Derek pushes himself in his manual wheelchair out of his room through the automatic door. An electric wheelchair would require far less effort, but his physiotherapist has told him to use the manual one to maintain his muscle tone, especially in a low-gravity environment.
Easy for her to say.
He resides on the third floor of Pod A of Lunar City. The biggest human settlement in Sector C. Ground level, a distance below him, is a hive of activity with people bustling to go about their business. That is of no concern to Derek, who is already close to his workstation. There are no windows. The rotation of the pod would induce motion sickness if you could see outside.
Pausing outside a large metallic door, he reaches for his swipe card in his top pocket.
“I’ve got that.” Derek hears a familiar female voice to his right, which he recognizes as Natasha.
Natasha swipes her card, and they both enter a small office. Derek wheels over to his station, and she takes the remaining one.
They both work in silence.
“Oh, shut up, Derek!” Natasha blurts out.
He responds with a smile, “So, how was your weekend?”
“It was mayhem. Don’t ever have children.” They both laughed.
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