Chapter 644: Living In A Forge Station

When we walked through the station, most of the Zwergers we passed were giving us looks like we were some kind of celebrity and several of them even gaped at us as we passed by.

I guess they don’t usually get visitors around here.

At least they left us alone and didn’t try to hinder us.

One other thing I found surprising was the fact that the corridors were built tall and wide which was the same size as the human stations despite the occupants here.

Ries then very helpfully explained that there is a USC standard for the minimum space a station’s corridor should be to accommodate all the races within the USC.

Since this was technically a factory, the air was hot and packed with the smell of metal and sulfur, but thankfully that smell lessened when we reached the living spaces which were the dormitories.

I don’t really know what I should have expected when I heard they were living in dormitories.

To be fair... Judging by how the rest of the station looked, I was expecting it to be rundown, half broken and possibly devoid of any amenities type of place... Like those Orwellian types of dormitories where it’s more akin to a prison than anything else.

Well... While the place might not look like a prison, it’s quite close I guess? The real thing here looked more like an army barracks with the bunk beds and surprisingly clean and spotless rooms with minimalistic furniture.

It was basically an entire indoor complex with dozens of levels arranged in a rectangular shape with the rooms occupying the outer perimeter of said rectangle. To get up to the higher levels, you would need to use the stairs and elevators located in the inside of the rectangle which was left hollow as a sort of common area.

Open walkways stretched outside of the rooms that linked them all together and I’m sure if you looked at this place from above, it would resemble a rectangular doughnut.

The rooms themselves sported a single automatic sliding door and a window looking out to the walkway which could be shuttered by metal blinds though most people left the windows shuttered but the door open, probably as a way to ventilate the room without making the room feel stuffy.

Every single room here seemed to have the exact same layout with four bunk beds, two metal cabinets beside each of the beds, and a table with chairs in the centre of the room, which meant there were eight people sharing a room at the same time.

It’s like everything had been stripped down of any decorative aspects and everything was focused on practicality.

The only difference between them were the small pieces of personal effects that were left around the bunk beds which belonged to the occupant.

"Well... This certainly has a... Dystopian look to it..." I muttered, looking up at the various dormitories above us.

Amber looks around as well, "Really? This looks normal for a Forge station though?"

"That’s precisely my point... Do these Zwergers just live their entire life on this station? No family, no other ambition? Nothing?"

Ries chirped in, "Oh! For stations like this, they operate on rotation! The people working on these stations don’t actually live here. They would fly to this station and work for a duration before flying back home. A work shift could last from a week to half a year, depending on the station and company. Then they would return home and stay for a period of time while another batch of workers would fly in to replace them."

"What about the other stations we’ve visited? Even the mining station?"

"Some of those stations are also habitat stations which... Well... Admittedly, it’s a way to circumvent this regulation by some companies. They build those mining stations and also add a section specifically for habitation to attract workers to live there as well. That way, they can just avoid hiring another batch of workers since if the workers live on the station itself, the previous regulation of needing to allocate such shifts becomes unnecessary..."

Right... So basically even here, corporations will still find ways to screw people over and exploit their workers just to maximise their profits huh... Guess I shouldn’t be surprised...

I turned to Yumiko, "Well... Putting that aside for now... I’m seeing at least hundreds of rooms in here... That’s like at least a thousand people aren’t there? How are we supposed to find that Zwerger of yours?"

She thought for a moment, "I was thinking... Perhaps we could post a request up on the local GalaNet here that we are looking to commission a weapon privately and we are specifically looking to make a replacement of my sword. The Zwerger who made my sword would definitely recognise it and seek us out himself since he might wonder what happened to the original he made."

Amber raised an eyebrow at her, "How long ago did you even get him to make your swords? Are you sure he even remembers?"

"For a Zwerger of his skill, I believe he remembers the weapons he had personally crafted outside of this factory."

I paused, "No offense but... If he’s that skillful, why is he working in a factory like this?"

Mara leaned over to whisper to me, "Captain... Their culture isn’t one where it focuses on free market enterprises..."

Oh right... Military dictatorship... I forgot.

I guess to them, the idea of a private enterprise is something that was completely foreign to them or something.

"So... What? Do they just work for the government? And they never think about doing anything else?" I asked.

Ries pursed her lips, "I did tell you Boss. They like weapons. They like making them, inspecting them and using them. It’s like a shared fetish of theirs. Pick any Zwerger and there’s a ninety nine percent chance they think having big guns is the best thing to live for. The other one percent just leave and immigrate somewhere else. There’s no restriction against Zwergers deciding to immigrate after all so they are always free to leave."

Right... So that means everyone who remains here is totally ok with just working for what they believe is making big guns.

"Alright then... I guess we can just try going with Yumiko’s idea of posting that request. Though that would also mean we would have to prepare to deal with Zwergers who show up who aren’t the one we are looking for. That is... Assuming that we only want to engage with that one specific Zwerger, right?"

Yumiko hesitated, "I’m... Not particularly picky about who does it... As long as I can get a weapon that I would be able to use perfectly, that is enough for me."

"Right. Then I guess you’ll have to list out your requirements and possibly interview the ones who come knocking to decide then. Can I leave that part to you?"

She nodded quickly, "Of course, Mistress. This is my responsibility after all."

How reliable.

While I left that to Yumiko, the rest of us searched for a good place to set ourselves up within the common area since it would be easier for these people to meet us within the station instead of having them make their way to our ship instead.

Speaking of which... When they say ’local GalaNet’, they mean things like message boards and stuff which are basically relevant to the location that they are referencing.

So I believe Yumiko was basically looking for online forums and boards which the Zwergers on this station frequent to post her request.

The message was posted quickly and I was admittedly expecting that we would most likely have to wait a day or so before people start showing up.

But less than five minutes later, a Zwerger waddled up to us, "You’re the ones that posted about needing a weapon made?"

That was fast...

Without waiting for us to confirm his question, he thumped his chest, "If you are looking for someone to craft you a weapon, I’m your smith! I can make the biggest guns imaginable so you just need to tell me how big of an explosion you are planning to make!"

Yumiko frowned at him, "You didn’t read the post, did you? The post mentioned that I needed a sword, not a gun."

The Zwerger blinked before pulling up his personal terminal.

I guess he realised that what Yumiko said was true and he let out a loud ’hmph’ before turning away to wave his hand at us, "Sorry, not interested in making weapons that do not result in explosions."

This guy... You’re the one who came to us you know...

Then as if that was the catalyst, a whole bunch of Zwergers suddenly started running towards us from all around us and the entire dormitory area was filled with a flurry of activity.

"Weapons!! I can make weapons!!"

"I’m the best smith here!! Let me make it for you!!"

"No, no! Me! Me! I’m the one you are looking for!"

"Don’t listen to them! Pick me instead! Pick me!!"

...

Why are all of you so excited for this?!