The Engine What Runs the World

by Quinn Buckland

  Smoke wished he could see the utter look of confusion on Officer Raven’s face as he asked the question. The officer cleared his throat, “It all started back at the first buildings of the underground, just as the engine was being conceived. The people would come across methane and other natural gasses which were deadly to breathe in, but could hold a flame. They managed to capture the gasses and send them downward towards the engine when they required it. Now we use alchemists to change the carbon in carbon dioxide into methane and other forms of fuel for the flames. It’s really useful.”

  “Do you know how the alchemists do what they do? I tried inquiring a few times on the surface, but I’ve never actually been given an answer.”

  The officer shrugged, “The secrets of the alchemists are theirs alone to keep. I have no interest in their magic.”

  Smoke rolled his eyes. “Lazy answers,” he said under his breath.

  Officer Raven approached the chair and pulled the false coverings off the chair. They were designed in a way to allow for removal while a person had been strapped down. A quick pull from the sides and the coverings came off in three separate pieces for each limb. Smoke could now feel a soft, heavily perforated rubber under his arms.

  “Mister Callahan,” Officer Raven said softly, “I just want you to know I really don’t like this chair. I’ve sat in it myself. It’s not a great place to be and it still makes me uncomfortable to see anyone else in it, but this is my job. I just want to assure you beforehand that you don’t have to worry about any infections or anything of the sort. We properly sanitize every day.”

  “Properly sanitize what?” Smoke asked knowing he’d find out very soon.

  “I’m sure you noticed the arms and legs were a little wider than necessary,” Officer Raven continued, “That’s because there are hundreds of little steam powered pistons under there. Each piston has a set of needles attached to them. At the lowest speed they won’t even break the skin. You’ll feel them, but they aren’t horrible. Once I reach full power though those needles start going at super speed and can actually puncture the skin. We don’t do full speed for very long, we still want you to be able to use your arms and legs sooner than later. Just, don’t expect you’ll be without any scars after today.”

  “I’m no stranger to scars,” Smoke said, his bravest face beginning to fail him.

  He could hear Officer Raven sigh from behind his mask as he pressed one button out of six. A shot of pain went from his wrist to his elbow and to his shoulder. He wasn’t sure if it was the shock of the first of the needles hitting his skin or if they had gone a little deeper than intended. Then another a little farther down his arm. Soon he was feeling little pin pricks all over his arm. “This is one arm at our lowest speed. This will bring you discomfort. Almost like an itch that you just can’t scratch. Nothing serious.”

  Officer Raven pressed the second button. His second arm began to feel the sensation of the little needles as they pricked his skin. The irritation was unbearable. He wanted to pull his arm away but was unable. Officer Raven pressed the third button and the needles began on his left leg. Smoke pressed his lips together as he tried not to scream in frustration. He concentrated on his breathing. He concentrated on anything he could to keep from shouting out in discomfort.

  Officer Raven pressed the fourth button thus agitating his right leg. His skin crawled with discomfort and pain. He tried to lift his arms and he tried to kick, both were impossible.

  Officer Raven pressed the fifth button. Smoke’s eyes shot open as the needles rapidly punctured his flesh. He let out a loud groan of pain as he tried to maintain his composure. He wouldn’t give in so easily. He wanted to cry out for the needles to stop. He would beg and cry to whatever gods are out there to make the pain stop. Seize the motor, cause a clog in the water pipes, make the gas to the flame run out. He prayed in his head for it to stop. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of hearing him give.

  He shot Officer Raven a hellish glance. The Officer could tell Smoke was in a lot of pain. Smoke didn’t try to hide the pain as the skin in his arms and legs felt as if they were being ripped off. Officer Raven looked to Smoke and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry Mister Callahan,” he said sorrowfully.

  He pressed the sixth button and all hell broke loose on Smoke. The needles were puncturing his skin at an alarming rate. He couldn’t help himself. The scream that escaped from his lips was deafening. At least in his own mind it seemed that way. He could see Officer Raven hold his head in his hands. Smoke could see the memory of the needle chair was still alive within the officer. It wasn’t enough for him to stop the chair from turning Smoke’s arms and legs into ground meat however.

