Chapter 3: Cafeteria.

Eiko moved her knight in. "Check."

"Oh," said Sven, looking at the pieces. "W--What does that mean?"

Several seconds went by. "Never mind," she said finally.

The two had succeeded in sneaking out a crude chessboard from the nursery during Mauser and Cas's intimate chat. But Eiko had suddenly realized that none of the other children were familiar with the game. This irritated her.

"I guess we better get back to eating," suggested Sven, turning away from the board. Her blonde hair, once long and elegant, now came out in a short fringe.

Eiko looked to her bowl. "Is this even food?" She stirred the goop around with her finger. "It looks like mucus!" She put it to her lips. "Sure tastes like it, too."

"Colt said it was protein," said Sven. "Something your body needs."

"I know perfectly well what 'protein' means, thank you." She pushed the bowl aside. "How am I supposed to even eat this stuff without a spoon?"

"There are no utensils," said Gabriel. "Or rather, they haven't enough for us right now."

"Well, I think they should have planned ahead," said Eiko.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the table, Sam and Christie held up their bowls, facing each other. "On the count of three," said Sam, raising her bowl to eye level. "One, Two..."

The both of them let go of the meals, and they instantly fell onto the table.

"Hey!" said Pablo, peering from behind his book. "You got slime all over 'The Little Engine', man."

Sam wiped some of it of the cover. "Sorry, we were just testing something."

"Did you see that?" said Christie, distracted. "Mine was in the air for a second!"

"Really?" said Sam. "Let's try it again."

"Not if I can help it," said AK, entering the cafeteria with a sack over his shoulder. "You're wasting valuable sustenance."

Eiko began to gag uncontrollably.

AK went over to her, worried. "Having trouble eating this stuff?" He reached into his sack and pulled out a chunk of bread. "I was gonna save it for later, but I guess you need it more than I do."

She took it and bit down.

"See? Feeling better already. How about you?"

"I'm fasting," said Gabriel.

"Oh," said AK. "That a religious thing? Well, all right." He walked off to a distant corner of the room and sat down.

Eiko smiled behind her stale patch of wheat.

Sven leaned in close. "You weren't really sick, were you?" she whispered.

The girl giggled lightly.

Colt suddenly came in. "Whew, sorry I'm late. Hope the kids didn't give you a rough time."

AK looked at the children, watching their faces for any signs of betrayal. "No, they've been fine for the whole hour I've been here watching them," he looked back to Eiko. "I even gave that little Asian girl over there something to help digest this muck."

"Asian?" said Colt. "Technically, she's not from Asia."

"Yeah, yeah..." He got up. "I'll go find out where these kids are going to sleep tonight." He left.

Sven seemed confused. "What did you mean when you said she's not Asian?"

Colt was surprised by her reaction. "Er... well, you were all created in the same place, the same piece of land."

"But we look different," said Gabriel.

"Yeah. You're each made of different, er, stuff. But you're children of Africa, in a sense. We all are."

Eiko finished her bread. "Is there any water?"

The crewman peered over the table. "AK didn't get any for you? Well I'll be."

Christie felt the sudden urge to speak. "Sir, can I ask a question?"

"Go right ahead."

She rubbed her elbow. "The story the lady told us said there are no plants around anymore. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately, it is. Leaves can't grow without sunlight."

"Then where did the other man get bread?" she asked.

Colt grinned. "Heh, that. It's a famous story, actually. There was once a bunch of rebels that managed to get onto the surface with ultraviolet lamps -- er, bulbs that make 'fake' sunlight -- and cultivated the soil, growing wheat. We still live off of that supply today."

Sven grew curious. "Whatever happened to those rebels?"

The crewman rubbed his skull. "Unfortunately, on one of their shifts, they were attacked by -- bad creatures."

Sven gasped. "Will they ever attack us?"

Colt laughed. "No, no. We're deep underground, in a heavily reinforced and armed dwelling. Those evil things would never reach us."

The girl acknowledged what he said, though she wasn't convinced.

"What's 'cultivate'?" asked the boy in the back.

"Oh, that means--" He looked to Pablo. "Wait a second -- where'd you get that book?"

"I--I found it," he said.

Colt sauntered over and took it back. "I bet Cas is going nuts trying to find this thing." He pressed his finger against the cloth. "Did you get food on it?"

"I... spilled some."

"Jesus. This thing's older than me!" He turned the book over in his hands. "You people are going to have to be monitored more closely. We can't have people stealing priceless antiques when no one's looking."

AK stepped in. "Is everything all right? It sounded like someone was shouting."

"Oh, it's ok. It's just that..." Colt showed him the book.

"That's what you were yelling about? The single-celled solution will come off easily with a little rock salt and water."

"If you say so," said the crewman.

AK composed himself. "Now, if you kids are finished with your meals, I'd like to show you all to your sleeping quarters."

Gabriel sighed. The last thing he needed was more sleep.