An ensemble of sounds of birds chirping, piano strings, and water droplets began rising as I opened my eyes with my shirt off.

  “Ah right, it was itchy last night.” I rose up from my bed and my eyes blurred. I rubbed my eyes then glanced at the alarm clock beside me.

  October 5 2024; 4:03; UTC +3; Location: Choridia; Mode: 24:00

  I turned the alarm off and stretched my arms then saw the blurred city lights at the curtained window. The CCTV blinked red at the upright corner.

  I grabbed the shirt from the bed and turned on the light.

  Against the far wall, an L-shaped table filled the corner. Papers cluttered the surface, a notebook with bookmarks sticking out, a computer monitor and keyboard.

  Above the table, shelves held more papers and books. Below, a small fridge hummed against the wall.

  To the left, a wardrobe built into the wall, bulletin board mounted above it.

  In the small fridge, I took a container with a frozen ham sandwich and picked up the porcelain plate from the hanging shelves to place them on the cluttered table.

  My head turned back and spotted the unmade bed, its covers detached underneath. I approached the bed, pulled the covers in, then neatly arranged the pillows and sheets.

  Then I bent forward to reach the hanging towel at the basket leaning against the wall and the short toiletries basket.

  I left the room, with a towel at my shoulders and basket in my hand. The hallway’s still dimmed with warm light, CCTV's propped on each side.

  I navigated towards the bathroom, went towards the men’s room, and closed the door behind me.

  White marbled floors and walls shone through the bright light. No cameras were watching the room as mirrors reflected the doors at the side of the room.

  I went to the wash basin and laid down the basket.

  I saw my weary face, reddened from the cold air, and washed it with water. Before putting soap in my face, I noticed a smudge in a mirror, then wiped it with my soaked hand.

  My eyes spotted no gap in the reflection as I lightly tapped the mirror with my finger. A sharp sound followed by an echo resounded through the room.

  After the wash, I dried my face while looking up as I saw a shadow in a round ceiling light.

  “Those two... so clumsy sometimes.” I sighed, laughed, turned off the faucet, and snatched the basket.

  I went inside of one of the stalls that had a shower and closed the door.

  “Just great.” I murmured while I undressed myself. Then turned the knob and showered.

  —

  As I left the men’s bathroom with all my toiletries and clothing, I caught sight of a person in front of the elevator.

  “Good morning!” I said while my hair's soaking wet.

  “Oh hey Phoen, you need to eat more.” He greets back as he waved his hands.

  “I gain weight easily. Really, I'm okay.” I strode to leave the connected hallway and closed in on him.

  “Take care of yourself. You can't live on work alone.” He pressed his hand on my shoulders with his eyes staring.

  “Someone saw me at the park. Helped me through the attack. I've got friends watching out for me.”

  I smiled as I stared at the CCTV leaning above the elevator. The grip in the man's hand loosened as he opened his mouth.

  “Really? You've got a good friend. I'll give you that. Give them my thanks.” He withdrew his hands as the elevator rang.

  “I will, Sir Maldeva. Have a safe patrol.” I waved at him as Maldeva entered the elevator.

  I turned around as I saw the CCTV at the end of the hallway blinking red. I navigated towards my room, stepped inside, and closed the door.

  I approached the closet and got dressed. A white t-shirt, some design on it, and jogging pants.

  I glanced at the documents cluttered on the desk and began gathering them into separate piles.

  ‘Inefficient Labor: Impact of Minimum Wages to the Motivation of Lower Wage Market by…’

  ‘Businessmen in Choridia invest in the orphanage facility in the southeast region.’

  ‘Project CF stocks have increased and investors are profiting at their reformation success.’

  ‘In February 2024, UNHA’s data brokers revealed a 53% increase of their data collection with the latest invention, Artificial Intelligence.’

  While organizing them, one title caught my eye.

  ‘A sudden power surge occurred inside Retic subdivision in the borough of Turrin.’

  I pulled the chair over, sat, and picked up the article.

  I scanned the article.

  “Power surge in Retic subdivision. Occurred on September 27, 2024. Causes were faulty wiring, poor maintenance, equipment failure.”

  I murmured and then a line caught my eye:

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  'abnormally high temperatures in the affected area.'

  I stopped, snatched my pen and paper, read everything again and wrote it in the scrap paper.

  “Temperature anomalies. Multiple witnesses. Not explained by electrical failure, why?” I murmured while writing.

  Further down the page, it said:

  'UNHA officials prohibited distribution within five hours of the ev…’

  My eyes blurred and blinked hard; my hands trembled as it got harder to write. However, I still continued reading while my other arm massaged my head.

  The chief officer confessed to embezzlement the next day. Officials resigned, funds were traced, everyone was satisfied.

  “Except the temperature and the response time. It fits, but how did they know?” My thumb rubbed my temples and blabbered quietly.

  I looked through my writings and began sorting the events by process.

  ‘

  Before incident:

  Faulty Wirings in capacitor boxes.

  Poor maintenance.

