Working 6 to 6
In the morning of the next day, I eat a big breakfast and together with Scarlet and Rayla walk to Mr. Clarkson’s house. The streets are still relatively empty right now so I get a good look at the neighborhood. It’s like they made one house and then made the same one over and over. The only thing that differentiates the different streets are the street signs. On a first look all of the houses look really nice but on a second look you see a lot of empty rooms behind the windows.
Close to Mr. Clarkson’s house, Scarlet stops me, “Rose…Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to help.”
“Sigh…Alright, take this.”
A bit reluctantly she hands me what looks like a red locket, “What is it? I think I’ve seen the shape before but I don’t recall where.”
“It’s a rose, the symbol of our family.”
“Huh, so that’s what they look like.”
“No, the real ones are prettier. Anyways, if you ever feel like your life is in danger, open it and put a bit of your blood inside. There is a needle inside to prick yourself with if you need it.”
“What will happen if I put my blood in it?”
“Help will come. This locket is directly connected to our strongest knight. The moment the royal family’s blood enters the locket it will break and open a portal through which the knight will appear from.”
“So I should only use it when I’m really sure I’m going to die?”
She flips my forehead, “No. You use it when you think there is a chance you will die. When you’re sure you will die it’s already too late.”
“But isn’t this expensive? Should I-”
“It doesn’t matter. No amount of gems or money is worth your life. Use it the second you think there is a chance of you dying.”
“Alright…”
Rayla chimes in, “Also oko, make sure you don’t just get yourself up to the edge of life and death either. If it gets too hard you can quit, you’re not even legally allowed to work anyways.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll be fine. You two worry too much, I’ll just work there for a bit and then stop when I go to tell you about the slaves. I’ll be fine.”
Rayla looks me straight in the eyes with a slightly exasperated look on her face, “You have a bad habit of overexerting yourself so our worry is correctly placed.”
Trying to avoid her eyes I say, “Oh! Look, isn't that Mr. Clarkson’s house!?”
“No it isn't, it's the street after this, oko.”
“Right…Then let’s quickly go over there he must be waiting!”
“Oy, oko don’t run!”
Knocking on the door, Mr. Clarkson opens it in full work uniform consisting of a gray hat, a white shirt, gray pants and a gray jacket, “Morning, you’re looking high spirited Thoma Ahad.”
“Yeah, I guess I do, haha. Good morning Mr. Clarkson.”
“Just call me Chris. No one calls other people by their last name here except for the foreman.”
“Alright Chris, shall we go then?”
“Sure but don’t you want to say goodbye to your cheerleaders first?”
“Cheerleaders? Oh, you mean my sisters? Sure.”
I say goodbye to ane and manya and leave with Chris after he gives his wife a kiss.
He nudges me with his elbow, “Those two sure care about you, huh?”
“Yeah…They worry a bit too much though.”
“Hahaha, that’s just how women are, when they have someone close to them then even a small cut turns into a gaping wound.”
“Uhuh…”
As we keep walking towards the industrial area it’s almost like everyone is being mind controlled to leave their house at the same time as the empty roads become full of workers going to work within a few minutes. There seem to be a lot of mixed race people working here and almost all of them are men. Following the gray stream of people we eventually pour into the factories through a metal gate. The air is really bad here and it makes it hard to breathe. Chris then leads me into a small wooden hut out front the factory where an overweight human in his fifties sits smoking a cigar.
“Morning Mr. Smith, found a new temp worker for the shoveling. He wants to work ere for a week then see if he wants to move in.”
“Alright, name?”
“Thoma Ahad.”
He pulls out a stack of pin-on name cards, writes down my name and hands it over to me, “You can get a temp uniform near the entrance. There was no need for formal wear, this ain’t that kind of job. Welcome to the company.”
I take the card then follow Chris inside and get the clothes.
“You can go change in the locker rooms, come on, follow me.”
Chris then leads me to a locker room full of rugged looking muscular men. About half of them seem tired while the other half looks sweaty and exhausted.
After being shown to my locker, I start to undress myself when I remember Scarlet's words about never showing my belly to strangers.
