Cafeteria

Inside the lift, Luis slid down the smooth metal wall and slumped onto the floor, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

The adrenaline that had fueled him through the fight was slowly fading, leaving behind a heavy sense of exhaustion.

"This is so intense, way more than anything I ever imagined," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Without your help adjusting my aim and guiding the trajectory, I don't think I would have landed even one decent shot. I probably would have wasted all the energy and gotten myself killed already."

"Commander, that is only the smallest part of what I can do!" The System's voice became lively and enthusiastic, eager to show off her capabilities.

"I can assist you in operating mechs, power armor, and even entire battleships. I can correct your posture whether you are using sidearms, heavy hand cannons, or laser weapons. I can also analyze enemy movements and give you real-time support during close-quarters combat."

"Furthermore, I can monitor your vital signs, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, even your blood sugar and cholesterol levels."

"I can also alert you instantly to changes in temperature, air composition, radiation levels, and structural integrity around you!"

The System went on and on, sounding proud and determined to prove how useful she was.

"Haha, okay, okay! I get it~ you can do everything!" Luis laughed softly, shaking his head. It was hard to stay tense when listening to her eager explanations.

He placed a hand on the wall and tried to push himself up to stand properly, but as soon as he put weight on his right foot, a sharp twinge of pain shot up his ankle. He stumbled and caught himself against the railing.

"Ugh, I think I twisted or sprained it during that fight earlier," he said, wincing slightly.

"Can you fix it? Speed up the healing or something?"

There was a brief silence.

"Ahh~ uhmm~ to do that, I require the corresponding medical equipment, nanite injectors, or regeneration pods. I cannot perform treatment without the proper devices," the System replied, her tone dropping noticeably, sounding a little embarrassed.

Luis rolled his eyes. "And here I thought you said you could do everything."

"Never mind," he added quickly, shifting his weight to rest more on his left leg.

"It just stings a little when I move. I can endure it for now. Let's just keep moving."

 -----

A soft chime echoed, and the lift doors slid open.

Stepping out, Luis found himself in a corridor that was only slightly better lit than the previous decks.

The same flashing red emergency lights cast long, dancing shadows across the walls, and the low, continuous blare of the alarm hummed in the background.

His first glance down the hallway made his stomach twist. Long, dark streaks of dried blood dragged across the floor and up the walls, as if someone or something had been pulled roughly along the passage.

But then his eyes caught something else. Lying beside a pile of discarded supplies was another plasma weapon, identical to the one he had just used up.

It was covered in dried blood and dust, but when he picked it up and checked the indicator, his heart leaped with relief, the battery was fully charged.

"Great! Just in time," he murmured, securing it to his belt and gripping it firmly.

Another welcome change was the gravity. While it still felt slightly weak and uneven, it was working enough that he could walk normally now, no longer having to float or pull himself along.

Every step sent a dull throb through his right ankle, but he gritted his teeth and kept moving.

Along the way, he saw no more bodies, only more stains of old blood and occasional signs of damage, dented panels, cracked light fixtures, and loose wiring hanging from the ceiling.

According to the System's guidance, the path ahead required him to cross through the large cafeteria.

Once on the opposite side, another corridor would lead straight to the row of high-security lifts, and right in the center of those was the restricted personnel lift he needed to reach the upper deck where the Command Center waited.

Reaching the entrance, Luis found the double doors slightly ajar. The right panel was bent and crooked, clearly forced open from the inside by heavy force.

He pressed his back against the wall beside the gap and peered carefully into the dimly lit room. The flickering emergency lights cast an eerie glow, and the alarm continued its endless wail. This entrance was near the serving counter, and beyond that lay the kitchen area at the back.

He shifted his gaze toward the main dining hall, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

"Oh my god, what am I looking at?"

He immediately clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle his voice, his eyes widening in shock.

The cafeteria was enormous, roughly the size of two full basketball courts, built to serve mid-ranking and senior officers. Now, it had been completely taken over.

Scattered across the tables, chairs, and floor were nearly twenty beetle-like creatures of various types and sizes.

There were the pale White Burrowers he had fought before, but also larger ones with thick, dark brown shells, and even a few with shiny black exoskeletons and longer, sharper limbs.

The smallest were just under a meter long, while the largest in the center of the room stretched to nearly three meters in length, huge, heavy, and looking incredibly dangerous.

They were squirming over the furniture, some moving slowly, others remaining completely still as if resting or sleeping.

