The next day everyone was surprised that Simon didn't show up to work,but when Asked Tommy explained that the big guy just took a day off to rest.
It was a bit unusual but then again everyone needs a break from time to time.
The day went by without any incident and Tommy followed his established routine.
When he saw Simon walking in his direction the next morning the big guy lost his smile and was deadly serious.
-Good morning,how was your day off?
Tommy greeted the older guy.
-It was illuminating, but do you care to explain what the hell is going on?
As he predicted,The ex-soldier noticed the changes and was confused but the explanations would have to wait for a bit.
-It's a long story, so for now let's just say that my gift washed away some of your problems.
Tommy said with a smile pointing with his head that the others started arriving at the dock.
-If you want to know the whole story,come with me to the engineering after break.
Simon only nodded and they went to work.
On that day The big guy also stopped using his cutting torch and started to use the other tools more and more.
Also his work speed increased by a lot.
The time went by very fast and soon it was break time.
Alice was a no show again; she was probably still too ashamed of herself to face either of them,which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Tommy was almost certain that she would notice the changes in both of them and he didn't want to tell her the truth, at least for now.
After the break both Simon and Tommy went to engineering.
-Ok,i think i was patient long enough.
Said Simon right after the doors closed behind them.
-You better sit down explaining this will take a while.
Tommy sat down in his usual place but had his back to the computer.
The big guy also found himself an empty chair and was looking at the young mercenary waiting for his explanation.
-Have you ever heard of a drug called Diazium?
-No, I don't think so, why? and what does it have to do with all of this?
After that Tommy proceeded to explain everything starting from the drug and what it did,followed by the story of his little trip to the other side and what he found there,all the way to his suspicions about lack of the security and all the other stuff.
Simon listened closely and didn't ask any questions before Tommy was done with his explanation.
When the young man finally ended his story the big guy started to ask his questions.
-Ok i understand the situation so what are we going to do about it?
-Nothing for now.Answered Tommy shaking his head.
-We cannot do anything more without gathering more information and getting some more equipment.
After hearing that, Simon thought for a while.
-If it's the kind of equipment you told me about then we have to wait for the next ships to be brought in.
This shuttle is already stripped of any electronics you could use.
-I know and that's exactly the plan. We have all the time in the world to make it work, the only problem is that we don't know when the nobles will want to take us away but i don't think it'll happen any time soon.
-And why is that?
-Because if it happened too frequently it would defeat the purpose of it all.
Think about it,what's the purpose of this place?
-To get rid of anyone that pissed off a noble and if you're right to make slaves out of them.
Simon answered.
-Exactly. And if you really think about it, it's a great plan.
One. You get rid of the people that challenge you without the execution.
Two.You get slaves who work not even knowing that they are enslaved.
Three.you practically don't have to worry about someone escaping thanks to the drug.
Four.you get all the benefits with almost no cost since this station is designed to be self sufficient.
You see all they have to do is to collect the materials we gather.
But that also means that they can't kill us all because who would be getting the materials for them if there were no more slaves.
And as I'm sure you know, nobles love money.
Tommy finished his explanation.
-That makes a lot of sense.
Said Simon while thinking about what he just heard.
-So what's your long term plan?
- Like I told you before, I want revenge.
-Ok, but can you elaborate on that?
-For starters i need to know how many control units there are and where they are at.
Then I need to take control of them without whoever is monitoring them knowing.
In the meantime I want to get as many people as possible off the drug starting with Alice and that will most likely require us to forcefully make her drunk.
That's the extent of my plans for now. The rest depends on our success or failure.
The question is, will you help me achieve all that?
Tommy finished outlining the first part of his plan,what he didn't say was that he already had a full plan in his mind and failure was not an option.
Simon thought this through.
-I'm in, what do you need me to do?. He said with a determined look on his face.
-You do know that it's a risky operation? One slip up and we will probably die.
Tommy asked,wanting to be sure that his companion knew what he was getting into.
-I know and I don't care, you're not the only one who has a bone to pick with the nobles.
That answer didn't surprise Tommy in the least.
He suspected that probably most of the people in the blue section would love to get some payback but they just couldn't do it by themselves.
The main reason being that they were just normal civilians without the skills or knowledge regarding any sort of combat, added with the drug and the noble's plan that turned them into slaves, there was nothing they could do.
-For now let's just continue with the routine, we still need more parts for some equipment and if you're going to help me I need to make some for you too.
After some more talking,Simon left to continue working and Tommy went back to his studies
He was happy that he got himself his first real ally, but he didn't let it distract him.