'The Pit: Hell Frozen Over' - Arc 3, Chapter 3: 'The One Truth' (Closed, Started)

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Before Richard could speak up they arrived at the base which was impressive for a RACDI. It was far from under-prepared for an assault from one of their "competitors" but it made him wary of his true intentions. The prison looked more like a military staging area and Richard had seen plenty of those during his tour of the Tiger Republics. Richard had a hunch and hoped that this level of military preparedness was more of a spectacle. A rogue RACDI would be very bad to the media. Lee talked the him through his supposed intentions and directives he had propositioned although Richard could tell that very much of it was already going through.

Any questions on this subject?"

"What of your RACDI's information databases? Surely with all the Wardens and prisoners to keep track of, you're not using decrepit servers or other primitive ways of recording all this "data"." Richard motioned to the entire base.

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A slight hush fell over the table but Lewis was the first to speak surprisingly.

"8th Light Rifles... Scotland. It was a mess fighting the Baltic Alliance especially since half the time we barely knew they there." Lewis said plainly. The sooner he got it off his chest the better. The rest of the table respected his willingness to go first.

"1st Rangers... Venezuela. Every year they think they can host an election but almost always someone attacks the U.S. Embassy." Walker said second. "A toast to a few of my friends still in Caracas."

"And a toast to my friends in the Congo." Albergo said next. "2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment. French Foreign Legion."

"15th MEU..." Oliva said. "This is for my buds in the suck."

"To my brothers forever in the 7th Alpini..." Marino said, raising his glass. "May they rest peacefully in Abkhazia."

Lewis and the others raised their glasses. "To our brothers and sisters." They gulped down their drinks and a moment of silence took hold of the table before Walker spoke.

"But man the girls were hot!" The table erupted in both moans and laughter.

 

[willofbob]

Penn sighed. "Alright, then. If you change your mind, my name's Oliver Penn. Cell Whiskey-Hotel two-seventy one. That's two rows down and about three-hundred across, if you can't find it. I can probably arrange some medicine for you."
He resumed a quick pace down the hall, starting to mutter again as soon as he was off.

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"Doesn't this s-seem a bit... excessive?" Queried Dr. Olivander, having part-way recovered from the embarresment of almost heading off with the wrong officer. The assignment was not off to a good start. "I mean, why do you need anti-aircraft batteries just for guarding prisoners? The heavy weapons are an understandable right-off, but some of this seems a bit much." He spoke better in his element

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"The heavier armaments are not so much for the purpose of keeping the prisoners in Doctor, so much as keeping hostile elements out." the newly promoted Lt Com. Ricardo Montoya replied, as their convoy made their way around the eastern perimeter. "Once RACDI-Alpha is once again working at full capacity, the total worth of the oil, gas, gold and other materials produced will be making tens of millions a day for Venture Horizon. Such a regular influx of wealth would be considered a great prize for many of our competitors. Some, if they are allowed to believe they could get away with it, would be more than willing to start a war to get their hands on the precious substances beneath our feet here. Even looking past those that would attack us for profit, we are in the middle of a vast wilderness that knows no rule of law. Terrorist groups and feral reavers have been known in the past to operate out here. In either case, it's part of our job to make sure that Venture's assets here are never allowed to fall into the wrong hands."

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'Well, the man knows how to get things done at least.' Selina thought to herself 'Unfortunately, I doubt he has ever considered the issue of cost to be his problem.'

"The way you've galvanised this place is impressive, not to mention welcome." she told him "May we have an estimate of when these reinforcements above ground will be complete?"

 

[Fappy]

As the group trudged through thick foliage and wet mud the light of the day slowly began to fade. Despite the clouds dominating the sky, Lucia could tell night would be arriving shortly. She averted her attention from the rather large stick in her hand to the enormous man walking ahead of her. Nikolai was exhausted... more than exhausted. His legs trembled with every step and his pained breathing was... unsettling. He was clearly trying to conceal his vulnerability. Lucia thought for a moment to herself, looked up to the dark sky above and exhaled sharply.

Kusanagi made her way past the other Freemen and laid a hand on Nikolai's shoulder, "It will be dark soon. We should find a place to make camp for the night."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Alright, then. If you change your mind, my name's Oliver Penn. Cell Whiskey-Hotel two-seventy one. That's two rows down and about three-hundred across, if you can't find it. I can probably arrange some medicine for you."

