Foreigners

Nessa entered the teleport chamber and keyed coordinates into her implant—Domicile lower level, nourishment station—then stepped through. The metallic room materialized around her, its tiled floor stark beneath descending tubes with canisters at their bases. Most hung empty; one still held a sealed plastic pouch, its contents still viable. She discarded it and wove between the stations toward the storage container, throwing open its doors to reveal shelves packed with supplies stacked two, three, sometimes four high, with barely a gap between levels. The drawers overflowed with identical precision. Activating her implant, Nessa transmitted: "Mother and Father—the unit is full. No space remains. I'll go tomorrow."