《Wrench》 I - Pilot I don''t remember anything about my past, all I know is that on August 1st of 2050 I was awoken by a young scraper using a blade of some kind to awaken me. I didn''t know who she was, so I stood to my feet as a form of defense after probably sitting down for at least 5 years. As I got up the young scrapper had a look of terror in her eyes, so I gently sat back down to not scare away my new visitor, a smile replaced the quiver in a moment. "Hello... Wrench, my name is Penelope." she said. "Why do you call me this name Wrench?" I asked. "Because silly, it''s welded to your chest." she responds. As I look down, I realize she is telling the truth, on the top right of my slender mixed-metal body there was a nameplate that read Wrench in slightly faded red letters. "So it is (I calmly reply now, understanding that she was not a threat), but your name Penelope is not welded to your chest, so how do you know you are Penelope?¡± ¡°You ask a lot of funny questions you know,¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s humorous.¡± ¡°Well anyways you silly robot, I know my name is Penelope, because that¡¯s the name my parents gave to me.¡± ¡°Parents?¡± ¡°Yeah my mom and dad, but that was 12 years ago, when they named me of course, I could¡¯ve changed it if I really wanted to, no one would probably notice, but it sounds good, so I kept it.¡± ¡°Do I have parents?¡± ¡°Ummm, I guess, I would say you have more of an owner or a creator, than parents.¡± ¡°Owner, like a dog?¡± ¡°No, well kind of, you see, you aren¡¯t natural like me a human, you¡¯re made from parts ¡®cause you''re a robot.¡± ¡°Why do you call me robot, I am Wrench, see.¡± I point my fingers on both hands to my nameplate. ¡°No, robots are your species, there are actually a lot of you around here, big ones, small ones, mean ones.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not any of those ones I am a Wrench one.¡± ¡°Hee hee, you¡¯re funny.¡± ¡°If that was funny, then I enjoy making the funny.¡± I look around the room/tent I have been brought to, there are metallic parts all around me, that seem to belong to less alive machines such as toasters or lamps. There is a single light that floats slightly rising up and down a few inches each way; it didn¡¯t radiate heat, interestingly enough, instead it seemed to be holographic. As I saw the two large flaps overlapping each other, I thought of my escape. ¡°So, Wrench, what do you think of my hideout? It isn¡¯t much, but it lets me build in peace, (she looks around) Wrench, Wrench!¡± After exiting the tent I see a barren wasteland of sand and about a dozen shriveled up trees, cactuses, and other plants can be seen in the distance. As I ready myself to run to the nearest civilization, I feel the young one pull on my arm, ¡°What are you doing young human?¡± ¡° My name is Penelope and you can¡¯t go yet.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Because you don¡¯t know the dangers of the Desert de Muerte.¡± ¡°If you are worried about me perishing due to lack of substance, do not worry, I am Wrench or as you say a robot.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± ¡°Then what is it?¡± ¡°They are other scavengers like me, but they aren¡¯t as nice and when they see you, you will be shot down for parts immediately, due to your model.¡± ¡°I have many questions.¡± ¡°You see, you¡¯re a model from the 30¡¯s, so your parts are more older, more detailed, more complex, and you¡¯re single made, or one individual created you, instead of a company.¡± ¡°I will bring a means of defense then.¡± ¡°Means of defense¡­ A gun! No you can¡¯t kill these people, they''re humans.¡± ¡°But your words have explained to me that they don¡¯t care about the life of a Wrench, so why should I care about the life of a human?¡± ¡°Okay, I get your point, let me get my guns, (she begins walking back to the tent as she echoes) I¡¯m coming with and we¡¯re not killing anyone. I followed her back into the tent and she said to me, you can have this, it¡¯s a M-49, it¡¯s set to stun and before we go, we need to get you oiled up. She pulled out a can of oil that stated, USE BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 2050, ¡°Good thing I used this, before it expired. (she says) Oh yeah, while you were taking a nap, (she says as she does sarcastic quotation marks with her fingers) the government thought it would be a good idea to make the new artificial gas expirable like food. Which was a terrible idea, because now all gas over 5 years old is now semi-worthless, I say semi-worthless, because it can be used but it¡¯s not as strong.¡± As she finishes, she covers my joints in oil. ¡°That feels much better.¡± I say as I move my elbow, knee, and neck joints. ¡°Okay finally ready! (she exclaims) I brought two luminous pistols and a AA12 Atchisson Assault Shotgun.¡± ¡°Why do you, the small human, get the three firearms, while I, the large Wrench, get only one.