Читать книгу The Fallen Heroine - Fabienne Gschwind - Страница 12

By the time I was finally awake, showered, and had eaten some leftover bread for breakfast, it was lunchtime. I quickly tried to chat with my family. I caught up with my brother, who was in the throes of studying for his final school exams. He wanted to study history so badly, but we didn't have the money to buy him out of the job obligation and pay for university. The job office had already provided an apprenticeship for him to become an robot engineer.

I exchanged a few lines of text with my little sister, too. Suddenly the message tone beeped and on the screen of my small multicomputer my somewhat senile, ancient great-uncle Actéon appeared. He had served in the ReS himself. But not in an active unit. He had developed the combat armor instead. He must have been proud that I served in the ReS. At least that's what I thought I heard from his words.

After that, I sat back and looked around the small apartment.

Oh yes, this apartment! It was as good as empty, I had only a suitcase with some clothes, my favorite books and my tiny little multicomputer. In addition a bed, a table and a chair, which had already stood in the apartment. Transportation and public transport were extremely expensive, so I had arrived with only my large trekking backpack and an old rolling suitcase. But that was not a big problem until now. The clothes I wore were provided and washed by the ReS. My place to stay was a service apartment, and most of the food I ate with my colleagues was paid for out of the unit's budget.

The salary would only be paid at the end of each month. But by then I would get my first salary and that was six times my parents one. I would be filthy rich. So I surfed around on the Airlink to see what I could afford. I really wanted to give my mother the household robot she wanted so much for her birthday. But the things were terribly expensive and would eat up an entire month's salary. But that was no big deal, I would just wait for my next paycheck to buy other things. Assuming I would survive the next months….

Around early afternoon I put on my uniform and went to the barracks. We had a free day, but I was sure that at the barracks I would be able to catch some free lunch. There I met Gabin and the drivers, who were having a feast. I sat down with them and ate. Suddenly, the chief appeared:

"I have to go to ReS headquarters in Grenoble. There's something to discuss there. Enjoy your free time, but don’t forget to do some stretching and relaxation, after the last days you need to take care of your bodies!”

We looked at each other and Gabin shrugged. "Freetime!" he announced. And he invited me to go to a Thalasso Therapy in order to relax our bodys as told by the boss.

And for the first time, we all went home early. At home, my refrigerator hadn't filled itself. There was nothing I could do about it. I bought a slice of pizza at an automatic beach stand and then went to bed.