It is orbit 10038, hour 4, and I'm in the creaky, rusted elevator going down to the mines. I descend at a snail's pace into the gargantuan labyrinth of coal and steel that is the Xenadarian Depository. My fellow workers seem antsy as the familiar smog burns our lungs with the heat of the Remoin, Invictus’s brightest sun. My eyes drift to the corner of the elevator, where a rusted, locked door lies. We know not what is beyond it.
The jolt of the elevator stopping makes the new kid trip. He looks eleven, older than when I started, but still too young. He probably started mining because he was forced to by the Sh1ft, a group of A.I. who manage the underaged. I joined the mines at the age of nine so I could make enough to feed my little brother. After the taxes were raised on children, our parents couldn't feed both us and themselves, so they left. I am now fifteen and I work to support both of us.
“How old are you, m’boy?” says the old man. He sounds curious, but in an empty way.
“Ten, this is my first day,” says the boy. He looks scared out of his mind. I was, too, when I first started. We exit the elevator into the wretched maze of tunnels lit dimly by the flickering light of occasional torches. I notice the old man is not with us. I call for him but get no answer. I rush back into the elevator and find him sitting in the corner, fiddling with the rusty lock on the mysterious door.
“It is no use, you know,” I mutter as I turn to leave. “We have tried hundreds of times. Whatever it is, the Consulate doesn't want us to go in there.”
“I know, Jayce. Still, an old man can hope,” he replies quietly.
“If they catch you here — ” I start, but stop when I notice the boy, looking at me with frightened eyes.
“We need to go,” I say.
“Where?” he asks fearfully.
“Oh right, you're new. Let me see your card,” I say, trying to sound upbeat as he grabs his work ID from his pocket.
Name: Jacob Everitt
Parental units: Venessa Everitt // Jacob Everitt
Occupation: Mine Runner
Occupation Initiation Day: Orbit 10038, Hour 3
Sector: A5
Birth Date: Orbit 10027, Hour 83
Age: 10.2 Orbits
Status: Underaged Employee
Supervision: Underaged Miner’s Union
Management: Sh1ft Protocol HQ
Management Middleman: Headman Chu Ling
Squad: V7A
Gov. Dwelling(s): Sanctum #078
“Okay, you will be going down that tunnel,” I say, gesturing to a dimly lit tunnel with such a steep downward angle that most first-timers fall all the way down. “Go down ‘til the second turn, then walk a hundred paces and turn right.”
“Can you come with me?” he asks pitifully. He looks like his world is about to end in a blast of carbon.
“No. I have to go now.”
I turn and walk briskly down the center tunnel that leads to the main mining outpost, not looking back. It was once a glorious mechanical masterpiece, but now it is a bleak room filled with rusted equipment that lacks frequent care. I grab a pickaxe and exit through the northernmost tunnel into the pathway I was recently assigned to. The smoke is thicker here, and it twists the lantern light from the other miners and reminds me of an early memory: a candlelit dinner at our grandparents’ home, before our parents were disowned, before I had to work in the mines, before they left.
I am broken from my reverie when the wall at the end of the enormous tunnel explodes, knocking me down and propelling smoke and debris towards me. I get to my feet, panic rising in my chest as I run down the tunnel, trying to get to the outpost in time. I hear yells of alarm from other miners from all directions. I see a miner to my left trip and fall and be overtaken by the smoke and debris. I keep on running, faster now, trying to reach the outpost before the doors close or I get buried in debris.
The jolt of the elevator stopping makes the new kid trip. He looks eleven, older than when I started, but still too young. He probably started mining because he was forced to by the Sh1ft, a group of A.I. who manage the underaged. I joined the mines at the age of nine so I could make enough to feed my little brother. After the taxes were raised on children, our parents couldn't feed both us and themselves, so they left. I am now fifteen and I work to support both of us.
“How old are you, m’boy?” says the old man. He sounds curious, but in an empty way.
“Ten, this is my first day,” says the boy. He looks scared out of his mind. I was, too, when I first started. We exit the elevator into the wretched maze of tunnels lit dimly by the flickering light of occasional torches. I notice the old man is not with us. I call for him but get no answer. I rush back into the elevator and find him sitting in the corner, fiddling with the rusty lock on the mysterious door.
“It is no use, you know,” I mutter as I turn to leave. “We have tried hundreds of times. Whatever it is, the Consulate doesn't want us to go in there.”
“I know, Jayce. Still, an old man can hope,” he replies quietly.
“If they catch you here — ” I start, but stop when I notice the boy, looking at me with frightened eyes.
“We need to go,” I say.
“Where?” he asks fearfully.
“Oh right, you're new. Let me see your card,” I say, trying to sound upbeat as he grabs his work ID from his pocket.
Name: Jacob Everitt
Parental units: Venessa Everitt // Jacob Everitt
Occupation: Mine Runner
Occupation Initiation Day: Orbit 10038, Hour 3
Sector: A5
Birth Date: Orbit 10027, Hour 83
Age: 10.2 Orbits
Status: Underaged Employee
Supervision: Underaged Miner’s Union
Management: Sh1ft Protocol HQ
Management Middleman: Headman Chu Ling
Squad: V7A
Gov. Dwelling(s): Sanctum #078
“Okay, you will be going down that tunnel,” I say, gesturing to a dimly lit tunnel with such a steep downward angle that most first-timers fall all the way down. “Go down ‘til the second turn, then walk a hundred paces and turn right.”
“Can you come with me?” he asks pitifully. He looks like his world is about to end in a blast of carbon.
“No. I have to go now.”
I turn and walk briskly down the center tunnel that leads to the main mining outpost, not looking back. It was once a glorious mechanical masterpiece, but now it is a bleak room filled with rusted equipment that lacks frequent care. I grab a pickaxe and exit through the northernmost tunnel into the pathway I was recently assigned to. The smoke is thicker here, and it twists the lantern light from the other miners and reminds me of an early memory: a candlelit dinner at our grandparents’ home, before our parents were disowned, before I had to work in the mines, before they left.
I am broken from my reverie when the wall at the end of the enormous tunnel explodes, knocking me down and propelling smoke and debris towards me. I get to my feet, panic rising in my chest as I run down the tunnel, trying to get to the outpost in time. I hear yells of alarm from other miners from all directions. I see a miner to my left trip and fall and be overtaken by the smoke and debris. I keep on running, faster now, trying to reach the outpost before the doors close or I get buried in debris.