“Hey Chris, is there a toilet here or some broom closet I can finish changing in?”
“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed.”
“No…It’s just there is something I can’t show people here.”
“Right. Well, there is a janitor's closet over there.”
“Alright, thanks.”
I finish changing inside the janitor’s closet and when I leave it, Chris tells me, “You can leave the jacket here, you won’t need it where you’re going.”
Looking around, he’s right, no one wears more than their white tank top. Some even go completely nude on top.
“Alright, I’ll leave it here then.”
We then go to what looks like a break room and sit down with some other people.
An older looking Wolf-Beastkin who seems pretty buff walks to the front and speaks to us, “Alright, good morning men. Night shift told me there is some problem at the packing area with some of the equipment so try to be careful, there is also a bit of a pile up on the shoveler's side, some people had an accident earlier so we have more ore to get rid of than usual. Otherwise it’s been a quiet night, is there anything I need to know before I put you in your groups?”
Chris raises his hand, “Yeah, we got a new temp for the shoveling.”
“Nice, perfect timing. What’s your name kid?”
“Thoma Ahad.”
“Alright, I know with Elvish names it’s customary to say the whole thing but we’ll just call you by a nickname. Reason being, if there is an accident you’ll be dead before we get the whole name out to warn ya. So we’ll just call you Tom while you’re on the shift. Seeing as you are already dressed, I’m guessing you found the locker rooms, this room is our break room, for the toilettes there are signs to show you the way. I’ll put you in the group with Roland and Jerry, Roland is your group leader so make sure to learn from him.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Heh, this ain’t the place where we call each other Sir. Just call me Derrick. Anything else I need to know before we start? No? Good. Then let’s get going guys.”
As we get up, I whisper, “Uhm, Chirs, if we're not in the same group, how will I know when they get here?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll know and even if you don’t I’ll tell you during our break.”
“Alright.”
A large man with small horns on his head then approaches me, “Hi there, I’m Roland. Follow me.”
Me and a Cat-Beastkin called Jerry then follow Roland deeper into the factory past multiple smiths and packagers until we come upon what looks like the source of the bad air in the area, a row of giant furnaces.
“Tom get over here, here’s your shovel. The job is simple but that doesn’t mean it’s easy, we need to get that pile of ore as low as possible by the end of the day and put it in there. Not in front of it and not next to it. Don’t get too comfortable with your routine or you’ll start missing and that’s twice the work. Understood?”
“Yes! cough cough”
“Good, let’s start.”
Over the next three hours we reduce the pile of ore by about a quarter. Then, when a bell rings, Roland puts his hand on my shoulder, “Good job newbie. Time for our break.”
Together we move to the breakroom where Scarlet is already waiting for me. “Ro-! I mean Thoma! How are you doing? Is the work too hard?”
“No, it's fine. It’s exhausting but it’s not too hard. cough cough”
“Are you sure? You’re coughing.”
Jerry, my Cat-Beastfolk co-worker, answers, “Don’t worry about that. It’s completely normal to get an irritated throat in the first few days. Tom’s doing a good job so far so he’s fine.”
“Tom?”
“That’s the nickname they gave me. For safety purposes.”
“Uhuh…” She then motions me to come closer and whispers in my ear, “Did you find anything yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Alright…” After taking a look around at the shirtless guys she whispers, “Did you show them your belly?”
“Nope, I even changed in the janitor’s room! cough ”
“Good, I’m very proud of you Rose,” She then takes me by the hand, “I brought you food, you need to eat well if you work here!”
It looks like she brought me a bottle of water, two pork knuckles and some veggies.
“Thank you manya, it looks great! cough ”
“I’m glad…I’m not allowed to stay the whole break but I’ll be cheering you on from outside…Oh! Also, Rayla is not allowed to enter because of her disguise so I’ll be the only one visiting you.”
“Disguise? What kind of disguise?”
Avoiding my eyes, she smiles, “It’s…Best if I don’t tell you. Anyways, I need to go. The foreman is already waving for me to leave.” She gives me a hug, “Please stay safe.”
“I will! cough cough See you later.”
