of old trucks, bikes and cars, covered in armor, spikes and guns. In the middle, was a gigantic heavily armored semi with guns scattered all over it's trailer. A custom plow sat at the front of the truck, its top half covered in spikes, two eight tooth claw-like protrusions, several fog lights and three spare cannons. The truck's cab doors, while dirty and covered in scratches, still showed where a Buy N' Large logo was ripped off.

One of the trucks carrying supplies ahead of the approaching marauders called out to the buggies through their PA system. "Cover our rear, we'll try going ahead!" it called. The trucks began to pick up speed as all the dune buggies slowed down and headed towards the back. All ten cars had automatic target-locking rapid fire machine guns. They all aimed at the other gang's cars and rained bullets upon them.

The ones on bikes were picked off like flies, while anything much larger kept driving, almost unharmed. An enemy gunner in a pickup truck begins launching rockets at the dune buggies, hitting three causing them to explode into balls of fire. Another rocket was launched but hit the ground in front of the buggy, causing it to flip up into the air. Before it could hit the ground, one of the enemy cars crashed right into it, obliterating the buggy and killing the driver. One by one, the buggies were being killed off and some of the enemy cars had made it to the three trucks and began hijacking them. One buggy, knowing the supplies were lost, turned around and sped away as fast as it could. The buggy's machine gun aimed at the truck carrying fuel, which was now taken control by the rival gang, and pumped lead into the tanker, causing the truck to spontaneously combust into a ball of fire. Vehicles right behind the tanker, including the other two supply trucks were consumed by the flames and crashed into the burning wreck. The armored semi rammed right through the pileup like a knife through butter, unscathed by the flames as it screeched to a halt to inspect the wreck along with the rest of the gang members. The buggy that had fired the shots had driven away as fast as it could. The driver of the battle semi radioed a few bikes and two of their best vehicles to go out and hunt down the last buggy. A pickup and a green sports sedan sped off along with a few other dirt bikes.

Elsewhere, BnL's Wall-E robots were hard at work and kept under the watchful eye of BnL's STRI-KRs. Wall-E's in their early stages were very poorly built. They broke down easily and had many programming errors. After the first few robots were produced, BnL did improve on them a little. However, the updated Wall-E's created another problem for BnL; They would develop a personality, some far more dangerous than others. Buy N' Large refused to let it slide and tried maintaining order. One incident in particular left a Wall-E to face the firing squad. Its lifeless body now crucified stands as a warning to other bots. If they went rogue and started any trouble, they would die. From that day forward, the Wall-Es who developed a conscience, and of course weren't berserk, would keep completely silent when STRI-KRs were present.

Two of these Wall-E's-who have only been keeping their consciousnesses between each other and called them by their assembly line numbers-had seen the explosions from on top of one of the trash towers. "Humanity is at it again, 1596." said Wall-E 1467. Wall-E 1596 watched alongside 1467. "It's weird seeing them fighting amongst each other. Anyone would think that they'd be fighting STRI-KRs instead of each other." said 1596.

Both Wall-Es began down the tower of garbage, passing by other Wall-Es going up with their trash cubes. STRI-KRs floated in the air on guard, wielding their massive plasma pulse turret arm and watching over the Wall-Es like hawks. 1596 looked at them with disgust. "Boy, would I love to rip those fucking robots apart." he mumbled to 1467. "The risk is too high, 1596. It won't make a difference anyways. You'll end up like the others." said 1467. "Best thing we can do now is to keep our heads low."

They continued their conversation as they made it to the ground. Other Wall-Es rolled about following their directives like ants in a colony. 1596 and 1467 continued their conversation as they resumed their work. "Wouldn't escaping be easier?" asked 1596. "Would you rather die now or later?" responded 1467. "It's suicide!" "It's not suicide if you know what the hell you're doing." replied 1596. "Well would you?" retorted 1467.

Before 1596 could answer, a mechanical sounding speaker screamed a long, low tone, then a voice came on. "Attention all Wall-E units of Sector G8. Report to your designated exercise grounds. Routine checkups are now in effect." called the voice on the speaker. All the Wall-Es in the area began heading down to the exercise grounds. Off to the side, a Wall-E was digging through a pile of trash and found a small lighter. It was covered in grime yet its steel casing shone in the sunlight, along with the Buy N' Large logo plastered on both sides. Both 1596 and 1467 looked at the Wall-E. "Hey!" called 1467, "Put down that garbage and get a move on before a STRI-KR sees you!" The Wall-E had looked up and put the lighter into his center compartment then proceeded to follow the other Wall-Es. "Still bossy, I see." said 1596. "Hey, I'm just trying to keep my comrades from being mercilessly killed." replied 1467. "Yeah, ok" said 1596. "I'll see you in a bit. Don't hold up the line again!" 1467 chuckled. "I'll be fine. As for you 1596, don't do anything stupid if you wanna live. I'd hate to see another self-aware brother die at the hands of the STRI-KRs." said 1467 as he rolled up to his place in line.

The Wall-E's were all lined up in rows of five. STRI-KRs and security camera bots watched over them as they entered the exercise grounds. The STRI-KRs were the most dangerous of the BnL robot catalog. Their rotary plasma machine gun arms could annihilate anything that stood in its path. BnL wasn't taking any chances after the last incident. 1596 snapped out of his conscious state and looked as lifeless as the other Wall-Es in line, blending in tremendously as usual. While waiting in line, he overheard two STRI-KRs who had begun a conversation between one another. They had been transferred from their previous posts to watch over the Wall-Es.

