Did They Really Freeze Him?

Cyrus had exited the men's room and moved away from the train station. He walked down the front steps and stepped foot on the island, looking around to get his bearings. He couldn't quite tell if the place looked half constructed or half destroyed. Although he didn't know the reason for this park's closure, it was clearly a good idea to keep it closed from the public. The sign looked as if it had been cut in half cleanly, or perhaps only half had been constructed? As he stepped through the main gates and wandered the streets of the abandoned amusement park, he passed buildings covered in large white tents, covering them from prying eyes.

Farther down the path he could see a collection of constructed white tents and several Marines standing guard outside, though they weren't the most alert looking fellows, clearly bored with their postings. As Cyrus drew closer he could hear the sound of machinery and buzzsaws cutting through metal. The hiss of welding torches filled the air from behind the white tents and Cyrus's curiosity only grew.

Approaching the bored looking Marines, they sized Cyrus up and down before one approached and studied the ID badge clipped to his left breast pocket.
Hmm you're with group B, your shift just ended. What happened, missed the train? The Marine asked Cyrus.
Wouldn't you know it, I get all the way to the tracks only to remember I forgot to clock out. Last thing I need is some hard ass above us coming down on me thinking I was trying to squeeze a few more beli out of them.
Ha, amen to that brother. Swear the budget department is stingier than all hell, rather give up their own kids than a few extra coin.
Pfft don't I know it. Cyrus said as the Marines let him pass and he entered the first large white tent behind them.

Inside it seemed to be set up as a sort of base of operations, the tent stretching much farther back than Cyrus had anticipated. Marines and what looked like World Government engineers milled about, the tent sectioned off to a small kitchenette area where the smell of coffee wafted about, a paperwork area where Cyrus could see the machine used to clock in and out, that had been a lucky guess, and then just a general sitting area for breaks most likely. As he strolled through the tent no one paid him any mind, he was just another one of them, off and about, keeping his head down and getting his work done.

Poking out the backside of the tent, Cyrus peered around. A small town of tents had been set up across the amusement park it seemed, people walking in and out with various machinery, scraps of metal and wood, and wheelbarrows filled with what looked like just rubble and garbage being carted off to deeper into the park. To his left the sounds of mechanical cutting and the hiss of a torch permeated the tent flaps. Naturally he selected this as his first stop.

Peeling back the entrance flap to the tent, Cyrus found himself within a workshop of sorts, a small conveyor built had been erected in the center where World Government engineers stood hacking and slashing apart similar looking robots to those of the ones Cyrus had seen on the first island. Cyrus looked to his right to find a bored Marine sitting on a chair, his arms crossed in front of him, simply staring off into the distance and clearly lost in thought. Cyrus decided to take a chance,

Finally scrapping the ole robots, huh? He said to the Marine who initially appeared surprised anyone had spoken to him. He looked around for a brief minute before looking up at Cyrus, focusing on him,
Ah yeah, they finally started on the last batch of em. Hopefully they can actually make use of that metal once they melt down the scraps. Turn into some swords or guns, something that won't go crazy and turn on ya like these fuckers did.

That was interesting information, so the robots had turned at some point. Attacked guests maybe? Was that why the park was shut down and "under construction"? Still, if something like that had happened surely the people of Jaya, hell even the News Coo would have addressed something like that. Rogue robots at a family friendly amusement park tends to make for some juicy headlines.

Yeah, damn bastards. Don't know what that Creator William guy was thinking. Probably getting reamed by upper brass for this fuck up, eh?
Pfft, you mean the old man? Wasn't his fault, someone hacked the bots supposedly. Figures they didn't tell you anything, hardly told me anything when I first got here. Old man is beside himself, he's putting himself through a worse hell than anyone on this island could. He basically locked himself up in his office on the base, won't come out or talk to anyone. Only ever opens the door for food delivery is what I hear, though haven't seen him much myself so who knows.

So the Marines on the ferry had been right, something was going on here. Something most likely to do with the Toy King. Whatever happened had caused William to have some sort of mental break.
Right, well I'll be seein ya. Cyrus said, backing out of the tent.
Oi, do a mate a favor and grab me a cup of coffee. If not for the noise of this place I'd be falling asleep just sitting here. Tempted to join the sorry souls of this island and just blow my brains out.
Uh, yeah, see what I can do for ya.

