Grunty Industries: The Untold Story. By ws49
A Banjo-Tooie fan-fiction.
"Everything is not as it appears." You may think you know everything about a person. Sometimes you may be right. Other times you will be wrong. First impressions are not how one gets to see a person fully. If one were to get a chance to follow a persons story, we might see a whole new side of them we never even considered. This, is that chance.
It was a cool, spring day in the area around Frederick Metal-Works. The factory stood near the edge of a large forest. The outside of the factory hasn't changed much since it was built. The main entrance was a small building with a sign on it which stated "Frederick Metal-Works" in crisp, bold letters. Heading past that, one would find the main factory. A rather tall rectangular building, with two large, cylindrical chimneys reaching up to the sky. The building itself was mostly brick, with a tunnel leading from the side of the factory deep into the forest surrounding it.
The manager of the factory, a lime-green Jinjo named Burdon, was sitting at his office on the 1st floor looking over, or to put it better, sulking over some documents. His office was plain and simple; a refection on his personality. His desk was currently covered with all manners of papers and spreadsheets. On the side of his desk a goose-neck lamp hung gloomily, casting the Jinjo in a solemn light. A single window in the office gave a large view of the 1st floor.
A knock at the door brought the manager out of his realm of numbers and pie charts.
"Come in," he said simply. In the door came Aldar, one of the head mechanics in the factory. He was a black reptile, the only one in employment in the factory. He was currently wearing his dark grey workers uniform. His orange utility belt, which was currently fulled to the brink with many strange tools and gizmo's, was held around his waist via a large red buckle and suspenders. A compact pressure gauge was strapped on his right suspender. He was slim and tall, with a look in his eyes that betrayed his youth. He had originally has a job in Glitter Gulch Mine where he would do simple things, like smith pickaxes for the miners or fix a broken generator. He also would repair things in his spare time, some would say that was his hobby.
"What do you want Aldar?", Burdon said irresolutely. Aldar made his way up to his boss's desk.
"You alright, boss?", Aldar said, as if he already knew the answer. "Of course I'm Fine - never been better." Burdon said, sarcasm evident.
Aldar just stared at him.
Burdon eventually caved; "I- I'm just stressed, that's all."
"Stressed about what?" Aldar said.
"...Nothing specific."
Aldar didn't buy it. "You suck at lying, you know that? Come on, out with it." he said.
Burdon gave a small chuckle; Aldar all ways could tell what he was thinking.
Burdon's face now became unreadable.
"Take a look at this," Burdon said, giving Aldar one of the papers that he was glowering over a few minutes prior to the conversation.
Aldar fumbled around his belt for a few seconds before saying "Sorry boss, I left my reading glasses in my locker; wouldn't be able to see a word on that page."
"It is the financial statement for this factory, and it ain't good." Burdon said.
Aldar blinked. "So? We had problems like this in the past, and Frederick always gets us out of the red."
Burdon sighed, "In the past, yes, but now...", he paused, as if struggling to form the right words, "... he isn't as, well, shall we say... patient, as he used to be." he concluded.
Aldar, now very concerned, inquired while taking a seat in the chair "What... what does that mean?".
Burdon waited a moment before answering,
"It means... that he's thinking about selling the factory."
"WHAT?" Aldar practically shouted.
"Shh, calm down," Burdon said, "I am not ready to tell the entire factory yet."
"But you will have to tell them eventually," Aldar stated, taking a seat in one of the chairs in the office.
"I know, but we're not even sure that's what is going to happen." Burdon said.
Aldar thought for a moment, tapping a claw on the chair, "Who is thinking about buying the factory?"
"A company named 'Winkybunion United'."
"Isn't that a underwear factory?"
"From what I know, yes," Burdon replied.
"Why do they want our factory? Last I checked, our factory is too big for just making underwear..." Aldar noted.
"No Idea," Burdon admitted.
"So when did this all happen?" Aldar asked.
"Oh, about a week ago, I just received this info yesterday."
"And If Frederick wants to sell it, will it be Winkybunion United that buys it?" Aldar asked?
"It seems like it; no one else is interested in the factory."
"Well, if I must say, sir", Aldar said, "This is certainly unexpected... but I guess these things happen. But I hope you will still be my boss if the company is bought out."
"Unfortunately, my boy, I am getting too old for this job," the Jinjo said with a sigh, "either way, I am retiring next year."
"Oh.." Aldar said sadly.
"'Oh'? You are sad to see me leave?" Burdon said with a smile, "Did you think I would stay here forever?"
"Well, no... but, you retiring and the company changing hands... the factory will not be the same."
"Aye, it won't..."
They both were silent for a few moments.
"Hey, boss?" Aldar finally said.
"Hmm?"
"The reason I left my old job at Glitter Gulch was not because of the danger, well, that may of been a small factor in it," Aldar began to say, "But the real reason was because of the fact that I could not stand the people there. Sure I loved what I did there, but in the end, the pointless arguments got boring after a while. So that's why I left that job. Now I am here and I have what I didn't back at the mine: People I can tolerate. Like you, for example. No offence." He paused for a moment. " But now," Aldar continued, "with you leaving, it seems like the beginning of a new chapter. This factory will have a new manager. I only hope that that one will be as good as you, boss."
Burdon, who had been listening intently to Aldar's monologue, smiled at the last comment. "Well, I am deeply honored, Aldar, thank you."
"No, Thank you boss, I know I have gotten into some trouble in my time here so, thanks for letting me off easy."
"Aldar," Burdon smirked, "You know as well as I do that I wasn't letting you off so much as letting the other guy off easy."
"True, true," The reptile concurred.
"Well, Aldar, I have a lot of work to do, so if you..." He indicated the door.
Aldar smiled, "Of course sir. I really should get back to work too; the boys down in Waste Disposal are having trouble installing a part for the new trash-compactor."
"Really?" Burdon looked curious, "I heard Jakob was heading the installation. Haven't ever seen him ask for help before. Ever."
"That's because he didn't ask me," Aldar explained, "But seeing as he almost fried the $20,000 compactor's main computer buy plugging it in backwards, I decided to pay him a little visit."
"Ok, I don't need to hear any more," Burdon quickly replied; the thought of anything expensive being destroyed was a manager's worst nightmare.
"Good day, boss."
"You too, Aldar."
Burdon just stared after Aldar as he exited the room. The boy certainly has skills, he thought.
But, Aldar also had something of a lone-dog attitude him. He would often times elect to do a task all by himself. Not to say that was a bad thing all the time, he did indeed complete projects alone.
But the problem came with the fact that Aldar just didn't like some people. Aldar was kind to most people, but when it came to certain kinds of people, he would just go off on them. Not like full anger, but more of a sarcastic, counterproductive manner. Granted, Aldar knew to avoid those situations if he could, but sometimes, these things were unavoidable.
And with Aldar's, well, unique personality, he may get into trouble with the new management. He was in the middle of some conflicts a couple of times before, but Burdon had always let him off easy. That may not be the case with Aldar's new boss, Burdon thought.
But, in Burdon's opinion, that was far outweighed by the simple fact that he was excellent at building things, heck, Burdon even watched Aldar weld two pieces of steal together in under 20 seconds! Not to mention the countless other things he helped fix in the factory. He was one of the 'good' people here, and he should know to keep out of trouble with new management!
And with that, he got up from his chair, grabbed his hardhat, and headed out into the factory.
(A/N): I had originally intended for this to be a one-shot but I realized that that would leave many people confused. So, now this is gonna be the 1st chapter. I hope this wasn't too long for you to read.
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Also I did my best to catch any spelling/grammar errors, but some may have slipped through. Let me know if you see any of them. :)
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