Emily grabbed a to go plate at the cafeteria and headed back to her barracks still too embarrassed to eat in the cafeteria because of her weight. She was afraid that she would break a chair. Looking around at her room she realized that she needed to go shopping. Changing into her BDUs she headed out to the barracks office only to turn back when she forgot to bring her backpack. Backpack in hand Emily headed back out to the office again. Inside the office she found a private to give her directions to the Base Exchange. He offered to drive her to the Exchange but she declined saying that she would like to run.
She sprinted the entire way there. The Base Exchange was surprisingly small and old considering how big the base was. The first thing Emily did was head to the electronics section and found herself phone and signed a one-year military contract. The contract stated that if she was deployed outside the United States she could place her phone on hold and restart the contract when she got back. Pleased her next stop was to the bed and bath section where she spent nearly fifteen minutes feeling the soft thick towels before choosing three big blue towels. All and all she spent an hour and a half in the Exchange and stuffed her backpack full. When she ran out of room in her backpack she ended up carrying two large bags full of stuff. Smiling and happy Emily sprinted back to her barracks room.
Unpacking took only a few minutes then Emily jumped into the shower. After a glorious hour and a half, Emily felt like a girl again. Throwing a hot pocket in the microwave Emily sat down at her desk and opened up the language program on the computer. She paused when she heard her chair creak a little. She sat for a couple of seconds waiting for any more sounds but when she heard nothing she started in on her language program. Four hours later she completed her first module.
Farsi or Persian is a very complicated language. Emily found that it had its own alphabet with 32 letters written solely in cursive. Most of the letters changed appearance depending on the letter before and after it. The first module was just about all the different ways to write and say the letters.
“Maybe the next module won’t be so long.” Emily muttered out loud. Four frustrating hours later she completed her second module. She had an hour to muster with the Marine First Sergeant Perkins. She sighed “It's not like it is the first time I haven’t gotten any sleep.”
She changed into her brand new workout clothes she bought at the Base Exchange and grabbed her backpack. “Let's hope I get time to work on this before I get off tonight.” She thought to herself as she put the computer into her backpack and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator.
She got to the running track early and started to run. She had been running for a good half an hour before the First sergeant pulled alongside her on his golf cart. “Morning Never.” He called out as he drove up beside her.
“Morning First Sergeant.” She called out with a smile.
“We're going to go faster today so keep up.” He called out. Emily nodded and the golf cart slowly pulled ahead of Emily. For the next two hours Emily raced Perkins around the race track but in the end, he still won.
“How fast does that thing go.” Emily asked trying to control her breathing.
“What this old thing.” He said smiling at Emily. “Right around sixty. Have a good weekend and see you Monday.” He told her and sped off not waiting for a reply.
The lab coat guy was waiting on her by the ballroom door to let her in. Without a word, she climbed up onto the platform and for the next three hours got smacked around by the small rubber balls no matter how fast she moved to dodge the balls. “Private Emerson we're not getting the results that we were hoping for so you're going to have to come in this weekend. Let's say same time.” Doctor William said over the hidden speaker.
“Yes, sir.” She said not really surprised.
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She left the ballroom and headed towards the cafeteria. Grabbing a quick lunch Emily found a power outlet next to the wall and sat down on the ground not wanting to sit on a chair. She plugged in her laptop and spent the next hour doing part of the next language module. HM2 McLaughlin was in a really nasty mood when Emily got to the gym. According to her, all the physical therapist techs were going to have to take turns doing weekend duty for the next three months because of Emily. Emily said nothing and did what she was told. “It's not like I’m getting weekends off either.” She thought to herself.
She raced back to her barracks after her four-hour workout was complete. Someone had replaced her chair to a thick metal chair. She paused at the door and looked around to see if anything else was different but she didn't notice anything else that had been replaced. Shrugging she threw hot pocket into the microwave and started in on her language program. She was in the middle of trying to match her voice to that of the waveform on the bottom of her screen when someone knocked at her door.
It was Corporal Wigabaut and he was dressed in civilian clothes. “Hey Never. I mean… ah, can I call you by your code name?”
Emily chuckled “Where did you hear that name?” She asked him.
“Oh, it's what everyone calls you now. But I mean you're not working now should I call you Emerson? Is the code name thing a work thing or is it ah... everyday thing now” He asked sounding flustered.
Emily laughed. “You can call me whatever you like. So what's up Wigabaut.”
“Oh, yea. Me and some friends are going out to Club Nitro tonight and we were wondering if you want to come along.” He asked smiling.
“I am sorry Wigabaut but I can’t go. I have to finish this language thing before tomorrow and then I have to muster in the morning.” She told him feeling sorry for telling him no.
“Oh well, what language thing? Maybe I can help.” He said standing up straighter.
“Unless you know Farsi I don’t think you be that much help.” She told him shrugging.
“Oh no the only language I know is some french I took in high school. Sorry.” He told Emily giving her an awkward smile.
“Then how did you expect to help me with learning another language.” She thought but said, “Maybe next time. I have to work the entire weekend but hopefully, I’ll get a weekend off soon. Look I really have a lot of work to get done before tomorrow so I hate to be rude but I have to get going.”
“Oh okay, no problem. Maybe be next time. Bye Never.” Wigabaut said backing up and waving. Emily let the door close and got back into the language program.
Emily finished both of her modules by two am and went to bed. Her phone woke her up in the morning and she dressed out in her work out clothes. She ran to the race track and then sprinted for two hours. It was strange and a little boring to be running on her own. She found herself slacking off and force herself to go faster. There was a new guy waiting to let her into the ballroom. He just mumbled “Good Morning.” and opened the door.
He must have been unhappy at being there on the weekend because Emily thought the little balls hurt worse today than before. Near the end, she was able to dodge a ball once every few minutes. Also, she was surprised when she was smacked on the top of her head by a ball. Looking up she noticed that the balls were coming from the ceiling now. That was new.
Grumbling she went and got something to eat from the cafeteria. As she did the day before she sat on the ground by the socket and plugged in her laptop and started in on the new module. At one in the afternoon, she made her way to the gym to find a man in purple scrubs waiting on her.
“Hey, are you Never?” He asked her.
“Yes, sir.” Emily said not seeing his rank.
“Cool, I’m Andrew. You ready to get started.” He was a lot nicer than HM2 McLaughlin. He never missed counted any reps and he was really just a laid back kind of guy. He didn’t seem to be mad that he had to come in on his off day work with her either which was a big plus.
“Hey, good job today. You’re squatting just under a ton. You might hit it like maybe tomorrow. Oh hey, don’t worry about McLaughlin she can be a pain in the ass. Most of us aren’t that bad.” Andrew said as Emily was leaving.
Emily started in with her new routine when she got to her barrack’s room. She took a shower and ate her hot pocket before starting in on the language modules. She surprised herself when she completed the second module by midnight. Not feeling tired she started in on the next module trying to get ahead. She was planning on quitting around two but was so close to being done she kept going until finished it. She jumped into bed ready to start all over again.