Magnet POV

…

The Magnet hovered over the junkyard from his crane, scowling. He slammed down on a pile of junk. Lifting up a large group of broken appliances, machines, and doodads, he carried it all to the conveyor belt leading to the trash compactor. There, it would be mashed in the jaws of the compactor to an efficient square of scrap. He dropped the junk down a chute and turned to seek a new pile.

Before he could so much as found the next target, he came to an enforced stop. His systems were largely automatic, but someone had hit his off-button in another location. It could only mean that new material was arriving at the junkyard.

He closed his eyes, concealing his intelligent nature, and then carefully peaked on the scene.

Entering the junkyard was a garbage truck with, of course, more garbage. The Magnet stayed motionless. He knew the routine: he moved junk to the trash compactor to make space in the junkyard. His systems would shut down when garbage trucks arrived to insure their safety. The arriving trucks would bring more junk and then depart, leaving him to move once more and continue his job.

The trunk dumped its contents on one of the large piles and departed. Magnet's systems reactivated. He resumed his job. He fumed as he slammed down on another pile. He hated his job; he hated his reason for existing. But he hated inaction more. He would do what he was designed to do.

He dismantled four more piles in less than two minutes. He was arcing on his way to slam down on another when he noticed something. Some small appliances had jumped off the trash pile just he had just left. While that was unusual, Magnet refocused on the junk that was currently adhering to him and moved it to the conveyor belt. This junk stayed in place as it was carried to the trash compactor, and so was crushed.

He went to another pile. And another. And another. Then he targeted a broken-down car that started singing a song about the end.

The Magnet carried the car to the conveyor belt and dropped it. He headed to another car, which picked up the same melody. He could tell the car was attempting to escape, futilely. He slammed down on her and carried her to the conveyor belt.

The cars in the whole Junkyard had broken into song, narrating their lives and how worthless they now were. The Magnet hated the silence that generally filled the junkyard, but this singing was worse. It evoked a feeling he didn't wish to experience: regret.

His purpose was to destroy technology that had become worthless. It was bleak, making him feel like a villain. But to be left lying around worthless, slowly falling apart, wasn't really an improvement. In a way, he was doing all these cars and appliances a favor by putting them out of their misery.

He then headed for a broken-down pickup truck on top of a wrecked bus. He was about to move it to the conveyor belt when the truck accelerated off the bus- not to escape, but to fall onto the conveyor belt.

The Magnet glowered at the truck about to meet its doom. Though he hated his job, he hated being eluded more.

His lingering revealed something unusual. The truck's car door opened and several small appliances jumped out. The Magnet paused, recalling that there was considerable movement in the junkyard within the last hour. It seemed that a group of appliances were in the Junkyard and still had the ability to move- and the motivation to avoid their demise.

He headed towards them. His magnetic power drew their metal, along with more, and caught them. He moved toward the conveyor belt, ready to end them, but their voices rose up. One said something about a master which got the others excited and there was… joy in their voices.

He dropped them on the conveyor belt. Normally, he would go to another pile, but he decided to observe this group. He suspected they wouldn't accept their doom so easily.

The small machines- a toaster, vacuum, radio, blanket and a lamp- were almost at the trash compactor when they jumped off the conveyor belt and ran for it.

For once, the Magnet found himself frustrated at his inability to express his full irritation. He wasn't going to let anything undermine his purpose. He searched and soon found them lying on the ground in plain view. He magnetically caught them and headed back to the conveyor belt.

He thought it was odd how they were laying out in the open like that, but then dismissed the thought, ready to destroy them. He dropped them on conveyor belt, but this time he followed, ready to snatch them if they tried to escape.

They appeared to be conversing with each other. He suspected they were plotting to escape again.

They jumped off the belt and moved in different directions. The Magnet headed for the Toaster but then saw the vacuum cleaner head the opposite direction. He turned after it, but then saw the electric blanket crawl in the opposite direction. He hesitated, unsure who to follow first. He spun, torn by indecision. Then a new rage took him. They had eluded him.

Unthinkable.

He would find them.

He looked around. He noticed two humans- a man and a woman- talking. They were clearly not garbage people, but mere scavengers. Irrelevant. He had a job to do. He spotted the appliances lying motionless again. He carefully approached them, ready to snatch them when the moment came.

The vacuum cleaner opened one eye. "Run!"

The appliances did so, dodging between large piles of garbage. The Magnet pursued them, knocking over piles of trash in the progress. They turned, and the Magnet followed, and- and he couldn't find them anywhere.

