VIII #7
Finally, Nick stopped at the metal door at the top, studied for a moment the large metal wheel in the middle of the door, then grabbed it and turned it clockwise.
Two clicks in the door and it opened quietly on its still-well-greased hinges.
Some light came in through the window from outside, so Nick looked to the side for something resembling a switch, wondering along the way whether this tower even had power.
He found the switch, pressed it, and the room filled with blinding light from long neon tubes set in the room's ceiling.
Nick went in and skirted the table in the middle of the room, then approached the window, in front of which was a console with a mass of switches.
He noticed people on the left side coming out of the shelter and exploring.
He noticed Erik pointing something toward the distant security booth and saying something to Tomi, who lazily sat on the landing of the shelter entrance.
Nick studied the console and the switches on it.
Under a row of red switches it clearly read "LIGHTING," and he began switching them on.
With each switch turned on, tactically placed thick floodlights lit up, and the whole space in front of the shelter entrance found itself bathed in light that drove the ghosts of darkness somewhere far behind the security booth.
Nick now studied the other switches, but it was clear they turned on the large stone crushers, so for now he left them alone.
The only other one he turned on was the switch under which it read "GARAGE."
He wondered where and what that garage was for, but the space was still insufficiently explored, so they could easily have overlooked it.
He looked out the window and noticed Erik looking in his direction.
He casually waved to his friend, letting him know everything was all right.
Erik waved back and entered the shelter on some business of his own.
Nick heard footsteps on the staircase, and soon Tomi appeared, who sniffed around the room with interest.
But he was soon disappointed, because apart from a few cabinets of files, a comfortable chair and a small table in the middle of the room, a set-down yellow helmet and a work uniform on a hanger by the entrance door, there was nothing more.
Nick took a few files out of the cabinet and began leafing through the pages. Soon he spoke up.
"Do you understand any of this?" He held the papers out to his friend.
Tomi took what was offered and briefly studied the densely printed lines of letters and numbers.
Finally he spoke up: "Looks like some kind of geological survey." He pointed at some numbers with his finger. "Look, here it says Fe and some numbers, below is C and so on. As far as I remember from chemistry, those are the symbols from the periodic table of elements."
"Hmm… Then Nika could help us with that. It seems important." Nick was thinking.
Tomi just snorted in confirmation and returned the papers to his friend, who immediately stowed them in the pack he wore on his belt. Tomi approached the window and let out a quiet, impressed whistle.
"You can see everything. Like it's day."
Nick joined him and confirmed: "Yes, the view from here is too good. This was a hundred percent the works supervisor's spot."
They watched the now-clearly-lit platform for a few more minutes. Finally Nick spoke up:
"Imagine how many workers must have been here."
"Uh-huh." Tomi nodded briefly.
"Dozens — no, hundreds."
"Uh-huh."
"And they made all of this without anyone knowing?" Nick stated.
"The advantages of communism," Tomi replied shortly.
"What do you mean?" Nick looked at his friend.
"Well, when everything you say is controlled and every wrong word can land you in prison, then you don't ask unnecessary questions during a project you're employed on," Tomi explained shortly.
"Imagine today's situation and a project like this," Nick said pensively.
"Hah. The planning alone would be sold to the lowest bidder." Tomi laughed.
"And bad materials imported from China would be used," Nick added, then laughed.
"And everything would break an hour after the warranty ran out."
Now they were both laughing. But, though sincere, it was a sad laugh.
Capitalism definitely had its advantages, but it also had enormous flaws.
The whole project would be handed to the cheapest contractor, who would again use the cheapest materials and machines that wouldn't last even until the end of construction, but would systematically break down and cause additional financial problems for the planners,
and the job would drag on endlessly.
The practice was so entrenched that even a very simple project could exceed two or three deadlines and, worst of all, everyone had completely logical explanations.
The whole system of milking money from investors had advanced so far that even the investors entered projects knowing the projected sum for construction would in the end be three times higher.
And cases weren't rare when a finished project had to be shut down because of a fatal error during construction or the use of very poor-quality materials.
Then everything would be sealed and put before overloaded courts, where such cases would in all likelihood reach the statute of limitations after fifteen or so years of dragging through the courts and legal tangles designed precisely to drag such cases out in court to raise litigation costs.
Capitalism brought greed, financial vampirism, poor quality and, if you had a corrupt judiciary, a complete inability to obtain legal protection from all of the above.
Nick had many a time organized some of the best parties at wild locations that had stalled in construction because of one problem or another.
The best part was that there was never a shortage of themes for such parties.
In a half-finished garage he'd organized an illegal auto show of souped-up vehicles.
A never-built hospital on the west side of the city was a regular venue for parties under gas masks with an apocalyptic theme, or color-and-graffiti parties with the mass spraying of biodegradable paint over the dancing mass,
after which people looked like living pieces of art created by the psychedelic hallucinations of an artist on LSD.
There was never a shortage of locations, and people could party almost daily.
You just had to organize, arrange the place and time, and mention the location and date to certain people.
Then an idea occurred to him. He knew the people in the shelter worked hard in long shifts.
He knew everything was predestined to their survival and advancement as a society.
He knew work was underway on the shelter's legal structure and the laws all individuals would have to respect if they wanted to survive as a social whole.
But the constraints of exhausting work can lead to problems, and people need some kind of release and rest from constant rules and work.
So he decided he'd organize a party, and this platform looked like an excellent place for it.
Nick brightened and began looking around the location with newly grown curiosity.
On those columns he could set up additional lighting, the bar would go right by those metal pipes, and the little room where he now stood could quite easily be repurposed as a DJ spot, from where a loud sound system would carry wild beats to the dancing mass of people on the platform.
He grew completely interested in the idea and, planning, didn't even notice that Tomi had left the tower and entered the shelter, led by some business of his own.