Chapter 147: Pacific Meal
“Okay, okay, you cook way better than I expected, Nadir… Where did you learn to make this? You didn’t know how to do this before, right? I’ve never seen you make anything like this, and it genuinely tastes professional,” Zenith asks me as she tries a dish I made.
This dish is a soft, tender kind of pasta, similar to noodles, but it’s made from completely different ingredients and has extremely tiny pieces of meat embedded directly in it.
Combined with certain sauces, it makes for a delicious meal, and it’s healthy because it uses real meat and pasta made from actual plants, unlike 90% of the food we usually eat, which is produced through extreme industrialization, even using vector energy and powers applied to animals to maximize food production.
‘I knew she’d like it… Real food is completely different from the stuff we usually buy. It was a little difficult to get, but Zenith doesn’t need to know that! And I even managed to arrange a deal to buy more regularly, so I’ll be able to make things like this for her every day.’ I’m happy I managed to do this for her.
“You’ve got food all over your face, Zenith. Looks like you’re loving it, considering how quickly you’re eating. I didn’t know how to make this until recently, but ever since you left the army, I’ve been studying all sorts of things to impress you.” I wipe her cheeks with a napkin, making her a little embarrassed.
“It’s real food. It’s a little expensive, but it’s absolutely worth the price to see you this satisfied, and we’ll be eating this kind of food pretty often. Besides, it’s not that difficult to make. Apparently, real food requires care, but the process is much less restrictive.” Cooking real food is much easier. It doesn’t require constant adjustments to the temperature and movement.
“…Eating this while listening to you say that makes industrialized food sound like edible garbage… Which isn’t entirely wrong when you look at how it’s manufactured, but still… Saying something like that in public would really hurt the image of a famous commander like you.” She thinks about my reputation first. What an incredible woman.
“Hahaha, you’re right, but we didn’t even have this kind of food when we were kids, so I think we’ve earned the right to judge it. After all, we ate garbage for years, then moved on to ordinary food, and now we’re eating real food, with animals raised naturally and plants actually grown naturally, without being pumped full of chemicals and vector energy to force them to grow.” She lets out a satisfied sigh.
“Okay, I guess you have a point, but don’t say things like that in public, got it?!! I don’t want your reputation to get tarnished… Besides, yeah, this food is delicious. If I were still a kid, I could eat this every day for years before getting tired of it.” It’s great to see Zenith so happy like this. These are simple things we never had before.
‘Childhood, huh… I wish we’d had a normal childhood… I’m sure Zenith would have been a very sweet and brave girl, still a little bold, but much less wary and combative, and much more sociable and friendly.’ I can even imagine a teenage Zenith like that, wearing a school uniform, being able to attend school normally, and looking forward to becoming an adult.
Somehow, we’d have had a financially stable life, so we could have been a normal couple. She wouldn’t have been forced to rely on prosthetics, nor would she ever have had to fight and learn to kill people to survive.
But for a moment, I picture her looking thin in her military uniform. This is our reality. No matter what I wish for, it won’t change, and that makes me a little sad. This moment of peace reminds me of just how much we’ve lost.
‘Humans… Apparently, we were monsters. I wonder if our actions are truly human, or if we’ve simply learned too much from humans and lost ourselves in playing that role… If I could give Zenith this happy, perfect life, I wouldn’t care about being a monster… I wouldn’t care about abandoning everything and everyone for her…’ I’m such an idiot. Something like that is impossible because time won’t turn back, our choices won’t change, and reality is cruel.
“You look lost in thought. What’s wrong, Nadir? Normally, you’d be smiling like an idiot, but your expression suddenly turned serious.” She asks with her cheeks smeared with sauce. The sight makes me laugh, and I pick up the napkin to wipe her face again.
“Eat slowly. The food isn’t going to run away from us. I was just thinking about the future…” I never wanted us to discover our past. Obviously, Zenith never cared that we might possibly be monsters, but this just proves that a reality where we could have been ordinary people was never possible in the first place.
“I know the food isn’t going to run away, but it’s delicious. What else can you cook? Besides, I didn’t eat dinner yesterday… Neither of us did…” She masterfully dodges the fact that she burned the food.
“What are you going to make for dinner tonight?” I can only think about what a great way that is to avoid responsibility for the burned food: asking about the next meal.
“I’m thinking of making different dishes every time so you can try all kinds of food and find your favorite. Tonight’s dinner will be sweet rice pudding. It’s strange, and I don’t know much about it, but I saw the recipe online. It looks a little like sweet rice soup? Something like that. There’s also a chocolate-filled bread I want to try making.”
“Hahahaha, you’re talking about me, but I saw that you brought a bunch of chocolates hidden in your clothes! You’re such a hypocrite!” She laughs at me as she picks up a glass of water.
“Haaa… Even the water is good. So this is what water is supposed to taste like without so many chemicals messing it up? Honestly, rich people are so lucky. It seems like such a waste to pay so much for a bottle of water, but with a taste like this, I think I understand the price… You put a lot of effort into feeding me well. Thank you.” It’s great to see her smile, and I spot an opportunity to tease her.
“You’re thanking me? My God, the heavens are going to fall today, along with the island!” I joke about her compliment, making her blush with embarrassment.
“You idiot! When people compliment you, you’re supposed to accept it instead of making jokes! I take it back. You didn’t put any effort into this at all!! It’s not even that good!” She keeps eating despite what she’s saying, trying to take back her compliments.
“You’re such a sweetheart, Zenith, and—” I’m interrupted by Aya. Her drone approaches the table with unusual urgency compared to her normally slow movements.
“[Zenith-sama, I’ve detected an emergency alert. Also, we can’t hear the sirens because we’re so far from the city, but a maximum-level alert is blaring throughout the city right now.]”
“W-Wait, what did you say?” Zenith jumps out of her chair, knocking her plate onto the floor. The sound of shattering glass echoes strangely through the room, even catching me off guard.
“[I said—]”
“When did it start!!? Where did it start?! Why?!! And what’s the threat?” Zenith follows the military pattern of asking practical questions, showing that the army never truly left her.
“[It started three minutes ago, in the city center, and has spread throughout all regions. The guide is instructing everyone to evacuate to the island’s underground levels, but there isn’t enough room, so those farthest from the entrances will probably be left out. Also, they’ve opened the lowest underground level, which means the threat is serious enough to put the entire island at risk.]”
“Damn it!! And why did this start?”
“[I don’t know. I only picked up the alert signal, but it’s the civilian alert, so it contains no information, just instructions on how to stay safe.]”
“Nadir!! Why didn’t you see anything?!!” She turns toward me, practically shouting. I can see how nervous she is from this uncharacteristically unprofessional reaction.
“I left my phone and communicators outside. Remember I told you I didn’t want Nexus to see me?” It seems that was a bad idea. Before an alert of this level, there are usually a few minutes for decisions to be made. Those would be the minutes when I and many others would be notified, which means this problem has already been going on for at least eight full minutes, maybe fifteen.
“D-Damn it!! We need to get to the city right now!! Aya, get the drones ready to come help me. Ignore the orders to hide. This is a state of emergency!! Nadir, get the things from under my bed. Everything good I’ve managed to make is there. There’s an outfit for you that should fit. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.” Zenith rushes into one of the bedrooms while I look at Aya before running to her room.
‘Why now…? I hope this isn’t such a serious threat…’ I try to get equipped as quickly as possible so I can find out what this new problem is.