Assassination 2136

Chapter 3: A Fleeting Sunrise

I was somewhat out of breath by the time I reached my apartment floor. The lift was out of order, it had been as long as I'd lived here. I produced the keys from my pocket, rustling them before finding the front door key. I gently pushed the door open and was greeted with the warm smell of home. Lavender filled my nostrils, with a vague scent of incense. I could smell that it was incense for concentration, Dovima always used it when she had a project.

Dovima was parked in front of the computer, her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose as she leant too far forward towards the screen. Her fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard in front of her, and I doubt she even noticed I had come back home. I snuck up behind her, then swiftly spun her around in her chair and planted a big wet kiss on her forehead. Dovima squealed, a mixture of fright and delight.

"You scared me!" She said, running a hand through her dishevelled, dirty blonde hair. I chuckled, gently grabbing her hand and planting a kiss on it too. I left a trail of kisses from the back of her hand, all the way to the nook of her neck, causing her to giggle uncontrollably. Her blue eyes shone brightly behind her glasses, but I could see the telltale signs of fatigue from the dark bags under her eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop getting so close to the computer?" I asked, standing up once more to look down at her. Dovima smiled.

"One more time, maybe?" She asked, returning to her work with a little giggle. Dovima's second job was identifying weaknesses in company sites online. If a site could be hacked and exploited, Dovima found the weakness, and reported back to the owners how to improve it. The current project she had, she been working on all week and so far had not found a single flaw in their defence network. The firewall had been intense, and if she didn't find a way in she wouldn't get paid.

"The MASH is on the counter top," she said, clearly distracted once again as the click clacking of the keyboard resumed once more. I went over to our table. It was a small apartment, it only took me two steps to get from the living room to the bedroom, but it was home. It was only one room, the living, kitchen and bedroom all separated by a thin dividing wall without a door. The doorway into the apartment wasn't quite tall enough for me, so I had to stoop to get under the frame.

Dovima had plated the MASH up, the brown smooth paste didn't exactly look appetising in the small bowls. Next to each bowl was a cup of hot water. The steam from the cup wafted up, mixing with the cold air that had found a way into our cosy apartment when I opened the door. I took Dovima's over to her, and she paused from her work long enough to plant a kiss on my cheek.

"Mind if I put the news on?" I asked. I didn't want to distract her from her work, knowing how important it was. She nodded, smiling at me. That smile, even after all these years, still made my knees weak. I returned to my own breakfast, grabbing out the two sachets from my pocket. I tore open both packets to reveal two small stickers, one with a picture of a coffee, the other a picture of a bacon and egg sandwich. I placed one on each side of my temple, making sure my hair was out of the way.

Flavour packets make MASH tolerable. MASH, which stands for Mechanically Augmented Sustenance Hub, was provided by the government for free to every citizen of Les Australis. However, the paste was unpalatable and revolting, despite containing all the nutrients you need to grow up big and strong. So, they made flavour sachets. They connected through your nervous system to trick the brain into changing the texture and flavour into whatever you want, for a price.

I took a sip of the water, and my tongue was treated to bitter sweet coffee. It was creamy and strong, immediately perking me up despite being up for so long. I then spooned up some of the MASH, and despite my eyes seeing brown mush, my mouth tasted a crunchy sandwich with bread, the gooey consistency of eggs, and the salty yet slightly sweet flavour of maple bacon. That's new, usually it's plain bacon. Nice touch.

The remote was in front of me, so I switched the TV on while I continued my meal. The TV tuned in to the end of the 5am news, as it was approaching 6am by this time and the sun would be rising soon.

"And now for news outside the dome!" The perky woman on the screen said. I chuckled, this was always my favourite part. The camera cut from a shot inside the news room to an arid waste land. Sand stretched as far as the eye could see, and in the distance you could see a storm brewing, the dark clouds rolling over with brief flashes of lightning. The sun was no where to be seen, covered completely by the voluminous clouds. Despite being so dark, you could visibly see the heat radiation coming off of the land, small little invisible squiggles rising up into the atmosphere, and adding to the threatening vibe.

After around two minutes the camera cut back to the news room to the two co-anchors chuckling heartedly. It was a fake, forceful laugh, but I couldn't help but laugh with them. It was a dumb segment, something they did every day at the same time. But sure enough every day I laughed at the stupidity of it all. Juxtaposing the harsh climate, the news room looks clean, with a large central desk and luminous lighting ensuring the two anchors looked flawless in their makeup. They exuded positive energy, and they had to. It was, after all, the morning news.

"Gripping stuff!" The man said, gently smacking a hand on the table. It was all so forced, so fake. I couldn't help but wonder what they were like when the cameras weren't on them.

"Glad I'm not out there!" The woman replied. Suddenly the TV was reversing backwards, and I glanced up to see Dovima above me. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, remote in her hand with the reverse button pressed down, as she rewatched the image of outside the dome that had just been on.

"It's a loop," she concluded, "a thirty second loop." I watched the tape with her again. I couldn't see the loop, it just looked like a desert with lightning, same as it always had been. Same as it had been as long as they had had the segment.

"How do you know?" I quizzed her. She walked up to the TV, and pointed at one of the clouds in the background. Her small delicate finger made a small smudge on the TV, and I leaned forward to pay closer attention.

"See?" She asked, eyes wide. I squinted at the TV, and was barely able to make out a small cut in the footage where a single cloud jumped from one position to another. I sat back into the chair.

"See?!" She asked again, her voice a mixture of excitement from seeing something no one else had, but also fear. Fear of what though? I nodded with a chuckle.

"Ok so they looped the footage what's the big deal?" I asked. Dovima seemed slightly offended at this, her eyes open wide and sorrowful, and I worried I had hurt her feelings.

"You're right of course babe, but I mean there isn't anything exciting happening out there. I can't blame them for trying to save some money by looping the footage," I continued, trying backpedal rapidly and un-fuck myself. Dovima seemed to ponder this for a moment, then smiled. It wasn't as happy as normal, but I know I had fixed some of the damage.

"Told ya," she winked. Then, my watch started to blare, a siren noise coming from it. It was 6am. Outside, we both watched as that damn orange ball started to peek out from behind the skyscrapers in the distance, flooding the dome with light. I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my hand. I felt Dovima behind me, rubbing my back. We both hadn't had much sleep last night.

"Time for work," she sighed.

***
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Don't forget to vote, comment and let me know what you think? I'm always looking to improve my story. Was a bit of a boring chapter of character building, but essential in the long run.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, out in two days ☺️