Destinys reminder

Day 1 "Ping"

Destiny awoke to a sharp high pitched pinging sound. She glanced out of her bedroom window, squinting into the orange glow of the morning rays. The sun was still sitting in a bed of clouds on the horizon. She was exhausted. The combination of being woken up on her one day off and having gone to bed at an ungodly hour the night before due to her having to work overtime at the firm now, really set this day off to a wonderful start. She had taken on extra work because they were close to finishing an important project and the production team had been asked to step up and get the work done this week. Destiny and her coworkers had already spent countless late evenings and long strenuous nights in the office, so being up and seeing the morning sun rise at such an hour was a bit strange to her now. It was a beautiful sight to see on a free day. Admittedly she was a tad annoyed to lose those couple of precious hours of sleep, but knowing herself it wasn't really an option to turn a blind eye and go back to sleep now. Reluctantly she dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the kitchen to start her day. Still sleepy but pretty decidedly now she waddled over to the coffee machine, to make herself a cup of that dark energising goodness. Not much had the power to start her up and get her brain working as well as a warm cup of coffee did,(other than a nice eight hours of sleep maybe) but what could you do? That was a problem she casually pushed to a later and less busy date to tackle. For now a double shot of espresso and a good cold splash of water on the face would have to do.

Standing in the kitchen, nipping at her cup and checking her messages, she was reminded of what had initially startled her awake. She'd have almost forgotten. That noise. She put away her phone and looked around again, to the bathroom, out the window onto her balcony, she even peeked into the apartment next door. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Must have just been her imagination. The corridor was empty and still littered with shoes and jackets, even her neighbours were still peacefully sleeping in their beds. Destiny got a little bit jealous but it was of no use, today had started so she'd just have to make the best of it. Her gaze wandered back from outside across her messy apartment. Ugh she'd have to clean this up as soon as she got a little more time to spare. It really got out of hand these past few weeks, the rug in front of her bed almost wasn't even visible anymore, under the mountain of socks, crinkled shirts and dishes placed on it, like an artistic display of busyness. But she simply never found the time or motivation to clean up, especially now, when her free time was so few and far between. That time was better spent on programming or playing video games. Or maybe even testing out that new VR-headset she got herself as a treat to getting this new job. While she was contemplating just shoving everything under her bed and calling it done for, she noticed it. That's what it was. She knew there was something weird before. Destiny stared at the little display like box that had appeared in the upper left corner of her vision. Strange, it seemed so out of place, almost as if it was imported straight from one of her favourite video game. How in gods name did a display end up there? She waved her hand back and forth infront of the screen. Did she finally completely lose it and start hallucinating? Maybe this was lifes payback from staring at her screen 24/7. Now this really peaked her interest. Forget the coffee, she abandoned her tired attitude from before immediately. A display floating in mid air? Currently chilling over her kitchen counter, with a faint glow and some text on it? Now that, you don't see every day. Destiny looked a little closer. Strange. Even when moving her head the Text followed. Indeed, very strange. Ok this was it. Her mom was right. Her enthusiasm for all things virtual and gaming must've taken her. If only she'd listened to those grumpy old aunts, telling her to get away from that damn phone more often. She giggled. A nervous giggle. Destiny was convinced the weeks of sleep deprivation had finally caught up with her. No more VR before bed. She was already thinking up a mental reminder to herself to hit the pillows an extra 3 hours earlier tonight, when she finally decided to decipher what the box was actually trying to tell her. On the little screen it read: