CHAPTER 2

Cats are allowed on the station.  Well, sterile cats anyway.  Some time during the 2250s, rats somehow got on board the shipping containers, survive the trip from Earth to Mars.  That was the introduction of cats on the station. While Earth still struggle with their growing pet population, Mars' specifically release it's sterile cat breed to handle rats.  This left Mars with absolute control of cat diseases on Mars, even if some rich lady decides she wants to obtain a cat from earth, which is illegal by the way.  Some people tried to smuggle dogs, but the larger breeds didn't handle the gravity really well, and the smaller ones have psychological issues either with the gravity or confined spaces and attack their owners.  Cats, love confined spaces, but find their ways into the most gruesome of circumstance.  Like finding it's way in walls between the airlock systems.  

Which brings me to my rotation this year: A scrubber.  A scrubber cleans cat poops on decks, cat hair in vents, and dead cats in airlock systems. AI systems are too valuable to do this.  While I like the furry animal, and its cute sounds, a year of this and I might decide it's easier to watch plants grow.   [A scrubber cleans stuff that normal programmed robots can't do. ] 

Don't worry, at least I am in bio-hazard gear and bio-hazard equipment.  Mainly gloves, cat litter sand, a long-arm scooper, a dust pan robot, and a mask, in case my breathe and the less than one Earth grav'' blows the cat litter in my face.

Well, I have to call Ms. Giles back.  She will likely nag me that I haven't filled out my career's exploration form, likely the reason why I got the scrubber's internship, if you can call it an internship.   Strangely, the monotonous work isn't so bad, it's better than cleaning up rat poop I suppose.  No, the AI systems take care of that.  Apparently, rat excrement are a bio-hazard and have higher priority that cats. 

Whoops, I drifted off topic there, "Hello Sexy, call Ms. Giles."  Sexy answers, "Calling."  A few calling beeps later, Ms. Giles picks up the phone.  I was hoping her marriage would distract her from my internship thing, and it did.  Then her partner broke off the engagement saying "her needs weren't meet," and "that there was someone else."  And Ms. Giles, instead of turning to her gazillion friends, turn to me to talk to.  'Why me?'  I never had a date in my life, unless you counted a middle school date with Steven Stravez, we went to see an old earth movie, "Star Wars."  The science was totally inaccurate and the plot was ridiculous. Really, let me use the "Force" and solve all your problems for you.  Well, to be real, it didn't really solve their problems.  I read summary of the books on the network.  Yes, it's plural; books.  Though I was quite surprised they made the antagonist the father.  I was never into fads, and tend to hit the tail end of most trends.  

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"Hello, Ms. Giles, sorry I missed your phone call.  I was spending time in the garden before my internship.  For some reason, there is no reception there, and I had turn off my phone to work in certain danger zones. I finally got to a safe zone."

"We've been over this, call me Gillian please.  Oh, you are working? What are you doing for your internship?" I could almost hear Ms. Giles tap her table screen.  Apparently, she didn't even check before she called.  I hope she's checking up on all her other students.

"I am a Scrubber."

"They put you on cleaning and maintenance duty again!  They aren't suppose to put it you on a second time in a row.  You already did your assessment. Didn't you submit your career report on time."

"No, I submitted it before the deadline."  I said carefully.

"A month before, a week before, or a minute before the deadline? And don't lie to me, I can go in and check the record."

"A minute before."

"Susan E. Rodriguez!  Don't you know there a 'first come, first serve' priority basis?"  You probably got shifted to maintenance duty because other students submitted their report before you did.

"I know.  It's just ... I just feel like, I need a break."

"So, that's why you let them push you into C&M? So you can work your ass off and feel tired all the time or so you could go to the recreation gardens?  Well, if you wanted to rotate to being a gardener, then why don't you put that in your report.  They always need someone to take care of raising plants."

"It's not that."

"It's not?"

"I just feel like drifting."

"Look, Susan, drifting is nice and all, but don't drift too long, like I did.  I thought that if I did many internships I could find what kind of job I wanted.  I didn't.  Then I found out all my peers have found partners."

"I know, but..."

"Look, you take some time to sort it out and talk to me.  In the mean time, come to my baby shower."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant!  What how?  Wasn't Emily female?"

"I'll tell you later.  Just come to my party." And then she ended the call without even a 'goodbye.'  The perfect way to make me show up to her party.  I heard a beep sound and I asked, "Sexy, read message." 

"Subject: Baby Shower; Date..."

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