Chapter Five
The storage shed was a concrete building, with no entrances or exits, only chutes that led from two ends. Every day, a portion of grain would eject from one of the chutes into a pit, enough for one day’s food for everyone in the commune. The chute on the other side was frequented during harvest season, when the loads of grain would be deposited inside. The building was designed to ensure that no-one could accidently disrupt the main supply of food. For any glitches in the mechanics operating the chutes, there was only a tunnel that led from the leader’s palace, allowing it to fix any possible problem that could arise. But 541588 was not accidently disrupting the food supply. It was very purposeful, a little desperate. It had spent the day of rest it had given the others scouring the exterior of the buildings for any weakness, any imperfections. The concrete was impenetrable, that was for sure, and it was soon evident that the only ways inside and out were through the chutes. Those thin metal chutes.
541588 lay itself down on one of them, its shoulders contorted and almost touching each other, its hips pushed hard against the sides, and tried to pull itself up, feet first into the building. Its legs made it through, bunched together, but once it got to its hips its feet hit an obstruction. It bent its knees, felt for clear air and found none. It twisted, falling out a bit, but managed to turn itself a hundred and eighty degrees. Its reward was its face knocked against the hot metal. But it persisted; the chute was just large enough that it thought it had a chance. It pulled itself back up to where its feet hit the obstruction and bent its knees, feet going upward, and this time, there was nothing in the way. Though its hips still couldn’t make it through. It could feel the bone on either side, stuck, a smidgen wider than the opening. It was too small, it could not fit.
But it couldn’t give up.
They had dug up the field, dug a massive hole. Now it was its turn to do its work. It pushed as hard as it could, felt the pain sear all the way up its waist to its ribs to its tucked shoulders and then it was in, smashing its legs against a sheet of metal, and falling face first into a heap of grain.
It took a moment to look around and recover. Two beacons of light that came from the chutes provided the illumination, revealing metal pieces, gears, sheets jutting in every direction out of a sea of grain. It was going to take a long time to get it all out. The words “get out” stayed in its mind for longer than it should have and it soon realised that it could not get out itself. The shape of the opening and the metal sheet that stood a metre away from the chute meant that it would need an impossible angle to exit. It could stay inside for now and try to work something out. The others would come tomorrow with their buckets. They had been told to do so. They would help. For now, it would have to wait among the grain through the night.
They arrived the next morning as it trusted they would, crowding outside the chute, blocking the light. The buckets wouldn’t fit inside. It could only scoop the grain onto the chute with its bare hands and hope the others would listen to its shouted commands and carry the grain into the hole. It was slow going from inside the shed and woefully inefficient outside. Most of them were just waiting for something to do. Eventually, 541588 ordered a few of them to lie into the chute and they were pushed inside to help with removing the grain. It was quicker now, with seven of them inside working together, and handful by handful, bucket by bucket, the commune’s food supplies disappeared from the storage and filled the hole.
I could see the entire operation. From the camera inside the storage, it could see the grain being scooped onto the chute and disappearing outside, while another camera on a nearby apartment showed the others collecting the grain in buckets and carrying them out of sight. It kept following this trail and ultimately found that the operation stopped at the fallow, which it now understood why they dug up, as it watched the precious grain poured into the hole. It wanted to do something, to stop this dreadful business immediately, to cast 541588 away and to fix the commune, but it was unable to muster up the courage to do anything other than watch. The trapdoor at the corner of the room that led to the storehouse beckoned. It could go through and confront 541588. But there were six of them inside with it. It couldn’t win. So it did the only thing it could. It called the central control, got no response, and called again and again, while outside, 541588 was doing exactly as it feared and destroying the rest of the food supply.
For 541588 the next few days were a continuation of the success that it was now accustomed to. By late afternoon on the eighth day, the last of the grain was moved into the hole and buried. Then the problem of getting out returned. They had managed to stay alive during their time inside the ware house by getting the others to bring them food and water. But now the situation was untenable. They could not stay inside the shed forever. At least there were seven of them in there and they could help each other out. Through some trial and error, a technique was soon found that would allow one to escape if they were lifted and pushed head first down the chute by another.
541588 went out first. One by one the others followed until there was only a one left. It couldn’t get out on its own, and they tried for the best part of an hour to help it from the outside to no avail. It was getting late now, and 541588 decided to leave it behind. It promised to itself that it would bring meals to it every day before calling everyone back to their rooms and retreating to its own, looking forward to a night in its own bed.
541564 was miserable inside the storehouse. It just wanted to go back to its apartment. It had helped 541588 as much as it hated it and it had stayed in the storehouse for eight terrible days already. It tried everything, injured everything trying to get out by itself but it was truly impossible. It would have to remain miserable, alone and trapped.