Not much time had passed when I heard footsteps in the corridor again.

“Get a grip!” I told myself. “Everything will be fine. The main thing is to stay calm and stick to the plan.”

The footsteps stopped outside the cabin door, and a second later, Neight entered. As before, he had a calm expression on his face. I wondered if he was always like this. Could he even express any emotions?

“How are you feeling?” he asked in a rather gentle voice.

“I’m feeling much better, thank you.”

I felt awkward but tried not to show it. Why was he staring at me so intently?

“That’s great. I’m glad to hear that.”

Just polite courtesy on his part.

“Come with me, I’ve prepared something to eat. You must be hungry?”

It was clearly a rhetorical question. I was starving, and only because of all the extraordinary events that had happened to me so far could I distract myself from this feeling.

Without waiting for my answer, Neight left the cabin, and I obediently followed him. We didn’t have to go far. We entered a room directly opposite the laboratory, which turned out to be a small kitchen-dining area. The door had previously been locked for me.

That jerk! I fumed silently. He locked the kitchen door on purpose so I couldn’t find any food until he returned! There’s definitely something off about him.

“Sit down.”

Neight pointed to a place at the table, which was apparently meant for me. He sat down opposite. As I walked to the table, I tried to carefully survey the room to better understand my surroundings.

The same white metal walls and ceilings as in other parts of the ship I had seen earlier. In the middle stood a small table bolted to the floor with three chairs. So, this ship was designed for three people. Along the wall opposite the entrance were kitchen cabinets, also made of metal. The corner cabinets reached up to the ceiling and had some built-in appliances. Maybe one of them was an oven? Overall, the kitchen looked clean and sterile.

I sat down at the table and stared at the dish in front of me.

What the heck?!

“Enjoy your meal!” Neight said cheerfully, taking his spoon.

On the plate was some kind of green mush with blue flecks. It looked as if mud porridge had been dyed green and mixed with bits of blue playdough. Was this even edible? Was he planning to poison me? Although he had the same thing on his plate... Did he really know what he was doing? Did he have everything under control? Stay calm. Stick to the plan.

“This dish...” I began. Neight, who had already brought a spoonful of the green goo to his mouth, looked at me questioningly. “It looks quite interesting. Can you tell me what it’s made of?”

“Looks amazing, doesn’t it? It’s local mashed vegetables with a bit of berries. Since they only grow on this planet, they don’t have a name yet. If you want, you can come up with one yourself when you see what their fruits look like.”

Is he serious right now?

“But wait,” I continued as calmly as possible, trying to keep my emotions in check. “Are you sure they’re safe to eat? They could be poisonous to humans.”

“Don’t worry about that. See that device over there?” he pointed to an appliance I had thought was an oven. “It’s designed to analyze food products. Before I started cooking, I checked everything, so you can relax. I’ll even say more, these vegetables contain many beneficial nutrients. Try it. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

After these words, Neight began to eat his green creation with obvious pleasure. He was clearly pleased with himself.

Well, I had no choice. I had to try it, especially since I was terribly hungry and felt I couldn’t go without food any longer. Maybe this dish would taste better than it looked.

I stirred the viscous mush with my spoon and scooped up a bit to taste. The slightly warm mass spread over my tongue. I had never tasted anything like this before. I grimaced reflexively. Fortunately, Neight was so engrossed in his food that he wasn’t looking at me.

This dish is terrible! No, it’s disgusting! I silently raged, barely swallowing the first bite and struggling to suppress my gag reflex. I had to take a deep breath to avoid giving myself away.

“How do you like it?” Neight suddenly asked, looking at me with curiosity.

“Very... unusual,” I managed to say, trying to maintain a neutral expression.

He smiled again and returned to his plate. I looked down at my food and braced myself for the second portion of this “culinary masterpiece.”

This is going to be a long dinner, I thought, deciding that for the sake of survival, I had to make an effort. Considering the mush was already pureed, I figured I could try swallowing it without chewing. And if I washed it down with water right away, maybe I could at least mask the taste a bit.

Following this tactic, eating became somewhat easier, although the strong unpleasant aftertaste still lingered in my mouth. I hoped I didn’t look too strange from the outside. At that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Neight had already finished his meal and was watching me intently. His gaze suggested he was deep in thought about something serious. I felt uneasy.

“You know,” he began, “I think you should first learn about our current situation.”

All thoughts of the disgusting dish faded into the background, and I prepared to listen. I looked at Neight attentively, mentally bracing myself for the possibility that I might not like what I was about to hear.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“As you’ve probably guessed, we are on one of the exoplanets suitable for life. Although this planet is somewhat different from Earth, it is as close as possible to it in many parameters. The good thing is that there are many useful resources here, so survival won’t be an issue.”

This sounds promising. At least it’s not as bad as it could be.

“As for our safety,” he continued, “you can be at ease. There are no other people here besides us.”

What? And that’s supposed to reassure me somehow? Does he really think that’s good news?

“So, we’re the only people on this planet?” I tried to speak as calmly as possible, though I wasn’t sure I succeeded. My voice betrayed me by trembling.

“Correct.”

My pulse quickened.

Calm down, Emma, calm down. I’ve considered possible scenarios in my head, and one of them assumed we’d be alone here.

