At the Twilight of Mankind

Part 21 - Chapter 5: (2/6) Advanced Society

THE COMPETITION

It has been almost two weeks since Jeremy joined Libra Justice as part of Sarah and Stephan's team. Malik's warnings about the organisation's personnel have proved true. The two young people are as distant and haughty as the other agents and Mr. Vaughen. Jeremy is so happy to be able to meet his best friend at the end of his shift. The latter, who continues his studies at university, is equally delighted to meet him to hear his anecdotes as a new recruit. Jeremy tells him in detail about the training, the latest combat equipment and the rigour of the rules to follow on a daily basis.

Standing a few feet behind Jeremy, Sarah watches the slender figure of the young man, his broad shoulders, his muscular arms and the red scars on his bare back. This is the first time she has seen him without his uniform. They don't normally need to practise together for swimming, but this week they have decided to go to the pool together. Nowadays, swimming pool water no longer looks like the water that modern-day earthlings used to know. Since the sun has been constantly beating down on the Earth, there has been hardly any rain. Few aquifers remain deep underground, but they are so scarce that humanity has decided to create some sort of neutral-tasting liquefied substance instead with properties similar to those of water for daily consumption. Younger generations like the three young agents have never drunk natural spring water, tasted salty sea water, or swam in the chlorinated water of the early 21st century swimming pools. Moving with ease in this liquefied substance, to which several chemicals are added to prevent contamination by bodily and environmental bacteria, requires exceptional technical and physical skills.

'I'd never noticed the scars on your back,' Sarah says timidly as she comes to stand next to him by the pool.

'My war medals with the sun,' he replies with a stern face, then he turns his head towards the young woman to give her a big smile.

'Did the sun do this to you?' she asks, her voice filled with compassion.

'Move,' Stephan suddenly interrupts them, patting his sister on the shoulder to come between her and Jeremy. 'Are we ready for the competition?' he eventually exclaims.

'If you want,' Jeremy retorts, staring straight ahead.

'Thirty?' Stephan suggests then starts rolling his shoulders.

'Okay,' Jeremy replies.

'Forty!' Sarah exclaims, looking at the distance. The two young men turn to her, frowning. Her brother waits a moment for his teammate to talk his sister out of it first. The three young people are standing in front of an Olympic swimming pool that is 50 meters (164 feet) long. Jeremy remains silent, still gazing straight ahead, hoping Stephan will decline his sister's challenge.

'Okay,' Stephan finally replies, then he takes a deep breath.

'Okay,' Jeremy agrees, then he gets into position.

The siblings do the same.

'3,...' Sarah starts counting down out loud, '2, 1.'

The three young bodies throw themselves into the water with perfect synchronisation. With each breath taken, Jeremy takes the opportunity to look how far Stephan is from him. Until lap twenty, the two men are literally neck and neck, but soon he starts to get ahead of Stephan. On the last lap, he wonders where Sarah is at. He can't see the young woman on his side, but he can hear water splashing in front of him, a few meters away. Did I count wrong? Jeremy wonders as he speeds up to catch up with Sarah. At the specific moment when he touches the edge, he hears her come out of the water. He catches his breath a few minutes before getting out too.

'How can you swim so fast for so long?' he asks her without hiding his admiration as he tries to catch his breath.

'Breathing! Strength propels you far the first few laps, but then it tires you faster as well. Because you guys are so busy kicking violently like crazy, you forget about breathing deeply.' She replies calmly. She hands him a towel.

'Will you teach me how to breathe like you?' he asks.

'Sure,' she replies.

When she sees her brother coming out of the water, she throws another towel into the pool, saying:

'Catch!'

With a smooth, brisk movement, Stephan grabs the towel mid-flight, but not fast enough to prevent one end from getting wet. He twists the end of the towel that has taken on the water before bringing it to his face to dry his head, torso, and arms vigorously.

'What game are you playing here?' he snaps to his sister who glares at him.

'That'll teach you not to push me,' she replies. She crosses her arms under her breasts in a defensive posture.

'What? What are you on about? I didn't push you, did I?' he retorts dismissively. He opens his arms and looks at Jeremy for approval. His teammate looks down at his feet to avoid his gaze, but he can't help a giggle. He quickly follows Sarah who is already heading to the showers.