No Such Thing as Being Too Prepared
~ takes place shortly before "Cycle" ~
Andrei stumbled into the kitchen after a particularly exhausting solo skirmish to fix up a quick energy booster --
Only to find his boss already inside, meticulously sorting what looked like little sandwich squares into various containers.
As there did not seem to be any particularly appropriate reaction to this scene, he said -- rather pointlessly as the security systems had already notified him a while ago -- "Oh. You're back."
His boss did not look up. "We're low on water, Ajama."
"Yeah," he replied, blinking. Was he just imagining things, or was the boss in a really good mood? "Next scheduled supply run is next week. Processors are running at good efficiency though, so should hold up for another few."
"Move it up."
"Sure. I'll start recalibrating the cycles later."
The boss grunted his approval.
Andrei didn't think an offer to help with the sandwiches would be received very well, so he settled next to him to sift through their stash of nutrition tablets.
They worked together in silence for some time.
Then his boss said, "Add more disinfectant to the list too."
It'd been a couple months since either of them suffered any major injuries, and their medkits weren't low on any stock. But Andrei did not question orders.
"Sure."
"And towels."
"Okay."
"Replace the breathers while you're at it. There's a defect in one of the spares."
"Uh-huh."
His boss finished sealing the last of the containers.
"Also, you're on your own for lunch tomorrow."
There were some things, Andrei decided, that it was better not to think too hard about.
"Gotcha, Boss." After a moment he added, "Have fun?"
The boss snorted, then swept out of the kitchen, stack of containers balanced in one hand.
Andrei shrugged and turned back to mixing his drink.
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