Unexpected

Translation Terror

The rest of the week went in the same way as the first with me working in the gym under Natasha's command until noon, then classes until around five, then me going home to study until it was late. It was grueling. Natasha started putting together a regiment for me, slowly adding more work for my ankle as the days went on. She also tried to figure out the right kind of motivation for me, trying to see what would push me to outdo myself. She tried being like a military drill sergeant, putting on a completely cold, aloof persona, and barking out orders as I struggle through pushups, but eventually I simply couldn't keep up with the demands. The sharp commands didn't work for me at all, they just discouraged me. Then she tried getting up in my face, sort of like what you'd see trainers do on weight loss TV shows. I blocked that out straight away. Romanoff soon got the hint that aggression shut me down instead of driving me forward. On Thursday she tried the motivation of rewards, but before noon I was slowing down, figuring that the reward wasn't worth the distracting discomfort the workout placed upon me. It was obvious that on the physical training side of things I wasn't making any improvement. I was doing well in the classes though. I'd always been a good student.

On Friday, however, I didn't meet up with Natasha. She sent me a text early that morning saying that she'd be back by Monday. Probably. I wondered if she was off on a mission, but I didn't have too much time to think on those matters as I was sent to a different part of the Triskelion, a cubical with a work computer of my own, and was set on translating some Greek documents for a case. Finally, I felt like I was actually doing a job instead of sweating and schooling all day. I had been wondering how I was ever going to get through today, since every part of me groaned with each of my movements. I had gotten so physically and mentally tired over the last few days that I had dropped straight off to sleep, gone the whole night without dreams, and woke up still feeling tired since Tuesday. Now, working at the desk as I interpreted the document mu muscles almost sighed with the joy of a day of rest.

My mind wasn't resting today though. The document I was translating seemed to be some sort of e-mail, and what it was describing was incredibly confusing. Something about three green stripes with fifty pea shooters each pogo-sticking across the playground. One was going to land on shells every time it hopped until it landed on a pan handle. The second one was jumping straight into a state of denial and was going to name its peashooters 'Moses'. The third green stripe was going to bury its pea shooters in the freezer for tentacles to pick up before the pine trees glowed.

I spent a good hour after I finished translating going over and over the email again, trying to make sure that I had translated it correctly, until I finally sent the translated text back to the agent who had sent it to me to translate. I had only been working on going over a set of texts another agent had sent me, this one in French, when there was a knock at the mouth of my cubicle. There standing before me was a tall, drawn woman with a sour expression and an overflowing folder tucked under her arm.

"What is this?" she asked holding out a printed copy of the translated email she had sent me.

Taking the sheet of paper from her I shrugged, "Look, I know it looks weird, but that's what it says."

"This is utter nonsense!" she did not look happy with her pinched face.

"That's what I thought too, but I triple checked and that's the correct translation. I don't know whose emails you're watching or why, but are you sure that they're not high?"

My slightly joking question I had hoped would diffuse her frustration only made her scowl deepen. "Do you understand how important deciphering this email could be?"

I shrunk away from her harsh tone. I'd never liked being scolded, but I could feel defensiveness rising in my chest, "That's what the email says. I translated from Greek to English, now it's your turn to decipher whatever code they're using."