"What the hell?" Drake cussed and Eric's laughter echoed loudly while Tessa doubled over nearby.
Drake wiped his face and the foamy white gel dripped off his nose. "What is this? This is not regulation-grade foam!"
"Yeah, it's protein paste." Eric replied. "So don't worry about it man, it's non-toxic, and it's highly nutritious too." Eric said with an innocent smile on his face and Tessa smiled innocently as well.
But Drake glanced at them both with a deadpan look on his face. "I hope a space beast eats the both of you."
Both Eric and Tessa chuckled softly, but then Tessa patted Drake's head softly.
"Aw, sorry about that little Drake. But hey, on the bright side, think of it as us making history."
"History?"
"Yeah, we're definitely the first ones to ever pull a prank on our journey to Gehenna."
Hearing this, Drake sighed and slumped back into his bench.
And the trio continued to chat and laugh together throughout the night.
Hours passed and everyone had fallen asleep now.
The long-range ship's core system continued to vibrate and sound soothingly, but then the artificial morning cycle kicked in.
The lights inside Crew Deck B glowed in an amber color which slowly mimicked the rays of sunlight.
The walls of the deck was soundproofed but it was lined with pressure-sealed lockers and retractable bunks.
And right now, Drake was already awake.
He was sitting cross-legged on his bunk with his tablet resting on one knee, then he scrolled slowly through the day's assigned protocols.
The screen of the tablet reflected off his eyes but he could also hear the snoring sounds of his sleeping crew members behind him.
Across the room, Drake could hear Eric muttering in his sleep.
"No.... No.... don't eat the wiring. Those are for diagnostics."
Drake glanced over at Eric's direction and his eyebrows were raised in surprise. "Just what is he dreaming about?" He wondered before leaning closer to Eric.
"Eric....." He whispered but Eric muttered in his sleep again.
"No, don't. Don't eat the coolant line too."
"Eric." Drake called out again but Eric was still muttering in his sleep.
"Hm? No, you can't have my cock. Only girls get to suck it, okay?"
"Huh? What the fuck are you dreaming about? Wake up you pervert!!"
"Huh?!!" Eric rolled over but smacked his forehead against the wall. "Ow! Damn it...."
Drake tried not to laugh but Eric blinked blearily while rubbing his head with a surprise look on his face.
"Huh? It's morning already? Ugh, I dreamed I was fixing a sentient vending machine and it tried to eat my wrench."
"You sure, it didn't try to eat your dick too?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"Dude, you really need to get yourself a girlfriend." Drake chuckled softly but didn't say anything else.
But then, the ship's comms chimed softly and Commander Hale's voice echoed through the speaker system.
"Greetings, all primary crew, report to Sim Chamber One in twenty minutes. A scheduled training scenario begins at 0800 sharp. No exceptions!!"
Hearing this, Eric groaned as he slowly sat up on his bed. "Ugh, doesn't he ever gets tired? Some of us wants to have their beauty sleep you know."
"Yeah, but you know Commander Hale won't let us near Gehenna without another round of drills, so come on." Drake pulled Eric out of bed.
"Ugh, I signed up to engineer power system, not to fight holographic death beasts."
"You'll get used to it, but it's only a matter of time before that happens." Drake replied as he stretched a bit, before grabbing his blue uniform jacket from his locker.
Then, he ran a hand through his hair as he quickly ties it to the back.
He prefers doing this because if he doesn't, strands of hair would fall into his eyes whenever they're left loose.
Once they were dressed and ready to leave, Eric noticed that Alaric was still asleep, so they woke him up and informed him of Commander Hale's instructions before leaving the room.
A few minutes later, Eric and Drake finally arrived at Sim Chamber One, but the moment they arrived, the duo noticed that most of the crews were already gathered in the chamber.
The chamber itself was a wide, circular room and its walls were layered with holo-panels and projection nodes.
As for the center floor, it was marked with a bright ring of light that would get automatically triggered once the simulation began.
Meanwhile, Tessa had already entered before them.
She was currently leaning casually against the far wall with one hand preoccupied with bouncing a small rubber ball on the floor.
Tessa was wearing her navy blue vest over her jumpsuit and her sleeves had been rolled to her elbows.
But that wasn't the only thing Drake had noticed.
From the look of it, it seemed Tessa was frowning right now.
Probably because she had been asked to wake up earlier than usual, and this could be seen by how her hair seemed messier than usual.
Tessa continued to play with the little ball in her hand, but when she noticed Drake approaching, a smile swiftly appeared on her face.
"Hey beautiful, sleep well?"
Drake asked and Tessa's smile widened a bit before returning back to a frown. "No, I didn't. What about you?"
"Same, cause I woke up to Eric whispering tech nonsense in his sleep."
"Hey for the record, I was having a deeply intellectual dream." Eric spoke up to defend the weird dream he had.
"About what?" Tessa asked and Drake replied.
"About a vending machine."
"Nope, not just any vending machine. It was a sentient vending machine, with emotional issues."
"Yeah right." Drake rolled his eyes with a smile and Tessa couldn't help but smile as well.
But while this was happening, the trio suddenly heard footsteps approaching the chamber room.
Commander Hale entered the room and everyone turned silent as they watched him walk in.
He was flanked by two assistant officers while he carried a data pad under one arm.
Then he paused at the center of the room, sweeping his gaze across the room as he tried to make sure everyone was present.
Seeing this, Hale opened his mouth to address them all.
"Do any of you know why you're here right now?" He asked but nobody answered.
However, Hale didn't wait for any of them to reply as well. "It's because Earth is dying."