Book 2: Living free from Jupiter's law - Rising from the ashes of Herbay

Cal's replacement

Cal packed up his few belongings and left Lord Mink's house a few days later. He could have chosen to live together with Reinold in one of the rooms at the back of the office or move into a nearby apartment - after all, the settlement his former employer left him was more than enough to buy a respectable one - but he decided to return to his old quarters in the underground shelter. In any case, he would use it almost only for sleeping, since he would spend most of his hours at work.

It took him some time to adjust to his new role. Cal was very good at working alone, but he wasn't used to collaborating with a team. Katze left him in charge of the entire IT department so that he could focus on other tasks such as cultivating public relations, inspecting factories while optimizing their performance, keeping old customers stable, and acquiring new ones.

Cal's shy and unwilling to socialize character, however, was initially a problem. His natural predisposition for computer codes, incomprehensible to most, sometimes led him to be individualist, not to share information, to belittle the opinions of others, and to isolate himself. What made him most uncomfortable was Reinold's presence. He really couldn't understand why Katze would hire an ignorant, clueless, and inexperienced former pet. It annoyed him to have him around and he mostly tended to ignore him.

What Cal hadn't yet realized was that nothing was left to chance. Each of the team members had a well-defined task.

Cal and Katze ran the illicit black market business, that is, smuggling and illegal trade. The first did it behind a screen and the second by putting his face on it. Their role was the most lucrative and economically profitable, fueling all other projects.

Daniel was responsible for socially useful operations, with a focus on the ex-furniture and ex-pet social reintegration program and the rebuilding of Ceres. For the latter, he relied on the close cooperation of Guy and other slum residents.

Reinold was tasked with making sure that Cal, Katze, and Daniel didn't have to worry about everything else. He sorted phone calls, opened and closed the door, ran small errands, kept the place tidy, made sure the refrigerator was always stocked, prepared simple meals, and generally tried to be always helpful.

Due to his lack of experience and the fact that he had never received any kind of education, even activities that were simple to others appeared to him as mountains to climb. Reinold, however, was willing and quite bright. After making countless mistakes, he learned to balance work with study and to perform simple practical tasks such as driving, finding his way around Midas neighborhoods, and shopping.

Cal's arrival initially destabilized the balance of the team. It's no exaggeration to say that it was thanks to Daniel that they managed to overcome that critical moment. Although they were both former servants of Eos, in fact, the two eunuchs were very different from each other. Their paths had been opposite. Daniel hadn't served in a Blondie's house. He hadn't known comfort. For Type-A furnitures to even try to imagine what it meant to be a Type-D one was impossible.

Type-A furnitures received constant stimulation to perform at their best, their ingenuity skills were encouraged, and the physical effort required was minimal since the homes of the Elites were equipped with appliances that did most of the work.

For type-D furnitures, on the other hand, intelligence was perfectly irrelevant, since every day they had to roll up their sleeves, endure fatigue and exhaustion, and show humility. Their gifts of ingenuity were denigrated and suppressed. To survive by Eos standards, eunuchs at the bottom of the social pyramid had to become or pretend to be stupid.

Such a painful adolescence would have made anyone a gloomy and lonely person, but Daniel was the exact opposite. He was cheerful, jovial, optimistic, and calm. He put aside pride and personal advantage in favor of the common good. He didn't point fingers at others and found practical and efficient solutions to every problem with a smile on his face. He was sincere, got along with everyone, and always gave good advice. He observed the world from an unbiased perspective and put the whole team in a good mood. He was a ray of sunshine that brightened everyone around him.