The Automated King

First Meeting

(Ring Ring)

Argh.... this deep in the dusk, and a pesky little delivery service interrupted my privacy for the second time. I really wanted to shun this one, but having a letter swinging by is some novel stuff to behold. They must be really interested with my abilities, huh, for them to send another one so quick. I have to figure out the new set of jump for me to read this, that’s the matter at hand for most.

{sniff-sniff)

Hoo, my latest power is still running down my nose. It might be due to my still-injured reek detector, or it's just showed up as my long-standing skills for the rest of my life. Shall I commence the detective work to spend my break? I need to know their reason in a blitz, or they will deliver this message everyday and disrupting my beauty sleep in silence.

(sniff....sniff)

Oh, I must find the relatable specimen for me to investigate this case. Right, I have to stack the miasma of her stinky reeks for sure....

(sniff...sniff)

She is outside!

(Sniff.....Sniff)

The next step... ugh, I nearly got myself throwing up by the stench.

She is mowing her lawn today. Huh? She got the missing item, all by herself? But how?

I couldn’t read her lips. She spoke of something, I’m sure of it. Unfortunately, this surveillance snapshots can only plays down a silent movie. If this power stays longer, I would allocate my time to hit the books about lip reading afterwards.

Hmmm, She packed up her mower. Please, go somewhere, Ma’am, I’m starting to feel a load of boredom in here.

And.... She got back to sleep. Mission accomplished? Yup, I can see the writings of the letter now, thanks to her fume of no-shower morning.

“ To: Mr. Reginald.... Please introduce yourself with the surname next time, sir.

I am sorry for the previous letters, if it made you perplexed (if it’s not.... that’s marvelous!!). This is an official invitation from our group, Repugnare, to be present in our general meeting. The location of our homebase is pictured down below. Thank you for your attention, and we hope you would attend the gathering today.

With warm welcome,

Maria the slink “

Hmm? Is this the photos of the house that Marion had entered in my projection awhile back?  Does it mean that Marion is one of Repugnare? Who the hell are they, anyway? A movie producer, or a studio owner, perhaps?

From the letters, It’s kicking off at 15.00 in the evening. Hmmm, I am totally free for this Saturday, so it’s the best run to tell of their true cause or my prowess if it is their main concern from me.

---

Three of the evening. It’s the destined schedule arranged for the “general meeting” told by the letter. Reginald has worn his best suits, a plain tux instilled with a lot of badges and insignia, which was bestowed from his partake as a manager of the month’s accolades. The house, as he tried to knock, was dimmed of lights, wrapped with enormous width of spider webs, and dilapidated to the bone structure of its foundation as an ample sign of old house to the visitor.

“Am I being scammed?”

Reginald probing the wall to unveil the concealed button, by which he presumed as the principal key to get inside.

“Ouch... the spider bit me. Is this one venomous?”

A jet-black colored spider crawling back to it’s lair, frightened by the havoc caused by the creature down under.

“Damn it, that could be what the TV scientist had spoken about. The black widow, right? I hope they have any antidote inside, or else I might be dyi...”

Reginald fell unconscious in an instant.

---

“Hey, are you awake? Hey, Mr. Reginald...”

Reginald gradually crawling back to the human realm. His head sensed an immense pain, twitching rigorously in advance.

“Arghhh!! It hurts!!!!”

“Sorry, Mr. Reginald, this is the only medication for black widow venom that we could muster from our warehouse. I am Ellen the Hound, the director of Repugnare. Nice to meet you.”

The presence of a middle-aged woman preludes his emergence. However, Reginald’s attention are diverted towards the throbbing ache underneath, prevent him to see clearly of anything occurring ahead of him.

“This is too brutal for me, I give up!! Stop this nonsense!”

Reginald clenching his head in agony.

“Ah, yeah. The side effect of the cure is what happened to you this time, Mr. Reginald. You have to bear this for at least...... thirty minutes left. And right now is twenty-nine, Mr. Reginald! A minute short to sickness liberation!!”

“Reginald this, Reginald there... call me Regi, Okay? Arrghh!!!”

“Okay, Regi, pleased to meet you. This is the best position for me to introduce you with the residing members of our base.”

“Stop it, Ellen. He is recovering, but the chat would make it worse. Let him endure this in peace.”

An unknown figure interrupting Ellen from the distance. Reginald, by closing one of his eye to reduce the pain, attempting to see someone behind the veil of darkness.

“Is that you, Marion?.... Ah, aw..... Are you one of this... mobsters? De..ep condolences, you might get drunk too much from your booze.... argh!!”

“Emmm...Errrr.... No, this is me, Maria! You can call me Maria, the Slink. Nah, you must renounce your way of applying that nicknames at all cost!! Just forget it.. alright? Please.”

“Emm...Which one, Maria? Is it your name or your alias?”

“our moniker  counted under alias too, Simon. Are you dumb?”

“No, I’m not, Merry.. I just.... ah, never mind.”

