Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The First Day of Work At Site 113

6:00 – Day 0: +10° C – Rest Time

After a week of travel William and his crew finally arrived at Site 113. A completely wild place except for a small circle where the generator had to be built, all the trees were infested with dozens of ravens, an animal that represents death, a bad sign for a society on the verge of collapse, no human activity could be seen which was rare for a world entirely colonized and filled with smoke, there are two advantages, the place was safe from the chaos of crumbling civilization and rich in resources.

 In the distance we can see a huge hole that looked bottomless, that sinks to the depth of hell, this is where they will have to build the generator.

“How long has it been since I've breathed such pure air?” said a worker

“It reminds me of the time when I was hunting with my father.” said another worker

“What! How are we supposed to work here? It's completely empty! There is nothing at all! I’m not going to sleep on the ground and eat tree leaves!” said a very angry engineer

*sigh* “It's really the end of the world, I worked for decades to become an engineer and in the end, I have to work like a worker.”

“After 1 week of travel, the expedition finally arrived at site 113!” said a man named Henry Wells

“Finally! we can start building the generator!” William said relieved

During the trip, William met Henry. Henry was the co-director sent by the IEC, and over time, William realized that he was very competent, and intelligent, but had a great lack of self-confidence. A perfect advisor but a poor leader, William understood why he was not the director.

“We crossed the rough northern seas to reach Site 113 to build the generator, but I have bad news”

“What's the bad news?”

“The crew, lured by the promise of a steady job and eager to leave the work riots and bread queues behind, are somewhat taken aback at the sight of the desolate landscape surrounding the site. They were told not to ask for details...”

“There’s no turning back now, if they are not happy they can leave.” said William with a slightly authoritative tone “Ok, tell everyone to unload the resources at the resource depot and I will inspect the site to see what the previous team left us”

‘290 units of wood, 104 units of steel, and 3 units of steam core. Perfect at least they have left some resources to start.’

“Henry announces to everyone that I am going to make a speech and then we can start the work, I will try to motivate them”

“No problem,” said Henry, then shouted “EVERYONE, THE DIRECTOR OF THE SITE WILL MAKE A SPEECH AND ANNOUNCE HIS PLAN COME ALL IN FRONT OF THE RESOURCE RESERVE”

‘Shit, what is he talking about, I don't have a plan, ok, ok, ok, no problem, quickly William! Find a plan!’

By the time everyone had gathered, William had come up with some semblance of a plan, what he had planned was just a motivational speech and then say some command and he would just watch and let the engineers do the rest.

Before William started his speech, Henry reminded him of something very important, he whispered: “William, I know you want to motivate the workers and engineers but don't forget, you must not create panic, the engineers know that if they don't build the generator the people of Liverpool might all die, but the workers are mostly uneducated and don't believe at the end of the world, so if you tell them the end of the world, you'll not only create panic but you'll also attract the wrath of all the workers because they'll think you're frightening them to work harder.”

“Yes yes, don't worry Henry,” said William but in his head, he was not very happy ‘This complicates everything, I will have to change part of my speech.’

“Everyone, I know you are worried but you don't have to worry, the IEC has invested a lot in us and we will be able to have resources very simply. We are going to work for 1 month and a half to build the most advanced technology in the world, the generator! You will be able to tell your children, "I have contributed to a marvel that could one day save us all!" We will collect wood and build houses and machines. We will cook food and feed you at the company's expense! And all your wages will be sent to your family. You will also have priority in case of any tragic event that could endanger the nation! So you are not only working for yourself and your family, but also for the whole of Great Britain! It won't be easy and you won't be happy but we will overcome this challenge and come out stronger! For the Queen and the country!”

 

 Silence, then one person claps, then 2, then 4, and after a few seconds, the whole crowd cheers for William.

“Long live the Queen!”

“God save the Queen!”

“Britannia rules the waves!”

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“Britons never shall be slaves!”

“All right, you have a 30 minutes break and we're going to start working!” said William relieved, he succeeded in motivating them.”

 

7:00 – 0 Day: +10°C

“Here we go! Worker, build a collecting station to collect wood and steel, then you build a road out of the fence and build a workshop. Once finished, 10 workers will work in the collection station, and the rest you either build or collect the resources for the construction, engineer helps the workers build the buildings! Good luck!” said William shouting his instructions

“Okay, Henry how long will it take to finish the collection station?”

“According to the engineers, it will take about 2 hours”

“Perfect, earlier than I expected”

Two hours later, the employees of Site 113 had not only finished building the collection station but also collected enough resources to start building a workshop. The workshop is very important because William had the plans of all the buildings that are provided by the IEC but nobody knew how to use them to build advanced buildings or improve them.

11:00 – 0 Day: +10°C

Four hours after the beginning of the work, the employees had finished the construction of the workshop, William came to open the building because it will be, according to him, one of the most important buildings in the future.

“Employees! This building is just the beginning! Thanks to it we will be able to build large industrial factories that will allow us to manufacture parts for the generator on a large scale! Engineers, let's start looking for the sawmill to build more buildings! In just 7 hours we will be able to build a huge saw to cut the wood and bring civilization to this site!”

“But obviously to work we need food, so let's start building a canteen where we will all eat together, workers and engineers! For us humans, the most important things are food, water, and weapons to defend ourselves, and we already have the workshop to build these weapons, we just need water! So let's get to work everyone!” William also said with a confident look.

‘This job is harder than I thought, I have to be always sure of myself otherwise people are not calm, I have to solve all the technical problems and disputes that can happen.’

18:00 – 0 Days - +10°C

“Enough work for today!”

As the first workday ends, people start gathering in small groups to chat or play cards. A couple of workers are throwing rocks down the huge central shaft. “Deep, ain’t it? And to think we have to work down there”

Out of boredom, or maybe to exorcise their fear, more workers join in. Soon, rocks start raining down the hole. This might be dangerous, but… the camp offers very little other entertainment.

“They only throw stones, it's nothing, let them do it, this hole is huge, there will be no problem” ‘I hope’ William thought a little stressed from the inside.

At the end of the first work day, they have all they need, food, water but they only had time to build tents for 30 people But most of the workers still don't know.

When it was time to sleep, they were all shocked by the news, There were not enough tents for everyone! Many workers went to complain to the director.

“How come there is not enough space? I worked hard all day!”

“Why do all engineers have a place and not all workers!”

Panic, William tried to quickly calm the situation! “All employees don't worry, I promise you'll all have a tent by tomorrow night! you have my word as director!” He also ignored the workers who said that the engineers had stolen places! ‘Without an engineer, nothing can be built! It's not like I had a choice.‘

William finally managed to calm the situation and everyone went to sleep, on their bed or for the most part, on the ground.