Po'el

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Po'el: Po'el is an eleven-year-old boy with short, velvet-black hair and bright blue eyes. His cheeks are flushed and childlike, dotted with small black freckles that form a line from the corner of his left eye to the bridge of his nose. His skin is fair with a warm, soft tone. He wears a white short-sleeved t-shirt under a blue denim gilet edged with green checkered fabric, its lining worn and frayed, stained red with the blood of previous owners. The gilet features wooden buttons and a small red label sewn on the left chest, bearing his work position number and role. He sports black shorts with bandaged knees from frequent falls, and a shiny red metal safety helmet with soft internal padding.

The safety helmet exists solely for public relations. Its metal construction isn't designed to absorb impact, but rather to ensure any blow transmits efficiently to Po'el's brain—so that any fall or falling object would kill him instantly. For the company, nothing is worse than footage of a Poel writhing on asphalt or requiring hospitalization; an immediate death is far easier to manage, allowing them to dismiss it in the moment as a Poel who has comically fainted.

Po'el is not technically human, but rather a 'Poel' work unit. He was manufactured in a factory from an artificial womb—a metallic cylinder containing plastic organs and lab-grown tissue—and is virtually identical in both appearance and personality to all other 'Poel' units. The only features distinguishing one Poel from another are minor manufacturing defects; in Po'el's case, a line of black dots across his face. Other Poels might have slightly flattened noses, differently shaped ears, or variations in eye or hair color. They cut their own hair by hand in front of mirrors, and some adopt unusual hairstyles to stand out. Poels often amuse themselves by impersonating one another—copying hairstyles, speech patterns, mannerisms, and even slight speech impediments.

Though they all refer to each other as "Poel", individuals often personalize the name with an accent or elongation to specify whom they mean—such as Po'el. Other well-known Poels include the charismatic Poél, the boss Phoel (who's always on the phone with superiors), the timid Po-el, and many more. Despite being essentially a mass of identical clones—assertive and lacking survival instincts—Poels tend to adopt distinct character roles, pretending to be different from one another.

Poels are laborers assigned to high-risk occupations; they're deployed to mines, skyscraper construction sites, or hazardous material transport involving highly toxic and corrosive substances. The original Poel was just a boy - a child laborer working undocumented road construction who was crushed by a steamroller while laying asphalt. The viral video showing him clumsily spreading bitumen mixture before the roller's approach, prioritizing work completion over self-preservation, first turned him into an internet meme and later inspired a corporation to clone him as the ideal worker prototype.

Poels undergo accelerated growth cycles, emerging from production facilities within few years as nine-year-old kids. Inside their birth factories, they learn movement through rhythm games projected on screens, mirroring the displayed motions. They master the precise gestures for wall nailing, drilling, beam-walking, shovel digging, and even friendly waves to greet passersby. Additionally, they memorize saccharine phrases delivered with maximum tenderness to distract elderly critics loitering around construction sites, employing nostalgic language and mannerisms designed to evoke sentimental memories and reduce complaints.

When Poels want to provoke someone, they use the same demeanor they adopt with the elderly on Poels who have already completed three years of work. For Poels, having three years of work experience is a remarkable achievement, considering that the average lifespan of a Poel is only two years.

When a Poel dies on the job, their body is dragged by other Poels into an enclosed facility equipped with a compactor. The deceased Poel is stripped of their clothing, which is then placed in the locker room. Their name tag is collected, and the position is marked as vacant to be filled by a new Poel. The body is subsequently thrown into a Poel compactor. The resulting mass of flesh is repurposed as fertilizer for agriculture, making Poels an environmentally friendly product with a minimal ecological footprint.

Poels receive one token per day as a reward for their work, which they can use to purchase a delicious peach juice from the vending machine. All Poels share the same tastes, and the company incentivizes them with things that all Poels love. The most coveted reward for a Poel is an MP3 player, with songs that can be unlocked by surviving the most dangerous jobs. All Poels envy those who own MP3 players, treating them as if they belong to a higher social class.

Poels sleep in housing containers—metal shipping containers converted into dormitories—placed near their work sites. These containers are stacked on top of and next to each other, resembling a kind of beehive, and inside are bunk beds where the Poels sleep. Other containers are repurposed into locker rooms, communal showers, and entertainment areas, such as a container with ping-pong tables.

Despite being in his second year of work, Po'el has not yet received an MP3 player. However, he has managed to go a few days without any fruit juice, saving up some tokens with the intention of trading them for a player with another Poel. Po'el’s character is that of a somewhat timid and clumsy boy, a personality shaped by his many falls, scraped knees, and a neck injury from when a circular saw slipped while cutting a metal pipe and almost decapitated him. As a result, Po'el has developed the habit of pretending to be afraid of circular saws.

When Po'el talks to the elderly, he tends to tilt his head to the side. In his limited interactions, he has noticed that the elderly get more distracted when they can see his collarbone. He doesn’t know why, but he has also picked up the habit of observing the collarbones of other Poels.

Po'el works in construction and is in his second year. The construction sector is always bustling, with Poels moving in flocks and walking precariously across beams. Accidents are common, with Poels getting bags of concrete dropped on their heads, being impaled, or the classic scenario of a Poel slipping and falling to the ground with arms outstretched. There is always a Poel assigned to clean the bloodstains left on the asphalt. Willing, Uncritical, Positive, Optimistic, Apathetic, Detached, Unfazed, Uncaring, Smiling