"Sorry I'm late," he said quickly, trying to smooth his hair. "I'm Thom, the new hire."

  Tamitha looked up from her monitor, her expression calm but stern. "You just missed the safety briefing," she said matter-of-factly. "Not ideal for your first day." She stood, pulling up his file on her tablet. "Let's get you sorted out quickly. I can't have you falling behind."

  Thom nodded, his hands tightening on the strap of his bag. Tamitha motioned for him to approach the desk and handed him a stack of forms and a slim tablet.

  "Sign these," she instructed. "Your equipment's already prepared, so we'll move quickly. No shortcuts. Everything here is about precision."

  "Yes, ma'am," Thom said, his voice quieter now as he fumbled to fill out the forms. Tamitha glanced at the clock over the door.

  "Tsk.. Darn. Unfortunately, I have a meeting to attend." She glanced at Riley, her tone softening just slightly. "Riley, you'll help him get up to speed out on the floor. Make sure he understands the basics before you start any work."

  Riley nodded quickly. "Of course."

  With the paperwork finished, Tamitha handed Thom his gear—a heavy-duty tool belt, a grounding strap, and a work tablet loaded with operational software. "This equipment is your lifeline. Treat it with care," she said firmly. "And remember, we work as a team here. No room for distractions or errors."

  Thom gave a nervous nod, gripping the gear tightly. "Got it."

  "Good," Tamitha said, returning to her desk. "Now get to work. Riley, you're in charge of his onboarding."

  Riley and Thom left the office, stepping into the sprawling power hub. The noise of the machinery and the faint tang of oil filled the air as they navigated the rows of power modules.

  "Alright," Riley said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "Let's start with the basics."

  He led Thom to the nearest diagnostic panel and motioned for him to watch. "So, this thing tells you whether the module's good or bad," Riley explained, pointing at the small screen. "Green means it's good to go. Red means it's toast, and we have to replace it. Tamitha told me that yellow is something special or whatnot, and to come find her if we found one. Pretty sure that's what she said anyway."

  Thom squinted at the panel, then at Riley. "Pretty sure?"

  "Bro, Tamitha gave me the crash course like five minutes ago, so it's your turn to be confused now."

  Thom snorted. "Love that. Very on-brand for our lives."

  "Right?" Riley said. "Here's the fun part: always deactivate the module before touching it." He flicked a switch on the panel, and the module let out a faint hiss as it powered down. "Now you can pull it out without getting zapped."

  Thom nodded slowly, mimicking Riley's movement as he extracted the next module. "Man, this thing weighs a ton."

  "Tell me about it," Riley replied, setting his module on the conveyor belt. "It's like they designed these just to mess with us."

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  "Maybe it's a gym membership in disguise," Thom joked, dramatically flexing after lugging his module onto the belt. "Hyperion Fitness: achieve gains or die trying."

  Riley laughed. "Right. Forced gains, just like prison."

  As they continued, the tension of the day began to fade. Thom's movements became more confident, and Riley relaxed as he realized he wasn't totally winging it anymore.

  "So," Thom said after a while, leaning against the wall during a brief break. "What's Tower 7c like? Still living the government-sponsored dream?"

  Riley smirked. "If by 'dream,' you mean 'weird dystopian apartment simulator,' then yeah. What about your tower?"

  "Honestly? Feels like they glued it together with duct tape and prayers," Thom replied. "The first night, I thought the ceiling was going to collapse. Turns out it was just my neighbor's ferret clawing through the vents."

  "A ferret?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's gotta be against the rules."

  "Probably," Thom said, grinning. "But who am I to judge? What if the noodle cat was an emotional support gremlin?"

  Riley chuckled, shaking his head. "At least we're not dealing with Marcus anymore."

  Thom groaned. "Don't remind me. Did you hear he got picked up by Catch22?"

  "No way," Riley said, his eyes widening. "What, they needed someone to fill the 'intimidation by grunting' quota?"

  "Apparently," Thom replied, his grin widening. "I'm just imagining their orientation. 'Welcome to Catch22, here's your club and loincloth. Please try not to eat the interns.'"

  Riley doubled over, laughing so hard he had to lean against the module rack. "God, I can't breathe. That's exactly how it would go. Remember when Mr. Hargrove caught him knawing on the back of his chair, and he said it was to level up his teeth?"

  Their laughter echoed through the workspace, drawing a few amused glances from other workers. For a moment, it felt like they were back at the orphanage, sharing dumb jokes to make the world seem less overwhelming.

  As their laughter subsided, Thom wiped at his eyes, still grinning. "Man, I needed that. Feels like I've been holding my breath since we left Helix."

  Riley nodded, leaning against the module rack. "Yeah, me too. Nice to know some things don't change, even when everything else does."

  Thom gestured toward the rows of modules stretching into the distance. "Except, you know, all this. Pretty sure Mr. Hargrove never made us handle something that could fry us like a toaster."

  Riley smirked but didn't reply. His gaze lingered on the modules, the faint hum of their energy filling the silence. The reality of their work pressed in again, the momentary levity giving way to the weight of their situation.

  "Alright, break's over," Riley said, pushing off the rack. "Back to the grind."

  They returned to the rhythm of their work, hauling modules to the conveyor and double-checking diagnostics. Riley caught himself glancing at Thom occasionally, his earlier nervousness seemed to be replaced by a steady determination. Thom's awkwardness had always been his armor, but here, it seemed to be melting away—at least a little.

  As they worked, Riley's tablet chirped, the screen lighting up with an alert. Anomaly detected: Module Array E.

  "Uh-oh," Riley muttered. He turned the screen toward Thom. "Looks like we've got our first real problem. Tamitha's gonna love this."

  Thom groaned, rolling his shoulders. "Fantastic. And here I was hoping we'd fly under the radar today."

  "No such luck." Riley tapped the screen, pulling up a map of the facility. "Array E's a few rows down. Let's check it out."

  The walk to Array E felt longer than expected. The air around them grew warmer as they approached. The hum of the machinery seemed louder here, more urgent.

  When they reached the first module in the array, Riley activated his diagnostic tablet, the screen displaying a flurry of data. "Looks like it's overheating," he said, scanning the readout. "We'll need to swap this one out."

  Thom unhooked his grounding strap from his belt, clipping it onto the designated rail. "Got it. Let's make this quick."

  Riley nodded, moving to the next module in line to check its status. The hum of the array filled the silence between them, each focused on their respective tasks. Riley's fingers moved across the tablet, his mind racing through Tamitha's instructions.

  "Deactivate first," he murmured to himself. "Grounding zone. Safety checks. Don't—"

  A sharp snap interrupted his thoughts. Riley's head shot up, his stomach twisting as he spotted Thom leaning into the module. The grounding strap dangled limply at his side, its clip hanging from the rail, the metal twisted where it had broken free.