Chapter 14: Breaking point

Everyone has a breaking point. No matter how patient and reserved they seem, eventually they crack. It was just a matter of time. This was why the company desperately was looking for ways for employees to vent.

Capitalist Conquest was one way. Gambling was another way.

To vent their pressure, vices must be satisfied.

Alcohol was allowed to flow; tobacco was limited but generally ignored by the higher-ups.

Gin sat in the transport vehicle, holding his breath as Gordon smoked a makeshift cigarette. The smell was utterly disgusting to him and nearly made Gin gag. But Gordon seemed to ignore all the complaints of the team.

In order to reach Area 150, the vehicle will dock at Area 91 and go down by rail. Flying vehicles can no longer travel lower due to the restrictive space.

When Gin got out, he took a deep breath and regretted it. The air was stale and polluted by the refineries that littered all over Area 91. The place looked depressing. Sickly people live out on the streets without a semblance of hope. Most of them were miners with a shortened lifespan due to exposure.

Some place company criminals who had broken strict company regulations and were forced into manual labor.

Gin frowned at the sight, but Gordon reveled in it.

“What a quaint little town.”

He smiled and twirled his thin mustache. His pearly white teeth contrasted the brown and sickly atmosphere.

The man’s outfit was well maintained, ironed until not a single crease could be seen. Compared to Jeral’s Gordon seemed to be a perfectionist.

The avoided the lifeless gaze of the people on the streets as they headed towards the rusty metal cage elevator in the middle of town.

Hazy floodlights created an artificial day time as the sun’s rays cannot penetrate that low into the earth. The moisture from the underground lakes caused every exposed iron sheet to rust into a disgusting brick reddish-brown. The ground had various pools of liquid that was colorful due to pollutants. Gin avoided everything the best he can, but he really wanted a full scrub down once he got back. The place reminded him of his old home in Area 97. The humidity, the pollution, the faces of the hopeless, and the tired. It reminded him of his bleak childhood. But it also made him glad he was given the chance to leave. He didn’t have to end up as a miner and die an early death from exposure and exhaustion.

The elevator attendant was a miner as well. He got to enjoy some benefits though as his work wasn’t as physically tasking. Everyone got on the rusty platform as he shut the metal doors and pulled the level. With the groaning of metal and the hum of turbines, the elevator slowly descended into the depths.

Area 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, eventually coming to a stop in Area 97. They must now switch to another elevator to go further.

Gin looked around and saw some familiar sights.

Metal barrels littered the place. They were full of trash and various combustible wastes. Some folks were lighting them on fire for cooking purposes. But due to the sheer heat of the underground area, they wanted to avoid it as much as possible. The volcanic lake deep below the surface heated up the cavernous area to a balm 34 degrees centigrade.

Gin could already feel his outfit cling to his back and sweat poured down his forehead and body. The humidity made the atmosphere suffocating. The rusty houses made from repurposed metal sheets could barely hold its shape due to the lack of binding. Most furniture was either trash that had been thrown down or bundles of soft debris from construction. Although they have pelts from mutated beasts, they were often rare and thus were hidden away from the sight of others.

Within the town were four saloons, one in each cardinal direction. Gin’s team walked from the central elevator towards the north saloon. It was home to the next elevator down as well as a rest stop.

They walked into the shabby doors and was greeted by a lackluster bartender who only grunted. Gordon twisted his mustache and smiled as he gloated over his superiority.

“Barkeep, bring my team some beverages.”

The bartender grunted again before opening the tap and poured some brown foamy liquid into a dirty mug. He slid the mugs across the counter to each person then stared at Gordon.

Gordon stared back, then finally with a frown; he paid the man.

Gin took a sip of the beverage. It was bitter, disgusting, and extremely alcoholic. His throat burned and he nearly spat it out. But after seeing Gordon’s menacing glare, he didn’t dare to. The stuff costed money, after all, can’t waste it. Thus, he reluctantly drank the brown stuff.

Face full of schadenfreude, Gordon grinned as he watched Gin choked down the drink.

“Atta boy.”

The other employees don’t seem to mind the alcoholic beverage. But drinking alcohol in such heat only made it seem hotter.

The bartender grunted and pulled the lever behind him. A door opened up on the other side of the bar.

It led down towards the elevator.

“Thank you, we will be back soon.”

They got on the elevator and continued their journey.

Area 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, then they stopped at Area 104.

“Next one will be the main elevator down,” Gordon said, “This area is just the ore shipping zone. Pneumatic tubes will bring the ores up to the surface for company usage. We will take the main elevator down to the bottom mining zone.”

When they got off, they were faced with an extremely bleak zone. Compared to the rusty shanty town above, this area was extremely clean and high-tech. The walls were spotless and had a grey metallic sheen. The floor was paved with soft resin to allow extra traction for transport vehicles. Every corridor had surveillance cameras and automatic turrets installed.

It was a highly secure area. Faint buzzing and pounding could be heard in the background as ores were processed.

They walked out of the elevator and felt the cold breeze. Powerful air conditioning units blew chilled air into the facility through a massive vent system. It also filtered the air and cleaned it of particulates from the ore mashing process.

