Julien

Outside, the rain lashed against the window and had a calming effect on me. I stood with my shoulder leaning against the frame of the window and looked outside. The streaks of water ran down the pane in stripes. I closed my eyes halfway, it was almost sleepy.

"How is it?" asked a voice from behind me and I turned my head. It was Caleb, he had combed his wet hair back and was looking around the room. It was quiet, it was always so quiet. Only the beeping of the machines could be heard. It wasn't always monotonous, but very similar. The beeping of 20 machines. Always the same. I rubbed my face. "It's raining, so we should open the locks and use the lower space in the bucket so we can collect more. We don't know when it will rain again. He nodded slowly and tapped something on his hand pad. "It's really necessary. But I meant more, how are you?" He looked at me again and came towards me. I looked away, unable to make any gaps under his inquisitive gaze. "I'm fine." He put his hand on my shoulder in a friendly way and squeezed lightly. I was grateful for this small gesture, which did me good. Today had actually been a good day, the meetings had been positive, it had started to rain and someone had woken up again last week. Today we got the results of the first examination test and they looked really good. We were more than lucky that we had managed to make sure the person was OK. I hadn't seen her yet, it was supposed to be a girl who had gone to the same high school as me back then. "You should cry a little too," Caleb said. I had almost forgotten he was there. "Yeah, I should." I wiped my face again and then took one last look at the bed. This one bed that had been this of many. What had started at 50 was now only 20 and that was an achievement we could be really proud of. This one bed was what kept me going. Or rather the person who was lying in it. I nodded as if to confirm it again and then followed Caleb out of the room. We walked down the dark corridors and hardly met anyone. Many of the others were in the dining room, as it was lunchtime. But I wasn't really in the mood for company. So I said goodbye to Caleb and headed towards the jetties. I had been there a lot recently, I could think better there than in the library, where there were always other people, whose presence alone made me feel oppressed, and I couldn't really go to my room either, as Henry was always there, who often let me think and read or research in peace, but I still preferred the jetties. Because there was this very small niche where no one else was and I could read without being held back, research on my hand pad or just think. And I had really researched, looked up, read and more in the last few months. I just wanted to find Heike's solution to the problem that probably couldn't exist. This solution that had danced under our noses so many times and that we still couldn't grasp. Of course it was just one of many problems we had, but it was still the most important thing for me. And I had to admit, it annoyed me that the other committees didn't pay more attention and give it more importance. But all these meetings had at least had an effect, I could see that. Our care in this "base", as they liked to call it, was really different now than it was a year ago. A year when everything in the world was still upside down, nobody knew what was going on. And so we could really be happy about how far we had come. And the fact that more than half of the selected group had already woken up again calmed them down and redirected the focus back to things that needed more attention. As long as the patients were alive, everything was probably okay.

I grabbed the book I was currently reading about the human organism from my room and then went to the Lang'dung Bridges. My room was on the way, so it was really a good idea. I spent the next few hours leafing through the book and taking notes. I used the pen that I always carried with me to mark things, write notes and underline sentences. It had been really frustrating how useless you could feel just reading books when there were people out there and in here who needed you. And yet I couldn't let it go. Not while the person most important to me was still in a coma and just wouldn't wake up. She was fine, I didn't want to complain at all. But I found it difficult to remain calm, with no sign of improvement. And that after so many months. However, the doctors had repeatedly emphasized that everything was in order and that I should be patient. But after all, she had completed almost all of her medical studies. So I knew what the doctors always said to the families of the victims or patients. I chew on my pen as my watch securitized. I tapped it and Hollow's face appeared as a hologram. “Hey, where are you? We need to do the dimensions here. I need you. “Today I got incompetent team members again,” she said these words with a look at the screen. I couldn't see who she was looking at, but she didn't look happy. “Oh shit,” I said and jumped up. “Is it that late already?” She nodded and I promised her that I would come to the harvest halls immediately. Then I went to my room, stowed my book in the drawer under the desk as usual, put on my overalls for work early and set off. I took the elevator, which we weren't supposed to use very often to save electricity, but it was faster. I had my belt strapped on, which had pockets hanging on it with a thermometer, pencil, my hand pad and other things that I would need. When I arrived at the harvest halls, it was already well filled. There was at least one person in each row. It was late summer, so I knew the harvest was coming and preparations were in full swing. Food had become such an important commodity that no one treated it lightly or even wanted to waste anything. Speed and precision were therefore required so that the food could be transported undamaged and complete for preparation and storage as quickly as possible. “There you are,” said Hollow when I arrived. Although she tried to sound stern, she smiled at me and pointed to two young men, Mouaz and Lionel. Great, that really wasn't a good choice, the two of them were known to work together, just fooling around and hardly doing any work. So everyone should know not to put them together. But apparently someone wasn't paying attention during the planning. They were laughing about something and punching each other in the stomach. “You see, I need you?” Hollow said, handing me one of the spades she was holding in her hand. I sighed and we walked to one of the front rows where I knew potatoes were grown. Overall, the halls were a brilliant concept. Various foods were grown in around 100 rows; the soil was artificially created but kept clean from the outside world. The climate was warmer than in the other parts of the base, but it was still not uncomfortable. The halls ran upwards like a large half-enclosed metal cave to control the sunlight since not all foods could tolerate that much sun.

