Inheritance of Giants

Welcome to the Machine

"Welcome my son.

Welcome to the machine!

Where have you been?

It's all right, we know where you've been.

You've been in the pipeline filling in time."

- Welcome to the Machine, Pink Floyd

~

When the group of four walked inside the facility, they were greeted by a metal shutter, a second shutter sealing shut behind them before a quiet alarm was set off.

Toga tensed, hearing the alarm before the smoke inside was cleared out, replaced by clean oxygen.

When the first shutter opened, Stan, Ford, and Victor sighed, taking off their gas masks. Stan and Ford had the same face, a square chin, round nose, and graying hair. Victor's left eye was marred by claw marks, rendering it blind and useless.

"Man, it's so good to have those masks off finally," Stan muttered, rolling his left shoulder before popping his neck.

"It's one of the only times I can agree with you," Ford responded, stretching his arms.

"Oh? What about that time where we beat up that, uh... who did we beat up?" Stan pondered, beginning to stretch his hamstrings.

"Caleb, Stan, and I did not agree with you on that, I only helped for our survival," Ford grumbled.

"Eh, agree, don't agree, actions will always speak louder than words, Ford," Stan said with a snort, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's just a figure of speech, Stan, that doesn't always hold true," Ford huffed, walking out of the airlock.

"If it's a figure of speech, Ford, then why do you hate politicians for their actions and not their words?" Stan rebutted before poking Martinez in the ribs with his elbows. "Always such a hypocrite, Ford is, huh, Martinez?"

"Uh," Toga began. "Yeah, Ford is a hypocrite."

"Ha! See, Ford?" Stan began. "Even Martinez agrees with me!"

Toga grabbed her side, uncomfortable by the elbow poke, making Victor frown. "Your side okay, Martinez?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, just had a... tumble. Yeah, just a tumble," Toga mumbled.

"Oof, man, at least you aren't as old as us two," Stan said. "Last time I had a tumble was when I broke my knee, and, well, I was out of commission for a long time."

"Well..." Victor began slowly, still looking at Toga's side. "At least we're going to the medbay. Probably best to get that checked out, Martinez. Just my opinion, but, well, the small things add up around here."

"Yeah, it's kind of like how, oh, what was that thing you were talking about with the doctors and the X-rays, Ford?" Stan asked with a confused expression. "I think it was like-"

"Oh, yes! I had been wondering for a long time why doctors would tell us that X-rays are safe for us, but then stand behind a protective wall! Well, Devon, Dr. Leon's assistant was telling me that it works like this: Say that you're a bartender, and you drink one alcoholic beverage with each of your customers. You'd be dead within the week!"

"And why does this matter?" Stan asked with an even more confused expression.

"I'm getting to it, Stan," Ford grumbled before shaking his head. "Sorry, anyways, instead of drinking with each of your customers at the bar, you simply don't. It isn't as simple as that for radiation, however, so the wall is needed to make sure of that. That small amount of radiation for the single person is fine, but it's the cumulative radiation on the doctor that makes it lethal for said doctor."