Angela
Zurich- one of the most beautiful and best-developed cities in all of Switzerland. Capital of banks, rich people, cheese, chocolates, stock markets, ubiquitous knowledge, and Switzerland too. The city is overcrowded with different cultures and modern infrastructure almost touching traditional and historical buildings. Near the centrum, among buildings made of glass and modern apartments,( belonging mainly to the elite group of rich people), with a price of one square meter, pretty similar to the price of a private jet, there was a big, old building. The construction was made of red bricks, with white, beautiful columns in the front, that were overgrown with ivy. At the back of this building, there was a white, metal extension, three times bigger than the old part of it. The metal material was very smooth and clean. A roof wasn't made from any material. It was a very odd force, shining a blue light. The force was protecting the inside from wind, rain, snow, and even hail. Over gigantic, several meters in, was visible a historical board, made of pure bronze. The board, after several dozen years, has been covered with a patina layer. The bronze board has huge letters, preaching "The University of Medicine and Applied Nanotechnology in Zurich", almost as if it were words encouraging others to join this hard and demanding education direction. Under the board, there was an image of a snake climbing up on a short part of DNA ( the most probably, changing the original caduceus in this symbol) touching a little young, light, young, green ivy. A place in front of the "UMAN", cause that's how students call their university, was starting to agglomerate more people. Friday evening was slowly going to an end. Lectures and internships in the hospital, near "UMAN", also were going to the end. Small groups of students start to walk in their direction. Some of them were going to their rented flats, not that far from school, others with visible nervousness were quickly going to the university's library to prepare for upcoming exams, and others were going to rest with friends in a random bar, drinking to midnight to celebrate good exam results, or to forget about a bad day. The sun was slowly going down, almost completely, disappearing behind tall and massive skyscrapers. Zurich was shining now only by thousands of artificial lights, creating a breathtaking view. Most of the citizens were going for holidays or vacations far away from the city, so on the streets, there weren't a lot of people. The temperature has dropped, but it wasn't cold... well it was still Summer.
Bushes planted next to the walk to the university were softly waving in the fresh wind. You could feel the smell of young leaves growing on them, the specific smell of roses growing next to them, and freshly cut grass.
An old man with a bunch of keys was whistling, while he went through the long hall. The man stopped in front of huge, dark, wooden doors. The hour of closing the University has come. The elder feels very happy about it, because it means the end of his work for today. He was standing in front of a gigantic piece of wood, with keys in first hand and an old mop in second, trying to put a small silver key in his hole. Lock made a specific sound, meaning that now you can't open the doors, and the old man, with a big smile, turned around, prepared for coming home. " That's it"- he thinks with satisfaction, again coming back to whistling. How scared he felt, when he noticed that at the end of the hall, in darkness, something had just moved. The Shadow was slowly moving forward in his direction, with an unstable, slow walk, making a regular sound that was coming to his ears. It was coming... slowly, calmly like it has all night to hunt him down. Step to the left, and right, left and right, step by step... Elder heard its quiet breathing, which was scaring him. He looks quickly away and back again, with the hope it's only a hallucination. The brain illnesses were pretty normal at his age. Well, he doesn't know what was worse, this creature or his head's health. But then suddenly the shadow rose its hand and started to wave to him.
-Halo?
It says with a soft and quiet voice. The old man at that moment stopped to be worried. He has already heard this voice somewhere.
- I hope you aren't closing me inside the building again...
Man took a deep breath with relief. Now he knows who the shadow is.
- Oh my... It's just you, Angela... Come on, quick, let me open the doors for you.
Said the old man, while he was opening the big doors, which he already closed. A slim, young girl, with long, blond, and shiny hair, was wearing a grey sweater and stylish trousers. She started to walk faster.
- Keep doing this kind of things on me, and u will have a sudden exercise of heart-attack first-aid... What happened this time?
Man asked when he was holding doors for her.
- I was studying for an exam and forgot about time...
Angela sighs heavily, checking her bag at the same time. Inside her bag was pure chaos. Papers, notebooks, pens, notes, books, everything, everywhere.
- Wait? Didn't you have your exam last week?
Asked an older man with surprise in his voice
- Yes... I was taking my medical exam. Now I am going to take the applied nanotechnology exam.
Said quickly Ziegler, like it was something she was studying all afternoon.
- Isn't it too much for that young person? I mean, I don't want to stop you, but... Don't you think that taking two exams from such hard and extensive subjects in the short term of time isn't a bad idea?
The man asked again. The girl smiled a little and yawned.
- Well... theoretically I am two years too young to take my final exams, but the direction of the university permits me to take them. I am not taking exams from two, but three subjects, and at the same time I am working the night shift in a hospital, next to the university, trying to get the title of a specialist surgeon.
Said Angela with pride in her tired vice.
- Allllrighttt...
The old man nodded. He didn't know he should be more proud of her ambitions, or more worried about her lifestyle.
- How much time is left for you to sleep?
Angela didn't say anything. She starts counting something in her head instead.
- Something like four or five hours...
The girl said calmly with a fake smile.
- Four hours? Emm... It's not a lot and not healthy for you
Angela laughs quietly and sighs.
- In a week...
Ziegler said very quietly, enough quietly, that the elder man didn't hear that. She bowed gratefully to the man and started walking to her room. The upside of working in one of the best hospitals in all of Switzerland and being the best student at all "UMAN" is the material benefits. For example, an apartment. I'm not talking about one bonus room in normal university flats to rent, but the true apartment in the center of Zurich, a few hundred meters far from school, where Angela was studying. A white, modern, apartment building, with a glass wall, from one of its sides, and a high, green hedge. The girl was standing right in front of them. Ziegler came inside the building, slowly going up the stairs to her apartment. The only thing she wanted was a shower. Because of a mistake with her internship yesterday, there weren't any surgeons in the ICU, so she has to stay for another shift, and after that, she has to go immediately to the university for an important lecture. The clock placed on the wall in the living room, connected with the kitchen, was showing a pretty late hour. The girl with a soft and warm bathrobe and with a towel tied to her hair was cleaning the table in the living room. The table was drowning in papers and notes, which Angela was using for preparation for the next exams. Under the papers, there was a small, not that new, laptop. Angela opened it. Device strat actualization, which takes a few minutes. Finally, it turns on. Ziegler checked today's date, smiling to herself.
- Just a few more days...
She said, trying to convince and motivate herself. Angela turned around and looked at the view of night Zurich.