Medicine?!

Neil's mind found itself imagining all the things this man could mean. Did he really intend to help her or did he want to fuck her up, get her hooked and take advantage of her? What was this medicine exactly? Was it...

No.

Neil looked out of the alley to see the man walking off. He sighed heavily and forced himself to move on. He would find a quite place to relax and eat. Somewhere no one would find him.

 

[The Funslinger]

Korovitch changed gear and slowed the transport as he pulled into the compound's motor pool.

"Seeing as you work for Venture, I'd expect you to know what our methods are." It was a test, clearly, but he would feign ignorance this far.

"Company issued servers, maintained to a professional standard. Obviously in the Siberian ice, we don't need to go to great lengths to keep servers from overheating. We also have physical copies of files as a backup in case of data corruption."

He glanced at the executive, with a grim smile. "Both are very well guarded, I assure you. Given the... competitive relationship Venture Horizon has with other companies, the men guarding our databases have orders to shoot first, and ask questions never." The Warden soldiers under his command chuckled gruffly at the way some of the executives paled at this.

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Acolyte nodded to himself as he listened to Lucia talk to Nikolai, but didn't say anything to affirm her choice. If he spoke up, he knew damn well Nikolai would go firmly in the opposite direction of whatever choice he suggested. The big man didn't like him. It didn't bother him at all, but it made contributing to the group more difficult than it needed to be.

All he said was, "whenever we set down to camp, I'll take first watch. I want to get a start on my carving, and I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight as it is."

He knew that for a fact, because he often had trouble sleeping after his lengthier blackouts, the most recent of which had happened two days previously, just as they had been making camp and preparing meals. It still got laughs and jibes from some of the Free Men, Nikolai first and foremost, but many of them seemed to have accepted it as due course, and worked around it whenever it happened. Besides that, he knew Nikolai would not do much more than nudge him and perhaps spit on him when he blacked out, while Lucia was around. And the other Free Men would not cross any lines with Nikolai, either.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

They had arrived at the very bottom of the valley, where their ran a small stream of water not ten feet across. Nikolai sank to his knees, and drank deeply with water from the stream cupped in his hands. The thirst was worse than the hunger, worse than his broken bones and torn muscles. The other Free Men moved to do the same. Thankfully, this high up the water was relatively clean, too small moving too quickly downhill to hold too much sediment. Still, a few of the Men were starting to get sick. They couldn't stay up here in the wilds forever. Sooner or later, they'd have to move to find a settlement of some kind. Only problem was, they had no idea who's lands they were in, if anybodies at all. Chances were anybody they met would be more likely to kill them, or sell then back to The pit or some other place, than to give them aid and shelter. There had been times in the last few months where they'd spotted soldiers patrolling, or helicopters passing overhead. Which army they belonged to though would remain a mystery, as they had kept their distance and stayed out of sight.

In response to Kusanagi's statement Nikolai pushed himself to his feet, biting his lip with what was left of his teeth to stop himself from audibly wincing.

"Caves not far." he told her "Straight ahead is too steep, but downstream we will find path up."

He could still manage a phantom of a laugh in response to Acolyte's offer.

"When the wolves and the bears come for us, should we trust in the Sleepy Man's sharp eyes and ears? No. I watch. You play with sticks. A Man who won't even kill a squealing Pig is no use watching."

 

[The Funslinger]

Acolyte sighed softly, and cursed to himself in frustration, in Dutch.

&"God damn fucking idiot. Dead on his feet, and he still won't stop being a petulant baby!"&

Acolyte could give the mountains lessons in patience, but the man who was supposed to be their leader was being an idiot in this regard, and three months of it was enough to make even him exasperated.

 

[Fappy]

Kusanagi noticed Acolyte's less than amused expression, "Look, we'll have enough time for petty squabbles when we've got a warm fire to sit around."

She brushed past the two of them and started down the valley, along the stream. If she didn't get out of there she would have started flinging insults as well. Tensions were high... and they'd only get worse if they didn't find civilization soon. The Freemen may show undying loyalty to the top-dog, but she could tell that their loyalty could only stretch so far.

