Arnold's eyes shot open as he awoke, slumped over in his first-class seat. His head ached like someone had beaten him without mercy, and his eyes mourned the darkness of sleep. Even in his not so modest accommodations, (sponsored by his now voided company credit-chip,) spaceflight still ripped through his very essence and nearly tore him to shreds.
Arnold was finally here, "Tsiolkovsky Station". Some nowhere station in the middle of nowhere space. The Mining Authority needed a new Foreman here, so instead of sending a capable veteran of actual mining...they sent a glorified businessman. Arnold was not pleased when he got the news.
Arnold collected himself from his seat and grabbing his suitcase and his arm, (damn stewardess made him put it in the overhead bin because "it could be a distraction to other passengers"). He was one of the first to exit the shuttle, a much better deal then sitting all the way back in Economy-Class waiting half an hour.
The station itself wasn't as horrible as he expected, but he wholly felt overdressed as he passed miners and space-folk alike. As he walked, Arnold popped in his prosthetic like he was slipping on a large metal glove. The device latched onto his arm and twitched into life, flexing every servo and joint to make sure nothing was damaged in the flight. He cracked his knuckles loudly as he joined his two hands together, ready to deal with whatever came his way.
Arnold stepped up to Bay One, hoping to learn how he could retrieve his things. He swiftly learned that he need to go to Bay Six by a fifty-year old cow of a woman and that he need to talk to the "MA representative." He sighed, pushing of the woman's desk and walked all the way over to Bay Six were a younger sweaty gentleman sat staring into his terminal monitor.
"Excuse me," Arnold greeted with the voice of an executive, "I'm from the Mining Authority and I'm trying to get ahold of my things. I've been transferred from Mars." The kid's eyes bolted up to Arnold, red with blood and cloudy with exhaustion.
"Oh thank god you're here!," the rep comment as he wiped sweat of his forehead. "I've had different managers and people off-station contacting me all day making sure you got here on time. I've never been this worry about my job in my life! When do you get here?" Arnold looked around, puzzled by the reps crazed behavior and held back a mild chuckle.
"Look, I just got here..."
"Good! Good, ok. Look here's a key for a room at the Asimov. Not the best place on the station but it's cheap. Your apartment is undergoing sanitation right now after the...uh...loss of the former Foreman. Your first day is tomorrow, seven A.M. station time."
"I'm taking the guy's place too?"
"Yes! What are you stupid?" The kid's eyes grew wide, realizing what he had just said. "Sorry, sorry! Too much pressure for one day. So sorry!"
Arnold took the key and raised his hands up, throwing an uneasy smile as he backed away from the rep. "It's fine kid," he lied as he backed away more and headed towards the Civilian Deck. Goddamn freakshow, he thought to himself.
After a short lift ride to the Promenade, Arnold was on his way to the Asimov. The walk there was nice, with a fountain that almost looked like a cheap knock-off of the one back in Eos Central and some clocks that displayed the time to places no one probably cared about. A gentle mix of humans and varied alien-folk made up the majority of the people ahead of him, either giving him a strangle look for wearing a nice designer suit or his obviously mechanical arm. People preached unbiased respect for all, but put a guy with a robot arm in the room and people gets jumpy. At the moment the only thing Arnold wanted most was something so strong and vile that he'd forget the last forty-eight hours. That or some coffee. Maybe both?
The entrance of the Asimov just smelt old fashion, designed to look like the type of place grandfather's grandfathers drank at and played pool. Too no ones surprise, it had an actual pool table. Along with that, a godforsaken jukebox sat in the corner pristine like they day it was manufactured. Arnold snickered to himself, amazed at the ends people would go for a classics vibe on a space station thousands of lightyears away from Sol. He took a seat up the the bar, dropped his newly acquired key and a wad of Terran currency. His tab for the night.
He looked around and noticed the mustachioed barkeep, a reptilian Jekult, some other guy with an empty beer, and a cute red-head. Arnold would probably send her a drink later if she wasn't preoccupied. Nice to see that this station wouldn't just be a sausage-fest of miners.