Cultwick: The Sweeper Bot Plague

by Stone, J.

  Erynn again aimed the rifle and fired another shot at the halftrack. This time, however, she didn’t hit the tire and instead shattered the glass and struck the driver. The transport veered off the wide path of the city into the local barber’s shop.

  “Whoops,” she said to herself.

  She leaned down, grabbed a key off the corpsman’s body and unlocked the handcuff still hanging from her left arm. Erynn turned back to Tern and the others, where she found the halftrack that Tern had loaded the others onto, and it began to move forward at a slow pace. As the vehicle sputtered forward, she jumped in the back. It was then that she noticed that not only Rowland, Germ, and Pearl were piled in their transport, but the bounty hunter, Vincent, was also lying in in the vehicle.

  “What is he doing here?” she asked. Behind them, the bounty hunter’s horse trailed on after the vehicle.

  “The debugger instructed me to,” he replied.

  “I never said anything about getting him too,” she said.

  Tern began making a scratching noise, soon followed by a recorded message of Erynn saying, “Rusty cogs! Everyone who isn’t a soldier.”

  Erynn sighed and said, “Yeah, fine. Fair enough. I suppose we couldn’t have left him there anyway. Who knows what those corps goons would have done with him.”

  They traveled for several minutes before the others started to rouse themselves awake up from the sleep darts Vincent had injected into them. Rowland was the first to regain consciousness. Erynn attributed this to him building a tolerance to various sedating chemicals from his ‘experiments’ in the lab.

  “I had the most excellent dream,” he said.

  “Trust you to have a good time on a sleep dart,” Erynn replied.

  “You were there!” he continued happily. “Though you had a different face somehow. It was like a cat’s face or something. I was flying in one of those magnificent skyships they build in the north. The pilot even let me steer,” he gave a sly smile. “But a sleep dart, you say?”

  “Yeah, this guy,” she lightly kicked at the bounty hunter’s unconscious body, “shot you all full of some sedative. He even managed to knock Tern offline.”

  “Oh? However did you survive? Give him a taste of his own medicine? He appears to be quite out of it,” Rowland said, poking the man in the face with a finger inside the gauntlet.

  “Nope,” she answered. “I didn’t even draw my pistol until after he passed out. He vomited up blood and then just fainted. It was pretty lucky actually.”

  “Hmm, it sounds like he has the primary strain of the Sweeper Bot Plague,” Rowland hypothesized. “Without treatment he will probably die within a couple hours.”

  Erynn reluctantly said, “Well, he doesn’t seem like he’s worth it, but I don’t particularly want his death on my hands. Can you cook something up for him?”

  Rowland looked around for his bag and found it lying between Pearl’s legs. He pointed to it and asked Erynn, “Could you get that for me, my dear?”

  Erynn giggled a bit to herself and replied, “Oh, I think you should grab it.”

  Flustered, the professor responded, “You know how I feel about physical contact!”

  Smiling, Erynn grabbed the bag from between Pearl’s legs and handed it to the Rowland, “Here ya go, Max.”

  As Erynn lifted the bag off Pearl, a small tube fell from the dancer’s jacket pocket. It made a rattling noise, as she picked up the object from the floor of the halftrack. Scribbled on the side of the cylinder was a single word, ‘Amizance.’ She popped the lid off the top of the tube to find a collection of small white pills with the letter ‘A’ carved into them. Erynn furrowed her brow, while she wondered what they were and why Pearl had them.

  She placed them back into Pearl’s pocket and decided instead to look through the bounty hunter’s belongings. He had a plethora of mechanical gadgets hanging from his belt, ranging from the sleep and shock darts, they had already seen, to explosive pellets, a revolver, a handheld communication device, restraints, a respirator similar to the professors, and varying other devices she didn’t recognize.

  On his face, he also had a mechanical eye patch, and his nose appeared to be recently broken. She took the restraints and tied the bounty hunter’s hands together, while the professor worked toward the treatment. Erynn also unfastened his belt and threw it in the corner of the halftrack away from Vincent’s grasp. It was then that both Germ and Pearl started to wake from the dart’s tranquilizer.

