A Cost's Severance

The gentle whirring hum above seemed to fill the largely empty room, the cool air stank of dust and old metal but was significantly better than the recycled smell that permeated everything outside of the confined and sealed corridors that made up the lower levels of the spire. The commercia wasn’t much better admittedly by comparison, the mixture of small endeavours that covered the market structures each with their own chemical processors, refitting workshops and everything else gave the place a cold stale feel, but yet again still a vast improvement on the swirling mess beyond those final sealed walls.  Shifting in her seat she put the fork she had been toying around with down on the table as she had allowed her mind to wonder, her lab coat resting partly on the floor as the old rubberised material hung limply. Scattered throughout the small canteen room was maybe a dozen others taking their breaks from their various shifts. To one side a pair of security department personnel sat chewing through their own rations, a set of cards laid out before them as they played some tricksters game between them, “Brutes” she thought as one of the guards smirked and took the hand as the other swore with a glare at his fellow. On another table a trio of lower ranked department suits chatted amicably between themselves as one gestured at a stack of papers they had with them whilst another shook her head and wagged a finger in contradiction to the final member who just rolled his eyes at the pair of them. Clearly some scheme or plan that one thought could succeed but the other two to different levels disagreed about their optimistic companions chances of achieving anything from their little plan, “Never a day without some form of backstabbing amongst the lower levels” She couldn't help but supress a smirk at the notion as it crossed her mind. The average day for members of the smaller or lower departments always saw some kind of politicking happening between the various members of those departments. Most of the time these schemes revolved around smaller personal vendattas between personnel, sometimes it was one department testing the waters to achieve promotion over another, others still it would be teams within departments jostling for position amongst one another, always it would be led by one suit or another, happily leaving lab-coats like herself to get one with the real work to rebuild this failed experiment of sorts she thought to herself as she tapped the edge of the knife in her right hand against the dimpled metal surface of the table before her. Clustered together further along the same row of tables of her the final grouping of individuals sat eyeing the others with just as critical an eye as she did, their own lab coats stained in various places from different works as they talked quietly amongst themselves. Whilst the other departments would jostle amongst one another and the suits would scheme away the lab-coats despite their different levels or ranks would often find more common ground with one another and this led to them often as not coming together in their spare time  away from their managers and superiors. This band she noted as one turned to reach for something from their coat pocket were a collection of archology techs and biological analysts from a couple of the atmospheric departments, noticing her for a moment the nearest of the group politely nodded as she returned the gesture with a faint smile. Feigned politeness was everything amongst the members of the company, simply out of ancient habit she was sure though personally she didn’t see why it mattered anymore as she let the knife rest, the tip slightly blunted from her constant tapping. Making herself seem engrossed in her food she attempted to listen to whatever the knot of lab-coats were discussing and through the background noise from the two security department thugs she could make out a few snippets of information that peaked her interest. She knew from other sources and slightly lose lipped logistics department personnel that the last few seasons had not been good, sure a collection of the hive had been successfully reclaimed back to company control thanks to the reclamation efforts but on the reverse of it the small parcels of information coming out of the agriculture dome pointed to the company being very much a minor party involved in the endeavours there. Other ’cultures’ or whatever the descended populace where calling themselves had laid claim to the far more crucial control nodes, supplying themselves and their extended people with plentiful food whilst those that hadn’t; e.g. the company and like, were left very much at a disadvantage. To top this off she was sure from the recent state of the rations being served amongst the lower departments that the food situation was far far worse than management were letting on. Taking a inspective mouthful of her food she was sure she could taste something recycled in it that hadn't been food when it started as she swallowed and grimaced slightly at the barest after taste.  Shoving the tray of now suspect food away from her she flung the offending fork into a nearby waste bin and pulled a hip flask from her coat inner where she normally kept it. Unscrewing the top she took a swig, using the liquid to wash her mouth out before swallowing it and taking another, one bonus to being in contact with some many other lab coats across the lower spire was their was more than one contraband brewer she could get a decent drink off of without much trouble whenever she suspected the food supply of being off.  Popping the little flask back into its carry pocket she swung her leg back over the bench seat and stood up, brushing her coat down before heading for the door, the other lab coats watching her as she left, her features set. If the food supply was compromised, and management were up to their usual denial tricks then she was going to pay a visit to an old friend of hers and see what trouble she could make for herself as she stuck her nose into whatever high up suit scheme was being played out, like any good lab coat should she smirked as she left the canteen behind her, lab coat billowing as she did.

