Lycra and Reid spent another full hour meeting more of the prisoner/miners. Some preferred one term over the other, but most used them interchangeably. They learned the five circular buildings were comprised of three separate only-restroom buildings, one functioning shower, and a final converted shower building that housed the sick and elderly. The breakdown of facilities made a lot of sense after it was explained to him. People needed to relieve themselves far more often than they needed to get clean, and the variety of biology in the warrens must have meant there needed to be specialized stalls for certain species. The converted area with the elderly was ‘staffed’ by volunteers, and some of the miners donated food and water to help keep things there comfortable.

The organization of it all felt more like a small, struggling community than a prison. Reid's sense of respect for the average person here was even higher after he and Lycra had started to crunch some numbers. There were a few screens with cameras where one could check their “debt balance” near the food dispensers. Most started with a debt between 200,000 and 500,000 credits. Rations varied, but would end up around 1,500 credits per day for both Reid and Lycra. A normal haul for crystal from the miners would be worth between 500 and 1,000 credits. So, if someone was a prolific miner, worked every day, and ate the bare minimum, they were still looking at an enormous amount of time before their debts would be paid - if it ever happened at all. It made Reid understand better the need for an old folks' building.

Reid and Lycra were each starting their time in the warrens with 3,000,000 credits in debt.

When he saw the totals, Reid had pressured a number of people about escape, visitation, or appealing his sentence. He was mostly laughed away, but some of the older miners told stories. A prisoner had tried to ride up the processor with their crystals - and their mangled body was dropped down the shaft, with a note nailed into it daring the next person to make it farther. Climbing the walls was a guaranteed way to get shot in the head - either by turrets that lined the walls partway up, or by guards that manned the landing platforms of legitimate mining operations high overhead. Those with natural wings - of which Reid only saw a few - would have their wings completely cut off if they tried to fly out. That, apparently, was considered a war crime in civilized society.

When Reid asked about getting them regrown, the old prisoner talking to him had laughed so hard he started coughing. The Pit, or the Warrens, or the dark, depending on who was talking - didn't have healers. Anyone with that skill was removed to a cushier life of servitude - with sunlight.

Digging up was a no-go because there were sensors above them intended to watch for beasts that could rise up to the 'real' mines. Attempting to send messages out hadn't worked that anyone knew of - and each time someone was caught, there were blanket punishments doled out where all rations and water were halted for the next day. Miners seemed to keep each other in check around that one - and despite how civil everyone seemed on the surface, the last time someone got caught making a pen pal, an angry mob had stuffed their body in the processor chutes, with an apology taped to them. The rations and water hadn't been halted that time.

All the information boiled down to 'don't try to escape', and 'don't talk to anyone on the outside'.

So at a glance, the only hope anyone had of getting out came from mining more credits worth of crystals than they consumed - and eventually paying off their debt.

But an offhand comment caught Reid's attention.

There was a second way to get credits in the warrens - and that was from mole kills. Anyone that proved a kill by throwing a head into the processor received a reward from their overlords. The things were a constant threat to miners, and getting rid of them allowed production to remain at high levels. It was even better if someone could get a corpse back to the main cavern. Their materials were rare, and made for blankets, supports for buildings from their bones, and the meat was mostly edible if you had a good butcher.

Killing the moles, as Reid was told, was always a difficult task. They were large, vicious, territorial, and disruptive. Their burrowing and natural processes had made the warrens and helped expose crystal veins. Their tunnels extended farther underground than any prisoner had ever cared to go. Mining equipment didn't make great weaponry, either - so all the mole kills and the mining itself was done as close to the cavern as possible. It was also done in shifts and groups, where sticking together brought safety in numbers.

Even in groups, prisoners mostly didn't venture out (or down) because it was easy to get lost in the maze of complicated tunnels. They also didn't delve too deep because the moles became stronger the deeper one went. Anyone going too far down, then, was all but guaranteed to be lost, eaten, or both. One... not-quite-sane looking miner had also mentioned there were other beasts - that weren't moles - if you delved deep enough. No one else had ever seen what he described, so Reid tentatively wrote it off.

Reid's plan had already started to form - one where he'd get out as early as possible while strengthening himself. Others here were restricted by collars, forced into the 'normal' limitations of G grade. Forced to be weak enough that they couldn't properly fight back against the stronger beasts, in the deepest depths.

Reid wasn't so easily controlled. And he had power waiting.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

#

Reid's pickaxe slammed into the wall and loosened a chunk of crystal the size of his head. Lycra grabbed it off the ground and put it in the waiting cart. He'd wanted to use heavy equipment or power tools, but those attracted moles - and you had to pay to rent them. He'd realized afterwards that all of those power tools were either shiny and new-looking, or covered in dried blood.

Reid and Lycra had set out with a mixed group they agreed to follow into the tunnels after speaking with them in the canteen - just to get a feel for how the mining was supposed to go. They included four humans, two cat-like bipeds that reminded Reid of Thad, and one armadillo-like biped that looked pretty similar to the psycho he’d seen on the surface. Reid smartly decided to not ask if they knew each other.

