It was not just the sign. Elliot also spotted white points of light on several of the workers.
Most of the workers looked at them with numb eyes, though some gazes held fear or anger.
They were not living well here, and perhaps they would not live much longer either, but how much better could things be anywhere else?
Like New Scandinavia, this city had left ordinary people few paths to take.
Elliot looked at the glowing symbol on the wall. Rather than point it out directly, he quietly committed it to memory.
"I noticed the factory doesn't provide the workers with meals or lodging?"
"Yes. Those things don't make much money, and they're a lot of trouble. Better to let the workers figure it out themselves."
"Not much money, meaning at least they won't lose money. Providing meals and lodging collectively could greatly ease the workers' burdens." Elliot looked at the Machine Priest, who seemed to be holding something back. "You're approaching this the wrong way. We pay wages to meet the workers' living needs. If we can meet those needs directly, we could even pay them less, and their loyalty would be higher-"
"Loyalty?"
"Yes. You might think workers' loyalty is meaningless, that we pay for their labor, but it's not actually that simple. People aren't machines. The workers' discontent and anger will translate into lower product yields, higher breakdown rates, and worse production efficiency."
"What?!" For the first time, the Machine Priest's voice fluctuated, filled with incredulous shock. "How dare they-"
"But what if they did? What if they slacked off, or even deliberately damaged the machinery? We could certainly address some of that through stricter supervision, but-supervision costs money. The meals and lodging I mentioned earlier, on the other hand, wouldn't cost much, and might even