  Pearl moaned and said to Erynn, “Wakin’ up with ya in my bed was much better, kitten. What happened?”

  Erynn looked to the rat and asked, “You awake, Germ? Don’t want to have to say this yet again.”

  “I’m listening to you, ma’am,” he replied, scratching at the area the dart had hit him.

  “Bounty hunter,” she pointed to Vincent. “Sleep darts,” she pulled out a fresh dart from his belt and displayed it for them. “He collapsed after that though. Seems he has the plague, Max over there is working on a treatment for him.”

  “If you’ll pardon the interruption, Madam Clover,” Germ began. “Why are we taking him with us? Also where are we going?” After looking at his current surrounding, he added, “Also what are we driving in?”

  “Lot of questions there, but, uh, let’s start with the why he’s here,” she started. “After he collapsed, a group of soldiers showed up in town. Naturally, as is their only purpose, they attacked us, so we took their ride out of town. I asked Tern to load everyone up in the halftrack, and he took me at my word quite literally.

  “I think that just leaves the where part of your question. Chrome City. I hope that we can meet with the rebellion there. It wasn’t safe anymore in Dust Grove, so that seems like a good place to go for now.”

  “And we’re curing his plague too?” Germ asked.

  “Treating,” Rowland interjected without looking up from his work. “There is no cure.”

  “If we don’t treat it, he’ll die,” Erynn said. “I’m okay with a few dead Cultwick Corpsmen, but this guy is just doing a... mostly... honest job. Don’t want him to die because of us.”

  Abruptly, Rowland looked up and shouted, “Gerald!”

  “Yeah, we’re not going back for a potato, Max,” Erynn told him.

  The professor sadly replied, “Well, perhaps the cleaning staff will take care of him.”

  Pearl looked back in the distance toward the city, which was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

  “Sorry, Pearl, but I couldn’t have just left you behind either,” Erynn explained.

  “Yeah, I understand,” Pearl said continuing to look back.

  Abruptly, the professor jammed a syringe into the man's leg and injected him with what Erynn hoped was the treatment. The man immediately jerked up, gasping for breath.

  "What just happened?" he demanded.

  "You passed out after attacking us, and we saved your life. You're welcome," Erynn said.

  "What do you mean I passed -- Oh," he stopped, seeming to have recalled something.

  "You remember now?" she inquired.

  "What I remember is that I need to kill a couple of no good thugs down in Gulch Hollow," he explained. "Did you say you saved my life?"

  "That needle still sticking in your leg, yeah, that's a plague treatment," she said.

  "Now why would you go and do a thing like that?" he asked.

  "Didn't seem right not to do it," she told him.

  "Hmm, you're not like most people I meet, darling,” he said. “They usually at least have the good sense to not save the man trying to turn them into the authorities. Also, they tend not to tie me up with my own tools."

  He pulled both hands from around his back, but before he could do anything else, Erynn jammed the sleep dart she still had in her hand into his other thigh.

  "Oh, come on!" he said before passing out again.

  Erynn rummaged through a toolbox in the halftrack, finding some rope inside. She used that to tie up the bounty hunte
r again.

  They drove for some time, and when the group finally arrived in Chrome City, it was almost dusk. In some ways, the city reminded Erynn of being back in the slums of Cultwick City. There was dark smog in the air, the people looked disheveled and impoverished, and no one was talking.

  Chrome City was very much a mining town. It started as a small settlement with one chromite mine, but it had flourished into a sprawling city with series of mines and establishments throughout it. The entire city was in a manmade valley, surrounded and protected by tall cliffs. Several steep pathways allowed passage to the city, but none could be described as safe.

  The city was dark, dirty, and its citizens were either poor or enslaved by the mining companies from Cultwick City. It was no wonder that the confederacy was born within Chrome City’s walls. They looked for the Arcadia Saloon that Abraham had indicated the day earlier and soon found their target.

