[CYA] Chapter 182: Unchanged (Patreon)

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UsnaA8MwZ4ClQT5g9rKBOmgJYQlQqMt-d85auJLR8tc/edit?usp=sharing

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<Alex, Real - Dorgon Calls for Aid, Innominate Dining Hall>

Aboard the Innominate, the two Initiate crews sat in the dining hall as several of their number worked in the kitchens to whip up a meal for the gathering.

Grant’s arguing made Alex smile as the man tried to convince Connie from the other crew that they had to follow the recipe for the dish they were pulling together.

She, in turn, insisted that if you had to follow the recipe you didn’t know how to cook.

Rather than that announcement winning the argument—as she clearly thought it would—Grant made sounds of eager affirmation. He didn’t know how to cook without a recipe, and she didn’t know how to make this in such a way that it would turn out exactly as it would if they followed the recipe, evidenced by the fact that Connie was about to add basil when that wasn’t on the list of ingredients.

The sizzle of something being placed in oil drowned out the next part of the conversation, and Alex turned his attention back to the larger gathering.

Kaylee was looking toward the kitchen with fondness while she chatted with Pike, the man still sending irritated glares toward Alex every once in a while.

Alex had healed the man’s wrist but still… didn’t feel great.

Oh, he had no issue with breaking the kid’s wrist, especially because Pike had done that to himself. He wasn’t even miffed that Pike had wanted it looked at by an ‘actual doctor’ afterward.

Rather, Alex really didn’t like that Alex very well could have been responsible for the death of a real person.

Unlike Mr. Weston… He grimaced. He knew that man had been a created being, but did that make him any less real? After we die, all that is left of us is our impact on the world and people around us. By that token, Mr. Weston was as real as any.

Alex… didn’t know what to feel, and as a consequence, he was the least talkative of the gathering, acting more as an observer.

There were actually a full nine of them, meaning that they only had a single non-Initiate crewmate. That man was apparently a supply officer, and he’d volunteered to remain on the Impressa to hold down the fort.

Natasha was talking with their helmsman and sensor specialist.

Kaylee was talking with Pike, who was captain and apparently the one who’d gotten jump-privilleges on the Impressa.

John was near Alex, while chatting with Oscar, a bookish fellow who apparently got a variant of ship’s engineer that he wasn’t comfortable divulging.

Pilar and Grant were in the kitchens with Connie and Joseph, the shields and weapons officers respectively.

Finally, Lenka was chatting with a massive man who was their security officer, but his bent seemed to be more in line with hers, meaning entrenching positions and setting traps.

Jessica was in the medical bay, being tended to by Bev, but they expected her to join them soon. She was their Assault Officer, and she’d been captured while performing those duties.

The last person was a balding, thin man—Joe Zimmerman, who had been an ER doctor before the Initiation of the System—and he had helped Pike get his wrist checked, looked in on Jessica, and since, he’d been inspecting various parts of the dining hall.

Now, he was looking around, and seemed to notice that only Alex wasn’t engaged in conversation.

Alex sighed internally, taking a long pull of coffee as the other man walked over.

When the doctor sat down, Alex inclined his head, keeping a tight reign on the energy in his neck. “Dr. Zimmerman.”

The other man waved that off. “Come now, Alex. My credentials hardly carry weight out here. I think we’re all in way over our heads.”

Alex grunted at the truth of that, taking another long drink.

“Call me Master instead. That seems more in line with this insanity.”

Alex almost choked, but when he saw the twinkle in the man’s eyes, he managed to swallow and laugh. “Very well, Master Zimmerman.”

Joe lifted his chin in feigned hautiness. “Finally, someone to revel in my brilliance. If you heard me play the piano or sing opera, you’d even agree with the title.”

Alex quirked a smile. “I’m sure. But how has it been for you all? Really?”

Joe shrugged. “I think I had it the easiest, though no one really got off easy.”

“Oh?” Alex leaned in slightly. “What was your first scenario?”

“Sheep.”

Alex blinked a few times. “Sheep… Seriously?”

“They were thunder-rams, really, but I grew up with quite a bit of family that herded sheep, and the skills were surprisingly transferrable.”

Alex’s eye twitched. “I don’t remember that being an option.”

“Hmm? Oh, I wasn’t offered that option. I asked for sheep.”

His mouth dropped open. He almost expressed confusion at requisitioning non-standard variants being an option, but then he remembered that he’d asked for a weapon that hadn’t been offered at first.

He groaned, putting his head down. Joe reached across the table and patted Alex on the shoulder. “I received quite a few… penalties for the non-standard selection, but after learning about the death rates in the other scenarios?” He shook his head. “I think that a ten percent penalty on all rewards throughout this Apology Tutorial was a small price to pay.”

Alex had to agree. “That’s… yeah. I think you’re right on that front.”

Joe smiled. “Assuming I survive this next part at least.”

Alex grunted in concession before changing the subject. “So, you all were put together randomly?”

Joe nodded. “We all selected to be placed with other Initiates, and we all selected to have a singular non-Initiate in our crew. I doubt we were the only ones to do so, but the result was us being placed together. They all came from different first scenarios as well, but we’ve meshed well enough. Missions haven’t been too difficult, and we’re getting by.” He grimaced then. “Well, they were going fine, until this one.”

