Commander Carol came out of her room when Raziel called out to her.
"The rice is done." He said while placing two plates of food on the dining table. He took out two bottles of water from her fridge and placed them on the table.
He sat down and started to eat without waiting for her. He was very hungry. He hadn't taken anything apart from the bread and eggs he ate in the morning. He dug his teeth into the meat and felt the tenderness. He temporarily forgot about all the miseries of the world.
Commander Carol came into the dining table and sat down without a word. She started to eat in silence. She seemed to have a huge appetite because she went back to get several portions of more rice.
Raziel wondered where all the food had gone because she certainly wasn't fat.
Commander Carol noticed him giving her weird glances. She said while her mouth was still stuffed with rice, "What's wrong?"
Raziel was done eating. He was full already and he didn't eat half of what she had eaten, "I'm just wondering how you could eat so much."
Commander Carol put her spoon down and reached for a glass of water. After drinking about three glasses of water, "The higher your level, the larger your appetite. You should know this, haven't you seen Vice-Admiral Rowland eat?"
Raziel thought back to his time on the base, he had never been present when the Vice-Admiral was eating. He shook his head, "No, he always eat alone."
Commander Carol continued eating her food, "It's not just about eating a large amount of food. It must be nutritious as well.
"The beef we're eating is from a level 1 cow. There are people whose job are to rear these animals in special farms. They rear several animals we can eat and keep them at level 1. They are very nutritious.
"The rice we're also eating was carefully nurtured with Mojo. Even the pepper we eat now was nurtured with Mojo."
Raziel was surprised at the information, "But why do they keep the animals at level 1?"
Commander Carol was amused, "The strongest among those farmers are at best level 2. Most of them are on level 1. How are they going to control animals stronger than them?
"They may be domestic animals but let's not forget what Mojo does to animals.
"Even though the animals are on level 1, the government still uses several precautions to keep them from escaping."
Raziel took his plates to the kitchen and came back to sit in the dining room. He sat opposite Commander Carol. He looked across the table to her, "I've not had a chance to thank you for saving my sister and I. Thank you for giving my sister and I chance to live.
"There's nothing I can do that would match the mercy you showed us.
"If there's anything I can ever do to repay you, just let me know."
Commander Carol looked up from her food and stared at him, "It was Vice-Admiral Rowland that spared your life."
Raziel scoffed, "If you didn't spare me first, Vice-Admiral Rowland won't have been able to save me. I'm actually curious as to why you decided to spare our lives."
Commander Carol frowned her face, "You should be more worried about Vice-Admiral Rowland."
Raziel laughed it off, "Why? He already made his intent for sparing my life known."
He pointed at the mark on his forehead that was covered by a durag, "He wants me to be his slave that does his bidding. It's only you that I have no idea what your motive is."
Commander Carol chuckled, "You're very stupid if you think you know the motives of Vice-Admiral Rowland."
Raziel was hurt by the remark. Nobody likes being called stupid.
She continued, "The reason he spared your life was because you're a variable. As a variable you represent a lot of things.
"Your presence in Tenebren will throw this place into chaos. The easiest place to grow stronger is a place of chaos.
"You're the Vice-Admiral's ticket to power. He'll milk you of every value and discard you when you're useless to him."
Raziel was shocked by what he heard.
Commander Carol didn't seem to be done, "The capital has been kept in a delicate balance by all the forces here. The Vice-Admiral brought you here to upset that balance.
"When that balance is broken, Vice-Admiral Rowland is going to use the opportunity to seize control of this country.
"And he doesn't care about the number of people that will die in the process and trust me, several people will die including innocent people.
"They'll die because you're alive when you should have been dead.
"I can live with the fact that I kept you alive knowing you'll upset the balance in Tenebren.
"But can you live with that fact? Innocent people will die because you want to cling on to life. Will you keep on living your life selfishly even after knowing all this?
"Can you keep on living your life knowing you're just a stepping stone for someone else's path to power and there's nothing you can do to change because you're a weakling?"