Randall’s POV from earlier

I stepped back to the jumper, and I heard the bridge close behind me with a sizzle.

Junior took care of our fresh injured. The pod already stabilized him, but the broken bones would take a few hours at least.

“Get us back to base and let’s drop off these two,” I said while looking at our other injured in the jumper. We were on our way to the base with her when we’ve got an emergency call, so we had to stop by.

It was a fascinating case.

“When we went in at first I thought the other guy was our injured. Chief, those burn scars! Nasty! Those looked untreated… dear Darkness… they looked like they healed without any assistance or care… just raw, on their own. How damn painful would that be? And, and… for a long time too. It looked like it was raw meat for at least days!” jabbered the junior annoyingly.

“Hhhhhm. It must have been a living nightmare.” I had to agree with him, but his mental health seemed worse. The kid’s eyes were tired, like the prey’s that gave up. The white in his hair was obviously not from old age like mine.

“And what was that CPR thing? They didn’t teach anything like this. It was like some kind of strange technique that barely sentient nomads would use on a backwater moon,” continued the junior unstoppably.

“I could imagine that you haven’t heard of it before junior, but it was a first time seeing it for me too. It’s hard for these old bones to see something new you know,” I said.

“What was it supposed to do chief? You said he might have saved the guy.”

“Hhhhhm. That chance is high indeed. I believe he was trying to keep the kiddo’s circulation going with his own hands while he also breathed for him,” I mused.

“Damn, that sounds mental!” he cheered loudly followed by a whistle. “We’ll be there in a sec chief,” he added.

“Send me the probe’s recording from before we went in. Can’t wait for the kid to show up to take on my offer,” I said while rubbing my hands together slowly. It wasn’t often that my chewy old meat got excited nowadays.

“That too! Chief you are as wicked as always. You are the stingiest dried out bone I’ve ever seen, yet you offered the kid a freebie. What’s the catch?” asked the junior while looking back at me with a grin of crooked, blunt teeth. Ah… I wished he would stop that. Young people had no damn self-criticism.

“Close that shameful mouth of yours!” I reprimanded him.

He snapped it shut and turned back with a weak whimper.

“I offered him to fix his burn scars so that I can have a more appropriate chat with the kid about this CPR of his.” Now it was my time to grin.

“Who the fuck is it this early?!” I grumbled.

[I don’t know, but the priority of the call is high.]

I got up and stumbled my way to the couch where I accepted the call.

“Greetings Mr. Aium. I hope my call didn’t reach you at an uncomfortable time. My name is Koronbalath the 15th. I’m the owner of the GreenHut establishment you are oh so familiar with,” introduced itself the mushroom guy with a deep, bubbly voice.

[Genna, does it see me?]

[On default setting the video stream goes both ways..]

“Hey.” I waved awkwardly after realizing that I was having a video chat in my boxers.

“I’ve received several reports about the unfortunate incident from yesterday. I’m happy to inform you that the victim has been released this morning from the Regional Health Center.”

“That’s good to hear. What happened to him?” I asked.

“He was trying to repair a small, decommissioned gravity core. Needless to say, it didn’t go well for him.”

“I also received information about your unique efforts at trying to preserve the victim’s life. After a cross-examination with the released medical report, it does seem like that your efforts weren’t futile. I’d like to personally thank you for this,” he continued.

“I just did what I felt was right. No need to thank me.”

“As a show of appreciation, I would like to gift you a free week of accommodation in our humble establishment. Additionally, we are offering everyone who was affected by the accident-free counseling. If you want to participate, please notify the reception desk. I wish you a nice day.”

“Thanks, I guess. Bye!”

[Well, I won’t say no to free stuff.]

[I guess the other occupants on the accident’s level got even better “gifts”,] added, Genna.

[Why was his name Korbath the 15th? That’s such a strange name. Did his parents lacked creativity that badly or just hated this kid in particular?]

[Koronbalath the 15th and its single parent is Koronbalath the 14th. Remember when I told you about how they reproduce? Well, this is how they name their children most of the time. Starting a new line… requires certain circumstances.]

[So, there was a Koronbath once -]

[Koronbalath!] she interrupted me.

[Yeah! Ko-ron-ba-lath! Happy?! So there was once someone named like that, and he made a child from a tentacle and named it… after itself but added “the 2nd” to it?]

[Exactly.]

[They are getting creepier with each new information. If you tell me they put the small tentacle child into living beings as parasites, I’m going to relocate my place of residence to a sun’s core by shooting myself into one.]

[The fungari do no such things. On the other hand, the severins kinda do.]

[Okay. My first absolute order to you is to tell me to run the other direction when you see one of these severins. I hate and fear parasites with a passion.] A shiver ran through my spine even from the thought.

[They won’t hurt you or anything like that. They are very nice people, but fine... I’ll do as you ask. By the way, you should check your messages. You’ll be surprised.]

That made me perk up instantly. I had a hopeful hunch about the content of the message, but I was pleasantly surprised because I found two messages, instead of one.

They were short, so I skimmed through them in a few seconds.

“500 and 2000?” I asked while staring at the holoscreen in front of me.

“500 and 2000!!!!” I shouted while laughing uncontrollably.

[Hard to believe, but people are sending you money. Could you at least act more moderately about it? You lied and tricked these people and you laughing at them like a maniac makes the whole thing a lot worse.]

I cleared my throat in my embarrassment.

[I’m laughing at my luck, not at them,] I added quietly.

