1239 days in Oreus
Mina's diary
Day 1 / 15.6.2042
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My first day in Oreus. They gave me a large room on the minus fourteenth floor. It is very quiet here. Except sometimes I hear a d r i p – d r o p sound – it drips down the walls. I also hear some strange smell – it reminds me of a deep pit. I feel like I’m in some kind of c e l l a r. Even though the offices and kitchen rooms upstairs are really light and bright.
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Tomorrow will be my first day at work. The kitchen is so pretty! It’s so shiny and clean! There are brand new sharp knives – made in Japan, they say. An air con’s f l o w is no joke either, really f_r_e_e_z_i_n_g. Can’t wait to start working here.
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Although my room is wide, I don’t feel like it is. Maybe that’s because there are no windows.
There is a poster with palms in front of my eyes. It is so poorly made that I’m sure a person who made it has never lived by the ocean. One day I might throw this picture away. It makes me uneasy.
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Is it even possible to wake up without s u n, waves and seagulls -c r y i n g-? In the morning I’ll be woken up by an -a-r-t-i-f-i-c-i-a-l l-i-g-h-t- of a lamp with the sound of the hymn of Oreus…
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Thank god, I’m not alone. I’m so glad that Ghia and Keith came here too.
Day 1 / 15.6.2042
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Started this diary to check up on myself. Don’t want to forget my home.
Day 8 / 23.6.2042
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I dreamt of the island’s beach… I was feeling t h e w e t s a n d beneath my feet, my hair got t a n g l e d because of the wind, and mum… I squinted as I was squeezing half of an orange. Maya was sitting at the counter and scolding me for making an undercooked steak. Suddenly, a giant bumblebee b-u-z-z-e-d around my ear, I turned around and saw that Maya was knee-deep in water. The water kept rising. I shouted out: “GET UP, RUN! RUN!” The bumblebee went even louder, and I couldn’t hear Maya’s answer . . .
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I woke up because of the nasty sound of the alarm-lamp. I was s_o_a_k_e_d in s_w_e_a_t. Suddenly, A HUGE d r o p came from the ceiling and landed down on my head.
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I should call a cleaning service to remove stalactites from the ceiling. They are just few centimetres in length. Yet I get *irritated* merely by the fact of their existence. By the way, yesterday I found a dead lizard underneath the bed . . .
Day 15 / 30.6.2042
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Spent the entire weekend s l e e p i n g. I don’t know why it happens, but I can s l e e p for 2-3 days in a row if an alarm-lamp doesn’t wake me up. I’m so afraid of sleeping late on a weekday and getting a penalty…
The alarm song goes on _f_o_r _h_a_l_f_ _a_ _d_a_y_ in my head – it is the loudest sound here.
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Yesterday, I was sitting alone in my room, and suddenly I was _s_t_r_u_c_k__ with p_a_n_i_c__ – it was t o o q u i e t . . . This silence is killing me… I miss the sound of w a v e s … and even the yelling of drunken fishermen . . .
Day 80 / 3. 9. 2042
Moved to an upper-floor kitchen. It’s much c l e a n e r . And the greatest thing about it is that now I can see real sunlight coming from the -g-l-a-s-s- ceiling above the dining room! I started coming to work a bit earlier to have *s o m e p l e a s a n t t i m e * u n d e r t h e s u n. I’m glad I decided to study at weekends to receive a higher qualification and come here. But it’s a pity, though, that I won’t work with Martha, Luis and others any more.
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It also bothers me that I still feel –d_i-z_z-y__ quite often, although I thought that I might feel better on the upper floor.
The tops are a w f u l l y picky. Yesterday, one of them scolded me because his portion was too big. He said he was served a stew instead of sauteed mushrooms. I mean – isn’t it ridiculous! A portion was just a l i t t l e b i t l a r g e r than usual – I added few more mushrooms because I didn’t want to throw them away. Once the package is torn – you have no way out, the mushrooms should be cooked instantly, or they would suck up a l l. t h e. w e t n e s s. from the air. Such a product would be of use only for a soup, but tops won’t eat it. Even the drying camera won’t save the mushrooms.
