Helix Extractive Solutions Database

The Yonkers Veil

A collection of stories about desperate people, unhinged optimists, and corporate hell set on a barely-habitable mining planet orbiting a neutron star.

Only idiots, dreamers, and the deeply indebted come to Yonkers. Everyone else has the good sense to stay away.

Helix Extractive Solutions // Transmission Log
Subject: Provisional Colony Naming Incident (YK-441)

"One last thing, any idea how to call this place in the report?"

Gideon didn't even look up from his sandwich.

"Yonkers."

Martin stared at him.

"What?"

"Yonkers."

"The planet?"

"Yeah."

Martin looked out the viewport at the airless radioactive wasteland orbiting a pulsar.

Then back at Gideon.

Then back at the planet.

"What part of Yonkers reminds you of that planet?!"

Gideon considered this seriously.

"The vibe."

"The vibe."

"Yeah."

"There is no vibe."

"Sure there is."

"It's a lifeless rock being irradiated by a dead star."

"Very Yonkers."

Martin pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You've never even been to Yonkers."

"No."

"Then how would you know?"

Gideon took another bite of his sandwich.

"I've seen pictures."

"Pictures."

"Also a documentary."

"What documentary?"

Gideon thought.

"Actually it might've been a hostage situation."

Martin stared at him.

The shuttle's computer chimed.

> PROVISIONAL DESIGNATION RECORDED:

>

> YONKERS

Martin's eyes widened.

"What?!"

Gideon pointed.

"Oh, neat."

"You already entered it?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why?!"

"You said we needed a name."

"We need a scientific name!"

The computer chimed again.

> DESIGNATION FORWARDED TO HELIX EXTRACTIVE SOLUTIONS

Martin lunged for the console.

Too late.

Another chime.

> DESIGNATION APPROVED

The two men froze.

"Approved?"

"That was fast."

A final message appeared.

> PROJECT YONKERS AUTHORIZED

>

> ESTIMATED CORPORATE REVENUE: EXCELLENT

Martin slowly sank back into his seat.

"An entire colony is going to be built on a planet named because you thought it had a Yonkers vibe."

Gideon nodded.

"History works in mysterious ways."

Martin looked out the window at the violet death world shrinking behind them.

Then he looked at Gideon.

Then at the sandwich.

Then at Gideon again.

"You know, I used to think the universe was governed by physical laws."

Gideon smiled.

"And now?"

Martin sighed.

"Now I think it's mostly paperwork."

Two miners looking at the horizon as the pulsar beam sweeps overhead
Worker File 19-B

Before the Parade Passes By

On a mining colony orbiting a neutron star, a man starts singing, driving his coworker and the corporate security alignment patrols to the absolute brink.

Shaft 19-B Labor Incident Logged
A man grinning at the helm of a luxury hoverboat
Worker File 19-B Prequel

Captain of Bad Decisions

Andrew Sternkern gets into massive debt because of a luxury hoverboat with emotionally supportive navigation, qualifying him for off-world positions on Yonkers.

Lake Ontario → YK-441 Debt Intake
A garbage truck exploding in a shower of colors
Worker File 19-B Prequel

The Trash Man's Inferno

Barnaby Williams compacts an improperly classified self-heating noodle canister, destroying his garbage truck, making him internet famous, and sending him to Yonkers.

Transit → YK-441 Foreclosed
Surveyors Gideon Vale and Martin Krake on the surface of Yonkers taking mineral samples
Historical Survey 01-A

First Contact

Surveyors Gideon Vale and Martin Krake land on YK-441 for the first time, arguing about future cities, capitalism, and whether kids would love a planet with a screaming sky.

YK-441 Survey First Landfall
Gideon's project layout of the pulsar collector star shield
Historical Survey 01-B

Unlimited Power

Gideon proposes directly harvesting the relativistic particle jet of the dead star. Martin attempts to explain basic astrophysics and considers opening the airlock.

Transit Outbound Psych Screening Triggered
An office scene at Horizon Fidelity Financial where June Parker, an Opportunity Alignment Specialist, sits resigned at her desk. The workspace is filled with cynical corporate propaganda, including posters promoting 'off-world opportunities' on Yonkers, a bobblehead of the CEO, and various 'motivational' signs that hint at the grim reality of the company's debt-mining operations.
Worker File 04-A

The Opportunity Alignment Specialist

June Parker navigates the daily grind of Horizon Fidelity Financial's debt restructuring department, where she cynically aligns desperate clients with grim off-world assignments to the mining colonies of Yonkers.

Sector → Debt Resolution Aligned