Tailspin, page 3
Cost: 4.5 Billion
It was for the middle/first-class officers within M-Corp’s Military.
SITE SAFETY
Safety protocols and building regulations will be adhered to at all times. Strict punishments will be dealt out, including removal from the workers site registry if you do not comply.
I dismissed the message. She might not have been the largest structure around, but she certainly was a luxury.
The internal spire that extended high into our atmosphere was made of one of the most visually appealing substances known to man, harvested and carved by M-Corp’s finest craftsmen. In the soft light of the early morning, it reflected gorgeous hues of orange, yellow, and even pink as the rays of our sun bounced off of it.
This, this is what I was made for.
Finally, the bus came to a complete stop. There were only four of us left, and I went to get off with the others. I followed them to the exit. The manager held a hand up, stopping me. “You’ll be on the next floor.”
“Next floor?” I was more than confused.
This was the last one. I was sure of it. Yet the doors closed, and we went up again.
“VIP,” she said. “I checked your file. Best runner out there. You’re here for the day.”
When the bus stopped this time, the open doorway was not the same as it had been before. She instructed me, “Report to Velas. He’ll make sure you’re settled in for the day.”
I took a moment to catch my breath before alighting. “Do I get anything extra, being up here?”
She cocked an eyebrow at me. “Extra?” Then his eyes traced over my frame. “Been a tough few weeks, kid?”
I merely gave her a simple nod, fully aware of what she was seeing: a scrawny youngster who hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.
“I’ll make sure you’re on the roster for food. You’ll eat with the others today.”
My stomach growled at this already. “Appreciated.”
I stepped off the bus onto the open ramp. “Good luck,” she called after me.
After the bus had gone, I turned my head to gaze at my surroundings. The vast majority of people would never do this. For me, it was well worth it to get to this height to see the views. As I looked down, there was a gentle procession of puffy clouds passing me by. Even though it was still early in the morning, the sun managed to catch them with its dazzling rays. I had only been watching for a short while when I noticed the first shuttle approaching the landing pad below us.
From here it was even easier to see the big four. There was even no need to use Aug-World these massive constructs screamed power and tech, they needed no prettying up. They were the epitome of glorious. M-Corps mega structure towered over everything. One of the major researchers and powerhouses in the city, glass, steel and chrome rose higher and higher, much higher than the Duan.
M-Corp didn’t hide anything, neon lights adorned large stretches of the tower with their symbol everywhere, the Laughing Cat. Some also called it, the Mocking Cat because that’s what it also seemed to be doing. Mocking all of us. Everyone knew the sleekness to the building was just a cover. I didn’t need to guess they had weapons, defenses and AIs hidden everywhere, that was a given. They would punish anyone trying to defy their strength and power. What I loved to see more than anything though were the even higher towers, several flat areas, helopads, from whence M-Corp sent helicopters and drone pilots out to dominate the skies of the city and beyond. That was the job I’d die for, that was everything I ever wanted since the first day I heard them and then saw them flying overhead with my father.
I knew from this angle I could barely see the other structures, but they were there. The Armed Brigade and Takemoto Towers. I’d seen many pictures of them in Aug-World too. What I never understood though was the Living Earth. I’d never met an Elf, but they were apparently everywhere. Hidden in plain sight or something. Their building had plants all over it, plants that actually grew. I’d love to see that building up close it fascinated me more than M-Corps.
“Hey, kid,” someone shouted, and I heard footsteps behind me. It brought me out of my daydreaming of flying around the big four.
I whirled around to see who had approached. I could only speculate it was Velas. He wore no shirt, and his muscles, tattoos, and tech were all out on show. His long dark hair was tied back, and he had a slight graying beard to match. He wore cargo pants and a utility belt fit to bursting. It was clear he was some type of carver.
“Always something delivered late. You’re working with me,” he said. “In a few minutes, a shuttle will arrive; you know the drill, quicker to get it up here than by service shaft. Even if we hate using shuttles. She’s got another delivery to be made, and we have to make sure she stays on schedule. Even if we’re behind. Get her cargo out as soon as possible, as safe as possible. I don’t need to tell you how expensive stuff is, right?”
“No, sir. On it,” I said, moving to stand before him on the small gangway. “Rus,” I greeted him, giving both of his metallic arms a glance while extending my hand.
“Velas,” he said and shook it, his grip light and cold. “Master marble-layer.”
I cast my eyes around. Everything really was made from marble. I let out a low whistle.
“Exactly,” he said. “You can get the heavier items in with the help of drones, but this is the kind of goods that require a human touch. Dro—”
“This high, they fail too often.”
“Exactly.” He frowned, one of his hands running fingers through his beard. “Been running long?”
“No, sir. Just when I can’t race.”
At this point, the engine of the shuttle could be heard, and he retreated. “Go get her.”
I moved off, then squeaked past him and onto the next set of tracks, down to where the shuttle would dock.
It wasn’t a massive shuttle—it couldn’t be around this delicate material. But when I saw the cargo, it was a box eight feet in length, spanning about the same in width. He hadn’t been kidding. This was richer than rich.