The morning was starting out pretty good. Free money, free housing. This is how life should be lived. Well, that was a bit exaggeration, but it was still something.

I went to the fridge, and I took out a package. This was something new that Genna ordered yesterday. It wasn’t the bland shit I’ve been eating for the last few days. It was a kind of salad. It tasted pretty good, and I somehow felt more awake after finishing it.

Today I planned to apply for a job. There was no need to delay it any further, and I didn’t even know how long it would take to get one.

[Let’s apply for a job today. Is there one of those delivery jobs nearby? I don’t want a job where I have to commute for hours every day.]

[One of the delivery assistant positions is relatively close from here. Would you like me to apply for you?]

[Sure, let’s do that.]

[Done! Let’s hope for a quick reply,] she chirped.

[That’s it? I don’t even have to lift a finger?] It was disappointingly simple. I didn’t want it to be complicated, but at least I expected to do… something.

[I sent in a standard application form with your information which I already took the liberty of preparing earlier. There’s nothing else to be done here. We can only hope for a quick reply.]

[Cool. How long does it take usually?]

[Worst case should be a few days.]

[So, do I have to prepare for an interview in any way? I don’t want to get into an awkward situation you know.]

[No need to prepare. You seemed like an intelligent guy so far, and you adapt surprisingly quickly considering where you came from. Just be yourself, and it will be enough.]

That was a sweet pep talk from her. It wasn’t anything magical or special, but even this little encouragement gave me a warm feeling. Having someone who supports you felt nice. It felt really nice.

Since I managed to sweat through this arduous job application process in a timely fashion, I had all the time on my hands and nothing to do. I couldn’t spend the entire day on the couch watching documentaries. I didn’t even have snacks… Speaking of the lack of snacks. I would have to talk to Genna about this colossal oversight.

Going out for lunch wouldn’t be bad. I had the money now. I could allow myself this small luxury. There have to be some decent restaurants or food stalls nearby but until then… documentaries it is.

Before I could even lift a finger, I’ve got another call.

[Aium, you’ve got another room call.]

“What the hell is going on today?” I complained while quickly putting on clothes before accepting it.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said after the video call connected.

It was the guy who was at the reception desk the first day I arrived here.

“Hello, Sir! We have someone here who wishes to speak to you. He’s the victim of yesterday’s incident.”

“Sure.”

The holoscreen switched to the blonde guy’s face from yesterday. He looked completely fine. At least his head.

“Hello! I’m Kevin! I heard from the junior physician that you kinda saved my life yesterday. He told me that I should thank you because they might have been too late without you. I don’t know you, but if you ever need anything repaired or fixed just give me a call and I’ll help, however I can. I’ll leave my number here. Seriously though, thanks for saving me.”

I didn’t want to tell the guy that he can take his repair offer where the sun doesn’t shine. He literally blew himself up doing repairs. No thank you!

“No need to thank me, man, just don’t blow up yourself next time,” I said.

“I’ll take that to heart! Thank you again! Bye!”

“Bye!”

[I wouldn’t take him up on his offer,] commented Genna.

[Are you sure you can’t read my thoughts? I was thinking the exact same thing.] I narrowed my eyes.

[I can’t read them. I can assure you.]

-I’m going to rob a bank and massacre a ton of people this afternoon.-

…

Good! She really couldn’t read my mind.

[Were you just thinking something ridiculous to test if I can read your mind?] she asked suspiciously.

“FUCK! You can seriously read my mind?!” I jumped up.

[I don’t have to. Sometimes you are just as predictable as unpredictable at others.]

“Mhm… sure.”

I better be careful. She’ll trip once and I’ll… how would I punish her? Lick batteries, tell lovely human stories about blood, torture, and death? I’ll have to think about this.

I spent the following hours productively. Laying on the couch and conserving energy. I was starting to get hungry again, so I began to consider thoroughly that it was time to head out for a nice walk and lunch. This took some more time because it was an important decision I couldn’t rush.

[New message!] chirped, Genna which ended my contemplation.

[This day just can’t give me a break,] I groaned like an old man while sitting up.

“Dear Applicant,

We’ve received your application, and after careful consideration, we decided to hire you as an employee. Please come by today or tomorrow to discuss the details and finalize your position.

Remen Kal

7th Division Supervisor of Palale Deliveries”

[That was a fast reply. No interview or anything?] I frowned.

[I made a detailed application. There is no reason to go through an elaborate process for choosing an employee for this position,] Genna explained.

[That’s pretty sad on me,] I said while tilting my head to the side.

[It’s a start. You’ll have a respectable place in society in the future, I’m sure of it,] she encouraged me.

[Thanks, that’s nice from you. We should go there right away. I don’t want to waste more time on the couch. The idleness is driving me nuts.] I cracked my neck in anticipation.

[If you can arrange to start tomorrow I’ll be able to take next month’s allowance money before your official start of employment.]

[Oooooh? That’s terribly sleazy of you,] I mocked her.

[There’s nothing sleazy about it. You have a right to it. Taking it is only a logical action.]

[Sure, sure.]

[Finally, you’ll have a normal job, and you can live a normal and peaceful life as a valuable member of society,] she said while giggling.

[Could you stop sounding like an overzealous mom?] I asked while making a strange face out of frustration.

[Anything I need to know before going there?] I continued the conversation.

[As I said before, I think you’ll be able to handle everything. Except when they ask you if you want to sign up your clone or yourself for the job you won’t have the clone option since you don’t have the fraction of the money for one.]

[What clone?]