If the Freemen were to abandon their leader... would she join them?

I owe him my life...

Lucia ignored her doubts and continued forward without looking back.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Alright, then. If you change your mind, my name's Oliver Penn. Cell Whiskey-Hotel two-seventy one. That's two rows down and about three-hundred across, if you can't find it. I can probably arrange some medicine for you."

Aggie mumbled a thanks. A humble manner hammered into her head by her mother. Still, she had rely on herself and only herself in order to go through this hellhole. The last time she relied on someone else it cost her something very dear. The man's words ricocheted around her head and she wondered if she should go in order to preserve herself from dying for the time being. That's when she remembered she dropped a can outside. Aggie went outside and saw the shiny can. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man walking away from her. The man looked familiar to her. Was it the man that gave her the can? Was he there the entire time? Why was he there to begin with? Had he heard of her?

"Hey!" Aggie called out.

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Richard chuckled along with the grunts much to his fellow executives' surprise. He brushed off the grizzled veteran's scares favoring laughing at them rather than quake in his expensive shoes. He wouldn't be scared that easily. The Siberian met him once again as they got out of the vehicles in what looked like the motor pool.

"It would be a shame if Venture's own Information officer to be shot because he was denied entry into Venture's own severs now would it?" Richard chuckled. "It's okay, I'd be grumpy all the time too if I stayed here for seven years."

 

[Fappy]

Neil had just started reviewing his mental checklist of the day when he heard the woman call out. Involuntarily, he stopped dead in his tracks. He regretted it immediately. With his hands still buried in his jacket pockets he turned his head slightly as to catch her in his periphery, "Don't trust that man."

He looked ahead and started walking forward once more, "Don't trust any man."

That includes me.

He clenched his teeth, hoping that she would drop it. There were already a handful of pedestrians beginning to stare.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Nikolai stepped up to Acolyte with eyes full of ice.

"The Sneaky Man mutters in a tongue I do not know. I think the Sneaky Man should only be saying things that we can all hear, so we all know there is no plotting of tricks. The next time your tongue waggles in a way I do not understand, I will tear it out of your throat with my bare hands."

Whether Acolyte meant well by his offers was irrelevant. In fact, the thought was worse than if he was simply trying to usurp Nikolai's leadership. Acolyte may have been in The Pit as well, but he clearly didn't understand how they had lived. Offering charity made Nikolai look weak, his leadership uncertain, and as frustrating as Nikolai's taunts may be, his leadership was the only reason Acolyte and Kusanagi were still alive. As much as he may tease and threaten, Nikolai would defend any friend of Kusanagi's until his dying breath. Should either of them decide to step out of the umbrella of Nikolai's protection, and upset the delicate dynamics of power, they would be seen as a legitimate target for anyone wishing to gain status.

Nikolai turned on his heel and set of downstream. He was not dead yet, and he was more than willing to prove that to the next person who tried to treat him like a weakling.

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"We aim to have all work above ground finished within the next two months." Lee told her, although his tone meant to convey the message loud and clear 'It will be done when it's damn well done!' "As for below ground, we're still looking at another six at least before we're back at full productive capacity. However, as you will soon see, these improvements will, in time, mean that The Pit will contribute more than ever to Venture Horizon's cash flow."

A short time later, the three convoys met back up again at the motor pool. From there, it was only a short walk to The Atrium. Standing on a raised platform that gave a good view down into the Executive's first view of The Pit proper, Lee turned to face the others.

"Cpt. Korovich, Iron and Micah squads will be giving Dr. Lu's team the tour of Processing and Administration in the Upper Levels. Lt Com. Montoya, Trident and Scimitar will be escorting Dr. Ollivander to the Lower Levels, to show him our new expansion zones. Myself, Husky and Viper will be going to the Mid-Levels with Ms. Hernandez, for a review of the Refinery Complex. Please bare in mind. The facility is far too large for us to cover everything in one trip, so this will only be the first of several tours Over this next fortnight."

 

[The Funslinger]

Acolyte met Nikolai's gaze evenly, and was about to speak when the huge man turned away and stalked off.

