The main Arna and Reynolds complex spans 2000 Acres, a mishmash of massive hangars, production and assembly buildings, all interspersed with tall office buildings and datacenters. Space which was once the boon of this facility now came at a premium as more and more projects required different specialized facilities.
That’s not to say all the facilities were business focused. There was a food court complex with a dozen different restaurant options, simple laundry facilities the staff could use 24/7, a fifty-room hotel for visiting officials and guests, exercise rooms, a pool, a theater/lecture hall, etc.
The grounds had even hosted sporting events until construction of the third runway forced the baseball field to be removed.
It was the dream workplace for a kid visiting their parents at work. And not just kids, it wasn’t uncommon to hear about spouses meeting their partners after work at the food-court or gym. The facilities were used by all in the family, and that was encouraged. The term ‘employee loyalty’ doesn’t come close.
Many of the employees now were second-generation or even third-generation workers.
The day was like any other. Well not quite, a solar eclipse prompted a large festival to be set up on the grounds of the ARMS HQ, the employees had mostly been given the day off and many of their families had come to view the— near-complete— solar eclipse that would be viewable from the site.
Grandstands had been set up and dozens of catering companies had been brought in to help feed the even more substantial number of mouths that had gathered. Given that around 70% of the employees had spouses, and many of those had at least one child, the total number of attendees, including those still working elsewhere on the complex, come out to 71,422.
The event was progressing well as the eclipse neared time. Everyone was gathered at the grandstands and glasses were handed out. But when the time came for the eclipse to reach completion–
A sound, like bolts of thunder striking in all directions, roared through the stands sending shivers down the spines of even the hardened test pilots lent by the air force. It was like the sound of a hundred sonic booms listened to in stereo.
The noise and shock of it all caused everyone to blink, and when they removed their glasses to get an idea of what might have caused the ruckus, they found their surroundings vastly different than expected.
For one, the sun was not where they had been looking, and it was certainly not mid-eclipse.
They were logical men, but even this was outside what they could instantly rationalize.
It’s obvious that panic would ensue.
Fortunately, there were only a few injuries.
“We restored power after that, right now we have it primarily running for heating the hangars where everyone is sleeping at night and maintaining the minimum capacity of the network. According to Falcotini’s guys, they can keep it running for 3 months with fuel reserves. And someone suggested collecting fuel from all the cars in the parking lots, so that could add a few weeks.”
“So, people are just– sleeping on cots in the hangars?” Third asked glancing at the assembled group of tired-looking executives and bigwigs.
“For now, yep, they’re sleeping in the hangars on foam pads originally destined for use insulating the condensation jacket of a solid booster we’re testing. But we’ve already begun manufacturing prefabricated apartment-style dwellings we can stack inside hangars. I think Kevin, your guys are pretty confident on your timetable, was it–”
“Yeah, we are already making fifty a day with just our guys in the shop, and once we finish getting FAB X1 cleared out and set up to start making ‘em as well we should be looking at thousands a day, no problem. It won’t be perfect, but by the end of the month everyone should be able to have some privacy.”
“And food?” Third asked looking at the bag of Doritos on the table in front of him. There was no way their supply would last forever. This very well could be the last bag of Doritos in the world.
“We were fortunate, we had just finished getting our deliveries for the quarter. So, we have plenty of dry goods, and enough fresh food to keep everyone healthy until we can establish a stable food supply once spring comes.”
“There are several large fields to the west of our location that could be fertile farming lands, we just need to determine whether or not the environment here is similar enough to earth for our crops to grow.”
“We have no way of knowing if we will ever leave this place, so we can’t afford to make mistakes in assuming this planet will work just like our own.” Gary finished with a nod toward the long-haired man. “I’ve heard your botanists are also experimenting with native plants already.”
“Ah…” The man murmured with a scratch of his cheek in embarrassment. “Yeah, fortunately his stomach was pumped fast enough that the internal damage was minimal.”
