Month's Advance Wages Envelope

A rectangular envelope containing folded banknotes, its edges slightly creased from handling. The bills are crisp but bear the faint smell of a ship’s galley—salt air and engine oil lingering on the paper. Collier produces it with practiced ease, the envelope’s contents visibly compressing as he grips it, emphasizing its physical heft as compensation. Jackson’s quick verbal confirmation treats the wages as both incentive and proof of their enrollment, their casual repetition of its existence highlighting its role as a deliberate distraction from questions of consent.