Chapter 4 - Making Decisions

The next day, Zenith and the other workers were invited by the foreman to properly celebrate Zenith's graduation and to be told some good news. The 18 individuals were crowded around some tables pushed close to each other, looking at the smug foreman who had his arms crossed. Alcohol and food littered the table, all on the foreman's dime.

"Boss, come on! I'm dying to know what happened. Did someone jump into the furnace?" a bald man laughed and spoke, while another added his own two cents. "Don't be stupid, obviously some dumbo pissed in the furnace, and it wanted revenge." What seemed more hysterical was the look on his face as if what he said was actually the truth.

Zenith, meanwhile, paid no mind, eating a grilled kebab and drinking some beer. It was his first time drinking, and he enjoyed the refreshing, somewhat bitter taste. When the foreman spoke, Zenith paid attention.

"Take this seriously, you bunch!" He then unfolded his arms and tapped the metal table with an index finger. "We might have gotten something big, very big." The words alone made everyone excited; big was good, and very big was better. By the look on the foreman's face, good news for him was good news for them. "Boss! Please! Just tell us!" one man groaned.

"Fine, fine. So the reason the furnace broke down was because somehow one of you blind donkeys put a chunk of ore that shouldn't have been there." Everyone froze for a bit, not taking responsibility at all. "W...well, it wasn't me," one nervously stuttered. "I was on break," another continued.

"Look, forget it, it doesn't matter. The point is, that ore was special. In fact, that's an understatement." He then leaned in, all of them following suit. "That ore was a new discovery, something not seen before in the Federation, Eltanian, and Retoran owned territories either," he whispered in a hushed tone, relaying what he heard the man tell him.

Everyone looked stunned. The discovery of a new ore was an incredible find. Over the Federation's history and the other races, there had been few additions in terms of common ore. "Boss, but one chunk of ore, it caused such a big deal..." a curious worker responded.

"The reason is, this ore has resonance capabilities!" The sentence made everyone gape and look in shock as they began to talk and chatter away with each other. The discovery of a resonance ore was something that was incredibly important to the Federation; each ore was able to defy universal laws in some way.

"What can it do?!" They quickly asked the boss, wanting to know what the ore was capable of. Hearing their excitement, some pride and excitement soaked up on him too, though he caught himself in fear after remembering the man's warning. "Are you guys trying to get me killed for treason against the Federation or something? All I can say is, it has to do with vibration... Eh, anyways, there's something else." Though he moved on quickly, the reason he told them lie of vibration was to throw misinformation out there. It definitely was not vibration but temperature. In fact, he was told to tell this lie if anyone asked; after all, if the enemy was given misinformation, you would interrupt an opponent making a mistake.

"The Mill is going to be shut for a week or two. You all will be assigned to different positions, but... the good news for us is, the higher-ups gave us a discovery bonus. Since they don't know who found it and the cameras were offline for repairs, they gave everyone working the bill a big bonus. 10,000 credits to each of us!" The team was nearly screeching in joy, cheering happily. To them, 10,000 credits was enough for a decent-sized family to be well off for a year; they only made a few credits a day to begin with.

"On top of that, if it's true that there's this new unique ore on this planet, that means things are going to improve for us, I bet. Higher wages, or even property value going up. For now, keep your gobs shut while the guys at the top investigate and survey."

Zenith sighed in relief. The credits were a lot for him. He did remember the ore chunk he threw into the tray without looking, but he was certain it was a copper ore based on the coloration. At the very least, he could relax after graduation.

After the celebration returned to Zenith with festivities higher because of the good news, it was now late at night, and everyone went back to their wives and families. Only Zenith and the foreman remained. "Kid, check your account," he spoke. Zenith, confused, did so, looking and seeing that he was given 20k credits instead of 10k in his account. "Was there a mistake?... This is too much..." Zenith's eyes widened as he looked back at the foreman. "My children are all grown up and are living their lives. It's just me and my wife right now, and I'm not struggling. You need it more than me."

Ever since Zenith was hired on the factory owner's request, the foreman figured he was just some rich brat being taught a lesson by the family. But he came to know that Zenith was just the friend of a family member, and he wasn't doing well. He had no family here and needed to work to survive, so he took Zenith under his wing. He always saw Zenith as an adopted son, sometimes inviting him over for dinner and sending him off with leftovers.

Zenith wasn't sure what to say. He was about to decline and send half the credits back, but when he looked up at the foreman, he had a look that said "I dare you," and Zenith knew better than that. He simply bowed his head. "Thank you..." He sighed emotionally.

Not much later, Zenith was back at home, browsing the news on his wrist device. It seemed he needed to add another person to the list of people he truly owed. Self-sacrifice was still a bit foreign to him; why did people go out of their way to help him? Was it really because kindness still existed despite the ruthless universe?

He then pictured everyone in his life: his mother, sister, teacher, Kalen, the foreman, the workers, and then his father smiling at him before his face turned bitter and vanished. "Everyone's done a lot for me. I never asked for it, but I'd be adding to the shitty situation of life if I simply curled up and did nothing, wouldn't I?" he thought to himself, as if pumping himself up with newfound resolve.

He then stood up, making his way towards the table, and reaching to grab the application tag that his teacher gave him. "Relic hunter, huh..." Zenith pondered before heading to his study desk and taking a seat. He then inserted the tag into his wrist device, inserting the tag into the device with half of it still sticking out. After a series of scanning sounds and beeps, he took it out and placed it aside. Soon, a series of holographic images and information came out.

The device connected with the ceiling device to work in unison to make the view and detailing more visual. Zenith was used to it growing up, simply technology one grew up with.

"Let's see. List of Organizations for Federation-approved Relic hunter groups." Zenith immediately ignored the other lists and pressed on the holographic image, with a list of groups and information about them, their history, reputation and status, the biggest finds they made, as well as the percentage of share they would take from members who sold their goods, not even counting the larger percentage they took if the goods were sold at the organization's market.

Zenith was stunned, looking a little with shock and disgust. "These guys probably make a fortune. 30% tax on individual good sales, and 50% on goods sold at the organization's store? Even the most basic relic goes for 5,000 credits. This is daylight robbery." Zenith didn't really mean it, as the organization offered a lot of benefits in the end that were too good to pass up, such as protection from criminal activity, insurance, health care, lodging, and gear. The fact that all one needed to do was explore and find some relics in ruins that were already deemed safe and had been explored by the military and relic syndicate, it was a walk in the park.

Zenith would then skim through a lot of the more info-heavy parts, but it all seemed simple. There were no real restrictions on selling and purchasing relics; no one wanted to have their treasures weighed down by rules. Otherwise, who would want to notify the Federation or any of the other factions about a discovery, only to have it stolen and dictated? Thinking of this, Zenith remembered what happened to his dad, feeling annoyed. He looked at another section to do with danger levels of relic sites.