When they had entered the community eating area again, Carissa had been expecting a hostile reaction from the women with short blonde hair called Bonnie but not being defended by the other candidate called Direk.
He appeared more confident than yesterday, stronger and he held himself upright. When Carissa had entered, he had finished chewing the pancake and poured himself some liquid inside a metal cup, he swallowed as he patted his stomach.
At the far end of the room by the kitchen and preparation area Chas and Mike were both wearing black aprons, their backs facing towards her as they fixed up meals.
Neither responded when Carissa and Sherry entered the large room. Bonnie was wearing the outfit as yesterday, t-shirt and grey skin suit although Direk sported a Hawaiian shirt similar in appearance to Chas.
Direk spoke aloud flipping both palms up.
âWe have two crazy people in front of me.. All she did was appear and you start screaming about how she ruined the planet? You got some serious issues. How about you go jump in the ocean waters as well? Iâm pretty sure Iâm not from either of your realities.â said Direk.
Bonnie responded with a nervous twitch on one of her eyes. A bone plate was in front of her although it was entirely empty, not a scrap of food in sight. An empty metal jug rested alongside it.
âWhat did she say? Is this your hobby you rich cow? You like to kidnap people and dump them onto your owned part of the ocean for fun? Tell me! You coward, tell me!â Youâre in this with her! Tell me!â half-shouted Bonnie.
âNo. Iâm not engaging this pathetic emotional display of yours. Chas, Iâd like some more pancakes. The savoury ones tasted so good.â said Direk as he nodded in Carissaâs direction.
Sherry moved forward, sitting next to Bonnie but giving her a degree of breathing space as she tried to put a hand on her shoulder before it swatted away.
âDonât touch me. DONâT TOUCH ME!â screamed out Bonnie.
Carissa stood by the doorway, reluctant to take a chair before Sherry made a come-here gesture and pointed at the head seat of the long table where Mike had been sitting yesterday.
She took the hint and grabbed a seat and a bone plate, the lack of cutlery or other utensils made a little more sense when a new candidate behaved as Bonnie did. As she had herself only the day before. Irrational and scared.
âYou can blame and hate all you want. But this isnât our reality. Our home. Iâm stuck here the same as you and Iâd like to have breakfast.â Carissa imitated the same calm tone Direk had used when asking for pancakes.
âChas! Iâd also like some pancakes please. And donât forget the lovely Sherry or the handsome Mike. Our fellow Player Candidate needs to eat as well. If sheâs going to be training with us today.â said Carissa shaking her own head with a small enough movement to be recognised.
She'd tried to make it clear earlier she wasn't interested in the name, actions or behaviour of Bonnie. Carissa wouldnât be the initiator of violent action. She'd leave the woman to have her own private issues. No point judging another so she simply smiled and waved in the direction of Mike and Chas. Both of them were quiet and clearly not interested in getting involved yet from her perspective.
âWhy does she get to be so quiet? She scares me. We need to ask her to leave first, leave what you can entered, spare and leave us alone. I recognise the damaged light in her eyes before when I worked in a psychiatric ward. Trust me, we donât want someone like her in our group. Mad, sheâs mad.â said Bonnie.
Her temper inside her chest and frustration building, Carissa smoothed out her pink mermaid t-shirt.
This was the same situation as dealing with an environmental pressure group who had come to her original house and demanded answers and an immediate response. Ignore them and it would get worse and she would need to step up even further.
But this time, she wouldnât be the instigator, and when they were alone and outside Carissa would like to find out how much damage exactly the grey skin suit could take before it sank in the ocean.
Carissa was in bad need for a comb and considered asking for one for a change of conversation and to redirect the raw aggression upon herself but Sherry interrupted first.
âBonnie. Outbursts arenât helping. The training is necessary and after today you can make your own choices. All Player Candidates deserves at least two nights of rest. We did.â said Sherry, this time putting her hand firmly onto Bonnie's hand, pinning it onto the wooden table.
