Steel steam and flame

——

Summer has been here for a long time, and it is still raining heavily today. If it continues for another week, it will exceed the 29 consecutive days in May.

I haven't seen warm sunshine for twenty-two days. Even if it is light red, it can at least bring warmth. The surrounding buildings were soaked by rain and moldy, just like the swollen and white corpses that washed up on the banks of the Krem River from time to time, and a squeeze would spray out the foul-smelling viscous juice. Which horror book did I read this sentence in? I can't remember anymore.

However, the number of murders in the city has indeed doubled recently. I often hear colleagues say that they saw dead bodies in the river again. Fortunately, I didn't see it, so I can pretend it didn't happen.

Today I went to the printer to pick up printed materials. The paper was so wet that it became mushy when written with a pen.

When I returned to the office, I looked in the mirror and felt that mold was about to grow all over my body. My face and hands were often covered with a vague film of water. I quickly grilled it by the small fireplace, and the effect was remarkable. The dry feeling was really comfortable. I finally understood the reason why there are small fireplaces everywhere in the office building. Sure enough, all aspects of the situation were taken into consideration during the design and construction, but I was still too young.

I found that during this period, my daily water intake decreased. Probably because the skin itself is constantly absorbing the moist water vapor in the air, especially the hands and face. It's a good thing, I haven't used moisturizer in a few weeks.

This morning, the person repairing the light fixture came again. This is the fourth time this month, and next week, they should come again. After repairing the circuit, I saw them smoking in the corridor. After lighting it several times but not lighting it up, they went to the small fireplace to grill themselves and finally took a puff. The helpless expressions at that time made people happy and emotional.

When I walked past them holding documents, I found that they were talking about their recent work several times more. It turns out that after the heavy rain came, it was not just us who were extremely busy, but many departments also became the same.

They said that in just a few months, hundreds of new people were recruited. After simple training, they began to run around the city to repair some simple lines. The ones working the hardest seemed to be the group of people working on power maintenance, judging from their chatter. Repairs are only a small part of power maintenance, and the constant addition of new steam pipelines is the key task.

The power maintenance department also recruited many new people. There was not enough training time, so they were hired as hard laborers to help lift the pipes one by one in the heavy rain. After hearing what they said, I realized how comfortable it was to work in an office building half the time. It didn't have to get moldy due to humidity. There was also a fireplace to keep me dry.

But the salary for power maintenance is very high, and they are envious while smoking. In fact, I was also envious when I heard them chatting. It's exactly five times my salary...

Ah, five times the salary. If I were a man, I would definitely go to the power maintenance department. Do it for one month, rest for four months, do it for another month, rest for four months. It's a pity that I can't. During the four months of rest, my whole body was definitely covered with mold.

The pre-noon meeting still discussed the explosion in the southwest power area of ​​the city. It's been almost two weeks and no reason for the investigation has been released. In the past, I could quickly know the inside information, the reason and the direction. This time it was different. No news was revealed. All the information discussed was the information obtained on the first day.

Fortunately, there are new results, and the steam pipeline and power network have been fully restored. Nearly two weeks of non-stop maintenance, the workers’ tents were set up next to it, the result of three shifts. At the meeting, it was said that they should be rewarded, promoted as representatives, and special funds should be set up as rewards.

Everyone agrees, after all, things like this will happen from time to time, right? I think. Under the continuous heavy rain, the city became strange, becoming less and less the one I knew before.

At the end of the meeting, the matter of road lights was discussed. The person in charge of my department...it was almost lunch time, so I thought I could escape, but in the end I decided to talk about it.

A wonderful day ended at the last moment of the meeting.

What should we do about street lights? A lot of time has been compressed. It is no longer turned on around the clock. It is only turned on in the early morning and early in the evening. It is not a main road. The time period is managed based on the surveyed traffic flow and pedestrian flow. The brightness of the lamps is adjusted. Comprehensive reduction, reduce consumption and save energy.

