As all Minecraftians know, the underground world is an exceedingly dangerous place. Creatures lurk there that have never seen the light of day (and hopefully never will). Yet, brave miners still venture into this dark realm to retrieve precious ores for above-ground use. It isn’t easy, but they got the job done.
Unfortunately, the surface dwellers became greedy, consuming more and more resources. Miners had to retrieve larger quantities of ores to satisfy the demand. Over time, the upper levels of the underground world became barren; stripped of their precious materials. Miners were forced to delve deeper into the darkness to find new, unexhausted veins. These lower levels were even more hazardous and the creatures increasingly devious. Miner casualties skyrocketed and the amount of resources the surviving ones brought back decreased drastically. It wasn’t long before they refused to go underground entirely.
This presented quite a problem for the surface dwellers. Luckily for them, one of their brilliant scientists had a solution. He had invented what is known as a minebot, able to simulate the actions of a miner perfectly. Building several hundred of them, these machines were immediately put to work in the mines.
For several months, everything went smoothly. The minebots brought more ore then the living miners ever could. Every now and again, naturally, a minebot would go missing. But they were cheap and easily replaceable, so these losses went unnoticed. The surface dwellers, fueled by the abundant resources provided by the minebots, were allowed to continue in their greedy ways.
One day, everything changed. The minebots were sent into the mines, like usual, but, at the end of the day, not a one of them came back up. More were sent to look for the others, but they too went missing. For weeks, there wasn’t a single sign of the lost machinery. Without any other options, living miners were sent into the mines for the first time in months. Their mission: find out what happened to the minebots.
Among those sent underground was legendary miner Joe Cobble. Widely respected by his fellow miners, Joe took the lead underground. They searched where he told them to. They went farther beneath the surface because he said so. The group met many curious beasts in their quest, almost all of them being extremely dangerous. However, they stuck together and defeated whatever monster crossed their path.
After several day of being underground, supplies were running out. Joe Cobble knew his men were tired. He was about to take them back when one of their group stumbled upon a massive cavern. Inside, the minebots lay on the ground and up against the walls. Many were in pieces, as if somebody was dismantling these machines .…… or building them. Joe Cobble immediately located the senior technician of the group. “Well, what does this look like to you?” he asked. The technician looked around thoughtfully, than replied. “You know, I’m not completely sure. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that these minebots were being tinkered with.” Joe Cobble’s eyes widened in sudden realization. “Stay back from those minebots, we need to get out of here now!” At that moment, the cavern filled with the sound of whirring machinery. The minebots began to stand up and face the group, an evil glint in their metallic faces. Joe looked around in wild desperation. They were trapped.
Several weeks passed and the surface dwellers had still not heard back from the miners. Fearing that something may have happened to them, a search party was organized. They were about to descend into the mines when a battle-worn Joe Cobble came limping to the surface. The miners waiting there immediately crowded around him asking questions (none of which he answered). Finally somebody spoke up. “Where are the others?” Joe turned to face the speaker. “They’re…… they’re all dead,” he said and collapsed onto the ground.
Three days passed before Joe Cobble regained consciousness. He was, once again, barraged with questions. They came from government officials, mining company representatives, and family of the lost miners. Finally, he opened his mouth to say something. The crowd at his bedside went silent in anticipation. “No one should go down there anymore; a great evil has made its home underground,” Joe Cobble stated and flopped over dead.