  The two-story building was lined with large white letters spelling out ‘ARCADIA.’ The wood was painted a dark blue and the windows were clean, clear, and welcoming. Inside the saloon were several illuminated bulbs and the patrons were busying themselves with the dancers, games of dice, and their beverages.

  Tern stopped the vehicle outside the saloon and Erynn moved up front to join him. She sorted through punch cards in the automaton's back and eventually selected one. She pulled out the current card and slid in the new one, pulling the lever on his back to reboot him.

  The automaton made a series of beeping sounds, but the lights behind his eyes soon faded, and he fell forward hitting the dash of the vehicle. Erynn balled up her fist and hit the side of his head, causing him to sit upright and continue making sputtering noises.

  When the process finished, Erynn pointed to the bounty hunter and told Tern, "Watch him. Don't let him go anywhere."

  “Affirmative, debugger,” he replied.

  Erynn, Rowland, Pearl and Germ all went inside the Arcadia. The room was very crowded and quite loud from all the commotion of the saloon.

  "Why don't you all take a seat and I'll see if I can find out where this guy is," Erynn instructed to the others. They obliged her, and she went to talk to the barkeep.

  "How can I help you?" he asked cheerily.

  "I’m looking for Hirim," she explained.

  The bartender’s disposition quickly soured. "There's no one here by that name,” he responded. “If you want something to drink, hurry up and order or get out."

  Erynn frowned and furrowed her brow before saying, "His brother, Abraham, said I could find him here."

  The bartender grew more upset and said, "Well, I don't know anyone named--"

  "And what is my brother doing sending people to my bar for?" a man inquired appearing from a back room.

  He had thin, short, gray hair underneath a worn, old bowler hat. Covering half of his face and proceeding down his neck and all the way to the fingers on his left hand was a complex, mechanical device. He wore a tan shirt with brown pants and shoes and limped awkwardly toward Erynn.

  She pulled the letter out of her pocket and handed it over to the man. He took it and opened it, finding the note and a ring inside. His eyes mulled over the ring for a moment before he stuck it in the breast pocket of his shirt. He then unfolded the note and carefully read it.

  When he finished reading, he said, "Alright, come on."

  He turned and indicated for her to follow him. The man led her into a back room away from the noise of the saloon. There was a thick rounded table, several maps pinned to the walls, and a cooling unit in the corner.

  "So, Miss Clover," he began. "You want to join the Chromework Confederacy?"

  "Uh, yes, I do," she answered.

  "Out of desperation?" he inquired. "I can imagine a heretic on the run doesn't have a whole lot of options."

  "No," she replied. "Cultwick is doing terrible things. Someone has to stand up to them, or they'll just continue to enslave this world."

  "So, are you after revenge?" he asked. "Cause that won't work for me. I don't need someone blinded by rage. Can't work with 'em."

  "It's not about revenge," she clarified. "I want justice. I want there to be a sense of equality. Of freedom and protection. I want there to be a balance in the world."

  “Justice, huh?” he replied. “What do you know about justice?”

  “I spent a lot of my childhood in the slums of Cultwick City,” she began. “And I’ve spent the last couple decades outside of them. I’ve seen the inequality of people’s lives based on the money, connections, or beliefs they have. I think everyone deserves an equal chance to live their lives.”

  "I would have to agree," the man said. "Unless it wasn’t obvious, I'm Hirim. I'm the man responsible for the confederacy in Chrome City.”

  “You’re the leader of the rebellion?” she asked.

  Shaking his head, Hirim answered, “No, our leader isn’t here. He’s concerned with uniting all the other towns together. We can certainly use more bodies in our fight against the Cultwick Empire, but what we really need are funds and resources. Don't suppose you can help us in that department, eh?"

  "Afraid not," she responded. "We didn't have a whole lot of time to gather much up before we fled Cultwick City."

  "Yeah, figured as much,” he replied. “So what kind of skills do you have?"

  "I worked as a chromesmith back in the city,” she explained.

  “We can always use more chromesmithing,” he replied. “What about the others you brought with you?”

  “Max was a professor of gene transcription,” she said.

