"Just do your best, no one will expect anything more from you,"
Isaac struggled up what must have been the 300th step up of the tower, deriving determination from what his best friend had told him earlier in the day. It was noon, and he was only half way up the Jacinto lookout. The stairs were of cobblestone and wound around the literal outside of the wood structure that made up the outer walls of the rectangular tower (only the outside, a firestorm would leave the stone supporting structure completely undamaged). Which meant that not only was he dealing with a completely uncalled for steep journey by way of climbing what felt like a mountain, but he also had to deal with the heat of the sun and the occasional strong gust of wind that threatened to throw him straight off the building to his death. Not likely mind you, there was a safety chicken wire covering the entire walkway, designed to keep all but the most determined hurricane winds from effecting normal travel.
"Why no elevator?" he asked no one in particular. A simple question he'd already gotten the answer to last week: Security. This was one of The four lookouts guarding the city of Hamburg after all, fire safety hazards had to take a back seat to 'security'. Something he found fairly contradictory, but he wasn't exactly in a position to argue just yet. No. He would wait untill he was promoted. Yes. Then he would speak as much as he liked and about whatever he wanted. Probably.
It was at this time when a difference in potential electrical energy between his head and a cloud in the sky resulted in a sudden and loud flash of light. Lightning, or so it would seem. He lost conciousness for some time, awakening again when the sun was setting.
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"Am I alive?" he asked someone passing his prone form, also on the long treck to the top. Isaac recieved no answer as the man in question briskly marched past him, in a hurry to ensure that they were not mistaken for a good samaritan apparently. "This work environment is feeling colder all the time,"
Getting to his feet, Isaac started to wonder just what had happened to him. Lightning strikes on a clear day weren't exactly common to his knowledge. Shaking his head, he decided that he may as well show up at work, even if he is a little late.
"Getting checked out at the tower infirmary wouldn't hurt either,"
So he walked. All the way up until he reached a checkpoint, the second he'd have to go through to gain access to this facility. Rummaging through his wallet for his ID card, Isaac stumbled towards the security guard, feeling as exhausted as he had on any other day since he started working here a few weeks ago. He was starting to wonder if his body would ever get used to this much daily exertion when he finally swiped his card, a green light informing both him and the adjacent security guard that it was indeed authentic.
"Hi Richard," Isaac said in between gasps for air. "No response huh? Well see you later.
Richard looked a bit confused by something as he frantically looked up and down the stairway for something.
"What a weird guy," Isaac said when he was safely past him. "Only the second time he's been there on my shift and already I've seen him act like that, at least he greeted me the first time. Does this place just do that to people when they're here long enough?"
With these and other thoughts clouding his mind, Isaac finally entered the inner sanctum of the Tower of Jacinto.