“The company spent a pretty penny setting up this place. But it provides us with a majority of our needs of precious metals like iron, copper, gold, and etc.”

Gordon explained as if he was the narrator of a documentary.

“Be on your best behavior, your every action will be monitored by the security force within the facility.”

The whole team straightened up. They felt as if the walls had eyes.

With their shoes squeaking against the resin floor, they walked towards the main elevator. Along the way, they saw several drones pushing carts full of broken ores. A few maintenance crews were repairing downed drones in another section. Several janitorial drones were scrubbing the ground, leaving it spotless.

Conveyor belts with claws up above were moving along the ceiling, bringing various processed ore chunks to the next section. Finally, they found a map of the facility.

“We are almost there,” Zin said to Gin. “Keep an eye out, something seems suspicious about this whole operation.”

Gin nodded secretly.

The elevator leading downwards to the very depths was enormous. It covered a fourth of the entire area. Several large vehicles were parked on it along with tools and heavy equipment. A few well-dressed personnel were taking inventory while several standard employees were moving more equipment onto the elevator.

“Gordon, nice to see you again!”

One of the well-dressed men walked towards the group.

“Sinclair! My good man, it has been a while. Glad to see you have been promoted!”

“Ha, about time, right? My precious talents were wasted in my previous position.”

“Indeed, it was!”

Sinclair turned to look towards the rest of the group. He too was grinning with a slight sadistic expression.

“This must be your new team.”

“Yes, poor fellows lost their boss in an infection incident.”

“Ouch, what a way to go. My condolences.”

The rest of the team only nodded silently.

“Not much of a talkative group huh?”

“They are just shy.”

“Gordon, my friend, we were just about to bring the next batch of equipment down. Come, sit with me.”

Gordon nodded.

“Everyone else, stay close to the vehicles, they will be the most stable thing on this elevator when it starts to descend.”

Gordon then followed Sinclair to the cabin area of the elevator. The windows were tinted, and no one could see what was inside, but when the door was opened for just a few seconds, Gin could see it was a luxury condo inside.

“Those rich bastards really know how to live.”

One of the vice leaders grumbled.

Gin sat down on the tire of a large bulldozer. The warmth of the alcohol offset the cold air from powerful air condition. Seeing how his home hasn’t improved at all, he felt depressed. Isn’t capitalism all about improving your life by taking opportunities? Why hasn’t the place been improved at all? Are they not getting any chances to crawl out of the hell hole at all?

Before Gin got fully consumed by his wandering thoughts, Zin popped up with a reminder.

“Prime your weapons. I have intercepted some messages sent from the bottom. It seems they heard a loud roar the day prior.”

Gin nodded and placed his corn kernel on his belt.

“How did you intercept the message?” He asked curiously, “Isn’t it illegal?”

“Look, kid, I have a lot more functions than you think. Intercepting messages was part of Capitalist Conquest. It seems to be a skill for corporate espionage.”

“So, they really do want heavy competition between players huh?”

“Yeah, including the stealing of intellectual property.”

Gin shuddered at the thought.

“Are we protected?”

“I have set up basic encryption and firewall, but we will need further security in the future.”

With a sigh, Gin added another task to his list of future tasks.

An alarm sounded and the elevator began to move. It slowly descended into the darkness that was lit up only by a couple of floodlights installed in the walls.

The red lights on the parked vehicles blinked in the dim elevator. They looked like countless menacing eyes. Gin felt a shiver travel down his spine. The continuous buzz of the elevator motors along with the occasional banging of metal on metal from the box of tools created a cacophony of noise. It made Gin’s bones quiver and he could feel his teeth grind against each other.

“This sort of resonance is not good for the body.”

Zin sighed.

Gin looked towards the cabin and saw it was relatively still.

“It has gyroscopic stabilizers. They won’t feel the vibrations at all. The walls are also soundproof.”

Zin said after scanning the room.

“It is a luxury enjoyed by upper management.”

“Indeed, it is. You envy them all you want; they won’t give you anything.”

“I know, I have to work for it myself.”

“Once your plan with Rakia starts picking up, perhaps you will get a promotion.”

“How do I get promoted as a micro-technician?”

“Seniority.”

“…That doesn’t help.”

“So, you gotta live the best life you can and wait while you gain the so-called ‘work experience’.”

“It’s a long wait then.”

Gin leaned back on the tire. His back made a couple of cracking sounds as he stretched.

This ride was going to take half-an-hour long to reach Area 149. Then they will go on foot down to the bottom Area of 150.

The temperature remained cool for now as the tube for the elevator was a closed system. But as soon as the door opened, blistering heat blasted their face.

“Welcome to Area 149.”

Sinclair said as he got out of the cabin with Gordon.

Gordon seemed to have gained a top hat. He tipped it as he smiled at Sinclair.

“I will see you soon, my friend. Let’s go, team.”

