"I suppose we could find work for you two in another Factory," Arnelle admitted. "But there're so many other things you could do! Are you sure you want to go back to a Factory?"
"That is what I enjoy doing, ma'am," Ryff replied in a steely voice. "Someone has to keep those filthy Workers in their place."
Arnelle nodded. "Of course. Lord knows what they would do if they weren't! If that's your calling in life, it is certainly a noble one."
Lena wished she could have pointed out that Arnelle was, at that moment, speaking to two of those filthy Workers, but that would probably have meant death, so she simply smiled and nodded. "I have some training in the mechanics of the Breeding Rooms, so I may try to find work there."
"It is certainly an interesting process they devised," Arnelle agreed. "So efficient! Imagine how much time it would take if they let them produce naturally! Why, they'd be up to their necks in little Workers in a day!"
Efficient, Lena decided, was an ugly word sometimes. "My mother was involved in research to speed up the growth process so that the nursery stage could be shortened, and I think I will continue her work."
Arnelle beamed. "Well good for you! We need bright minds like yours working on that, Trian. Do come by every now and then to tell me how your research is coming!"
Lena flashed possibly the fakest smile in her entire life. "Whenever I have a free moment to spare," she assured the doctor. "As long as I have a gun with me," she added under her breath.
They were taken by car to the nearest factory. Both Lena and Ryff had been told about the wonders of the upper class world outside the factory but they'd never seen it in person. Because they were pretending to be upper class and would have known about these things, they had to pretend not to notice the amazing world around them. Nonetheless, Lena found herself gawking at many ordinary things and earned herself many sideways looks from their driver.
The factory they were taken to had the same dismal, industrial look to it though it was built differntly. It consisted of one center building with four buildings at each point, connected to the main building by glass covered walkways. Squinting, Ryff could make out the outlines of Workers in chains stumbling through some of the lower walkways while what had to have been upper class strutted through the upper ones.
"Amazing isn't it?" the driver asked them, as much in awe of the monster as they were. "Biggest factory in the world, it is, and responsible for half the economy. If this one were to go up in flames like Sherman's (meaning the one Ryff and Lena had been Workers at), well, we'd be in for it then."
Ryff's old smile slowly crept across his face. "Perfect," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lena to hear. "Thanks for driving us, sir. Can I pay you for your troubles?"
The driver's eyes lit up. "Why, of course!" His eyes bulged from his face as Ryff produced a thousand unit bill and handed it to him. All the families of those killed in the Sherman Factory Fire had recieved huge sums of money from the owner of all the factories to keep them quiet, and both Ryff and Lena had recieved double that. A thousand units was barely a dent in their wealth.
The car sped away, leaving Ryff and Lena with nothing to do but walk up the greenery lined walk and into the deceptively well-decorated lobby of the factory.
"How can I help you two?" a stern looking woman asked from behind a marble desk.
"We're here to inquire about jobs," Lena replied in the most businesslike voice she could manage. "It was arranged a week ago, I believe. The position of overseer for my friend Ren here and a job doing research in the labs for myself, Trian."
The woman eyed them skeptically but nodded and typed something on a keyboard. She paused, eyed the screen, and then nodded. "Yes, it was. Ren, report to officer Kiron in the north building," she instructed him and handed him a map. "Trian, report to the labs, which is located in the east building," she told Lena, and handed her a map.
The factory, for its intimidating appearance, was amazingly easy to navigate. Both Ryff and Lena found their ways without getting too lost and then managed to find their ways back to the spacious room they were to share.
"A man and a woman can't come in for work at the same time without people thinking they're a couple," Ryff complained as he climbed into bed, rolling as far away from Lena's end as possible.
"Arnelle's work, probably," Lena sighed and yanked the much too small blanket towards her side of the bed. "Stop hogging it, would you?"
Ryff purposefully yanked the blanket towards him. "I am not hogging it! Barely three weeks ago, you would have had a blanket four times smaller!"
"But I wasn't sharing it with somebody five times bigger!" Lena growled and gave the blanket a forceful tug, making Ryff lose his grip and roll out of the bed.
Ryff calmly got up, walked around to her side of the bed, and yanked the blanket off of Lena, making her roll onto the floor. "Good night," he sang sweetly and began walking back to his side of the bed.
Lena, not about to let him get away with the blanket, launched herself at his back, knocking him to the ground while making a grab for the blanket he held in his arms.
Some unfortunate maid, making her nightly rounds, chose that moment to open the door to see if they needed anything. Her mouth opened, her eyes widened, and she gave a suprised little squeak. "I'm sorry... terribly sorry... really... just... just..." she fled, leaving the door swinging and Lena and Ryff tangled up in the blanket on the floor.
"That probably didn't look too good," Lena remarked as she tried to untangle her arms from the blanket and willed her rebellious cheeks to stop blushing.
"You don't think she thought..." Ryff asked as he threw a shoe at the door to close it and then turned back to the task of untangling himself.
"Mmm hmm," Lena replied with a giggle. "Poor thing got a bit more than she bargained for."
Ryff managed a nervous chuckle. "I guess that's the upper class world for you."
"So classy," Lena drawled. "I doubt she'd come back if we asked for an extra blanket."
The blanket, however, was in no shape to be of use to anyone anymore, so the bed was stripped of its sheets, far too many for one bed anyway in Lena's mind, and Ryff and Lena spent their first night as upper class curled up in sheets on opposite sides of the huge bed.
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