The noise of the cargo airship is deafening. Lucas presses his headphones to his ears as he is lowered to the ground with the rest of the passengers: fifteen new rig workers, himself included, and two pilots. His headphones are not playing music, the airship is too loud to let him hear anything. He keeps the headphones on his ears to calm his nerves; he is finally here. The plasma rig he has been longing and training for most of his life is only a few minutes away.
He stretches his back; two weeks of hibernation during the intergalactic journey had its toll on his spine. To his right, stacked rows of empty radium capsules rattle as the ship begins to enter the planet's atmosphere. Lucas glances out of the window to his left. A purple glare creating a border between the void of space and the planet's atmosphere passes upward and Lucas feels the gravity strengthening, glueing his body to the his seat. He sees his reflection in the glass and immediately starts fingering the four mustache hair he has been proudly growing during the past five years. The view distracts him. He presses his headphones to his ears once again, this time to help him focus on the gorgeous vista outside of the window.
Snow-covered planes end in a mountainous horizon embracing the starry night sky. The planet's famous purple hue timidly shines in the horizon, blurring some of the stars. Small and large lakes of glowing purple are scattered on the white planes. Three mountain chains are visible from Lucas's window, the greatest is stretched on the entire northern horizon, the two smaller chains closest to the airship intersect at a 90 degrees angle. Located in that angle, on a mountain's base, is the magnificent rig.
Chrome, brass, and bronze walls of the enormous rig are covered by pipes traveling in every direction. Brightly lit by a multitude of yellow torches, every corner of the metallic giant is visible from Lucas's window. He can clearly see the four main towers that constitute the structure, each equipped with an exhaust for the events of plasma overflow. "The sight of the exhaust flares must be magnificent" he thinks. From his studies, Lucas knows that plasma rigs do not need suction equipment. In fact, their main role is to control the highly unstable substance as it naturally flows from underground rivers to the surface. In the process, the rig turns the excess energy into heat, creating a warm half-habitable place for the employees to live in.
Slowly, a giant red H appears on the courtyard behind the northeastern tower. The airship slightly veers to align in an invisible predesignated line, gradually losing altitude as the H appears bigger and brighter. It passes fields covered with tankers and stacks of radium capsules being pushed on wheels by rig employees into parked cargo airships.
Lucas feels goosebumps; he is here. He has finally escaped the nightmarish life of Cyber-Planets, where he would stare at a monitor all day to claim he has "worked". His new life is ahead of him. No computers, no robots, just hard working men, mechanical tools, and raw power.
The airship lands on the H, blowing off the thin layer of snow covering the metallic platform. The back of the ship opens as the passengers line up to exit. Lucas straightens his hoodie, puts the hood on his head and marches outside in line as the door fully opens. The northeastern exhaust is towering in front of him, it is even bigger from the ground. A bearded man carrying a clipboard is expecting them on the metallic pathway leading to the rig. He is a big man wearing a khaki jumpsuit holding his yellow worker's helmet against the wind with his right hand, his wide muscular shoulders hunch over his muscular body and his big belly. His half beaded beard is floating in the wind blowing off from the airship. As the last passenger marches out, he waves his clipboard to signal the airship's pilot. The airship's door closes as it moves on the ground towards the loading fields. Lucas keeps marching as the man waves his clipboard at them shouting "MOVE MOVE" trying to compete with the deafening noise of the airship. They march inside the hangar through the entrance, the airship's noise slowly fades, Lucas can finally hear the noises of the rig: metals clanking, grinders grinding, fans filtering the air. The sounds echo in the steel and bronze empty hangar covering what looks like an old flood drain.
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"M'name is Gordon," the big man shouts in a deep voice, "welcome to Rig Thirty-Seven, or as we like to call it, our last home." He grins and scans the line of newcomers for a reaction. One person coughs. His grin turns into a fatherly smile: "follow me." He walks towards a door at the end of the hangar. Lucas hesitates. From his pocket he removes an old mp3 player wired to his headphones. He has made his decision. He knows batteries do not last long on the rig, any minute now the mp3 player will stop working. Yes he has made his decision, he will play his favorite music one last time before the player dies. He presses play and marches behind the last man in the line following Gordon on the metal balcony on the side of what looks like an empty flood pool with a giant sewage drain. Metallica plays in Lucas's ears, his favorite classical music.
"There's a devil waiting outside your door..."
Lucas was not expecting this song. It has been ages since he has listened to "Loverman" by Metallica.
"There's a devil waiting outside your door..."
They pass through a door, and then another door, walking through hallways of brass and concrete. Every hallway is lit by soothing yellow lights in oval cages.
"How much longer?"
The singer whispers in Lucas's headphones as they march through a warehouse with workers pushing carts of cages with live chicken. They pass the entrance to a hallway with a plaque saying "Dormitory D4" and enter an enormous courtyard with a railway in the middle. Lucas is enjoying the chorus of the song more than he ever have.
"I'm your lov... [glitch]...aan"
The song starts glitching. "The battery must be reaching its end," Lucas thinks. He is casually walking on the railway, the rest of the newcomers are marching on the sidewalk in front of him following Gordon. Lucas sees four workers in jumpsuits and yellow helmets on a balcony a few stories higher in front of him. One of the workers has a slightly different outfit; he is wearing a brown leather jacket and a climbing belt on top of his jumpsuit. He sees Lucas, walks to the edge of the balcony, bends over the guard and starts waving his arms. Lucas is unsure who the worker is referring to. As he walks closer he realizes that the worker is saying something, possibly screaming, the music playing in the headphones are too loud for him to understand the words. And the worker's eyes... the worker has the angriest eyes Lucas has ever seen.
BANG!
Something hits Lucas in the head. He is violently pulled away from the railway to the sidewalk. Lucas removes his hood and headphones and starts rubbing his head, looking at Gordon with pain in his eyes. Gordon is holding onto Lucas's collar, looking unamused.
"You cannot be distracted on this rig, this is how you die." Gordon lets go of the collar. Embarrassed, Lucas keeps rubbing his head.
"You should never walk on that railway, every 40 minutes a cargo passes it so fast that if you are on it you turn into pancake." He walks to the wall to the right side of the sidewalk where yellow workers helmets are hanging in a row. He grabs one, walks back to Lucas and BANG! He hits Lucas in the head again, this time with the helmet, "and wear a helmet in working areas or the next one will hurt for real." He points to an old rusty sign on the wall showing an almost faded yellow workers helmet inside a red triangle.
Lucas takes the helmet and puts it on. He removes his headphones from his shoulders and puts them in his pockets. The rest of the group immediately walk to the wall and grab their own helmets."Also, don't make the Captain angry. You do NOT want to make the Captain angry, trust me." Gordon's tone is sharp and solemn. He continues walking.
Lucas, trying to hide the tears of pain in his eyes, keeps his head down. He glances quickly at the balcony; the four workers are no longer there, "was that the Captain waving?"
"Yeah. If he gets the time he will give you newbies a speech today. But I would not hold my breath."
The group keeps marching behind Gordon. Lucas is now paying attention to signs on walls. Plasma rigs are notorious for their high death rates and he is not here to die. He must learn to sharpen his senses.