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s because that¡¯s the only gun I have that has a stun mode and I have to make sure you don¡¯t kill anybody.¡± ¡°Okay I understand.¡± I put my right hand over my left side, where my heart would be, if I had one, and stated in a strong voice, ¡°I, Wrench, promise not to kill anyone on this mission.¡± ¡°Okay, that sounds believable.¡± ¡°It is believable, I speak the truth.¡± ¡°No, no, I believe you, but just this mission though.¡± ¡°Well what if I need to terminate in the future?¡± ¡°There will be no one to terminate, everybody deserves a second chance.¡± ¡°Okay, an error has been made and will now be fixed.¡± I say as I pretend to shut off, reload, and turn back on, as I do this a light giggle is let out. It makes me happy to make a funny. ¡°I, Wrench the robot, promise to not kill anyone.¡± ¡°Good job, that¡¯s a lot better.¡± ¡°But what about if there¡¯s an animal and one of my associates becomes hungry?¡± ¡°Well you can kill animals, just don¡¯t kill all the animals, we need some to support the food chain.¡± ¡°Okay information processed.¡± ¡°Okay, now that that¡¯s over, let¡¯s go, oh yeah, you can have this.¡± As we exit the two tent flaps, she hands me a ZiP pistol, a smaller gun that has more of a green tint, than other guns. ¡°Much appreciated¡­ Penelope.¡± A grin begins to grow across her face in happiness. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After walking and sharing conversation with Penelope for three hours, we finally reached a small town, but it is not like we just walked past bare sand for three hours, I noticed many strange cyborg animals, such as a jack rabbit with a thin metal sheet crumpled up into an oval shape for a tail, and four small metal spheres that it used as paws. Additionally, there was a snake that instead of only scales, it had a spherical wrap that ringed across its long body. Penelope spotted out the first cactus we had seen for miles and she explained how that meant there was civilization nearby. Sadly, there were not any large beasts to test out my firearms, though Penelope seemed to be quite anxious and fearful of such beasts. Maybe she has had a negative experience with the beasts. What are the beasts you may ask, they are man made creations that are made of a rusty metal coat with large yellow eyes and if you look them in the eyes deep enough, you can see a small green flame. They have the shape of a human, but have some unique features, such as large eyes, long foot long claws, and feet that can position themselves 90 degrees downward and spin, so they can dig and travel through the ground. Additionally, they have an eerie array of yellow teeth that stretch from ear to ear, leaving a large smile, as described by Penelope. The official name of the beasts are the Akai Shi, which translates to the Red Death. As we entered the town there were many humans and robots that stared at us, but many of them looked away as soon as they noticed the gun in our hands. Each human wore different clothing, but there was a main characteristic, all clothing worn was long and had a brown, dark red, or gray tint. There were many robots too as Penelope had said, there were tall ones, short ones, ones that were wider than others, along with some that were thinner than my arm. The robots however were almost all the same rusted chrome, which made me stand out, due to my more duller gray color. ¡°Hey Wrench, (Penelope says as she knocks on my wire filled leg.) I¡¯m hungry, we should go get food somewhere.¡± ¡°Wrench does not consume food, but will help Penelope.¡± ¡°Great!¡± she exclaimed. I use my super vision I seemed to have been built with to virtually create a map built of green lines in my metal cerebrum. As the images began to convert and download, I noticed that there was only one visible residence in sight, all other buildings appeared to be either condemned, uninhabitable, or a shack of a home. The name of the food providing residence appeared to be called Sandy Pete. I alerted Penelope of this newfound information and began to walk, knowing that the human would follow me. Sandy Pete was an interesting integration of a meeting place for food. The walls were a dark orange that had a dark brown hue and the carpet was a dark blue sea welcome mat behind the two large swinging doors that stated, ¡°Once You Enter, It¡¯s Like You Never Leave.¡± It was an interesting slogan, however it did match with the eerie feel of the establishment. Additionally, there was molde creeping up in all visible corners of the restaurant, along with thick cobwebs that housed many spiders with three big eyes (for their size of course), instead of numerous little eyes. The entire floor was made of a dark spruce color, yet the material seemed to be thick metal versus wood. ¡°Howdy, Strangers.¡± The bartender announced to us as we began to walk closer to the counter. Not understanding how an establishment like this would work, I began to let the large human with a wide brimmed cowboy hat carry the conversation. ¡°May I interest you in some Bud Dark.