Free Time - Cafeteria - Rue's Questioning

Philip, Justine, and the squadron members walked through the hallways of the military facility. There was an awkward silence as they walked together, until Mark broke the silence

"Care to join us in lunch?"

Mark asked with a soft voice and grumpy eyes that are directsd to Philip and Justine

"Yes, thank you"

Philip replied in kindness. They then took a left and a double door met them at the end of the hallway

Mark pushed the door and entered the room. As they entered, they were met a by a large cafeteria, complete with chairs and tables, a corner for water, glass, and condiments, several sections where food are served, and a corner for bakery, desserts, and cakes

There are also soldiers, researchers, and personnel walking around and eating at some of the tables

There were vending-looking machines that has buttons that can be pressed. The buttons are next to some labels of food that are too high class and healthy like Forbidden Fruit, Salmon braised in Special Sauce and Roasted Brussel Sprouts in Olive Oil, Pork Belly fried in Bacon Fat dressed in Maple Syrup with Mashed Potato and Caramelized Mushroom, American Breakfast, and many more

The squadron members casually walked along the vending machine and Sheena stopped in front of them. Sheena pressed the button in the vending machine labeled as Square Waffles with Buttered Milk

She then left the vending machine and followed the rest of the squadron. Philip looked through the options and he hesitated to push a button

"You like anything?"

Justine asked as Philip took a while looking at the options

"I'm not sure... How does this work? I'm scared to push the wrong button"

"These are Order Stations. It has a pre-ordered meals that will be immediately cooked in the kitchen once you press the button. You go at the counter to claim your meal and it's free in here"

"Ooooh! It's like one of those prestigious schools portrayed in manga and anime"

"Pretty much"

Philip was fascinated by the food system of the military facility. He began to feel satisfied by the orderly method in this place

"What if you don't want anything pre-ordered here?"

"You go to the counter to look at the food that are displayed"

"I see..."

Philip then walked passed the Order Stations and into the counter. There, he saw a variety of food to choose from

He looked towards the squadron members to see what they ordered

"Roasted Lamb garnished with Pistachios and Garlic Fried Rice"

"Shio Ramen"

"Fallen Angel Dessert"

"Broiled Fish in Worcestershire Sauce"

Mark, Celine, Tenshi, and Elaine ordered respectively. They then moved on towards the pick-up spot to grab their trays of food

It was then that Justine came and ordered her food

"Strawberry Banana Parfait. How about you Philip? You can also order anything you want!"

Philip was stunned. He didn't expect that he could order food that wasn't in the menu, display, or the Order Stations. He then smiled as he knows what he wants to order. He wanted to eat this food ever since he was a child

"Chicken Tamarind Leaves Soup (Sinampalukang Manok)"

Justine widened her eyes from Philip's order. She never heard of a dish like that

It was because the food is native to Philip's home country. It was a dish that cooks chopped chicken in a sour soup, that is prepared from chicken stock, onions, garlic, and green chili, garnished with green tamarind leaves for the fresh sour tamarind flavor

Nevertheless, the cook that was receiving Philip's order did not reject him and went to cooking straight away

Philip and Justine continued to followed the squadron members to the pick-up spot. They waited for their food to arrive

"Have you ordered something?"

Mark directly asked Philip

"Yes"

"Good"

Philip then slightly raised his eyebrow because he was confused as to why Mark was welcoming

Then, as if Mark was able to read mind, he answered Philip's question

"Don't get me wrong, I always watch and care for my squadron members' well-being as the Squadron Leader. You're temporarily a part of my squadron, so I will temporarily watch out for you. That's my conviction"

Philip nodded, impressed from Mark's conviction or whatever

"What about Justine?"

"I can't consider her as a part of my squadron. She's in a different league than us"

"Is that true?"

Philip asked Justine

"I don't really care, but he's right"

Justine shrugged off the feeling of being left out

"Excuse me..."

Tenshi called out to Philip as she tugged his sleeveless hoodie

"Yes?"

For some reason, Philip's voice became very soft towards Tenshi. Justine was surprised while the others were slightly surprised

"Are you really Omega and she is Energy?"

"Uhh, if you mean our codenames then yes"

"I'm not talking about that... Your IGN's across games"

"Oh..."

Philip and Justine felt exposed and surprised that someone would recognize those in-game names. Not to mention, it was someone in the military

Well, it's a given that the gaming world and community is big, it's still a small world that one person recognized them

"Uh... No?"

"I knew it! So, you're both them?!"

Tenshi became very excited and slightly jumped and waved her body around

Mark became interested in the conversation and joined in

"Who are they?"

"They have been brewing the gaming world and community this past few weeks, until today. They are dominating every game that they have played in just one night and destroying every high rankers and well-known players around the world. Tenshi was one of them when she's playing anonymously"

Elaine answered Mark's question with complete information

"How'd you know?"

Mark asked

"I've been also playing games recently. It's not far for me to see the forums and threads regarding the games that I played. I stumbled upon a mega thread discussing the existence of Omega_Energy. Tenshi also told me about them"

Elaine explained with a pout and interest in her face. Now that it's confirmed that Philip and Justine are Omega and Energy, it piqued her interest and wanted to have a conversation to them

"Interesting..."

