NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
The light flickers overhead, filling the room with a dim yellow glow, and a quiet, staticky buzzing. A man is strapped into a sturdy wooden chair. Unconscious, but slowly rousing. The first thing he sees when he wakes up is an old generator sitting on top of a table, surrounded by various tools and assorted parts. Feeling disoriented and drowsy, his mind feels like it’s running on quicksand.
Where am I? It takes him a moment to realise that he’s not in his bed. Did I fall asleep in my shed? Spotting the generator in front of him, the first thought that came to his mind was that he fell asleep at his desk working. But as he becomes more clear-headed, he realises that something is wrong with his situation. The light is too dark for him to work safely, and he clearly remembers going to bed the night before. As he looks around at the barren walls, he confirms that he isn’t in his shed.
“What the fuck?” As he tries to get up, he finds himself strapped down to the chair, his entire body completely unable to move, except for his hands which are within reach of everything on the table. He feels a cold sensation on his head and leg, feeling that something cold is pressing against them. He tries to struggle out of it, but the straps are wound around him too tightly, and refuse to budge or tear no matter what he does. Even after using the tools on the table to try and cut through them, they remain undamaged.
“Good morning, Kaleb. Before you lies a faulty generator. It is prone to randomly activating on its own and may do so at any time, even when there is no change to cause it. You have been supplied with all the tools and materials you will need to fix the generator and prevent it from going off. As long as you do so, you will be free to go. This generator should be something you are familiar with. After all, you did damage one just like it to let out your frustrations on your neighbour. Who knew that an accident would happen, taking his life...”
Memories of the man he killed play in his mind. How do they know? As he looks down, he sees cables connecting the generator to a main panel, with further cables leading to his head and shin, completing a circuit with his body. An electric chair...
“... But it wasn’t an accident, was it? Have you ever thought about what you put that man through? If you don’t manage to fix it in time, you will soon find out exactly what he felt. Good luck, Kaleb.”
Hearing the voice, Kaleb quickly gets to work, refusing to waste any time. Normally, I have to deal with generators that won’t put out power... But this shouldn’t be too difficult. He turns the generator around, looking it over from all sides. Everything’s looking fine from the outside. There are no clear signs of damage, and it’s turned off. How will this thing turn on? He reaches for the cable connecting the generator and the panel, and pulls on it with all his might. It wouldn’t be this simple, right?
As expected, no matter how he tries to pull on the cable, it refuses to unplug itself from the generator. He stops trying after giving it a few good tugs, quickly moving onto dismantling the outside casing of the generator, hoping to find the problem within. Normally, an automatic generator like this will turn itself on in the event of a power outage, but I don’t see how that could happen. Unless it’s plugged into something else.
Kaleb notices an inconspicuous hole next to the panel, with a thin cable passing through. He looks around the room, trying to find anything that could be using electricity. It looks to be connected to the light. I can’t find anything else it could be. I think I’ve figured it out. The generator itself isn’t damaged at all! Somehow, a power outage will occur, causing it to turn on, sending electricity through the system, and into the chair. The light should be able to warn me when the power turns off... But if it’s not broken, how can I stop this from happening?
Kaleb continues to study the generator, trying to find ways to prevent it from turning on. I should double check for damages just to be safe. I can’t mess up here. He pulls off the last few panels of the generator, studying each of the internal components for damages. It looks fine. I can’t find any damages at all. That means the bastard that’s trapped me in here is lying. I can’t fix something if it’s not damaged in the first place
Wait... That’s it! If I damage it, it won’t be able to turn itself on. Excited, he starts tearing apart the generator completely, no longer being careful by just removing the structural casing. He starts by removing the fuel system, cooling and exhaust systems, trying to not cause any accidents. He pushes on with the dismantling, quickly removing everything until just the engine, alternator, battery, and control panel remain connected to the cables. I’ve been able to remove all of the unnecessary parts, now it’s just the core parts remaining. The engine can still run off the battery, it’ll just quickly destroy itself without fuel or the other parts in place.
He keeps an eye on the light at all times, trying to gauge when the power will go out. If I can just remove the battery, then I’ll be fine. He maintains his focus, carefully trying to disconnect the battery from the engine starter.
Suddenly he hears a light hum, as the engine starts to rumble. What? He looks up at the light but finds that it’s still on. But I’ve checked the entire thing, that’s the only possible answer. I’ve pulled the fucking thing apart. This shouldn’t be happening. It him a moment to realise that the light has dimmed ever so slightly. A brownout.
As the generator turns on, a current of electricity streams through into the electric chair, frying his brain. His last thoughts being stuck on how he couldn’t find any problems at all.
“Unfortunately, Kaleb, you were unable to fix the problem with the faulty generator in time. Pulling it apart was a good idea, but ultimately you ran out of time to do so. Enjoy Hell Kaleb, goodbye.”