They now had monster meat which could be tested for its edibility, but they encountered an unforeseen problem. How to cook it?
They had been so preoccupied with the idea that monster equals meat that they had completely forgotten that no one in the expedition had ever cooked an animal before.
They were all raised on nutrient paste and print meats like the majority of Earth's citizens. None of them had even seen a living cow much less butchered and cooked one. They had simply thought that meat equals food. Now presented with the challenge of turning a carcass into a meal they were clueless.
After spending several minutes staring blankly at the carcass lost in thought Sergei broke the silence.
“Fuck it. Let's just roast it over a fire like cavemen. It shouldn't be that hard right?” He spoke.
The simplest solution was the best solution and without a competing idea Andre was happy enough to agree with him.
“I'll go look for dry wood.” Andre spoke.
“Nah, don't waste your time, just go tear down the nearest trees. We don't need them to be dry.” Sergei told him as he apparently had a plan.
He walked over to the few sparse trees that dotted the hill and got to work. He hooked his good arm around the tree trunk and anchored his leg onto the base before pulling down slowly. If he went with his full power, he could punch the trees down but then splinters would fly everywhere and possibly injure a member of the group. Steady control was best when performing dangerous tasks next to others.
The tree creaked as he increased his pull. Soon after with a loud crack the tree’s trunk broke and it fell to the ground. As expected, it was far from a clean break as he used no tools which was why no one bothered to suggest he cut trees down to build log cabins. It was much more efficient to just dig underground rooms on the hill than constructing them with deformed broken wood.
After about an hour he had succeeded in tearing down most of the hills' sparse trees. The construction crew asked him to go overboard and create a stockpile. The wood might not be useful for creating structures on their own, but they could provide structural support to the earthworks they were planning to build.
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He hauled about a dozen trunks down the hill to where they planned to roast the meat. Most of the preparations were already done when he arrived. A large pit had been dug where he dropped the tree trunks.
The carcass was laying on a tarp already butchered. It was obviously a work of the scientists as they had essentially dissected the beast. All its organs were placed in neat rows on the tarp. The only thing missing was labels and it would have been a decent show piece.
The monster had been opened up with all its skin and insides removed. It should be more or less good enough to cook. At least it looked closer to a slab of print meat now.
Sergei walked over to him while carrying a container of alcohol.
“Sergei, you know that is not enough to set these damp wood on fire.”
Sergei just smiled at him and placed down the alcohol container near the pit.
“This is just to help things along. Trust me, I'm a genius.” The man replied while grabbing something amongst the pile of materials nearby.
Sergei pulled out a very familiar canister.
“Oh no you don’t Sergei.” Andre immediately started trying to stop the madman.
“Oh yes, I do Andre. If it doesn't involve fighting monsters, I get to call the shots, and this is the plan.” Sergei stated as he held the canister of MK.III clearing gas to his chest.
“This gas is a powerful desiccant; we only need a little too dry all these trunks.” The madman said with a grin on his face.
“Yeah, and we also only need a little to kill everyone on this hill.” Andre tried in vain to argue.
“Hahaha! Andre, you sound like a wuss. You're a soldier, you used this stuff before it's harmless unless you're a dumbass.” Sergei laughed merrily.
Andre was starting to realize how the man had climbed to the senior ranks of the TRI. He was a nutjob like all the rest of them. The fact that Sergei was in charge of the perilous expedition should was a clear sign that the man was probably the most suicidal amongst the leaders of the TRI.
Without further warning Sergei used a specialized nozzle to let a steady stream of gas out. The dense white gas fell into the pit and settled at the bottom. Sergei kept pouring more until most of the trunks were submerged.
The gas was much heavier than air but pouring it out in the open air like this was asking for trouble. But the world let Sergei's stupidity pass without issue as no accident happened.
Within a few minutes the gas performed its task before rapidly degrading into non-reactive byproducts. They were left with a pit of dry wood, a container filled with alcohol and a butchered monster carcass. It was time to cook or at least attempt to.