Next was a boy I already knew by sight. I had seen him a few times with friends of Henry's. He introduced himself as Leon and explained that he worked in the Aquaculture Division. Aquaculture was large, not only encompassing living creatures such as fish and other marine animals that lived in the water, but also water treatment at the base. It was thanks to them, along with the engineers, that we had technologies that could use all types of collected water, such as rain, from lakes or mountain springs, and treated as drinking water.

Ivana nodded to let him know that was enough. She explained to him that he was responsible for the team's water supply. This included tasks such as finding, treating and reusing water for the team members. He took his blue symbol, which was round like all the others and showed several fish and waves running through the round logo. Then another girl came over, whom I also knew by sight. I couldn't remember where from, but somehow she seemed familiar. Bethany was her name and she worked in the harvest division. Now I remembered, I had seen her talking to Francis several times. I think they had been on a team once. She had no background in the field before the outbreak, but she was one of the longest-serving employees in this division, which is why she also brought a lot of expertise. When I heard her name, I also remembered that she had already been mentioned several times as the best person to contact for questions in the field, as she was something of a guru. She seemed a little older than most of the team members. Maybe in her early thirties. But she had an open look and immediately seemed likeable. Her job was to ensure that the team had enough food. Ivana emphasized that, of course, there would be sufficient supplies of water, food and equipment. But it was just in case they had to rely on supplies from nature. Beth took her brown symbol, which fit the harvest theme. Several foods, including a basket of apples, bananas and oranges, several loaves of bread and plants that were supposed to be edible, were depicted on it. She took it and looked at it with satisfaction. The next person to go... was me, I noticed with surprise. I had been so lost in thought and paying attention to the others that I hadn't noticed that it was my turn. "Um," I said unimaginatively and then added:

"My name is Julien. I'm currently in the harvest division. But I originally come from the medical division. I studied medicine before the outbreak. The others looked at me and listened with interest. I noticed that some of them were also looking at me in surprise. I knew that it wasn't that common to change divisions. You could do it, but it just wasn't that common. IVana nodded at me. "You will be responsible for the medical care of the team members. We will always make sure that there are enough medicines and first aid materials available on your missions. In addition, as Derek has already mentioned, you will receive training in first aid. However, you are there for emergencies; if a situation should arise that we have not foreseen, then you must take over the medical care as much as possible. We want to make sure that you all return safely as a team." With that, she looked at the table and pushed a sheet of paper towards me that was a beautiful dark red color. The well-known snake symbol of medicine was drawn on it. I pulled it towards me and looked at it more closely. There were other smaller symbols in the background that I couldn't quite make out. But it was a nice symbol. I put it to one side and then looked at Ivana to see if she expected anything else from me. She nodded contentedly and then looked at the person sitting next to me. I noticed that Caleb had withdrawn. He was still sitting on his chair but had moved back a little so that he was out of sight of the group and away from attention. The next was one of the boys, who I also thought I had never seen before. He introduced himself as Elwin and explained that he was from the engineering division. He also admitted that he was surprised why he should take part, since there were probably not too many machines in use in the outside world anymore. "It's both for the machines we give you - although that sounds exaggerated, we prefer to call them devices - and for any other technology you might come across. After all, you are there for the task of exploring the other base. Maybe they'll have machines or technology, and that's where we'll need someone like you."

He was satisfied with the explanation and Ivana pushed a gray symbol towards him, gray like metal. It had a few tools on it. The last three were a girl and two boys, of whom I only recognized one boy - Will, a friend of Caleb's and also older than the others, who seemed to be my age. Will was in charge of the zoology department. He said he had studied exactly that before the outbreak and would work with the relevant division for research into animals in the outside world and also hunting animals as food for the people in the base. His symbol was purple, depicted several different deer and birds, and his job was to ensure that the team behaved towards animals, that they did not become a danger and that they could also be used for food in an emergency. Then it was Zane's turn, who was an expert in reconnaissance, had previously been working with in the secret intelligence and had also studied psychology, all in order to be able to assess other people, negotiate with them and spy on them unnoticed. His symbol was yellow, had a book and a face drawn on it and his tasks overlapped very much with his previous knowledge. The last to be introduced was Meredith, an epidemiologist who had already been an expert in this field before the outbreak. She didn't seem to be thirty yet, very young for her expertise, she seemed. Her tasks were clear and her symbol was an orange virus symbol. When we had received all of our information, symbols and other tasks, we were given some more background information, such as training times, mission goals and expectations of the team. We would be going on our first mission in about four weeks, we were then told and we were already nervous about this big task. After the meeting was dissolved, the three left and only Leon and Meredith remained seated. The others immediately stood up and went outside individually.

