”Logan! Logan! It’s your wife!”
“Okay! I’ll take a short break, you take the drill!”

Nomen Est Omen. Don’t know from where I have heard those words, but ever since I started my shift they have been buzzing around in my skull. Nomen Est Omen. I think it’s Latin. Don’t have a slightest clue why I would know a language that died probably well before I was born, but I know exactly what those words mean, and I don’t fucking like it. Not a bit.

“Hi honey. You wanted to talk?” I hate these fucking pieces of shit… Reception is crappy because of magnetic ore on the soil around here, and I can barely hear her voice.
“Where… you?” Where am I?
“Gary had already enough men to clean up that collapse. I’m at the new tunnel.” Not a complete lie. I am drilling a new tunnel. Past that collapsed part, because rubble in there was too shaky, we couldn’t go in.
“When are… home?”
“Don’t know, darling. Later today. Gary said he’d give me couple days off.” Actually, he didn’t. I have few days from my last vacation left, and I told him I’d take them now.
“That sounds great! … can… What do you think?” Uhh…
“I don’t know. But I have to go now. Love you, kid.”
“… Love you… Logan? Be careful.”
“I always am…”

Even more so now. Fucking Xavier. Had I known there actually was a place named after him in Mars, would have chosen Phobos or Deimos. Well, too late to scream when the damage is done. And I know it’s named after Xavier. Our Xavier. Didn’t know back then that he was interested in Mars study, but from what I heard he paid quite a hefty sum for all those little droids they send scouting this pile of rock when everybody still believed we would do just fine back in Earth. When we still lived at the Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters. When Marie was studying algebra and equations and I was killing people.

“Everything okay back home?”
“Just fine! She just wanted to know when I’d be heading home!” Jeff’s a good guy. Family man. Two wives, seven kids. Yeah. Polygamy is legal in here. Not interested. Neither is Marie. I guess we’re too old-fashioned. Or just too old. I don’t think there would be enough me for two or more wives. Thank God Marie’s not that keen on having another husband. I don’t know if I could keep my claws off from a guy that I knew was fucking with her on regular basis… Oww, shit! My fucking hand!

“You should be more careful!”
“No shit, Sherlock? Oh, fuck! Don’t touch me!” Because my hand should be broken. Crushed. Mangled for good. And it’s not. Jeff knows. He knows that Marie and me are mutants. He hasn’t made a big deal about it, but that doesn’t mean that he likes about it. Gives him the creeps every time he sees me healing. Fucking boulder. Fucking drill. Fucking Xavier.
“I fucking hate Charles-Fucking-Xavier!”
“Calm down, Logan! Maybe you should go home now! I’ll tell Gary that there was some emergency at home and you had to leave!” I’m not gay. Definitely not. But right now I’m seriously tempted to kiss the living daylights out of Jeff.
“Thanks! I’ll make it up to you some day!”

Fuck. It’s still bleeding. Not bad, at least bones and claws are back where they should be, under skin and muscle. It’ll heal up nicely before I get home.

Home. With Marie. Two and a half days with her. Well, with Shirley actually. Marie’s working. But hey, maybe she could call in sick… It’s not like we’re short on money. Not with hours I’m putting in. She could stop working altogether if she wanted. But it isn’t for the money she’s after. It’s the company. She has made quite some friends out there. Who almost all for some reason hate or fear me. It never fails. No matter what I do, Marie’s probably the first, and only person that hasn’t been genuinely afraid of me ever. Even Jeff, our nice family man Jeff, father of seven and husband of two, is afraid of me most of the times. Haven’t done a thing to him. Haven’t even planned to. I guess I’m just not people-person…