"So, what is BnL planning on doing with the humans left behind?" asked the first STRI-KR. Wall-E 1596 heard this and turned his head a little to look at them. "Our leaders say they have no time to try and 'convert' them. They're intelligence is what makes them not profitable, so they say. Therefore, the humans that refuse to live in space-..." He paused for a second, lifted his finger and moved it across the space between his head and shoulders, where his neck would be. "We've been sending them to the new death camp back at the main base, they want their deaths to be as painful and slow as possible." "Easier said than done." replied the first STRI-KR. "They've been getting tougher to kill, let alone capturing them." "You got a point. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up killing themselves before we kill them." said the second STRI-KR. "They might as well do the job for us."

Up in front of the line, another Wall-E was starting to act strange. Small sparks flew out of its motherboard, its body began to twitch, and all of a sudden, it went from a lifeless robot to an aggressive machine. The Wall-E suddenly shoved his brothers out of the way and lunged towards the second STRI-KR, knocking it to the ground. The Wall-E cut through his eyes with his laser cutter. Before any more damage could be done, the first STRI-KR, along with a few others that had arrived at the scene, began firing at him. The Wall-E was killed in an instant. The other Wall-Es watched in horror, but 1596 was looking at something else. He looked up and saw the camera bots were watching the whole incident too and were not completely focused on the line. This was his chance. He quickly and quietly slipped out of the line, escaping through the desolate city filled with garbage.

1596 had quickly devised a plan to get out of the city and head to the wastelands. He turned the corner by a BnL bank, and saw a row of STRI-KRs patrolling the city. The Wall-E scrambled to look like he was working. As the STRI-KRs drew nearer, he began to gather up some nearby garbage and shove it into his cubed compartment then started compacting it. The STRI-KRs briefly glared at the small robot as they passed by slowly continuing down the road of dust and trash. 1596 watched as they slipped away in the distance, and quickly ran off further through the city.

A while later at the Wall-E training station, a STRI-KR who was working as a type of monitor was looking over a chart that showed how many Wall-Es were present and passed the exercises. The first STRI-KR was next to him. The monitor looked at the group of Wall-Es, then back at his chart with a puzzled face. "Oh yes, one Wall-E glitched. We had to kill it, so you may have one missing in the group." said the first STRI-KR to the monitor. "No," replied the monitor. "There are two missing." The first STRI-KR was surprised. "What?! I didn't see one escape!" He quickly got onto his communicator. "Attention all STRI-KRs in Sectors G1 to G10, there is a Wall-E on the loose and may still be in the area." The STRI-KRs that had passed the Wall-E a few minutes ago got the message. "I think we saw a lone Wall-E just by the BnL bank!" responded a STRI-KR. "That must be him! Kill it, it could be a rogue!" ordered the first STRI-KR over the communicator. 1467 overheard this and was surprised. "That clever bastard actually did it!" he said to himself. "Let's see how long he lasts."

The seven STRI-KRs turned around and raced away towards where they saw the robot. 1596, meanwhile, was quickly trying to make his escape. He was passing a BnL gas station. Suddenly, around the corner, the STRI-KRs found him. 1596 could hear them coming, and began to run faster. The STRI-KRs fired in his direction, but missed and hit the gas pumps. The pumps, still full of gasoline, exploded into a huge ball of fire. The explosion threw the Wall-E further away from the STRI-KRs. He continued to run as fast as his treads could carry him. As he ran, rumbles, clashes and engines of large vehicles could be heard in the distance. The tower incinerators were near. Large machines the size of two giant mining excavators, that were built to take the towers of trash created by Wall-Es and incinerate it all in their cores. 1596 decided to hide inside the closest one he saw until the heat died down.

While climbing his way up the large machines, he could see the STRI-KRs approaching quickly. Not knowing what to do to defend himself, he scrambled to the top of the incinerator and entered inside the machine. 1596 rolled his way through the inside of the Incinerators. He peered into the next room and saw another STRI-KR on guard. The Wall-E had never fought anything before, but he knew he had to try if he was gonna live to see himself escape the city. The Wall-E approaches the nearest STRI-KR quietly and knocks it to the ground face first as hard as he could. He pulled its arm apart before it could get up and assess the situation. 1596 knocked him out using the gun-arm. The STRI-KRs chasing him earlier could hear the crash and followed the noise, thinking another STRI-KR got him. When they entered the room, they were greeted by rounds of plasma pulses being shot into their bodies. The rest of the STRI-KRs scrambled into the room trying to kill the Wall-E, but were quickly shot down by the plasma pulses from 1596 and the stolen arm gun. Since the gun wasn't connected to a STRI-KR anymore, it couldn't be reloaded. 1596 was out of ammo. The knocked out STRI-KR finally regained consciousness, ripped a pipe out from the wall of the incinerator, and charged at the Wall-E.

1596 quickly used the STRI-KR's arm to deflect the lead pipe. He shoved the STRI-KR into the next room, where the core of the incinerator resided. Its flame burned brightly as garbage fell into it. The Wall-E swung the arm at the STRI-KR. The STRI-KR fought back with its pipe in his right arm. They clashed the objects together like swords, desperately trying to crush each other. 1596 managed to drive the STRI-KR further onto the edge of the platform above the incinerator. The STRI-KR saw its chance as the Wall-E raised the arm upwards to try to strike him. The STRI-KR grabbed him and chucked him into the steel handrails. It shoved the lead pipe against him as the Wall-E tried to hold it away from him. Then, with all his strength and might, 1596 managed to push the STRI-KR away a bit, spin around and knock him over the handrail with the STRI-KR's arm. The force of the throw pushed the large drone down into the fiery core of the Incinerator, the extreme heat cooked his circuits and melted his armor before it could move. He looked down into the pit of fire. "Thanks for letting me borrow your arm!" he called cheekily as he threw the arm down where the STRI-KR was. Wall-E 1596 quickly got out of the incinerator and ventured forth to the outskirts of the city.