I was laying in a field of wildflowers with an incredible sight of mountains and waterfalls. Life was good, I had no reason to stress at all. I enjoyed the beautiful sights and then closed my eyes, the birds singing and the children playing in the fields. I opened my eyes expecting that it was the reality I was living in, it in fact was not.
I had opened my eyes right before my alarm, the loud annoying alarm I wake up to every day. I got up to sit, then the stupid alarm went off. I really wanted to throw that piece of shit into the endless empty space, unfortunately that thing was built into the goddamn side table so I wouldn't do that.
I had to get up, I had a meeting in an hour so I had to get ready. I went to the toilet to do my things and brushed my teeth, I began walking around the apartment as I brushed my teeth, or could I call it a space apartment. I looked outside of the five centimeter thick window just to see the same boring sun we keep orbiting around, and of course the Minor Stations, which were just space stations but smaller made for living or collecting information about the other planets that orbit with us. I happened to live in a Major Space station which were the stations made for living and everything else you do, what made it better was the fact that this Major Space station was the first one built, so it's called Major Space station zero, making it have more problems and faults than the other stations, it sucks.
I put on my work clothes and packed everything I needed for the day, I nearly forgot my work name tag.
"Can't forget the name tag in case they forget you!.. I think they know who I am, I have worked with them for ten years now.
I mumbled to myself and kicked some cans on the ground. It somehow made me even more mad. I tried to calm down, I dug through my work bag and found my pills, I took one and then headed out. I saw the same sci-fi style hallway with blank white colorings with small red and blue stripes going across it, also the lighting was really poor. I walked to the end of the hallway and I saw the center of the station, a man-made waterfall with all kinds of sci-fi buildings with screens and bright colors, it was so bright that I didn't even need a cup of coffee in the morning to wake up, the lights woke me up really well. I then began heading to the office for the meeting that we had in about an hour. I heard they were going to give someone a promotion for working really well, they didn't really say who but I assume that's a surprise.
As I was walking to the office I gazed outside to see something else than the sun that I see daily from my window. I only saw the earth, the beautiful earth we once inhabited until we ruined it all with our machines and other nasty things we did to it. I missed living on earth, it had everything I loved, plants and animals, well we do have those here as well but it isn't the same.
I had arrived at the train station and then checked the schedule for the trains, the train had just left which meant that the next one would arrive in about fifteen minutes. I squeezed my fist as hard as I could and took a deep breath, then I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see who it was, it was the detective captain.
"M-Marco? What are you doing here?"
I asked the captain, his name was Marco, he was a tough and a strong boss who had managed to crack many cases during his time at the office. He was the person who managed to make your life hell if you disturbed him, or he might as well just fire you for making a mistake or mentioning his mustache.
"Waiting for the train obviously, what else would I be doing at a train station in the morning?"
Marco asked me and laughed, I nervously laughed with him to avoid the awkwardness.
"That's a great question, stupid of me to even ask about it, sorry about it."
I said then sighed, I then sat down to wait and so did Marco.
"So, who do you think is going to get that promotion?"
Marco asked and took out a comb for his mustache, he really wanted to keep his mustache in near perfect condition.
"Well, I think Leyla will, she's been really productive and the cases she took have all been solved... It's either Frank or Leyla that's going to get the promotion, both have been productive and cracked every case they were given."
I said as I took a quick look at the schedule again, the train was arriving in thirteen minutes.
"Hmm, those two really have done good work... I'll tell you a little something if you keep your mouth shut about it."
Marco said and leaned towards me. I leaned closer to listen.
"Neither of them is getting the promotion."
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Marco said and leaned back with a creepy smile on his face. I was frightened of that smile, he smiles like that when he's ready to fire someone or catches someone red-handed, I still chuckled a little.
"I find that a little odd, they are good workers after all."
I said and scratched my head, Marco looked at me and then at the schedule.
"Heh, trust me, the results will shock you."
Marco said and got up to buy a newspaper from the newspaper stand. I began wondering who would be the one to get the promotion, it could also be me, I have been going to the office hours earlier to start working before others, I did have potential.
Marco came back with his newspaper and began reading through it. I took a better position on the chair and began wondering about the unsolved cases, many of the cases were difficult to solve due to the high tech weapons and tools they have bought and used for their crimes, they leave nearly nothing to use as evidence or clues to use with finding the culprit.