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Well, some of the tops are o k . One man even asked me if I like it here, maybe I need something, do I miss my home. As if I can not miss my home!
Day 112 / 5. 10. 2042
Had a great time yesterday. Me & Ghia had *s o m e_ f r e e_ t i m e*, so we went to the orangeade. I’m so -h a p p y- to see any kind of plants, no matter whether they are able to grow underground or not. We recalled our lives on the island. Ghia h a s a l o t o f s a d n e s s. She hopes to find some job on the ground. But it isn’t easy f o r u s , m i g r a n t s. Plus, there are few places to stay out there. I try my best _n_o_t _ t_o_ t_h_i_n_k_ about my past life.
Day 135 / 28.10.2042
Nowadays, I rarely see Ghia and Keith. They both changed a lot. Ghia awkwardly f l i r t s. with a young CEO, Mr T. I tell her that he is sweet to all the women around, but she doesn’t listen. It doesn’t matter, she says. I don’t quite get her. . .
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Keith operates some complicated machine – he studied how to do it when we were on the island. These days, he drinks heavily. Whenever I meet him, he __h_u_m_s_ _some_ _s_a_d_ _melody__. He misses our home d e e p l y .
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I grew really tired of t e a r y conversations with them. I mean, we need _to live on__ somehow, and n o t. b u r y. ourselves in the past.
Day 143 / 5.11.2042
Yesterday, I decided to visit Ghia. She lives on the minus tenth floor. A_ l o n g_ d a r k_ f o r k i n g_ hallway is the first thing you see when you get off an elevator. That time, I started to feel __d=i-z_z=y_ as soon as I stepped out of the doorway. I tried to lean on the wall, but my hand slipped. I walked a few steps forward_ _ _ – and then f_r_o_z_e in panic: was it really minus tenth? I looked exactly like my minus fourteenth… Maybe I -d r e a m t – of riding an elevator? I fell short_ of breath_, I was s- u- f- f_o_cating…
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It was so scary…
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Thank god, a few moments later Ghia found me and brought me to her room.
Today I visited a doctor. He said it was a panic attack and prescribed me some medicine.
Day 188 / 20.12.2042
Mr K. sent me downstairs again, to check on the kitchen where I used to work before. I still can’t get used to that d a m p i s h s m e l l – I constantly imagine how s_l_i_p_p_e_r_y__ feel the vegetables once I touch them. The local drying camera is small and less powerful. Can’t be compared with the one from the upper floor. So, I wrote a request for new equipment once more.
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In my new kitchen, they keep vegetables in a fridge with dry ice – that’s the best way of storing. We are really lucky that Oreus reuses CO2 – thanks to that, we always have fresh vegetables and fruit, sparkling drinks, and artificial meat.
Day 193 / 25.12.2042
Yesterday we *c e l e b r a t e d C h r i s t m a s*. In the beginning everything went really well, but later at night Keith drank way too much and started -y-e-l-l-i-n-g- how he hates living in the underground. Then, he __burst_into_tears__, and I had to walk him away.
Still, I’m *h a p p y* that we had that holiday. There is no sun here, no sunsets and no sunrises_, no clouds_, no rains_, no snow_.
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Just_ one_ endless_ day____
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So, I get really excited when something i n t e r r u p t s our daily routine.
Day 209 / 10.01.2043
TAKE VITAMINS!!!
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I’m getting more and more used to living underground. However, the d-i_z_z_i-n-e_s_s keeps bothering me – now it happens to me 2-3 times a week. Once in a couple of months we go to a check-up to a local doctor. He gives us a pack of vitamins, but I often forget to take them.
Day 211 / 13.01.2043
I really miss Rick the Doggy. Sometimes, he comes to me in my d r e a m s . He welcomes me, w a v i n g a tail leisurely, as I come out of the cafe.
