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At nine, as usual, the lights in the corridors went out, the voices in the cabins fell silent, the dining room and other sections of this underground "kingdom" had been silent for half an hour. It was clear and audible how the heavy, rusty in some places steel doors of the many rooms filled with soldiers getting ready for bed were closing. The deathly silence was something familiar, something you get used to after thousands of repetitions of the same routine. Over and over and over again. She didn't know how long she had been here or what year it was away from the battlefield. The front was more than isolated from the outside world. Was there even a world outside? All she received were telegrams requesting reports at the end of each week.
Nurse sighed heavily, picking up another pile of documents that she had been looking through for an hour. These were reports on the collection of soldiers' limbs, and even though they had only arrived today, they seemed long out of date to her. What difference did it make if yesterday's report was identical to today's? At the front, everything was cyclical. As a rule, there was nothing new. And nothing new was good; it meant everything was stable, that all the soldiers were healthy, at least physically, and even then, only just. Everything is running smoothly, the machine is working as it should, the system is operational, the number of soldiers meets the norm and standards. Nothing has ever changed.
There were exceptions, though. Like yesterday's soldier with amnesia. Such cases were not rare, but usually the memory returned to them by the middle of the day, and he, as she had heard, still walks around without remembering anything. It wasn't that important; in this place, such things didn't matter. If a soldier could do her job, then she was doing her job. Well, that's what protocol said. She even envied him a little. What was it like, feeling something new? Something that hadn't happened to you a hundred times? Sometimes she even thought about what would have happened if she had never signed that contract (her sisters had signed it too). Maybe she could have been with her family, whom she had managed to forget.
She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. There was no point in thinking about it; it made being here even worse. Even more unbearable and depressing than it already is, She, being a manager so to speak, could not afford such a mistake. You could say she's lucky, at least she doesn't die every day and be picked up piece by piece, every day.
The nurse put the stack of documents aside and glanced at her watch. It was already midnight. She was deep in thought, and that was for the best. She didn't have to wait those agonizing hours until the cherished time of one of the only contacts with people she has. If her "interlocutors" could even be called humans. She didn't even know what they were exactly; they were simply already there when she was assigned to this role. In their black coats, with golden shoulder straps, especially handsome masks and other decorative but very attractive details. Never sleeping, almost never eating unless she suggested and never seeming tired.
She stood up from her seat at the table. First, it was time to set the table. From one of the shelves in the cabinet behind her desk, she found a familiarthree cups with spoons and tea bags. She poured boiling water over them from a kettle that had been brought in about ten minutes ago; sometimes the junior nurses were so quiet that she didn't even notice them. Especially when deep in thoughts. The nurse placed them on the small coffee table in front of the sofa located a little closer to the door. From a drawer in her work desk she pulled out a sugar bowl and some jam, or what passed for it. All these resources were periodically delivered to her by junior nurses. They didn't talk often, only on business matters. Such was her fate, given her status, isolation from others. But there are nuances and loopholes everywhere.
Her nightly tete-a-tete (sometimes even more) with them were not permitted by protocol, but not forbidden either. Apparently, those above had not foreseen any contact between her and them. Maybe they just thought that she would ignore these two. And she was glad of it. What would she do without her "scarlet tin soldiers"? She probably would have gone crazy without their company. They couldn't speak, but they could listen and do... Other things just perfectly. At least biologically, they were male, that she knew for sure.
Nurse looked at their set-up for a few seconds. Good enough, she guessed. She walked over to her desk and pulled her chair over to the coffee table and sofa. This sofa had seen a lot, but today it would be used for its intended purpose and not for whatever they wanted. She glanced again at the clock hanging above the door. It was exactly one o'clock, midnight. Usually, that's when no one visited her and she felt most at peace. In one hour she will have to leave, because she works from ten in the morning until one in the morning. They had less time than she would have liked. But she have to work with what she has.
— You two can come in. Everything is ready. — She knew that they were listening to the sounds in her room, standing outside the doors.
The duo opened the door slightly and both stepped inside, politely closing the door behind themselves. They had no names, and she lacked the imagination to come up with one for them. Besides, they wouldn't agree to anything other than nicknames. So, she simply settled on calling them "Right" and "Left". The Right was a more irritable, restless and curious, sometimes she could even call him hot-tempered. The Left, was more stable, practical and down to earth, and while being quite charming sometimes he was also provoking and full of arrogance.
They both parked their muskets by the entrance. She almost never saw them use them, except for one unpleasant incident when they came across a particularly rowdy soldier. Those were the first weeks of this hell, when she didn't yet know that she would most likely never leave this place..
Right glanced at the sofa, then at the coffee table. A hint of irritation flickered in his dark, porcelain-framed eyes. He'd been hoping for a different kind of pleasant pastime, but he did not pushed her, just nodded as a silent hello before sitting on the couch. Left, as usual, was more intricate. He rolled his eyes on the Right's attitude and stepped closer to her. She raised her eyebrow slightly behind her veil as he took her hand in his and brought it to his artificial lips. His gloved hands were squeezing her hand, he gave her sly look. This gesture earned a narrowing of the eyes from the Right. She could practically see his face bristle in annoyance. Nurse carefully pulled her hand out of his grip, trying not to make a big deal out of it. Left always was gallant with women, he even tried to treat Lieutenant Kelly like this, but it didn't end well for anyone. Left always got into a fight with his colleague when bored or when they argued, she has no idea how exactly they communicate. This was one of the many mysteries of this place.
