Mortgage One’s Soul
Mortgage One’s Soul — Chapter 2 — Consequences — Part 1
Monique Touran, Day 1, Services
Merticaru Dorin Nicolae
(To part 4 Mircea Dan) — (Content) — (To Part 2)
Monique Touran — Day 1 — Services
Arriving home, she felt free from the stressful day she had just gone through… Exactly, she didn’t quite identify where the horror of staying at work came from.
The logistical effects of starting the expansions at Coras Inc were quite demanding even at its level, of centralization, ordering and scheduling, advancement of reports to Corasdo, and the analysis and decision departments.
Then she still lacked the support of Corasdo who, through his requests, forcibly ordered her, particularly effectively…
The military delegations, he realizes get angry. Stupid and more dogmatic than the military… Ohhh, his clever fish… They are incapable of anything other than giving orders. When you put them to work, it’s over… Ah yes, unless there’s something they’ve done before… Then they do a reasonable job…
“Smile, tomorrow everything can be more boring than today! Or more annoying?!?” she said aloud to fit in what she must do here at home. Home, yes, home… Lily, she remembered wistfully.
She approaches the door of the heart and taps her calling tune with her finger… She waits a while and, in the absence of an answer, taps the welcome tune… But still nothing. She intended to open the door, but something made her change her mind.
Maybe Lily is sleeping for the next night’s mission…I better prepare the meal for when she wakes up! He must not go on a mission with a full stomach, and, for that, he must eat at least 4, 5 hours before that.
She studied for a while to order the meal, while she stripped out of her work clothes and changed into her home attire. She finishes, removes her make-up, and sits down in the armchair, feeling tired from the day… The thoughts waited so long…
She had never seen Corasdo, her “protector”, so close to giving in, so nervous and exhausted… Never!!! And the fact that she couldn’t understand him, in any way, was grinding her more than she could bear… Yes, that’s the “upsetting” part of it…
Corasdo has always been a heart as big as a mountain… So big and full of life that you could only liken it to a mountain crowned by the rising sun, sanctified by life-giving springs… Warm, protective, paternal, and loving… Where else could it be a place for anger… Or exhaustion?!?
At first, she had marveled at how pure that man could be and didn’t understand why she could hate such a man… Why did the history that reached them sound so dirty, so justifiable for her and Lily’s hatred? But, in less than a year, having access to direct information, even to dialogues with Corasdo, everything had changed into something else…
The first time she was in denial, where everything had become huge, overwhelming, heavy, more than she could bear. Everything had become pointless, suffocating… She felt that everything that had motivated her no longer made sense. The future became diffuse, completely covered by the past in which they had trained so much, to reach the point of starting the action of their lives… Suddenly, apart from pain, he felt nothing…
And every day became a battle where the most she could do was survive… Including Lily’s unforgiving attacks telling her she was just trying to keep up with a pain that must not overwhelm her like a natural mechanism against constant pain and wasted feelings…
“You don’t do anything but accept what’s happening,” Lily emphasized to him, desperate for her suffering, for the denial phase she was in… “You fit perfectly into the stages of pain! Pure psychology…”, Lily pointed out scathingly whenever she got the chance…
But the questions continued to flow: “Why am I the only one who believes this?”, “Why is all this happening to me?”, “I don’t want to live like this” and many, many others in an unstoppable avalanche …
But she saved herself with the help of anger. Corasdo was guilty and ready… The direct evidence they had access to is clear… Lily, always by his side, told him: “Make sure you don’t deny your anger! Let her lead you! She alone has been motivating us for so long… Dad must be avenged in some way. And don’t be angry with yourself for feeling anger, and don’t feel guilty for your anger either!”
