Embersinger

Tick. Tock.
The troubled clocks ticked as they moved past. The golden dragon reached out and fit a piece of glass into place, while feeling out of place. This unit hadn't been given a name, just a serial number, B-478846. The number represented her, and everyone called her that. None of the units had been given a name. Many of these beings had been stolen from other worlds at birth, and brought to the Factory to make what their owners most desired: clocks. Hundreds, if not thousands of enslaved creatures worked day and night, night and day, hour after hour, to make clock after clock for the beings who ran this prison. Guards inspected the lines, making sure no one tried to flee. B-478846 fit a piece of glass onto the clock, it went past. She reached for another cover, and it slid through her grasp. She tried in vain to grab it, but it hit the floor and shattered. The guard who was on duty saw this. He came up and slapped her across the face. She felt the pain, but ignored it. She reached for another cover and fit it on the clock. B-478845 and B-478847, the workers nearest to her, took over her load while she picked up the shattered remains of the cover on the floor. The glass cut into her palms, but she ignored the pain and blood. She threw them into a nearby bin full of shattered glass, and went back to her place on the assembly line. Her blue denim jumpsuit was too big on her, and sometimes she made mistakes. She wiped her bleeding claw-like hands and went back to work fitting the covers on clocks. She sighed in relief when the bell rang for her shift to be done. The B-units marched out while the C-units flowed in. While being an A-unit would have been better, at least she was a B and not a D or an E. D's and E's were treated the worst of all five sectors. She kept thinking about what life would be like if she had been a D or and E, and not a B. She walked back to her cell, and was roughly forced inside by the guards. B-478846 stared up at the ceiling as she lay on the cot, and slowly, she felt something in her mind begin to break.

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Insanity came slowly, in small waves. B-478846 knew she was going insane when she saw an image of a land she had never seen in her mind, all misty and beautiful, with dragons laughing and playing, carefree. It was not the Factory, and she liked it. She imagined what her name would be in this other world, and it came to her: Embersinger. Such a beautiful name. As the days passed, and she made clocks, she slowly went insane. While her body worked, making clocks, her mind drifted through images of the other world and the beautiful dragons there. When she was in her cell, she planned escape, attempting to claw through the walls. The guards laughed at her when she broke her fingers, telling her there was no escape. She set her fingers and went back to work. She knew there was no possible escape. Until there was.

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Escape wasn’t an easy task, but B-478846 was not giving up easily. She didn’t despair. She had a plan. Then, one day, she set it into motion. She was making clocks, like every other day. Suddenly, she stopped. “Unit B-478846, what are you doing?” A guard asked. She ignored him. “Unit B-478846, get back to work.” The guard hissed. B-478846 smirked wickedly at the guard, then picked up the clock covers. She examined one, then began to smash the covers. Instantly, units B-478829 through B-478860 stopped doing what they were doing and began to destroy the objects they were working on. “Come on! Follow me if you want to get out of here!” B-478846 shouted. The other 30 units who had revolted cheered. B-478846 led them through the hallways. She would not give up. She knew she could escape. She burst through doors, guards chasing her, into the sunshine and fresh air. As she ran up the concrete stairs, B-478846 knew she was free.

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TO BE CONTINUED