  Smoke could feel his blood pooling around his feet. If not for his screams of pain he believed he could hear the blood dripping from the chair arms. That’s what the rubber was for, to keep as little blood from getting into the chair as possible. The chair would be thoroughly cleaned afterwards, somehow the thought didn’t give Smoke any comfort.

  As the needles tore his arms and legs to shreds something snapped in his head. Smoke stopped screaming and began laughing devilishly.

  “Why are you laughing?” Officer Raven asked more confused than angry.

  Smoke coughed from the pain and said, “I-I wish I’d h-have thought of th-th-this back when I was in the fourth b-below. Fucking brilliant! J-just imagine th-the confessions I c-could have gotten with th-this thing.”

  “You’re stubborn,” Officer Raven said, “I hate it when they’re stubborn.”

  He did something with the machine Smoke couldn’t see and the needles retracted into the chair and stopped. He could still feel the thin pieces of metal going in and out of his arms and legs, but the irritation and stabbing feelings had stopped. All that remained was the pain. Pain he could handle.

  Officer Raven hung his head and sighed. He slowly walked towards the door and opened it. He poked his head out and said something Smoke couldn’t make out. Officer Raven soon brought his head back into the room and walked towards Smoke. A large muscular man walked through the door next. ‘Officer Miller’ was etched into his breastplate. In his left hand hung a young naked woman, he lifted her by the arm until she could only stand on the tips of her toes. This was her, this was Blue.

  “Fuck you,” Officer Raven said toward Smoke with disdain in his voice. “This could have been avoided had you submitted, but no, you had to remain strong. We always break people Mister Callahan, I broke, Miller broke, and even Portia broke! You are no exception.”

  Officer Miller continued to hold Blue while Officer Raven fetched a plain wooden chair. The look on Blue’s face showed nothing but horror. She knew what they had planned, she’d been through the torture chamber before. She began to struggle against Officer Miller. Her feet came up in an attempted kick and to forcefully push herself away from her captors. Her struggling was all for naught however. Officer Miller never lost his grip on her arm and shoved his fist into her stomach. Smoke could hear the air being forced from her lungs as she hung limp in his arms gasping for breath.

  Officer Raven placed the chair behind Blue. The Officer holding Blue placed her in the chair gently and cuffed her arms and legs to the chair. She pulled on the chains and screamed incomprehensibly at the officers. Smoke watched on as the frightened girl fought against her restraints. She even tried biting at Officer Raven when he came in close.

  Officer Miller Walked to the table holding the mallets and hooks and pulled open a drawer Smoke hadn’t noticed. He pulled out five pieces of cable with small metal jaws attached to both ends. He approached Blue carefully. Officer Raven held her head back as Officer Miller attached a metal jaw to her nipples.

  Officer Raven soon moved around Blue and held her knees open. Officer Miller knelt down and began placing the metal jaws on both ends of her labia and one to her clitoris. Blue began breathing heavy as she eyed the men unspooling the wire towards the motor. She shot them a look of pure hatred as they attached the metal jaws on
the opposite ends of the wires to small metal prongs protruding outward. Officer Raven soon went to work flicking switches, pulling levers and spinning dials.

  “You’re in luck Mister Callahan,” Officer Miller said as Officer Raven worked. “You don’t have to go through the needle chair again. Though there is some bad news in there. You don’t get to go through stage four of the re-education phases. Instead you’re bumped up to stage five. What is stage five you may ask; well, it’s different for everyone. It’s a forceful measure to break someone… There’s an ancient book someone wrote a long time ago. I know I read it once but I can’t remember what it’s called. Some guy crosses his government and gets rats in a cage attached to his face until he submits. This is essentially the same thing. Only Blue here is your rat in a cage. Don’t get me wrong though, the process always works much better when all the stages are met, but Portia must really want you to break quickly. Or, she wants you to suffer. It’s always hard to tell with her.”

