With heavy steps James trotted down the hallway, the zipper of his overall uniform pulled halfway down, his helmet pinched under his right arm. 'Beta 7G. Hell, where is that place?' he mumbled to himself while closely inspecting the sign on each of the doors. He was looking for his assigned quarter on the West Point Military Academy. James just had finished his first patrol as a Navy recruit ' he wanted some sleep, something to eat, and most of all he wanted to get under the shower. 'Beta 7E '¦ Beta 7F '¦ Beta 7G, finally.' He opened the door using his ID card and entered the quarter. It was a much smaller than he was used to. With his Interspace paycheck he could easily afford a nice apartment in a good part of Planet Manhattan, but times had changed. There was a bathroom ' shower, toilet, mirror, basin, a counter, no bathtub ' and the living and sleeping chamber with two single beds, he'd probably get a roommate James figured, a small table and two chairs, as well as a drawer. 'No kitchen .. they probably expect me to eat the junk they serve in the mess hall.' James muttered and threw his helmet on one of the chairs. The luggage he brought with him when he enlisted was already delivered to the quarter and he now dug into his bag until he found his manual razor and a bottle of shampoo. After locking the door to his quarters he slipped into the bath, put the shampoo and razor on the counter, then got out of his clothes and under the shower. Just a single movement and heated liquid poured out of the shower head. James leaned against the tiled wall, feeling the soft pressure of the water jets on his skin. What a rough first day, he thought. 'Let's see if I'll get some back-up tomorrow.' He sent his hand out, probing for the razor, and when he got it he quickly shaved off his three-day's growth. Getting out of the shower proofed to be not quite as easy as was getting in. James closed his eyes and gave in to the relaxation. 'This doesn't make up for the chaos I went through, but it's a start.' he thought, while he was being enveloped by hot steam. The peace was suddenly disturbed by a robotic voice, emulating a woman: 'New messages arrived.' James sighed. 'Figures ...' he hissed, and got out of the shower. After drying himself with a towel and putting on some training cloths, he stepped back into the living room, where he noticed a Neural Net Terminal in one of the walls. The display now featured a blinking '3 '¦ 3 '¦ 3 '¦ 3.' right in the center. He tapped on it with his index. ______________________________________________________________________________
|From: Corey, Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
|Subject: Talk to me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|Message: Hey there, little brother. What's up with you? Ever since you left Interspace . . . . . . |
|and Martha dumped you, you haven't been writing. What's happening to you and what do you |
|intend to do about it? Besides rolling over in self-pity, I mean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
|Let's hear from you. Mom's worried too . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|Arthur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
|_____________________________________________________________________________|
______________________________________________________________________________
|From: Zewanga, Ishmail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|Subject: Dear sir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
|Message: I were choose to be one who tells you: Recent medical studdies have proof that you |
|are about to die. The Hiswatha medical research institute has however finded a cure to your . .|
|fatal desease. Please transfer 5.000.000,00$ credits immediately to our account to live!!! . . . .|
|Life is invaluable to us - the Hiswatha Medical Research Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
|_____________________________________________________________________________|
'Bull**** ...' He walked over to one of the beds, lied down and lighted up a smoke and took a deep drag. It would probably last for ten minutes, and then it'd be time to see what kind of entertainment West Point had to offer.
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