Revisiting Her

-Cheesecake first-

Extraordinary... I never thought I'd see the day our subjects would react like that... It's truly magnificent how the human brain can adapt to a given reality. The persistence, the dedication to the goal, I can't imagine myself reacting this way. Hell! I would have terminated much earlier on. Elisabeth sighed heavily at the back of the lab away from the eyes of the corporate pen-pushers as she called them. We got away with this one rather easily but the impact this is going to have on their mental health... András moved along with the investors out of the room making a subtle turn towards the back to smile brightly at Elisabeth. She responded with a cold smile and spelled "fuck you" in silence. She proceeded to exit the room after a quick last check on the subject's vitals. "Ok... coffee... yeah."

Her priorities changed when she arrived outside of the company's cafeteria which was right next to the restaurant. Pork loin with red fruit sauce, Wagyu beef steak, Spaghetti and meatballs, salad of choice, cheesecake... I've thought about it too much already. She went right in and took a seat at one of the tables to the back. Moments later the waiter arrived to set her table.

"Just you miss?"

"Yeap."

"Are you ready to order or would you like me to come by in a bit?"

"I'll have the spaghetti, a green salad and the cheesecake, but I want the cheesecake first."

"No problem at all. I'll be right back with a piece. Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes, a vodka martini with olives."

"Dry?"

"Yeap, just bring me a glass and when I need a refill I'll let you know."

"As you wish. Will you have that with the main course or is it more of an emergency?"

"I'll have that now..."

"Awesome." He couldn't hide his smile.

"Thank you Jakub" said Elisabeth and laid back with a smile.

Hmph...still a minority the "desert over the main course" oriented population...who would have thought! These people like meat more than anything. But those meatballs are gonna be bomb right now. For Elisabeth, the dessert always had to come first. "I may end up choking to death while eating...I'd rather it happens after or while I am eating my dessert." In dinners with friends, she had to explain that more often than she liked. She had to explain that to the men she met as well. "It's hard for men to accept that the night doesn't have to end with them. Besides, what if he sounds like a train in his sleep?! No, no, no...sex first, dinner I can manage on my own." To Elisabeth, anyone who liked sweets is a hypocrite for not doing as she did and sticking to the norm. What infuriated her the most however, was that anytime she found herself in the middle of an argument with somebody representing the majority, she would be treated as a weirdo because "Of course majority rules, even if they are all idiots. I am going to do whatever the hell I want with my own self... don't like it? Fuck off!"

The problem she faced with that attitude was that a lot of times other people or things became an extension of herself. Her car, her food, her friends, her work, all were included in the extended "my own self" or perhaps it is better to call it "my own stuff". Over time, the people signing up as test subjects became also included in her "my own stuff" bag. As a result, she had to put up a fight against any action that could hurt them. Her efforts intensified after the first man fell in limbo during a test run. Until that point in time, she had not realized what her job would demand of her to do. She became exceptionally good though. "I am not losing anyone ever again!"

And she didn't. She took up the company's resuscitator course, which she passed with flying colors and during her first year as a resuscitator, she managed to recover all of the subjects that were nearly lost in their test runs. For Elisabeth though, this was just the beginning. She decided to lead a research team to figure out ways they can optimize, refresh and even perfect their techniques which ended up halving the limbo accidents of the project. But every now and then, András would keep pushing for tests that were riskier than the previous ones. That son of a bitch... he really doesn't give a shit... there is no other way to explain it.