Sighing, he carried on walking, the lump of wood still hanging at his side. He saw the skill with which Nikolai led the group, but sometimes the man did more to erode his own authority than those under him ever did, to Acolyte's mind. Accusing people of plotting when he couldn't understand him made him look paranoid, and the constant train of threats at the slightest provocation spoke of a fear of sorts.

=========================================================================================================================

Korovitch snapped off a crisp salute. Calling Iron Squad by name didn't mean much, he thought wryly, when he only had two men left. Still, he would rebuild, as he always had. As he turned to face the men under his command, he ran a swift and evaluative gaze over Trident squad, lining up in front of Montoya. New Trident squad. His Iron squad had decimated those men's predecessors, killing them to a man, he thought with a touch of pride. They had been under Sticks' command, then, and Lee had done a good job replacing the rotten work with new strength. Still, he'd looked at Trident's dossiers after his debrief. The men had been some of the Pit's more experienced soldiers, and the new blood would have big shoes to fill. But he knew Montoya would get them on their way. The man was efficient, and Korovitch respected him.

Organizing the men under his command into a wide, well spaced perimeter around Lu's group, he turned and set off down the corridor, towards the stairs. Too many for the lift. And he disliked lifts, on top of that. Lazy was what they were.

"If you see anyone working, I am asking you not to interrupt them. We've had quite a lot of administrative fallout after the riot, and the office workers have been working overtime. Direct any and all questions to me, and please do not wander. We will be going through Processing, first. After that, anyone wishing to use the toilet facilities will have opportunity to do so."

 

[Fappy]

It would have been easy to just give up and let the world claim her. There were plenty of opportunities to do so in the last three months. To Lucia however, "surrender" was no longer part of her vocabulary. Too many people had already died for her sake. Too many lives sacrificed so that she could live on. She wouldn't squander what she had left and she would make damn sure that no one else would share the same fate Samuel and Tristan had.

She could hear Acolyte and Nikolai arguing behind her. The Freemen were slipping. It was a miracle they'd come this far without anyone losing heart or turning on another. Whether that was going to last was anyone's guess. All Lucia knew was that she'd preserve regardless as to what was to come in the weeks ahead. She'd do so with or without help.

Lucia was tired of being saved. Tired of depending on everyone else. If Nikolai failed to protect his men whether through shortsightedness or injury, Kusanagi would ensure they made it out alive. If push came to shove she was prepared to be the one making the sacrifices.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Don't trust any man."

Ain't that a given...

Aggie let the man go, wondering who it was. Whoever the man must be, must have lived here for longer than she had. He had that aura to him despite her not even being that close to him. Aggie watched the man fade into the darkness once more with the few people around fading along with him as well. Aggie went back to her cell and began organizing her little supply of food. It would last her until the next supply drop which seemed pretty often now.

Then Aggie left for her shift in the large Refinery where she operated the machinery to press metals. It was a grueling job but it was better than mining for the minerals. On her way there she overheard some talk that there were some important people above due to a decreased amount of guards below. Aggie collected the gossip and stored it away as she arrived at her post, reliving the person before her. Then with a press of a button, a mighty slam came down and the ores were being refined. There were others much like her in Aggie's position. She was operating on Conveyor unit A-13 which led to the Retrieval machine while the metals from Conveyor unit A-13 came from the lower levels of the Pit. Both inmates and guards inspected the resources coming up with the inmates primarily sifting through for any unsuitable materials. The Wardens made sure they weren't harboring any packages or other forms of contraband. The particular machine Aggie worked on was a presser, which slammed the ores down to a particular size for the retrieval machine. Someone described the work to her as Kafka-esque but she didn't really get it at first.

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The fact that they also took the stairs made Richard actually question if they were going to kill them or not. The climb was grueling, with a few of the executives including Richard taking a break or two but once they reached their destination, their breaths returned for the most part.

"Alright, now I'm convinced you want us killed, Captain." Richard joked.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"8th Light Rifles... Scotland... And a toast to my friends in the Congo... To our brothers and sisters." The group said, each in turn recounting brothers/sisters in arms that were either still stuck in what could be described as a war zone, or had ended up dead. Abigail could feel the pain emanating from each of them, it almost brought tears to her eyes; but then suddenly after the moment of silence.

"But man the girls were hot!" The group erupted in a mixture of joyful laughter and annoyed groans. Abigail let out a small sigh.

