Chapter 610: Small Comfort (1/2)
The Marrissa tour was very short as the vessel was smaller than it looked from the outside. There were eight sea otters apart from Pepper, Bob, Truen and Zero on the sinking ship. Zero thought there wouldn't be enough room for everyone to have their own space, and he was right.
They only had one common bathroom with three shower stalls and two toilets. The dining area was too cramped to have more than three people seated at any one point. The kitchen was so basic that Zero started to wonder how they would get all their nutrition when there was no place to store fresh food. All the sea otters packed on the Marrissa for emergency food supplies were dried meat and dehydrated rosehip.
The sleeping bunk quarter shared by the eight sea otters was almost the same size as the room Zero, Bob and Truen shared. The sea otters didn't need as much space as humans did, and Pepper was happy to sleep in his hammock at the end of the room with the eight other sea otters. Zero didn't know much about the snoring situation, but he didn't bring it up yet.
Excited to check out the clinic where Zero would be spending most of his time, Zero hopped away to follow Ottley's lead. Truen didn't have high hopes for it. Compared to Zero's mindscape pharmacy, this clinic wasn't going to be very well equipped.
True to Truen's prediction, the clinic had just the bare minimum for surgeries, and Zero did not know what to say. Expectation was the mother of all disappointment, and Truen wondered when his friend would learn that.
”There is the engine room that I will not show you because of the tremendous heat. Nobody is allowed in there for the next few hours until it cools down. We worked the engine a little too much to fight against the first underwater current threatening to drag us right into the twilight zone. Let me show you the gym instead.”
Surprised that the sea otters would cater a space for a gym, Truen wondered why it was a necessity. Compared to a more advanced medical facility or a more luxurious sleeping quarter, a gym didn't sound like something anyone would consider important enough to include in the blueprint.
The gym space was no bigger than Zero's clinic but compared to his paltry clinic with bare minimum facilities, the gym had just about everything a man would need to remain combat fit from weights to a running machine. The doctor wasn't the only one who was shocked by the amount of effort that went into the gym.
”Not to sound rude or be mean,” Zero said and stared at Ottley. ”But is the gym truly necessary in a space with so many limitations?”
At that, Ottley turned a little red and looked away. ”You can say that it is necessary. After all, we don't have many opportunities in this tiny space to run around. Physical fitness is an important part of the crew's welfare. At the same time, you can think of this as a small comfort away from home.”
Heating how meek Ottley became talking about a small slice of comfort, Zero smiled in understanding. For him, the clinic was a small comfort. Everyone needed something familiar that could act as an emotional anchor for themselves when they are far from home in dangerous territories. Zero usually had Truen and his mindscape with him. That alone was enough for ordinary travels. However, being underwater made Zero twice as nervous. The enclosed area sometimes suffocated Zero and made him feel like a trapped rat. In that situation, going to the clinic to do something was going to help ease the anxiety.