The negotiation followed, that something that could compensate for the pain of finding out that they were wrong in everything they felt… Corasdo, without knowing anything about her inner turmoil, seemed to support her, seemed to get involved perfectly, canceling out the helplessness and hopelessness she was experiencing Monique… But she was relentlessly coming to understand more and more that they were wrong, that her attempts to control the situation were pointless… The overwhelming questions of “what if”, “but if” and the like failed to return it to its former stability when it had a clear purpose. She felt guilty…
“You’re doing nothing but negotiating with your destabilization, girl,” Lily poured acid into her soul…
And the depression followed… Thousands of dreams, plans hope, and projects crumbled to dust… Everything they had believed throughout their childhood, and many years after that, everything they had built… Corasdo was completely different and she no longer see the continuity of her actions… Sadness, regret, uncertainty, frustration… Feelings over feelings but… The moment of acceptance has come. This is the reality, Corasdo was innocent, this is the truth.
It was a period as painful as the previous ones. But the passage of time revealed to her that being herself, being a true partner of Corasdo, the depression flew away, and calmness set in… And it was pure acceptance and not resignation… Thus, life entered its normal, current course… Basically, alongside Corasdo who helps her with all his sincerity and warm heart… Ohhh, yes, a real heart…
That it keeps coming up about Corasdo and his heart… Let’s go into the “Heart” and tell Lily everything that happened today… And let’s decide what to do next!
The sound of the bell set to announce deliveries had distracted him. The table has arrived…
She headed to the supply pantry and discovered the thermal insulation package. She picked him up and carried him to the cupboard next to the “Heart” door.
Yes, Lily… I wanted to get to her, to enter the “Heart” … She disables all active services and leaves her biom in the farthest room, to be sure to get out of its scanning range. Activate the opening mechanism of the “Heart” and then enter when the hidden wall slides.
She quickly enters and notices how Lily’s simulation stops… There was a simulated corridor of zeolites that retreated to the platform and Lily was crouched behind some kind of corner of the corridor. It remained that way for the entire simulation platform deployment period.
Monique didn’t know what to do but she realized that she had stopped something important, waiting with the food package in her arms for a sign from Lily.
Eventually, when the entire room returned to the shape of “Heart’s” living room, she began to disengage the cinematic straps silently, without moving from her crouched position. When she was done, she stood up as she unzipped the mock jumpsuit and let it fall, finally shaking one of her legs off that was caught in one of its crotches, standing frozen for a while like that, wearing only her red panties lace up
Then she suddenly turned to face Monique, adopting a disengaged doll position, legs crossed near her knees, hands dangling, fidgeting… Until she decided to take off her pretend helmet, flashing a warm smile to Monique…
- Excuse me! Monique almost whispered. It’s mealtime, complete picking up the food package… Did I interrupt something important?!?
- I was simulating the mission from the night, specifying Lily moving forward energetically, taking the package of food.
In the short time it took to order the zeolites Lily put on a lace tank top and kissed Monique’s right cheek briefly, energetically.
- Table! ordered the house assistant who immediately began to arrange the zeolites into table form. Move next to the bed, central! Lily added, noticing that the table had begun to form in the middle of the room. I was trying to cover all the mission alternatives, Lily said noticing Monique’s immobility. Come here! she said pointing to the bed.
- And how are you doing?!? Monique asked, not knowing how to initiate the dialogue.
- The disposition of the target is very well chosen… It can be seen that he has studied for a long time or has elite assistance. No matter what I do, no matter how I twist the actions, it seems that four bodyguards are too much for me to act in time, before identification. I think the “Center” cares too much about achieving this mission to expose us so much.
- Logistically, I can tell you that all the members of “Doppelganger” already have two yellow cards resulting from previous identifications. We are the only ones who have only one card, one identification.
- Well, how did it get here?!? Lily asked as she began placing the portions of food on the table that had completed her transformation.
- Well, it seems that, lately, the number of “necessary” actions has increased massively… All the maximum importance, as long as the “Center” forced and reached the general cumulation of “yellow”.
- Good thing we don’t have any red cards. But the “Indigo” guys can’t be in on the action?!?
- We have discussed this so many times. They have completely different training and do not benefit from the coverage given by the existence of twins. They are individuals… And they act only for extreme emergencies… Cleaning up after, possibly eliminations at another level…
- Yes, yes, yes, interrupted Lily starting to eat with appetite, indicating with her fork, Monique to start eating. This sharing of risk means more danger for us, and I don’t like that.