  Smoke glared at the officer. He could imagine the smug grin on his face as he explained everything. “Let me stop you there,” Smoke said angrily, “If you harm one hair on that girl’s body, I swear to whatever gods may be out there, I will tear this place down piece by piece. Do what you want with me, frankly I really don’t care. I’ll more than happily work for the engine. But, if you turn that machine on, I will kill you. I will kill Officer Raven. I will kill everyone in this engine and I will grin like a mad man doing so. You get me?”

  Officer Miller stared at Smoke for a second. He couldn’t see the man’s eyes or any sort of facial expression. He desperately wanted to read his face. He doubted his words meant anything to the two officers in their armour, but Smoke wanted to know for sure. After a few moments of the only sound being Officer Raven working, Officer Miller stood straight and said, “It’s not like we haven’t done this before. You saw her struggle,” he turned to Officer Raven. “Start on a low current. We’ll up it shortly.”

  Officer Raven started the motor and waited the few second it took for the engine to stop chugging and begin running smoothly. He walked to the far side of the large motor and spun a small dial. Almost instantly Smoke saw Blue jump in her seat. “Right now,” Officer Miller said, “We have a low current of electricity. Nothing more than a tingling feeling going through her body. Don’t worry; we’re not going to up the juice so much she’ll die, unless you push us. She’s even more important to us than you are. But it will hurt. She will scream. That much I can guarantee. And don’t even think of saying you’ll submit so early either. We know when a person is lying to us, and I actually want some fun with this. I’ll allow you to submit after level three.”

  “You son of a whore!” Smoke screamed.

  He didn’t get a chance to say more. Officer Miller struck him across the face with his heavily armoured glove sending blood flying across the room and to the wall. His jaw ached as he could feel blood falling from his cheek. “Not another word Mister Callahan, otherwise she’ll get the full dose. I don’t care if she dies, we can find another one just like her eventually. The next words I want to hear out of your mouth are ‘I submit’. And only once we hit level four. No sooner.”

  Smoke continued to glare at Officer Miller. Though he couldn’t see the faces of either officer Smoke could tell Officer Raven took no pleasure in what was happening. He had seemed to hope Smoke would submit after the needle chair. That way this wouldn’t have had to happen. It may have anyway, Blue was here for a reason, and it sure wasn’t because she agreed with their methods or their ideas. She was resisting just as he was.

  The look Blue gave Smoke seemed to be a look of apology mixed with sorrow, pain and pleading. She heard Officer Miller just as well as he had. She knew there was so much more she would go through with the chair. So much more pain and there would be nothing Smoke could do about it. She didn’t look to be in any sort of pain at the moment, just mild discomfort.

  Officer Miller nodded to Officer Raven. Officer Raven nodded back and spun the dial again. Blue shot back into her chair and gave a short scream. Her breathing became intense. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on Smoke. He pulled on the straps, as much tension as he could muster. Her eyes spoke to him. Her eyes told him to not give in and to keep his mouth shut. It didn’t matter if they killed her or put her into a world of insurmountable pain. He wasn’t to give in. She was going be disappointed in him - he had every intention of telling them he’s submitting - in words in any case.

  He slowed his breathing and did what he could to try and get his hands out from under the straps. A fool’s errand, with his forearm tied down and ripped to shreds there’d be no way he could pull his arms free. Instead he tried breaking the arms and legs of the chair. After many years of being used, it would be possible the chair could have weaknesses. Smoke would have to find them.

  Officer Miller nodded again to Officer Raven who in kind nodded back. He turned the dial again and Blue’s eyes shot open and a shrill piercing scream came from BLue. Her pelvis raised and lowered and her chest swung from side to side in an attempt to shake the metal jaws off.

  Smoke pressed his lips together and pulled on the straps. He could feel something in the metal arms give way. Over the sounds of Blue’s screams the officers didn’t hear the breaking of the chair’s arms. Smoke began to pull with his legs and soon the legs came free as well.

