Day 10.
With the next twist of the screwdriver, the screw snapped off all together. Thomas cursed, again, and fought the urge to not jab the screwdriver into the iron plate.
He could tell Clint had noticed, again, but he didn't say anything this time.
The framework for the HUB was almost complete. Thomas was now the sole person working on the construction. All around him, parts from the pods had been dismantled and scattered about. Instructions for hand assembly had been found, and now they rushed to try and make what didn't survive the crash.
Not far away, Simone hammered away on a makeshift workbench. She hummed along to herself, entirely off beat to the hammering she was doing.
Off from the group, Mike had found an ore vein of iron. Clint had been very excited, as this would be the start of their operations. Mike had been chiseling iron off ever since. He mumbled to himself as he did so.
That left Thomas alone to "finish up". He was beginning to lose patience after spending days on this planet.
"Hey there, Tom," said Clint, "Can I call you Tom? Do you prefer Thomas?"
"Can I help you, Clint?"
"I just can'nae help but notice we're... well... ten days behind quota for... set up of a HUB."
Thomas sighed, and turned to look at Clint's faceplate.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well I was going over some projected timelines with ADA," said Clint, "And I am really confused. ADA claims the average number of Pioneers have a HUB built and operational within the first few hours of landing. Many are even capable of being set up within the first hour."
"I think it is safe to say I am not like most Pioneers," grumbled Thomas, "I am not supposed to be here. I am a Human resources Representative. I have a Masters in corporate psychology and a BA in Middle Management."
"Well... use one of them fancy degrees to build faster, perhaps," said Clint, "Everyone else seems to have pulled their weight along quite nicely."
"Well, I would love to, but I can't help the quality of these... janky screws," said Thomas, "No offense, but they are hand made."
"Excuse me!" came the cry of Simone not far away, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to hammer rocks into metal bars? Hmm? And then to hammer those metal bars into metal rods? Hmm? And then turn those rods into hammered screws? Hmm?"
Thomas threw up his hands, "I am not saying it is easy. I am simply saying none of this is easy or typical and is going pretty slowly!"
"Well, I got a lot better!" Simone came over and plopped down a blue container full of screws.
"I'm not saying you didn't get- Woah," Thomas reached in and pulled out a stubby screw from the container, "She is not kidding. These are way better. Inhuman. How are you doing this?"
"Practice!" said Simone.
"There, now. Teamwork," said Clint, "ADA. Please reward merit points to Pioneers Tadungo and Patel for excellent teamwork!"
ADA's voice filled the helmets of the trio, "Ficsit Merit points have been added to the accounts of Pioneers designation: Simone Tadungo and Thomas Patel. Please remember Ficsit merit points have no financial value and cannot be traded or sold. Thank you for continuing to be productive Ficsit employees."
Clint nodded, "Now, if you'll excuse me."
"And what are you doing?" said Thomas, "May I ask why you aren't over here assembling a hub?"
"Everyone must wear multiple hats, Patel," said Clint, "And one of mine, as foreman, is that of 'supervisor'. However, I'm not one to pass the buck of manual labor onto others. I am currently taking stock of our supplies, building materials, and surrounding area to determine how to best prioritize our future goals to ensure our survival."
"Sounds like supervising with more steps," said Thomas.
"And I'm the only one with a gun," said Clint, "So I'll be checking the perimeter. As I do so, I will be gathering local supplies for our needs. Fire wood. Leaves for bedding. Things of that nature. I can assist you when I get back, sure, but do you really want me concentrating on this when a big bad beastie could sneak up on us?"
Thomas quickly looked around the clearing, his faceplate scanning the treeline and the field beyond.
"I figured not," said Clint, walking off, "Rest easy, Tom."
Thomas sighed, looking back to Simone, who just shrugged at him.
"You wanna help me build a hub?" asked Thomas.
"Nope!" said Simone, "I got to fulfil an order from Mike first. He needs a bunch of rods and iron plates for some reason. He's got plans for a thing!"
"Fine," sighed Thomas, "Thanks for the screws."
"Nooooo problem!" said Simone.
Day 15
"I DID IT!"
Mike's voice carried over the base camp. So much so, that even Clint took notice.