- I feel that it is not quite right with the results of your simulations, states Monique almost interrogatively.
- I told you I can’t do without partial identification. Many of the variants even lead to complete identification… This is provided that you cannot provide me with an alibi through your presence in a public place. You really can’t be at work and make everything less risky?!?
- Not! Monique pointed out firmly. Corasdo had some aggressive negotiations with the military and civilian planning services and asked me not to stay in the office so as not to give details related to our current objectives apart from the existing official documentation.
- Go to the Pub, meet Rick!
- And what would be the difference? Better to assist from here. Anyway, you’ve gotten him used to it a bit badly, and since it’s night, he’ll do nothing but try to get on me all night. I have a hard day tomorrow and I need real rest. Biomis with its drugs cannot properly “master” my parameters and I don’t want to miss the day of the final meeting with the military delegations. Corasdo looks like he needs all my support.
- You don’t have time to intervene or provide assistance. I’ve practiced all kinds of things in the simulator, Lily added, suddenly sounding terribly disappointed. It was something abnormal for her, the one who took everything in jest, in play.
And, for a long time, there was silence… They finished the meal without uttering a word, did everything that had to be done so that everything was in order, and stood for a while on the bed holding each other.
- It’s time to initiate the logistical arrangements required by the upcoming mission! Monique broke the silence, whispering, kissing Lily’s cheek, standing up, and walking out of the „Heart” without looking back.
As soon as the sliding door behind her requested the activation of the terminal and the ranking analysis of the companion’s reactions began.
Studying Lily’s latest mission simulations reveals a low yield status. Additional preparation of the biomis for physical and reflex support was necessary. The physical status allowed… Everything was already applied.
The intervention indications suggested the need to abandon Lily’s preferred form of free combat. She needed assisted support and configured the equipment for the use of the multifunctional shoulder, with possible free use.
Then configure the support software. She knew that instinctively, in extreme situations, Lily was trained to follow her companion’s instructions almost blindly, all in automatic parameters of perception, not consciously perceived.
Yes, an extra effort was needed to select the reactions, to rank them for such a fight. Milliseconds of searching the storage medium could bring the trouble of identification. Everything must already exist in immediate memory.
She quickly discovered the problem that was manifesting as an obstacle for Lily. She was constantly considering only the five-target variant, the objective, and his four bodyguards. Maybe fate will decide some kind of gradual elimination.
Prepare the software elements for a smaller group of three plus one plus one, then two plus one plus two… The logical variants were thus completely covered… In the case of a “one by one” action there will not be the slightest problem solution for Lily…
Check all the preparations. Check again… During the action, she could not assist her… Now was the only moment, final, for what was to come…
Later she heard knocks on the door of the „Heart” … Lily needed her… She quickly checked what she could around the apartment… She was going to wait in the „Heart” for Lily’s return so as not to give duplicate traces to the biom system.
I think she wants to leave early, as usual, Monique’s thoughts added to her perceptions. That’s right, she concluded when, entering the “Heart” she saw Lily putting on her biomis.
- Done, get to work! Lily said without taking her eyes off what she was doing. I saw you finished your preparations, and I already applied my parasympathetic doses. By the time of the action, I will be ready to switch to sympathetic.
- Yes, “fight or flight”, Monique completed almost sighing as she took out the jumpsuit and exoskeleton for Lily from the closet.
She also chose two multifunctional ones.
- One is enough, Lily intervened. You know it doesn’t increase yield with both… And so far, I haven’t had a single miss, complete with reproachful noticing Monique’s disapproving look.
- OK, completely ironically, putting one of the multifunctions in the cabinet holder.
There was a long silence. Lily is getting ready, and Monique is helping her. Before finishing Monique checks the exoskeleton’s power bars.
- Do you sense something?!? Lily interjected. You know I’ve always relied on your hunches. Say something! asks in the absence of any response.