“Our most vital resource here right now is our minds and our health. So we have to make sure we are being careful in everything we do. Just because we aren’t on earth doesn’t mean we can start breaking company regulations and procedures. Now more than ever, we can’t afford a workplace accident. We all have families to protect, even if they aren’t our own.”
Everyone nodded to the words. Third was still coming to terms with everything he’d heard over the past 12 hours, but even he couldn’t help but nod.
“Back on the topic of food though, we also have the option of purchasing it from the nearby city. It might be harder late into the winter like this, and we would have to find something adequate to trade.”
“Considering what we can tell about their society that shouldn’t be too high a barrier to meet. The question is more whether or not people will become suspicious about a group buying a large amount of food regularly.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Is it bad for us to be discovered?” Third frowned with a cock of his eyebrow.
“Not bad,” Gary answered shaking his head and taking a swig from the crystal glass on the table. “I think it’s inevitable we’ll be discovered eventually. But we need to be prepared for it first. We need to have connections and knowledge, so we aren’t treated as easy targets. Right now we know nearly nothing about this planet beyond that it appears to be a middle ages feudal type society, and it’s not earth.”
“Temporarily we could act as if we are merchants from some other country, perhaps selling glassware? Or artificial jewels.” Material Science Department Head Henry Pyre leaped to sell a few of his side hobbies as potential money makers.
“Paper would probably be hugely valuable here. Or maybe soap. And they are both made fairly easily.” Another voice added, this time from the overweight bearded Resource Management Head Woodrow Klien. “It would be easily expandable, and the market would probably be endless.”
“Those are very good.” Gary nodded, writing a few words on the laptop beside him without glancing at the monitor. “Lu, you got anything?”
Third threw the man an eye before shaking his head. “Nothing particular. But it does surprise me that everyone seems to be thinking so small. Has A&R ever even sold an end-user product before?”
“Sure we have, but we never profited off them.” Gary chuckled nodding his head as if noticed the truth in Third’s words. “We don’t have our name to go off of like on earth. We don’t know the markets or the clients and their needs.”
Third glanced up from his tapping pen and around the group of team leaders and executives. Everyone wore different expressions. Some looked scared, some nervous, while others looked like they had come to life for the first time.
“We’ve done this before and succeeded haven’t we?” Third started with a faint voice. Scratching his nose he turned back to the pen. “This isn’t anything new, it's just another new challenge. Arna & Reynolds is not an arms company, we’re not weapons manufacturers, or aircraft suppliers, or a shipyard, or a gas company, or any of ‘em. We’ve always been a progress company. And what a perfect stage to show what that looks like.”
Gary was the first to applaud. He rose to his feet causing his neighbors to have no choice but follow his lead.
Third paid it no mind and continued spinning and tapping at the table.
“You heard it here first, President Reynolds is back, Market Spec. you’ll be left in charge of local research, think you’re up for the task?”
“Sir?” Sophia Kartwright, The new head of Marketing Solutions stuttered, not expecting her turn to arrive. “I am not exactly sure how…”
“Assemble a group to go and visit the city. Adjust your outfits to not draw too much attention and be attentive on your path back. Since horses seem to exist in this world as well, you can borrow some from the petting Zoo.”
“Wa… I… Ok, I understand!” Sophia stuttered rapidly, folding up her notebook and bolting for the door.
“Well then…” Gary said with a tilt of his head as the group all turn back from the doorway. “I suppose with that we can end. If anything comes up in any of your groups remember phones are to be used only in emergencies for everything else just use walkies I am almost always on channel 9 if you need me.”
With that everyone stood, some remained, chatting a moment amongst themselves while others went off to deal with what they'd addressed in the meeting.
After around three or four minutes the large meeting room had emptied of all but the two seated at the front of the table.
“Well, now you’ve heard the situation. What do you think?” Gary asked leaning his chair back and turning his attention toward the unfamiliar landscapes outside the window.