## Military Campaign Progress

Throughout the course of human history there have always been those more shrewd or calculating than the rest of their kin, whose state of mind some would call visionary whilst others would call paranoid, both a comforting state of mind for the individual involved. In the early days of humanities existence this perception of the world would see the more cautious survive where the rash would fall as they fumbled in the dark, leaving the next generation to benefit from the suspicious ones that came before.  As these small distant tribes became villages and then cities, eventually standing cultures of the first civilisations those with that spark of natural suspicion about them would flourish across their people, birthing scouts that could find hidden paths, hunters with the ability to protect their kin, merchants with the mind to see disasters coming and leaders capable of protecting their own. On the flipside as these first cultures spread further beyond and humanity took step after step forward in its progression this sense of paranoia would come to be as balanced a sword as it was a debilitating thought by those that would wield it, great generals and kings being met in kind by ruthless politicians and devious merchants through every era, through the clashes of chivalry, the foreign lands of the new world, gunpowder filled fields littered with the ambitions of kings and beyond the mud of the trenches and grinding tracks of one mans utter delusions of madness and insanity until humanity finally stepped into the stars and the black void beyond. Here those thoughts of mistrust or feelings of betrayal yet to come would seed themselves amongst those with the power to tame the stars but at the same time create a tension that some would fail to trust.

Amongst the varied departments, personal and to an extent the directing board themselves that make up the company itself this constant suspicion expresses itself in a variety of different ways, from political manoeuvring amongst closely contesting departments down to shrewd alliances between teams of personal and calculated actions by individual suits or lab coats to obtain the upper hand over another or position themselves to fill a perceived gap forming, their suspicion giving them the foresight to spy an opportunity to come. Amongst the suits this ability to see an opportunity before it has arisen had given birth to their reputation for their sharp business like minds as well as their constant rounds of politicking between them as one group or team would seek to rise above their fellows until they achieve each suits ultimate dream, taking control of their department and rising to the board itself as one of the driving leaders of the company as it is today. As for the lab coats this sense of paranoia drives their competition with one another as well as the collaborative efforts to show their innate superiority or mastery over another project or rival operation. In this they are constantly looking over their shoulders with an eye on potential rivals or saboteurs from another department with their own eye on the same prize some many of them covet. When combined these two personifications of the company create the driving force that makes the company what it is, the ambition and determination to rise from the ashes and resume its ultimate control of the ruins it ancestors built and ruled, all thanks to a shared sense of paranoia mixed with shrewd cunning.

The first few days of the new season would pass in solemn silence like the preceding months before it had, the collective sounds of industry and reclamation projects that the general masses of departments worried way upon passing to an ever growing tension as some foreign tune mixed with the work of the various lab coat teams and the scheming of the suits. Come the end of the first week this growing sense of suspicion would carry over the winds throughout the commercia and up and down the spire as every conversation seemed to at least in some way be focussed on the speculations and thoughts about the cause or meaning of the origin of the unspoken tension. Come the midst of the second week these conversations would rear there head amongst the bi-annual management directives as the collective masses of managers and departmental leaders gathered to discuss the boards mandated decisions. The following hours would see several dozen of thinly veiled attempts to gain more direct answers on the source of the tension from those higher up but each time the question or query would be superseded or politely redirected to an uncommitted answer. This would continue on amongst the various departments as those privy to the discussions of the days previous in turn spread the answers through a dozen individual conversations that would spread out like a web amongst the thousands of members until every individual had there own suspicions begin to grow and each in turn would find compatriots to discuss these theories with as the days passed by. The dawn of the following week would see a bombardment of petitions for reassignment crossing back and forth across managers desks as work teams, research projects and administrators called in old favours and cut deals to gain some further truth about the matter until small details began to patter down from on high. Though unconfirmed the tiny bits of information point towards the ongoing issues with daily food portions and the stagnation of the reclamation effort of the colony in general having some form of connection to one another alongside the limited options available to the company in the agriculture dome. This small revelation would see the next few days filled by hushed groups of suits and lab coats collecting when and where they could, each analysing and collaborating their own versions of the information they’d heard and each in turn coming to their own further conclusions so that come the eve of the sixth day of the third week a common view would begin to spread rapidly across the width and breadth of company society until it in turn began to draw groups of like minded individuals together.  These collections of people over the final week of the month would use what free time they had between shifts to attempt to devise a plan of some sort, some groups further forming together with groups from other departments to bridge the gap of knowledge when they hit a blockage. These networks of sorts in turn would form loose coalitions that as the final hours of the month passed into the dawn of the second month of the season would bring together the beginnings of a plan of action.