I took a deep breath and continued:

“What about other planets and, say, Earth? You’re not saying we’re the last humans, are you?”

Silence hung in the air. I tried to read at least some hint of an answer in his eyes, but they showed no emotion.

Why is he silent?! Doesn’t he trust me? Or are we really the last humans?

His silence seemed to last forever until he finally spoke again:

“I don’t have information about other exoplanets, so I can’t give you a definitive answer on that. As for Earth... it’s been uninhabitable for a long time. There are definitely no people there.”

No...

My head throbbed, my hands trembled, and a lump rose in my throat again. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe slowly. I struggled to control my breathing.

My home... My family... My friends... My future... None of it exists anymore.

During this time, Neight said nothing. I think he anticipated I would have such a reaction and gave me some time to calm down. When I managed to pull myself together somewhat and opened my eyes, I saw he was still watching me with his calm amber eyes.

“Do you know what happened on Earth?” I managed to ask.

“A prolonged war broke out between artificial intelligence and humans, which had an irreversible impact on the environment. As a result, an extremely hostile environment for all organic life formed in a short time.”

“So, the artificial intelligence won and took over the planet?”

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’? Does that mean humans won the war?”

“I would say both sides lost.”

“I don’t understand. If humanity lost, then what about us? How did we survive and end up here? And importantly, for what purpose?”

“Eventually, humans managed to bypass the AI’s defenses and launch a virus that neutralized it, but it was too late. In the end, a small portion, including the political elite and outstanding minds with their families, left the planet. The rest lived out their short lives in terrible conditions until all life on Earth finally died out.”

So, my parents might be alive too!

“So there are other survivors besides us?” I asked cautiously. It couldn’t be that we were the only ones left.

Neight frowned slightly and looked thoughtfully as if deciding whether to tell me more or not. Did he not trust me either? If I think about it, he presented the absence of other people on the planet as good news. Could he be hiding from someone? What if he kidnapped me? The more I thought about it, the more my distrust of him grew.

After some more time, he sighed deeply and finally broke the awkward silence:

“It’s not that simple. When escaping from Earth, some people in excellent health were put into cryosleep. Mostly children. The rest digitized their consciousness and transferred it into android bodies to live in the conditions of long-term space travel.”

This information gave me goosebumps.

"Are you saying we're those children who were put into cryosleep?" My voice carried a note of doubt. I didn't remember anything like that. My memories held no wars and certainly no cryosleep.

"Exactly."

I stared intently at Neight, trying to detect any hint of deception in his expression, but his face remained calm and almost devoid of emotions. Honestly, it was hard to believe what he was telling me.

Various thoughts raced through my mind. Was he really telling the truth or misinforming me? If he was also a child of a scientist or some politician and spent as much time in a capsule, how did he know so much and why did I remember nothing? Could he be lying to manipulate me for his own purposes? How could I check this carefully?

"Alright. If everything is as you say, why did we wake up, and why are we here on this planet? Why aren't we among other people?"

"Because we were helped to escape," Neight answered shortly and firmly.

Surprise was written all over my face, while disappointment was evident in his gaze.

"Honestly, I expected you to have some information," he said with frustration.

"Experiments were conducted on us? Is that why you decided to escape?" I asked cautiously.

Neight just nodded affirmatively.

"But how did I get involved in this escape? And why help me?"

"I can't answer that question."

"What do you mean?" I didn't expect such an answer and was slightly taken aback.

"Just like that. Consider yourself lucky to have ended up here by chance."

What I heard did not please me at all. I felt the tension between us rising, and emotions started to overwhelm me.

"But you know," Neight continued. "It's actually for the best. The more free hands, the higher the chances of survival."

However, his answer did not reassure me at all. According to him, I shouldn't even be here. But that's assuming he's telling the truth. After all the information that overwhelmed me during our conversation, I no longer thought about caution and was driven by my emotions.

"Don't get me wrong, Neight, but can you somehow confirm your words? A war with AI, the destruction of life on Earth, experiments on people - all this sounds unbelievable to me. No, I'm not trying to say anything, but maybe there are some records on the ship that confirm your words? Or some other evidence?"

"This is a ship for small reconnaissance groups, not a research center. There are no records here. And we can't connect to the general database because we would immediately give ourselves away."

"Are there really no other data? Anything at all?" I asked again with distrust.

"There's nothing," he calmly replied.

"So," I continued, "you just expect me to take your word for it?"

"Exactly."

Is he serious?

I was boiling inside.

"What if I don't believe you?" I blurted out emotionally.

At that moment, I regretted my words. Neight frowned and for the first time looked at me angrily. My response clearly didn't please him. The irritation inside me instantly subsided, replaced by fear.

"Don't get me wrong either, Evie, but you won't survive here without me, so whether you like it or not, you'll have to rely on me."

I couldn't utter another word. I had nothing to counter. Our conflict had reached a boiling point, and I no longer felt safe. My gaze was fixed on my plate with the remnants of the green mush. I couldn't lift my eyes to Neight. I was genuinely scared.

We were silent for about a minute.

"I suggest we end our conversation here," he said in a slightly softened voice.

I heard Neight stand up from the table and head for the exit. However, before leaving, he said:

"After you finish eating, return to the cabin."

The doors closed, and I was left alone with my thoughts and worries.