Canyon Assay Survey, Deep Rise

Job: escort a field assay tech and his sample kit on a routine mineral survey — two hops out to Deep Rise, a wildcat canyon past Hardfell Core where the air eats cheap seals and the work happens on a bolted survey shelf halfway down the wall. Fragile instruments, wax-tab custody, one nervous specialist who will flinch if you stow a crate sideways. Soft clock, honest pay, and the gentlest introduction to research handling the board offers at Rank 0.

Briefing: Registrar Sela Charter-Shelf books you at the Hardfell Survey Registry on Khesret. Your passenger is Olen Bench-Core, a bench PI who talks in tolerances and needs one clean sampling pass on Vondra Deep-Cut's canyon face. Ride through Hardfell Core, set down at the claim, haul kit to the survey shelf, babysit the cores while he works, and bring the chain-of-custody tabs home intact. Vondra's crew will tolerate you like dentists — necessary, annoying — and pour coffee if you don't break anything.

Clock: soft — about a week, mostly so the PI's seals stay happy. Terms: ₡5,500 gross, 10% desk fee, Rank 0. Easy money if you treat sample crates like eggs and read the writ before you lift. The canyon is real; the politics are quiet; the lesson is what you let leave the rock.