Limitless Path

Beth had to say, it was enjoyable to spend a few hours relaxing and playing games, something she hadn't done in any form for weeks. In what felt like no time at all, it was early afternoon and Beth had gotten most of her quota of social interaction for the month. An impressive feat, considering it was only the first day of December.

"So, are you set on living at that new building now?" her mother asked as they were cleaning the living room up.

"Pretty much. I've got a lot going on right now and it definitely helps being so close to everything."

"And the lack of parental supervision is also nice, I would imagine," her father interjected with a slight smile.

"Well, I am officially an adult now, so I don't know about all that being necessary anymore…"

"Just try to stay out of trouble, Beth," her mother said. "You know how I worry about you."

"Worrying'll just make you sick and not accomplish anything, so best to not," Beth replied with a shrug.

"Well, you should check in a little more often. We haven't seen you in days, Beth," her mother said in a rather stern voice.

"Sure, I'll try," Beth said with another shrug.

Her mother just sighed, saying, "Well, I suppose you are still a teenager."

"A teenager with things to do," Beth returned with a slight frown, moving towards the back of the house. Sabs and Blood followed along, heading to the mudroom to re-equip what they had earlier shucked. They got fully suited back up and left through the back door, heading through the center of town. They stopped at the community center where Zack was holding down the fort, Sabs taking a moment to report the dereliction of duty they had seen in the morning. Zack just frowned after confirming he had heard her, busy working on what looked like three different things at once.

The girls left him to it, heading up the central street to the gate, which was currently closed and barred. The two guards on duty for that day made to move the locking bar, but Beth just motioned them away. The guards looked somewhat confused, their faces morphing into surprised and awed appearances as the three girls all leapt the gate with ease before taking off in a blur to the east.

They made their way back to the CRA Hall, finding Tazeen and Lyrissa on desk duty as they entered the lobby. They received a very slight nod from Tazeen while Lyrissa ignored them entirely, too absorbed in whatever she was watching or reading to take notice. It seemed a little poor performance for a front desk attendant, but then again, there weren't that many people to deal with, and Lyrissa would be Lyrissa, regardless.

The three moved through the first floor of the main building to the cafeteria, Beth having taken an interest in what, exactly, was available for them to eat. She found a large seating area with more than a dozen tables, each surrounded by very comfortable chairs, along with what looked like a host of machinery along one wall near an open doorway. The doorway led back into a full kitchen, with everything needed to not just cook, but cook food on an industrial scale. There was an open window area between the kitchen and the cafeteria amongst the weird machines and enchantments. Beth also noticed there was another set of machines along the far wall, opposite the side of the building with the hallway she normally took to get back to the Enforcer's lounge. These machines were rather easily recognizable, as they were very clearly a row of vending machines set up with a huge number of different kinds of items. Several were set up for drinks and several for snacks, while it looked like two could serve more complete meals.

Beth spent some time poking around, noting that the kitchen was empty of any people, while the walk-in freezer/refrigerator was fully stocked. After looking at the whole host of options the vending machines presented, she moved to inspect the weird machinery by what would be the serving line in a regular cafeteria. There were definitely parts that were arms, some things that looked like scanners and analyzers, and things that were far more esoteric.

"OK, so spill," she said, turning to Sabs, who had observed from the side this whole time. Blood had sniffed around as well, but seemed to lose interest after realizing it was an empty kitchen with no food currently prepared.

"There are vending machines, obviously," Sabs replied, pointing at the machines with a quick wave of her finger. "There's also a full kitchen setup with everything you need to cook simple to moderately complex meals. Normally, they'd have staff working in the kitchen, but with only a couple senior Enforcers and a small handful of us here, it's not worth it right now. That means we're kinda slumming it, but we also can just wander in and use the kitchen, as long as we clean up after we're done. There aren't any particularly expensive ingredients in stock right now, so we don’t really have to pay for using them.

"If we don't want to cook, but want a meal prepared, the machines by the serving area are actually capable of cooking. They can't make anything highly complex, but if you wanted, say, oatmeal with fruit and some toast, or even pancakes, for breakfast, they'd be capable of making that. I've played around with them a little on days you're off exploring, and they can make a surprising amount of stuff. They can even make French Fries."

"So, we can just get them to cook our meals?" Beth asked with a raised brow.

"I mean, yes and no," Sabs replied, waggling her hand back and forth. "They can't do complex stuff, and it costs money. It's not really expensive, but it is more than the free meals that are provided to our room."

"Well, neat. What about drinks? Is it just the vending machines?"

"I think there's water, juice, and sports drink in the fridge unit. Other than that, you'd have to check the vending machines. Also, I think some of what the machines serve is alcoholic."

"Have you tried any?" Beth asked, second brow joining the first.

"Any juice?" Sabs replied innocently.

"Don't give me that; I meant any booze."

"Well, I did try some wine before the world changed. In terms of the vending machines, I tried something that's supposed to be a human safe beer. I didn't like it that much, but beer is a big category, and that's literally the only one I've ever tried."

"Huh." Beth replied eloquently. "What are the laws on drinking? Do you know?"

"Uh, pretty much everywhere adults are allowed to drink, which is actually how a lot of Earth used to work as well. Some places consider sixteen to be an adult, others eighteen, and I think there are one or two exceptions that might be slightly older. In terms of most things, the CRA views sixteen as a legal adult, so you can do things like drink once you hit sixteen. Pretty much everywhere will count you as an adult by eighteen, and you can do most things then.

