Tastes like chicken

Outside of the forest, four cars stood on in front of a fork in a driveway. There, dirt road was separating from the main route, leading towards a wilted, but still dense forest. From this distance it looked unassuming, if depressing, but the poor ecology of the twenty-second century didn't spare anything.

A man was leaning out of the window of one of the cars. He made several deep inhales of the air. "Boss, the trail is very fresh, but… they had turned to the forest."

The other three passengers of this car were Cole, Eugen and Bloodhound, who was sitting in the driver's seat. Hearing the tracker's words, Cole grit his teeth. Eugen's face darkened.

"If that's their choice, so be it. I can't stop them from ending their lives when they want it so much," Cole said after a long pause. "Bloodhound, turn back to the base."

To his side, Eugen clicked his tongue. "The best girls are always the most troublesome ones. Just forget it. We will find ourselves less gutsy ones."

⠀

Inside the house in the woods, the atmosphere was quiet and peaceful. Eve was out cold in the only bed in the house, Ellin spread a sleeping bag on the floor in the living room, and their mysterious host busied himself with chores in the kitchen as if the two of them weren't even around.

At first, Xia kept watching him. Whenever he walked past Ellin or herself, she would frown, but the man treated Xia just like everyone else around and the thin air. Sometimes, she would hear him mumbling to himself, but couldn't discern the words. She watched the man coming and going for another hour, before giving up and settling to sleep in the car.

When Eve opened her eyes again, she couldn't recognise the place she was in. It took her a minute to realise that she must have lost consciousness after her stand-off with the hermit. 'Then, logically, this must be his house. Did he really let us in?'

She looked around. The room where she was in was small, but pristine. There wasn't much furniture or personal items around, but it wasn't empty either. Eve saw several paper books on a shelf, sorted in alphabetical order, and a still-life on a wall. The only window in the room was partially closed by curtains, but Eve saw that the sky outside was dyed in the colours of a sunset.

A weak aroma of boiled meat was permeating the air, making Eve's stomach grumble. She looked down on her body and decided against trying to walk towards it. Instead, she called out for Ellin or Xia. Soon enough, she heard hurried footsteps approaching towards her door—more than one pair.

The first one to enter was Ellin. He walked in a beeline towards her bed and began to fuss around. "Eve! Are you feeling better? There's blood on your bandages again, did your wound open?"

Then Xia barged in too. "Sister Eve, we are finally safe! I watched Cole driving away from there soon after you lost consciousness. Now, it has been hours—I must change your bandage again."

When Eve looked at them, she saw they were in a much better state than the last time she saw them. Gone were red veins and dark bags—instead, there was an undeniable relief written in their smiles. Eve smiled too. 'It was such a mess… I'm so glad that it's over.'

Then another thought took that smile from her face. "What about the owner of this house? He let us stay?"

"I… guess?" Ellin shrugged. "He looked like he wanted to skewer each one of us and feed to his bear, but then let you take the bed. I have no idea what he thinks! He didn't even tell us his name."

The door to the room opened again, letting inside the very same person mentioned. The already cramped room became filled to the brim with his presence. He looked no more glad to see them now than before. "Introduce yourself first."

Ellin scratched his neck. "Oh, we didn't, didn't we? Sorry! I'm Ellin Rojek, and these are Qiao Xia and Eve Ziffer. I hope we aren't interrupting any seclusions or anything, he-heh."

"My name is Victor. Victor Kraust," the man said. He glanced at Eve and his frown deepened. "Are you the same Eve Ziffer who published the thesis about self-improving neural networks in… Twenty ninety-nine?"

Eve's eyes widened. For a moment she could only gape at Victor. Then she took herself under control and narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes. So?"

Victor shook his head. His face smoothened—he didn't smile, but it was a significant improvement over his earlier grumpy expression. "I never expected to meet someone like you in these circumstances. It's an honour."

"Thank you." Eve relaxed hearing these words. For a moment there, she was afraid that Victor somehow heard of her last project before the apocalypse, but the truth turned out to be much simpler. "I'm surprised that you remember something like that to this day. This thesis wasn't very popular outside of the professional circle."

To the side, Ellin frowned and tapped his fingers on the wall. "You know, Mister Kraust, your surname sounds familiar too. But where did I hear it?.. Ah, that was so long time ago I can't remember at all. But yeah, our Eve is amazing!" Ellin nodded with a proud grin.

Victor spared him a glance before turning back to Eve. His words addressed everyone, but she still was the focus of his attention. "Be my guests until Doctor Ziffer's injuries heal. Then, leave. Animals in the forest won't attack you. Ask me if you need anything else."

"We will leave as soon as possible, but we need directions. Do you know about any survivors' settlements around, Mister Kraust?" Eve said. Her mood still wasn't the best because of the pain in her side, but the sudden positive recognition improved it considerably. 'I guess Mister Kraust is not only a kind person, but an intelligent one, too. I wonder who exactly he was before the apocalypse…'

"I do. I will draw a map for you later." Victor made a step back out of the room. "Rest and eat. There's pigeon soup in the kitchen—it's for everyone."

He left the room, and it immediately felt much more spacious. At Ellin's side, Xia bit her lip. "I wonder who Mister Kraust was in the past. It definitely wasn't someone ordinary. His aura is so domineering, he might've been a military commander."

"He is level seven. No matter who he was, or is, he is very impressive at least, Xia. But the way he avoids people—did he talk with animals for too long and began to despise humanity?" Ellin asked.

"You don't even need to speak with animals to hate humankind," Eve said and threw a chill glance at him. "Like the gossipers like you who forget about what they were planning to do as soon as they find something new to talk about."

"Ah, Sister Eve, forgive us! Just wait a minute, I will change your bandages and we will bring you some soup."

"Yes, I will bring you soup right now! I can even feed you with a spoon if you can't lift your hands, Eve!"

The sight of Xia and Ellin fussing around with joyful smiles on their faces brought a small smile to Eve's lips as well. After Xia changed her bandages and fed her more painkillers and antibiotics, all three of them ate pigeon soup together in the small bedroom, not minding the lack of places to sit or put their bowls on. To Eve's surprise, mutant pigeon tasted exactly like chicken.

Later, when Xia and Ellin left her alone again, Eve couldn't help but wonder herself about who was the mysterious Victor Kraust.

'Commandeering, but intelligent… Someone who is interested in neural networks and artificial intelligence. Either my thesis impressed him a lot, or he has an amazing memory to remember it so well whole nine years later. He isn't too old either—he must have been in his twenties when my nanites were released. Too young to be a professor. His domineering manner of speech is the biggest question. Could it come from a separate source from his education? Could he have been a scientist who got called into the army during the war? If so, he wasn't a simple soldier either.'

Eve doubted a hermit like Victor would answer her if she simply asked. But her curiosity was already ignited, just like her greed. 'I really want to examine his nanite core. If I could copy its architecture into my own, it will help me tremendously. I'm sick of people and zombies trying to kill me. And Kraust himself looks like a decent assistant material. Too bossy, but I can't afford to be picky right now…'