Silently, Monique took his hands in hers and lowered herself to her knees, pulling Lily to the same position. When Lily reached her knees, Monique pressed her forehead against Lily’s, initiating their ritual of preparation for action.
“Divine powers, be with us, for our deed! Forgive us the deeds that cannot be other, forgive us the lack of deeds that cannot be other! …”. And they did nothing else until they finished their old mantra, like a prayer…
Finally, Monique kissed her forehead, stood up, and grabbed the companion’s helmet, fitting it to Lily’s suit, not before taking a long look into her sister’s wet eyes. They were never identical to what she saw when she looked in the mirror, with her eyes… Lily always had an enormous amount of life in her eyes, a special shine, indispensable for her, for Monique…
Then she helped Lily up and gave her a big, long hug.
- Take care to bring my sister back, Monique said, feeling her eyes moisten…
- Come on dear, stop worrying! I had dozens of missions and every time you behaved the same. And each time I returned home, Lily added as the visor of the companion’s helmet closed…
Salute with the index and middle fingers to the right temple and exit through the supply room.
“Now what do I do?!?”, Monique said aloud. I have nothing to do but wait. Anyway, I must work for the secretariat. I’ve placed the biom away from my route to the workroom, so… Good job! Maybe I sleep a little preparing for tomorrow… Who knows…
But as usual, she heads to the office… Some connections to the Coras Inc servers and ‘home’ activity may provide some alibi in case Lily has identification problems, she instinctively thought. What happens!?!? Will there be problems?!? I will see in the end…
She takes all the data she needs and works for a long, long time, preparing all the work files, to have as much time as possible for the morning of the coming workday…
Proceeding to organize Corasdo’s schedule, she was surprised that he had only confirmed the meeting with the military delegation, following only the statement that the rest of the time was occupied… No delimitations of time, actions, or the like, as Corasdo was used to…
Busy?!? Strange… Sir Corasdo’s sincerity was already proverbial. It was the first time that she only met “busy” … Even when it came to risky meetings with Anda Mircea, he explained to her what he was doing, what preparations would be necessary, and the like. When it came to secret meetings, Corasdo wrote down the schedule of that meeting and blocked any other information with the note “Secret meeting on topic x”.
Something is wrong… The nervousness, the change of Sir Corasdo is a clear sign correlated with this new situation… Maybe it would be something that follows the meeting with the military delegation, and he cannot estimate…
No, and in this case sir Corasdo had his habits of signaling through notes like “possible extension for x minutes, hours” … Possibly… Yes, to focus on everything that follows related to the contractual agreements related to Coras Ins and the military.
The military’s amendments give her a lot of trouble until she evaluates and concretizes all the negotiation options and audits all the options for further development that arose from each viable alternative.
Along the way, with each stage passed, she couldn’t help but notice the enormous resource demands that were being drawn regardless of the option that approached her. She checks some supply statuses and notices that the military had done their homework perfectly, everything was already approved, as if things had already been arranged. Yes, the resource commitments said it all…
She rethought the strategies a bit, but everything was almost certainly going towards the approval of all commitments. Everything seemed like a small simulation of a chess game in which any piece could be moved and regardless of that the “checkmate” status appeared in a maximum of two moves…
Coras Ins was to be involved in the activities of contractual development for a minimum of 25 years at the maximum utility. This was only and only good news. Sir Corasdo turns out to be the mentor of any businessman… This is not where his generally negative mood comes from… Everything has another source…
She reviews what she has worked on and finds everything to be part of the same particularly fruitful, productive, individually, and socially positive activity. Yes, everything is perfect for everyone…
After all, I did my homework, she thought, sensing the immense fatigue. I will see tomorrow or the day after what Sir Corasdo’s real problems might be. Ohhh, it’s way past midnight…
I will prepare all the necessary materials for the synchronization. When Lily comes back let’s do the exchange…
She reviews the dates of Lily’s upcoming mission, and transfers all the necessary information… Yes, everything seems to be ready, she concludes rather quickly…
And she went to the bedroom and fell asleep no more than a minute after curling up in bed.