"It looks like they've turned this whole place into a nest," Luis whispered, slowly backing away from the doorway.

"No wonder there was no one else around. Anyone who came here would have been trapped."

"System, is there any other route to bypass this room entirely?" he asked in a low voice.

"Commander, let me confirm," the System replied quickly.

"First option: The alternate corridor is blocked. The blast doors have automatically sealed shut and locked, and they will not open until the ship's emergency lockdown protocol is deactivated. You could use your weapon to burn through the door and disable the control panel, then circle around the cafeteria via the service corridors, but that would require breaking through two more locked security doors as well."

"Second option: You can return to the lift, go down three decks, and use the main stairwell to circle back. This will bring you out on the opposite side of this floor, directly past the cafeteria and near the lift you need."

Luis frowned, weighing his options.

"First option is risky. Who knows how many shots it will take just to burn through one heavy blast door, let alone three. And the noise and light would definitely draw every single one of those monsters right to me. That's suicide." He shook his head.

"And the second option, how much time would that take?"

"Approximately one hour, provided you do not encounter any obstacles or enemies along the way," the System answered.

"Darn it! We only have about an hour and a half of oxygen left as it is!" Luis ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "There has to be another way."

"System, pull up the map again. Show me the full layout of this cafeteria."

The 3D hologram appeared before him. The space was divided into the main dining hall, the serving counter area, and at the very back, the large kitchen.

Connected to the sides were three smaller rooms, most likely restrooms and storage closets. There were four entrances in total- the one he stood at, another on the same side further down the dining hall, and two more on the far wall opposite.

Luis's eyes focused on the kitchen section.

"If the dining hall is where they've gathered, maybe the kitchen is still clear?"

He moved silently, staying low, and peeked cautiously through the gap into the serving area. Beyond the counters lay the kitchen, and to his surprise, the bright white overhead lights there were still active, though they flickered constantly.

Scattered across the floor were crates of supplies, broken utensils, and spilled food containers, but there was no sign of movement.

No beetles, no shifting shadows.

All of them were huddled in the dim, red-lit dining area, avoiding the brighter lights.

"Perfect," Luis whispered.

He slipped through the gap, keeping his footsteps light, and quickly made his way behind the counters and into the kitchen. The air here smelled of old food and cleaning chemicals, far better than the stench of decay outside.

Glancing around, he looked for something useful.

"Maybe I can find a gas tank or something to blow a hole through?"

But as he examined the large, unfamiliar appliances and storage units, he realized nothing here worked like the kitchens back on Earth. Every tool and machine was strange and high-tech.

"Commander, do not look for conventional explosives," the System spoke up.

"Instead, you can dismantle the plasma weapon you are holding. Remove its energy battery, the cube-shaped power cell."

"Place it inside that large rectangular device over there, it is the heating unit for preparing packaged meals. Inserting the battery and activating it will cause it to overheat rapidly, resulting in a controlled but effective explosion."

"Like a microwave?" Luis asked, stepping toward the machine.

He opened the front panel and found it empty inside.

Following the System's instructions, he carefully disassembled the weapon.

It took only a few minutes, once he knew where to press and turn, the parts came apart smoothly.

Soon, he held the small, glossy power cube in his palm, roughly the size of a Rubik's Cube.

"Great. Now I don't have a gun, but if this works, I won't need one to get past them," he muttered.

He quickly placed the battery cube inside the heating unit, closed the door, and pressed the activation sequence as guided. A small display lit up in the center, counting down.

0:59

Seeing the timer start, Luis backed away slowly, moving out of the kitchen and toward the second entrance on the same side of the dining hall.

"Once it blows, the noise will draw all of them swarming into the kitchen to investigate. While they're distracted, I'll slip through this door and cross to the other side. Brilliant plan, me!" he whispered to himself, feeling pleased with his quick thinking.

But just as he reached the door, ready to wait, the System's voice came through, calm and matter-of-fact.

"Commander, allow me to remind you: The power cell used in these weapons is a high-density energy storage unit. It is stable and safe only when sealed inside the weapon's casing."

"When removed and subjected to uncontrolled heating, its reaction is unpredictable. Depending on its remaining charge, the maximum blast radius is large enough to destroy the entire kitchen, blow out the inner walls, and possibly reach your current location as well."

Luis froze mid-step, his face turning pale.

"Huh?"

"You!"

He didn't even finish the sentence. His eyes went wide, and he turned around instantly, sprinting as fast as his injured ankle would allow back toward the corridor outside the cafeteria.

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