Endogenesis (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Gabriel had been late to leave class. He hadn't bothered changing into a clean set of clothing; he would be back in the workshop after lunch. He had raced to the other side of the facility, but there was no sign of Dante or Elijah. He hoped they had returned to the dorm out of caution and that nothing had befallen them. Gabriel didn't know if they could experience heart attacks with their healing abilities, but he was bound to find out if they stayed with the Republic long enough.

Gabriel shoved his hand under the scanner, and the door unlocked. He pushed it open and was relieved to hear movement from the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway and breathed in deeply. Dante sat with a pencil in his hand, his notebook open, while Elijah hung over him like a bad smell. Meryl was perched across from them, peckish, eating her sliced fruit. Since Nadia had been injured fighting the Reds, she spent more time outside her fort, and while she rarely left the dorm, she had started helping with the chores.

They turned to face Gabriel, Dante setting down his pencil, 'Sorry we didn't wait around. I thought it would be best if we came straight back here.'

'It's fine. Nobody was hurt, and that's what's important,' Gabriel said and meandered to the cupboard.

Gabriel helped himself to some canned fruit; the peaches and apples were bland compared to what they had fresh at Haven. He speculated how old the food was; the Republic could be so desperate for supplies that they raided any supermarket and warehouse they could find. Gabriel sat at the end of the table, giving Meryl plenty of space. He had twenty minutes at best before he had to return to class.

Meryl leaned over her food, 'Who's that?'

'She's an elf ranger. She's one of the NPCs, characters that other people don't play as,' Elijah said gleefully.

Meryl tilted her head, 'What's an elf?'

'Here we go,' Gabriel groaned.

'They're like humans, but they have long pointy ears. They're a little taller than humans, live a whole lot longer, like a hundred years longer...um, they can see in the dark, they don't really need to sleep, so they kind of meditate instead,' Elijah said, ready to jump out of his seat.

Meryl gazed at him as if he had lost his mind, 'I don't understand. Where did they come from? Are they still alive? Were they killed in the Rapture too?'

'They're fictitious and a part of a game Elijah likes to play,' Gabriel said, shoving a piece of fruit into his mouth.

'We make up a character, and we pretend to go on adventures that Eli comes up with,' Dante said as he continued to scribble away. 'There are rules you must follow, but he knows what he's doing.'

Meryl stared at him as if he had lost his mind, 'But where do you go? We can't leave the Confine.'

'We sit around in a circle, at a table or on a couch and talk through it. We don't go anywhere.' Dante explained.

Gabriel swallowed his food and reached across the table, flipping the book to a blank page, 'I got an idea. Instead of confusing the poor girl, why don't you make a map of the facility with her? Mark down anything that could be of use.'

Elijah peered at him, devastated, 'What about our campaign? Me and Dante have barely started on it.'

'There will be plenty of time for you to come up with a new campaign and teach Meryl how to play when we're out of here,' Gabriel replied.

'Come on, Gabe. It's just a bit of harmless fun,' Dante implored.

'We need to find a way out of here, and Meryl might know something important.' Gabriel rose from his chair, holding his plate in his hand as he walked towards the door. 'Work on your game later.'