Items on the trash planet inherently possessed a low but high durability.
It was a contradictory remark that seems to make no sense on the surface but made lots more sense underneath.
The high durability could be explained through the development of industrialization raising the standards of their products but the main reason is one thing and one thing only.
If it survives falling from stratospheric heights then it could probably survive whatever else this trash planet could throw at them.
But great durability is one thing and staying intact is another.
As it falls from stratospheric heights, there inevitably had to be some amount of damage.
A rough estimate of the damage would put the things that fall from the Dumpers at roughly 30% to 50% intactness.
The reason for such a low percentage is that any lower and it wouldn't have been able to survive the fall while any higher and it would be to expensive to throw away onto a trash planet.
Of course there was the rare exception to the rule, but those rare exceptions weren't exactly in the room with us were they?
And since most things weren't able to exactly function at 50% capacity, things had to be cobbled together to work.
And again, since the trash planet suffered from the disease of trash falling onto their heads everyday, its industrialization standards weren't exactly high.
And since they weren't high, lots of problems could arise if it was just poked funny.
In this case, the poke came from a rocket capable of shoving a planet off of its orbit.
"Ack"
Flinching as his hand touched an exposed wire, Ester pulled out the rapidly diminishing roll of electrical tape and gingerly wrapped it around the exposed multicolored end forged from countless other wires.
Wrapping the tape around the wire with as little waste as possible, Ester continued his task of wrapping the modified faraday's cage around the Aethertech system before another Electroaethermagnetic storm could fuck up the wiring some more.
A layman in the field might ask why the internal Aethertech wiring had to be coated with a modified Faraday's cage mesh when an insulator should work just fine to block out the effects of the electroaethermagnetic storm generated by Project Void Buffer.
The reason is simple.
An insulator like rubber can block electric currents simply enough, but its unable to affect electroaethermagnetic fields that would just bypass it and slag up the internal wiring, frying the systems and causing the Driller to jolt this way and that.
A Faraday's cage would be able to intercept the field, shunting the energy away to its outsides, away from its contents, in the end protecting it.
As for why he had to modify it?
There were two explanations for it, one short and one long but both could be summed up in one sentence.
Short explanation: Lack of material.
Long Explanation: Lack of a singular type of conductive material.
His modifications weren't on the level of top of the line factory made stuff, but considering the place that they were in, it might as well be as it got the job done effectively.
Finally freed from the back breaking torment in the belly of the Driller, Ester grunted with aches in his back as he pulled himself up
Taking off the goggles protecting his eyes from any stray sparks, Ester worked out the cricks in his neck while glancing at Eva curled up onto her spinny chair.
It was quiet now since the Engine had to idle while he worked on lining the wires with Faraday's cage.
As much as he liked a good thrill now and then like any living mortal with thoughts and desires, the requirements for such thrills involved his survival.
Something that couldn't be confirmed if he was tossed and turned within the belly of the Driller while it spun out of control right next to exposed wires and sharp nails liable to give him tetanus.
Shaking his head, Ester grabbed a relatively clean shirt and wiped down the dust on his body, slowly approaching his woman while observing her face.
Eyes closed and body still, if it weren't for the fact that her barely discernable chest rose and fell with every breath underneath her thick clothes, Ester would've thought her dead with how still she stayed whilst asleep.
'If she kept her mouth as still as she is now, she might have been a stellar beauty.'
Feeling sad at how the architects sought to balance things by giving Eva a foul mouth that matched her beauty, Ester let out a quiet sigh once he confirmed that Eva wouldn't be waking any time soon.
And considering that 'any time soon' involved the long period of time spent wrestling against the storm trying to crash them into the planet's plethora of brand new valleys as if eager to show them off, then it would be quite some time before she woke up.
So for the time being...
'It's now just me, myself and I talking like I have several intangible beings reading my every thought.'
'...'
'I should probably do something.'
Ester's eyes slowly roamed the insides of the driller, eventually landing on the screens revealing a sky of ash stained clouds slowly being encroached by rust red colored ones raining down similarly colored rain.
'Preparing for the Rust rain is as good as a use of time as any.'
---
Weather on the trash planet was far from predictable.
One moment you may stare at the sky and see it light up with golden tears from the star bugs spending their last moments below the clouds, the next it may be a green storm of acid eating away at everything it touched.
But just because it was far from predictable didn't mean that it was a brand new weather event that occurred every time they looked away.
And in particular, Ester was familiar with the rust rain.
Staring at the red colored liquid falling from the skies, Ester tightened the ropes running over the top of the driller, making damn sure that the plastic wouldn't suddenly flip away, allowing the rain to come in contact with the metal underneath.
The Rust Rain was as its name suggested, rain that caused rusting.
Touched with some sort of extremely effective oxidizing agent, the rain took on a red hue due to it instantly oxidizing all of the iron in the water as it fell.
And when that rain splattered against metal of any kind, it instantly showed signs of rusting as if time had sped up for that particular section only.
