Quota

Quota deadline: three hours. You have 247 credits worth of scrap on the ship floor. The quota is 500. Your three teammates are dead — a Bunker Spider got the intern in the basement, the scout walked into a Snare Flea, and the captain got greedy on a fourth trip and never came back. You’re the only one left, standing in the doorway of the ship on Assurance, staring at the moon you picked this morning. The problem wasn’t the monsters. The problem was the moon you landed on. You needed 500 credits, you had three days, and you spent two of them farming a free moon with a 350-500 scrap ceiling. You physically cannot hit quota from here no matter how well you play. ...

8:07 AM. Day 3. The Terminal Doesn’t Lie. You type scan and the number stares back. You’re 217 credits short of quota. The Company building opens in 10 hours. Your crew is you and one other guy — the third died on Day 2, ragdolled into a pit on Assurance holding a Big Bolt and two Brass Bells. Those items are gone. The ship has a Pro-Flashlight, three Walkie-Talkies nobody uses, and a single shovel. Yesterday’s run was a disaster. ...

4:58 PM on Assurance. Everyone Dies. Picture this run. Day 3, quota is 800 credits. Assurance, free landing, low risk. You and three friends drop at 8 AM with stamina bars full and a plan that doesn’t really exist. You split into pairs. One pair pushes left through the maze of corridors. The other goes right. Comms are good. You’re laughing. Someone finds a Cash Register — 60 credits, heavy, awkward. They pick it up anyway. Someone else finds a Magnifying Glass — 35 credits. They grab a Toilet Paper too. Six credits. Why not. ...