âLet me go home! Send me back! I want to go home to my boyfriend! My life, my job! I made a mistake when I agreed. This is her fault! Her crimesâ¦the entire ocean, she can stay here and rot! Let me go home! Pleaseâ¦please let...meâ¦please..â cried Bonnie.
The short-haired woman clutched onto her t-shirt and pulled it into her face as she began to weep and rested her hair on the table with Sherry gently rubbing her back with one hand while shaking her head at Carissa and Direk.
âBoth of you shouldâ¦I give up. Breakfast is good and aside from waking up in a new world and experiencing crazy things and people life is good. Much better than my old life. Chas, may I please have some pancakes? The first batch was most delicious.â said Direk.
The smell of freshly cooked food wafted over to Carissaâs nose causing her stomach to cramp in hunger pains and her mouth to involuntary open to salivate. Her sharpened teeth were shown but as long as she wasnât acting in a threatening or violent manner, she doubted any action would be take.
There were various unspoken rules on this floating community and Carissa was clear on several of them. She added her voice to the conversation.
âLife is what we make of it. The food smells delicious and I was told our training today will be fun! I do hope itâll be better than yesterday. Does anyone mind if I take a drink or does this jug belong to someone?â
Bonnie still sobbing ignored her with both of her hands on her face as she continued to cry but Carissa no longer cared if she was upset. She had tried to provoke and created her own mess. Sheâd let Sherry deal with it.
Chas and Mike arrived at the table with both hands holding hot pans and spatulas equally, they both wore black cooking plain cooking aprons on top of their suits and Chas had swapped his bright Hawaiian shirt for a plainer charcoal one.
Chas flourished the food and raised the hot pan into the air giving his spatula a little wave as though providing a blessing to the people sitting on the table.
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The gesture reminded Carissa a little of the image of a priest who had been trying to convert her parents to the rule of the four gods. Theyâd politely asked him to leave and he had but not before winking at their daughter.
âFood fills the soul, the mind and stops the energy pains. Eat and be blessed by the gods of the ocean friends. Brothers and sisters, we are here to eat and learn to live again, renewed and fresh for another day of learning.â said Chas with a subdued smile on his face.
Mike had piled the pancakes from his own hot pan upon several larger metal plates in the centre of the community dining table without a single word or even a glance in the direction of the three Player Candidates. Once he had returned back to the kitchen area, he raised his voice without turning his back, busying himself preparing more food to be served.
âPlease eat and we train. Today should be a better day. Tomorrow can wait.â he murmured.
His voice clearly audible despite the distance made Carissa pause for a brief second before her appetite compelled her to take a handful of the hot, freshly cooked pancakes and take a swift bite. The sensation burning into her throat and stomach as she digested it.
The taste was different, a degree of spice and sweetness but with a hint of seaweed as an aftertaste. The only consideration she had was her body wanted more so she took another handful and devoured them, giving herself the chance to replenish her energy.
Chas stood in place, unmoving, his hot pan and spatula both out of his hands as he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes with his head bowed.
The gesture was odd to Carissa, familiar yet not, priests in the TBIA Entertainment content back on Belphus had always used their words and expressive gestures but she was sure he was praying.
âAs long as the pancakes keep coming, you got a happy worker right her-â started Direk as he stopped.
The physical reaction on his face and response were certain signs Carissa could identify after her practice in her bedroom shower the night before, it had been hard to change from the physical to the mental but she was clear on it. He was receiving a message from the Ocean Gateway System.
âYes. I agree with you. The gods of the water, the rain and the depths areâ¦. amazing. I appreciate the bounty they have provided and I understand the opportunity they offer us to play their game. We are blessed. All of us are blessed.â said Direk.
The change in his behaviour gave Carissa pause during her mid-bite of another pancake, signs of psychological change were displayed and she had failed to pay attention.
This world revolves around this game of the gods for which she and the others with her were candidates, classless players. Chas was a priest; Sherry was the support worker and Mike was the trainer. All for a makeshift tutorial which was non-existent.
