Abandoned World: The Awakening

Be that as it may, she was satisfied that day. And it was entirely possible that things could go further with Morgan and she'd be satisfied on a permanent basis. Though these thoughts of his and his general approach to everything around him were somewhat alarming. He didn't just seem immersed in some sort of scientific process like many of his level of intelligence. It seemed that he was building these processes in his head on some other level, a level above the consciousness of others. This was both interesting and frightening at the same time.

And this surprise increased when she didn't see him at his workplace. He was usually there before she was, and by the time she arrived, he was reporting something new and interesting that might lead them to discover something new about the fusion reactor. Not to mention the fact that

he had recently claimed to work there all day long….

Natalie looked around the lab: a couple of desks, a few cabinets, a safe, a stack of magazines, a computer with two monitors, and a framed picture of the cargo overcar with a trailer, a fusion engine in the back, that they were designing so extensively. She was immediately reminded of a group located in another wing of the building, working on the development of just that overcar.

They were required to make an engine that could run on both solar panels with a built-in battery and a fusion reactor at the same time. The trailer was also planned to have power units of various kinds: in the form of a crane, earthmoving and so on.

You'd think Morgan was there, but of course he wasn't. It was not in his spirit to work on other people's projects when his own was not completely ready. Moreover, they were still a long way away from something working in the concept of thermonuclear fusion, maybe even more than one year away.

She immediately envisioned a picture of what could have been in that "not one year". In that time, their relationship could have gone to a whole new level. When she could not just get things from him occasionally, but be fully present with him. When she could not be begging for his time, but demanding it. It's a little more relaxed. Still, if a relationship went through certain stages, there came a certain sense of responsibility for each other, a stage when even time became mostly shared, not private. And she understood perfectly well that in this case the common time would mostly be her time, not his. Perhaps that is why men often strive to keep the distance longer or not to shorten it at all… But the key word in this plan is "strive", because if the relationship continues, the woman will eventually get hers. Another thing is that it may not always suit her….

— I've been doing some marking. — Natalie said out loud. It was true, there was so much going on around her. And new, and terrible, and incomprehensible, and what she cared about most of all was a certain amount of contentment in her own body. After all, how could one be without it? What did her acquaintances get up to when they didn't have it? Tantrums and nervous breakdowns? What did they do when they lacked a man? Somehow one of them even seemed to have her own eyes on her, saying that men had become degenerate, but that they had to go on living somehow. Yes, but Natalie thought she had to be better than she was.

And she did everything she could to make it happen. Now men look at her like she's candy and drool when she walks by. But a figure like that costs not only genetics, but time and effort. You have to pump your arms, legs, abs, butt. Watch the diet, not just grab what was prescribed in the canteen on coupons. Not to mention the fact that these coupons are the same for everyone. Don't they realize that the same can't fit everyone at the same time. At least everyone is not the same age and height. At least no one would argue with that. But no — the diet is the same for everyone. And then they wonder why someone is in shape and someone is not.

Natalie decided to go to the canteen, she wasn't thinking enough to design anything yet.

Maybe someone would give her some ideas.

***

The first person to notice her was, as always, Taylor. It was like he had a locator built in somewhere that was always on her. Coincidence, or maybe the fact that he was spending more time there than he should, would hardly be appropriate. Especially since his mining section was the one that was most eager for results, because only there could not only encourage, but also penalize for insufficient production of the norm. Surprisingly — the most undesirable and physically demanding work for everyone, and the lowest paid. And how people managed to start doing it and then not get out of it, as if they were being held there by fear of death It seemed that way at first, but then

Taylor told her that it was a man's job, and everything else was just snot and drool that only women and children had. Then he'd seen the look of disapproval on her face, and added that he'd meant to say "tears" instead of "snot".