Janus took another step inside the room. Leaning forward, he adjusted his glasses and made a closer examination of the floating picture. "If I had to guess, I'd say it's your family."
"That's right!" Galo gave Janus a friendly pat on his back. "Seems like you got the smarts to be a marketer after all. That's an old picture of us, the de Vuera family. That was taken what, fifteen or sixteen years ago? Right Itzel?"
"I was eight then. So, sixteen years ago."
"Sixteen?" Janus said shocked. He wanted to look at Galo again so he could cross reference the man's current appearance with that of the image, but the fear of coming off as rude made him hesitate. Instead, he angled his eyes as much as he could to look at him from the corner of his vision.
"Yeah, I can't believe it either," Galo said. "Don't believe that in sixteen years a handsome fella like that could turn in to... this?" He lowered his hands in front of his body as if he were presenting himself. Janus eyed the old man up and down once more, remaining silent after gazing at what remained of his right leg. There was a pause in the room as everyone became quiet. Janus returned his attention towards the floating picture on the dresser, hoping to stir up some more conversation to subdue the awkward hush.
"Working in the Refinery Sector costs you your life," Itzel said with her arms crossed. She tilted her head and looked at the woman in the photograph with a sorrowed expression. "It took my mother's. And you can see what it did to my father."
Galo let out a sigh. "Working at the Refinery sounds promising at first. You don't need an education. Your background doesn't matter. And the pay is just enough to get your family by. But that's the most important part. Just enough. Working fourteen hours a day, every day. It ain’t worth it. You spend your entire day shoveling Concentrate into furnaces. Your lungs are always taking in that thick exhaust. And by the time you come home, you’ve gotta get ready to start again. That's why I look the way I do now. All that heat, heavy lifting and fumes takes a toll on your body."
Galo looked at his trembling hands, staring at them with a long and tired expression. He then slid his blanket off his leg and onto the floor. His left leg was pale and shriveled as it dangled a few inches above the ground. Where his right leg would be, the leg of the loose brown sweatpants he had on were pulled upwards and fastened to itself to hide where the limb had been severed. "And it's dangerous in there. They don't care about safety. And since there are so many people desperate to work, there's no shortage of replacements in case something happens to someone. And they make so much money they're practically untouchable if you're looking for any kind of compensation. What’s everyone gonna do? Stop using their Implants because some people in Labrisson got hurt?" Galo let out a laugh, only to have it cut short by a deep cough.
"We'll never forgive them for the accident at Refinery 94," Itzel said Irately. "My father lost his leg because of their negligence. And mom..." Itzel stopped herself, shedding a tear before turning away, brushing her hair back with her hand. "Every time I think about it, my blood just boils." Janus heard a sniff as she continued to face the other way, both hands on her hips as she looked upwards, presumably fighting back from letting tears flow.
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"I'm so sorry," Janus said in a low voice.
"Yeah. I am too,” Galo replied with his head down. “I wish I had left sooner. But the thing is they pay you just enough to get by. You can take care of your family and stay in your cramped little home as long as you give them fourteen hours of your day. At first you feel grateful because your job and home are secure. But the minute you start wanting more in your life, that's when regret starts to kick in. You want a bigger place for your family? You want your own carrier? Or maybe a side of cauliflower with your meal? Then you’re risking losing everything on a total crapshoot. It's all a game, Janus. And it's rigged in their favor. Working in the Refinery Sector is the only way to be guaranteed to make ends meet in this city."
Itzel took a deep breath and returned to the conversation. "As you can see, talking about working in the Refinery Sector gets us a bit worked up." Janus could see that her eyes were somewhat red, but she had returned to her usual, more serious demeanor. "That's why I became an Exterminator. Making money can be hit or miss, not to mention how dangerous it is, but at least I'm not selling my soul to the upper class of Labrisson!"
Galo nodded. "I worry about her and Gurk all the time, but she's right. I'd rather her fight Essencima all day than do what I did.
"With all of the missing Exterminators and sudden surge in Essencima, it's not like it's too hard to earn a decent living at the moment," Itzel said.
"Yeah, but it's more dangerous too. More Tokens but a whole lot more risk. Just don't get in over your heads doing something crazy, like fighting an Ogre or something," Galo said with concern.
Itzel glared at Janus. She raised an eyebrow, silently threatening him with the way she looked at him. "Oh, we'd never do that. Take on an Ogre? Come on dad, me and Gurk have common sense," Itzel remarked.
"I know, I know. It's just that I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Galo rubbed his eyes with thumb and pointer finger, bowing his head down at the same time. "I couldn't go on." Itzel took a seat on the bed next to her father, giving him a hug and patting him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry dad. We're careful. We've been at this a while, so we know what we're doing." Galo looked up, his eyes making contact with his daughter's. Itzel smiled first. Her father followed suit, slowly grinning but still hunched over.
"I've got nothing else to do but worry." Galo propped himself up once more, now focusing on Janus. He stood in the center of the room, hands in his jacket's pockets as he looked towards the de Vuera family with sympathy on his face. "Sorry if I rambled on for a bit there. It's not too often I get to talk to someone that isn't my daughter or Gurk."
Janus grinned and angled his head to the side. "Don't worry about it. I understand that just talking to someone and knowing that they're listening can do wonders. If you need someone to chat with, I'm all ears."
"I like you, Janus. I really do." Galo extended his hand out for another shake. Janus didn't hesitate to accept the invitation.
"Dad, I'm going to show Janus around a bit more. Not to mention it's getting late and I'm exhausted."
"Sure, sure. You do that. I'll just get back to bed." Galo laid himself back down on his bed and pulled his blanket over his body. He turned to the side and wrapped himself in his sheets. "You two have a good night."
"You too, Mister de Vuera," Janus said.
"Night, Dad." Itzel leaned down and gave her father a hug. "See you tomorrow."