---
layout:          post
title:           "MAG160.12 - Rusty Fears Competition Winner - The Turning of the Gears"
date:            2020-03-26 11:00:00 -0400
categories:      incomplete
tags:            []
voiced:          []
episode_title:   'Rusty Fears Competition Winner - The Turning of the Gears'
episode_number:  '160.12'
summary:         "In preparation for the much anticipated arrival of season 5, we continue the tone that was set by last week's competition winner with the second of two winning stories from our Rusty Fears3: Fearsome competition. <br/><br/>\"The Turning of the Gears\" is written by <b>Duncan Watson</b> and read by Jonathan Sims. <br/><br/>Note: this is a piece of stand-alone fiction and not a part of the Magnus canon."
content_flags:   [Graphic Injury, Fire]
acast_url:       https://play.acast.com/s/themagnusarchives/rustyfearscompetitionwinner-theturningofthegears
formats:         
official:        false
unofficial:      http://www.youtube.com/
unofficial_name: YouTube CC
unfinished:      true
wiki_url:        
---

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

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