MF1.0 - 62 - Decaffeinated

The Esc key felt terrible. It was the curse that came with using a keyboard as a pillow. Stef guessed that the annoying buzzing sound was her cue to be awake. She pushed Frankie away and pushed the screen down – he’d had a hard night, he deserved some sleep. ‘Nurg,’ she muttered as she knuckled the sleep from her eyes. She stood on unsteady legs and crossed the room, one hand on the wall for balance. The cool tiles in the kitchenette did nothing but annoy her. Require: fluffy slippers. Fluffy white slippers appeared on her feet. She slapped at the kettle until it went on, and dug the instant coffee and sugar out of the cupboard above. Require: chocolate. She crumbled four squares into the cup and munched on the rest while she waited for the water to boil. She made the mocha on autopilot and sat on the end of the bed. Require: more chocolate. She stared at the mocha. ‘You aren’t going to work fast enough, are you?’ Require: caffeine IV. Nothing happened. She made the request again, but again, the coveted lifeline failed to appear. ‘Crap.’ A gulp of the burning liquid began to dredge her higher functions from unconsciousness. There was a knock at her door. ‘I’m not caffeinated yet, enter at your own risk!’ she called. ‘Duly noted,’ Curt said as he opened the door. ‘Newbie, you need to get out here.’ She glared at him. ‘No.’ ‘You don’t want to make Taylor angry on your first day.’ She shrugged and had another gulp of mocha. ‘I think he already hates me.’ ‘Unless you want him to include a two-k run, now. You’re on unsteady ground enough, everyone will hate you forever if you make him include a run today.’ Require: me the hell out of here. Again, nothing happened. ‘I don’t care what everyone else thinks.’ He dared to come further into the room. ‘You’re really supposed to be with the geeks right? Do you want to run two kilometres? Could you even do that without having a heart attack?’ She stared at him for a moment. ‘Ok, ok!’ ‘Good then.’ She went back to drinking her coffee. ‘Now means now, newbie.’ ‘What colour are your eyes?’ she asked as she took another gulp. ‘Eye colour’s got nothing to do with compatibility, newbie.’ ‘Oh geez,’ she required a small table and set her coffee on it. She got up on her knees and beckoned him over. ‘Brown,’ she said as she stared at his eyes. ‘Just like chocolate-covered coffee beans, now...if you don’t want me clawing out your eyes while looking for possible sources of caffeine, you’re going to let me finish my damn mocha.’ ‘O...k....then.’ He shook and backed off. ‘It’s scary, because I believe you.’ She settled back down on the bed and picked up the cup. ‘You should. I’m crazy dontchaknow? I killed a man once,’ she said as she stared at her wavering reflection in the cup. ‘With a keyboard. And a screwdriver.’ He let this pass without comment, and stood silently as she drained the cup. Require: training uniform. A black uniform that matched Curt’s appeared on her and she stood. She placed the cup on the little table and required them both away then shook her head. ‘So not ready for this.’ He grinned. ‘Newbies never are. Just try and not die. Like yesterday.’ ‘Yesterday? That was that only yesterday?’ He pushed open the door. ‘Ya, you almost became a statistic.’ ‘Let me guess: death on first mission.’ He shook his head. ‘No. Death by freak accident on a first mission. We keep a running tally in the common room if you want to check it out.’ ‘It wasn’t an accident,’ she said matter-of-factly as they walked into the gym. She looked at Taylor and understood how the more observant citizens of Pompeii had felt. ‘You. Are. Late.’ He growled. ‘Sorry sir,’ Curt said and joined the other recruits. Taylor continued to stare at her, and when she didn’t respond, he snorted. ‘The technical department is on the floor above.’ A few of the other recruits giggled. ‘Sorry sir,’ she mumbled. ‘Won’t happen again. I believe it was an after-effect of the concussion I sustained yesterday.’ ‘The elevator is at the end of the hall.’ She wished she wasn’t dealing with this on only one cup of mocha. ‘Was I reassigned?’ ‘Not yet. Fall in.’ ‘So lucky,’ Curt whispered as she fell into line next to him.