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"Oh, that's nice of you to ask," she says as she eats her food. "Well, things have been going well enough in Zawame. The same number of accidents, illnesses, and everything. Keeps me busy on a daily basis, in fact. You know…come to think of it, I'm wondering how the rest of them are doing without me today. I'm pretty certain they're being overworked by the patients," your mom says with an evil grin on her lips.

You shift uncomfortably when you hear this and she laughs at your reaction. "Oh, relax, Wendell Dumein. I'm sure they're able to handle the job without me. They're professionals too, you know. Not just your beloved mom," she says, chuckling to herself. "I swear, you're just like the Major in that manner. The two of you never could take a career joke well," she continues, her eyes twinkling in amusement.

You protest this, saying that an overworked soldier is a danger to his squad, and your mom chuckles again. "Like an overworked nurse isn't? You protect people and so do I. We just do things differently, you and I. But that's what makes our jobs special, isn't it?" she says as she raises a glass of water to her lips. You sigh a little and stare at your plate for a while longer before you...