T&T in IME - Chapter 3

Coffee break came. As the belt in front of Turtle ground to a halt she threw off the biscuit and darted off in the direction of the back of the factory. With a hop Toad caught up and called out, "Are you going now? Coffee break's kinda brief."

Turtle stopped briefly and, as though wanting to prove independence, said, "Yeah why not? Oh you don't have to follow me if you have something else on."

"But..." Toad said thoughtfully, "where's my coffee?"

"Oh bother! Is that all you care about?" Turtle was fast approaching the white door. Now that the Igloo was operating and flooded with light, she saw that they were standing in a little round space with four identical white doors. They just came through one of them, on which was hung a tag saying "Production and Quality-Sampling". There were tags on each of the three other doors, of course, and they said "Dewormification and Sifting", "Purification and Imprinting" and "Packaging and Distribution".

"I bet this is the one!" proceeding quickly to the door marked "Dewormification and Sifting", Toad suddenly forgot about coffee and grew all excited.

"Wow! So they use a quarter of the Igloo just like we do.." Turtle felt that she was learning so much in one day that this place, where she had always worked since she graduated from the Cordinella College of Mondo Blanco, seemed entirely strange all of a sudden. "Do you suppose the workers in those three other quadrants come from different lands, all of them?"

"Mmm I know Ladybug from Packaging and Distribution. She takes the Glider from the Northern Horizon like I do." Toad suggested.

"Who's Ladybug? You've never said anything about her," Turtle raised an eyebrow.

"Just someone who works here. Want to go find out?" Toad half-smiled and shrugged, and turned as if to open the door marked "Packaging and Distribution". "So who are you really here looking for insteading of making my coffee?"

"Okok let's drop the subject." With Beaver's warning of "no more snooping around" long thrown out of the nineth layer of heaven, Turtle resolutely entered the Department of Dewormification and Sifting.

The work place was empty except a few Brobdingnagian Ants milling around. Their rewards are scattered grains of sand which they carry back for their own nest-building or feeding purposes. Something dawned on Turtle about what Beaver said, for she realised that the place was still as dark as though early in the morning when there had been no daylight. Beavers were leaving their work places - all but the Beaver, who didn't look at all pleasant when he saw the reappearance of Turtle. And with an accompanying intruder as well.

"What do you want?" the opening was far from amiable.

"We'd like to find out more about where you come from," said Turtle brightly.

"She'd like to. I'm just hanging out," Toad corrected and Turtle glared at him.

Beaver was supicious but amused despite himself. He moved a corner of his mouth as if to smile, but soon recovered dark countenance. He shrugged and thrust out his front paws in a what-can-I-do-with-these-nosey-parkers fashion. Motioning to a pantry built in a laterally inverted location but otherwise identical with that of Toad and Turtle's department, he said, "Go have a cup of coffee if you care to. It's easier to make coffee in this department cuz we get some heat from next door - the Purification Department. There is an immense fire in there everyday. The Red Crudellos work on the pulling. But coffee here is bad. I mean, real bad. From where I come from we make extremely good coffee. Dark black coffee."

"Oh wow," remarked Toad. "It's good to hear about someone who appreciates coffee. Though black is not the kind I like. What a pity. So, um, what is this place that makes good dark coffee all about?"

"I see you are not one who stands on ceremony. Well... I came from the Kingdom of Mondo Nero. It's been a years now. I came working here, being used to only darkness and all that. I don't really like talking to you folks from other departments." He waved his paws once. "I.. We don't want to get reminded of the presence of other communities."

"But how did you get here? And where did you come from?" Turtle realised that coffee break was going to end soon. And she wasn't sure if Beaver would be as willing to talk on any more occasions.

"Oh yes, even the most reticent have desires to talk about themselves. Even the saddest of the past need to be dug up again," Toad said wisely.

"You are a bit of a philosopher aren't you?" Beaver half-smiled again. He had taken a liking to this light-hearted youngster, much to Turtle's annoyance. "You may come here after 5 if you like." After that he simply walked away without caring if they would go too.