Alex nodded, taking another sip and letting the man gather his thoughts.

“The pirates were extorting the colonists, and Jessica went to deal with them on the surface while we engaged the ship in orbit.

“We didn’t recognize the shield frigate until we’d already started firing. It tied us up while half the fighters went to the surface, and with those overhead? Jessica had to surrender, even after destroying the original shuttle and overcoming the ten pirates on the ground.”

Alex grunted. “That’s a rough turn.”

“Indeed. If you all hadn’t come along, I’m not sure how we’d have come out of it.” A smile tugged at Joe’s lips. “I’m not quite sure I like how you handled it, but I have to grant you the results.”

Alex grimaced, then. “I… I didn’t know you were real.”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So you didn’t actually want to get her back?”

Alex shook his head in negation. “No, I did, but I don’t know that I could have done any of… of all that,” he waved vaguely to indicate all that had happened, “if I’d known she was real. I’d have been too terrified that I’d make a mistake and get her killed.”

Joe quirked a smile. “Well then, it seems we have that ignorance to thank for her life.”

Alex hesitated, blinking a few times. He… hadn’t considered it that way.

Joe sighed. “A common issue in my profession is disassociating with those whom you are treating. The reason it is such a common issue is that doing so is actually incredibly helpful, especially for newer doctors. It lets you mentally step back and make clinical decisions that save lives without being bogged down in the fact that the one you are treating is a husband, father, son, mother, daughter, or wife.” He gave a sad smile. “It’s also how we can see so much suffering without breaking. The best of us find a good balance, but I never quite managed that. I was always either too involved or too detached. Even with retirement coming closer and closer, I could never quite navigate that tightrope.”

Alex gave a commiserating smile. “I feel like I’m doing that too. Either not caring enough or caring far, far too much.”

Joe nodded, sipping his own drink. “How about you tell me about your adventures?” He smiled encouragingly. “There’s not too much entertainment available, and I’d love to hear a good story.” His smile grew. “Besides, with you sitting here, I know the tale has a happy ending.”

Alex laughed at that. “Sure thing, doc.”

“Joe, please.”

“Sure thing, Joe.”

They chatted for more than an hour as the food came out in waves.

The other crew was giving Alex odd looks throughout, but no one brought up whatever the issue was, and they all ate without complaint.

Finally, Pike turned to look toward Alex, but spoke to those at his table. “Well, at least they didn’t let him cook this meal. They must have known none of us would have eaten it.”

Joe rolled his eyes, giving Alex a compassionate glance.

Connie smacked Pike in the back of the head. “Don’t be rude.”

Pike glared. “He—!”

She cut across him. “Got Jessica back? Yes. Yes, he did.”

Pike grimaced.

Alex just sighed. Pike wasn’t a bad sort, but Alex knew the type well enough. The man had tried to accomplish something, but he’d failed. Then, another had come in and done it differently than Pike would have. Worse, he’d succeeded.

It made Pike feel like a fool and failure in one, but even that wasn’t really the issue.

Pike was worried for his companion, and he was not yet mature enough to really identify that as the core of his turmoil.

Alex planned on ignoring him, even as Pike continued in relatively hushed tones. “He gambled with her life!”

Then, soft words sounded from near the door in response. “And his gamble paid off.”

Everyone turned to see Jessica, standing in the doorway.

She was a small, compact woman, while not being truly short at around five and a half feet.

Her coverall was a dark green, the same shade as her Impressa crewmates.

On top of that coverall was what seemed to be standard gear for the whole crew as well, though Alex had mostly ignored it up to this point.

It looked almost like heavy, flexible plates attached at the most static and vulnerable parts of her body, and a utility belt with various tools and a hand-gun mostly obscured in a holster.

Alex had seen John examining Oscar’s, but again, Alex hadn’t really been focused on it.

I suppose they put their efforts into improving their own gear instead of their ship. Trade-offs everywhere. In this case, the Innominate had come out the better off of the two ships, but in other situations, he could see the improvements to personal equipment gaining the edge.

Alex stood, along with almost everyone else, as Jessica strode in. A heavier weapon hung out of sight on her back, a cross-strap holding it in place and steady. “Alex, right?”

Her eyes found him quickly. He nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Good to see you up and about.”

She huffed a laugh. “Yeah, thanks for that. I still have to say, being rescued by a cook isn’t great for my pride, but that must be one impressive class given what I saw you do. It must be flexible too.”

Alex frowned. “A… cook?”

That drew every eye toward him, and Alex felt a swelling of the magical analysis that had been occasionally brushing the back of his mind.

Grant barked a laugh. Lenka sighed and rolled her eyes. Pilar smirked. Natasha gave Alex a flat stare. Kaylee momentarily put her head in her hands, and John barked a laugh.

Then, Alex remembered that he’d used his resistance to magical examination to change how he’d look to analyze when in the pirate command center.

…He hadn’t changed it since.

He looked, and… yup.

Alex, Imperium CookLevel 10Threat: None

Well, that’s just fantastic…

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