Henry sat in the Timmin's Diner talking to Louis about his trip to the orphanage.
"Damn Hank, these girls must be somethin' special for you to be layin' down ten thousand big ones on em!"
Henry stared blanky at the counter. "They're orphans Louis, they only have each other as family and I don't care if I have to move mountains, I'm getting that money and I'm going to adopt both of them."
Louis chuckled. "Well it's seems like you got your mind set, more power to ya brother."
Henry nodded appreciatively. "They deserve a good life. They deserve a family." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Fifteen minutes to working hour, I'll catch ya later Louis, thanks for another great breakfast." He finished his pancakes, slapped some bills on the counter and made his way to the door.
The bathysphere ride was long and boring. Henry had gotten used to beeing underwater and looking out to see the massive buildings that made up Rapture. Most of the time he never got to stay and enjoy the scenery. He was always preoccupied with his work. Always working. Every year the work hours increased, and every year his salary decreased. Many small businesses were converting over to Ryan Industries, most people didn't mind losing ownership of their business. As long as they got a good cut of the income they usually kept their mouths shut.
"Ryan isn't just a big player in the industrial market, he's become the fucking King of Industry." Henry thought angrily. "All he had to do was just persuade a couple idiots with money and boom he's got Rapture in the palm of his hand. C'mon Hank, pull yourself together, things may look down in the dumps but these things straighten out sooner or later right?" Henry wasn't so sure he even believed himself but it was all he could do for now. The bathysphere rose up into the station of Hephaestus. The doors slid open and the workers poured out one by one. Henry walked through the doors of Hephaestus and punched in. While he walked to his station he returned nods and greetings from his fellow engineers and electricians. Over the three years Henry had done a phenominal job keeping Hephaestus in peak condition as well as efficient and smart ways of improving the technology of Rapture. Kyburz even promoted him to Chief Engineer of Hephaestus. Henry had his own crew that he worked with but had done many jobs around Rapture with almost everyone from Hephaestus. Henry walked into his office. It was big compared to some of the other rooms in Hephaestus. As Henry walked over to his desk the sound of his steel-toed boots on the hard wood floor echoed. He opened up the top drawer on his desk taking out an old leather toolbelt and several tools along with it. He fastened the belt to his waist and slipped each tool into the proper holster. Finally, Henry reached for his two way radio. Ryan utilized Henry's invention in almost all the industrial work houses of Rapture. It was a terrific way to communicate and cheap to make. Henry stared at the radio for sometime. He thought of his past life on the surface. "Sometimes I miss that old house." he thought. The office doors slid open. A man walked in with a big smile on his face. "Hey Chief, good morning!" he said cheerfully.
Henry looked up at the man and smiled. "Morning Pablo, you seem happy today. What's the occasion?"
Pablo chuckled at the remark. "What, a man can't be happy on a day like today!?"
Henry shrugged. " Seems just like any other day to me. Are they giving us a raise?"
Pablo snorted. "Don't be a smart ass Hank, you know that ain't ever gonna happen. But I got news from Kyburz. He said if we fixed up the coolant tanks over in the main pipe junction we could get an early leave!"
Henry was a little surprised. "Well that's generous of him, we just need to fix the coolant tanks, with the two of us that'll take at the most fifteen minutes."
Pablo nodded rapidly. "Exactly, then we get the rest of the day to ourselves! C'mon Chief, let's do it!"
Henry laughed. "Ah Pablo, I thought you liked working here!"
"Eh don't get me wrong Hank, I love my job and all but I need a break sometimes ya know? C'mon, throw me a damn' bone here!"
Henry sighed. "Alright, let's check out the coolant tanks."
"Hell yea, now that's what I'm talkin' about! Let's go!" Pablo said grinning as he made his way toward the office doors.
Henry shook his head in disbelief and followed his co-worker.
"Joder!" swore Pablo as he picked up the heavy equipment. "This is fucking bullshit!"
Henry just shook his head. It had turned out that Pablo had heard Kyburz' orders wrong. He and Henry weren't supposed to fix the coolant tanks. The tanks had burnt out last night and needed new ones replaced all along the main pipe junction. That meant the two men had to carry a case of fifty pound coolant rods to each tank and replace the casing, wiring and coolant gel. Most pipes that were built all over Rapture were made from Henry's sturdy, inventive glass. However, the main junction pipe is connected to every other pipe in Rapture which then proceeds to heat the water in all the other pipes so they don't freeze and burst. The main pipe consists of a thick, dark metal that is made up of several materials. It was also the longest pipe in Rapture. It would take them the entire day to finish replacing all of the coolant tanks.
It was dark in the main pipeline. Small lights shone from above in a straight line that led all the way to the other side.
Pablo spit in annoyance. "This ones fuckin' done."
Henry nodded. "No time to waste, let's keep moving." It had taken them an hour to completely replace one coolant tank. "One done, fifteen more to go." he sighed deeply.
The two men worked diligently through the day. They trudged along the dimly lit pipeline, carefully replacing the burnt out components of the old coolant tanks. What had thought to be an early leave from work turned out to be one of the hardest working days they had experienced in over five months. Pablo continuously complained about the work and tried to convince himself that he had heard Kyburz right. For some reason, Henry didn't mind the work. Besides Pablo's ranting the main pipeline was a quiet place of solitude. Away from all the busy industry of Rapture, it was a place where Henry might be able to think.
They had just finished the fourteenth coolant tank when Pablo spat again. "Man after this shits done I'm headin' over to Fort Frolic for some nice pussy."
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Didn't think you were that kind of man Pablo."
"Oh yeah Chief I'm all about the wild girls! It's great ya know. No boundaries, no rules and hey it's right to the fucking, none of that talking bullshit."