  “A biojunker?” Hirim asked.

  Erynn nodded and answered, “Yeah, but he’s not overly fond of that term.”

  “We’ll definitely have use for that,” Hirim explained. “The confederacy has been losing members hand over fist to the plague. Anything he can do to combat that will be appreciated. What else?”

  “Germ was our butler,” she continued, “and Pearl was a dance hall girl until yesterday, and she’s a painter… though I doubt you find that very helpful."

  "Hmm, is that it?" he asked.

  "Oh," she said remembering. "I've also got a custom built automaton I left outside guarding our... uh, prisoner, I guess."

  "You have a prisoner?" Hirim inquired with a raised eyebrow.

  "Sort of,” she replied. “We were attacked by a bounty hunter yesterday. I didn't know what else to do with him."

  "You catch his name?" Hirim inquired.

  "I think he said it was Vincent."

  "Vincent Rourke?" he asked looking both surprised and intrigued.

  Erynn nodded and said, "That sounds right, yeah."

  Hirim smiled quite widely and added, "Oh, I can work with that. Take me to him."

  Erynn led Hirim outside his bar to where Tern still guarded Vincent in the halftrack. The bounty hunter had woken and was struggling to untie himself from his bonds.

  Hirim stared at the man in the back of the vehicle and simply stated, “Vincent.”

  This caused the bounty hunter to stop and gawk at Hirim for a moment before saying, “Burgan?”

  “You got any law after you?” Hirim asked.

  Confused, Vincent slowly answered, “No... Least none that I’m aware of.”

  “You in touch with Bennie these days?” Hirim continued to prod.

  “Hazelwood? I haven’t seen him in years,” Vincent said.

  “But he taught you all his tricks, right?” the rebel leader asked.

  Growing frustrated by the series of questions, the bounty hunter raised his voice and said, “I suppose so, what are--”

  “You’re familiar with Ash Cloud, right?” Hirim inquired.

  Irritated the bounty hunter asked, “Look! You think you could show your dice faster than one at a time?”

  Hirim smiled and responded, “I want you to help rob a bank, Vincent.”

  Chapter 12. Rowland the Gambler

  Three sixes. Two ones. Rowland found himself with a very good r
oll of dice playing in the biggest casino in Ash Cloud, the Weighted Die, against one of the worst gamblers in town. It almost seemed beneath him to ruin the man so thoroughly and easily.

  The man he concerned himself with besting was the manager of the government owned, controlled, and operated bank - Ash Cloud’s Bank of Cultwick. They expected he could, if properly incentivized, be able to give them some information on the bank and its security systems.

  Their plan involved breaking him financially before finally loaning him money from a ‘loan shark.’ Their very own bounty hunter, Vincent Rourke, played the part. Vincent had agreed to help the Chromework Confederacy, not out of any sense of goodwill, but because the plague he found himself infected with and the expense of its treatment.

  Hirim had known Vincent from a while back, and as Rowland and Erynn had found out several days earlier, Vincent was well versed in the art of robbing banks. Bennie Hazelwood, a notable bank robber, had taught the bounty hunter most if not all of his techniques for absconding with a vault’s funds. The rebellion needed financing and the government’s own money seemed a perfect place to raise those funds.

  In addition, it seemed several prominent Cultwick Empire party members were working or staying in Ash Cloud. Each of them had a safe deposit box at the bank, and that had intrigued the rebellion greatly.

  One of the leading scientists employed by the Center of Empirical Research was working in the city on an undisclosed project. The professor had suggested that the man’s scientific mind might have rivaled his own. They decided that he was certain to have something of interest hidden in his box.

  There was also an empire-owned munitions factory working on some new design. The owner of that building had opened a safe deposit box with the bank, and the rebellion hoped it would be a clue as to what was happening in that factory. If they were working on a powerful new weapon, the rebellion would prefer to know about it sooner and find any flaws it might have.

  Lastly, there was a box belonging to the postal master in town. While his was unlikely to hold any shocking government secrets, he might have a record of shipments coming and going to the empire from the various western cities.