We took measurements from the topsoil and wrote down the data. Hollow typed and I read from the meter. The work was always easier and faster when done in teams, so most tasks were always assigned to at least two people. I enjoyed working with Hollow, she was about ten years older than me, funny and a pleasant person. She didn't ask too many questions where she could tell you didn't want to answer them. She was one of those people you could comfortably stay silent with. We made good progress. The goal was to do at least ten rows a day and to repeat this throughout the duck season to make sure the pH levels, water amounts, sunlight levels and more were correct for the types of food. We simply couldn't afford crop failures and dead food. The rationalization and deliberate action must have given us all a boost." "Catalium value is normal," I said and Hollow wrote it down next to the potatoes. "How is she?" she asked as we stood up and headed for the forward section. I hesitated for a moment and then shrugged my shoulders with a sigh. "Unchanged. Well, it's my own fault that I can't be here more often." She looked at me with pity. "You're doing your best, and you can't do much anyway." I pressed my lips together and nodded. She was right, even if I would have liked to do and hear something else. I had decided about two months ago to be transferred to this division. In the beginning, when everything had broken out, it had been too chaotic anyway and... Back then they had already asked me if I wanted to work with the hospital team. Since I was a good candidate with my almost completed medical degree, I had agreed and took the task very seriously. But when the big incident with the pills came and about 50 students were affected - including her - I couldn't believe it. I had put all my energy into solving the problem after they had all fallen into a coma. I had spent days and nights concentrating my energy and focus. As a result, I had neglected everything else. I had forgotten about the people who were awake and needed help here at the base. I still felt guilty when I thought about it. But then it hadn't been a problem when I wanted to be transferred. They seemed to have enough help and so it had been easy and quick. At the beginning, Hollow, who was also my team leader, had had to introduce me to the topic of food and harvesting and everything around it, since I had next to no knowledge. I remembered that my mother had had a garden a long time ago and had explained some things to me as a child. But that was it.

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But she had shown a lot of patience and I now enjoyed the tasks with her. It felt good to contribute. Everyone here on base had to do their part to make it work. I knew that there were around 500 of us and the system, which was still fragile, only worked as long as everyone participated. Even the children, who had drawn the sad fate of having to go through such experiences at a young age, understood this. Fear of death, hunger, war, fighting and basically the end of the world as we knew it. “What about the PH value in section 2b?” Hollow asked and I read the value. She repeated this question a few more times for offending sections. I felt like she was trying to distract me and it worked. We spent about two hours reading the values in rows 1-14, writing them down carefully and then later using the handpad to save them into the cloud file. Then it was time and I walked with her and about twenty others from the harvest hall towards the dining hall.

As we stood in the hall, Caleb and Caspar, his brother, came over to us. Caleb briefly put his arm around Holow's waist. And kissed her. I didn't know how long this had been going on between the two of them, but I knew that it was a good fit. That's what everyone who knew Caleb and Holow thought. Before I started my job in the harvest division, Duarte Caleb worked with her. He had now been transferred to the reconnaissance unit. I was a little jealous, but I was furious that he had been a military man in his other life and therefore had the experience needed to go out into the outside world and get the necessary information and things there. "I wonder what's for dinner today?" asked Caspar, sniffing the air curiously. "Pancakes with apple sauce or ham," said Hollow and grinned at him. His eyes grew large and he licked his lips. "You're always well informed," he then said. We waited a while before moving further forward. The hall was already quite full and you could hear the sounds of people eating, laughing, talking and clattering their dishes. People were sitting at countless tables. Not all of them were full because the schedules meant that not everyone would eat at the same time. That was not possible logistically. We put food on our plates when it was our turn. I took 5 straight away because I was really hungry. "Leave some for the other belly, you greedy one," said Capser, grinning. He himself had piled up at least 8. We then looked for a corner of the table where there was still space. We sat down and shoveled the food in. Hollow and Caleb chatted, Casper typed something on his hand pad and I just concentrated on the food. It tasted pretty good - of course not how I remembered it from before, but still not bad. And they made a point of doing so, in other words they were fulfilling their purpose.

"There's going to be a big meeting tomorrow," said Caspar, who was apparently reading off the black digital sheet that always contained the latest information and which everyone was advised to read regularly. "But is the quarterly meeting not until next week?" I asked, confused. HE just shrugged his shoulders. "It seems to be a different meeting. I have no idea, they only wrote "Good news. Please come if possible" as the note. I frowned. It was unusual for there to be meetings outside of the company. Here, everything was well thought out, planned and considered. There was a strict plan that everyone had to stick to every day. This routine was almost never interrupted. The last time was when our board member and founder died and a spontaneous memorial service was held. "Because people should still hold on to their traditions," they said. "When is that tomorrow?" I asked Caspar. He shrilled and zoomed in on his small screen in thanks. "Tomorrow at two o'clock." I groaned in unison with Caleb. "Tomorrow is shooting and readiness training," he then explained to Hollow Song, who seemed to understand immediately. The program had been started by some of the former military soldiers. It was voluntary and trained anyone who wanted to in basic information and exercises in shooting, survival skills and emergency preparedness. I had already been taking part there for a few months and didn't want to miss a single one before the final exam, which was supposed to show what you had learned. It would be at the end of the year and could enable you to go on missions into the outside world. And to be honest, I couldn't wait to get out of the walls of this base, which were glass but still locked. Not while she still hadn't woken up. "Surely you can skip it tomorrow, right?" asked Caspaer. I shook my head. "We only have them twice a week and we have a specific time for them. Otherwise nobody ever has time." Schanz clearly shared my disappointment. "Maybe I can get an extra session done," Caleb said. I nodded gratefully. Although Caleb was older than me, he and I were on the same wavelength, which I liked. I also got on well with Capsar Versand, who was my age, but he sometimes had his head in the clouds. And that could be dangerous these days. Times had changed and sometimes I had the feeling that Capsar hadn't fully understood that yet.