How else can you save energy? I can't think of a way, at least for street lights.

Alas, in addition to street lights, because of the heavy rain, the work of urban greening seems to have been transferred to our side. Why does work become like this? Things that obviously have nothing to do with us suddenly come up. Is it because the superiors found out about our previous leisurely state, and are we now required to make up for it?

It is obviously an industrial city, but suddenly there is a shortage of energy. This thing itself seems strange, right? When designing, shouldn’t there be sufficient redundancy?

Fortunately, my colleagues said that the situation at the traffic dispatch side was even worse. Many people brought sleeping bags and set up small tents and stayed in the restaurants, lounge areas and corridors of the office buildings. There are indeed many trains to and from Minkfas recently, and they are already jammed. At least I can go home and have a full day off every week.

After a while, it shouldn’t be like this anymore, right? I think.

Lunch was exactly the same as last week, but today I added a small portion of canned meat, which felt really good.

In the afternoon, I felt very irritable thinking about going out again in the afternoon. I really want to stay in the office and sit on a soft chair. The work is almost done, and I can take out the book and read it again. Although lately, I have less and less time to take out books and read them.

I remember the last time, well, it was eight days ago to be precise. That time I went out and the situation was the same as today. The green plants were withered in a large area. All the trees planted on both sides of the entire 300-meter-long street were dead.

The report said the scope was even greater today. It was a section of road that was a thousand meters long. All the trees on both sides were dead and not a single weed existed. Was it caused by someone deliberately bringing chemical reagents to water and spray at night? The dead plants seemed to have rotted away quickly in a short period of time, with all the leaves falling off and a layer of bark corroded away, forming a paste on the ground that even heavy rain could not completely wash away in a short period of time.

Samples have been collected several times before, and they will be collected again this time. Several samples were submitted to schools and hospitals in the city, but after some time, the analysis results of the first sample were not returned. What could be the reason? Sure enough, nights under heavy rain are more suitable for hidden travel, but some people take this opportunity to do bad things?

Internal sources say that there will be an announcement about the night ban in the near future. By then, maybe the situation will become better, right?

Ah, the lunch break ends in ten minutes, and today’s diary is still very long. I used to take lunch breaks too, probably because I had too much work these days and I was so tired that I was excited.

The diary is almost finished and I need to buy a new one.

How much will you write tomorrow? There will probably be as many as today.

In the afternoon, I will go to the area where the new plants are withered. Based on my previous experience, I should bring a larger umbrella, a long windbreaker, a bottle of spray perfume, and a bottle full of hot black tea. thermos cup. The city under heavy rain does not feel like summer at all. It is more like a combination of summer heavy rain and winter cold wind.

——

Trinya Fitlings closed the diary, opened the drawer on the side, put it at the bottom of a stack of documents, and closed it gently so as not to disturb other people in the office who were still resting. After doing this, she clenched her fists and raised her hands in the smallest gesture, stretching her body.

The sound of the heavy rain passed through the double-glazed windows, but only a small amount still came in. Compared to the noise outside the window, the music that enters the office is obviously the best sleep aid.

Sighing softly, Trinya couldn't help but feel depressed when she thought about having to work under the heavy rain outside the window in the afternoon.

"I really want to stay here and not go out until I get off work." She whispered to herself, looking out the window in a daze. When her thoughts came back to her eyes, the time on the bronze clock on the side wall of the office had already reached 2:10 pm. .

"What happened..." She jumped up in fright, looked around in a panic, and when she saw a group of colleagues looking over, her face turned red instantly. It was only when he saw that his colleague who was going out with him in the afternoon was also looking at him, holding the materials he needed to use in the afternoon, that he suddenly calmed down. She smiled dryly, quickly tidied her desk, and prepared to go out one by one according to what she wrote in her diary.

At 2:23 p.m., a seven-seater limousine left the office building area and drove toward the street where the plants were withered, pressing against a shallow layer of flowing rainwater on the parking lot.