4.2: A System of His Own pt 2

Lus spun to face the Nemarian, plastering a grin on his face to hide the frustration and embarrassment. "Yeah. I was checking Wlnp's recipes just to see if there was something fast I could whip up for you. Sorry, but I didn't find anything. I guess leftovers are your only option."

"Don't worry about it. I can suffer for one more day. At least, I'm assuming we'll get that pasta again, right?" Cewi's voice made it clear that it was more of an order than casual conversation.

"Yes, ma'am. Pasta again tomorrow. Though I fear I'll need to do some ingredient shopping if I'm going to keep up with these kinds of high quality dishes."

"High quality is maybe a little much, but I'll speak to the Captain. Our next stop will be at a well developed planet in the Gemini Sector so if you can have a list for me by tomorrow, I'll make sure you get everything you need," Cewi-Bano said.

"Thanks, Cewi. I'll be sure to do that."

"Now about those leftovers." The Nemarian gently pushed Lus to the side and opened the interbox, digging into the massive amounts of burned mush left behind from the past few days.

Lus assisted her with finding one of the more edible selections. Once she had the hodgepodge that was supposed to be a mixture of rice, meat, and veggies, she dismissed Lusac.

"I can get this heated up. I'm not normally one to worry so much about hygiene, but Suns, Lus. You need a shower. Get out of here before you stink up my meal worse than it already is." She waved one hand to shoo the boy out of the kitchen and into the hall.

As much as he worried about not being in the kitchen when someone else was in there, his desire to clean up and figure out the quest side of his system far overshadowed it.

He sped through the corridors and ladders of the Argo, eager to get a little privacy for the first time all day. Part of him wondered if it would be a good idea to convince Leviathan to let him move the Demon to his personal computer in his quarters, but the other part remembered that comment about hearing everything in the room, and the need for privacy won out.

At last Lusac arrived at his door. One of dozens in the hallway, it was only distinguished as his by the number "37" above the door. He scanned his thumb print–old tech that Runners used in place of id chips since most of the older crew no longer had them–and the door slid open to reveal the mess he called home.

It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the lighting which was set to a normal level for Humans unlike the rest of the ship. His quarters were made up of his combo living room and bedroom while a small closet constituted the bathroom. A personal holoscreen started up once he entered, displaying the latest scores of the fights from Rushtar.

The small bed nestled in the corner was unmade and still had his pajama pants on it. The couch, as beat up as the rest of the furniture, was positioned to be right in front of the screen. A coffee table supported by three legs and an old box held miscellaneous articles he never got around to putting away. The desk under the single window was tidy at least, but that was more from lack of use than anything else. Still, regardless of the state, it was good to be back.

Lusac sighed, taking in the smell of his poor habits and flopped on the couch which wasn't quite as long as he was tall. Given his only slightly above average height, it was really the couch that was lacking.

He unzipped the front of his uniform and relished in the new found freedom to breathe without the tight, damp alunitanium fibers pressing into his sternum. After all the hours he'd been stuck in the mission suit, he'd forgotten how uncomfortable it actually was. His boots came off next, adding a new odor to the air that he was too lazy to care about, and after the removal of his belt, Lusac was finally settled in for a nice evening of nothing.

Normally he'd turn on a gladiatus match, but today he had something far more exciting to do than watch two warriors pummel each other to the dirt. With a thought, a blue screen appeared in front of him containing the homepage of the system with all his personal stats.

Lus had already investigated the [Nearby Stats] and [Recipes] tabs, so he turned his attention to the next one: [Quests].

There were three options on the screen, each with a drop down menu.

[Active Quests]

[Available Quests]

[Completed Quests]

The [Completed Quests] had a little red exclamation point next to it so Lus tapped that one first. The only one in the list was [Cook Something Edible], the one he'd just completed by "making a meal the crew didn't hate." As insulted as he was by such an incredibly low bar, he was also a bit grateful it wasn't something harder.

The reward was [100 XP], which combined with the [50 XP], put him at a pretty [150 XP]. While Lus wasn't an expert in systems, he was sure that was a decent amount for only having had his system for a few hours. He clicked the button next to the quest title, and a new notification popped up in the corner of his vision informing him of the gained reward.

[XP Gained: 100]

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[Name: Movin' On Up]

[Description: level up]

[Time limit: None]

[Reward: 100 XP]

"Let's see what's next on the menu." Lus chuckled at his own joke and promised himself he'd remember it next time he was in an appropriate situation.

[Active Quests] contained the new [Quest] so Lus went to [Available Quests] in hopes of getting a little more choice in his next task. Unfortunately, it was completely empty so all he could do was focus on [Movin' On Up].

"Well how close am I to leveling up?" he asked as he tapped back to the homepage. Underneath his class was info about his level.

[Level 1]

[Lifetime XP: 150]

[Current XP: 150]

[Level 2 XP Requirement: 200]

"What's the difference between [Lifetime XP] and [Current XP]?" he wondered, but no answer came. Not that Leviathan would have told him anyway. But at least he was more than halfway to his goal.

Lusac chewed his cheek a bit as he stared at the screen. The only way to gain [XP] was through [Quests] or cooking, and since his next [Quest] required leveling up, all he could really do was wait until it came time to cook again.

With the excitement of the system weaning and the smell of his socks burning a little more in his nostrils, Lusac gave up lounging to do as Cewi-Bano originally ordered and take a shower.

The small square bathroom barely contained the toilet, sink, and shower. Sitting on the toilet he could wash his hands in the sink or just as easily turn the knobs in the shower, but at least it was private, which is pretty good for life on a starship.

The hyper-shower had taken a few months to get used to since his homeworld of Treft still used traditional water showers, but when dealing with long journeys in the vacuum of space, water couldn't be wasted in such ways. Instead the hyper-shower used blasts of air combined with some type of cleansing liquid to wash a body. It was far more effective for Nemarians than the other species, but given the economic features, it was still the norm for all ships.

All that really mattered to Lus is that it got him clean. And between a warm shower and full belly, he was already starting to feel drowsy. He stepped out into his room in only a fresh pair of underwear, pulled his pajama pants on, and fell into the mess of covers on his bed. He was asleep almost immediately, with dreams full of cartoon red eyes and maniacal laughs. It was early morning when the comm system beeped, dragging him back to the waking world.

It was Zer-Dasht. "Lusac, come in. I'm in the kitchen, and we have a big problem."