From Petra's diary
Michael: When do you have to go to work again?
Emma: In six minutes, if I don't want to be late. But I also have to finish studying this before tonight... Bah, I think I'll finish my homework again during my breaks at the hospital.
Emma is working like never before to keep up with both her last semester classes and her shifts at the hospital. I and Mile are doing our best to help her as much as we can with her assignments, yet she always looks totally exhausted, and understandably so. She's been following this crazy pace for too long now and I don't know how much longer she can continue.
And yet, even though she may be the most tired among us now, as soon as she gets back to the dorm she always checks carefully on both Mike's and my health. I want so badly to return the favour and help her somehow, I can't stand this situation any longer.
Emma: Hi, how are you today?
Petra: Not bad. I also went to the doctor this morning, and he told me that the number of residual parasites is now very low.
Emma: Oh, that's great news! And you, Mike?
Michael: Neither better nor worse, at least I can go to class again…
Petra: How are you, instead? You seem exhausted!
Emma: It's nothing, don't worry…
Petra: Are you sure? You also look a bit... Thoughtful?
Emma: Well, actually... It's just that the hospital offered me a real job, instead of covering shifts as I do now as an intern student. That way they would give me a real salary, and besides, at the hospital they really need more full-time personnel, but…
I saw her very torn, and Mike certainly noticed it too. And we didn't like at all the direction that conversation was taking, was she really considering something like that?
Petra: You weren't asked to cover even more hours, were you? You're already working way too much!
Emma: Well, sort of. I would have to cover four more shifts a week, I really wouldn't know how to plan any studying that way... But, on the other hand, it would be a real job and everything. So I was wondering if what I should do instead was-
Michael: (seriously) No way, you can't drop now! Not with only one semester left! If you manage to graduate, you can work as a real doctor, it would be much better than the job you would be covering now in any possible way!
Emma: I know, I know... But passing the semester seems so difficult as for now...
This is an uncertain time for everyone. With the economic crisis, the Selvadorian fever epidemic, and the now general feeling of impending doom that we all feel, many are led to choose the proverbial egg today rather than the chicken tomorrow. Emy has never been good at saying no to people: the hospital told her that her help would be indispensable to cover all the shifts, I'm sure she's feeling like she is not allowed to decline the offer.
Petra: I know it would be really tough, but I agree with Mike. I don't think it would be a good idea to give up without even trying! (Decisively) And if you can't handle your assignments anymore, I'm sure we can help you more. Right, Mike?
Michael: (Shrugging) Sure, why not.
Emma: But, I mean, there is just so much to do, and I don't even think it would be fair to...
Petra: (encouraging) Don't worry, I'm convinced that with a little teamwork, we can all three graduate on time!
Emma: And then, like it or not, I don't think you'd be the first nor the last student to cheat a little to finish all assignments on time. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
At that point Emy didn't know what else to say, and only let out a small nod. She still looked tired and all, but, to me, she also seemed a little more reassured than before.
Mike: (back to his homework) Well, if we really want to succeed, we'd better hurry up.
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I've often written in this diary about how a certain period of my life seemed the most tiring I've ever experienced. Now I no longer feel constantly exhausted because of the acute phase of Selvadorian fever, but with my study load, the thesis to complete, and the help with Emy's assignments, my weekly free hours can now be counted on the fingers of one hand.
I often end up studying at the campus cafeteria, it's a quieter place than the library and I simply prefer the atmosphere over there.
???: Sonia, what are you doing here? Didn't you enrol in a PhD program?
Sonia: Exactly! But today it's my day off, so I'm here to do a little bibliographic research before the next experiment.
???: That doesn't really sound like a day off at all!
???: Hey, hi Petra! You're back!
Sonia: How are you, a little better?
Petra: Much better health-wise, but I have so much stuff to do!
Sonia: I understand, the last semester is always like this. Good luck with that!
