The four of them stepped over the flower carcass and into the room. Strangely enough, the room was nearly empty, save for a medical cabinet attached to the wall.
Adonis raised an eyebrow and pointed at the medicine cabinet that was labeled with a white cross.
"This should have something good in it right?"
Zenos sighed.
"Everything else in the lab was taken, but it's worth a try I suppose."
Adonis nodded. He walked over to the medical cabinet and opened it.
There were three shelves that were filled with white bottles. Some were tipped over with the cap off and some were shattered, but there were a few bottles intact.
Adonis picked one of the good ones and looked at the label.
"SSRI. What is that?"
Zenos looked over Adonis' shoulder.
"Antidepressants. All of them are antidepressants. What could have possibly required so many?"
Killian laughed.
"Might as well take some. I bet we will get great use out of them."
Damien looked inside.
"Looks like there's a bottle for each of us. Guess we can each take one. If only they were actual medical supplies."
Zenos scoffed.
"If they were actual medical supplies they would've been taken like everything else."
Damien sighed.
"The lab results don't seem to be here, guess we gotta look in the last room."
Zenos shrugged his shoulders.
"It can't be helped."
The four each took a bottle labeled 'SSRI'. Following that, they walked past the corpses of the creatures they killed to reach the last unexplored room.
Adonis' face twitched when they walked up to the broken gate.
"How strong are these things?"
There was not much left of the gate, the bottom half of the gate was bent and laid on the floor.
As for the top half, only parts of it were left. It was bent outwards, proving how much force was used.
Damien's hand rubbed against his chin.
"Guess we can't underestimate these things."
Zenos set his flashlight to the highest setting and pointed it forth. The room was smaller compared to the other rooms.
It essentially consisted of shelves, containing thick stacks of paper. The floor was covered with ripped pieces of paper. Even the papers on the shelves were disorganized, some hanging halfway off the shelf.
Adonis walked over to a shelf. There was a rectangular black box that was inserted into the shelf diagonally.
"Is this what we're looking for?"
Adonis pulled out the box, and once he did, Emmett's voice appeared in everyone's head.
"You have found the test results! Please make your way back to the transmission shuttle."
Killian shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess we should go?"
Damien nodded.
"Not much else right?"
While everyone else was leaving, Zenos lingered for a few moments. His eyes were on the papers. He rapidly scanned through thick walls of text that nobody else had been interested in. Zenos slipped a few pages that were intact into his backpack and then caught up with the others.
The four had reached the transmission shuttle. The door was open and the four walked in. Before sitting down, Killian sighed.
"If only we had gone to that room from the start, then we would have finished the whole thing so easily."
Damien shrugged his shoulders.
"Luck is something we can't control. There was no way for us to know we had to go that way. There is no point in dwelling on it."
Killian smiled bitterly, then sat down, but the mechanical bindings did not wrap around him.
Emmett's voice abruptly rang out.
"Please place the black box in the collection chamber!"
Within the middle of the shuttle was a small mechanical pedestal with an indent in the middle.
Without much thought, Adonis placed the black box into the indent.
Once he did, four latches came out of the pedestal and held onto it. The pedestal slowly lowered into the floor and left as though it was never there in the first place.
Once the other three decided to take a seat, the mechanical bindings wrapped around them. Then, the door shut and the room jostled.
The clanks of gears and whirring sounds echoed in the room. While the shuttle was moving, Emmett's voice happily rang out.
"Congratulations, you have unlocked level 1 access for the Team Shop and level 1 access for the Personal Shop."
Emmett paused.
"Congratulations, you have completed your mission. Your reward consists of 1 Team credit for Team Alpha and 2 Personal credits for each of you!"
The four were unable to talk, but their eyes shifted to look at one another. The confusion was apparent to everyone. Despite that, Emmett's voice cut off, leaving them in silence.
A few minutes later, the shuttle stopped moving.
Once the mechanical bindings were released, Emmett's voice came back.
"You can now access the shop just like you can access your status! If you wish to see it you will, simple as that!"
Damien stood up and raised an eyebrow. He first thought of his status.
