Last Night as a Free Man

Very much like everybody else in the Mess Hall, Jaff, Dexta and Reeanen were deep in multiple rounds of drinks. Partly to celebrate the arrival of a new batch of colleagues and passengers and partly to relax from work (for Reeanen).

After he finished his fourth mug of beer, Jaff sighed contentedly out loud and that made both Dexta and Reeanen laugh.

"You're really tanking them down," Reeanen teased, "I might accidentally use up all my savings at this rate!"

Even though he knew that she was only poking fun, her remark caused Jaff to be a bit more serious, "I'm sorry. I'll make sure I pay you back!"

Jaff looked around at all the other passengers who were all drinking their problems away.

"How does this whole thing with the money work anyway?" He asked, before making sure to add, "My parents kinda shoved me onto the ship to be Cryo'd and I wasn't really paying that much attention to stuff like this."

His reasoning seemed to make a little bit of sense to both Dexta and Reeanen.

"Well," Reeanen started after drinking more of her beer, both she and Dexta were only on their second in comparison, "Part of the deal when it comes to lottery entries is that they're automatically added to the workforce of whichever ship they end up on. Think of it as good faith repayments. You get an entry to the new System, but in return, you work for the CSA and the good of humankind according to your JPT.

"Now, once you get your job, you simply work it and you get Work Time while you do your job," Reeanen continued, "And once you get Work Time, you can convert that to turrens and other things."

Jaff looked over at Dexta who looked like he was taking mental notes of what she was saying and he then nodded to Reeanen.

She took another swig at her drink, "The conversion rates of Work Time to turrens differ depending on the career. The more dangerous your job is, the higher the conversion rates. And if you're forced to Retire because of a work accident, you get better benefits. I'm sure you saw some Retired on your way to your pods during the orientation?"

Both Dexta and Jaff nodded and Dexta spoke up first, "Some look sheik but live nice."

Reeanen nodded, "It's part of the CSA's attempt to keep people happy. Why would anybody accept so readily to do dangerous jobs without any benefits? There would be riots on all the ships, not just the Maxo's."

She finished her mug at this point and sighed contentedly, "But let's stop all this work talk now. We're supposed to be drinking to forget about it — at least till tomorrow!"

She laughed as she said the last part as she was joking to lighten the mood, and Dexta understood it perfectly. Jaff was slow to it as he was still thinking about how the currency worked in this universe.

The trio continued to drink through the night. Chatting about anything and nothing while they enjoyed each other's company and the drinks.

It wasn't until Reeanen and Dexta were on their seventh mug, and Jaff (who had decided to slow down as he started to feel bad about getting Reeanen to buy him so many drinks) was on his sixth mug that both Dexta and Jaff received a notification on the communication hub on their N-HUDs.

Reeanen noticed their reactions and leaned over the table in anticipation, "Oh, that must be the results of your JPT! What did you guys get?"

"Me first! Me first!" Dexta cried animatedly.

Jaff was more than happy to let him go first. He was a little bit nervous about what he was going to get. Even through his inebriation, he still remembered what the CaSTE System Status screen described his character, Jafferson, as. He was the 'Eponymous Character' of the TV Show 'The Metal Pusher'.

Jafferson being eponymous with the TV show title meant that he had something to do with whatever 'The Metal Pusher' ended up being. What if it's some sort of epic title that Jafferson ends up getting? Jaff thought as Dexta opened his notification.

"Yagolessno!" Dexta suddenly hollered in excitement, "I am pilot!"

Reeanen was impressed, "Wow, not bad! Piloting requires pretty specific skills, so you must have had an affinity with flying before Cryo!"

Dexta nodded rapidly, "Back home I fix crafts and flied often!"

"And from what I remember of pilots, depending on what type of piloting you do, the conversion rates are pretty generous," Reeanen explained and then laughed when she noticed Dexta's eyes glistening with excitement at the mention of money.

Both then turned to Jaff and Dexta asked, "What 'bout you, frein?"

Jaff swallowed and opened the message on N-HUD. Three words shone in front of his eyes and for some unknown reason, his stomach sunk.

[Job: Metal Pusher]

Not an epic, heroic title then, Jaff thought.

"I got this thing called 'Metal Pusher'?" Jaff said with uncertainty.

For a moment, silence fell over the group, even through the loud music blaring from the Mess Hall, before Dexta started howling with laughter.

Jaff saw Reeanen's pale face before she turned to Dexta, "What are you laughing at?"

Dexta pointed at Jaff, "While waiting for JPT and ask about what job he want, frein here says 'I hope not dangerous', and now he get Metal Pusher!"

Reeanen didn't laugh out loud, but the pale, concerned look on her face crumbled and before she covered her face with her hands, Jaff could see her breaking a smile.

"What?" Jaff asked the two, "What's so funny? Is it dangerous?"

Jaff's genuinely scared and confused questions set off Dexta's laughter again to the point that he nearly fell off his spot in the booth.

"By Kor…" Reeanen facepalmed to avoid looking at Jaff, but he could see her shoulders shaking as she silently laughed at the situation.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Jaff asked again, his voice this time raised as he started to get worried.

"Let's just say that out of all of us, you'll have the best conversion rates," Reeanen explained, "So at least that means you're going to be able to pay me back for shouting all these drinks."

"Oh," Jaff said, "Cool."

At first, he was glad that he was going to be able to pay Reeanen back for her hospitality but then the cold hard truth finally broke through his inebriation.

"Wait…"

His realisation broke Reeanen who started to laugh out loud while Dexta continued to howl in laughter.

"Okay, I'd say it's about time for another round or two," Reeanen spoke up as she wiped tears off her face from laughing, "We'll have a late night tonight, just so that Jafferson can drink all his anxieties away. I'll even wipe his tab just because he got 'Metal Pusher'."

Dexta raised both his fists in excitement, "Reeanen, you're a leh'end! Thank you!"

"Who said I'm wiping your tab, you're still going to have to pay me back," Reeanen grinned.

Dexta's face fell but before he could say anything, Reeanen forced him to go and order the next round for the booth. Dexta mumbled something about always having to pay somebody back as he made his way through the crowd to the nearest bar.

As he left, Reeanen slid around the booth to sit next to Jaff. Even through the dread of his realisation, he noted that she was now sitting close to him.

"Don't worry about it," Reeanen said softly, the N-HUD capturing her words clearly, "Just because it's a dangerous job doesn't mean anything bad will happen. Just be positive, and you'll get through it. Just focus on the money."

"I'll try…" Jaff mumbled. He was now half-distracted by her closeness more than the apparent impending danger of his new job. He hadn't expected her to be so forward even though they had shared a couple of flirting glances before.

All his thoughts then turned to Reeanen when she placed a hand on his thigh and said, "Let's make your last night as a free man a great one."