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Meredith looked at her symbol and then said to no one in particular: "I wonder if we're up to the task. None of us have been out there before, have we?" Leon shrugged his shoulders. "They'll have been looking for us for a reason. Besides, Zane has been out there several times. I know him a little and have heard about it a few times." Meredith nodded slowly, but looked unconvinced. "It really isn't safe out there. I mean, we've been investigating the outbreak for over two years and not much has changed to this day. This base, as great as it is, helps us survive. But you can't really call it life." With these words and her slightly bitter tone, she stood up and went to the front door and then disappeared. Leon and I sat there in silence for a moment, then he stood up too. "See you tomorrow then," he said, nodded briefly to me and disappeared.

I sat there for a while and let everything we had just been told sink in. It all happened so quickly, Caleb had just told me about it for the first time, I had thought about it and with one word, an okay, I was now on this team. I didn't know how secret the team's tasks were, they hadn't asked us to keep it completely secret. And yet they said we should only tell them what was necessary and be discreet about the tasks and content of the missions. After a while I stood up too, took my hand pad and the sheet with my new symbol on it and left the hall. I decided that I wanted to visit my brother before we started tomorrow. Just the thought made me feel sick, but my guilty conscience that I hadn't been to see him for weeks was greater.

I made my way to the labs, which were located underground in the base. There was no elevator that I could use, so I had to take the stairs. It was cooler and much darker downstairs. I went through several doors until I came to a counter where a young man was sitting and typing on a tablet. "Hello," I said and he looked up. "Hi," he just said and raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to go to Benjamin - Room B15." He typed something briefly on the keyboard of his small computer and then looked back at me. "Do you have a permit?" I nodded, held my wrist with the watch to the scanner that was on the counter and it beeped briefly. The young man squinted, read something on the screen and then nodded slowly. Then he gave me a visitor's pass, which I clipped to my T-shirt and then nodded towards the door that led to the examination rooms in the labs. My heart was beating a little faster as I went through the door and looked for the room number in corridor B. I braced myself and then walked towards the window that belonged to the room. The windows were always mirrored from the inside, like you used to see in police interrogation rooms in series and films. That's why he couldn't see me. I looked in and there he was sitting. On the red armchair with a book in his hand. He seemed very calm, almost peaceful as he read. As I looked at him, I noticed tears coming. I quickly blinked them away. He was thin, thinner than the last time I had seen him, which had been about four weeks ago. But his skin looked better. It no longer looked quite as translucent, but had taken on a richer color. I smiled slightly and leaned my forehead against the window. "How's it going there?" I asked him, but of course he didn't hear me. The rooms were all soundproof. “I got a new job and I'm going outside. Outside, after so long, can you imagine that?”

I would have loved to speak to him normally, to go into the room, to tell him everything, to see his reaction and to have him in front of me. But that was not allowed without a doctor and at this time they were all busy with laboratory tests and treatments. My brother was just turning a page. My dear little brother, how I missed him. Because the person in the room in front of me was currently hardly comparable to the brother I knew. Because he had caught it, the big dangerous thing, the virus that everyone was afraid of. And rightly so. It had not been long ago that he had caught it, long after the outbreak. Like everyone else, he had worked in a division, aquaculture, and he had liked it very much. No one knew how it had happened, the assumption was that someone had accidentally brought it in from outside missions, although the prevention measures were very thorough and comprehensive. There were about fifteen people who had become ill. The entire base was quarantined for about a week and only then did the work slowly resume. The lack of work caused significant damage and the sick were then isolated. By now no one bore any grudges, but as was always the case, the sick were always insulted, even though it was not their fault.