Author's Note:

Yes, this is related to Minecraft. I also use famous Minecraft players in this story, so copyright disclaimer and all that stuff. "Characters not mine, story is." Done. Now read this.

"It's for a good cause." the co-manager had stated. Then, he had turned around and muttered into the microphone on his headset. The new worker was alert in the dim light of the factory. The semi-dark chambers had taken its toll on some of the workers. Instead of basking in the sunlight, they tended to be on edge in the day. At night, they were "shadow-walkers", moving liquidly through the darkness.

The new worker glanced at the co-manager. The co-manager had brown hair, a white lab coat, and steely dark eyes. Some hair covered his left eye. The headset over his ears were somewhat worn out. The once-bright green spots on the headset were duller. His lab coat had reddish stains.

"Oh, by the way," the weathered Minecraftian looked back at the worker as he walked away. "The name's Deadlox." Deadlox scratched the back of his neck as he trotted down the catwalk.

The new worker reflected on the encounter as he headed the other direction. Stopping near a sticky piston, he peered at his reflection on the iron block.

His dark brown hair was matted. The white lab coat on him was uncomfortable. His eyes were already faded. The shorts on him were dusty and gray. He glared at his reflection. Then, Toby turned around, and headed for the Gathering.

"A few lucky 'crafters will be selected to supply us XP!" a great, booming voice announced. Looking around, Toby saw catwalks spinning around the metal room. Gazing down at the "volunteers" in the Gathering, he saw many different faces. There were frightened ones, sad ones, angry ones, and mutilated ones. Toby felt sickened when he heard a voice boast, "Aviator, you have been selected!"

A startled Minecraftian with shimmering sunglasses stepped forward slightly. His fear was temporary, for his eyes hardened into defiance.

"Then I refuse the offer." Aviator spat. Then, he disappeared. Something had teleported him away. After that, Aviator reappeared behind a glass wall.

Toby watched Aviator through the window. Pistons retracted, revealing a row of five dispensers. Aviator closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. The dispensers clicked and arrows flew out of it. Aviator's eyes flew open. The arrows slowly cut through the air, allowing him to dodge it. Yet, one arrow cut into his shoulder as it passed him.

Toby jumped forward with a start. Usually, there would be…

"Take Aviator away. I have a job for him." the mystery announcer mumbled. Toby watched as Deadlox and another employee escorted Aviator away…

Toby hadn't heard the announcer call another name, but another Minecraftian appeared in the windowed room. The dispensers gleamed as the doomed 'crafter wept pitifully. Futilely, she punched out a window, but the dispensers clicked.

There was an agonized scream. Red streaks flew onto the window. Arrows jutted out of the victim, coated in deep crimson streams. Green and yellow orbs flew around the room. Toby shuddered as Deadlox and a half-dozen other employees entered the room and dove at the orbs, kicking and wrestling. The pistons extended, hiding the dispensers. Disgusted, Toby felt something come up his throat. He spun around and ran down the catwalk.

Aviator's new job was not easy. Sure, executing a Minecraftian with the push of a button was easy, but only if his conscience allowed merciless killing. So Deadlox let him be unaware of the time of death.

"Hey, just turn around when you pull the lever." Deadlox rolled his eyes in contempt. "Now you won't be all 'Oh ho no, I killed somebody.'"

Aviator sensed Deadlox's voice wavering. Well, we're all in the same boat now. He blinked in disbelief. How would a high-ranking person demote his job? And especially in a place like this! Unless there was a way to escape. It was wishful thinking, but it was the only thing keeping the "volunteers" alive.

In the old dormitory, Toby drank water to wash out the acid taste in his mouth. He looked at his bloodied lab coat, and felt more mush in his mouth. Aviator, now a "shadow-walker", watched Toby spew yellow-green vomit out of himself.

"Oh, that was a messy occurrence…" Toby coughed. Aviator snickered silently. He retreated deeper into the darkness.

Today was Aviator's first day on the job. A half-blind Minecraftian was behind the windows. He scanned his control panel. There was one lever on the right, one on the left, and a button in the middle. The button was marked with "Emergency Only". Aviator was near the top of the execution room, above on a catwalk. This execution room had glass for a ceiling. There was a small, one-block deep trench between the Minecraftian and where pistons were going to retract.

Aviator bit his lip as he remembered what to do. First, he pulled the lever on the left. Pistons retracted, revealing molten lava, superheated to never let anybody survive. Another block was pulled away on the 'crafter's side, showing a dispenser. The half-blind victim looked around with his one good eye, not knowing where to stand. The lava flowed toward the frightened 'crafter, stopped by the trench. Aviator covered his eyes as he flicked the right lever. The dispenser clicked, sending an arrow into the doomed 'crafter's back. The Minecraftian fell into the lava, and began burning.

Aviator pulled the left lever again. The lava disappeared, leaving a flaming body behind. Aviator began to tremble, not from the cold inside the factory. Orbs fluttered in the room, and Deadlox and other employees attacked the XP.

That night, Deadlox was in his dorm. Suddenly, he collapsed onto his bed, and looked around his room. The big chest to the right of his bed was filled with a few bottles of enchanting. That would be shipped to the flea markets everywhere. He looked at the picture of his friend Sky. Blinking away tears, he felt something in him waver. Deadlox tried to sleep, but things came to mind. His many wrongs, and many coming punishments. How much XP he had collected and how many slaughtered Minecraftians it took. Deadlox began shivering. Did Notch decide whether or not he was going to the Nether now? Or would He do that after Deadlox died?

This had happened many times before, yet not as powerful as this. Deadlox was shaking so badly, but it would never match his intense fear at a big revelation: He would not enter the Palace in the Sky until he escaped the XP Factory. He fell to the floor, still shivering and making strange, non-Minecraftian sounds. Deadlox curled up on the ground, still shuddering at an extreme rate. Tears blurred his vision as he panted rapidly. Screams echoed in Deadlox's mind, screams from the many dead ones he had scavenged XP from. Something shattered within him, and a disturbingly thin smile appeared on his face.

A voice crackled in Deadlox's headset. Screaming, Deadlox tore his headset off of him. Throwing it at a wall, it shattered. Laughing and yet still quaking, Deadlox screeched, almost animal-like. He grabbed his rusty pickaxe, and started digging through the wall.