43 Making Rubber

The discovery of the rubber worms were a huge boon for Roland's plans for further development. Rubber was a critical component of many devices and in the future it would be widely used in things like car tires. With no source of rubber trees, Roland had to find other ways to produce rubber. Unfortunately, Roland could not recall how to make synthetic rubber and even if he focused all the chemists on the project, it would likely take a significant amount of time. Now that he had a source of rubber, one major issue had been alleviated.

Roland received a report that stated that the rubber production line had been completed. Now it was time for Roland to inspect the result and see how his plans for the industrial farming of rubber worms have panned out. Roland made a journey to the Third Border City to examine the breeding facility.

Upon his arrival, Roland was greeted by Pasha who had taken charge of the entire operation. It was simply too difficult to find ordinary people who were willing to work in such an environment deep underground, so the Taquila witches did most of the work involved in raising the worms. Once Roland entered the underground factory, he was quite impressed by what he saw.

The factory was laid out in a carefully organized manner. Luminescent plants lined the walls and provided proper lighting for the caves. Mushrooms grew all along the floors and the rubber worms squirmed happily along the floor eating the mushrooms. Water channels were cut along the floors to deliver water to the appropriate areas. The water fell in a manner similar to a waterfall and sprayed out water and thin mist which covered the area to hydrate the mushrooms. There were also proper ventilation shafts leading to the outside in order to bring in fresh air. It was apparent that all of the proper concerns were taken care of.

"That is some good work you have done here", said Roland.

"Thank you, your Majesty", replied Pasha. "We do our best to try to serve you. Now let us look at the industrial slaughter area."

They moved to the side of the cave where Roland saw a long trench in the wall and many worms with their head stuck in the wall.

"There is a narrow aisle in the wall", explained Pasha. "We emit a sound that attracts the worms which causes them to try to go in that direction. When they do so, they end up getting stuck."

"Then what happens?" asked Roland.

"I think it should be coming around soon", said Pasha.

"What?" Roland looked confused.

Then, a whirring sound was heard as he saw what looked like a circular saw moving along the aisle. The worms that were stuck were cut in two and their inner mucus flowed into the drainage trough and moved downstream.

Pasha continued to explain the process. "The mucus will flow to the outside where the human workers can collect it. Then it is brought into the factories outside for processing. The humans don't know about anything going on inside here so they won't be scared."

"And how are the dead bodies disposed of?", asked Roland. "The accumulation of dead bodies is a problem."

"Don't worry, we have that taken care of", said Pasha.

A large devouring worm soon came down the aisle. It was Fran, eating all of the worm corpses that were left by the industrial slaughtering process.

"See, we have a truly fine waste disposal method." Pasha looked quite proud.

After Fran ate the rubber worm corpses, she came to a stop and let out a loud burp. She had a very large smile on her face since she just had a very nice meal. Then, she looked at Roland. "Ah, your Majesty is here. I hope you like our work. We do try our best." She continued to grin while looking at Roland.

Roland believed himself to be a very progressive, modern man. While the backwards ignorant people in the medieval era were scared of the unknown, Roland did not think he would fear anything in this world. Roland had no qualms being with the tentacle monsters that so frightened ordinary people and he was quite used to them. However, when Roland gazed upon the smiling face plastered upon the large worm, Roland couldn't help but feel a tinge of unease in his heart. However, Roland didn't let anyone see that he was unsettled from seeing Fran's face.

"What you are all doing is very good", said Roland.

Using the devouring worms to eat the corpses was a very good idea. It was basically like recycling and was an efficient use of resources. Roland started thinking about the trash situation in Neverwinter. He wished that there would be a similar way to deal with all of the trash that built up.

"It seems you are thinking of something", said Pasha. "Perhaps it was another illustrious method for us to use our talents?"

"No, I wasn't thinking of anything." Roland quickly denied everything as he pushed the thought out of his mind.

"If that is the case, then let us go on to the lab", said Pasha.

Roland met with Kyle Sichi who was doing research on the mucus of the rubber worms to make different kinds of rubber.

"Your Majesty! I am glad you could come. I have made great advancements in my research.' Kyle Sichi looked quite excited.

"Firstly, I have found how to solidify the mucus into rubber of various consistencies." He began to motion toward various samples of rubber. "This rubber is tough but still somewhat flexible. I believe your Majesty wished to use it to cover wheels. This next rubber is very stretchy. It can be used as a good elastic for many things. I have started using circular pieces to keep my test tubes together. I call them rubber bands."

Roland raised an eyebrow when the chemist started talking about the virtues of rubber bands.

Kyle Sichi moved onto other topics. "I also made the other substance you wanted. I mixed the mucus with blood and experimented with it to create exploding jelly."

"Ah, napalm", Roland thought to himself. Now he had everything he needed.

"Keep up the good work", said Roland as he departed.