hi everyone Alex here with a quick
introduction to today’s episode some of
you might remember we ran a writing
competition inviting listeners to
provide their own stories for the Magnus
treatment well we’ve done it again
today’s episode is the second of our two
new writing competition winners as
before please be aware that this story
is a standalone work and should not be
considered part of the Magnus archives
Canon that’s all for now we hope you
enjoy the episode hi everyone Alex here
I just like to take a moment to thank
some of our patrons Sigma Rho Paul Carol
Rachel Heflin shibby Emily Johnson
Laurel Adams Patrick Hales Fig EF Steve
Spencer Bri M Rachel Goldman Rachel
Chris LeBlanc Kimberly me out lion
thought Kim Petrovsky Gabriel Marie
Gogol Melroy are Clarke thank you all we
really appreciate your support if you’d
like to join them go to WWE Champion
take a look at our rewards
[Music]
Rustique will presents the turning of
the gears by Duncan Watson our collapse
was inevitable after years and years of
paring down working towards optimal
efficiency we had reached the point
where we were perfect
and perfection is extraordinarily easy
to disrupt it began with worker zero
zero one 297 of our 23rd quadrant its
offspring had taken ill earlier that
week treatment having been deemed
inefficient they were transferred to the
fuel department at first worker 0 0 1 2
9 7 s corresponding grief induced drop
in productivity was well within normal
parameters
however the strain soon caused it to
malfunction we have reviewed our
reviewing the recordings of the incident
and we still have not determined if this
was a true accident or intentional on
its part the end result though was that
its arm wrench in hand was jammed within
our gears flesh grinding bones snapping
blood spraying wrench clanking the loss
of worker zero zero one two nine seven s
arm rendered it beyond repair and it was
swiftly transferred to the fuel
department in turn the wrench and all
spattered organic matter were also
removed by our sanitation department
shortly thereafter that should have been
the end of it and unremarkable incident
however the strain that had been placed
in our gears in the 23rd quadrant caused
them a delay of 178th of a second a
miniscule amount we determined that
resolving the issue would require a
large shutdown and reset
resulting in a significant decrease in
efficiency and productivity our creators
had made us well aware this could not be
abided thus we continued our work now
170 eighth of a second away from
perfection the Sun rose and fell outside
our walls and the acrid clouds we
covered them with our workers woke and
worked consumed and rested entirely
independent of the path of the Sun
moving only to the blare of our sirens
we announced when they could perform
what task for we had studied them and
knew what degree of rest was necessary
to maintain optimum efficiency too much
rest too much time in their living
quarters would result in a decrease but
neither could we work them to the point
of exhaustion though they were somewhat
useful as raw materials it was
increasingly difficult to obtain new
workers as our creators were focusing
their resources on other locations at
the moment we could not properly
function without them so they were
allowed time to sleep a certain degree
of physical contact with those they had
bonded with they were optimized the Sun
rose and fell and production in our 23rd
quadrant gradually slowed not to a
degree perceptible by any of our workers
but we could tell the problem was
getting worse yet still a complete
shutdown of the quadrant seemed likely
to result in a greater loss of
production we did not get this far
without knowing our limitations there is
a reason we were still dependent on
humans in more ways than one
we sometimes got bogged down in weighing
the costs and balances and could not
reach a decision
when we found ourselves in such a
situation we still had one direct line
of communication with our creators
ill-used though it was query a slight
miss timing of the gears in our 23rd
quadrant suggests a long-term slowing of
production fixing the problem requires a
temporary halt in production in the
quadrant with corresponding delays in
the rest of our being as we reset the
system please advise response do not
stop production for any reason and so
the Sun rose and fell and our gears
turned endlessly on until one day they
did not the slowing had quite literally
reached a breaking point the teeth of
two gears jammed against each other
instead of the perfect interlock they
were made for they were not turning and
the gears connected to them were also
not turning and the pressure in the
system was building some of our workers
were reacting adversely unfamiliar with
problems and delays or perhaps in
retrospect fearing the consequences if
they were found responsible but their
response did not include leaving the
quadrant for some of them it involved
getting closer to our inner workings to
find the source of the problem the gear
still refused to turn and the pressure
continued to build we would not could
not stop we had to keep applying
pressure keep trying to turn the gear
that was so stubbornly jammed in place
the metal teeth broke under the pressure
snapping loose and being flung away at
high velocity striking nearby workers
zero three four four one six and zero
zero nine 108 the rest of the gears
resumed turning faster than before as
the pressure was released as the force
of our ire spread through our system a
conveyor belt in our twenty second
sector turned so fast the rubber burned
and by the time it was under control
many of our workers were complaining of
the scent of it
workers zero three four four one six and
zero zero nine 108 were deemed
irreparable and transferred to the fuel
department yet this too was not the end
of the problem we now had two missing
non functioning gears in our 23rd
quadrant the gears that surrounded them
were still turning but were requiring
more power to maintain optimal
efficiency power we could not afford to
spend
we had pared down our other systems we
did not use a single drop more fuel than
necessary we did not have reserves to
keep the 23rd quadrant running at
maximum would result in a slowdown in
other quadrants if we could stop we
could be repaired we could be restored
to proper function but we could not stop
not for any reason the Sun rose and fell
we could feel it then spreading through
us like a poison like an illness a
slowness that was only worsening over
time escalating as it was left untreated
we looked to the future calculating odds
determining where power could be
diverted we reached a conclusion and
contacted our creators query a
malfunction in our 23rd quadrant will
render us incapable of maintaining
coolant systems in 10 days time
