Rae stepped into the elevator shaft with her usual mining group. They included Musa, a 47-year-old man with three children, Gideon, a 19-year-old kid that was serving time in the mines, Nyssa, a 32-year-old ex-peacekeeping officer, and Alec, a 35-year-old man, and the unofficial leader of their group. Musa's wife had died ten years ago after giving birth to triplets, leaving him with more children than he could handle or financially support with his former job as a security guard. He was a 6'2" tower of muscle and sinew with light brown skin and a clean shaven beard and head. His lack of hair highlighted his baby face, and directly contrasted his physique. He had been attracted to Calrod's unheard of pay rates and the promise of job security, so he decided to try his hand at mining. He didn't strike it rich like he had hoped but he made enough to support his family. Now that Obed was in charge, Musa wasn't sure how long he could stay. Gideon was a version of who Rae could have been. Gideon wasn't an orphan like Rae, but his mother could barely make a living as a washerwoman. He hadn't been able to find any jobs in the mines as the companies that would take him on usually demanded more than they gave back with increased risks and the higher ranked mining teams usually went for strong men and women, not ten-year-olds. So Gideon had taken to stealing and roaming the streets. Eventually, he had gotten caught pillaging the pockets of one of the wealthier families in the city of Berth and landed in jail. He was going to be imprisoned or sent to the government mines for five years, but Calrod had intervened. He had agreed to take on guardianship and responsibility for Gideon in exchange for ten years of service. The court agreed and Gideon joined Calrod's Company. When Rae joined, Gideon had only been there for a year and was 11 years old when Rae was six so the two of them had grown up together. Now, he was a scrawny kid with ebony dark skin and curly, brown hair that he kept at about six inches long. Gideon only had one year left of service when Calrod had died, but the past six months had felt longer than the previous nine years. For one, Calrod paid everyone on his team 1000 credits a month. Gideon only got 800 from Calrod since he was a convict but that was still infinitely better than what he would have gotten from the government mines, which was nothing. Calrod also paid 20 credits for each stone over thirty that a miner brought in (40 for high tier stones). For Gideon, the rate was 10 credits (20 for high tier stones). If a miner happened to find a supreme tier stone, they would get 50 percent of the profit. Mana stones sold at a fixed price of 30 to 50 credits per stone for low to mid-tier stones, and 100 credits for high-tier stones. Supreme-tier stones were rare and sold at astronomical values of 1000 credit per stone, so Calrod's rates were actually pretty fair. Obed simply paid a flat rate of 20 credits per stones - regardless of quality.