The money to get it up here via an elevator, or any other method, wouldn’t be cost-effective. This was reinforced by the continual use of rope runners so high up, and rightly so; whoever was going to be up here in this suite wanted luxury, but luxury that still stayed within budget.
The running tracks on the scaffolding that was on the side of the hotel were wide, but I noticed the incoming package was even wider. Shit, how was I supposed to even think about getting it in here? The shuttle pilot just watched. He had no intention of doing anything to help me. Asshole.
At the end of the track sat the control for the drones. I grabbed a hold of it and made my way over to the shuttle, bringing the drones with me. I paused to use Appraisal:
M-Corp
Delivery
Calcutta Marble Slabs x 4
Measurements: 5 ft x 12 ft, 3 inches thick
Weight: 10,200 pounds/1157 kilograms
Import and Transportation Costs - Added
Min Worker Level = 7
Cost: 8,400
The drones were capable of handling the weight, but because of its size, I’d need to maneuver the packaged item above the track, and above the safety rails; there was no other way.
Hooking the drones securely on the outer parcel wrapping, I clicked for them to lift. The whole thing slipped; they just managed to keep hold before it smashed into the shuttle deck. No, no, no. That wouldn’t do. If I tried that outside, the whole thing could fall.
I pulled out Tsomak’s knife and did the one thing I knew I shouldn’t. I slit the package open, exposing the precious cargo to the elements and to a much higher chance of falling.
I swallowed. Looking down never did anything for me. I loved heights, but now…now I looked down and thought of nothing but this slab hitting the ground or—shit—someone.
3
It was freezing outside. I worked faster, needing to get warm, and the drones easily latched onto the solid material. Once they were secure, nothing slipped. After removing the materials from the shuttle with extreme caution, I had to force myself to swallow my pride and push them across the space that separated the shuttle and the track. The drones groaned in protest as they tried to secure themselves against the metal of the track. I needed to make a quick decision because the situation could easily spiral out of control. The more pressure they applied, the more difficult it became for me to move the tiles. I went into the configuration settings for the drones, and within a few short minutes, I had their program disabled.
That was also something I probably shouldn’t have done. This was so much easier on the lower levels of the building: When something fell off the track down there, it wasn’t going to matter—it wouldn’t cause someone’s death.
If this thing fell—heck, if anything fell, it was a potentially life-threatening accident.
Shields, of course, were at various levels of the building, unless they’d been taking shortcuts. In many of my previous jobs, there were no shields to protect the people below from debris.
Taking my time, I moved with the drones while keeping my hand on the cargo to reassure myself I had complete command of the situation. I didn’t. If it was going over, it would do so regardless of whether or not I had hold of it.
The track went downhill, and I followed it all the way till I reached the bottom of the building and entered it to find the suite I had been working in.
Velas was waiting for me with his hand on his hip when I arrived. “Are you aware of how much that’s worth?” he asked.
After bringing the materials inside, I positioned them on the floor and gave him a slight nod. I’d literally just seen it. “Eight thousand four hundred credits,” I said. “Give or take a few.”
“And what are you earning today?”
I added it up and swallowed. “Usually around a hundred.”
Velas smiled. “Never met a runner who took chances before. Rescheduling would have cost me a few months’ work and time,” he said and held his hand out for the control pad. “The remaining items in the cargo are a smaller size. You can give them to us by hand if you don’t feel comfortable with the drones.”
I smiled back at him. “Don’t worry, I might take risks, but only if I thought I could handle them.”
“Noted,” he confirmed and then off he went. The drones were safely inside with that 8,400-credit cargo.
I looked to the shuttle and checked the schedule showing on my HUD. Thirty minutes left in the window. I ran up the track and did exactly what Velas had asked, starting to hand-ball the rest off; no way would I trust the drones when I could carry these. That’s why they called us runners, after all.
The sweat ran off me, but there was no time to mess around. There were two more deliveries before morning break, one more before lunch, and the final delivery off-loaded and distributed to the right men before the dinner call came in.
“The next shuttle you’ll like,” Velas said with a smile. When it came in, only two guys were needed to unpack the bags. I sat with Velas and the others as they spread out the contents. There was literally more food and supplemental drinks than I’d seen in a long time. “Help yourself. Anything you can eat.”
Anything I could eat meant many things. Mostly, it meant not to make myself sick. “Thanks,” I said, and I took a handful of sandwiches. I made sure I ate slowly enough not to vomit afterwards.
The others all returned to work before their time was up; I needed the rest.
“Bus is back at seven,” Velas said. “Would you stay late?”
There was no way I could get home if I missed that bus. “How late?”
I thought of my mother, who was expecting me and food from the market.
“Does that matter?” he asked.
“I live on the west side. It’s a long walk.”
Velas spun his data pad around and looked over a few things. “I can drop you to the west side, but I could do with an extra pair of hands till eight.”
I could still make the market last call. “What are you paying?” I asked.