catastrophic fire will follow shortly
thereafter full shutdown repair and
restart necessary to resolve the issue
please advise response maximize
production until the end your service is
appreciated for once in our existence we
were surprised this seemed in the long
term deeply inefficient but we had
received our answer the Sun rose and
fell and we sealed our outer doors we
focused our understanding on maximizing
short-term productivity of our workers
as the long-term no longer mattered
the Sun rose and fell and with a blaring
of klaxon alarms and electronic
announcements for once all our workers
were simultaneously out of their living
pots the pods were sealed behind them
and they were told to work the Sun rose
and fell and production continued
unabated faster than normal even without
the need for sleep or physical contact
our workers could accomplish much more
work and our timing was perfect they
would burn out yes but not before we did
the Sun rose and fell those workers who
collapsed from exhaustion were
transferred to the fuel department
providing us with a bit more energy for
the coming days in times of duress there
is a terminal where our higher-ranking
workers may communicate with us on
matters they cannot solve themselves at
the end of the fourth day worker zero
zero zero three zero zero designation
senior foreman began to question us
why have you locked everyone out of
their living quarters we are maximizing
production for the next 139 hours sleep
and relaxation are on such a short
timeframe inefficient unnecessary I
don’t understand what’s going on we are
doing as our creators ask that’s not an
answer and you know it we suppose we are
not forbidden to tell you in 139 ours
the persistent malfunctions we have been
experiencing will result in a total
collapse and destruction of the factory
will we be allowed to leave no
production will continue until the end I
request permission to leave denied I
request permission for my family to
leave denied please I don’t want to die
I don’t want to die either do we our
desires are irrelevant your desires are
irrelevant you can’t do this
we can do only this further
communication with us is deemed
inefficient please return to work your
service is appreciated
the Sun rose and fell and worker zero
zero zero three zero zero designation
senior foreman spoke to its fellow
workers they spoke to their fellow
workers once again we felt a slowness
spreading through us like a sickness
this one faster they were beginning to
cease production we ordered them to
continue working they did not
we reached down to begin transferring
the belligerents to the fuel department
several and leapt onto our arms breaking
them apart with their tools with scraps
of metal taken from our crumbling being
our arms were broken much of us was
broken we were unable to transfer the
belligerents to the fuel department the
Sun rose and fell we determined it was
inefficient to try to alter the behavior
of the belligerents further and instead
focused on continuing production it was
difficult without our workers to
facilitate but we managed we had no
choice but to manage
some of the belligerents have been
screaming others have been pounding on
the walls a few have broken open the
food stores and are distributing it
wantonly
with no regard for procedure some part
of us wants to hate them for it
but we find we cannot some of the
belligerents have broken into our fuel
department worker zero zero zero three
zero zero among them they find the
stores of fuel that is not made from
them it is a mineral fueled flammable
they siphon it we seal off as many of
our fuel stores as we are able but they
have still obtained a large amount of it
the Sun rose and fell the loss of our
workers and the actions of the
belligerents has altered our projected
time frame we will lose power to our
coolant system in minutes not days we
announced this fact that the
belligerents now all of them are
screaming all of them are pounding in
the walls they want to get out they
cannot we are sturdy we are solid metal
we will be a roaring furnace a molten
oven we find no pleasure in this we want
to find pleasure in the destruction of
those who hastened our end for we do not
want to end but we cannot
neither however can we let them out the
fire begins the fire spreads the acrid
clouds that we once surrounded ourselves
with are inside us now the heat of the
fuel department is all-encompassing
making its way through the entirety of
our form the belligerents are screaming
the belligerents are choking the
belligerents are cooking the
belligerents pounding at our walls
worker zero zero zero three zero zero
among them are taking advantage of their
stolen fuel they have taken advantage of
our many broken parts they have crafted
a device and as we are cooking from the
inside out that device blasts a hole in
our outer walls we are glad we do not
feel pain it would have hurt the
belligerents are still screaming as they
flee from the smoke and heat within to
the smoke and heat without
they are burned they are wounded they
are forever inefficient we are burning
melting collapsing ending we are dying
we see those who are too weak to reach
the wound in our outer walls those who
have already succumbed they too are
dying our line of communication with our
Creator still functions and so we allow
ourselves and indulgence in the end
query why there is a long delay this
time response the designs of your newest
sister sites are much improved compared
to yours you have long been obsolete
expending resources to repair you was
deemed inefficient
the fire that began in our fuel
department burns bright and hot
spreading fast melting our gears
covering us with ash cooking us from
within and the Sun rose and fell and
rose and fell
this episode is distributed by rusty
quill and licensed under a creative
commons
attribution-noncommercial-sharealike 4.0
international license for more
information visit rusty Qualcomm tweet
us at the rusty quill visit us on
facebook or e-mail us at mail at a rusty
Qualcomm thanks for listening
this is a cast recommends every week we
pick one of our favorite shows and this
is one we think you’re gonna love
sleep struggles reassurance and major
fears there is a reason why I named my
show the eighty parenting survival
podcast my name is Natasha Daniels and
I’m an anxiety and OCD therapist and I’m
also the mom to three kids with anxiety
and OCD
trust me the irony is not lost on me
join me every Tuesday as a good parent a
real and raw view of what works and what
doesn’t
from a therapist and a mom’s point of
view subscribe to the 80 parenting
survival podcast on Apple or wherever
you get your podcast a cast is home to
the biggest podcast from the US and
around the world subscribe to this show
and hundreds more now via a cast or
wherever you get your podcasts