RL- Maxine Interview

1) Tell me about your family.
-----------------------------

Well, lets see. Me and my nest-cousins were raised by the whole clan, not just the folks who laid my egg... so my family was pretty big? But blood-wise, I've always been pretty close to my Dad's Dad, I guess. He lives alone, and gets a little lonely, so I liked to spend time with him and hear his stories when I can. He traveled Subterra a lot for work over the years... scouted the deep-ways, and the higher levels. My clan think it's rude to talk about it, but he even takes part in expeditions to the surface sometimes. Which made him a bit of a pariah for the more Orthodox types, to be honest.

Grandad mostly does ventures on behalf of academics in the city. Gets rock and soil samples from around Subterra, plant cuttings from the Wastelands above... even found some old Surfacer relics from over the years. Stuff that helped us design the new water reclaimers, and build radio terminals that can send messages around a cavern without needing to run wires. Stuff like that. He's always done his best to work toward a better future for everyone... even though going Skyside is looked down on. I admire that he doesn't let that stigma keep him from doing a good thing.

Dad doesn't care for Grandad's ventures too much... though he's more concerned with him taking risks like that in his old age, more than he's worried about his reputation. He understands why Grandad does it too, I think. But he has never been keen on me helping Grandad out in the workshop, or taking interest in his stories over the years. I think he and some of my older cousins were worried that it'd rub off on me.

And honestly, I think they were right to be worried about that. Because it definitely did, haha!

2) What do you really want out of life?
---------------------------------------

Oh. Huh. I... hmm. I don't really know what to say to this one.
...can we come back to this later?

3) Why did you choose the career you did?
-----------------------------------------

Well... at first it was because my Dad and Grandad did it? And family history aside, I guess I chose that path because I was good at it, and I wanted to be useful. Don't want to... you know, I don't want to be dead weight or anything.

Oh, I should say. I'm apprenticing on engineering work, at dig sites around Subterra. I do more maintenance than anything else, though. Once-overs on digging tools at night, keeping the boilers running, tightening bolts and fixing wiring here and there. Stuff like that.

I like that sorta work. It's got a clear outcome, you know? You can see if stuff's fixed and running better, or if it's still busted. And that kinda certainty is nice. You know you've done a good job if a drill is rattling less, or if the water comes out hot and clear when folks take a shower. And it's nice to be appreciated for helping out too, to be honest.

Q: Do you think your work relates to what you want out of life, at all?

I suppose so, yeah. I guess I don't want to feel like... a cog without a place. I want to do something I'm good at, that makes things a little better. And I get that kinda fulfillment from excavation work. I really do. We're digging space for new homes and farms right now, which we definitely need. We're providing raw materials to folks to build with, too. Sometimes folks have even found a weird fossil or a chunk of fused slag that researchers would find interesting. And it's nice to know I'm a part of that.

But I also suppose that I want something more out of life? Or... I feel like I could be doing more. Like anyone could do this sort of work. And that makes me wonder if this is really the best place for me? Or worry that the "machine" I'm part of isn't really making things better, in any big picture sense. We only have so much groundwater down here, and we're mostly recycling it instead of digging to look for new resevoirs. And... I guess Subterra feels like that sometimes, too? Without the folks who go out looking for new things, or relics to study, or whatever... we stagnate. We maintain the status quo, and recycle what we already have, instead of growing into something new.

And, I mean... I can't imagine Surfacers have a much better time of things, with nothing but rocks and dry red sands going far as anyone can see. But there's all kinds of useful relics buried in the sands. And those old stories about the waters of the Great Blue, and green places full of plants that once were, which might still be out there if we looked far enough. And I can't help but wonder if there's a better life worth seeking out, out there beyond the Wasteland. And if helping people seek that out might be a better way to do my part, for society? If that makes any sense.

4) What keeps you from achieving your goals?
--------------------------------------------

Hah. Well, for that last thing, the Wasteland is one big reason. Days are too hot and bright, and nights are frigid cold. Water's hard to find, and the landscape is rough and harsh. I frankly don't know how the Surfacers survive up there. Apparently some of 'em have roaming camps, while others settle down where the ground's hard enough to build, and scrape by a living under the hot sun. But it all seems so harsh and inhospitable. And I'm not really the survivalist type.

But even if that wasn't a problem, there's the social pressure too. Common wisdom says the skyside world ain't suited to Subterrans. That all that daylight on the surface will addle your brain, or change you in bad ways. I don't believe folks get Sunstruck, of course... bet my Grandad and his friends went out in daylight often enough, and he's one of the sweetest, cleverest, and most put-together guys I know. Sure, bright light can make somebody sick or give 'em a headache... but I don't buy that the sun can turn you mean or wicked...

