The tour was a resounding success. The catchy, chiming music and the rich, savory aromas that followed the Canteen were a perfect marketing tool.
Normat who had been too skeptical to co to the plaza now stood in their doorways, their expressions a mixture of curiosity and deep longing.
By the ti Adrian and Nyra had circled the main residential blocks, they had indeed been seen by almost everyone in the sector. They had even made a few more sales from people who flagged them down, desperate for just one container.
As the sun of the Nexus began to dim, Adrian drove the Canteen back to their sector.
"Alright," Nyra said, stretching as they parked the Canteen inside the Genesis Garden’s entrance. "Let’s count the day’s earnings." She pulled up the sales log on her PAD, her eyes widening. "Adrian... we made 4,115 credits. In a single day. We’re making real progress."
Adrian had a small smile on his face as he began powering down the vehicle. But he wasn’t as impressed. He turned to Nyra, his expression thoughtful.
"We are making enough sales from food, yes. But the question is, how long will that last? This is a temporary solution."
***
Two weeks quickly passed. In that ti, the Canteen beca a beloved, daily institution in the Normat sector.
Adrian and Nyra ca around at the sa ti every day, and the Normat were always waiting, their credits ready.
They had tasted a variety of foods — savory stews, roasted vegetables, simple pasta dishes — and for them, returning to the bland, tasteless grey paste of the Nutritional Packs felt like a form of torture rather than a necessity.
But as ti passed, a new, different kind of worry began to spread through the Normat community. For so, it was the lack of control, the feeling of being completely at the rcy of this new, powerful race for their daily happiness.
For others, it was the feeling of oblivion and dependency. It beca clear that they weren’t entirely okay with their new arrangent. On a certain day, as the sector waited for the Canteen’s arrival, that worry was finally voiced.
Papa Perez sat in his quiet house, sipping a cup of water, listening as x paced back and forth.
"Adrian isn’t coming today, again," Papa Perez stated with a calm voice.
x grimaced, running a hand over his smooth, bald head. "Yes, Papa. For the second day in a row. He sent a ssage. He said he was ’busy with a new project,’ but that he’ll be back tomorrow."
Papa Perez shook his head, his large, black eyes filled with a deep weariness. "No, x," he said. "That’s what he told you. He told you the sa thing the last ti. He could change his words at any ti. It is all on his whim. We have no control over this... this ’gift’."
x could feel the frustration in his elder’s voice as he said the last part, and he couldn’t help but ask what he was hinting at. "Papa? What’s wrong? The food is good. Our people are happy, they feel stronger."
"They do," Perez agreed. "But don’t you see, child? They’ve gotten us in a new cage, a more comfortable one, but a cage nonetheless. We are completely dependent on them. What happens if they decide to raise their prices? Or if they stop coming altogether? We will be right back where we started, but this ti, we will be craving a food we can no longer have. We’ve traded the Concordat’s bland control for the Sparkborns’ delicious control. We are still in a web, just one woven by a different spider."
"Do we... do we really have a choice?" x asked. "What can we do?"
Perez was silent for a long while, his gaze distant. "Easy," he finally said. "We copy them. They’ve shown us how to prepare so of the food, to an extent. As long as we can acquire the raw foods ourselves, we’ll be able to prepare it for our people. We can be self-sufficient."
x’s eyes widened in realization. "That’s a very smart idea, Papa! And I bet we can find most of the things they used in the Mall!"
"Exactly," Perez said. "I will send you the credits from the community fund. Your duty will be to go to the Supermarket and purchase those raw foods they use. The potatoes, the corn, the grains. Once you buy them, we will get started imdiately."
"Aye, aye, Papa!" x said, his excitent returning. "I’ll head to the Transit Hub now!"
***
x arrived in the vast, empty Mall without wasting ti. He ran straight to the Council Commissary, the place where almost everything was sold. He knew this would be the best place to buy the raw ingredients. He’d even seen so of them before.
He took him so seconds of scouring the food section until his eyes landed on the first recognizable item. He didn’t know the na, but the image of the golden, unprocessed kernels was unmistakable. He looked at the price.
"One hundred and fifty credits?!" x shouted to no one in particular, his voice echoing in the empty hall. Refusing to believe what he saw, he scrambled to find the other foods on his list.
x felt a headache coming on as he stared at the outrageous prices. "It just doesn’t make sense," he whispered, his heart sinking. "How can they sell us a full, cooked al for ten credits when a single, raw potato costs a hundred? It’s impossible."
He could only sigh as their grand plan of self-sufficiency was crumbling into dust. He turned and, with a heavy heart, headed back to the Transit Hub to report to Papa Perez.
***
"I shouldn’t have expected less of the Concordat," Papa Perez said, his voice grim and defeated, after he had finished hearing x’s report.
He slumped in his chair, the full, crushing weight of their situation returning. The Sparkborns weren’t just selling food at a loss; they were selling it at a price that was so far below the market rate that it was a miracle in itself.
"What can we do now, Papa?" x asked, his own hope gone. "We’re trapped. We have to rely on them."
Papa Perez looked at the closed door of his house, his mind turning over the last, final, and most humbling of their options. He shook his head.
"No," he said with resignation. "We have no other option. We have to et him. Adrian."
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