1 Prologue

I checked the stasis cube for any overlooked goodies, as if the hundreds of other looks I'd ever done had missed anything… a few cans of beans are all that's left though, then I'm on to insect nutrient cubes.

Grabbing a can, I cut it open and used a spoon to eat as I headed toward the battery room.

I really want to heat them up but if I can't afford to waste energy on lighting I sure as hell can't afford to waste it on warm food.

The soft blue light coming from the carefully strung chemical glow sticks make for a rather depressing atmosphere as they bounce off the cramped steel walls, the heavily filtered air rasping through the occasional grate the only sound to be heard.

Pulling open the sliding door before closing it to not waste any heat, I plopped down into my big ol patchwork beanbag, at least in here the natural heat coming off the batteries and machinery keeps me warm.

Speaking of batteries… I glanced over at the massive power banks, 4 out of 5 were dark while the last showed a percentage of 63.835%.

This bunker could get power from a multitude of different places… if they were still functioning that is.

Wind turbines needed way too much maintenance and were the first to go (I'm not counting tidal generators cos apparently they stopped before I was even born), Geothermal crapped out a few years back shortly followed by running out of oil, the reactors had to be remotely detonated when the roaches made a nest in it.

The damn sun was getting dimmer by the day making solar the last main one to even be working (if barely), but it wasn't enough to stop the percent from getting slightly lower every day.

Underneath the power percentage was an estimate, I'd been ignoring it for a few weeks since I really didn't feel like spending my day being a pile of depression.

I'd considered turning off the stasis cube, it'd buy me another couple of months or so if my food wasn't close to expired already, the beans are meant to last for a long time but they'd been sitting around for close to 90 years before being put in stasis, even if it was a hell of a technological achievement for food to stay preserved for that long I doubt they'd last much longer outside.

*Rumbling sfx*

Everything briefly shuddered before going back to normal, we weren't on a fault line but this planet was so fucked up that I didn't doubt the increasing frequency of earthquakes could be attributed to old humanity somehow.

I pulled out something that looked like the pedals of a tricycle attached with a wire to a small screen.

It used to be a piece of gym equipment but I'd jury-rigged it to power a small screen I read with since I couldn't afford to charge it normally.

The tablet was (to me at least) the single most valuable item I owned, it contained almost every piece of information mankind had ever collected from practical information to entertainment (probably why I'm still sane… maybe).

I started pedalling while looking at the reflective black display, my dirty blonde hair and orange eyes looking back at me, after a little whirr the screen transitioned to a dark gray with a certain manga I was reading.

My Hero Academia, I'd started reading it a few days ago and was enjoying it.

It had a different feel to all the Marvel or DC hero stories I'd read (not that I didn't enjoy them too).

I stopped thinking about all the problems that were piling up, I stopped worrying about how long I had left, I just lost myself in the story while relaxing.

I'd deal with everything to the best of my abilities later, for now I needed a break and a way to relax.