Spending Big, Part 2

The sun didn't so much rise the next morning as it came crashing down, splintering into bits on Karen's reluctantly opening eyes. It certainly felt like the shrapnel from something or other was lodged in her temples.

“Wallace?” she croaked, guessing her roommate was already awake.

“Yes, dear?” replied his overly-chipper voice. That man never suffered for his drinking like was good and proper.

“I formally rescind the permission I gave myself to not worry about this hangover,” Karen said. “I demand that a temporal adjuster port to yesterday and fix this travesty.”

Wallace's shrill laugh made her regret the joke. She'd only been half-joking anyway. “I can't speak for the time board, but I can put in a request for a decent breakfast with the board of nourishing meals.”

Karen groaned and pulled the comforter over her head. “Breakfast is not happening. Lunch is unlikely. Speak to me around dinner time.”

“You'll need to get up before then, I'm afraid. Don't you remember you have your first orientation this afternoon?”

“Damn,” Karen said. She only remembered part of the previous evening, but she was quite sure it wasn't worth this. “I reiterate my demand to remove last night from the timeline.”