Even so, if you go to the surface... well, for a lot of folks, that makes them see you as less trustworthy. Even tainted, maybe? Like going skyside will make you the same as the Surfacers who drove us underground in the first place, before they burned their world to a crisp. These days, exploring the surface is seen as foolish and risky at best, and as a kind of... disloyalty to your duty to Subterra at worst? Even for folks doing important work like stormwatching, hunting, cactus farming in the greenhouse caves, and all that. And outsiders who crossed the surface from other cavern complexes are never quite welcome in the lower layers either.

It's an old-fashioned thing, and it's changing, I think... but I guess those are the big things standing in my way. That and... well... the uncertainty. Crossing the wasteland looking for the Great Blue, all based on hearsay and fairy tales, is kind of silly? Especially when so much of what's up there is unknown...

5) Who are you closest with?
----------------------------

Well, I had friends growing up. But I don't see them so much, now that they all got jobs that took them elsewhere. Folks working different professions don't typically mix; once you commit to a profession, that's your new life. You mostly see folks you work with. You live in the quarter that folks doing that kinda work live in. And as for the friends I grew up with... well, Francis, she's an Ogre. Big gal. Her family moved here from the Surface, but something happened to them, I think. She never talked about it. She ended up getting put in the Creche me and my nest-cousins were in. She lives in the upper-level farms full time now, so I don't see her much anymore. Claude and I used to get into trouble with some of the kids around town... but he does plumbing work in the city, and I hear he's got a family and new friends. I don't hear back from him anymore. I've tried to get to know some of my coworkers, but I haven't found any I've got much in common with. Real friendly folks, don't get me wrong. I guess I've just had a hard time connecting with them...

Q: Have you ever been in love?

Huh? No! No. I mean, I don't know... maybe? I guess I had some kinda crush on Fran, when we were kids. But it was a stupid kid crush, you know? She was just... big, and confident, and nobody gave her trouble. I had trouble with other kids back then, and she made me feel safe when we were together, I guess. And she was good at breaking the ice, which I wasn't always good at, so... it was easier to meet other people too? But we haven't seen each other for years, since she moved to the upper levels for work. And I don't really socialize much anymore besides. Between working dig sites and helping Grandad around the workshop, I ain't really got time for socializing much, let alone dating. Especially now that Grandad wants to let me in on some kinda new big project...

Q: Have you considered getting back in touch with Francis?

...can we just move on to the next question?

6) Tell me more about where you live.
-------------------------------------

Well, uh... I spend part of the year in one of the common houses in Shale Hub. That's, uh, the mid-depth city my parents were from. It's one of the older cities in Subterra, built into a natural cavern. As things got built up over the years, all the roads got narrower and narrower too, so it can be a little cozy? And a bit like a maze. But it's a nice place. My Grandad's workshop is on the outskirts. He can't live in the city center because he's uh... well, he used to do work on the surface before they closed off access, so he's got Sunstrike on his record. I visit and help out there a lot, since he's always short-staffed...

I spend the other part of the year living in camps at various dig sites. We all live together in simple barracks on-site, so nothing's permanent, and we don't get much privacy. But that's not so different than back home in Shale Hub. Mix of folks from all over Subterra... though mostly Ogres working the digs themselves. They do the heavy lifting, big excavations, and all that, on account of being big and burly. Gremlins like me usually get assigned detail digging, since we're smaller. And other work too; tech support, nursing, cooking, courier work, management, cataloging of relics and other finds. It's pretty busy, even during down time.

7) What do you do in your spare time?
-------------------------------------

Well, at dig sites, most folks just drink, play games, and socialize a lot. But I, uh... I usually just pick a quiet place around the caverns to read on my own. Unless somebody ropes me into a big get-together, like a party or something. I try to bring enough books to last a few months... journals and histories, manuals, some stories. If I run out of books before we're done on a dig site... well, I usually just reread stuff. I, uh... I like reading? There's lots of stuff to learn in the histories, plus it's a way to get away for a while.

Oh, but when I'm at Shale Hub, I might visit with my nest-cousins, or volunteer some work at the temples, or around town. I help Grandad at his workshop. I like to wander the market sometimes and people-watch, to hear the news from out of town.... even if we get fewer travelers these days. And I keep busy with work around the Common Houses too. If a neighbor needs someone to fix their radio, or make them a new bench or something, I like to take on little projects, to help out.

Oh, and I stock up on books.

8) What's your biggest fear?
----------------------------

Finding out I'm not as useful as I thought? Getting trapped in a cave in, or turned around and lost in the deep-ways? Having to do a public address in front of the town, or my dig team? I'm not sure which is worse, so take your pick...