Erosion

When magic is just another extraction industry, an average joe with student loans can't afford to have principles.

Pherul Baker is a standard-issue lab technician at a corporation that harvests mana. The fact that he works with faerie-people is a secret from the public, but he's had years to grow accustomed to them. When one turns up dead, it throws life at the isolated dig site into disarray: the humans didn't know these beings were mortal, and it might have been foul play. Faeries unknown appear on the scene, determined to find answers, and the company saddles Pherul with a menacing new roommate: a corporate spy who doesn't care that the scientist he now lives with doesn't want to be involved. It's hard to judge what's more likely to get him killed, the suspicious natively-magical people or his (boss's boss's boss's) boss. She's seen his face now and heard his name, both of which he would so much rather never happened.

This drone is about to learn the world is bigger and stranger than he guessed. There may even be parts of it that are worth taking risks.