Ball of Nothing

They only had one common bathroom with three shower stalls and two toilets. The dining area was too cramped to have more than three people seated at any one point. The kitchen was so basic that Zero started to wonder how they would get all their nutrition when there was no place to store fresh food. All the sea otters packed on the Marrissa for emergency food supplies were dried meat and dehydrated rosehip.

The sleeping bunk quarter shared by the eight sea otters was almost the same size as the room Zero, Bob and Truen shared. The sea otters didn\'t need as much space as humans did, and Pepper was happy to sleep in his hammock at the end of the room with the eight other sea otters. Zero didn\'t know much about the snoring situation, but he didn\'t bring it up yet.

Excited to check out the clinic where Zero would be spending most of his time, Zero hopped away to follow Ottley\'s lead. Truen didn\'t have high hopes for it. Compared to Zero\'s mindscape pharmacy, this clinic wasn\'t going to be very well equipped.

True to Truen\'s prediction, the clinic had just the bare minimum for surgeries, and Zero did not know what to say. Expectation was the mother of all disappointment, and Truen wondered when his friend would learn that.

"There is the engine room that I will not show you because of the tremendous heat. Nobody is allowed in there for the next few hours until it cools down. We worked the engine a little too much to fight against the first underwater current threatening to drag us right into the twilight zone. Let me show you the gym instead."

Surprised that the sea otters would cater a space for a gym, Truen wondered why it was a necessity. Compared to a more advanced medical facility or a more luxurious sleeping quarter, a gym didn\'t sound like something anyone would consider important enough to include in the blueprint.

The gym space was no bigger than Zero\'s clinic but compared to his paltry clinic with bare minimum facilities, the gym had just about everything a man would need to remain combat fit from weights to a running machine. The doctor wasn\'t the only one who was shocked by the amount of effort that went into the gym.

"Not to sound rude or be mean," Zero said and stared at Ottley. "But is the gym truly necessary in a space with so many limitations?"

At that, Ottley turned a little red and looked away. "You can say that it is necessary. After all, we don\'t have many opportunities in this tiny space to run around. Physical fitness is an important part of the crew\'s welfare. At the same time, you can think of this as a small comfort away from home."

Heating how meek Ottley became talking about a small slice of comfort, Zero smiled in understanding. For him, the clinic was a small comfort. Everyone needed something familiar that could act as an emotional anchor for themselves when they are far from home in dangerous territories. Zero usually had Truen and his mindscape with him. That alone was enough for ordinary travels. However, being underwater made Zero twice as nervous. The enclosed area sometimes suffocated Zero and made him feel like a trapped rat. In that situation, going to the clinic to do something was going to help ease the anxiety.

Truen looked at the gym. It was a lovely little area, a small oasis in this stifling place. He didn\'t hate the people he was travelling with, but he would need his personal time to decompress from tiring days. Ottley didn\'t seem to have anything else to show them for the mini-tour of the Marrissa, so he quickly excused himself to check on the teams on standby duty.

When the captain left, Bob hopped from Zero\'s shoulder to transform into his human hybrid body. The dragon hopped from bench to bar and tested the equipment out.

"They built it really well, master."

Zero looked at the restless dragon hanging upside-down from the bar and agreed. Docky and Pocky didn\'t allow them to look at the Marrissa\'s progress, so it was a huge shocker to know that the sinking ship was twice as big as the ship they used for the practical trial. Yet, once they were in the ocean, the sinking ship was just a mall object in this huge body of water.

Truen flipped the blinds covering the small window open and peered outside. They were fifty metres deep, but already, it was difficult to tell if it was day or night. The sunlight did not permeate the waters very well. At this speed, he couldn\'t tell if they were moving fast or slow. The scenery outside did not change much except for the occasional school of fishes swimming by.

Zero looked out of the tiny window and found it strangely relaxing. They didn\'t have much to do now that the deep dive was successful. All that was left now was to wait for the crew to bring the ship to the first spot they wanted to check. According to Docky, the sinking ship could take a few months to follow the plotted route that Indra Seagloo took. Nobody knew how fast Indra Seagloo travelled, so it was better to check out suspicious spots and ambush the cause of the phenomenon by camping in the area instead of pursuing the trail.

"Should we head to the kitchen and explain to the crew how we are going to settle meals?" Bob suggested after a while.

Looking at this boring scenery could only be interesting for a few minutes. The Eternal Dragon would rather have someone to talk to or tackle some menial chores.

Zero agreed. He looked at Bob and wondered if he should let the crew know about Bob\'s identity as well. Maybe not his full identity as a dragon but as a creature with the ability to transform into a human hybrid. That would boost the crew\'s morale, right?

"Might as well introduce you to the crew while we explain how dinner is prepared."

Truen didn\'t know if that was a good idea, but Zero and Bob were already leaving the gym. Sighing, he followed. Truen could only hope that it was a good decision.