âI agree with you.â Copying the behaviour of Chas, she swallowed the last remains of her own pancake, her throat was overly dry but ignoring the discomfort she clasped her own hands together and made her own prayer to the gods.
Carissa would find one of these gods and kill them. Strip of them of their magical powers and teach them their own lesson. She would become her own goddess, the most beautiful and powerful her home reality had ever imagined. She would return to a place without gods and make it her own.
âOcean Gods. Hear my prayer.â she whispered under her breath.
The Ocean Gateway System gave her a message in her minds eyes, not a notification but a personal one directed to her. The contents made her blink her own eyes in confusion.
Player Candidate 5428119402 Carissa Acqua
-An Ocean God has answered your prayer
Dry them out Carissa. Dry them all out.
One of the gods was aware of her implants and what they had been designed to do. Perhaps even responsible for her coming to this world and ruining her life beyond her own personal plans.
She attempted to send a message in return but only received a mild headache. They had no gods on her own Belphus reality, not according to the Facility of Myth Reduction. Thankfully.
âOcean, water, depths, gods be gone or discovered. Deepness, fear of
the darkness banished within.â whispered Carissa under her breath.
When she opened her eyes, the room had become silent. The woman Bonnie had stopped crying and was watching Carissa with red eyes as were the others who had held their breath.
A half perfectly preserved severed fish head fell from the air above her head when it had been floating and fell onto the table directly in front of her.
Chas clasped his hands and began to pray harder; his eyes open wide and wild.
âBlessed. We have a blessing for one of us and I will pray for their SUCCES-â shouted Chas before two strong hands rested on his own and pulled them apart.
âNo we have three newborns who need to be able to survive a little bit more training and choose their path as we had to. Granted, it was a long, long, long time ago. If youâve all had finished eating weâre done here. Direk and Carissa, finish your own food and collect up the dishes. A little bit of team-work washing and drying up wonât hurt anyone. Weâre going to have a busy day ahead of us.â said Mike.
The preserved fish head was lying on its side on the table one eye facing up to the ceiling. Carissa was certain it had winked when she touched it but before she could examine it further or raise any questions, she was cut off by Mike again.
âSherry, give Bonnie a tincture. Not as strong as the one you gave Direk but enough to take the edge off. Questions can wait. You can store the thing or Iâm sure Chas will be willing to trade it with you later. Throw it in your spatial bag for now Carissa, a gift from a god always has some value. Even if it is a mockery.â said Mike.
Not wanting to come across as any further source of conflict, Carissa unclipped the bag from her back and threw the large preserved fish head inside once she had focused on it opening and dropped a few more pancakes along with it leaving the bone plate on the table.
She took a deep drink from the jug in front of her before pushing her chair back and gathering up the empty plates, the ones with any pancakes remaining she left on the table in case the others wanted to eat more.
Direk followed her actions exactly although he was slower than her finishing his own jug and wiping his mouth clean with his hand as he took a larger plate of the pancakes and poured them into her own opening of the bag.
He had reached for another large plate covered in them to find a hand blocking his path and Sherry shaking her head at him.
âI need to save some for Bonnie, she left her own spatial bag in her room but Iâll pass them onto her.â she said.
Waving her hand over the plate, the pancakes simply disappeared into thin air. Gone as though devoured in a single bite by an invisible mouth.
âA little Water Magic trick. Nothing special, when you three become High Level Players, youâll be capable of so much more than this.â she said.
Flicking her wrist a small glass bottle appeared in her empty hand and she held it out towards Bonnie who was still gazing at Carissa with reddened eyes and a strange type of half-crooked smile.
âMad, weâre all mad.â said Bonnie.
âNo sweetie youâre not. We have to learn to live a little differently to survive, you need to drink this or Iâll have to make you like I did with Direk. He didnât like it and neither did I. I promise youâll will try something fun today. Come on sweetie, take a drink. For me?â said Sherry.
Her eyes not leaving the sight of Carissa tidying up the dishes, Bonnie lethargically took the bottle and drank the entire contents in a single gulp before following Carissa and Direk in tidying up the food and stacking the plates neatly.