¡± I looked down at Penelope and she showed a face of excitement, guessing that the face she presented could only mean that Bud Dark was a food supplement that Penelope would enjoy. I began to try to mimic the facial gesture Penelope had presented with my non-physical, but virtual face. ¡°One Bud Dark human!¡± I proclaimed, believing prominently that the gesture required a voice as such. Penelope giggled. ¡°Okay good sir, one Bud Dark coming up.¡± He gave a light snicker, similar to Peneope¡¯s, but his exert in sound didn¡¯t sound as welcoming. Chapter II ¡°Well young lady, you better be glad, that y¡¯all have that extension of power on y¡¯alls hip, because I wouldn¡¯t be giving alcoholic drinks, such as yourself.¡± ¡°Penelope, is this queer information true.¡± I ask in a slightly harsh manner, not on purpose, it just slipped. ¡°It might be a little true¡­¡± She whispers while looking up at me in an apologetic manner. ¡°I will just have to¡­ (both the large human and Penelope cringe their faces expecting a consequence as a child that got caught stealing the cookies would, however as I saw this fear in their eyes, I decided to let this illegal act pass) let this pass.¡± I announce louder than I probably should have, leading the rest of the bar to turn their heads in my direction. ¡°Oh thank you Wrench.¡± Penelope says as her small body hugs my metallic and rusty leg. Her smile makes me smile. ¡°In the future however, such prohibited drinks shall not be consumed.¡± ¡°Okay Wrench, (she says apologetically, then switches to a robotic mockery) this request shall be requited¡± Penelope says while rotating three hundred sixty degrees, while moving her hands up and down in a mocking manner. Then the fat human announced, ¡°Yeah¡­ robot¡­¡± It says this in a mocking manner too, but I am not as fond of it as I am of Penelope, due to the lack of wisdom he showed me by offering a Bud Dark to a minor, so I use my long metal arm to shackle it by the neck as I say, ¡°Sir, it is not appropriate to entrust a robot to understand the morality of how it is bad to give a minor an alcoholic beverage, so I intend to inflict punishment.¡± ¡°What are you gonna do to me¡­ lecture me! Ha!¡± He proclaims so boldly.¡± This being thinks that just because it is made of bionetic material, that it gets to inflict verbal damage, I let it know that this is not okay as I use my large strength force to smash it into the ground. ¡°Wrench, you can¡¯t do that to people!¡± ¡°Why not Penelope? He undermined my power, additionally, I did not make it deceased.¡± ¡°No, you didn¡¯t kill him, but it''s the principle. He attacked you verbally, so you attacked him physically, it¡¯s not okay.¡± ¡°Okay Penelope, information process, I will not physically attack my opponents, unless they physically attack me first.¡± ¡°Great, now you just gotta make sure you don¡¯t kill anybody, whenever you fight back, soly in defense.¡± I nod my head in agreement, because though I don¡¯t agree with her methods, Penelope is right, she¡¯s always right. ¡°Okay, the drinks on us, you don¡¯t have to pay, but could you help me up robot.¡± The large human asks (still rudely) stuck in the cellar of his adequate establishment. ¡°It will have to find means of its own to escape the solution he created.¡± Wrench, go help him.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± I help it out, as I jump down into the deep cellar, grab it, throw it up, and climb out of the cellar myself. Penelope gives me a look as she sips her foreboding liquid. ¡®If I have to¡­¡¯ I say to myself as I begin to apologize. ¡°I forgive you robot¡­ Just please don¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡°Not today,¡± I say menacingly, I will not kill him though, unless I have to.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter III After we exit the establishment, I observe the rest of the town and begin to think of the next task for me to do. I planned to reach civilization, but what for. I form a hypothesis that it has something to do with my past, but I can¡¯t really remember that much, just what the small human reminded me of. That I was created by a man, or a woman, it never specified. I decided to travel to the next town. It¡¯s not a long trek, but not a short one either. Two hours into the journey, Penelope says she can¡¯t walk anymore. I notice Penelope¡¯s lying due to the fact that Penelope still has moving legs and a working heart and lungs. But then it comes to me that it might be a form of figurative language and that Penelope can walk still. However, Penelope is simply too exhausted to continue walking. I cannot say the same however, due to the fact that I am but a Wrench and not a human as Penelope is. After having this revelation, I pick Penelope up and carry Penelope as a mother would her child. I do not remember where I learned this skill, but it is still engraved into my system for an odd reason. After what seems like another three hours of walking, we arrive at the borders of another town. Slightly bigger than the last. I propose the idea of waking Penelope up, but I decide not to end Penelope¡¯s peaceful rest. Rest an escape from this harsh reality. Even though I am a Wrench, I understand rest. Rest is seen in many forms; physical resting, mental resting, spiritual resting, etc. