Zeroth Directive

Archive II

[Engineering Operator Work Files] C02, Rhodes Island Bridge emergency maintenance; voluntarily participated in the project... C07, Engineering Department step drill set retrofit. Placement deviation can be brought to within 2cm, penetrable strata hardness increased by two, and overall efficiency increased by 30%. C12, Rhodes Island Secondary Cabin System retrofit. Four revisions were requested during the verification process of the construction blueprints. Already confirmed with Closure; determined feasible. ...... During their routine review of the construction logs, the Engineering Department discovered that although Cement is not stationed aboard Rhodes Island, she has already amended the work files roughly a dozen times. Regarding her skills in construction and maintenance techniques such as boring, tunneling, and laying concrete, a number of our senior operators unanimously provided the same evaluation: 'exceptional.' All year round, Cement toils away in mining and construction sites across Rim Billiton. Although she lacks systematic knowledge of engineering theory, her abundant on-field experience and skills in machine retrofitting allow her to accurately determine the feasibility of blueprints, as well as the particularities of rock formations and the durability of construction materials. In addition, any equipment that she retrofits can be used in more complicated and difficult construction environments with their functionality and accuracy assured. 'Drills, work shields, wind gauges, high precision tape measures... These tools are how we make a living. This is a tough line of work. We can only put food on the table if we have what it takes, and it's only by getting ourselves up to snuff that we finally gained a foothold in this business. Then, and only then, can we start talking about other things.' 'Noise? Hm, it is a huge problem. What can we do to reduce noise while improving efficiency? Mod headphones? That isn't really my forte...' Despite the fact that she has been confidently reassuring us and telling us to relax, Cement's face turns red—a rarely seen occurrence.

Archive III

'Shana's Construction Crew' is a small construction team with less than fifty employees, with its main revenue source being subcontract work from Rim Billiton PLC's large-scale construction projects. During negotiations, Cement often repeatedly emphasizes that the rights her workers deserve during construction must be reflected in the contract— Of course, she also likes to reiterate that they must retain the right to go over, adjust, or modify all blueprints; and that their supervisors must not be able to interfere with the construction process using vague excuses; and that all payments and other compensations must be made on time. Although these demands are nothing unusual, such a conscientious, self-assertive attitude is hardly favorable for an entrepreneur... However, the data we've collected show that Shana's Construction Crew has enjoyed decent business development in Rim Billiton. The reason, as Cement herself explains, is 'technique.' Their technique is what has allowed them to remain competitive. The construction crew has maintained a zero accident record since its formation, its projects have all exceeded acceptable standards upon inspection, and redoes have been extremely few and far between. In just a few short years, Shana's Construction Crew has quickly gone from a hotheaded no-name company to a highly-rated, reputable business contractor. Cement has revealed to us that Shana's Construction Crew is currently gradually expanding and attempting to branch out to other lines of business. They have started to take on projects other than mining and construction, such as prospecting and exploratory mining for foreign tech companies, exploratory boring in special environments such as icefields, and providing technological support to tunneling groups... While discussing our partnership's direction with Engineering, Cement even indiscreetly suggested to Closure that she would like Rhodes Island to pull some strings for her to head to Columbia for business exchange and further studies. 'What's Columbia's Great Expansion really like? How are Rim Billiton's workers different from workers elsewhere? 'No matter where we are and what it is we do, the work that us laborers put in is always meaningful.'

Archive IV

Any operator who has ever been around Cement has most likely heard her talk about her dreams: She wants Rim Billiton to become a place where there are no more mining accidents and where all workers can talk about their present and future with optimism. Cement comes from an average family of Rim Billitonian miners. Her father was a labor contractor who took on secondary construction projects, and as a kid, she followed him to and from the mines. There, she saw the workers gathered around a boiling pot underneath simple awnings, emptying bottles of Originium Slug beer one after another, their faces still covered in dirt. She saw her father skillfully mediate with safety officers over their nitpicky routine inspections at the bar next to the mineshafts. She saw her father screen a movie outside, for the workers who couldn't make it home for the New Year; a gunshot in the movie woke her up, but she went back to sleep after her father gave her a lolly. She saw the disaster caused by the strata structure's failure, and how her father was shortchanged during the compensation negotiations because the engineering crew comprised many Infected; unwilling to see the victims' next of kin fall to hard times, he used his own savings to foot their remunerations... Soon thereafter, the crew was dissolved for financial reasons. When asked why she didn't learn from her father's mistake and continued in this line of work, Cement did not give an explanation at all. Instead, she asked with confusion, 'Why not?' Of course, Cement isn't someone who is overly optimistic or stubborn. Once, a sudden rainstorm interrupted a tunneling project. While everyone else engaged in idle chit-chat at the portable shed, she instead calmly expressed her thoughts on the current situation— Most of Shana's Construction Crew's staff are young workers who had the technical expertise to begin with, and the remaining members are showing clear improvement under her urging and devoted tutorage. However, looking at the big picture in all of Rim Billiton, a country where the mining platforms' roars can be heard just about anywhere, most of those who work in the mines are lacking in talent. They may never get the chance to operate high-precision machinery and can only work in strenuous physical labor. Many of them may not even know how to read and write. All they can do is keep their heads down and travel to and from the mines day after day, perhaps never to leave again... 'I admit that it's too optimistic, maybe even naive, to count on our professional abilities keeping us indispensable to the mines' owners and safe from their bullying... 'There's nothing I can do to change the mineral resources underground or the politics aboveground, but I still have to do something. 'As long as there's still a tiny shred of possibility for change.'

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