As developers for APEX work around the clock to resolve flight time inaccuracies, the ProsperousTurnip has discovered the blame lies with cargo hauler operators. Speaking under promise of anonymity, the ProsperousTurnip has interviewed a number of the operators.

“Joe” (pseudonym) described the process:

I learned the trick while on Etherwind—those guys are something else. Once you get the flight request all you do is hold down the transmit button while accepting the request. After that, I send “Jimmy” down with a wrench to choke the valve to the STL lines. Let go the transmit button and voila! The calculation shows and additional 2-8 more hours on the STL trip time. Choke it more or less depending on how much time you need!

Nearly all operators interviewed claimed knowledge of the trick. Some only used it sparingly, such as “George”:

I picked up a stomach bug on Gibson. There was no way I was going to use the flight-chair’s sanitization unit as it’s been in disrepair for months! So I spent an hour resting on the porcelain throne, as they say.

Other operators, were more liberal with their usage:

We were on schedule to deliver ore to Katoa, but who wants to go to that hellhole? So we took a few hours off to stop by the casinos on Vallis. We blamed the delay on the computer; who knows with those things, right?