Opening the door, Grey found a robot somewhat resembling a capsule with wheels holding a tray of food in front of him.
Just looking at the food made his stomach growl wildly, it wasn't the first time he had seen foods other than paste. But he rarely ever ate them, maybe 7 times a year at most. The food on the platter was more than double that amount and certainly more palatable. Plus he hadn't eaten anything good for the past two days.
Not leaving the robot waiting, Grey collected the food before closing the door on the robot.
The food smelled wonderful, it wasn't too complex though. With chicken potato broth as the main dish and servings of salads and dumpling on the side.
After immersing himself in the wonders of the culinary department, he couldn't help but feel sad. The only reason he could enjoy this sort of dish was the same reason his parents died.
' Do I even have the right to enjoy this?'
Although Grey wanted to stay away from topics like this, his mind couldn't help but stray there from time to time as he gradually accepted the new state of his reality.
He was going to be alone, against the trials of the limbo. He no longer had a home to return to, a family waiting for him. It was just going to be him, him against the Limbo.
And with his petty motive of finding someone to push the blame for an event he caused too, he wasn't sure he had what it took to survive or to even dream of beating it. After all, had there not been others before him, what made him think he was special?
Grey sighed, dropping the plate down. He didn't want to go down that road of thought.
Looking around the room the bright furnishings and expensive gadgets suddenly felt less impressive, after all against what he was trying to achieve. They didn't seem to be worth that much again.
' Way to spoil the mood idiot'
Grey left for the bedrooms, as the once beautiful apartment felt a lot more hollow.
---------
A figure moved steadily on an empty path, its body bearly illuminated by the foggy lamps lined across the pavement. Just up ahead some lights could be seen coming out of windows, their glow gently outlining the spherical shape of the building it came out from.
Grey yawned as he stared at the lab department, He was a little frustrated about why they had to call him out this early in the morning. Sighing, he tightened the hood around his face before moving to enter the building. The insides of the building weren't special, the only thing that could be said about it was the predominance of white and a strange emphasis on symmetry. A hologram of an ai receptionist waited patiently behind a rectangular desk.
A cool light flashed from her eyes quickly scanning Grey before she spoke.
"Good morning, Ranker Grey, what can I do for you today".
Grey showed her the message on his holo screen.
She paused for a while before speaking.
"I see, you have an appointment with doctor Rick. Check for him in the labs, I've added a waypoint to your holo screen."
Thanking her, He activated the waypoint following it as it led him to the lab.
...…
After walking for some time, Grey found himself in front of a thick lead door that had a hazard warning sign on it. He flinched a little upon seeing the sign, it didn't invoke the best of memories
Entering he found himself in the lobby room of a rather small lab. Sitting to the side was a person wearing a hazmat suit.
Alerted by the sound of the door opening, the person raised their head revealing the face of a man somewhere In his late thirties.
"I assume your Ranker Grey."
A distorted voice called out.
Grey nodded his head.
" About time you'd showed up, I can't believe you made me stay throughout the night shift."
Grey scratched his head awkwardly.
"You know what, forget it. It isn't your fault, take a sit I'll tell you what we're going to be doing today."
He pointed towards a chair across from him. After Grey sat down, the man looked seriously at him before speaking.
"As you may already know, my name is Rick. And I'm going to be testing for the effects of your curse. As Section 3 of the new human law states, all rankers have the right to withhold info about their curses and not partake in any related experiment without their willing, conscious, and educated permission except in the situation that passive use of it may cause harm to the public and public properties. You Ranker Grey, already meet the requirements to submit info about the properties of your curse. Of course, this only includes the parts that affect the public, although any additional info you submit will be greatly appreciated and compensated for. You will also be compensated for obeying the law and taking part in this experiment.''
Rick's eyes gleamed with interest as they observed Grey's face as he said the last sentence. Upon not receiving any reaction the gleam faded before he continued.
" Although we have already collected data from the police about your powers, From what we can see, it appears the cause of your parent's death was a virus that only takes effect when you're in contact with living things. After all, we would probably have a station filled with dead bodies if it were otherwise. Regardless, we wish to collect as many samples as possible from you and test them in case there are any more viruses present in your body. We are only required to collect 7 different data types but for every extra sample provided by you, we will increase your reward."
Grey's fists clenched a little as he heard his parent's death, though he still nodded his head to indicate he understood.
The doctor seemingly ignored his predicament, as he stood up.
" It's good you understand. Follow me, let's start the collection. There's no time for dilly dally."
Rick's cold and distorted voice rang out, as he left the lobby.
Grey sighed as he clenched his fists, before standing up and following him too.