Toby, a prominently talented worker, sped past the snowy spruce-tree-filled woods. He was preceded by two chests in minecarts. Toby was not wearing his bloodied lab coat, unlike in the XP Factory. It would raise suspicion in the local town, and eventually get the Factory disassembled. He would've liked this prospect, but the mysterious leader of the Factory would surely execute "traitorous employees". Toby avoided this as if it were the plague.
Arriving at the town of Minington, Minecraftians flocked to Toby.
"Did you get me my Efficiency Two sword?" "What about my Fire Aspect bow?" "Got any good picks today, Toby?" Such questions bombarded Toby swiftly. He traded an enchanted iron pickaxe for a diamond, an Infinity bow for an iron block, and an Unbreaking Three sword for another diamond.
Toby traded for half of the day, then packed up and headed back to the factory. On the way there, he saw that the redstone lamps were turned on when they were usually off. That wasn't good, but he grinned slyly. Toby's plan was working!
Out in the snowy spruce woods, Deadlox was buried in snow. It was a cold, torturous white. He felt his legs weaken, and he knew frostbite was coming. Foolish worker! the winds taunted. Nobody escapes the XP Factory alive!
Because of spite, Deadlox rose up, and limped across the ice and frost. He would redeem himself and destroy the factory. Trudging through the snow, Deadlox's will kept him warm. His numb legs found strength. His head was lifted up high. And deep within his eyes, a fire burned. Deadlox was in a mad fever, thirsting only for redemption. Pure will drove hunger away. The need for repentance was a loud snarl, and Deadlox heeded its call. He traipsed through the woods, and then began sprinting towards the Factory.
With a rapid pace, Deadlox plowed through the walls with his iron pickaxe. Suddenly, he came upon redstone circuits within the walls. Suspicious, he followed the trail to…
"Intruder in the redstone!" the leader of the XP Factory boomed. Deadlox was immediately teleported into a dark room. In the dark room, he heard nothing, and saw nothing. The dark room was filled with water. Deadlox knew it was modded, because he could only float on it, unable to submerge. He was instantly frightened, and nearly hysterical. Deadlox trembled and whimpered, his voice becoming a high-pitched, continuous yelp.
Aviator yawned as he saw a Minecraftian get impaled with arrows. Only somewhat guilty, he looked down at his reflection in the control panel. And he was shocked by his reflection.
Aviator's sunglasses were no longer shiny. Instead, they were relatively duller. Gray shadows were under his eyes from pulling multiple all-nighters. The blood on his lab coat was not as faded; they had become brighter and redder. To top it off, his hair was matted, and aches all over Aviator's body began to pain him.
Leaning against the wall, Aviator was aching badly. He could barely breathe, let alone carry on with his work. In his fear, he considered pushing the emergency button. Stumbling back to the panel, Aviator jumped back when he noticed something. The emergency button had been pressed, and broken off. As if on cue, the whole Factory's lights shut off, dropping the entire building into darkness.
The factory was in a complete panic. In fact, it seemed as if Aviator was the only sane person left. Trudging through the crowd of nearly-delirious workers, Aviator was in a real mosh pit, with people packed together, extreme heat, and constant accidental head-butts.
The next thing Aviator remembered was being on the iron floor. Each employee stepped on top of him, and Aviator's body flared in pain. He laid there, and began adding up his life at the Factory. The Minecraftians he killed, the 'crafters he had bludgeoned to death. Aviator, now paralyzed with terror, blacked out.
Toby rushed toward Aviator. Blood came from the Minecraftian's mouth, and dripped onto Toby's coat. Scrapes and dirt marked his coat and hair. Undeterred, Toby carried/dragged Aviator into the hallway near the dorms. Many 'crafters were pulling things out of their chests, storing useless things. Toby was caught unaware as he was teleported into a dark room.
Deadlox was floating in the modded water near Toby. Toby shook the co-manager wildly, but Deadlox seemed to be only half-conscious. He did not turn to look at Toby. Deadlox was muted, and did not stir.
Unknown to Toby, Deadlox was in a strange half-dream. In the "dream", he saw himself in the execution room. The leader, manifested as a shadowy 'crafter, grinned evilly and raised an axe. Slashing down with a quick movement, he carved down into Deadlox's shoulder.
