Secunday, Sarnat 22nd 067.M42
Praise the Emperor and thank Saint Celadine, I write tonight's journal from the sweetest, happiest place on Asphodel. My own bed.
The order was passed down at 1500 hours today. We would be able to leave to leave at 2200 hours unless there was another large influx of data. Which was still a possibility. Despite the contracts being announced a week ago, that hasn't stopped applications from late-comers and hopeful allsorts from being sent through. But they have been tapering off and settling down, we're gradually getting less and less through. And today the breaking point arrived. We didn't get another surge, just the usual flow. We're still managing the backlog but it's dropping every day. We're beating it, finally!
We had a quick scratch-up meeting at just after 1800. For now and for the foreseeable future, the hours will be settling out at 1.5 length shifts. Fifteen hour days. But that still gives twelve hours to get home, get food, have a wash, get rest and return. It'll be tough, but so much more tolerable than what we've been going through for the last month.
Being able to walk out of the office just felt so GOOD. It's only been a little over a month, but it felt in some ways like I'd forgotten what it was like to see the streets outside. I felt free.
I called Mum on my way home. I won't be able to go and visit them while we're still working seven days and on the fifteen hour shifts - not unless I decide to stay at their place for the night. I did offer, but she said that she and Dad will bring Mei to come and see me instead. They have the spare key to my hab, she said that one evening they'll head over after Dad has finished work, let themselves in and have some dinner waiting for me when I get home. That'll be good. I'll be glad to see them all again. I've gotten a bit sick of seeing my row-mates' faces day in and day out for a month.
Well, most of them. There's someone who I didn't mind seeing that much.
I've decided too that I will go to the Magisters to try and get a copy of the pict footage of Daisy, once work has died down a bit more and we've gone back if not to our regular shift length but at least once we start getting our rest days back again. I spoke briefly to Mum about that too. She is a bit concerned - if Daisy has met with misfortune, she's worried that I'll be getting myself into trouble trying to chase down what happened to her. But she agrees that some closure would be good, if only for Mei's sake. If we can say with certainty that something happened to her, rather than her just up and leaving. It'll be good for Mei to know that.
In work news, I've heard surprisingly little fuss in the data streams about Kai-Ten pipping the Hadrigans to the post. I still don't know exactly how they did it, but the business streams don't really have much to say about it. Both the Hadrigans and the Kai-Ten have gone quiet. The latter I'm sure because they're just trying to make sure they've got all their is dotted and their ts crossed before the contract is completely signed off. The Hadrigans because… well, I wouldn't even dare to hazard a guess. Scribe-Adept Dalton managed to get his hands on a late edition of the iStandard/i the other day. There's a report in there that states they're appealing the contract, but I think at this point it's too little, too late. If the Mechanicus and Governor Fei have both agreed strongly to back the Kai-Ten…
But I guess I'm not going to know much more for now. Perhaps more might come out in the news-sheets, or in the files that we process. I'll just have to keep my eyes open.
Tomorrow. I'll have to keep my eyes open tomorrow. Right now bed is warm, and soft and more importantly doesn't sound like a server trying to cogitate complicated data functions. Or smell like Skillitzi's farts after a month of eating nothing but starch rations and hotsauce.
I won't miss that in the slightest. Goodnight.
Thought for the Day: Success is commemorated. Failure merely remembered.
