killjoys never die - Still running (Danger Days)

Chapter 15

Beep.....have a better day.......beep

Opening her eyes and slamming her hand down the alarm, she jumped straight out of bed and into the shower. In exactly 8 minutes and 53 seconds she was stepping back out and into her wardrobe grabbing the first set of clothes. Every days outfit was carefully lined up ready for wear and rotated weekly when the laundry was delivered, it was deliciously efficient.

In exactly 12 minutes and 47 seconds she was eating a 30g serving of cereal, taking her daily pill and was finished by exactly 14 minutes and 59 seconds. Right on time to tie her almost dry hair back and brush her teeth. By 19 minutes and 36 seconds she put on her shoes and grabbed her bag which she organised the night before. Perfectly on time. As every morning.

She would arrive at work at precisely 8.46 with enough time to place her belongings into her locker and be at her desk awaiting her first email at 8.57.

She felt fine. She always felt fine. She worked until exactly 12pm and then it was down to canteen to eat lunch. Everyday she would queue at exactly 12.05 for five minutes and buy a sandwich and a bottle of water, Today would be no exception. She always wondered why they had a full hour for lunch when she could have efficiently been back at her desk within thirty minutes maximum. Perhaps she should speak to someone about that.

By 12.30 she was finished and sat waiting for 1pm. This was the one point of the day she had noting to do, and she would rather be busy. Working was the goal, what was life if she wasn't contributing to the smooth running of society under the brilliant BL/ind.

Today something strange happened however as another employee slid into the chair opposite her. Highly irregular practice for the workplace, this wasn't a place for friends this was a place for efficiency and productivity. Cocking her head to the side she almost imagined herself frowning, that would be going too far though, emotion wasn't something they needed here. Maybe this was a work related issue and that made her relax awaiting information.

The woman opposite had a sad smile, well what she assumed was sad, not something she had ever experienced. She looked at her, taking in her blond curly hair and brown eyes, the thought of what an odd combination almost like her hair or eyes were not a natural colour unlike her own brown hair. Confusion wasn't something she was used to experiencing and noted to herself maybe it was time for a medication review, such things needed nipping on the bud as early as possible.

Her eyes fell downwards towards the table, the woman was holding a piece of paper between her fingers and nodded once to indicate it was for her to take. Not waiting to cause any disruption she accepted the paper and gave her thanks, before checking her watch. 12.45 she wondered if they would be acceptable to return to her desk and continue her work, she really did hate sitting here not being productive.

"Please read it when you can, alone." The woman said standing and looking at her with those sad eyes again.

Maybe she should suggest a medication review for her too, eyes shouldn't be sad, we are having a better life here.

She waited until 12.53pm before making her way back to her desk, the paper still in hand. She had almost forgot she was holding it as she sat down at her desk and awaited the countdown until her screen switched back on. She placed it inside of her pocket, she would read it later when she was alone as the woman had instructed, it would be rude to not follow instructor after all.

The rest of her shift passed as usual. She did the exact same amount of work as always and finished typing her last word just seconds before the monitor clicked off indicating it was time to return home. She gathered her bag and stood in the lift with the other members of the team, silence between them all. Chatter was inefficient, friends were not productive.