After settling in, Alen was heading to the dining area to test the mint-flavored goo they were apparently supposed to live off of. Most of the crew from the ship were still using the rations they'd had onboard the escape pods that they'd brought with them into their temporary living quarters, but he figured he might as well test the waters, so to speak.

Walking into the dining hall, Alen wasn't too surprised to see Erik and Vanessa there, though he wondered what in the world the larger alien was grilling. It smelled...pretty decent, all things considered.

Apparently, Vanessa said something to the alien viking because Erik turned around and flashed his usual grin as he held up a spatula in greeting. Alen waved back before asking the question that was on his mind. "What in the world are you grilling?"

Erik's smile widened, showing far too many teeth, though Alen couldn't help but feel himself grin a little in response. Perhaps he'd been spending too much time in the alien's presence, but Alen realized the toothy grin wasn't quite as intimidating as it had once been as Erik pointed to his concoction. "Well, it's the same goo you get from the dispenser, but on Carter's advice, I'm trying a different flavor blend and cooking it up. He said it almost tastes like steak, 'if the steak was poor quality, a little burnt, and you'd almost forgotten what steak tasted like!' I figured I might as well give it a shot! If nothing else, it might make for a decent change of pace after you get tired of the mint stuff!"

Alen nodded. "Well, at least it smells decent enough."

Erik laughed and shook his head. "You humans really have a poor sense of smell if you think this smells 'decent!' However, I suppose edible is edible, and I won't complain so long as my belly is full!"

Alen shook his head as he tried to figure out how to pour himself some of the goo while one of his hands was tied up, holding onto his walking cane. Eventually, he gave up, put most of his weight onto his good foot, and leaned the cane against the machine while pouring out a small bowl of the stuff. It didn't look all that appetizing, but apparently, it was nutritious and safe to eat, which was enough for now.

Erik watched the whole ordeal with a bit of a smirk that Alen couldn't read. "Still getting used to that new foot of yours?"

Alen shrugged as he held his bowl and silverware in one hand and grabbed his cane with the other. "Eh, kinda. It doesn't feel quite right, but it is only supposed to be temporary, so I guess that makes sense."

Looking over at the dish Erik had cooked up for himself, Alen wondered about the man who'd recommended it to the large alien. "So, you spoke to that Carter guy while I was out, right? What do you make of him?"

Erik cut off a piece of the dish and chewed on it while apparently thinking. "Well, for one thing, his description of what this tastes like is pretty accurate! It almost reminds me of steak, or maybe more like the smell of steak while eating something completely different. All I can say for sure is it makes me want the real thing all the more!"

Alen looked down at his own dish and scooped up a spoonful but delayed taking a bite by responding. "That's not really what I meant..."

Erik cut off another chunk and shoveled it down without hesitation. He chuckled as he responded with a mouth half full. "I know, I know... What do I think of the guy? Well, he seems alright, I guess. He doesn't strike me as the kind to go out of his way to help someone he doesn't know, but neither would he just ignore a person in need if they crossed paths. In that sense, I suppose he's like a lot of people. A bit pragmatic, perhaps, but that's not necessarily a virtue or a vice. Could be either, I suppose..."

Alen pointed at Erik with his spoon, still uneaten. "I don't know. He left a lot of people hanging back where he picked us up from, nor did he seem all that friendly telling us all how we could get killed if we so much as stepped outside our designated area..."

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Erik shoveled another piece into his maw as he shrugged. "Well, what would you have him do, stay and fight to the death for a bunch of people he didn't even know? I'm not saying he handled everything perfectly, mind you. Maybe if he'd acted sooner, he could have saved more people, but it's far too easy to judge someone after the fact. And even I've turned tail and run when the odds were too stacked against me! And as for the ship, that struck me as more of a warning than a threat..."

Alen furrowed his brow. "But as he's the captain, isn't that the same thing? Or do you believe all the talk about this ship being haunted?"

Erik's smile disappeared for the first time in a while as he got strangely contemplative. "I don't know, but there's definitely something off about this ship. It doesn't...smell right."

Alen, who'd been about to finally taste the goo, stopped. "It doesn't smell right?"

Erik nodded. "Yeah... I don't know how to describe it to you, but while every ship has its own unique feel and smell, there are always a few consistencies. This ship is weirdly...hollow? Empty? It's like the smell version of an echo. And I'm not just talking about the dust covering everything. It's a distorted, weaker scent than I'm used to aboard a ship."

Then, turning to Vanessa, Erik asked. "What about you? What's your take on the ship and its captain?"

The spider-like alien, who'd been shoveling away spoonful after spoonful, stopped and considered before responding. "Well, Captain Carter strikes me as clever but not particularly driven. It's more like he's caught up in what's happening as much as we are. As for the ship...you're right. There's definitely something off about it, though I find it hard to quantify into words."

In the unsettling quiet that followed, Alen finally took a bite of the goo. The texture wasn't great, but the flavor was surprisingly...decent. Mint was definitely the prominent flavor, but it was complimented by something he'd describe as an almost nutty flavor, though he'd be hard-pressed to name any specific nut. It wouldn't be his favorite dish anytime soon, but as far as something he might have to live off of for the immediate future, it was slightly better than most of the emergency rations he'd had in the past.

Thinking about what Erik and Vanessa had said about the ship feeling off, Alen thought back to his room when he'd first walked in. It looked as if it had been a museum piece, with stuff lying about as if someone had been living there, but all of it was covered in a thin layer of dust. It had felt a little eery as if he was stepping into someone else's world, someone who was now long gone. He dusted the room and tidied most of the stuff lying about, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to pack everything up and leave it in the closet. Instead, he treated it as if it was someone else's room, and he was just staying for a bit, though he couldn't help but wonder about the person who'd lived there before him. What had happened to them? Were they survivors like them? Were they held captive by the supposed ghost ship? Or had they been the original inhabitants from before this ship gained its notoriety? How long ago had that been? Years? Decades? Longer?

Alen shook his head. Letting his mind wander like that would only lead to him spooking himself out. Looking over at Erik, it seemed as if whatever had been bothering him had passed, and the large alien was all grins again as he winked at Alen. "Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much! The captain said we'd be fine so long as we followed the rules, and they didn't seem all that hard. Just don't go wandering or making weapons, and we'll be fine!"

Alen nodded, but then again, there was that last rule...the one about listening to and obeying anything that "seems like an AI." That was an odd choice of words. What would seem like an AI but be different enough to warrant a distinction? Alen thought back to the woman in red who'd operated on him. Come to think of it, her outfit hadn't really been what he would call sterile, and she hadn't ever really touched him. Hadn't her name been Sybil, like the ship? Was she an AI? Or rather, something that "seemed like an AI?"

Before Alen could dwell on it too long, there was some loud commotion out in the hall. Alen, Erik, and Vanessa looked back and forth before getting up to see what the commotion was about.

Several heads were poking out of various rooms, and one of the crew was standing out in the hall, pointing back toward a room and shouting at another. "I'm telling ya, something was moving in there!"

The person he was addressing shook his head. "But it disappeared every time you turned your head? Your mind is playing tricks on you. Don't listen to Old William's stories if you're gonna get jumpy like this!"

It looked like whatever had happened, things were already winding down as people were already headed back to whatever they were doing, and the guy who'd been shouting shook his head. Not many people probably heard him, as he muttered to himself. "I know I saw something in there..."