Chapter 19 #2
The next floor was another large room, a cafeteria nearly half as large as the ballroom and theater. She figured the rest of this floor was probably the kitchens and food storage. Though, she’d read that frozen food is kept topside in a steel, bearproof building, so probably mostly kitchens.
Her stomach rumbled at the smell — a rich, savory reindeer stew, if her nose had it right.
Wide islands had signage designating the burger bar, taco bar, and salad bar, made so people could approach from two sides.
Along a wall were a carnivore line and an herbivore line.
The literature had said there would be two meals per day made, one for vegetarians and one for everyone else, with the various bars fully stocked and open around the clock.
There was also a breakfast line, available all day, with eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, biscuits, gravy, hash browns, and more.
“No limits on quantity,” Spence said, “but you’ll pay by the ounce for anything left on your plate when you turn it in. Don’t take more than you’ll eat.”
A woman stepped out of a door and told them, “We need a three-hour notice to put together an expedition package of food for a single meal, for up to a dozen people. More people, or more meals, we prefer twenty-four hours. Also, no food can be carried off the floor. If you have a need to do so, one of the managers will need to give us a heads-up on the app, and we’ll prepare it in to-go boxes.
No food in your rooms under any circumstances. ”
“No one wants us to have to spray for bugs,” Spence said.
“You’d think they wouldn’t be up here in the frozen north, and they aren’t outside, but there were apparently problems in the silo pre-Zander.
Most of the expeditions outside the dome aren’t long enough to need food.
Twenty minutes, tops, to see the sky, and most of us are more than ready to come back inside and max out the sauna. ”
Emmy walked away from the group to look inside a little nook. It held comfy chairs with side tables, coffeeshop style, for people who wanted to hang out, maybe even read while snacking.
In the main room, there were larger tables for groups of six or eight, and smaller tables for two to four people.
She could see this becoming part of her daily rhythm. Food, warmth, and familiar faces.
From there, Spence once again led them down the stairwell, this time to the flock’s common areas. The living area was first, with armchairs, warm lighting, throw blankets, and shelves full of puzzles and books. Emmy hadn’t expected anything this normal. She felt her shoulders loosen a little.
Sofas were in conversation groups, but nooks also held space for the introverts to sit away from the group but still be part of it. The space felt like a typical living room, homey and comfortable.
Next came the media room, decorated more like a den.
A dozen screens, each with multiple gaming consoles, controllers lined up on chargers, tons of couches and gaming chairs, and lots of cushions on the floor.
“You were told to bring your own Bluetooth headphones,” Spence said.
“Some of you also brought your own controller, which is fine, but you should etch your name into it and charge it in your room. Please don’t make me mediate an argument over who owns a controller.
It likely will not go well for either party. ”
He led them to the workout room, with mats, heavy bags, and racks of dumbbells over rubber flooring. Across from it, the sauna, its heat pushing out into the hallway when Spence opened the door to show it to them.
Emmy soaked in the blast of warmth. How awesome would it be to run in the cold topside and then come down here and get warm?
She couldn’t wait.
“There didn’t used to be any rules about sex in the sauna,” Felix said. “Now there are.”
Spence shook his head and grinned. “Yeah, as your handbooks told you, everyone present in the sauna has to be okay with you having sex in there. If someone enters and tells you to get a room, it means you should stop. Ya’ll are housed four to a room, and there are no designated areas for private sex between flock members.
Most of the time, everyone’s pretty fucked out from servicing the vampires.
Until Felix, we never had complaints about needing a space to fuck so you don’t disturb your roommates.
“You were given your room assignments and entry codes via the app,” Spence said, changing the subject. “Head on down and get settled in. The luggage you sent earlier in the week should be there. If the luggage you brought on the plane today isn’t there yet, it should be soon.”
He looked at his watch. “We’ll start certifying people for the fireman’s pole in about an hour, and the cafeteria should open by then. I’ll be here for thirty minutes if you have any questions.”
Emmy went down with Rhea, Toby, and Felix, one floor below the cafeteria.
Rhea punched in her code and opened the door, and the four walked into the pie-shaped room. Most flock rooms have four twin-sized beds across the back wall, but she’d told Spence she and Felix planned to push their beds together, and Spence had arranged for them to have a double-sized bed.
The narrow end near the door opened into a cozy sitting area with four chairs grouped around a low table, soft lighting, and enough floor space to stretch or sit.
Deeper into the room, the walls flared wider, and Toby’s setup was already in place at the back right of the room.
His twin bed against the wall, four large monitors mounted on the wall above it.
A desk stood at the foot, as wide as the bed and easily deep enough for a laptop, with a simple chair pushed under the desk.
Along the left wall was Emmy and Felix’s larger bed, with Rhea’s twin bed between.
And this was their safe space, away from vampires and other shifters. Four friends who were used to living together.
And granted, they each had their own private space in Anchorage, but they’d be fine together for three months. She genuinely liked these three people.
It would be hell to have to room with someone you didn’t want to be around.
Ten minutes later, Toby’s desk held a rugged laptop, headphones, a stack of labeled data drives, and a coffee mug with a secure lid. One of his sky-tracking apps was already open, streaming live aurora and weather feeds over the silo’s surprisingly stable Wi-Fi.
Emmy put her clothing into the drawers marked for her, and settled her bathroom caddy into the small cabinet beside the drawers.
She pushed her suitcase under the bed, and wished she could check on her costumes, but they were all being stored elsewhere and would be delivered to them the morning of the events.
“Anyone want to check out the bathroom with me?” Felix asked.
Emmy went with him, two doors down the hall, and stood inside, looking it over.
Ten toilet stalls across a portion of the back wall, with a huge open shower section running along the rest of the back wall and forward along the right wall.
She counted fifteen showerheads with rubberized tile beneath.
Sinks lined the left wall, with mirrors and good lighting.
Not fancy, but functional and clean. With twenty-four shifters per floor, there might be a wait for the showers just after an event, but she figured outside of that, it should be fine.
“They bring the temps in the bathrooms up to around seventy degrees before and after the evening events, figuring that’s when we’re most likely to be showering,” Felix told her. “Also, the event rooms are warmed a little more for frenzies and balls, since there’ll be naked people.”
Right. The underground is kept at around sixty-two degrees, which is fine for shifters. Emmy had taken her layers off and was currently in jeans and a long-sleeved thermal shirt, and she was comfortable.
“What was that in the Lupanar? Memories of what’s happened in the past, or anticipation of what will happen?”
He shrugged. “A little of both. Thanks for the hug. It’s nice having you here.”
Before she could respond, more shifters came in, and Emmy talked to them a little before using the toilet and heading back to her room to re-organize her bathroom caddy.
She’d planned to do her makeup in the room with a lighted mirror, but the lighting was so good in the bathroom, she’d be better off doing it in there.