He frowned, ran his numbers again, I presumed, then met my eyes with his. “I’ll pay you for twenty minutes of online time and an extra twenty credits.”
“I’ll stay.”
“Good lad.” Velas moved then, his bulk shifting the wooden slats under me. “We’ve two more deliveries this afternoon. You’re in charge.”
Ordering the older men around was actually pretty interesting. They didn’t want to listen at first, but when Velas shot them a glare, they backed down.
The loads came and went, and the materials were unloaded and distributed in no time. As a team, they all worked extremely well; with us keeping them going, it was even better.
The bus came, and the crew left. So it was just me, Velas, and one other young lass. I’d been surprised to see someone else of a similar age to me. There weren’t many they’d let up here, even if the labor was cheap. She wasn’t thin, by any means, and she had almost as much muscle as Velas had. She wore shorts and a tank top, with a jacket and ratchet straps draped around her, and as my eyes traced over her bare skin, I caught the tell-tale signs of tech. Yes, holy shit! Her lower left leg and right arm were bionic. I’d not seen anything like them before, but I knew they were hella expensive. How did she afford those if she really was the same age as me?
Her eyes twinkled at me. “Like what you see?”
I coughed and looked away, heat flushing up my neck.
“What are we doing tonight, Dad?” she then said, and I had to do a double take. Dad?
There was no family resemblance at all, apart from her build; she was still really short compared to the hulk of a man Velas was.
“Special delivery, Tae.” He smiled. “Going into the master bedroom.”
“Oh.” That was cool. I’d not been that deep into the suite as yet, and I was pretty glad. It was too rich for me. I was terrified I’d damage something. By the time the shuttle came in and we offloaded its precious cargo of a bed and its internal components, it was clear that my sticky fingers didn’t need to be near any of it.
I stood and gawked at the room.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Tae asked.
It was more than that. She handed me some slippers, to protect the flooring, and we both carefully moved the cargo into the room. Everything we touched in here was more expensive than the slab I’d almost dropped this morning.
Next, we helped Velas organize all the items. “Ready for the first run in the morning,” he said while grinning as it got closer and closer to eight. “Come on, Rus. I’ll get you home.”
On the ride home, I listened as he and Tae talked through the day’s work and tomorrow’s. “Coming back tomorrow?” Velas asked and looked at me. “I could do with some regular help around here.”
“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly. “I’ll have to see what happens tonight.”
I was glad he didn’t pry. The last thing I wanted to do was to start telling strangers my life story, and it really did come down to what happened tonight.
M-Corp - Depository
Credit Balance: 120c
Velas had transferred my pay for the day, a hundred and twenty credits and my screen time. Compared to that slab—eight thousand four hundred—yeah, it sucked.
It was a bit of a longer walk back through the market. At this time of night, there weren’t many people still hanging around. There was the odd seller who hadn’t sold all of the things they needed to, and for most of us on the poorer end of town, that was a godsend. They never reduced their prices till the last minute. It meant there was always a handful of people waiting in the hopes there was something, anything left.
I didn’t have much hope, though. They usually gauged their sales really well, and only provided what they could sell. Otherwise, they risked everyone hanging around till last minute, hoping for a bargain, instead of selling it at full price. Some of the merchants would also rather let the food rot than sell it for a cheaper price.
That meant that those who were hoping for cheaper food couldn’t risk loitering about and waiting for the food sellers to drop their prices, or everyone would be going hungry together.
I hadn’t been this hungry in a while. Even with the food I had eaten throughout the day, I had fresh pay in my pockets and wanted more to eat. The sweet smell of cakes and fresh breads never stopped; the bakeries around here were constantly running. Even if it was mostly fake food, only so much real eggs or flour here. Cheap labor meant cheap foods. Buying their grains from the farming mills on the outskirts of the city, the bakeries only received the dregs of what the mills didn’t sell elsewhere. But even so, the dregs still made for mostly good bread.
My feet stopped outside one of the stalls that had almost packed up. The burly lady chef looked at me, while loading her cart. She tugged her coat around her. “Sorry kid, I’m done for the day.”
“Nothing left at all?” I asked.
“One GM cake,” she said. “Got a bit battered on the way down this morning, fucking ingredients are no way ‘top quality,’ and I paid full whack for them. They degraded way too fast. No one seemed to want to risk it.”
“I’ll take it,” I said. “My mom wanted something nice, and I’m really late.” I knew cake wasn’t really cake, not like it used to be. Now only read of in story books, fresh ingredients, sweet jams and thick creams. It was genetically modified, but as she showed it to me, even with the sunken middle, it still looked like and smelled so good. I knew Mom would be happy.
“Doesn’t look the best.”
“Looks good enough to me.” I tried to smile at her lightening the sudden solemn mood. She pushed the box over, and held her wrist out, I paid her grimacing, five credits gone.
At the far end of the market, I also managed to get some fake chicken meat and rice dishes, another five credits. This was going to be a really good dinner for us, even if I was late. I also grabbed some protein smoothies and meal bars from another vendor. These were a lot cheaper and would last me a couple of days. It took my spending to twenty credits.
