All the miners gathered around Arthur. "Is he alive?" said Drin. "He is hit by Prison Guard 3, if he dies, I wouldn't be much shocked", Zipch said. "Stop you dumbs, Move aside". Stoid, one of the miner bends over and checks his viral points. "His nerves seem fine, but still, I can't say much". Stoid asked Ploink to bring some liquid to sprinkle. A voice came from a distance, "Stoid, how long? If Prison Guard 3 or any other Prison Guard came, it would be the end for all of us". "A little longer, Croim. Tell us when you see any Prison Guard coming", Stoid said. Ploink came, sprinkled on the face of Arthur. "His body seems normal and strong, yet he was knocked out in one punch. It was useless to raise the stakes over someone like him--". Stoid stops him as he sees Arthur's eyes opening.
Arthur weakly wakes up. He opened his eyes, seeing all the miners standing, looking helplessly at him. "What happened? Why are you all looking at me like this?". "Nothing", most of the miners said, in despair. "Hey, can you stand on your own?" Stoid asked. "Yeah". Arthur stood up, dusting off the dust that covered him. "So...." ''What after so?" "So, you don't seem to be from any of the sector, do you?" "Sector?", Arthur stands, questioned. Ploink asked, "refugee camp it must be then....". "Nope...". All the miners walked ahead few steps and give an eager look towards Arthur. "What??'' "Then, by any chance, are you from Igolla.... village?" Stoid asked, hesitantly. "I...I..." All the miners got worked up to hear Arthur's answer. "....Don't know¿". All the miners sighed, depressed. " Hey... Again with a dull look?'' Arthur asked. Stoid said, "Then this means that you aren't familiar with Iskarite., right?" Arthur again looked question. Croim said, "Enough with the talking. K-Bots are coming here". All the miners got busy in the hustle and bustle and began to mine. Arthur, on the other side, stood still.
Arthur stared at the miners and tried to understand what was happening. "Hey, stop standing and do some work". " What should I do?" Arthur responded. "Well, you are in a mine now, so do your work". Arthur picked up a pickaxe and decide whom to hit between the spikes or the glowing object. ''Whom should I hit? These pointed objects or the shining ones? The shining ones should be it." Arthur retracts the pickaxe and swings it over the glowing object. The collision created an energy blast due to which repelled Arthur, throwing him off the ground. Arthur fell on the ground, and all the miners ran towards him. The energy wave caused the K-bots to malfunction and drop dead. Zipch noticed the condition of K-bots while the other miners surrounded Arthur. "Didn't he know where he hit?" Ploink said. "Not now, Ploink.... Poor soul must be injured badly..." Ploink stopped running, and with him, most of the miners too stopped, except Stoid. He reached near Arthur, astonished. What he saw was Arthur sitting, examining his right hand. "How are you..... Even?'' ''Hey, could you help me?'', Arthur asked. ''Yeah-Yeah. Say what to do?" "Pull this thing towards your side", Arthur said while pointing towards the sleath on his hand. Stoid started to pull the sleath while Arthur pulled his hand on the other side. The sleath glitched once more and came out of Arthur's hand. Due to a sudden jolt, Stoid and Arthur staggered away. Stoid stood up and went near Arthur, helped him to stand. The first thing Arthur did after getting up was check his power watch. ''This doesn't seem good. The shock must have disrupted it.'' Stoid saw the power watch, tied on Arthur's hand. ''No... This means you are....'' ''Uh, what?''
''Stoid is taking too much time, should we go and check him?" Ploink suggested. "Yeah. If everything was good, he would have come long back".
''Hey, did you all notice something?''
''Now what, Zipch?'' ''See around us all, all K-bots are malfunctioned by a single energy wave.... If... If...." ''Zipch, hold your curiosity. We must first check on Stoid. He's been there for a while".
All the miners called for Stoid. Stoid heard their voices and hurried to Arthur to put the sleath back. Arthur was relieved to see his watch, but this act of Stoid disturbed Arthur. "What did you do just now... You damn...." "Don't bring it out in front of them, if you wanna stay alive". Stoid said with a heavy voice. "Also, don't act as if we had a conversation right now''.
