Cody Yang's meats, nobody can beat it!
Cody was thinking about food as an issue in the coming days, but he couldn't imagine the immediate disruption even with his education.
A total interruption in food supply throughout the world would be bad, but a small supply store is created intentionally by many institutions and companies to prevent such a thing...too bad it is locked down in warehouses with no truck drivers to actually deliver it.
The group was literally on the brink of major supply shortages. The older and technically edible foods were being put in large pots to mask the age from each ingredient.
Betty had learned the oldest cooking technique from her mother that lived through The Great Depression.
It was something that naturally came with extreme struggle, and thus, they never went without enough food for months and months at a time in the cellar at home.
She shook her head and looked at her boys, they were too precious for this world. They went out into the dangerous world and fought tooth and nail for the future.
Betty kissed her cross and got to work prepping her coworkers.
"Ladies, gather-round." She gestured to the older/retired women that were gung-ho for kitchen duties.
She held the heavy "monopoly" piece in her hands while the girls gathered around her.
"My boys got us a lil'ol gift. It can process the meat the monsters have." She stopped everyone before they could throw objections or questions and said, "I don't know how on God's green earth it works, but it is a miracle from the Lord."
She held the item in reverence as a testament to their faith to God. It was an attempt at salvation in the Rapture.
They were all religious (different denominations) but they could clearly see the significance with the "blessing" from their Lord.
They could literally see a holy-golden light sheen from it as it grew to the size of a small truck in the kitchen area.
Their mouths were agape in awe.
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Cody and Ira had discussed what happened.
"So, you were feelin' the items from the dog." Ira was leaning forward and looking tense.
Cody nodded, "Yeah, it feels so strange, I think my reaction to The Consciousness is what triggered it."
Ira nodded and then closed his eyes.
The cosmic entity known as "The Consciousness" was talking to his grandson, in his head.
He would be extremely worried and call a priest, if he hadn't experienced the ideas in his tutorial.
This was important information.
The whole strange tutorial, followed by the urge in combat, the whole of it was seriously NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION.
Ira pinched his nose bridge, he thought his Grandson was cracking under the pressure and fighting, but he was dealing with Cosmic level shit.
'How could I not know?' was his only thought on the matter.
He looked at Cody seriously, "Listen, son, if you ever hold that much on your shoulders again, I will knifehand you."
Cody's face went white.
Ira dropped the tough exterior and sighed loudly.
Cody just stared at him confusedly, he didn't realize what he had done was THAT wrong.
Ira looked at him and said, "This is why I drink, ya' know!" and walked off.
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'I fucked up…' Cody's little interdimensional parasite agreed vehemently.
"I should have told them, I thought I could game it...they were worried…" Cody muttered it all under his breath and could feel the sympathy from the orb.
He thought back to the weekends he'd spend there while getting his degree, his grandma had always called when he skipped a week. They always asked about his school work and his Grandpa always told him to study hard and find a girl when he got too drunk.
They were his family, he shouldn't have left them out of the universal revelation of GOD…'dumbass.'
Ira was upset that he didn't notice the food shortage that was going on, when he WAS conscious.
Ira had even mentioned his cutting back to 2 beers PER DAY, it must really be bad. He brought a 2 week supply of light drinking with him to the city.
Cody sat for a few minutes and thought about the way his Grandfather had been handling it and what he could do.
'Papaw is the Soldier, Grandma is the General, what role would I play?'
He thought about what he had been doing, maybe he could be a fighter? He could fight, right?
The orb flipped its shit, [OF COURSE, HOW DO YOU THINK YOU WILL SURVIVE, CODY YANG? YOU WALK THE TRUE WAY OF THE MONK, YOUR DESTINY IS COVERED IN BLOOD. YOU. ARE. A. WARRIOR.]
The ringing in his ears didn't stop. It was intentional.
"Why are you so mad?" Cody sputtered, holding his head and doubling over in pain.
The orb stopped the pain, [I am bound to you. I cannot alter your future too much, everything I say is important. Every. Word. Understand this, you are destined to be coated in blood. It is a fact so common throughout the universes and tutorials that it is not restricted information. But. Like. Most. Things. The. Host. Must. Initiate. IT.]
The thick accent of the voice was demanding.
'Like the items..and the fighting...and the status page…' Cody thought about the examples and received affirmation.
'So, I will be drenched in blood, as a Monk?' He felt a strong feeling of being incorrect.
'As a human?' He asked.
[As a being in your new world, as in all worlds. The Mana Baptism has passed. The new Era is beginning.]
Cody waited for it to continue…
'Let me guess an Era of Blood or something cringe?' He puffed and stood up with an eerie feeling.
He looked around, "What did that mean, WHAT did that mean?" He realized he was talking to the air like his Grandpa had said.
He played it cool, looked around and nodded at those that were questioning him.
He thought about figuring out his RPG skills that he had obtained and got a treat from the orb.
He mumbled, "I'm not a dog.." as he walked up to Ira and Betty.
She was directing her 'workers', "Okay, Ladies, get the slab and place it in again." She spoke and the machine flashed a strange blue color as the woman inserted it.
"Holy cow…." Cody watched the meat turn into blue particles for the first time.
The orb gently nudged him.
'Place hand on the machine, dumbass.'
'Yes master!' Cody answered himself.
The orb was oddly quiet, approving of the interaction and plan.
His hand was placed in the machine as he felt the cold drain.
The non-electric machine suddenly began to turn and produced small pucks of meat that looked...delicious?
They were dropping from the spout like Oreos, it was so strange.
After around 20 seconds, the whole monster was processed and the little disks of meat were sitting in a giant tub.
He felt one of the disks, they were between the size of an Oreo and a regular cookie, but they were rock hard.
The ladies looked at him as he probed the "food" with his senses.
It felt like a dinner? A chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, veggies, and an apple?
He felt a push to place it in his mouth.
The disk went into his mouth and he bit an absolutely tiny piece of it. The process reminded him of the Spongebob episode where squidward eats a krabby patty.
"OH MY GOSH!" Cody exclaimed in front of the ladies, "This is DELICIOUS!" He bit into it a regular amount and it was a huge burst of chicken perfectly cooked with mashed potatoes.
Ira looked at the oddly colored disks, they were mostly a beige or a light red and green. But they had specks in them, and Cody seemed like he enjoyed it.
He picked one up, a red one.
Stared at it and winked to his love, then took the bite.
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"MEDIUM RARE STEAK?" Ira shouted from the top of his lungs and Cody turned around to him, "I got a perfect chicken dinner!" They were so excited about the disks, there were around 500 hundred or so, and Cody's sense said that it replaced an entire meal.
'Is this how they eat in the new world?' Cody asked the orb but got a harsh no, 'Too "mundane for you light balls?'
The orb strangely gave a neutral answer, like the answer was yes to the question he JUST asked, but no to the previous question...in a different..LIGHT.
The orb chuckled at its pun, it was such a bright being.
Cody ignored the pun streak, this might be nonstandard, but if people are hungry then let them eat cake.
He smiled as he ate the dinner, monster was on the menu.