It was late into the night. The Sperm Whale had already transitioned to Night Mode, and the corridors were submerged in the dim, pale blue glow of emergency lights while the main illumination remained extinguished.
I was buried deep in a sofa in a corner of the Common Space, scrolling through a digital comic on my handheld terminal.
"I knew you’d still be up."
A familiar voice drifted from behind me.
I turned to see Mina standing there in an oversized T-shirt. Her ears, usually so full of energy, were drooping with sleepiness.
"Mina? Something wrong? Can’t sleep?"
"I’m a little hungry. ...Hey, Akito. Can I ask you something?"
She took a seat at the counter and stared directly into my eyes. Even in the dim light, her pupils held a strange, captivating glow.
"That Premium Cube we had back at Zenit Pardua... You didn't actually think it was good, did you?"
She’d seen right through me. I let out a wry laugh and closed my terminal.
"Caught me. ...Well, it wasn't exactly bad. It’s just that, to me, it felt more like I was swallowing medicine than eating a meal. Like my body was trying to reject it, telling me it wasn't real food."
Mina raised an eyebrow in surprise before her expression shifted into a self-deprecating smile.
"I see. ...I didn't think it was bad at all. I thought it was beautiful, packed with nutrients... To me, it was a pure feast."
She pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tight.
"See, I’ve spent my life eating cheap, tasteless paste—stuff that feels like sand going down your throat. Compared to that, those cubes were the height of luxury."
Her words left a tight, heavy feeling in my chest.
"But, Akito... the food you make is... I don't know, it’s just completely different."
"How so?"
"Maybe it’s the 'information' in it. Every time I chew, I feel so many things at once that it startles me. The shape of the ingredients, the sounds they make... I can feel a sort of vitality, the effort you put into the cooking, spreading through my very core."
Mina placed a hand over her heart, searching for the right words to describe the sensation.
"The cubes give you the 'correct answer.' But your food... it reminds me that I’m 'alive.' After tasting your cooking, I think I finally understand why you looked so sad eating that blue cube."
Mina watched me intently. Her gaze was heavy with the weight of her life as a Biomorph.
"You’re a strange one, Akito. You talk to Pumpkin the bio-core like he’s a friend, and you treat me and Emma... well, you treat us so 'normally.'"
"Normally, huh? Is that so weird? I saw plenty of different races back at the market."
Mina shook her head.
"The lizard folk are different. They’re 'Natural Aliens.' They evolved on their own planets and have their own cultures. But we aren't like them. ...We’re Biomorphs. Life born from a Design Blueprint."
She spoke of her origins with a quiet solemnity.
"The generations before me were 'designed' in a Research Institute, created as tools for the Hermes System Development back when the stars were still uninhabitable. For a 3rd Generation like me, the survival rate has stabilized, but to the people in the Empire, we’re still just 'unnatural imitations.' They might respect a Natural Alien, but they find it creepy when a tool designed to look like a human starts laughing and showing human emotions."
Mina glanced toward the Bridge.
"Even Lucia—someone so brilliant, someone we couldn't survive without—is nothing more than an 'Advanced Calculator' under Imperial Law. It’s the same for us Biomorphs. It doesn't matter if our bodies are made of flesh and blood; as long as we come from a Design Blueprint, people think our emotions are just programmed fakes."
Mina reached up and touched her ears. Her fingertips were trembling, ever so slightly.
"Once the colonization is over, they won't need our enhanced strength or sharpened senses anymore. That’s why I found it so strange that you’ve never looked at us with disgust, not even once. ...Tell me, Akito. Where did you really come from?"
I paused for a moment, choosing my words carefully.
"...The place I came from is a long way from here. A much more primitive place. We didn't have technology like Biomorphs. Humans were just humans."
"Then... doesn't that make us even scarier? We’re like humans that were broken down and put back together."
"It’s actually the opposite, Mina."
I chuckled and pointed to the digital comic on my terminal.
"Back home, people with your appearance were actually something we admired. In stories like these, beings like you were depicted as beautiful, adorable, and gifted with special powers."
"...Admired? Us?"
"I don't give a damn about Design Blueprints. When I see you enjoying a meal, you’re 'real' enough for me. If anything..."
I felt a flush of embarrassment, but I decided to be honest.
"...I actually really like those ears. I like how they move with your feelings, and they look warm, too. I never get tired of watching them."
"—!"
Mina’s face turned bright red in an instant.
Her drooping ears snapped upright, twitching frantically in every direction.
"Wha—wha—what are you even saying, Akito?!"
"Haha, sorry. But I mean it. Mina is just Mina. You’re my companion, and you count on me for a good meal. That’s all that matters."
Mina hid her face behind her hands, falling silent for a long moment. Eventually, she peeked out at me through the gaps in her fingers.
"...Akito. Your food really is the best. It might not be 'perfect' like those Tasty Cubes... but it’s amazing. It makes me feel so many things."
"Thanks. Hearing that makes the work worth it."
A comfortable silence settled over the midnight lounge.
"...Now then. I’d usually say we have an early start tomorrow, but... you did say you were hungry."
"Eh? Oh, right. But it’s fine, really. It’s late."
"It most certainly is not fine. A cook who lets his crew go to bed hungry isn't worth his salt. ...Sit tight. I’ll whip up something 'amazing' for you."
Mina’s ears shot up, straighter than I’d ever seen them.
"Really?! Thank you! I’ll be waiting, Akito!"
I pushed myself off the sofa and headed toward the quiet kitchen.
If she thought synthetic cubes were a feast, I had a lot of work to do. I needed to show her what real food was capable of.
But first, I’d start with a single, perfect dish to silence those midnight cravings.