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by Smoke hissed as the large vault-like door of the Hephaestus cabin turned open, gears rotating and blue and red LEDs blinking. Once it had opened, Sawyer shuffled into the building, her sports shoes dirty with muck and motor oil, and her wild, messy ponytail as greasy as ever. It was ten PM, the singing session at the Amphitheater had lasted far longer than it normally did, and Sawyer had been glad when it was over. She didn't really like those evenings. She had a deep, hoarse voice that was not really designed for singing, no, not at all.
"Bunk 1-D, please," she grumbled, and a rectangular metallic panel of the wall slid down while a bunk glided out like the disc drive support of a CD-player.
Sawyer heaved herself up on the bunk and laid down on it.
"To the room," she said, and the wall swallowed her, while the metallic panel slid back up. As she went down into the basement, where her private room was, she could feel the system of pulleys and magnets which were actioned in the process as she stared at the metallic walls around her, her callous fingers under her neck.
The bunk stopped abruptly, and Sawyer could feel another metallic panel sliding up as her bunk glided to the left, then the panel went back down again.
"Lights on," Sawyer mumbled.
Immediately, the room got bathed in the crude, industrial light of the neons included in the ceiling.
The room looked rather nude, carpeted in stainless steel from floor to ceiling, but Sawyer knew better; she could feel the reassuring net of coded circuits and sensors incorporated in the metal around her vibrating peacefully into her thoughts, and it was as soothing to her as the purring of a cat might be soothing to other people.
There was nothing else in the room than Sawyer's bunk, the glowing gems on the digital control panel glowing red, lime green and champagne.
But the room wasn't empty at all. All the furniture was incorporated into the walls, ready to open or come out at Sawyer's vocal or digital command. There was a ventilation system that kept bringing fresh oxygen whilst keeping the room at the perfect temperature and humidity rate, so Sawyer was never too cold nor too warm. There was her wardrobe, her little bathroom, a fridge, a shelf for snacks, a wall screen, and several workbenches loaded with nuts, bolts, screws, gears, wires, monkey wrenches, screwdrivers, metal sheets, torque wrenches, and many other materials and equipment designed for mechanical engineering.
The whole room replied to Sawyer's vocal command, and a little speaker was incorporated into the walls as well, so sometimes, the room could reply to one of her requests, like 'search this for me' vocally.
"Fridge," Sawyer said, and a line traced a rectangle in the wall, across from where the young woman was, and the rectangle slid out of the wall.
The daughter of Hephaestus went over to it, crouched down and opened it; the cold made her shiver. In it, there were cans of Coke, Fanta, Sprite, bottles of ice tea and tonic water. After hesitating a bit, she grabbed a can of Sprite, ordered the fridge to get back into the wall and asked for snack. Another rectangle lined itself out and glided out of the wall, and she took some crackers as well as little beef steak bites.
It was 10 pm, but she wasn't tired at all.
"Wall screen," she ordered in her rough voice, and a rectangular part of the wall shimmered like it had suddenly morphed from physical to virtual.
With the help of the voice sensors, Sawyer scrolled through her movie list and finally selected Iron Man 3. She asked her bunk to change into a comfortable modern armchair and leaned back, eating her crackers while watching the movie.
~~~~~
The next day, after a quick shower, Sawyer left the room.
"Bunk 1-D, please," she grumbled, and a rectangular metallic panel of the wall slid down while a bunk glided out like the disc drive support of a CD-player.
Sawyer heaved herself up on the bunk and laid down on it.
"To the room," she said, and the wall swallowed her, while the metallic panel slid back up. As she went down into the basement, where her private room was, she could feel the system of pulleys and magnets which were actioned in the process as she stared at the metallic walls around her, her callous fingers under her neck.
The bunk stopped abruptly, and Sawyer could feel another metallic panel sliding up as her bunk glided to the left, then the panel went back down again.
"Lights on," Sawyer mumbled.
Immediately, the room got bathed in the crude, industrial light of the neons included in the ceiling.
The room looked rather nude, carpeted in stainless steel from floor to ceiling, but Sawyer knew better; she could feel the reassuring net of coded circuits and sensors incorporated in the metal around her vibrating peacefully into her thoughts, and it was as soothing to her as the purring of a cat might be soothing to other people.
There was nothing else in the room than Sawyer's bunk, the glowing gems on the digital control panel glowing red, lime green and champagne.
But the room wasn't empty at all. All the furniture was incorporated into the walls, ready to open or come out at Sawyer's vocal or digital command. There was a ventilation system that kept bringing fresh oxygen whilst keeping the room at the perfect temperature and humidity rate, so Sawyer was never too cold nor too warm. There was her wardrobe, her little bathroom, a fridge, a shelf for snacks, a wall screen, and several workbenches loaded with nuts, bolts, screws, gears, wires, monkey wrenches, screwdrivers, metal sheets, torque wrenches, and many other materials and equipment designed for mechanical engineering.
The whole room replied to Sawyer's vocal command, and a little speaker was incorporated into the walls as well, so sometimes, the room could reply to one of her requests, like 'search this for me' vocally.
"Fridge," Sawyer said, and a line traced a rectangle in the wall, across from where the young woman was, and the rectangle slid out of the wall.
The daughter of Hephaestus went over to it, crouched down and opened it; the cold made her shiver. In it, there were cans of Coke, Fanta, Sprite, bottles of ice tea and tonic water. After hesitating a bit, she grabbed a can of Sprite, ordered the fridge to get back into the wall and asked for snack. Another rectangle lined itself out and glided out of the wall, and she took some crackers as well as little beef steak bites.
It was 10 pm, but she wasn't tired at all.
"Wall screen," she ordered in her rough voice, and a rectangular part of the wall shimmered like it had suddenly morphed from physical to virtual.
With the help of the voice sensors, Sawyer scrolled through her movie list and finally selected Iron Man 3. She asked her bunk to change into a comfortable modern armchair and leaned back, eating her crackers while watching the movie.
~~~~~
The next day, after a quick shower, Sawyer left the room.