After I wave her goodbye, Jerry and Roland sit down next to me at my table and Jerry slaps my back, “Cute sister you’ve got there.”
“Yeah, she’s great. Please don’t touch my back though.”
“My bad, so how come she’s like ten times better looking than you? Different daddies?”
“Nope, we’re sis-siblings by blood. cough But I only met her about a month ago for the first time. I grew up in the slums and she was raised by our parents.”
“The slums huh…Comton?”
“Nope, Rostock.”
“Where is that?”
“It’s a port town in Berk.”
“Berk!? That’s a long trip just to end up in this shit hole. What about your parents? Are they dead?”
Slap
Roland slaps Jerry on the back of the head with his giant hands, “Don’t ask sensitive questions like that.”
I chuckle, “It’s fine. cough They’re not dead, they just live very far away so we need to earn some money to get there.”
Concerned, they look at each other and Roland says, “Then don’t waste your time here. This place is a debt trap. It’s better than the slums but that’s about it. The prices for everything you need to live are completely inflated, they get you with the free house rental but in the end you’ll just live in an empty house accumulating debt over the years because you earn less than you need to live.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“Oh yeah, trust me Tom, if you have some place to look forward to, leave after your week here. They’ll tell you some rip off price to take the carriage out of here but it’s better than staying.”
“Hmm, alright. cough Thank you Roland.”
“No worries.”
Shortly after eating my food, the bell rings again and we return to work. The next four and a half hours are tough, really tough. The work is exhausting, I’m getting really tired and the air is bad. I feel half dead as the bell rings again for lunch break and Jerry puts his hand on my shoulder, “Two thirds done now, you got this.”
I just nod and we enter the break room for lunch break. There seem to be a lot of women here delivering food and kisses to their husbands and boyfriends.
Scarlet approaches me with a concerned look, “Are you okay, Ro-Thoma? You look horrible!”
“Yeah…cough Just tired.”
“No wonder, it’s way past your nap time. Go lay down. I brought Hoppy with me so you can sleep well.”
“You brought Hoppy!?” Cough cough Seeing the others look at me I whisper, “I can’t sleep with Hoppy here. They’ll think I’m weird…Also my cover will be blown.”
Scarlet then pulls out Hoppy and in a playful voice makes it look like Hoppy is talking, “But Rose, I’ll be lonely if you sleep without me.”
“I’m sorry Hoppy but I can’t sleep with you today cough. We can sleep tonight though.”
“But I want to sleep together with you now, not later.”
“I’d like to but it will blow our cover and…” I then catch myself having a conversation with a toy, “Don’t do that Scarlet, I’m not a kid and there are lives at stake. We can’t play around like this cough.”
“Fine, but please lay down regardless, even an hour-long nap without Hoppy is better than nothing. There is a bench over here.”
“Okay cough.”
I lie down with Scarlet waiting next to me until I fall asleep. About an hour later Roland shakes me awake, “We’re almost done, come on final stretch.”
“I’m on it cough.”
Exhausted, we leave for the furnace again. I feel a little better now that I took a nap but I still don’t feel great. The next two and a half hours are a slog to get through. I feel so exhausted both mentally and physically that I don’t even notice when Roland calls me the first time, “Tom? “
“Yeah?”
“We’re done, we just need to inform the night shift, collect our money and then we can leave.”
“Oh, so it’s over? Nice. Cough”
When we enter the breakroom, I feel like I’m about to pass out as I sit down and listen to the problems of other groups and after about fifteen minutes Derrick walks over to me and hands me one big Copper, “Good job today newbie, make sure you get some good rest today so you can work as well as you did today.”
“Will do! Cough So, can I go now?”
“Ahaha, sure. Go take a nap, you look like shit.”
“Alright see ya guys tomorrow.”
After saying my goodbyes I get my clothes from the locker room and leave the factory. Outside the gate, Rayla and Scarlet are already waiting. Rayla looks kind of weird, she’s wearing overly revealing clothing and thick make-up.
“Oki! Over here!”
Walking over to her through the current of gray men I give her a hug and pass out in her arms.