After having a shower and putting on a lightly-coloured uniform, Lora sat at a small table on which she found a glass of orange juice and a fresh sandwich waiting for her. Finishing her breakfast quickly as usual she fastened the Universal Communication Device (UCD), an absolute must-have for information exchange and communication between people, to her temple before reaching for a transparent tablet the size of her palm from a shelf. She activated it by pressing her thumb on the sensor and nodded in response to the message that flashed on the screen “Personal access codes have been updated”.
“Power off,” said the girl. The video panels went black, plunging the room into darkness for a short while before one of them moved aside silently. A dim blue light of the space city slipped through the opened window and Lora said quietly, “Good morning, Titanium!”
Lora had already been working on the report for over an hour when she heard a familiar voice.
“Hi! I knew I was going to find you here!” Paul sat next to her on the bench and adjusted his slightly dishevelled blond hair. “You still don’t like working at the office?”
“Hi! No, I prefer a more spacious environment!”
The girl glanced at the cosy little garden. Since the time she had started working in the Council, this garden with neatly clipped bushes, bright flowers and benches nestling in the shadows of small trees, had become her true treasure…
“You do realize that you are on the forty-seventh floor of the “Unity” building?” chuckled the young man.
“I keep forgetting,” admitted Lora, honestly smiling and looking into his kind grey eyes, and added, “I’m glad to see you!”
“Same here! When did you get back?”
“Yesterday. And, the truth is, I missed Titanium.”
“No kidding! After a month away in the Lactian capital! How do you like our new allies?”
The girl shook the transparent tablet in the air. “It’s all here! How’ve you been?”
“It depends,” said Paul, avoiding the straight answer.
“Oh! I know that voice!” Lora hastily put the tablet away into a case on her belt and looked at her companion with genuine curiosity. “Tell me!”
“I guess I should create some suspense,” the young man lowered his voice and went silent for a second.
“Come on, don’t keep me waiting!”Lora was pulling at his sleeve, showing her impatience.