These first few days of the second month would pass to the usual sound that passed for day to day life amongst the spire and commercia, but with the new added background tone of small knots of individuals meeting and dispersing just as quickly as the plan was disseminated amongst the various key groups and eventually their departments as a whole until by the end of the fifth day of the first week the key members began to gentle nudge the idea of a general request upto their management via a series of different proposals from all directions. Within each department these request would vary from small comments or passing remarks, through to formalised reports in others and quota updates in others, each in turn adding a different issue or problem to the departmental heads long list of daily issues but where as those would be separate from one another all these new issues would stem from the same singular point, that the lack of new resources being inputted was impacting on projects alongside the noticeable decline in assigned rations amongst personal. Whilst others would see a growing issue from a stoppage of sorts that would eventually cause the leads and managers to put the issue up to the next level, the ‘loose network’ as they had dubbed themselves would see their plan growing into fruition as the simple act of stagnation spread across multiple fronts would gain them their answer in search of further information to the thin wisps already floating around. The next couple of weeks would see these queries and issues spread until as expected the departments across the lower strata began to push the problems up the chain of leadership, these departments that the lowers answered to in turn suffering from the same round of questions, queries and stoppages as they faced the same search and hunt for answers to quell their subordinates but when none was found they would once more repeat the cycle until the small cries from the very floor of the spire would ring out from across the company all the way up to the very top floors and onto the desk of the board themselves. Come the midst of the final week of the month a general meeting was called amongst all departments across all of company controlled or reclamated territory, the next few hours would see a series of closed off meetings, discussions and quiet conversations held away from the masses of suits and lab-coats, the majority raising an eyebrow at the apparent oddity of the timing whilst a few others amongst the gathered crowds, or across silent workspaces would catch one another's eye with a small smirk at the corners of their mouths as they recognised the final point of their little scheme. The following day would see the answer a few more persistent lab-coats had started pushing for a month before hand, calling together the respective leads it would take the full day for the information to work its way down as the cycle of meetings played out from departmental lead to team managers, managers down to supervisors and supervisors down to the floor personal be what they may amongst the various departments. According to the information the board had finally decided to disseminate the reason behind the recent stagnation was pure and simple, whilst other cultures as they called themselves had managed to lay claim to a node within the agricultural dome and as such had access to a constant flow of food from within, the lack of one currently being controlled by the rightful heirs to the ruins had lead to the army being withdrawn from the field to avoid it withering on the vein so to speak. Accordingly this had meant any work to fully restore in any form the territory recovered had come to a halt and the supplies recovered from it going to simply maintaining the company presence within. In short without any food the company was for the time present back to a survival footing once more.

The next few days would see the turn of the month pass by to little affair as the final month of the season hung in a sombre mood throughout the company, the seekers had found their truth so to speak buts it revelation did nothing for the mood of the general populace as the stark reality hit them like a cold slap to the face. Without a supply of food the companies first true attempt at any real reclamation would wither and die before them for simple lack of food thanks to the stagnation they all faced. The following week would see some question if the simple ignorance they had before would have been preferable to the knowledge that was now out, others would notice the small clusters of individuals from the weeks before squabbling amongst one another whenever some argument or another flared over which departments should take priority in the reduced supply situation whilst others would simply be arguing amongst themselves during their own free time. Others yet as the days past into the midst of the final month would begin to ponder if through whatever actions had seen the board release the information if they as per usual had not had another motive altogether as the squabbling loose network was quiet dismantled by the security department, certain individuals disappearing in the night whilst others found a pair of officers waiting for them outside their office or work place the next morning. Some weren’t surprised if that had been the true intent, the board letting small slips of information skitter down to the floors below to let the more malcontents coalesce together so that they could be removed through a far more effective and singular move from above. It would certainly have fitted the boards reputation when it came to problem solving some decide in the end, settling back down into their usual lives as the company always did when some larger scheme ended in far more different way than the schemers had intended. Come the final few days of the month those left over from the loose network would come to their own conclusions on the matter as they too found themselves back where they had started at the seasons beginning, only this time with far more suspicious eyes on them and far worse questions stuck in their head as they faded away back into the general noise of the commercia and spires populace at large.

Summary:

The Reclamators have been fully withdrawn into the commercia as the situation surrounding the lack of fresh food supplies continues to grow. With the truth making itself known finally across the width and breadth of the company the various departments and responsible personnel have begun to swing into survival mode as the boards policies kick in, ensuring the currently reclamated territory remains in company hands and that the damage done to the army is some what mitigated for the time being. How long this will last however no one is yet sure.

## One step forward, two steps back…

With the revelations of the food and supply situation affecting the companies efforts outside of its home grounds within the ruins the general masses of suits and lab-coats have found their time mostly taken up with more simply survival projects based around attempting to ensure a more effective yield from the limited hydroponics bays within the spire whilst also ensuring the longevity of their water purifying systems. Accordingly those departments without much to contribute towards these efforts find themselves side-lined or seconded off to support those that can offer more to these endeavours. Amongst this departments find their personnel reorganised along the lines of necessity as the board hands down its decisions and policies to be enacted across the company. Those in positions of authority find themselves with the responsibility of prioritising who amongst their members would require the most to support in the most critical actions and projects, and those who were surplus to requirements in their current strata-tier. This was not the first time harsh endurance policies had been put into action as these same orders and guidelines had kept the company going since the calamity of the fall 300 years before hand. The only issue now was how to factor in the reclamated lands into their equations as they assigned supplies and new duties to various personal up and down the spire and across the commercia’s retail units. Amongst all this some department heads would question if the board weren’t utilising the situation to their benefit in some way to clean house as were they posited to their equals. It would be what they themselves would do if in that situation as the ongoing issues would allow for it they suggested as they drank the evening away in the little free time they had at their disposal.  Others still would raise their own veiled quandaries as the policies came into full effect over the coming days, everyone keeping one eye on their necessity level as the worked away, the other locked firmly on those a rung above as each watched for the boot that would slip as they attempted to hang onto what they had claimed.

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