*thud thud thud

I awaken from my slumber to a sound most annoying and the voice that comes along with it more annoying.

“Hey prof, you ready for today?” A muffled sound comes from behind this small cell I call a room.

“I am not a professor anymore, Cassus. How many more times must I remind you.” I respond weakly as the morning is usually not so kind to my voice.

Creak

I rise out of bed as the door opens to reveal my companion, Cassus Freeman, leaning on the door in his usual morning attire of a black t shirt and some pajama bottoms. I look at his face to see a half smile slowly rising from the right corner of his terribly annoying mouth as he leans on my door frame.

“Once a professor, always a professor.” He responds to me with a strong nasal exhale at the end.

“A response is not permission to enter my room.” I respond in quick manner.

“Well if we always had it your way, you’d probably have me carry you through the entire expedition on my back so you could get your beauty sleep.” Freeman says jokingly.

“Oh, what a terrible nightmare. To be attached to the most annoying thing biological life has ever created.” I reply with sarcasm as my voice comes back to me.

“Yes, it’s terrible enough that I have to talk to it daily.” He responds instantly.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

...He got me.

“You must have a lot of free time if you have time to joke around.” I say as an attempt to get a last word in.

“Whatever. It’s time to get dressed, be ready in 1 hour or you might miss another great discovery.” He says before returning to his own room.

Sigh. What an annoying way to wake up and an embarrassing reminder to make things worse.

“Open storage unit one” I say with my eyes still half closed.

I get up from my bed to face the door, as the metal wall to my left begins to ascend revealing my clothing which I had prepared the day before. A nice long sleeved shirt with no designs with regular blue jeans. Simple and doesn’t stand out much, which is nice, and Comfortable too.

*yawn

A final yawn leaves my mouth as my body finally awakens, allowing me the energy to dress myself.

“Close storage unit one” I say once more after having clothed myself.

I turn myself to the door once more and approach it and stop at the exit. The slot at the right side of the door opens up and a robotic voice comes on.

“Nutrient Bar dispensed, today’s flavour; a breakfast to enjoy. Have a good day.”

Awfully vague as per usual.

From the slot, a bar appears. I grab it and take a bite, and it is actually quite enjoyable as I taste the essence of breakfast itself... Not really, but it’s hard to stomach if I focus on the texture too much over the taste. For something so capable, it really slacks off after it hits the parameters of a minor project. I slowly finish off the bar before going out, don’t want to upset my stomach.

Finally finished... The only saving grace of this bar is that I don’t have to go out and eat with others.

I remind myself as I think I could probably stomach another one if need be. I give myself a once over, but its not really a once over with how simple my clothing is. I exit the door and look at the “sky” as I do everyday.

Still metal, still very much metal.

I begin walking to the expedition site.