Cyrus closed the tent flaps behind him, his mind racing as he walked the paths between the tents. Join the sorry souls of this island? Robots turned on people. Something had happened here, something far worse than he realized. As Cyrus passed another large tent, a sudden burst of cold chilled him in the warm air of the island. Curious, he walked to the end of the tent and entered this one as well. Inside he found massive metal crates stacked on top of one another lining both sides of the walls. Along the center of the tent were tables with various clipboards, papers, charts and logs. Scientists and medical staff milled about the room, dressed in long sleeve clothing and thick rubber gloves. They hardly paid him any attention as he approached the first of the tables and began looking over the scribbled notes.

A particular log entry caught his attention detailing the transfer and apparent destruction of "subjects." Apparently some time later after the destruction of subjects V101-W010, the furnace had shut down and was in need of repair, which had caused a massive backup in the freezers. What in the hell were they destroying here? The robots were in the chop shop tent several tents away, they didn't need to be kept in freezers.

The answer to his question came almost immediately as two World Government scientists passed by him with a wheeled stretcher. He watched them approach one of the freezers, open it, and begin unloading the body of a full grown woman, or at least what was left of her. The freezing had stopped the blood and various bodily fluids from leaking out, coagulating them in the wounds, of which there were many. For one thing the woman was missing half her face, looking as if it had been ripped off. Large chunks of flesh had been shredded across her body and her abdomen was rife with bullet holes.

The scientists deposited her lifeless corpse onto the gurney before closing the freezer door and moving on to the next one, this time pulling out a young boy, or most of a young boy. The head was clearly missing and Cyrus could feel the cheap lunch he had bought on the train over begin to bubble up to his throat. What in the hell was going on here? He watched as the scientists piled the gurney five bodies high before moving off, one pushing the gurney, the other holding the bodies steady so as to prevent them from spilling over.

Poor bastards, didn't stand a chance when those robots lost their shit. Practically ripped the guests apart. World Government was forced to strip them of their last shreds of dignity and just burn the bodies to cover the whole thing up. Wonder what kind of ridiculous story they'll concoct to cover their asses this time. A scientist said from behind Cyrus, surprising the disguised Revolutionary.

So that's what happened here then? Robots went rogue and murdered all of the guests? Now the World Government has to cover up the mess to not scare the public away and keep them coming to the islands?

The scientist looked Cyrus up and down for a long moment before saying,
Ah you must be part of the new batch they said they were sending in to help with the rest of disposal. Already a changing of the guard. You guys are lucky, only have to deal with being stationed here a couple weeks at a time. Me? Been here since the beginning, three months now. I've seen things and smelled things - oh the smell, the smell of burning flesh in the incinerator is something you'll never forget - and the sights I've seen...they'll haunt me until the day I die. Whoever did this, turned this bots against the unarmed masses, they're sick, evil to their core. I just want to get off this hellish rock and go home, put this place behind me. Luckily as long as the incinerator doesn't get clogged again and break down we're looking to have the last of the bodies ashed by sometime next week.

Cyrus listened carefully to the scientist and realized a single sad truth. This woman was simply looking for anyone new to talk to, to share her stories, to listen to her and feel bad for her. She was alone and probably to some degree broken by the mental and emotional strain of her work over these past few weeks, surrounded by people feeling the exact same way as her. The guests on the island had lost their lives, but the people sent to clean up the mess seemed to have lost even more.

Right, well...I'm glad to hear that, that you're almost done I mean. Sorry for taking up your time, I got side tracked by the cool breeze coming from this tent. Thought it would feel nice to get out of the heat for a minute. I never realized I'd be walking into something like...this. Cyrus said, gazing around before bidding the scientist goodbye and heading back out of the tent.

He walked back towards the tram station, his mind racing. So someone had hacked the bots, turned them against thousands of innocent civilians. The World Government was trying to cover up the massacre and clearly pinning it on Toy King Momo who has already taken over the bots on the second island. It's a logical conclusion for the Marines to draw, except they can't find Toy King Momo on Dollyland or if they do it seems their patrols are quickly eliminated. Meanwhile the creator of this entire place, the man who made these islands to be a place of joy and fun for all was faced with the terrible news that his creations had been hacked and turned against the very people he had built this place for, families. Naturally he's suffering some sort of mental break from the sound of the rumors floating about, most likely beside himself with grief.

As Cyrus stood on the tram platform awaiting his ride to the tenth and final island for his meeting with Creator William, he calculated the various angles he could play this conversation. Playing to the man's grief would be good, Cyrus wouldn't be able to bring all those people back to life or undo the massacre, but if he could convince him the Revolution could provide the necessary supplies and tools to keep his creations safe, maybe he could convince William to join the cause. It was a long shot, but right now it was the best shot he had. First though, Cyrus needed to get into the Marine base, hopefully the disguise would work just as well as it had on the fifth island.