Henry motioned for Pablo to follow him along the pipeline while they talked.
"But ya know Chief, how come I never seen you with any girls eh? Big guy like you must have the Betties lined up!"
Henry couldn't help but smile. "You flatter me too much Pablo. Guess I've just been busy with Rapture, work keeps me pretty preoccupied."
Pablo snorted. "Bullshit, I see you leave after we're done workin'. Everytime after quittin' time you slowly stride to your apartment and lock yourself up all alone. An' Chief, for the good of your life I gotta say that ain't healthy."
Henry glanced back. "Jesus Christ Pablo why the hell aren't you in the Medical Pavilion working as a god damn therapist?"
"Cause you'd never come for an appointment!"
The two men chuckled. "Well then doc, what do you propose I do to keep myself in the peak condition of health?"
Pablo thought for a moment. "Tell ya what, you come with me and some of the boys to Eve's Apple in Fort Frolic tonight and I'll put you down as a sane and healthy patient."
Henry hesitated. "Eh, I dunno, I don't think prostitutes are my kinda thing."
"C'mon Chief live a little! Besides you don't have to grab pussy. In fact, I hear La Rose Noire is on for tonight."
"What's that, some sort of drink?"
Pablo laughed. "Nice try but no, she's actually the best dancer in Rapture. I hear she's a french babe straight from the South of France. Word is she only dances at Eve's Apple on certain nights. I met a guy who knew a guy who saw her live, and let me tell you about some of the things he told me eh. You don't wanna miss it Hank. We'll have a couple drinks, watch a couple girls dance, maybe gamble, c'mon, what's it gonna hurt?"
Henry sighed. "Dammit, alright Pablo I'll come."
"Hey! Now that's the spirit Chief! It's gonna be a fun night toni-"
The two men had come to their final destination. The end of the main pipeline. Henry looked ahead at the large coolant tank attached to the end of the pipe.
Henry let out a long breath. "Last one, alright Pablo let's get this thing up and running then get outta here."
"Shit, don't have to tell me twice!"
The two men grabbed onto the tank's rusty handles. The metal was rough and heavy.
"Alright, on the count of three, one....two.....three!"
Henry and Pablo yanked on the coolant tank handles as hard as they could. A loud groaning and creaking sounded from the rusted latch.
"That did not sound good." Henry whispered.
Pablo's eyes were wide as the entire end of the pipe exploded with the sound of bending metal.
"Fuck, the pipes are too rusted, it's breaking!" he screamed.
Before Henry knew what had happened the two men who were still holding on to the handles of the pipes end were flung forward. He squeezed his eyes shut. There was a huge crash and flakes of dust had clouded the entire area.
Henry didn't move for several minutes. He tried to get his thoughts together. "C'mon Hank think, I'm not wet so there's no water, and I'm not dead, at least I don't think I am." He tried openeing his eyes. The dust was slowly settling. "Pablo! Pablo are you okay!?" he yelled.
A hoarse voice began coughing and cursing. Henry knew Pablo was alright.
After many more minutes the dust had finally settled. Henry could see Pablo was clutching the handle still. His eyes were shut. "What the fuck just happened!?" he spluttered.
Henry looked up. The end of the pipe had broken right off, they had fallen at least ten feet. He could see now that it was another hatch that served as an entrance but had been rusted by the leaking ocean water. "Pablo, the pipes hatch was completely rusted, it broke off and fell through taking us with it. I think we're in some sort of storage room."
Pablo opened one eye. "So...were not dead?"
"Not yet." Henry breathed with relief. He helped Pablo to his feet. They stood in the large storage room and got a better look at their surroundings. Dozens of crates were stacked ontop of each other with a large handprint painted onto the sides.
"What the hell are these?" Pablo said scratching his head.
Henry shrugged. "Not sure, crates full of supplies I guess." He looked up to the stair well. "C'mon, let's get outta here and see if anyones up there."
The two men walked up the wooden stairs. The automatic door rose up. Henry gasped. Pablo's mouth fell open. They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Then burst out laughing.
"I don't believe it, the Farmer's Market!" Henry exclaimed. It was true. The main pipeline had led them to the Farmer's Market clear across on the other side of Rapture.
"I'll be honest Chief, of all the places in Rapture I never thought we'd end up here!" Pablo said slapping his knee.
Many people walking around the market glanced and stared at the two men in engineer attire covered in grime and rust.
"I guess I should radio in Kyburz, tell him where we are, he's not gonna believe this." Henry said trying to regain his composure. He contacted Kyburz and told him the entire story. While a little sceptical, Kyburz sent another repair crew to come and meet the Henry and Pablo in the Farmer's Market. It would take them another week to get a new hatch on the pipeline but the two men had managed to fix fourteen of the fifteen coolant tanks. They were given leave as soon as they returned to Hepheastus. They finished work at five fifty. While on the bathysphere Pablo turned to Henry. "Hey Hank, we did good work today."
Henry smiled. "Glad you stuck it out with me."
"Man I better get a commendation for this, cause of us we got the coolant tanks runnin' nice and smooth so everyone can have nice heated pipes. Well....everyone except for those in the Farmer's Market."
They laughed. "So Hank you get yourself nice and prettied up for tonight alright, the guys finish at nine so be sure you're ready, we're meetin' at the Fort Frolic station, got it?"
Henry nodded. "I'll be there Pablo."
The two men shook hands and went their seperate ways. Henry could feel his bones aching but he had told Pablo he would be there. "Ah what the hell, might as well get while the goings good." He walked to his apartment with a bounce in his stride, tonight he was going out on the town, living it up in Fort Frolic.