"Looks as though all of you have lost someone due to conflict. Personally I have not felt loss on the same level as you; and I don't mean to disrespect you when saying that I hope I don't have to, can't imagine how I would react. Listen, compliments of the house." Abigail said with a smile as she brought up some more drinks for the crew in mourning.

 

[The Funslinger]

Korovitch didn't respond to the joke, beyond glancing a shade disdainfully at the panting executives; this he did without slowing. If anything, he increased the pace, which the executives responded to automatically. He had that effect on people he thought of as his subordinates. Sergeant Wickers looked back at Richard with a grin, 'ah, well if we killed yeh, mate, we wouldn't get paid!'

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

"Listen, compliments of the house."

Cheers once again rocked the table. After a few moments of drinking and celebrating, Oliva's watch went off.

"Aw, damn. I forgot I was supposed to pull double duty today at Lower. There's some fancy-schmancy people going to be touring the levels for something or other." Oliva said, rolling his eyes.

"Damn, I forgot it too." Albergo cursed. They both rose from their seats but Oliva stumbled a bit getting up. The table laughed but Lewis held out his hand.

"Hold on, I can cover for you. Besides, I heard they have a policy against intoxicated Americans with guns." Lewis said. Oliva smiled and patted Lewis on the shoulder.

"What a guy! Alright, Albergo take him up to the post instead of me. Tell them I... stomach pains... can barely walk."

"Well at least that part's right!" Albergo said, watching Oliva fall back into his seat. "Are you sure you can handle Lower today?"

"Of course! We did a lot more drinking in England so I have a good tolerance." Lewis insisted.

"Alright, follow me then." Albergo made for the exit. "See you all later!"

"Cheers!" The men responded back. "Another day in the Pit!"

After they suited up, they made their way to the Lower levels of the Pit just as the shifts changed for some of the guards. Lewis felt better running and hustling to their routes. Their reflexes had to be sharpened for the Lower Levels. Despite the purge, Lewis was told that the Lower Levels still remained a hostile area. Most the gangs were disposed of but there were still criminals nonetheless. Lewis chugged down an energy drink Walker gave him a few nights ago. He felt a surge of energy once more.


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"'ah, well if we killed yeh, mate, we wouldn't get paid!'

"What about torture?" Richard said as the group increased its pace. Richard wondered if this was a tactic the Captain was using to reduce their energy thus reducing their effectiveness. It sure seemed like it. The executives around him were panting and getting worn out but like before, Richard promised himself that he wouldn't be wiped out that easily.

"This guy is going to kill us!" Schiender gasped. "One break, please!"

"A little running isn't going to kill you!" Richard exclaimed. "Outright at least..."

 

[The Funslinger]

With his back to the executives and his soldiers, nobody saw Korovitch roll his eyes. Him and his men were still breathing evenly. It had never been stated outright, but he knew Lee wanted him to keep the executives from meddling. Would prefer them disoriented. He hadn't anticipated it would be this easy, though; he really had just taken the stairs to move the group as a whole.

"What about torture?"

"You know nothing of torture," he replied, tersely.

"This guy is going to kill us!"

Weak fool! he thought, irritably. These men needed a slap and a week on latrine duty more than anything else.

After a few minutes, they came to the end of the stairs and Korovitch led the group through Processing. They went through a door in single file, between two guards cradling MP5s, to efficiently turn the narrow corridor into a meat grinder of gunfire when defending against an attack. One of them checked Korovitch's RACDI-Alpha ID card, comparing it to his face, and then let them through. Not that anyone could make a mistake concerning Korovitch's identity. The scar across his face was quite individualizing.

As he walked, he cast around with his hands expansively. "Here is processing. This area handles things such as guard recruitment, worker employment, pay rises and promotions. It is also their job to see what needs to be replaced in terms of technology and facilities."

He had been here repeatedly in the past few months. Once for his promotion to Lieutenant, twice for the handling of the shiny new weapons and gear Lee was requisitioning with the blank cheque venture horizon had given him, and once again for his recent promotion to Captain, for assisting in the implementation of company changes, and helping with the Pit's now reduced inmate population, assuring the aftermath of the riot gave way to order.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Felix sat atop the boxes for a little while before springing back up and walking towards the mine he was assigned to work at. He wondered if it was his only duty or if there would be more, the officer who gave him orders was not very clear. Upon reaching his destination he found that there was still no one overseeing his work.