That said, they waved me off with a wave of encouragement and let me study. This semester will be tough for everyone, to say the least, but we must remember that the goal is just around the corner…
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A few days ago I wrote that my free hours are now few and far between. And of all the ways I could use them, I decided to go visit my family. Off-campus travel for pleasure had been kept to a strict minimum since the start of the Selvadorian fever outbreak, but now that both Tech Sixam and the area where my family lives have been cleared of mosquitoes, it was decided that the risk level became low enough to allow such travels again.
I waited so long to visit them again, and I'm sure my family will be happy to see me back in person and (mostly) healed too.
Gaia: Welcome back! I was so worried, how are you?
Petra: Don't worry, I'm feeling much better already!
Petra: ...and so we started working on a CO2 capture material to be inserted into factory chimneys, house chimneys, and other places where CO2 is released into the atmosphere in high concentrations, you know. The larger plants also include matter recomposers to convert the collected CO2, while for the smaller facilities we'll need to transport the full cartridges to a conversion plant.
Nico: (puzzled) It seems complicated… why can't you always put a recomposer everywhere?
Petra: It's because of the energy balance, in a real process it would take more energy to reconvert the CO2 into other forms than was initially obtained by burning fossil fuels, and therefore the process would be useless. By doing this, however, we can always use the electricity from a stellar core power plant to power the recomposers.
Nico: I see... It makes sense, probably.
I had thought a lot about what to say to my family, there were so many things I could have vented about. But I didn't want to dwell on what was making me upset also with them, so I preferred to talk about what made me happy instead: the project I was doing for my thesis. My brothers seemed to have a hard time keeping up with my explanation, but at least Techna seemed to follow me, and even nodded every now and then. In the end, they even let slip an unexpected encouraging comment:
Techna: It seems like a rational approach to tackle the problem, a good thesis project in short.
Gaia: How are Emma and Michael doing, instead?
Petra: Mike is doing much better now, at this rate he has some chances to fully recover soon too. Emy, on the other hand, is always working too much, the hospital isn't leaving her any free time at this point...
Gaia: (sighing) I'm really sorry the three of you ended up in this situation, college was supposed to be a fun part of your lives... But instead, you ended up having all these crazy issues. It's just unfair, that's what.
I don't think I'm the only one trying to lighten the mood when we finally get to meet. I noticed a few things that made me suspect the economic crisis is starting to hit home too, but mom seems determined not to make me worry about them during my day off.
My brothers, on the other hand, and Alec in particular, are oozing frustration from every pore, and in the end they couldn't help sharing their complaints with me too.
Petra: So, Alec, do you have any ideas about what to do after graduation?
Alec: Well, I'm not so sure yet... But, at this rate, I think I'll end up working in the fields in Henford with Nico, you know how it is.
Petra: What, are you sure? It didn't seem like you were interested in working on a farm!
Alec: Let's just say it wouldn't be my first choice, no... I've been playing in the football team for a while now, and I'd say I'm getting pretty good at it, I'd really like to continue! But with the crisis that's going on, it seems wiser to focus on a more secure career path than sports, right?
I feel really sorry for him, I'm sure he would have been a great player. But I also understand his reasoning. With the ongoing economic crisis, more and more people are starting to cut what's superfluous, and even on campus the sports teams are losing funding. On the other hand, instead, cultivating crops looks like an activity that our society will always need (no matter how boring it is for him).
Petra: I mean, it's sound like an objectively safer choice, I agree... But I'm also sorry about your dream.
Alec: Uhm...
Petra: Good luck with whatever you'll decide to do now, okay?
Alec: ... good luck to you too. Make sure you don't get sick again, okay? Mom was so worried that we had to hide from her all our teleport devices for weeks and deactivate those on everyone's phones too, she threatened to come to you secretly!
Petra: I assure you that I have every intention of staying away from every buzzing insect, you don't have to worry about it...
My few hours of vacation were almost up, so I prepared to say goodbye to everyone and teleport back to Tech Sixam University. The final weeks of the semester are just around the corner, as are the exams, we just have to roll up our sleeves and give it our all for this last sprint!
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