Mark also blurted out as he looked at Philip with suspicion

'How could a person with Emotion Manipulation and Pain Denial dominate the gaming world? It's understandable if it's Justine with her Energetic Vectorization. Did Justine help him with her ability? I doubt it...'

Mark once again analyzed the series of events and tried to deduct everything. From his beliefs, Philip is still a mysterious individual

Meanwhile, Tenshi is looking at Philip with a large aura of challenging. She seemed to want to play a game with Philip, and possibly Justine, to gauge their skills

Philip could only look away to his left while he whistles with his mouth. He had a look of exhaustion on his face

At that point, Philip's eyes caught someone looking at him in a distance while sitting on one of the chairs while eating. The person had a white lab coat, short brown skirt, yellow women's polo shirt, black eyeglasses, and a short blonde hair tied in a double messy ponytail. She had a look of grumpiness on her face but her eyes shows an emotion of interest and sympathy

"How long till our food will be served?"

Philip asked Elaine

"Approximately 5-10 minutes"

"Okay, hold on..."

This made Philip curious to which he left the group for a minute to go to this person. He walked towards her direction

"Where is he going?"

Mark asked

"To that girl? Who's that?"

Justine pointed and asked

"Ah, that's Rue, assistant researcher of Satou, the lead researcher. You've met her before, right?"

Elaine answered

"Ah, yup! But why is Philip going to her?"

"I don't know... Are you jealous?"

Elaine tried to tease Justine

"Not really, just curious"

Justine looked towards Philip's direction with a longing face. Elaine looked at her with cold eyes from envy. Tenshi looked at her with challenging eyes. Mark, Celine, and Sheena patiently waited for their meals

~~~

Philip slowly approached Rue and Rue was waiting for him. As soon as Philip arrived in front of Rue, she talked to him

"Take a seat first"

Rue pointed her hand at the chair opposite of her. Philip took the seat gently as he looked at Rue's food

Looks like Rue was eating a salad, complete with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, garlic bread, grapes, fried water spinach, shredded carrots, cheese cubes, and white dressing

Rue noticed Philip eyeing her half-eaten salad and offered it to him

"You want some?"

She slightly pushed the plate towards Philip with the fork

"Don't mind if I do!"

Philip's mouth was watering from seeing the salad. He was also a sucker for salad and he would gladly eat any vegetables that he can, except for eggplant. Even bell peppers and bitter gourds or melons are passable

Philip chowed down on the salad and left Rue a quarter of the salad. He then returned the plate back to Rue

She resumed eating the salad with the same fork, thus having the two of them indirectly kissing. But that didn't bother them at all

Philip cut to the chase and asked Rue

"Why were you looking at me from afar? Do you need something from me?"

Philip recognized Rue and didn't bother to ask for her identity because she was present from when Chris first visited the mansion. It was also recognizable on who she was by the outfit she was wearing

Rue then leaned forward to which Philip also leaned forward, as if they will be whispering to each other

"I have an important question..."

"What is that?"

"Who are you really?"

"..."

Philip tilted his head in confusion from Rue's strange question. Rue then continued

"You're affecting some kind of fabric... Your abilities couldn't have just been Emotion Manipulation and Pain Denial. There should be something else!"

There was a tint of craziness in Rue's eyes and Philip could read her body language

"What do you mean?"

Philip tried to act innocent

"Don't try to act innocent! I can read all your movements and I can see that your anatomy is not normal! You don't have a heart and the flow of Mana in your system is too powerful and abnormal! There are also foreign energies circulating in your body!"

At this point, Philip frowned and became serious

"How do you know about this?!"

Philip asked with a grave tone in his voice. He can't afford a nobody knowing his main abilities, unless this person is a part of the Golden Timeline

"I have two abilities; Ruined Strength and Eye of Diagnosis"

"Eye of Diagnosis?"

"Yes, when I was a little kid, I met a spirit in the middle of the forest and gave me a Magic Eye. I couldn't use it then until recently when the transition of Mysticism Age first started"

"A spirit?"

"Yes, it's like a white ethereal ghost. You have one too, right? When I first met you, you didn't have a Magic Eye, now you have one in your right eye!"

Philip frowned even more, Rue discovered that he has a Magic Eye and he didn't want anyone to know about

"Listen, keep quiet about the Magic Eyes, they're not supposed to exist in our world yet and can only be gifted by high beings. Who else knows about your Magic Eye?"

"Oh, you want to keep it a secret? You have my word. So far, only Chris and Satou know of it"

"Haaah... Don't tell anyone about it anymore, okay?"

"If you say so... By the way, Ruined Strength allows me to increase my strength into a degree that can instantly destroy an object in just one tap"

"..."

Philip nodded at Rue's ability

"So, back to my question..."

Rue continued

"Who or what are you?"

Rue asked while shaking in slight fear. Philip only looked at her with a discerning eye