Lunch came too fast, the cafeteria buzzing with the chaotic noise of shard users and guards. Elias sat hunched over a metal table, staring down at a tray holding a lump of gray, gelatinous stew. The air in the mess hall smelled faintly of grease and unwashed bodies, a sharp contrast to the sterile, filtered oxygen pumped through the rest of Cube X.
He dragged his spoon through the sludge, the texture resisting the metal. Across from him, Kikaru kept her head down, picking at her own rations in a tense, exhausted silence. Neither of them had fully shaken the weight of the arena, nor the memory of the bodies left bleeding in the sand.
Before Elias could force down another bite, his comm buzzed against his hip.
A sharp chime cut through the low roar of the room. He pulled the device free, the screen glaring cold blue against the dim lighting.
Elias Kael, the text read. Report to Warden Geras. Now.