  Equipment Failure.

  During incident:

  Sudden abnormal temperature.

  Power surge causing the power outage.

  After incident:

  5-hour rapid response investigation by the UNHA announcing no disclosure onsite.

  No fire warnings.

  Recovery: 3 days. Investigations were done and a press conference was held a day later after the investigation was concluded.

  ‘

  “This is odd. UNHA has the ability to recover the town in a single day, but why three?”

  I searched through the piles of papers and found the consensus from last year.

  ‘Dilectric Industries in the Central Eastern Region proposed their movement in elevating the ongoing problem of sudden power outages across the region.

  The movement was approved by the UNHA and backed the industry to implement their action. According to the…

  In two years, the movement was spread across the majority of the eastern regions and some of the western during the pandemic. Power outages in most of the world were decreased by a substantial amount of 48% according to UNHA’s past incidental records.

  Time of Publish: April 21, 2023

  ’

  A photo in the headline caught my attention. The same electric pole appeared in both articles—April 2023 and October 2024.

  “Huh…”

  Chirp, chirp

  My head turned swiftly, facing the alarm clock ringing the same ringtone of birds and water earlier.

  I stood up, gathered the two articles and the written note, placed it beside the stack of papers, and walked toward the clock

  I turned the alarm off as I peered at the time.

  October 5 2024; 6:02; UTC +3; Location: Choridia; Mode: 24:00

  My eyes glanced at the plate and a container laying at the top of the fridge.

  “When did I place it in the fridge? Seems like I need to eat.”

  I grabbed the sling bag hanging on the wall and slung it over my shoulder, strode towards the fridge, took the plate and the container, grabbed the keys in the cargo pants in the wardrobe, and went outside the room

  “Time of day, six in the morning. Turning on the normal lights”

  The lights shone white as the announcement resounded through the hallway. The CCTV attached above the elevator blinked red.

  I continued walking, headed toward the elevator. I glanced at the screen attached to a metallic panel.

  “3F”

  I pressed the down button. The display showed a blinking up arrow—the elevator was ascending toward us.

  Then I heard footsteps approaching.

  “Yaaaawn… Ehh”

  I looked behind me and saw a girl in her oversized sagging pajamas, carrying a bowl of frozen macaroni and cheese. She squinted her eyes when her glasses dangled at her shirt.

  “Elana, You have glasses in...”

  “OHH Sir Phoen! I couldn’t see you this far away. “ Elana rubbed her eyes as she noticed the glasses on her chest.

  Sighing after seeing her, I tilted my head and spoke.

  “Being this positive early in the morning and that outfit, you'll attract unwanted attention y’know”

  “You know sir what you said is sexual harrassment.” She put on her glasses, adjusted them, and pouted at me.

  “I apologize, though you should—”

  “It’s the current trend and it’s comfy, I don’t really care for that. But sure I’ll fix it.” She unfastened her hair tie and tied it at the back of her shirt.

  “You spoke like my father sometimes, sir, saying that I should behave myself as a mature lady.”

  “Your father is correct in disciplining you, though you have a hard time learning even in my class.” I closed my eyes—trying not to look at her—and sighed

  “I know sir” Her voice went into a whisper as I opened my eyes, noticing her hugging the bowl and sinking her head downward.

  Ding!

  I turned around, seeing the elevator doors opened as I went inside. Elana also entered and I pressed the ground floor button.

  “Elana, having you as a student brings joy to me as a teacher. You are attentive and are able to discern others. But you could at least be mature about it and I am sorry that I verbally harassed you.” I stared at the screen, gazing at the number going down.

  “No sir! I am sorry as well that I presented myself as an irresponsible person. I never learn even though you instruct me while being in the same apartment.” She answered while some of her words stuttered.

  “It’s fine, it’s been a week since you came here. No need to rush yourself.” My back leaned at the side, spotting her still bowing her head.

  I straightened up, stepped closer, and patted her head.

  “I don’t know what you are going through but if you need help, I’ll be there.” The elevator door opened and left while she followed right behind me.

  “Oh Phoen, still an early bird I see.” Madam Leah appeared opening the front door, carrying her groceries.

  “Hello madam, let me carry that for you.” I walked toward madam and reached out to take the plastic bag. Madam covered her mouth, smirking.

  “How gentlemanly of you, is it because of the young lady? Trying to court—”

  “She's my student, ol— I mean, madam. Let’s go to the kitchen.” I closed my eyes while forcing my face to smile.

  “Oh! Even bett—”

  I interrupted her. "Oh my, don't you have to make breakfast for your son? He might be late to go to the orphanage." My voice stiffened as I ushered madam into the kitchen.

  Elana giggled as she went inside the kitchen beside her and followed suit.

  The kitchen lights lit up and at the corner of the doorway, a CCTV blinked its lights red.

  This month has been incredibly busy thus the delay. I don't know about the metrics of viewership and such, but I am working on a new cover because the current cover needs to go. The covers are drawn by me.

  That is all.