"John was telling me some things when we were talking about how to sneak around and steal things without getting caught. He was saying that some places are really open and free with what you can do and how you can do it. After those handful of places, most places are decently open and fair, and let most people do most things without too many restrictions. Then, there are some places that are pretty shit. Think, like, the worst we've had on Earth; the Nazi occupation of Europe, the apartheid regime in South Africa, or even the total police state that China seemed to be going for."

"Yeah, some of that, like all that open and free stuff, sounds awesome. The other stuff sounds like garbage. How can places like that exist with the CRA around?"

"I don't really know," Sabs answered with a shrug. "I asked John about it a little, and he just said we're there to 'stop the really bad shit, but we don't play fucking politics,' whatever that means."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Beth grumbled, tapping her chin.

"Well, I'm sure you can ask Baelvyr about it. Isn't he the most senior one here? He's got to know more than just about anybody, and he doesn't seem to mind explaining how shit works."

"Yeah, yeah," Beth replied, dismissing the topic. "We can worry about stuff like that later. We could barely even explore the area around here, let alone worry about the rest of the world, let alone worry about other worlds. I'm more interested in food."

Beth approached the machines at the serving line before looking around, trying to figure out what to do. Sabs walked over and grabbed Beth's hand, pulling her to the end of the line and pointing at something on the counter. When Beth tapped it, assuming it was a screen, it rotated off the counter to be angled at about sixty degrees, in a good position for her to view and make selections. Beth paged through what was available, everything listed in Universal Standard, before deciding on a big bowl of something that was very similar to beef, with rice and vegetables in sauce. She selected one of the juices that was labeled as safe for Humans to consume, clicking to checkout, and the system asked her for ten coppers. She frowned but made the coins appear, and a slot appeared in the apparatus next to the screen. Beth dropped the coins in the slot, the machine not having a problem processing them all as a big group, and then the rest of the devices whirred to life.

She stepped back and looked at Sabs with a shrug, the older girl smiling in return before stepping forward and entering her own order. Blood followed after, the sight of a wolf working a touchscreen a little bit comical, but she also managed to order and make her payment. She then padded back a step to wait, Beth absent-mindedly scratching her between the ears as they watched the machines work.

It didn't take very long for everything to be ready, with Beth's order completed first, followed closely by Sabs's and then Blood's. They all came on trays with their choice of drink and utensils, and the machines seemed to go through a quick cleaning process before winding down and falling silent. Beth grabbed Blood's as well as her own food and moved to one of the tables, asking whether the wolf wanted the tray on the ground. Her companion indicated the table, as she was tall enough sitting on her haunches on the floor to be well above the height of the table, and the three proceeded to eat.

Beth hadn't really expected much from a cafeteria meal, but immediately found her assumptions to be way too shallow. The meat was perfectly cooked and incredibly tender, practically falling apart when she placed it in her mouth. The rice was also cooked to a level that would make even a sushi chef give a satisfied nod, and the vegetables were perfectly grilled and roasted. The sauce was also delicious, and Beth found that she was licking the inside of the bowl before she even realized it. The juice was something that was strangely in between orange and pear, but Beth found she liked the flavor. Having only taken a few sips while eating, she was able to savor finishing the drink while the others finished off their food.

She leaned back with one hand on her stomach, one hand holding her juice, her legs crossing under the table before she let out a massive belch. Blood gave a snort and ignored her, while Sabs gave it an eight, eliciting a frown from Beth. She narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend for a moment before she couldn't resist asking, "If that's an eight, what the hell is a ten?"

"You've gotta really impress me for a perfect score, Beth," Sabs responded, blushing after a second as she realized there were several different ways that could be taken.

Beth realized it too, apparently, as she said, "I certainly hope I'll be able to achieve a perfect score in something."

"We can find out tonight," Sabs replied, blushing even deeper.

"Oh, uh, t-tonight?" Beth stammered, caught a little flat-footed.

"We've been together for a while, Beth. Besides, it didn't really feel right doing anything too extreme with me being an adult and you technically not. But you're a full adult today so…happy birthday, I guess."

"Tonight absolutely can't come fast enough," Beth said, an eager growl in her voice, which elicited another snort from Blood.

"I hope it won't be too fast," Sabs replied, and it took Beth a second before she exclaimed "Sabs!" in response, getting an embarrassed giggle from the older girl.

"So, what do we do with this stuff?" Beth asked after shaking her head, trying to dispel the thoughts of what they would be getting up to later that evening.

"There's a place to put all the dishes and trays and such," Sabs said, getting up and leading the way over to the other side of the automated cooking system. There was an area with a small conveyor belt-like apparatus that led through a slot in the wall into the kitchen. They dumped their dishes on it and it instantly activated, moving everything into the kitchen area. Curious, Beth walked around through the open door into the kitchen to watch as their used dishes were pulled into a large dishwashing machine. It rumbled and gurgled as steam hissed out several places around the machine and, after only half a minute, all their dishes emerged fully washed. Before Beth could ask if they should return them, a robotic arm unfolded from the ceiling and quickly but stably moved everything back to its proper places.

"Well," Beth said, slightly flabbergasted, "that was impressive."

"Yeah, I watched it a few weeks ago after I first ate here, and it can do all kinds of complex stuff without any user assistance. I imagine it's also crazy expensive," Sabs responded, nodding.

"I bet Jaq could build something like this with his eyes closed," Beth grumbled out a complement to the ornery shopkeeper.

"I could build something like this while asleep," said Jaq, causing all three girls to yelp and leap into the air, spinning to see Jaq in the cafeteria peering in at them. "I do hope you three hooligans haven't broken anything in there."