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It’s such a shame that we aren’t allowed to have any pets here. Even though, I think he wouldn’t like it in here – he was fond of –r u n n i n g- along the beach scaring the seagulls . . .
Day 233 / 3.02.2043
I’m worried because of the -c-ou-g–hi–ng- – it’s been more than a month already. I thought it’s just a cold, but dear doctor Nasim says it’s because of t h e_ d a m p_ a i r. I hope that the medicine he prescribed would help.
Day 375 / 25.06.2043
Ghia keeps _complaining_ about the uniform. She doesn’t like that everyone has to wear the similar clothes – they only differ in colour, depending on department that one works in. Ghia is annoyed with her orange jumpsuit. But I *like* my blue one. Ghia is mad about the fact that tops are allowed to wear what they want. She is used to skirts and scarves. She says that uniform makes everyone look -l-i-k-e- -r-o-b-o-t-s-. Ghia *stubbornly* keeps wearing her b r i g h t. scarf brought from the island – even though she received several fines because of that. However, she wrote a complaint recently – it seems that they are going to allow her to wear scarves. I mean, it’s not not that bad.
Day 385 / 5.07.2043
I’ve just realized it’s been more than a year since I came here. Today, I imagined how my father would have laughed if he had known that I spend all my days underground. He would have said that I’d soon t u r n i n t o a m o l e. Sometimes I talk to him in my s l e e p . He would t e a s e m e like he used to when he was alive. He would still be a fan of inappropriate jokes.
Day 627 / 3.3.2044
My cough got even worse. I get tired r e a l l y _f a s t_ . I barely can keep up till the end of a shift. Doctor Nasim says I need to take medicine and vitamins regularly. I know that many people who live here for long also suffer from -c_o_u_g_h-. Some have severe a l l e r g i e s. I’m afraid of losing my job because of feeling unwell.
Day 823 / 15.9.2044
I befriended Lana who also works in the upper-floor kitchen. She came from a city, one year before me. She says they had really bad air there. It was h_a_rd t_o b_r_e_a_t_h_e. Moreover, they had food shortages.
Lana is *g l a d* she found a job in Oreus. She likes living underground. I have the feeling of being –t r a p p e d- -i n- -a- -c e l l a r- , but she can’t relate. Perhaps, it’s because she used to live in a city and never saw an ocean or a tropical forest.
Day 1047 / 27.4.2045
Today Mister N yelled at me: I added some seaweed to the soup by mistake.
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I have trouble focusing.
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Ghia gave up. She called a girl from the island who know works in a hotel in Tokyo. The terms are terrible there, but Ghia says she can’t handle it here anymore. She invited me to come with her, but they don’t need a chief there. I feel like I’ m l e f t a l l a l o n e … Of course, I made some new friends here, but there is no one left from our little island. Except for Keith, but he’s not a talkative type.
Day 1161 / 19.8.2045
Thank god, my shift has finally ended! Time flows really _s_l_o_w_l_y__.
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I can never tell whether it’s night or day.
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By the end of the shift, my hands start to _s h a k e_, it becomes hard for me to work with the tools. Perhaps, it’s better to breathe in toxic fumes in some city filled with mud and dirt than to spend the rest of my days here? Anyway, no one needs a sick chief.
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Ghia texted me couple of times – and nothing more. I don’t know whether she likes her new life or not. I’ll try messaging her again. What if I manage to find some job and g e t o u t o f h e r e all of a sudden ?..
Day 1237 / 03.11.2045
Well, it finally happened. The thing that I feared the most. Today, I made a terrible mistake. My hand s l i p p e d and I poured some _h o t s o u p_ on a top’s hand… Mister N immediately said that I’m fired. He told me to pack my things by the end of the week . . .
Day 1239 / 05.11.2045
I packed all my bearings – there aren’t that many. Ghia doesn’t answer my calls. Tomorrow will be my last day in Oreus. Martha told me about an inn called L***. Her brother works there. P e r h a p s , I s h o u l d t r y t o g e t t o t h e t o w n a n d f i n d t h e L*** building.