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.The town is surrounded by a large ten foot wall that covers the perimeter of the town. The wall is a dark brown with dull greyish green vines and vegetation that slithers around the walls meticulously. There appears to be a large door made to keep creatures and outsiders out and citizens in. I fear that since I am a Wrench the humans will not accept me as a citizen, and Penelope made me promise not to kill and I would never break a promise, especially when she¡¯s sleeping innocently. Then I see that the humans guarding the wall are all wearing a large hat of a particular shape. The shape replicates ancient Japanese straw hats. Then a plan comes to my artificial mind. I noticed a tumbleweed around ten feet away. I put Penelope over my shoulder with one hand and I used my other hand to shape the tumbleweed into two simple straw hats. I put the bigger hat atop my head. The smaller atop Penelope. Then I put Penelope back into the position a mother would carry her young. I continue walking and stop softly - to not wake Penelope - at the large door of the dark brown wall. I give a light knock, and two guards look down from above. The guards do not see my face, but instead just my large straw hat and a glimpse of Penelope¡¯s smaller one. The guards let me in with slight hesitation, a conversation dispersed between the two humans. ¡°I thought the last gathering ended at noon¡± ¡°Yeah, I thought so too¡­ But they probably just got lost. I heard the Akai Shi can be pretty distracting.¡± ¡°Or life ending¡± ¡°Yeah that too¡± ¡°Probably safe to let them in then, since they probably just got lost and they''re wearing the hat of peace.¡± ¡°Yeah I agree¡± The human¡¯s conversation ends and the door opens up revealing a prosperous town. Chapter IV There is a light brown wooden sign with white letters that state, ¡°Welcome Back To Laurenville¡± From what I can see, I create a holographic map in my mind. From an aerial view it can be seen that the center of Laurenville consists of the town hall. A large building with burgundy walls and vines a much brighter green than the dull greyish green vines that surround the perimeter. The town hall has columns on all four corners, the columns are laced with engravings of flowers and other forms of vegetation. Behind the town hall there was a small pond, more of a puddle, but big enough to be classified as a pond. It was the home of a single lilypad and a frog. The frog was greener than the vines that groped the walls of the town hall. Surrounding the town hall were important establishments, such as the church, the bank, and the hospital. The church was a bright white with white columns that held it up. There were beautiful pink and yellow flowers planted around the perimeter. There was a large steeple on the top that pointed to the heavens and the religion of the congregation was Apostolic. On the front of the church, The Church of Laurenville was engraved into the white stone. The bank was to the left of the church in the triangle of buildings surrounding the city hall. It was a thick black color with thin columns painted in a shiny gold color. There were no flowers around the bank, but instead headstones, I presumed that the headstones were of the employees of the establishment. On the front of the hospital, the words, Bank of Laurenville were engraved into the black as night stone. Furthermore, there was the hospital. The hospital seemed big, but small at the same time. It was painted a silky red and the columns that held it up were white. Additionally, there was a big white plus symbol with a white circle around it on the front of the building. Surrounding the triangle of large establishments. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. There was a circle of smaller buildings that were home to the not so crucial places. There was a grocery building called Phil¡¯s Produce, a blacksmith shop named Jordan the Blacksmith, a supplies store with the name of Jean¡¯s Supplies, a bakery called Angel¡¯s Bakery, a bookstore called Corrider¡¯s Antique Bookstore, a gym called Russell''s Muscle, a woodcarving establishment called Mary¡¯s Makings, an inn called Anna¡¯s Inn and three schools named Laurenville Elementary School, Laurenville Middle School, and Laurenville High School. Most of the buildings were in either a light brown, cream, or white color. And there were beautiful flowers planted around the schools and the bakery. Surrounding these buildings were the citizens'' homes. All the houses were similarly painted light brown, cream, or white. Additionally, around the citizen¡¯s homes was the large wall that seemed to stretch miles in the shape of a large square.