This was, particularly why exactly she liked to be with them, besides the fact that they were the only ones with whom she could communicate freely. They were exiting, always bickering, always compete and of course they look wonderful. It wasn't that she didn't care about their personalities or feelings—they did have feelings. They simply provided an additional layer of relief from the monotony of her days. She wasn't a teenage girl with straight-A student syndrome anymore, but it felt nice to sometimes feel special. Like she matters more than a function, like she's more than another gear in giant a mechanism that will never stop.
— Now, let's not get too antsy. Let's just drink some tea. —
Left sat down on the other side of the couch from his colleague, smoothing his uniform. He gave Right a look that simply screamed "I'm better than you" and returned his gaze to her. His hands were at his knees, his back perfectly straight, head held up high. Right's eye twitched slightly, but he didn't do anything, trying to maintain roughly the same stance as Left, but he was doing a slightly worse job. His shoulders were slightly slumped, his posture was sluggish and his legs were too spread. Although Nurse wouldn't admit it. She didn't want to get to add fuel to the fire. Last time they knocked over a table and almost knocked each other's helmets off in their fight.
She sat down opposite them on a low ottoman, pushing their cups toward them. Right took his spoon, dipped it in the sugar bowl, and poured himself three full spoons into a cup. He always was a sweet tooth. Nurse and Left both preferred to drink tea without additives. She didn't know why he refused them; it was probably another way of expressing his sense of superiority over his partner.
They both opened the mouths of their porcelain masks. Left and Right both took sips of their tea at the same time. Their throats didn't move, and it was almost eerie to watch them, as if they were moving on invisible strings. But you could get used to it. Despite their fragile appearance, their masks were quite flexible and flexible. She didn't know for sure, but she could guess that they had hinges in the cheek and jaw areas. Were they hollow inside or did they have actual internal organs? Probably not. It stopped to be disturbing thoughts long ago.
They gave her literally a minute of peace before deciding she'd had enough of the silence and they'd had enough of the disturbing stillness. Left tilted his head to the side, toward her desk, hinting at someone. They all knew who he was talking about. It was a nasty habit of theirs, these two were such gossips. The nurse didn't like to discuss the poor soldier behind their backs.
— For God's sake. No. I won't talking with you about poor man. Leave him alone. —
Her words had no effect. Right merely made a sound that sounded distantly like a chuckle. He glanced at his partner, twisting one hand near his head. Left made a sound identical to the right one, but his was quieter and more vicious. He raised his free hand and drew a line with his index finger from his eye to his cheek, depicting tears. The two chuckled once more. The sound was like several clay tiles hitting each other in the wind, with only notes of something human.
It didn't take a genius, at least here, to figure out that they were obviously talking about a soldier with amnesia. Or rather, downright mocking him. They did it every single time when some soldier had problems outside of the ordinary ones. They found someone as Mophead amusing and irritating, like a drank fly. It was easier to list the things they didn't find funny than the ones they did.
They continued their gathering until just after midnight. They discussed the soldier (aka she scolded them for their behavior), then who passed in the corridor today and what the weather was like outside today. They were silent, she spoke, they responded to her with gestures and body language that she had learned by heart. However, all good things come to an end. Midnight gave way to one in the morning.
The guards were a little upset, but didn't complain. They merely made a few clicking sounds behind their masks, presumably clicking their tongues, and rose from the table. They helped her tidy up, putting everything back in its place. She turned off the lights in the room. They all left the office, and she locked it. Time to go to bed. Her quarters were literally forty steps from her office; they reached there in less than a minute. Both Right and Left gently nudged her toward the coveted doors, glowing with anticipation. The left one quickened his pace, while the right one walked almost as if on clouds, all dreamy. They hoped that she would invite them, as sometimes happened. But not tonight.
They guarded not only the doors to her office, but also to her bedroom, and were with her most of the time. And sometimes, going against the rules, she would take either Left or Right with her into the room, since according to the rules, when she sleeps outside there should always be at least one of them. And she hated breaking the rules.
They reached her door. She turned to them and kissed each of them on the cheek, at the corners of their porcelain lips. It was the most attention she could give them as they stood in the hallway. Yes, everyone was most likely asleep, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful. They almost got caught like that once.
— Good night, boys. See you tomorrow. —
Left gave her waist a squeeze, and gave his brother another arrogant look, probably thinking that he was chosen second time in a row. Nurse rolled her eyes and slipped out of his grip, despite the frustrated, even abrupt, turn of his head toward her. She opened the door and tried to step inside, only to notice that the Right was trying to get in after her with a contented air around him, as if victory was his. The nurse sighed heavily, giving him a gentle push to the chest, stopping him before he even had time to step over the threshold. It was so hard to get through to them sometimes.
— Not tonight. Good night, boys. —
She closed the door, trying to ignore their disappointed looks.