Rauphiel Wakes Up

As a Data Technician, Rauphiel ranks above the recyclers and pipe crews. His pay tier earns him first ration selection and a private four-meter capsule mid-station. A luxury by slum node standards.

He knows exactly how he got here.

But with medical foam injected into his mouth and coming out of his nose, he's not able to call out for the attendant. But he notices a patient call button within reach, attached to the rail of his medical bed.

Rauphiel reaches out with a limp hand and activates the call button.

He'll be fine for a while. But the foam only has so much oxygen before it needs to be renewed. The attendants are chronically overworked. If their client scores drop, they get placed at the end of the labor queue... Rauphiel doesn't know how long he has lain there. He hopes his attendant stays on schedule.

Hours pass as he lays in his subdued state. He can feel the walls around him closing in. "Can I breathe? I don't think I can breathe."

His muscles relax when a dainty woman in grey scrubs appears. She carries a medical tablet and a utility belt of life-saving gadgets and sensors. She looks like the days have taken a lot from her. With her dark brown, almost black hair pulled into a functional ponytail, Rauphiel can see beads of sweat forming at her hairline.

She walks up to Rauphiel while looking down at the pad in her hands. "You fell while performing maintenance on the Data Tube in Ag Sec."

The Data Tube is a massive vertical maintenance shaft stretching the full height of the node, packed with access ports, relay hubs, and bundled conduits. Just one tube in the vast series of tubes responsible for the economy, life support, and their future.

"Just a concussion and blood loss. You can't be so careless when performing your duties."

Rauphiel rolls his eyes back, thinking to himself, "I know how this happened. The damn 'safety' bar snapped off of the wall I was strapped to. How long was I bleeding at the bottom of that tube?"

The woman continues, "This has been logged and reported."

She aggressively hits the 'report' icon on the medical pad.

Then she quickly pulls an inverted inhaler-like device from her side, positions it in front of Rauphiel's face, squeezes the plunger, and just as quickly holsters it again. The mist is attracted to the medical foam, and as it makes contact, the foam sublimates into a harmless oxygenated gas. It happens in nearly an instant. But in that time, the woman turns from Rauphiel and exits the pod.

-----

The lights in the pod flip to a strobing red.

A flickering wall display states, "Exam complete. Decontamination in 5 minutes."

Rauphiel swings his legs over the side of the bed, testing his voice as he easily gains footing with the toes of his bare feet getting caught on the grated floor.

He changes out of the paper gown he doesn't remember putting on, and into the blood-stained uniform he most definitely does remember wearing.
Crusted blood flakes off his shirt as he stretches it out.

"Decontamination in 4 minutes."

Looking around the small bay, Rauphiel can see that the only things here are his personal belongings and the bolted-down medical equipment that saved his life.

"Decontamination in 3 minutes."

With his head still throbbing, Rauphiel is able to exit the bay. 
As soon as he steps out, the door's vault-like bolts slide into place, locking it for decontamination.

An automatic voice says in an infantilizing tone, "We're sorry you weren't feeling well. Please rate your attendant :-) :-("

Rauphiel turns to the input screen. He thinks about the woman who reported his fall to Station Health and Safety. That was the demerit that will trigger his termination from Data Tech. He's going to have to give up his apartment in the mid-level and find an empty cubby in the lower housing blocks.

He mutters, "Well... I am alive... Shouldn't blame her..."

Pressing down on the :-) icon, he wishes for just a second that she was slow enough for the medical foam to deplete and suffocate him.