The anger that surged through him amplified his magnetic nature, pulling trash all over his head. Fuming, he swung over the length of the conveyor belt and flung the junk all along it. He then hung above, examining the enforced procession. His eyes briefly noticed one of the humans- the male- also eying the junk that was carried past.

The Magnet then spotted the toaster lying on the belt.

He focused, ready to give chase if the Toaster attempted to escape.

There came a voice from behind him: "This looks just like my old blanket. I think it is my blanket."

The Magnet turned and saw that the male human had removed the electric blanket from the conveyor belt.

The human then exclaimed, "And that's my radio," grabbing the radio off the belt. "Hey, Chris. Oh. Alright, and the lamp." He took the lamp. "Hey, Chris."

The Magnet's eyes narrowed. He wasn't going to let some interloping human keep him from doing his job. He headed towards the human, his eyes vanishing so as to hide the true nature of technology.

The human found the vacuum cleaner nearby. He carried it with his other stuff as the Magnet came above, magnetizing the appliances along with some of the stray junk in the area.

"Hey wait a minute!" the human shouted, grabbing onto the vacuum cleaner's handle as the Magnet went up. "These are mine, let go! Wo, wah!"

Foolish human, the Magnet thought to himself. A scavenger should know that the junkyard and its equipment were dangerous. He then moved right over the conveyor belt, closer to the trash compactor than usual.

"Let me down!" the human shouted as the Magnet released his magnetic grip, dropping everything - and everyone - on the conveyor belt.

The Magnet stayed nearby, semi-opening one of it' eyes, to make sure the appliances didn't escape. So far it seemed perfect. The human was buried under the junk and the appliances couldn't escape without revealing themselves to the human- an unbreakable rule for technology.

"Chris, help! Help!" the human shouted desperately.

Not far away from the trash compactor, the second human was nearby. "Where are you? Rob?" But the loud noise of the machinery kept her from identifying her companion's location. A few feet in front of the trapped human was a car, which got crushed. The human and the appliances were next.

"Chris!"

"Where are you?"

The Magnet had mixed emotions. It turned out to be troubling, to see a human come to harm. But the appliances wouldn't escape. He was sure at least one got away, but he would look later. Better to focus on the now.

The human male screamed as he was less than a foot away from the Trash Compactor smashing component, but a screeching sound suddenly filled the air and the trash compactor began to slow down. The smashing component came to a slow halt just above the trapped human's hand, letting out a hiss.

The Magnet's fury blazed. But he didn't react. Not with humans nearby. How could this have happened? He was finally able to destroy these appliances and now the trash compactor was offline.

…..

The Magnet fumed as he saw the two humans carried the appliances and some other scavenged junk to their car. He didn't go after them. There was no point. Without the trash compactor, he was worthless. He would stay worthless until the trash compactor was repaired. He watched the humans leave the junkyard in their car.

As annoyed as he was, one thing puzzled him. The human male, for some strange reason, had gone over to the sprockets on the left side of the Trash compactor as if drawn by something. And there he had found the toaster, of all things.

The toaster had clearly jumped between the trash compactor's gears to stop it from crushing the human and the others. The Magnet had seen tech resigned to their fate, and even some that sought out their doom. But this was different. He never saw tech willfully doom itself for others.

The only thing more puzzling was the human rescuing the crushed toaster. Surely the human could get another toaster somewhere else.

The Magnet hummed with weariness. Humans and technology could be so strange.

…

The End

/

Author Note.

1, I was bored and wanted to post another fic right away and decided to try a relatively simple/short fic and came up with this.

2, I wondered how the appliances escape the Magnet after Toaster's sacrifice- since the Magnet was never immobilized. Well not on-screen anyway.

Then I got the idea that the Magnet gave up because without the trash compactor, there is no point in chasing them.

I recently found a theory online that the Trash compactor and the Magnet might be part of the same system and they shutdown together. While interesting, I decided to go with my idea.

3, as for the Magnet's character, his only real traits are anger and devotion to his job. Even before Toaster and the others were eluding him, his eyes were narrowed in anger. What was he mad about?

Wondering what could be going on in his head, I theorized that maybe he hate's his purpose. But like any appliance, he wants a purpose and so channels his anger into doing his job.

4, Many feel that the Magnet is scary and say that when they were kids, it gave them nightmares. I'm no exception.

But while many say he is evil the way he sends wrecked cars to their death, few if anything is ever that simple.

5, I simplified the Junkyard segment where the cars broke into song because FF has a rule against using lyrics from a song. It's frustrating but rules exist for a reason.

6, Loopy777 Beta Read this fic for me. He suggested I do more. I decided to post it as it is. Maybe one day I'll remove it and replace it with an enhanced version. For now, I'm content with it as it is/

Well I hope you liked this fic.