After I had stared at the ceiling, wondering about the crimes, Marco had read through his newspaper and the train was arriving in a minute. Marco rolled the newspaper and poked my side with it, it really startled me and I nearly fell from the chair.
"Wake up, day dreamer, the train is here... Getting scared like that will kill you one day, keep them eyes peeled, brother."
Marco said and laughed as he got on the train. I quickly took my bag and got on and got my card stamped, then I began looking for a seat where I was going to sit for only four minutes. I saw someone holding his hand up, I figured it was Marco, it indeed was Marco signaling that he got a seat for me. I sat next to him and then thanked him.
"You think we have enough time to get to the meeting in time?"
I asked Marco, he looked at me like I just stabbed him.
"...I'm the one who holds that goddamn meeting, if we don't make it in time, I will just delay it by an hour for everyone."
Marco said with a mad tone, I slowly turned my head away from him and checked the time from my watch. I have had a theory about Marco. I think he might be bipolar, I don't have proof but sometimes he laughs and all of a sudden he will be mad and start to break stuff, he has dozens of coffee cups at the office just in case he has to break one. Maybe one day I will tell him to get himself checked or something.
I looked outside trying to see something interesting other than the bland walls colored with the same boring colors. I didn't see anything other than a glimpse of the empty space we were floating in. I began staring at the sealing hoping that the train would get there in time so we wouldn't have to wait another hour. My eyes began to shut slowly but I fought back so I wouldn't fall asleep, the urge to sleep was massive but I didn't have time to sleep now. I felt my eyes close for a second, I saw darkness and everything went silent for a bit but after a few seconds I could hear Marco's voice shouting my name.
"Mark... Mark! Wake up, Mark!"
Marco was shouting at me. I quickly opened my eyes and looked at the way the voice came from. I stared at Marco, he had a laser pointer in his hand and he was standing next to a whiteboard with scribbles on it.
"Y-Yes, I'm awake!"
I said loudly and took a better position on the chair, I realized I was sitting in the meeting room with the others. I looked around and began focusing on the board.
"There's coffee in that pot, pour yourself a cup and stay sharp."
Marco said and continued with the meeting. I took a cup of coffee and took a sip of it, I then began wondering how I got here this fast, I also didn't remember walking here at all.
"How... How did I get here this fast? Did he carry me here? Did we run?"
I wondered and scratched my head. I began thinking how did I manage to get to this meeting without any kind of memory of it, anyone would remember an important meeting like this even in their dreams. I simply couldn't form any kind of memories of walking or getting to the work place in time. I stopped thinking about it for a bit and then I began focusing on the meeting.
A few minutes had passed and we heard loud footsteps outside the office, then a high grade detective came into the room. He was the leader of the third division that specializes in narcotics. I'm in the first division that specializes in homicides.
"Stop the meeting! There has been a murder in the center of the Space Station!"
The detective shouted. Marco stopped talking and turned to him. Everyone else also turned to him.
"Everyone get your gear and get ready!
Marco shouted to us and then walked to get his coat from the hanger. Everyone charged outside to their lockers to get their gear and so did I. I got my gear on and checked that I got everything I needed.
"Mark! You'll come with me! I'll drive us there!"
My colleague shouted and rushed to the garage, her name was Sherry and she took this job very seriously, like hardcore seriously. I rushed after her to the garage and we got into the vehicle. Sherry took off instantly right after I closed the door.
"Sherry from the first division, heading to the site!"
Sherry said to the radiophone, I was still struggling with the seatbelt but after I got it on I took my radiophone to report to duty.
"Mark from the first division, heading to the site!"
I said to the radio and put it back. Sherry then pushed a few buttons on the vehicle to indicate our activity to the office so they could support us if needed. The vehicle was like a car but it had the ability to float and fly for short time periods, only the leaders of the space stations could hand out vehicles like these to the army and the police. Every space station has their own president or leader that decides what happens and what gets built, if the people disagree in something they can change stations or they riot to get what they want.
The vehicle had arrived at the site and it wasn't a pretty sight. I opened the trunk of the vehicle and took out the gear we needed for a crime like this. I could already tell that this case was going to be a long one since the other detectives were waiting for us to arrive, this was going to take a while to solve.