“I think it’s incredible that everyone is so calm.“
“It did get a bit hectic at the beginning. But we were together at least, we felt safe in numbers. Luis, what happened? The doctors said you only showed signs of minor frostbite, but it’s been two weeks…”
“It’s a bit more complicated.” Third said, rocking his head as if weighing it.
The meeting room began to hum as the thermostat was triggered. Even that small pulse of electricity caused a minor blip in the lights. “We need to be careful. If say perhaps we are here for a reason. We need to fully consider what kind of reason would require all this.”
Motioning to the facilities outside the window Third took that as his cue to rise.
“You’ve been saying ‘we’ a lot, does that mean you’re staying this time?” Gary asked, noticing that he wasn’t going to get any other answers on the topic.
“Nowhere else to go, and it's better than…” Third trailed off with a twist of his nose.
“Then President Reynolds really is back.” Gary chuckled mostly to himself as Third reached the doorway.
Pausing a moment, he thought of nothing to say and kept going.
Outside the meeting room doors, he took a left and continued past two hallways. Taking another left he found the elevator he preferred and pressed. After a moment he was gliding up to the topmost floor and stepping out into an identical-looking hall.
This one however was adorned slightly better, all along either hall was a chrome strip that his grandfather had personally ordered when they first built the office.
At the time it was an impressive statement as a guest entered the floor. Now it looked a bit cheesy, but Third had fond memories of making faces into the banged-up metal mirrors and watching them stretch and squish.
Tracing the chrome trim with a finger, he eventually reached a desk perched outside an ornate door. It would typically be staffed by the portly old assistant that he’d known for as long as he could remember. But now it was a shadow of its…
“Oh, hey hun.” A woman’s raspy smoker's-voice called out from behind him. She huffed casually on a mug of coffee before making her way past Third and settling down at her desk.
“Ja… Janet?” Third asked, nearly forgetting her name if not for the plaque. “I thought you retired? Or…”
“Heh?!” The woman snorted, dropping her mug to the desk to wave both hands in protest. “I don’t have retired money, I just didn’t have a reason to be here.”
She points to the smaller words below her name, ‘Assistant President’.
“Couldn’t have an assistant president without… well you get it.” She chuckled with another wave of her hand. “Office is all cleaned up. And I put the key to the Suite on your desk.”
With that, she returned to the ‘work’ she was doing. It looked to Third like she was just shuffling papers and playing solitaire but he assumed there must be some method to the madness.
He hadn’t expected the encounter, but he wasn’t opposed to it so he followed her instructions and entered the office through the wide mahogany doorway. The smell was the first thing that brought him back. The same books sat on the shelves, the same leather couches and chairs, all those scents wafting together with the doors brought him immediately back to his memories of this place.
Stepping in, he felt like he had been here days ago, it didn’t feel like ten years had passed. While missing the life that it usually had, he could still almost feel his father’s presence in the room.
Reaching the desk, Third hesitated a long moment before finally rounding it and settling himself into the tall red leather chair.
‘It isn’t particularly comfortable. But it probably looks cool.’ Third thought to himself while shifting his weight to better enjoy the seat.
Just as Janet had said, he found a small keychain, as well as a badge with a picture of 12-year-old Third on it.
Sticky-noted onto the badge was a note reading ‘HR on floor 4 can get your new photo.’
“Jesus.” Third grumbled while looking at the badge with a sigh. Stowing it away in his pocket he spun the chair to look out the wide window. From there, he could see most of the landscape beyond their facilities. A river flowed along their right side and to the left, a large steady hill rose high into the distance. Most of the land was still covered in a small layer of snow and the river was frozen over completely so clearly it wasn’t used for shipping.
‘Would they even have river transportation in this society?’ Third asked himself, biting his lip with curiosity.
He chuckled again, realizing he had met the perfect person to ask just a day earlier. But it was too late for that.