"Let me go! What did I do?!" Deadlox -the one in the room- screamed. Blood caked his shoulder, streaming down to the ground. Deadlox saw the leader kick his other self in the ribs. A sickening cracking came from the poor 'crafter.
Deadlox watched, stock-still. His other self began to scream an unbroken cry. The leader smiled even more viciously. Blood covered the victim's body. The dying Deadlox kept screaming, low at times, and breaking into a high-pitched yelp during others. The leader beat down upon the near-dead Minecraftian, and soon the scream became rough breathing. Deadlox was rapt at the scene, frozen in shock and fear. He leaned closer as his other self, drenched in his own blood, desperately clawed at the leader. Finally, Deadlox's copy faltered. His breathing became quieter and quieter, and ultimately stopped.
Aviator opened his eyes weakly. He stretched carefully to avoid triggering the bruises all over him. He stumbled through the Factory, quickly making his way toward the exit. The exit! It was the spider's thread to the heaven of the Outside. The desire for freedom pulled him closer, and closer-
Four workers and the new co-manager surrounded Aviator, trapping him on the catwalk. The new co-manager glared, eyeing the runaway with contempt. She leapt at Aviator, sword drawn. Without missing a beat, Aviator whirled around and sprang back at her. The two collided, but Aviator swiftly jumped onto the iron bars. Giving the five astonished workers "the Block", Aviator jumped over to the exit with haste. Walking out, he stepped into the sunlight, revering its missed warmth. He was ecstatic, sprinting away from the Factory, faster and faster…
Deadlox awoke from the odd unconsciousness. He saw Toby begin to fall into the same dementia, and quickly shook the worker.
"You can't do that, Toby!" he yelled, louder than thunder. "Don't let the leader win!" Toby stared, but light came back to his faded eyes. He blinked, and then shook his head as if to clear his mind.
"That's the trick!" Deadlox yipped and whooped. "It's the silence and dark that made me sort of hallucinate."
"And the floatiness." Toby added. "Do you have torches?"
"No, the leader cleared my inventory." Deadlox tried to stand straight in the water. He pulled out his iron pickaxe. "But I have my pickaxe."
"We're surrounded by obsidian, I think." Toby felt around to judge the room's size. "This room is small through, so there might be layers of obsidian.
"No, it's textured stone." Deadlox mined the purple rock. "If we go up, I'm sure we'll be on our way."
Deadlox broke another block, and then he heard TNT get primed. Startled, he swam away from the ticking hiss. There was a loud boom, and the water became a waterfall. Toby and Deadlox were sent down into a tiny cage…
Aviator sped down to the Factory as fast as possible. Many of the townsfolk were gathered behind him, brandishing purple-tinted swords, bows, and other tools. As he saw the Factory appear over the horizon, he pulled out some TNT. The whole mob screamed and yelled for the Factory's leader to show himself. Of course, they considered him an "it", for only an "it" would be so un-Minecraftian. Dogs snarled along with the din of the infuriated crowd. Aviator set down a few blocks of TNT, carefully so that the explosions wouldn't harm the residents of Minington. He did not waste time being ridiculously immersed in dramatic preliminaries while grabbing his flint and steel. It was not a movie!
Aviator quickly set the TNT ablaze. The crowd backed away until the TNT created a gaping hole in the Factory. All of the enraged 'crafters paraded into the Factory.
"Clear!" Aviator commanded. The workers and the people of Minington warred upon each other. It was a bloody battle, but Aviator merely placed TNT outside of the execution rooms. The prisoners joined Minington against the Factory employees. Although there were many casualties, they were mostly fallen workers.
"Jump!" Aviator called to the waiting Minecraftians. They were up on a catwalk, above a few employees. At the sound of Aviator's voice, the 'crafters leapt high into the air.
"Fall!" The 'crafters who leapt up began to descend, falling faster and faster. There was a terrified scream. One of the workers was crushed under one of the jumpers. Then, there was a loud crack. An employee grasped his leg, grinding his teeth to avoid screaming.
