LS-231b, 18:08 UTC:

Sources within Fuyutsuki Functional Conglomerated’s resource extraction colony on LS-231b have spoken with this reporter on the condition of anonymity. When asked about their desire for secrecy, they were quite candid with me:

We’re not scared of retribution or nothin’… we’re just worried about the longevity of our jobs. It took a lot to move out here to Elsie-2 and the company was gracious enough to handle the finances behind that. But if they pack up and leave, how are we supposed to get home? It’s not like we can live outside. 354.6 degrees Celsius during the day melts lead. Humans don’t have a chance.

Virtual Blue Sky used to promote worker morale does nothing to stave off abandonment concerns [^1]

They have reported to me that their working conditions are quite good with one odd exception:

There’s this constant LED ticker that runs through all the mining facilities. It has two stats that just repeat over and over again: the last exchange price of Limestone and Silicon ore at Benten. Every now and then Antares prices snake their way through, but the pilots don’t like flying out there much so we don’t get too concerned with the rates out there. At first we thought this was normal, but some contraband reports of mining colonies for debris. operations changed our minds.

I asked them what they were worried about… why would they reach out to the Turnip in the first place?

When the colony first got started, we had a couple of liquid catchment devices go up alongside the drills. There weren’t any tickers for prices or anything like that. We even got to see Mr. Fuyutsuki visiting the colony on a regular basis. After one of his trips to Benten to offload our product, he came back pretty agitated and that’s when the price tickers gone up. He ain’t been back since. It was a couple days later that George managed to get it out from one of the freighter pilots that there wasn’t a lot of traffic permits being issued for travel to Elsie-2 and that Mr. Fuyutsuki was losing it over being undercut at the exchange. We’re just worried about our potential evacuation, and an angry boss might not care too much about the people he helped move out here.

This reporter was able to secure passage with a freight shipment of construction materials shipped into the planet from Yutani Heavy Industries. I witnessed the materials being unloaded and moved into short-term storage marked with a label “For High Capacity Storage – Awaiting Thermal Shielding” before an enormous palate of raw Limestone was loaded into the ship. My accommodations weren’t secret and the plant supervisor welcomed me in, lead me to my quarters, and showed me how the rationing system worked. The last thing he said to me before leaving me to my work was, “Don’t get too close to the storage facilities without a full haz-suit. Some of the boys have developed some serious breathing problems.”

At first, I believed that the lung problems were because of Silicate particulate being caught in the lungs or from Limestone dust not being filtered correctly; however, further investigation revealed that medical reports on the worker’s case files lists “Heavy Metals Poisoning” as the cause for breathing issues. Fuyutsuki Functional was asked for a comment on the situation and has not yet responded to our inquiry.

After a full week of being on the planet and speaking with the staff, I don’t believe that the workers are at risk for losing their shelter and their employment any time soon; however, this reporter does fear for their safety due to contamination from the improperly stored Bacterial Tungsten Solution that the liquid catchment devices are harvesting. I can only speculate that Fuyutsuki is aware of the issue due in part to the recent delivery of building pre-fabs to produce a proper storage facility.

Upon returning to the Benten Station, I noticed that an old-fashioned synthetic paper note had been stuffed into my clothing. I have included it in my report:

Heard Fuyutsuki on his communication assistant, thought you may be interested: “… it doesn’t matter. No. Just build the landing pads and get a surveyor out here to plan the planetary warehouse. When I have it built, my prices will beat the Benten CX hard enough that people will want to come out here. Apex can fine me for all I care, this is going to happen…”

• G

What does the experimental capitalist have in mind?

Only time will tell.

[^1] Image Courtesy: https://www.proactiveinvestors.com/thumbs/upload/News/Image/2019_10/672z311_1571148831_2019-10-15-15-13-51_82e27b9eb19a69fbb066caab7f8d0492.jpg