When Clint walked around the other side of the hub, Thomas was stepping away from the computer terminal and Simone just put down her hammer at the crafting bench. They approached the equipment workshop with speculation as Mike stumbled out of it holding a massive orange box.
"Prepare to be amazed!" he said, "My project is complete!"
Thomas was fiddling with that broken gun thing he had been carrying around, "It's a box?"
"It's not just a box, good buddy," said Mike, walking towards his Iron Ore vein.
"Mike, I am concerned," said Clint, "You by any chance have'nae be using Ficsit time for personal projects, aye?"
"No! This is Ficsit business," grunted Mike, setting his box down on the ore vein, "Got the blueprints straight outta Aida."
"Alright," said Thomas, "What do we need with a box?"
"It's not a box," said Mike, "Let me introduce you, to the power of DRILLING! Ah-Ha!"
The three Pioneers just stared at Mike in silence. Mike did not let this bother him as he began to run his hands along his box like a used car salesman.
"Yessir. This here drill is the miner of the future, boys and girl. No more chiseling away at this here node fer me! This baby is capable of getting roughly 40 square pounds of ore per minute! Once activated, it can dig so we don't have to! I'll have free hands to aid with construction and inventory management!"
"I..." Thomas stopped himself short.
"Well, words are cheap, lad. Let's start the show."
Mike excitedly grabbed a switch on the side and, with effort, cranked it to the up position. He stepped back, as the box began to vibrate slightly. However, it didn't seem to be doing anything. With an embarrassed laugh, Mike quickly kicked out and landed a hard kick with his boot.
The box jumped into motion. Four long legs extended into the ground, lifting the box into the air. At the same time the plates on the body began to shift and turn. Opening, the box revealed a sharp drill, which was spun downward so it faced the ground. The contraption began to put and spurt, and the drill slowly began to spin. All at once, when the drill had picked up speed, it dropped to the ground, and the drill dug into the ore vein.
It began to whir and sputter, drilling into the ore vein and tossing loose rocks and dirt everywhere. Mike, however, was standing with his arms outstretched in a ta-dah motion.
"Holy cow," said Thomas, "How... how?"
"I toldja," said Mike, "I just followed the Ficsit diagrams. It took some time and trial and error, but I got this nice little drill a working. A few more of these puppies and we'll be all set!"
"Brilliant," said Clint, "This will help save us time for sure."
"I love the pointy box!" said Simone, "Now we'll need to get the furnace up and running so I don't break my spirit hammering rocks forever!"
"Wow," said Thomas, "Can I just say that you two are, like, very good at making stuff with your hands. How did you even do this?"
"I just... followed the schematics," said Mike.
"You had iron rods," said Mike, "And Iron plates. How is it even running? Is it clockwork? Is it spring powered? Do I hear a motor? Does it need to be refueled?"
"I think you are overthinking this a bit too much, Thomas," said Clint, "He followed the Ficsit schematics and it works. Are you surprised?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is enough chit-chat. We're already hopelessly behind!" said Clint, "The furnace frame is assembled and we need to get the kiln mounted before nightfall! And don'nae even get me started on the constructor."
"How do we keep being so far behind schedule?" asked Simone, "Isn't the quotas designed around... one person? Doing it by themselves?"
"I don'nae know what to say to that," said Clint, "But we are down more than half of our original crew. Maybe all those extra people would've made one hell of a difference."
"Maybe we should make some weapons and go out and find them?" asked Thomas, "There were several names marked as 'missing'. Maybe if we can figure out how this gun works and make some more weapons we can plan a search party and-"
"On an alien planet? This far behind alright?" said Clint, "I'm sorry but if we have any hope of making our quotas we can nae waist any more time on a Gowk who missed the landing zone. I'm afraid I must insist we all get back to work."
Thomas looked longingly at the gun in his hand, pulling the trigger to no affect. With a great sigh, he holstered it on his utility belt and turned back to finishing the HUB.
Day 17
It was quiet. The common room sat dark. The bunks were cleanly made. The only sound wafting in was the distant whir of portable miners.
Suddenly, the interior lights turn on. The computer screens turn blue and a distinct hum of electronic booting up. Interior fans begin to spin. The external terminal outside flashes on, running through some bios code before quickling displaying the Ficsit logo.
The HUB came to life. Programs were running their startup dialogue. And ADA's crisp voice rang out.