---
Name: Damien
Affiliation: Team Alpha
Team Credits: 1
Personal Credits: 2
Health: 1/2
Suit: 2/3
Physical Strength: 0.5
Willpower: 3
Skills: N/A
---
Seeing his health display '1/2' Damien was concerned for a second, but remembered his condition wasn't that bad. He guessed that his status would reflect a rough outline of his state.
Damien then thought of the Team Shop.
---
Team Shop
Level 1 -
Full Suit Repair For Team Alpha - 1 Team credit
*Products can only be purchased if the majority of team members wish to.
---
Damien felt this shop wasn't too bad and thought of the Personal Shop.
---
Personal Shop
Level 1 -
Basic Ration - 1 Personal credit
Bars (3) - 2 Personal credits
Waters (3) - 2 personal credits
Medical Kit - 2 Personal credits
Full Suit Repair - 3 Personal credits
Assault Rifle magazine (30) - 2 Personal credits
Pistol magazine (15) - 1 Personal credit
---
Damien's eyes narrowed when it landed on 'Basic Ration'.
He had a bad feeling.
One that told him the only way for them to get basic necessities was through completing missions.
Damien put his finger on his chin.
"Emmett, what are all the ways we can acquire food and water?"
Emmett's voice responded instantaneously.
"You will be provided food if you purchase them with Personal Credits! As for water, you are provided a limited free supply each day! You can get this water from your personal bathroom."
At that moment, a door parted to the left of everyone's compartment. Inside was a small shower, a sink, and a toilet.
Zenos frowned deeply.
"The only way for us to get food is by completing missions?"
Adonis narrowed his eyes.
"How in the world is that fair?"
Killian clicked his tongue.
"I guess you could expect that from a stingy company that gives a single magazine for our guns."
Emmett's voice rang out.
"If it wasn't for Sigma you would have died!"
Killian frowned.
"Yeah, you brought us to hell a few days in advance."
Damien sighed.
"At least they provided water. If we really had to buy water, then we might as well kill ourselves right now. It would save us the trouble."
Zenos shrugged his shoulders.
"Anyways, we can freshen up first before we talk about how to spend our credits. Clearly, this isn't something we should take lightly."
The others nodded in agreement.
With that, the four of them entered their respective bathrooms and came out a while after.
Damien's hair was still wet when he came back.
He sighed.
"First off, we should check how much these basic rations will do for us. At this point, I could really use something to eat."
Zenos frowned.
"The way it works is terribly confusing though."
Damien shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, we have to learn somehow." He took out his 'Basic Ration' and opened it.
He picked up the large packet and plastic ring.
"Hmm... let me try something."
Damien went back to his bathroom and came back out. The ring was now bloated and wrapped around the packet.
Damien was holding it by the tip of the packet.
"You fill up the plastic ring with water through this."
Damien pointed towards a small openable cap on the plastic ring.
"After that, it will heat up, letting you cook the food inside this packet."
Zenos raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know that?"
Damien took a deep breath.
"I once just so happened to learn about how some people in the army in the past ate. They used MRE's, or 'Meal Ready to Eat', and the process was something similar in one of the versions they had."
Zenos raised an eyebrow before nodding.
"Ah, thankfully you remembered then."
He proceeded to go to his personal bathroom and cook his food, as did Killian and Adonis.
Damien was sitting with his legs crossed. He had placed the packet in the box it came in. He was also staring at it intently.
Damien was unbearably hungry, as was everyone else. He touched the edge of the packet with his finger to feel the heat.
The other three came out and copied Damien, putting their packet in the box.
Once the edge of the packet was hot, Damien tore it open. Steam was rising from the inside.
Damien's eyes peered inside. The packet was filled to the brim with rice. There were a few pieces of meat and vegetables inside, but compared to the amount of rice, it was disproportional.
For a few moments, Damien was at a loss. He didn't have a utensil to eat with.
The corner of his lip twitched, then he brought the packet up to his mouth and tilted it back.
Slowly, Damien ate the bland meal. Though, more than the taste, the satisfaction of filling his stomach was good enough.
It did not take long for the other three to finish their meals either.
Damien sighed.
"Now, let's talk about how to spend our credits."