Lycra had come up with most of their plan so far. They'd blend in, work a little, and gather the things they would need for longer sojourns into the tunnels. That way, no one would think it odd when they disappeared for a while, then came back with a cart full of crystal.

The real goal was to buy Reid enough time to raise his power and constitution to the limit. Without healers present, he'd have a long recovery period - and there was no telling what would happen if others found out about what Reid could do. They'd avoid unwanted attention by stocking up and venturing out as a team of two.

Part of selling that lie was showing how well they worked together off the bat, which was why Reid was slamming his pickaxe into the wall.

Older miners in their group gave Reid tips and pointers on how to free crystal from the rock - where to swing so it wouldn't get damaged, and tips on identifying how deep you should make your hit. Reid followed the advice, and actually felt himself improving even in the first day. It made him think about James and coffee cups.

#

The second day, Reid and Lycra were the most productive members of the group. Reid's form with the pickaxe massively improved, and he was popping the mana crystals free from rock at a dizzying speed - enough that he had to slow down so Lycra could catch up on the collection side.

They let their reputation grow for over a week, mining and comingling and portraying the best normal miners they could.

The canteen's food was far worse than the bar he'd shared with Lycra on Thad's ship. The showers were unisex, and took some getting used to. Not necessarily because it was both men and women, but because of just how many species were in there that Reid was seeing for the first time. He caught himself staring more than once at odd biology.

Win... did not help things. She was determined to 'get the awkward out of him', and insisted on having chats about cosmic life and culture together in the showers until he 'got over it'. He had to admit - he was getting more comfortable with everyone, partly because he had to be to hold their conversations.

The bathrooms and showers were surprisingly clean. Another thing - like the welcoming committee and the elderly caretakers - that was handled by the group of trusted representatives that Jim and Win both participated in.

#

At the end of their planned 'integration' period, Reid and Lycra's credit balances had barely moved.

Debt Remaining: 2,999,100 Credits

Part of the issue, of course, was that they'd been stocking up extra rations and over-feeding Reid so they'd have more than enough to fuel him through the power-ups he needed to do. Still, it was a hard number to look at for doing such hard work. If they could only rely on crystal gains to get free, it would take years and years.

Reid wasn't going to wait around that long.

He and Lycra stuffed their spare rations into the pockets and open spaces of their jumpsuits, took a cart and tools, and wandered into the darkness.

#

It wasn't actually completely dark - the tunnels all had some sort of lighting installed - but where they were was poorly maintained. There wasn't any reason to go down a dead-end tunnel that didn't have any workable veins.

Reid pulled the small, white cube from his pocket, and peered inside. It was his trick - and Lycra's idea - for keeping track of themselves in the tunnels.

Reid had spent the last week hollowing out sections inside the bone square to represent the main cavern, and every tunnel they'd explored so far. He even had a tiny protrusion that represented the two of them, so he knew where they were inside of the maze of tunnels. It was all larger and more complex than he'd initially envisioned, but the bone-cube-map kept them both solidly on track.

"We're here." Reid started pulling nutri-bar style rations out of his pockets, and dumped them into the mine cart. Lycra did the same, and placed water bottles down on the ground.

Lycra frowned. "We should have found a blanket for you. We should've found many more supplies."

Reid gave his friend a smile. They hadn't talked much about what Lycra actually wanted - partly because he always deflected those topics to plans that would put Reid in a better position to reunite with his family. He owed Lycra some goodwill - and would at some point need to ask him point blank how he wanted to end up when all of this was done. For now, he could at least promise his friend a 'shopping spree'.

"Tell you what - we get through this, and I'll make sure we make enough credits to get all the supplies you want for our next outing."

Lycra's eyes flashed with optimism, then concern. "No, no. Not buy. Scavenge. If we spend a few days at the net, we can find what we need."

Reid stopped what he was doing - removing rocks from a swath of dirt to make a 'bed' for himself - and leveled a serious look at Lycra.

"I'm serious. Scavenging isn't what I meant. When we get done here, I want us to buy what we need - what you want. You deserve it."

Lycra's eyes scanned back-and-forth over Reid the way they did every time he was trying to read someone to see if they were lying. Reid cocked an eyebrow at him. "Don't trust me?"

He looked at the ground, then continued removing items from his pockets. It was obvious he'd over-spent on rations so they'd have extra. He worked silently until his pockets were truly empty, then brought his gaze up to meet Reid's. There was a glint in the corner of his eye.

"We should get a backpack. We need the storage space."

"Okay. That sounds good, Lycra." He opened a water and drank. It was almost time to start his work.

"Yes yes yes." Lycra gestured to the pile of rations in the mine cart. "This is only enough for four weeks. You will eat it in two meals."

Reid sputtered on his water as Lycra flashed his big, vampiric smile

For a few wonderful seconds, laughter filled a dead end tunnel deep underground.