RECV EDC: 21NOV2018
COMM MODE: DSN REFLECT
CODED ABST: D/M/C
CRC: 509234123 3027
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Maybe I shouldn't have taken the job. Darius warned me that
working a distant outpost- no matter what the pay was- would
lead to trouble. The original assignment was going to be one
cycle on, two cycles off, repeated for two ESRs. I'll admit,
I was on my guard for the first rotation; but, after they
let me loose for my two cycle hiatus without any drama at
all, I didn't hesitate to come back. The pay was so good.
The separation might also have tipped me off, if I wanted to
be tipped off. We were remote, so I didn't expect to be
surrounded by a huge crew, but I knew that there was
something wrong when they stationed me in an empty unit to
work alone. I could manage the gear, but the job would have
been exponentiallly more efficient if I had a team to help.
The Corporation would have made exponetially more profit
too, and that's all the Corporation cares about. It nagged
me from the beginning, but the pay was so good.
The work was managable, if slow. My super never baulked at
my pull stats, which rarely met content targets. I lulled
myself with the thought that she was just tired. Over and
over I returned for each of my cycles, left for my breaks,
and returned again for more cycles.
When my commissioned ESRs were coming around, the
Corporation approached me with a renewal offer. Apparently,
my mediocre performance was exactly what they wanted. The
anxiety that I had been pushing into the background rushed
into my mind all at once, and I questioned myself.
"Why didn't your super ever issue a reprimand, or even give
a verbal warning? Those pull numbers were bad, even for a
one-man unit."
I answered myself as well. Subvocalization is normal, but
spending so many cycles alone usually leads to vocalization
that no one else is around to hear. It wasn't a shouting
match, but I wasn't gentle either.
"I don't know- she was tired, she's been posted too long,
she hates the Corporation. Pick one."
"Yeah? Well, why didn't the Corporation ever come around to
inspect? Two full ESRs and not a single spot check? Not even
a communique?"
"It's remote, why would they bother?"
"Don't give me that, you know the Corporation values dense
pull sources more than anything else, no matter how remote
they are."
"They don't have endless resources..."
"Don't they?"
This argument continued on for some time, but in the end the
more logical part of me won, and I decided not to renew my
contract. I had already saved a considerable sum. I could
float for a while and pick up another stint later. I was
tired; even with the breaks, the work was long and
difficult. Plus, I didn't want to be there when the
Corporation found out how this outpost was being run.
I turned in a polite refusal. That was 0.2 cycles before I
was to ship out. At 0.01 cycles, just one sleep unit away
from departure, everything changed.