"Oh, there they are...." Miner said, pointing towards Stoid and Arthur. Stoid and Arthur both heard the voice. Arthur was confused with the other side of Stoid he just witnessed. He looked towards his arm, exhausted. ''The sleath isn't locked. You can open it anytime you need, but not now", Stoid whispered, while acting to examine Arthur's nerves.
''He is still standing? How come?'' Miner asked. "It was just a spark and nothing more... Anyway, what did I hit exactly?" Arthur asked. All the miners looked questioned With Arthur's question. "It was just a simple question, and you all are looking puzzled?"
''Well, we aren't puzzled, but we are shocked to see an outsider coming to mines," Stoid replied.
''Bring out the orb, all of you.... That is, if you want to fill your stomach," the Ration Bearer said, carrying a cart of meals with him. ''All stand in one line with the sack of orb they mined." He looked around and saw that all the K-bots were lying on the ground, with no activity. "Hey, what happened with them? And why are you all still there, gathered in a crowd?..." All the miners went to their mining. They picked the sack and walked towards the Ration Bearer. Arthur walked with an empty sack. All the miners stood, forming a queue; Arthur stood last.
"Now, as the routine goes, give me your sack and say your name, aloud".
" Zipch, and I am holding 5 orb". "5 Orb you say, less... Still, here's your share". He gave food and, in exchange, took the sack. ''Next''. ''Ploink, with 3 Orbs" "Average". The Ration Bearer gave food and took the sack. One by one, miners took food, and the queue had four persons more. "....4 units." "Here... Take this and vanish.... How many are next?" the Ration Bearer complained. Croim step ahead. Arthur's stomach growled continuously. The miners who got their meal went to eat, as per the rule.
"psst..... Psst...." Stoid whispered.
"Huh.... What?" ''I say, let's switch places, you come ahead. "Hey, but why?'' " There isn't any food for both of us, so you should get it"
''I don't have any glowy power stone to start with, so... Hey, what are you doing?", Stoid moved behind. "Stop talking and come forward", Ration Bearer said pointing towards Arthur. With no other choice, Arthur stepped forward. The Ration Bearer looked towards Arthur and Arthur stared in his eyes. "stop starring and hand over your orbs". ''Lets just say, I am not hungry now, so Ill save my stones for tomorrow, so, coming next...." Arthur tried to move, but Ration bearer stopped him. "Whether you eat or not, I don't care.... Now handover your sack...." Arthur bent over to pick up the sack, but to his surprise, the sack had some stones in it. With no other choice, Arthur handed the sack to Ration Bearer. "What's this?" "This is what you asked for...."
"How many orbs did you mine?" the Ration Bearer asked. "See for yourself", Arthur answered. Ration Bearer emptied the sack over the cart. "So... your total orbs are 6, pretty normal, I say". Ration Bearer handed Arthur 2 meals; it was Stoid's turn now. "So, state your quantity". "Stoid with 2 orbs. "2 you say? not eligible"
"Sir... sir... I beg of you, have mercy on me", Stoid begged.
"How amusing, well, I, Great Mil'p will give you". Mil'p removed a meal from the cart but threw it on the ground. "What did you do, sir? threw food on the ground?" "You begged for food, I gave you alms." Stoid put the food on the plate, and went away. Arthur, from some distance away, saw this. He got on his nerves. "Listen, you all labour.... I pitied on you today and thus gave you all meal. Tomorrow won't be the same. Minimum orbs for tomorrow is 7/per person..... mine accordingly". The Ration Bearer left the mining grounds, and a new batch of K-bots entered the mining grounds.
"Here, take this", Arthur offered. "No, I have my share of food". "It was you, right? You gave me your share of glowy stones and pleaded for food from him", Arthur said. "Your stomach growled, and you won't be able to mine on an empty stomach. Now eat your food. I'll come in a while", saying this, Stoid walked away.
--to be continued---