Destiny of the Chihuahua
by Adam Biltcliffe (2001)
Genres: Science Fiction


action: %
response: Times are hard on Io. The bright and lively mining settlement you grew up surrounded by has faded and withered under the rule of the new Commander. Although life expectancy in the aluminium mines has never been more than a few months, the happy-go-lucky acceptance of this fact you used to know among the mining folk is gone. The stream of arrivals seems to be drying up, and huge parts of the settlement lie in ruins, dwelt in only by ghosts.

It is at times like these that the accusing finger of the people inevitably turns to point at taxation, and the new taxes levied by Commander Brutus attract that finger like a lump of ore attracts an Ionian. It's hard to pin the blame for the decline directly on taxation, but since everyone hates the new Commander, it seems to be helping.

Or at least, you thought it was. It was a source of hope - now you have an enemy in the Commander, a real, tangible adversary, whose defeat would bring back happiness and joy to the colony. You would give a heroic sendoff to the people's representative, who would venture bravely into the palace and seek out Brutus. You would wait pensively, hardly daring to hope, until the representative emerged with the news - the Commander had capitulated! Joy would be restored!

But you'd never counted on the bastards electing you.

An entry in SPEED-IF 2001
Copyright Adam Biltcliffe 2001

Town Square, Io Mining Colony Three
Jupiter looms above you, huge and ominous, lord of planets, driving home the magnitude of your task. To the north is the great Palace of the Chihuahua family, old and encrusted with spires and ornamentation, whence Commander Brutus, last of the Chihuahua, rules the colony with an iron hand. To the west is the Guildhall of the Miners, filled with those you thought your remaining friends, those who just ejected you into the square to carry forth the torch of hope for the whole of your world.
action: About yourself
response: As good-looking as ever.
action: Go west
response: You can't go back in there now. You have been given a task, and you must fulfil it.
action: You go to the north
response: Heavy-hearted, you climb the steps up the the palace doors, which swing open at your approach. So deep is your despondency that you barely notice until you are inside and the doors swing silently closed again with an air of greatest malevolence.

You've never been inside the palace before, but strangely, instead of the sickening displays of wealth and shamelessness you were expecting, the abandoned air is even more prevalent here. Your footsteps and your voice echo in the empty hallway. The throne room is visible through an archway to the north.
action: Go north
response: The throne room might once have been opulent, but like the rest of the palace, it is hung with sadness.

Commander Brutus' great throne sits in the centre of the room.
action: You examine the throne
response: A massive yet unadorned throne, constructed out of great blocks of aluminium. From here, the Commander rules over all of Io.
action: You sit on the throne
response: As you touch the throne, hidden motors begin to whir. You leap back in surprise as the giant seat of power slides out of sight mysteriously, revealing a vertical tunnel leading downwards.
action: You go downward
response: Though no-one is in sight, your ears are racked by noises of industry such as you never thought you'd hear on Io again. Giant machinery roars in the distance from the passages leading north and east.
action: You go to the east
response: The roar of the giant treadmills assails your ears as you look around this huge chamber. While the giant wheels spin in the darkness, you can make out some kind of control panel nearby. A passage leads back to the west.
action: You look at the panel
response: This aluminium panel sports a bewildering array of levers and buttons.
action: You pull the lever
response: As you touch the panel, a hideous groan emanates from the giant treadmills. Gloomy shapes move through the darkness, striking each other in showers of sparks. There is a long, drawn-out squeal, a few confused noises from the creatures in the treadmills, and then utter silence.

The treadmills have stopped.
action: You press the button
response: The control panel is utterly inert.
action: Look around
response: The giant treadmills loom silently and motionlessly in the darkness. A passage to the west beckons.
action: Go west
response: The silence is eerie. Passages lead north and east.
action: Go north
response: You head down the passage and emerge into a huge open chamber. Suddenly, hidden generators whine and the room is flooded with light again, illuminating the figure of Commander Brutus towering above you.

"An intruder!" he cackles. "But how very perfectly timed! You shall be the first to witness my great triumph! Revel in this honour, for not much life remains to you in which to do so!"

Brutus paces around in a circle atop the dais. "They never suspected, the fools! They thought that since I was the youngest, I was expendable! They sent me into the aluminium mines to die with all the commoners, to show that the great Chihuahua family was not above the humble day-to-day life-and-death struggle of the common miner. They thought they would never see me again! But HOW WRONG THEY WERE!"

Brutus pauses. One thing is explained at least; the aluminium fumes have evidently destroyed his brain. He draws himself up for another tirade.

"They thought I was the cruel ruler!" he sneers. "They thought I was just out for money! They never suspected that one day I would RULE THE UNIVERSE! I, with the aid of my terrible army of robot croutons, shall rise up and crush all the puny ants who oppose me beneath my aluminium toecaps!"

As Brutus falls silent, you sense movement, and look down to see the tide of croutonic metal figures advancing upon you. Brutus leaps down from the dais and is lost among their number.

The croutons swarm towards you.
action: You look at the croutons
response: An army of metallic croutons advances upon you, destruction in their eyes and in their aluminium hearts.

The croutons are drawing closer.
action: You eat the croutons
response: (first taking the robot crouton army)
The robot army advances implacably.

The robot crouton army is almost upon you!
action: Attack croutons
response: You could never hope to destroy even one.

The robot crouton army is almost upon you!
action: Go south
response: The silence is eerie. Passages lead north and east.

The robot croutons pursue you with murder in their little crouton eyes.
action: You take the crouton
response: The robot army advances implacably.

The robot croutons show not the slightest bit of recognition as you are sliced into pieces by their irresistable advance.
action: Go east
response: As you flee desperately down the passage towards the power plant, some sixth sense tells you that something is about to happen. You throw yourself into a tiny crevice in the wall of the passage, just as the huge army of yaksters, broken free from the treadmill, come cascading down the tunnel in an almightly horde. Looking back past the stream of rumbling animals, you see the lead croutons stop in their tracks, fear flickering in their previously emotionless eyes just for a fraction of a second before they are crushed to smithereens.

All is silent. The yaksters are gone, the robots are destroyed. Brutus' body lies in the midst of his robot horde, barely recognisable. The tyrannical insane ruler is dead, prosperity shall reign on Io once more. It is, in fact, a happy ending.