Chapter 6
The group was standing in a white corridor lined with multiple automatic doors. Each door led to a room where they could sleep.
Delton was carrying the unconscious man on his back. The group decided to sleep in pairs, and everyone agreed to this plan. They began selecting their sleeping partners and the rooms they preferred.
Delton and Jing decided to stay together to guard the unconscious man. They chose the farthest room, which had a blue and white theme, three beds, and a TV monitor on the wall across from the beds.
The twins also opted to stay together. After quickly reconciling from their last quarrel, they selected the nearest room, which featured a brown and green color scheme, two beds, and a TV monitor across from their beds.
Leia chose to stay with Maya, as she was the only other girl in the group and wanted to chat with her. They selected a room themed in yellow and light blue, containing two side-by-side beds and a TV monitor.
Finally, James, being alone, chose the orange-themed room with a single bed. The room was spacious and also had a TV, similar to the other rooms.
The group dispersed into their chosen rooms, with the automatic doors opening and closing behind them as they entered.
In the room that Delton and Jing selected, Delton placed the unconscious man on the middle bed for easier guarding.
"What do we do with him after tonight, sir?" Delton asked, looking at the man lying unconscious on the bed.
"I'm not sure," Jing replied, pondering the situation.
Suddenly, the TV monitor lit up, revealing a pixelated happy face—it was Ai.
"Mister Jing, my request is for you to take the man with you. No one else can care for him here. If he stays, he will die," Ai explained. "The food supply in this facility will decrease day by day."
Upon hearing Ai's words, Jing contemplated their options. He sat on the edge of the bed, reflecting on the possible consequences of taking the man with them. If he brings the man along on his journey, their negotiation might go into disarray.
"Let me think about it, Ai," Jing finally responded. He lay down on his side of the bed and closed his eyes, lost in thought.
"Have any of you eaten yet?" Ai asked, recalling that it was night and they hadn't eaten anything since arriving at the facility.
"I don't think so," Jing answered, shaking his head.
"We haven't eaten yet," Delton added, hinting that they should retrieve some food from the horse outside.
"What about the others? Have they eaten yet?" asked Ai. It feels like she was concerned about the other, even though she's Ai.
"No," Jing replied, now worried that everyone is hungry.
"Okay, I will prepare a menu for your food," Ai responded. The pixelated happy face emoji suddenly disappeared.
The screen on the TV monitor changed from a pixelated happy face to a menu displaying various types of food available from human culinary options. Jing and Delton looked at the monitor, surprised by what had just appeared.
"What are these?" Jing asked, looking at the monitor.
"That's the menu of food available to be made. You can touch the monitor to scroll through other pages," Ai explained. Prepared to make any of the dishes they would choose.
"Wow," Jing called out to Delton, waving his hand telling him to come here. "Delton, come and choose from here."
They focused on the monitor, selecting what food they wanted. The elves weren't vegetarians, so they could choose any food they desired.
"You can choose whatever food you want," Ai said, leaving them alone. "I will go to the others to give them some food."
Jing and Delton stood by the monitor, looking through the food options they wanted.
In the room where the twins were staying, they were watching a drama about twin brothers who loved the same girl, who was unaware that the twins kept switching places.
"Oh, Mario, how I love to stay like this forever," Maria said, while looking at the sunset, hugging Mario.
"Me too, Maria. I wish for this moment to last forever," Mario replied, caressing her head.
"Maria, he doesn't love you; I do," Luigi interrupted their moment, revealing himself behind a tree.
"Mario?" Maria was shocked to see another person who looked like Mario.
"Luigi?" Mario was surprised to see him here after he had distracted him.
The brothers were so focused on the movie that they didn't even remember they hadn't eaten yet.
The film was interrupted by Ai. A pixelated happy face suddenly appeared on the screen.
"Sorry to interrupt what you're watching, but I heard from your leader that no one has eaten yet, so I present to you the foods available," Ai announced, presenting a menu on the monitor.
The monitor changed to a list of various culinary dishes. Larry and Barry walked forward and looked at the menu; they were kind of curious what kind of food these were.
Barry chose a whole pizza, while Larry picked a burger and fries combo. They thanked Ai and asked her to change the screen back. It changed back to the drama series they were just watching, and they watched it like they were there as well.
"Maria will choose Mario over Luigi; I know how this will end," Larry said confidently, as he felt a connection to this Mario character.
"No, Maria will choose Luigi. Mario doesn't love her; he just wants her body," Barry countered, seeing the dark side of Mario.
"That was just the beginning. He changed," Larry argued, telling him that Mario truly loves Maria.
"Nuh-uh!" Barry replied, trying to deny him like a child.
"Yah-huh!" Larry shot back.
They began to debate passionately about who Maria would ultimately choose.
In another room, James was sleeping in the dark when suddenly a loud, blaring horn noise woke him up.
James jumped off his bed and landed face-first on the floor. "What! What! Are there enemies?" he exclaimed, looking around the room for an enemy.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, but I heard that you haven't eaten yet, so I prepared a list of food options for you," said Ai, opening the TV monitor and presenting a list of food options.
"It's okay; I was just tired, but now I'm hungry," James replied, looking at the screen, wanting to taste the food humans made.
James pressed something on the screen, and it changed into a pop-up saying Thank you for ordering your food.
A wall opened beside him, revealing a rare steak—the food James had chosen. "Thanks," he said, and looked at the steak on the plate.
"You're welcome," Ai replied, and disappeared from the screen.
"Wow, this tastes great!" James exclaimed, starting to gobble up the food as if he hadn't eaten in years.