Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

As the first shipload of refugees arrived to be sorted for job placement and homes within Creeping Darkness, the small team of workers was in a full panic. The androids were stationed to help everyone along and make sure they found their way to their new homes, but none of the Reavers had ever overseen such a large movement of people, and especially not one of strangers who didn't know their way around.

It was rather entertaining for Max to watch, and reminded him a lot of the first few missions that he had aboard Abraham Kepler. Back then, everyone was a stranger to him, and when they needed to get anything organized, there was always the question of who you should ask if your direct superior was not around.

Then, there was the fact that your direct superior was not the person to go to for most things, as they were assigned to the various department heads and sergeants, all of whom were strangers to a new platoon or Company leader that had been transferred in with no orientation.

That was basically the situation aboard Creeping Darkness right now. Nobody knew who was who, and nobody knew whom to ask if there was an issue, other than taking it to one of the Androids.

They were good at answering questions, though. They had endless patience, and a well-trained ability to explain things in the simplest terms, even if it did seem to come with the assumption that the confused questioner was of diminished mental capacity. Watching them work could put a smile on anyone's face, as long as you weren't the one being treated like a lost toddler after the fourth time you asked a different version of the same question.

The team had learned to trust the androids, and other than sending a few updates to sort out promising recruits, and making note of potential troublemakers, they let the androids do their jobs and kept to the assigned task of making sure that the top candidates weren't missed.

The first vessel would only be finishing its unloading process when the second arrived, with no time to waste between sending off the first vessel and welcoming the second. That was simply a matter of delays in getting the new arrivals moving, when they were more interested in stopping to look at everything, talk to the androids, take a little break twenty metres into their journey when they were provided with snacks and drinks, and so on.

"It's like herding cats." One of the Reavers noted as he watched the last of them leaving the cargo bay and prepared to go welcome the second vessel.

"While I've never met a cat, I will take your word for it." The Giant agreed.

"Oh, I love cats. We should get some for the ship. They also help deal with rodent infestations, though I've noticed that Reaver Ships have remarkably few of those. It's almost unnatural. Wherever there are people, there are always rodents." One of the Innu added.

There was no more time to reminisce as they moved to the second bay and welcomed them to the ship. With the practice that they had gained from the first load, this one was going much more smoothly, and Max watched in satisfaction as the ship was unloaded, and the crowd gently moved along to prevent the crowd from bunching up and blocking the flow as it had last time.

"Not bad. They're catching on quickly." Sylvie noted.

"They claimed that they had experience in their jobs, and it looks like that much is true. They're working well together, and they've learned to delegate and lead with a subtle hand, so that the new arrivals don't get agitated. I think they've earned their interim spots." Max agreed.

The fact that they were doing well allowed Max to focus more on the ship wide grand opening in a few days, which had been organized by Sylvie. The first batch of arrivals were just getting settled into their new homes, having a proper shower and a meal, but very few had read the details of the plans that had been laid out for them.

It was understood that everyone would be expected to contribute in some way, but having a job plan ready for them the moment that they arrived was an unusual development, and Max wasn't sure how well they were going to take it.

The reactions from the few who had read the notifications so far were mixed, with some being content and some disappointed in their initial assignments.

It was made clear that after a month, things could be shuffled, but shuffled meant that if someone went up, someone else must come down to fill that spot. It was a mixed bag for both the ones who wanted a better position and the ones who were a rank or two above them.

He would let them ride out this trepidation with only simple messages, and the competition for the top thousand official management spots to distract them. These were mostly still Reavers, so they would recognize that you needed the skills and experience to challenge for those jobs, and that they would have to make a name to get in on the promotions later.

It was much like forming a whole new company, since none of them were from the Terminus Trading Company to start with, but with all the androids around, there was no doubt about who was in charge here.

Sylvie caught Max's attention with an update. "Alright. Ship three is inbound, fifteen minutes early. Let's see how they do. All the cargo for the day is finished unloading, with only a few vessels left to load and ship out their orders. I have multiple requests to rent a dock in the long term, but I have paused those applications until our future course of action is determined. There is no point in renting out dock space if we're going to be leaving the system right away."

"Good work. Allocate yourself an additional two percent of the computing capacity for the day to use as you please. You've earned the rest." Max replied.

Sylvie would undoubtedly use it to chat with the other AI nearby, but with a less limited bandwidth, he knew that she would enjoy it, even if he couldn't read her thoughts.