"Did anyone come to check on the labour?" he asked his fellow miners. They all shook their head. Felix sighed as he continued to pick away at the mine, bored out of his skull.

--------------------------------
"Get out and do some damn work you lazy fuck. You've stuck in your cell for days now mother fucker get to work!"

Travis looked up from his pushups to see an officer barking at him through the bars. He was about to make a threat when he realised that although he was larger than the officer, the warden had a gun, as well as various other equipment that could be put to good use in kicking his ass. Travis sighed and slowly left his cell. "I ain't got all day cupcake." Travis sighed and proceeded slowly down the hallway giving the Warden the finger as he did so. He wasn't being escorted, he'd hoped that if a warden was forcing him to work they would at least make sure he went to where he was supposed to go rather than just chill somewhere else. He could have used them as protection in case Iron Fist or any other of his surviving foes came for him. He hadn't seen anyone try and kill him for three months straight. In fact he had barely left his cell at all. He could never clear his mind, he was plagued by fear. Even though his enemies hadn't killed him they at least won in one respect- he hadn't killed anyone.

Walking slowly and always with one eye over his shoulder, he set off towards his new position at the refinery.
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Abreu had followed her orders to the letter doing exactly as Lee had commanded. Though she was good at hiding her thoughts she was terrible at clearing her mind.

Fuckin' suits. Scumbag exec bastards. Pedaço de ternos merda. Covardes, covardes inúteis. None of you know anything of authority, of responsibilty, of truth or of justice or even of fucking hard work. I'm worth ten of you- worth a hundred of you.

 

[Mr.Ivebeenframed]

Lewis arrived at his spot with Albergo awake and ready for a long night shift. The better terms he has with his squadmates the better it is for him in the long run. Also that means that Oliva owes him a favor.

"Hm, never thought I'd actually be in the mines." Lewis said to Albergo, clutching his carbine close to his chest as they walked around. "I thought it'd smell better."

"This is a good day." Albergo said. "Your lucky that they haven't found any sulphur yet."

"Oh God..." Lewis dreaded that particular thought.

The pair walked around the mining area, making sure that the prisoners were filling their quota and not doing anything else. Lewis was glad to have Albergo next to him. He stands at least 6'4 so he's pretty intimidating to begin with. Albergo clutches an automatic shotgun in his arms, ready to deliver death at 300 rounds per minute. As they made their rounds, Albergo sees something and yells out.

"Hey!" He goes to one of the prisoners. The frightened prisoner pockets something in a hurry, stuffing it in his pants. Lewis sees this and points his gun at the prisoners around Albergo as if on cue. The prisoners back off, careful not to get involved with anything that might end their life.

"Hands up,now! Albergo shouted. The ragged prisoner looks at him wide-eyed. "Hands up!"

"He doesn't know what you're saying." Lewis said batting an eye at the bewildered prisoner as he scanned the prisoners around them for any threats. The laser from his optic waded through the crowd, its red beam searching for a target.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." Albergo said, bringing up his AA-12. The prisoner starts breaking down.

"Es sólo el carbón! Por favor, no me dispares! Por favor, yo no sé lo que estás diciendo!" The prisoner started to yell, stepping back. "Por favor, que alguien les diga que no sé lo que está diciendo!" He starts to yell at the prisoners around him.

"He's speaking fucking Spanish!" Albergo cursed. "Lewis do you understand him?"

"Not a word." Lewis touched his radio. "Can we get someone who speaks Spanish in Lower Mining Area C-5"

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Richard wiped the sweat from his brow using a handkerchief. He took this time to recover from their little death march, catching his breath once more. The rest of the executives were not so able to recover so quickly. Richard looked around at the office around them, watching their fine bureaucracy at work.

"It is also their job to see what needs to be replaced in terms of technology and facilities."

Richard chuckled to himself once more, looking at the scores of paperwork.

"In the last seven years you've worked here, excuse me..." Richard caught his breath. "In the last seven years you've worked here, how often has there been the need to replace the technology?"