The three-way conversation occurring in the dark, rumbling around the bush and neglected  the whimpering patient on the bed.

“Get out of here, all of you!! The deafening chit-chat made me crazy!!”

Reginald blaring his rage, erupted his anger to his surroundings without mercy.

“Uh-oh, he is entering the manic phase. Come on, my fellow saviors, we have to get out of here, just like what he wished for.”

The next after the command from Ellen, all of the members stepping out of the room to give space for Reginald to endure the woe by himself.

“We’ll return after 25 minutes, Regi. Good luck!”

---

 “....”

The door  hinge is creaking, sounds of it being unlatched by somebody from outside. After a few moments of waiting, the members of Repugnare set foot into the room with Ellen as the forefront of the band.

“....”

“How was it, Regi? Are you okay?”

Reginald dead staring up to the roof.

“Regi? Do you hear me?”

“I could shoot venoms from my butt...”

“Pardon me?”

“Your friends are hysteric, please shush them up for me.”

The blast of laughter echoed within the condensed chamber. Nobody is hesitant to roar wholeheartedly, sharing their happiness over Reginald’s sorrow.

“It’s useless, Regi.... everyone is delighted with it.”

A mysterious person, in a gleeful reaction, approaching  the lying Reginald in awe.

 “For real, Regi? Are you certain it’s a venom spurting...ah... pouring out from your butt hole?”

“Well, half correct, umm... who’s your name again?

“It’s Simon.”

“Yeah, Simon. It’s streaming..... in a single burst.”

“HAHA!! It tickles!!!”

A woman in coat is getting closer to Reginald’s rear end, injecting a fearsome-looking needle to his butt-cheeks.

“Argh!! hey, what are you doing down there? get it off my ass!!”

“Humble apologize, Regi. I am intrigued to obtain some sample from the substance. Please do not spray it to my face, okay?”

“This person is Merry, Reginald. She is our in-house scientist. Let her take one dose of liquid to back up your claim.”

“Ellen, tell this man to stop moving erratically. He is obstructing my ejection process.”

“Please calm down, Reginald. She is doing no harm to you.”

One other woman rubbing Reginald’s shoulder to ease off his problem.

“Hi, Regi.”

"And for her, Reginald, She is the person responsible for your recruitment.”

Reginald switching his attention to Maria’s direction.

“Yo, Marion. I would be relieved if you returned my bag, and by the way, how did you fiddle around inside my crib? I am pretty confident that I locked it all down perfectly.”

“For your room, I could say that it’s my quirk that helped me out to infiltrate any tight and enclosed space, such as your apartment.”

“How terrific! And scary, in opposite. So, this will change everything, eh, Miss lawnmower... what about my bag? Is the fragrance safe and sound?”

“It’s leaning by the comfort of your bed, Regi. No, let’s keep in mind that those event was never happened. We are under supervision, you know.”

Reginald turning his back to Ellen.

“Supervision? What is all that fuss about, Ellen? Who is in charge of being the superior over these organization? Is that you?”

“No way, Regi, it’s not about me. The person in motion of the authority is this city’s leader, Mr. LORD. You should have this in mind from now on, if you were registered to our system, of course.”

The facial expression of Reginald is displaying a spark of wonder.

“Hoo, alright. If I do take part in this, emm, community, could I get a bonus or something?”

“Your deduction is impressive, Reginald. Yes, in every successful mission, there are bonus points to your personal AoK.”

“Is that so? It’s fine for me, then. I, Reginald Lambardi, have granted you permission to add my name on the list.”

Simon, as the moment of truth from Reginald to ring the end with his sentence, intruding the discussion by his majestic charade of a knight.

“This man is selfish, your majesty. Should I flog him for the goodness of our castle?”

Simon has prepared the means of confinement, a human-size log with two hand-holes and a single hollowed opening for the head.

“No, Simon, he should be incapacitated for his insolence.”

Merry, in her fixated concentration to the venom test, pointing towards the sword hanging up on the wall.

“Hey, hey, do not be so hasty, ‘cause I, Maria, would protect his virginity!!”

Maria, or Marion, is jumping up to the southern side of the bed with her abrupt shield, playing a role as a protector of the realm. Reginald, in his own volition,  fallen to the knees and dropping his head to the ground.

“I am pleading for your mercy of my flippant and dishonorable attitude, your highness,. I would never do this any longer.”

Simon is clutching Reginald’s shoulder in amusement, felt happy with his agile reaction.

 “Haha, he is blending with our act really well! You should be my tandem for the next quest, Regi.”

 “Yeah, he is adapting with the pressure successfully. The evaluation is finished, and you are passed.”

Ellen is nodding in acceptance.

“Not to mention that he needs to greet our other warriors, as well. How about the examination, Merry?”

“He is not really recovered, but I could fix that plate tomorrow.”

“Hahaha, as I expected. Here you go, Reginald! Your registration papers. When you filled out all the questions and handed it back to me, you are officially standing as one of our priceless family members. Welcome to the club, Regi.”