I hated politics. I hated how much dirty money it involves. I hated how many innocent peoples’ lives it involved. I hated how it revolved around half-truths and whole lies. The only thing I never did hate about it is the fact it didn’t involve nor affect me.

Racism, cronyism, bullshit-ism. Rising costs of living, unstable racial harmony, unreliable education system, tranparent promises that only translate into opaque lies, contemptuous religious zealots and cruel selfish capitalists. The first time I heard of those terms, I never thought I could possibly have anything to do with it. I never thought tohse issues would actually bother me.

I hated politics back then, I hate it still. Perhaps now, I will just hate it even more, since it appears that I’ve gotten old enough, and aware enough that politics have now affected me and my life, as well as the lives of those related to me.

It seems the adults were right back then when they told me not to rush growing up. It’s ironic how you often realise your mistake when there’s no way to revert things the way they were.

I hate politics. And now, it seems as though everyone hates each other, too.

“I’ve isolated the power from the main injections unit. This sector should only receive enough power for life-support systems. Give me some juice, Bob.”

“Copy that, Chief.”

“Oh yeah. Tuck, can you bring the biometer here? I left it at the EVAM. Get over here when you’re done on that side too, Bob.”

“Roger. Hey, don’t forget to send power back to the tanks.”

Fortunately the life-support systems didn’t suffer much damage. Still, I couldn’t take the risk of breathing in here. Not until I’ve confirmed that everything’s normal. I could hear Tuck coming in from the chute. He’d be surprised to see this. Gravity has come back on. I took a few more steps to inspect the large chunks of crystal. The fine crystalline hairs crumbled to dust under each footstep. Just then, Tuck’s head popped out from the chute.

“Whew, I never thought I’d go up a garba-whoa,”

I knew it. The way his eyes went all glassy and the gaping mouth was so hilarious I had to bite my tongue just to get a grip. I asked Tuck to sample the air for toxicity. If it’s safe enough I would very much like to take off my helmet. I rested my hands on the shiny blue surface of one of the crystal spikes. A slight tingle ran through my fingers. I continued to inspect the blue obelisks with a piece of metal I found on the floor. Hmm, can’t scratch it with steel, that explains the major bursts, alright. The finer hairs probably crumbled under my weight. Geez, you’re not telling me to go on a no-meat diet are ya?

“Matter of fact, you could lose a bit of that fat.”

“Who said that?”

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I was relating to a friend how I’ve been getting myself in the deepest of shits throughout the past few weeks. I jokingly said I’d “drive off a cliff just to make myself feel better”. Suddenly he got all emo and concerned. Apparently, many years ago, a friend of his jumped off the Penang bridge because he couldn’t handle his problems.

Personally, I have a really bad impression on people who hurt and/or kill themselves because of their problems. No, they’re not pessimists. No, they’re not helpless either. They’re just cowards.

Yes, you heard me. You cowards.

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I had to do a zig-zag maneuver to get to the injector core. I really hate working when emergency protocols are running. All the flashing red lights and warning buzzers really put me on edge, I had to put my HUD on mute. Thankfully the communicator works on a separate module.

“Chief, do you read me?”

“I read you, Bob. What is it?”

“I just reached the Ion Drive’s main power channels. Ready to cut off juice on your mark.”

“Good, stay there on standby. Get the power readings from each channel. Take note of any abnormalities and get back to me if you get anything. Over and out.”

Hmm, nothing yet from Tuck. He must be getting there. I soon reached my destination, the Protoplasma Injection Chamber. I knew some of its old parts needed replacement, it’s just that this time, the brass decided to give the manufacturing contract to a new company on Mars. I have a feeling that it’s one of their bloody cronies. The last batch of parts came from a Swedish manufacturer, who has been our regular supplier for the past 3 years, so it was never hard for me to trust in the quality of their builds. This new company claims to give superior quality for a lower price.

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“Hand me that screwdriver, Tuck.” A hand, almost completely covered in black grease, reached up and passed me the tool, followed by a tired sigh.

“This should wrap up today’s run eh, Chief?” said Bob as he began to leave the condenser room with his toolbox. “Hey, don’t forget to reserve us a ride, will ya?” called out an exhausted Tuck. I tightened the last screw and pushed myself away from the huge protocondenser. Working in zero-gravity practically allows us mechanics to move and work with more freedom than a gravity-bound environment.

Condenser Core Block, done. Have to stress test the Protoplasma Injectors tomorrow, the pulse-control unit came from a different maker this time, I wonder how it holds, I quietly thought to myself as I ticked one item off my mental checklist.

“I really need a PDA, Tuck.”

“Can’t ya ask for a raise? Tell ‘em ya need one.”

“They’d give me a pen and stack of Post-Its. Cheap fucks that they are. That’s what Nakata got when he asked for a raise to get himself a laptop. Poor guy.”

“But does Nakata really *need* a laptop? I mean, he’s already got his own workstation unit.”

“Yeah, I know. I got him some parts for it a while back. The piece of junk is already like, what, 3 years old?”

“Haha.”

“And suddenly my tongue itches for some shrimp in cream sauce,”

“Oooh, that means…”

“Let’s have Italian today, Tuck.”

“Then to Pablo’s it is. I’ll let Bob know, he should have an EVAM and the suits ready for us,” said Tuck as he began tapping his text-message.

“Sweet.”

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