  He stood as several small pistons fell from the chair’s arms. He looked at the jagged scrap of metal and slowly moved behind Officer Miller who had been watching Blue like a hawk. He lined up his blow as quietly as he could and brought the hollow jagged arm into the base of his neck. The way the big man went down he assumed he had severed the spine. He sure hoped he did anyway. Officer Raven saw what had happened and rushed in towards Smoke. He blocked several punches from the officer with the chair arms. As soon as he was sure he had a shot he drove the arm of the chair into the back of Officer Raven’s leg. The Officer went down with a loud curse.

  Smoke stood over the man and pulled off his mask. He was a handsome man with long blonde hair, a chiseled jaw line and high cheek bones. Officer Raven looked up and Smoke with his blue eyes and said, “I didn’t want to do this.”

  Smoke snorted angrily, “I know, but you did anyway, and I’m a man of my word.”

  He drove the jagged ends of the chair arm and leg into the crown and jaw of the officer’s head. He could feel the blood spatter against his face. He then turned to the motor and turned the dial to zero. Blue relaxed in her chair from muscular exhaustion. He searched Officer Miller’s body until he found the keys to her shackles and let her free. She in turn released the straps and the arms and legs of the now useless chair fell to the floor. His arms hurt more than they had ever hurt before. He looked at the wounds and sighed. They’d heal, though he doubted he’d ever have much for feeling in them ever again, and that was if they didn’t just turn to lumpy scar tissue.

  They wasted no time. They dressed into the uniforms of Officer Miller and Officer Raven and left the torture room….

  He wasn’t going anywhere. No matter how hard Smoke pulled on the straps, the chair’s arms or legs wouldn’t give. He shook his mind from the fantasy and continued to pull. Blue had urinated. The warm blood he had felt on his face in his mind had been Blue’s urine that had spattered in his direction from her flailing. Her screams persisted and Smoke could swear he could hear Officer Miller laughing through it. The rage within him grew as he kept his mouth shut. The moment Officer Raven turned that dial to the fourth level he would speak up. He would tell them he submits to the will of the engine.

  Officer Miller stood and waited. Smoke could tell he wanted to see if Smoke would be stupid enough to disobey. Smoke continued to obey his order of silence, not out of obedience, but out of necessity. Once Officer Miller knew Smoke wouldn’t say anything he continued to watch as Blue flung her naked self around in the chair. Smoke didn’t know how long they had been sitting there watching the poor woman get tortured with the third
level, but it had been much longer than the other two threefold.

  Officer Miller eventually gave Officer Raven the nod to increase the current. Blue’s body rose out of the chair as much as it could and proceeded to grip the arms. Her scream cut off into silence, leaving her mouth open, screaming silently. Smoke wasn’t even sure she could breathe. “I submit!” Smoke said as loud as he could.

  Officer Miller turned to look at Smoke, “What was that?”

  Smoke took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly, “I give, I submit. I would have sooner but you wouldn’t allow it. I submit my will to the engine and allow myself to be educated in the ways of the machine.”

  Tears began to fall from Smoke’s eyes. Officer Miller looked to Officer Raven and waved his hand across his throat three times. Officer Raven nodded and turned the dial top zero. Blue’s body relaxed and fell back into the chair. Smoke hoped she was breathing. Officer Raven seemed to have had the same idea and approached her. He removed his glove revealing a pale hand and placed two fingers on her jugular vein. He looked to be concentrating for a moment before taking his hand away and putting his glove on. “She’s alive and breathing,” Officer Raven said, “Her pulse is faint and her breathing is shallow, but she’ll live. We probably shouldn’t move her for a while though. Let her recover a bit.”

  Officer Miller looked to Smoke and back to Blue and finally to Officer Raven, “We’ll leave him in here as well. Let him get an eye-full before he meets the real educator.”

  The two officers left the torture room. Smoke looked to Blue and felt a genuine tear fall down his cheek. He had allowed this to happen. He could have spoken up and allowed her to die. She’d have died a painful death maybe, but a death regardless. She would no longer be in a state of pain; she’d no longer have to suffer at the hands of those who worked the engine. She’d be free of her family and all they represented.

  Blue’s eyelids fluttered before she opened her eyes. She groaned and sat straight in the chair. “Who are you?” she asked in a weak voice.