Gin’s team sat up and began to walk towards the lowest Area. Their pace was not steady as the ground was rugged and uneven. It made the trek more tiresome than normal. By the time Gin saw the huge hill leading down to Area 150, he was already panting like a dog. He looked towards Gordon and realized he was riding a scooter. The scooter even had a small fan on it blowing cool wind towards his thin twisted mustache that wiggled in the air.

“This gigantic hill is the highway to Area 150. The drones have been neatly lined up at the bottom for us to fix. Move your asses, we are almost there.”

The reddish dirt provided little traction, but thankfully there were jagged ores protruding from the ground that allowed them to find their way down slowly.

By the time every person on the team reached the bottom, they were already far too tired to move. Only Gordon was fine as his scooter allowed him to just slide down the hill.

What they faced when they reached the bottom, were several drones lined up next to each other with varying degrees of damage on each one.

“Get up lazy bums, it was only a short trip to our work site. It’s time to do our jobs.”

The team members frowned. The vice leaders were getting impatient and one could see it in their body language.

Gin looked at the drones lining up that numbered to a dozen. This was going to take a long time and a lot of effort to accomplish.

Gordon sat down as his scooter folded up into a chair. He plopped his ass down and folded his arms.

“Anyone who hasn’t started working within the next five minutes will have their pay deducted.”

Everyone rapidly scrambled to their feet. Gin quickly took out his tools and limped towards the first drone. Zin scanned it for areas that required micro-technicians and confirmed an area that required repairs in the west wing.

“Three 30cm long copper wires, one tube of insulation plaster, and four transistors are needed.”

Gin crawled into the tiny space and began to work. The heat of the soldering pen made the area extreme hot and unbearable. Sweat poured down Gin’s face like a waterfall. He began to feel the symptoms of dehydration.

“You need to take a drink. Your bubble helmet will dispense 100ml of water. Drink it now.”

Gin nodded as a straw popped up from under his chin. He suckled the straw and drank as he continued to work. The earlier he finishes, the earlier he can get out of this hot hell.

“You are losing quite a bit of electrolyte. I will need to inject it intravenously.”

Gin nodded. He winced as small needles in his sleeves poked into his arms. Much needed electrolytes poured into his system and alleviated his symptoms.

“You cannot keep this time. No one is forcing you to finish this fast.”

“But I’m almost done.”

“Kid, slow down. You cannot release your sadness and anger by working yourself to death.”

“I know! I know…”

Gin finally stopped.

“You need other ways to cope. You cannot bottle this up. Although I am an AI who can control your body, I am not a mind reader. You have to talk to me.”

“I…will…”

Tears were rolling down Gin’s cheeks. They blended in with his sweat so no one could really tell. He was panting heavily and crying.

His tools fell from his hands as he clutched his helmet.

“What do I do?”

“Live on. Have a dream. Your boss wanted you to be motivated, to actually enjoy being alive. Don’t let Gordon’s asshole attitude get to you.”

“I-I know, but still.”

“Dream big kid. Dream big.”

Gin thought for a moment.

“I want to visit outer space. I want to see the stars up close so that I can one day tell boss that I brought his ship up there into the dark abyss and the great beyond.”

“Good, you already got everything you need. Take a deep breath, organize your thoughts. Life is not a race; it is a marathon. “

Zin comfortable Gin with a virtual pat on the back.

After 15 minutes of rest, Gin was able to slowly continue fixing the drones. The first drone was done so Gin moved on to the second one.

“Scanning, no micro-technician required for this one, move on to the 3rd.”

After two hours of work, Gin went through half of the drones already. Few needed micro-technicians, but the major damages still needed to be fixed by the rest of the team. One of the drones was completely unrepairable and was scrapped for pieces. With some extensive jury-rigging, they got half the drones back up by the time night fell.

The team returned to the hill only to find Gordon asleep on a bench. His scooter had turned into a bench with a pillow for him to sleep on. The scooter formed a soundproof bubble around the bench and Gordon wore a comfortable cotton sleeping robe.

Suddenly, he opened one eye.

“You guys are finally done?”

Gin heard a snap. He saw one of the vice leaders break a piece of metal with his bare hands. Dark veins bulged on his powerful forearms. Rage could be seen engulfing his face.

“You…,” He growled.

“Stop, Walt, it isn’t worth it.”

The other vice leader grabbed Walt’s arm, trying to hold him back.

But the rage had already boiled over the tipping point.

Walt tugged his arm away from the other vice leader and lunged towards Gordon’s bubble.

Gordon simply grinned and clapped his hands.

“Good, good, so easily triggered. This team will be even easier than the last one.”

A wave of electricity pulsed out from the bubble and knocked Walt back down to the ground. His entire body convulsed as his muscles spasmed out of control. Then he stopped. Smoke rose from his charred body. His heart had stopped.

“W-Walt?”

The other vice leader was shocked.

“Tsk tsk, such an impatient muscle head. Couldn’t even wait for your turn to die.”

“W-what?”

Gordon twirled his mustache one more time.

“Let me reintroduce myself, I am Gordon, a reaper of the company.”

“R-reaper?”

“Shit, Gin! RUN NOW!”

Zin quickly screamed.