Jaff groaned loudly as the shuddering JS-4391 shuttle caused a constant stream of pain to shoot up into his head. The shuttle PA system squealed on which added to the stream of pain.
"Aye, sorry 'bout that, frein. Still struggling with this keendaberd," Krehg's irritating voice over the PA squeaked.
Some bile came up Jaff's throat as he rocked along with the movements of the shuttle. He struggled to stop himself from vomiting as he managed to only make an 'mhm' as a response.
If he thought that Dexta was annoying with his upbeat personality and extroverted personality, Krehg was a whole new level of annoying to Jaff. Whereas Dexta talked a lot, his voice was not as scratchy as Krehg's. Whereas Dexta was confident and outgoing, Jaff was exhausted by how needy Krehg seemed to be. Always apologising and whining.
At least, that's what he's been experiencing with the massive hangover he's sporting after drinking so much the night before. All that drinking as well as the extracurricular activities that Reeanen had in mind after the drinking left Jaff without a lot of sleep and severely dehydrated.
The shuttle shuddered once more and that was enough to split his head so hard that he almost blacked out.
"Aye, sheik paramess inshura, I'm slowly getting it, I swear," Krehg's voice squealed over the PA.
Jaff fought a valiant battle but ultimately lost and doubled over to the side and vomited out the previous night's celebrations. Luckily, he hadn't eaten any food because of the hangover so it was all liquid.
The PA beeped at a high-pitch that caused Jaff to squint in pain.
An automated recording played over the PA, with a transcript of the recording showing up on their N-HUDs.
"Welcome to your first shift in your new career. This is a pre-recording of our expectations in your new position of — METAL. PUSHER. — and a quick rundown of our business rules.
"As you may already notice, the importance of metals in ensuring that our Cryo-Ships continue to function is paramount to the survival of the human race. That is why, here at the Central Ship Alliance, we have ensured that a number of careers are dedicated in ensuring that no proverbial stone is left unturned when it comes to utilising the most with the limited resources found in space.
"As of Star Date 3-9478, there are currently — 17,828,543. METAL. PUSHERS. — in our work rotations across the whole Central Ship Alliance."
Every time the automated recording spat out the numbers, a high-pitched squeeze played, almost like it caused the recording actual pain to spit out some basic statistics about the job.
This whole thing kinda reminds me of 'Alien' or 'Blade Runner' aesthetic, Jaff thought to himself, things are obviously futuristic, but also quite run down and nostalgic at the same time.
"You are now approaching Sector — SX090, SY225, SZ-551 — please ensure that employee — 3495313684. PALMOUNT, JAFFERSON. — has safely inserted themselves into the company-provided spacesuit. Please ensure that the company-provided vacuum-sealing headgear is now placed over the employee's head and secured properly. The Central Ship Alliance will not be held responsible for any workplace accidents if there are any problems with the company-provided gear if the employee has not raised a concern in a timely manner before their first shift."
Jaff groaned as he groggily checked over his spacesuit and looked over the helmet that his supervisor shoved into his hands when he showed up at the hangar that the CSALTS led him to.
The spacesuit was surprisingly slim on Jaff's body, and was not as clunky as he thought it was going to be. Though, the fact that it looked quite old and well-worn didn't give him with the confidence that he sorely needed.
Thankfully, the memories left from the original Jafferson gave him a little bit of comfort as Jafferson had had previous experience with spacewalks before he boarded the Cryo-Ship. Even though all of it was simulated, it was still better than nothing.
Jaff grabbed the helmet and rubbed his gloved thumb on the thick, twice-tempered, vacuum-tested glass. He noted that the suit's right arm was a shade or two darker than the rest of the suit, and though he didn't see any obvious patchwork, it didn't give him the best boost in confidence about his situation.
A blurry memory from the drinking the night before waded into focus.
"You're gonna get it so khud!" Dexta slurred as he draped his arm over Jaff, "Metal Pushers ghat paid tabeegbuks!"
"Wha-?" Jaff groggily said.
Reeanen, who was oddly not affected by all the beer she had been drinking all night at all chimed in, "He meant that you're gonna get paid a lot for being a Metal Pusher. You get the best benefits too, even if you only do one shift."
That one sentence managed to sober Jaff up a little, "What? Even—only one shift?"
"It is quite dangerous, but it is essential work. So the CSA appreciates all the work anyone does in those essential fields, even if it's only one shift," Reeanen explained softly as she moved closer to Jaff when Dexta removed his arm to take another big swig from his mug, "Don't worry, I'll make sure that you can enjoy yourself tonight, and that'll help you tomorrow."
Another jolt brought Jaff out of the memory and sent a jolt of pain into his head. At the very least, the jolt was a little smaller than before. Krehg's getting a little bit better over time at the very least.
"—Thank you for your service for the future of mankind." The pre-recording finally finished over the PA. However, the noisy, PA assault of Jaff's ears continued when Krehg warned Jaff.
"We'll reach our designated sector within the next couple of seconds. Please make sure you're ready."
Jaff sighed loudly and placed the helmet over his head and sealed the connection between the helmet and its port on the neckline of his spacesuit. He heard something clunk into position softly and felt the pressure inside the helmet change as the helmet got acclimated to the pressure the suit was set to.
His ears popped and that odd, child-like sense of relief washed over him for a second, and for that second he forgot what he was about to do.
He stood up unsteadily and made his way to the back of the shuttle and placed both his hands into the gauntlets that hung off a compartment next to the the doorway to the airlock located at the very back.
He waited patiently as the gauntlets registered his presence and whirred to life before they also clunked into a secure position over his gloved hands.
Jaff noticed that the gauntlets were not a one-to-one fit to anybody's hands, but were instead reactive to the movements and shape of his hands while they're wearing the gauntlets. If he were to make a fist in the space that was around where the wrist/heel of the palm would be, the gauntlets would replicate that shape after a slight moment of lag.
The gauntlets were pretty bulky, and were almost five times the size of his actual hands, however the fit on the inside was very comfortable and form-fitting, almost like his spacesuit in general. Somewhat-metallic pads covered the whole of his palms and fingers, only broken up to align with the natural creases so that the gauntlets were still able to make the same shapes as normal hands.
The biggest thing to get over for Jaff was that, even with the shuttle's shoddy artificial gravity that was not quite as strong as what was believed to be Earth's, the gauntlets were still quite hefty. If he were to guess how heavy they were, Jaff estimated the gauntlets to be just under five kilograms each, more if they were worn on the Cryo-Ships with Earth-like gravity.
"Get ready for the start of your shift." Krehg's voice came through the PA as Jaff took a breath in and held it for a little bit as he entered the shuttle's airlock.