Aviator planted TNT near a suspiciously blank wall…
"Toby, Deadlox," the leader of the Factory murmured half to himself. "Expecting me? A finely crafted redstone computer?"
Toby flinched as pistons were heard retracting. Deadlox narrowed his eyes angrily. They saw redstone, torches, repeaters, and dozens of command blocks from behind the tiny cage.
"I suppose you're ex- er," the command blocks droned sadistically. "Anticipating a rather grievous punishment. And I am a rather merciful being! One or the other must volunteer to serve the community and give us XP.
"XP is experience points, my friends. Our community thrives upon it. The economy depends on it, and destroying the Factory would create a crushing depression. So we must sacrifice a few lives to keep the rest!
"The miners love enchanted pickaxes, paying generously for diamond picks. Then they mine up goods, and the economy flourishes. The ones who live to fight desire for an empowered blade. They battle it out with mobs and such, and give us XP. It's a rather good deal, since making it through the Factory is a fight in and out of itself. The XP is bottled, sold, and are still circulating."
"That is freakin' wrong!" Toby cried out. Deadlox glanced at him in fear. Had he condemned both of them?
"Word spreads like wildfire, Tobuscus." The command blocks sniggered. "So stop spreading rumors…"
Deadlox jumped backward as Toby was transported into an execution room. Toby punched out the windows as quickly as possible, but the pistons retracted. Deadlox swung at the iron bars imprisoning him. They cracked slightly more as the pickaxe met steel. Toby began panting more and more rapidly as four dispensers gleamed.
Four gleaming dispensers filled with four stacks of arrows… Four stacks of arrows waiting patiently to kill…
"Don't struggle or you'll make it worse for Toby, Deadlox!" the computer mocked.
Deadlox broke the iron bars. He raced toward the execution room with haste.
There was an agonized scream. Red streaks flew onto the window. Arrows jutted out of the victim, coated in deep crimson streams.
Toby leaned out of the broken window. Deadlox bent down as he began to cut through the iron wall separating Toby and him. Leaning over and gazing at Toby with tear-filled eyes, Deadlox wept.
"I'm sorry, man…" Deadlox choked on his words. "I-I failed. I let the Factory beat me. It's gonna do me over if I fail again…"
"Deadlox, don't." Toby sniffled, his eyes bloodshot with tears. "It was coming. I knew it…"
"Goodbye, Toby…" Deadlox coughed, hand over Toby's.
"Goodbye, Deadlox…" were Toby's last words.
The dispensers clicked. Toby crumpled to the ground. Blood ran over the arrows' feathers, tarnishing their clean white shine. They stuck out of Toby's chest, stomach, arms, and legs. There was even one in his neck. Deadlox felt as if he was the one shot. He keeled over, hearing Toby's breath crackle one last time…
Deadlox rose up, shaking with rage. Teary-eyed with anguish. Glaring with that disgust. That disgust that came from seeing somebody laugh at a funeral, or not being very serious at an important moment.
Or hearing a robot cackle and whoop as his friend died for its own uses.
Aviator saw Deadlox begin to shatter the glass that contained the artificial monster. With speed and skill, the broken 'crafter began to cackle and whoop as he broke redstone circuits. Mocking the enraged command blocks, he trashed the chamber. After the destruction and madness, Deadlox even spat on the remains.
The conquest had been accomplished. The mission was complete. Justice had been served with a raised fist.
Who knew that years later, Deadlox would lie awake, with the cries of the victims of the XP Factory woven into his dreams. He thought he had fully forgotten the Factory. How many thoughts are layered with poison, he shivered, that brings me back to the Factory?
"Remember why we do this, Deadlox," the leader of the Factory had lectured slightly. "We do this because we found a place to make money, and serve the community. And plus, the warhorses of the whole place would be put to great use. If the Factory were to collapse, the economy would be shattered. The entire server would be put into a long and hard poverty. The 'crafters would struggle to get goods, for although many love mining for the finest minerals, many perish along the way."
He shuddered as he thought, What if?
What if he was the one meant to go, and not Toby? What if he hadn't destroyed the computer? What if he had never gotten involved with the Factory at all?
Only Notch knows for sure…