"Congratulations. You have activated the H.U.B. and now have access to its resources."
"Yeeeeaaaaaasss!" came the triumphant screams of Thomas.
"In order to increase productivity, please note the main terminal which will provide you with suggested milestones based on your work site's specific goals-"
"YES! Take that! WOO-HOO!"
"- and the needs of Ficsit Inc's Project: Assembly."
Clint and Simone made their way over from the Furnace, which was close to being completed. Mike ran over to get a look at the completed hub.
"I did it, me!" said Thomas, pointing at the group, "I did it. By hand. MYSELF! Take that, you stupid planet!"
"Calm down, ya nugget," said Clint, "You are easily in the bottom 1% of all time building of a Hub."
"I was impressed," said Simone.
"Ah-HA! Amazing!" cried Mike, "I just won 20,000 credits!"
"Huh?" said Thomas, "How on earth is that more impressive than-"
"Additionally," continued ADA, "Please stand clear for the Ficsit freighter assigned to your work site. Satellite has launched your freighter at the activation of your freighter beacon."
"Well, I am impressed you did it, but moreover you bet me 20,000 credits you couldn't do it," continued Mike, "But I knew you had it in you all along, good buddy!"
"I... what?" stumbled Thomas.
"Ficsit Freighters are used to deliver much needed supplies to the satellite in smaller intervals allowing it to expand into much needed Pioneer support," Continued ADA, "And in smaller, more targeted quantities to Space Elevator shipments. They also allow Ficsit Inc to monitor Pioneer progress and keep you focused."
"It's a ficsit approved wager, friend," said Mike.
"Enough out of you two," said Clint, "We now have a hub, finally. I can check off something on my list. ADA, what's this about a freighter?"
"Incoming..."
At ADA's prompt, the whole team turned and looked up. Sure enough, descending from above a dot was circling their base. Quickly, it fell from the sky. Thomas took a worried step back.
The freighter was a large spacecraft capable of breaking out of the atmosphere and launching to the satellite in orbit. It was boxy and small compared to other craft, but it was quick and powerful. As it approached, the two thrusters jutting out of either side of the freighter's body adjusted and increased thrust to slow down the speeding vehicle.
It circled once more, now hovering just over the treeline. It positioned itself above the HUB, and it lowered relatively quickly down on one of the sides. With the thrusters adjusting in automated real time, the shuttle was brought backward, and rested down on two supports that fit the shuttle perfectly. The thrusters cut off, and the shuttle was docked.
"The foreman for the site may chose a milestone for the team to work towards at the outside terminal," said ADA, "Completing milestones proves your productivity, and Ficsit will reward productive workers with blueprints and recipes for new, more advanced equipment and technology utilizing the resources you have mastered at the work site."
"WOO HOO!" shouted Mike, "Well I'll be!"
"Foreman? That is me!" said Clint.
"Alright, I guess you'll have to look on the computer to see if there is any sort of radios or... distress beacons," said Thomas.
"I told you, we're behind," said Clint, "I got our milestones, right here. We need power. We need constructors. We need this furnace built," said Clint, "We can'nae get a long range radio transmission without that space elevator operational! Let's get our machines up and running and we'll be fine."
"FINE! Fine," said Thomas, "What do we need to build this space elevator thing, anyway?"
"I do'nae know," said Clint, "Haven'nae looked it up yet. Probably some iron plates, some iron rods, some concrete... wire."
"Some iron rods?" asked Thomas.
"Fine! A lot," said Clint, "Very likely a lot of materials. Which is why we have got to get working, lads and lass. No time for chin wags."
Clint headed off, and Simone followed, falling into a cartwheel behind him. Mike patted Thomas' back and gave a thumbs up before returning to his task. Thomas sighed.
"Ficsit wager conditions met," said ADA over Thomas' helmet, "Your account has transferred 20,000 credits to the account of Pioneer: Gunn, Mike. Ficsit thanks you for your cooperation."
"Are you kidding me?" asked Thomas.
In the distance, Mike's "Woo-HOO!" rang out, and Thomas flopped onto the ground, banging his head into the dirt.
He was so preoccupied with his own misery, he didn't even notice the two pairs of alien eyes, spying on them from the tree line. A small chirp escaped the critter, and it curiously watched the strange being continue to burrow into the dirt with its face.