Finney Vol. 1 - Immutable Journey - Flipbook - Page 40
Finney followed Mr Shift back to the
Shift Tower complex. Approaching a
metal door near a loading dock, Mr
Shift nodded at an overhead surveillance
camera and the door was opened from
the inside by a uniformed security guard.
“Mr Shift,” said the guard. “Anything
special I can help you with today?”
“Just here for a tour, Bobby,” said Mr
Shift, pushing past his employee and
motioning for Finney to do the same.
“Uhh, it’s Carl, sir,” said the guard. “I’ll
get your guest a pass.”
Carl retrieved a lanyard from his desk
and handed it to Finney, who accepted
it with great reverence. “Thank you for
the wonderful gift,” said Finney.
“Just don’t lose it,” said Carl.
“Come on, my boy,” said Mr Shift. “Lots
to see and no time to waste.”
The first thing Finney noticed when they
passed through another door onto the
refinery floor was the heat. It was dry
and oppressive. The air smelled like
sulfur with a hint of petroleum. Finney felt
immediately uncomfortable, and undid
his shirt’s top buttons even though this
did little to cool him off.
“You see that?” said Mr Shift, pointing to
a series of benches piled high with gold
chains and other jewelry. “That’s some
of our raw material. We get the stuff by
the truckload, and turn it from trash into
treasure.”
“How do you do that?” asked Finney.
“Clean it, melt it, burn out the impurities,”
said Mr Shift. “The precious stones have
all been removed by the time we get the
stuff. Nothing to it, really.”
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“Do people trade you their jewelry for
crypto?” asked Finney.
“Sometimes,” said Mr Shift. “More and
more, yes, these days.”
Proceeding further into the refinery,
Finney saw large vats and overhead
walkways, with workers in special suits
performing tasks he didn’t understand.
“What’s that?” he asked, pausing to look
at plumes of flame jetting out from an
unfamiliar machine.
“Crucible furnace,” explained Mr Shift.
“See that container on the fire? That’s
called a crucible. This one’s for unrefined
raw material.”
“I see,” said Finney, not really getting it.
“We get melt from crucibles like this,
then we further refine this with heat and
chemicals,” said Mr Shift. “See that
coating on the top of this crucible? That’s
called slag. It’s garbage. Our whole job
here is to separate the garbage from the
gold. I like to think of it as a metaphor
for Shift City. This city is built on the gold
we separate from the garbage in this
facility.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Finney.
“My home planet is mostly made of
gold. We don’t need to refine it. It’s
everywhere. In the land. In the people. It
must be sad to live in a place where gold
isn’t everywhere. When I first came to
your tower, I had to give my little finger
to a box outside your door. Did someone
here melt my finger in a crucible?”
“Very clever,” said Mr Shift, who was
never stingy with compliments when he
was after something. “Your golden finger
wouldn’t have ended up right here. This
area is for alloys with more impurities.
Follow me. I’ll take you to where the
FINNEY VOLUME ONE - IMMUTABLE JOURNEY