It was a nightmare for Body Modders that relied heavily on Rune Tech limbs and a nuisance for scavengers aiming for a quick buck.
And if he recalled, it was also the most valuable time for a scavenger as underground cities would desperately search for any non-rusted pieces of metal that could be used for whatever they liked.
Recalling his memories of that particular memory of when he was caught in the rust rain, it was when he was still but a young boy struggling to survive in one of the many abandoned cityscapes left behind by the natives that once lived in this place before it was covered in all this trash.
Twelve years was enough for cities to be buried, but it wasn't enough time to bury the memories made in that city.
---
It was cold.
That much the five year old boy could tell as he blankly stared at the red rain falling down from the sky.
The temperature seemed to have been dropping as of late, and the rust rain wasn't helping things as it filled the air with rust that irritated the lungs and was more than liable to induce tetanus.
The boy coughed, his vision swimming as he nearly stumbled right into the rust rain.
And to think he had just gathered all the things that the addict wanted in exchange for fever and cold medicine when the Rust rain began.
If he didn't exchange for the medicine, the boy was liable to just collapse where he stood.
Then his ears perked up at the sound of someone slowly approaching.
Hurriedly hiding underneath the closest thing that he saw, a hooded figure slowly walked forwards, a large collector frame on their back, the myriad of metallic arms twitching as they jolted with every step the hooded figure took.
When the boy saw those arms, the only things he thought were about how many meals those arms would be able to get him.
Then the man stopped in place as they looked around.
"There's no use in hiding." The hooded figure said quietly, their voice coming out muffled but with an invisible weight that seemed to press down at the shoulders, it was no doubt male. "I know where you are."
The hooded figure turned to look at the boy, letting the boy get a glimpse of the grey hair falling down the sides of his head.
"Come out."
Flinching at the voice, the boy stayed in place.
What if it was a trap? Such thoughts rang in the boys head.
"It's not a trap kid, I could shoot you from where I stand, why would I make a trap that's so time consuming?"
The content of his words seemed condescending at first glance, but it was comforting in a strange way. Enough that it convinced the boy to follow the man's words.
Hesitantly standing up and leaving his hiding place after a few more moments, now that he was standing up, the boy could tell that they were very tall.
The man stared at the boy with an inscrutable gaze before getting down to his knees so that they were both at the boys eye level.
"Do you want to come with me?"
The boy tilted his head in confusion.
The hooded man ignored his confusion as he continued to speak.
"I'm just asking a simple question, do you want to come with me? I have medicine and food."
The boy tilted his head as if to ask what the price was.
The hooded man nodded his head.
"A smart cookie, would you come with me if I told you that I was collecting those destined to make a change?"
The boy shook his head.
"Thought so." The hooded man paused for a moment before removing their hood and revealing their aged face marked with several lines. "Well what if I told you that I wanted someone to take on my teachings? Would you come with me then?"
That face seemed to be at an age where it wouldn't be strange for him to keel over and die the next moment he breathed.
Updating the name of the hooded man to the old man in his mind, the boy slowly nodded his head as he understood the price he needed to pay.
"Good." The old man stretched out his hand.
The boy tilted his head in confusion.
Seeing the confusion on the boy's face, the old man explained.
"Well kid, from where I'm from, it's customary to shake hands when concluding a deal. So lets shake on it."
Staring at him, the boy slowly took the old man's outstretched hand.
"What is your name boy?"
The boy lowered his head and pondered about what the old man meant by that.
"Don't have one huh?" The old man slowly began to lead the boy out of the ruined building, the collector arms holding up two large umbrellas that blocked all of the rust rain falling over the old man and the boy.
Calling them umbrella's might've been insulting considering they were nothing more than two plastic tarps strapped across metal frames placed onto sticks, but wasn't that what all umbrella's were anyways?
At least that was how the old man always said it.
The old man adjusted his respirator with a free hand before speaking.
"How about Ester it means Star in Ebrew"
The boy- No, Ester nodded his head, he didn't have any particular feelings to the name.
"That works for you?" The old man ruffled Ester's head. "Good."
Ester hurriedly tried to remove his hand as the old man grunted in a way that it could be interpreted as a laugh.
"Oh yeah, you're not the first kid that I brought in Ester so get ready to be welcomed into the !&#*($ family"
---
[Ester]
Blinking as he was pulled away from the cameras depicting a world of raining red, he was forced to pay attention to the woman who had woken up at some point in time.
"Yeah?"
[Are you good?]
"Why wouldn't I be?"
[Great, then you don't mind if I divert everything to emergency mode?]
"...Did we run out?"
[If running out involves it reaching 3% then yes.]
"...Use the modified Gravitator, it seems we need to go on a Rift Run ahead of schedule."
---
11 DAYS SINCE PROJECT VOID BUFFER WAS EXECUTED
+++
I sleep
Tree
[Rewrite at the final 3% of battery!]