I stepped out of the cabin into a wooden corridor. I’d been given a simple cotton blouse, three-quarter length cotton trousers and a pair of simple leather soled shoes. They felt a little rough to my skin, but otherwise quite sturdy.

  “Down that way,” Amy said to me, pointing over my shoulder to my left. “Past the stairs, through the end doors. If you start to feel dizzy or strange in some other way, come back. Otherwise, I will leave you to the rest of the crew. ”

  “Thank you,” I said, turning back towards her.

  “My pleasure.” She looked over her shoulder back into the room. “If you will excuse me, one of your peers is starting to wake up.” She gave my upper arm a squeeze. “Good luck.” Then she stepped back into the room and closed the door.

  The corridor was wide enough for two people to walk side by side, the air thick with the scent of salt and pitch. The occasional creak echoes through the hull. Every ten metres or so, there was a pair of double doors on either side. I came across a set of stairs, one side going up and the other going down. On the other side of the stairs were the double doors that the doctor had pointed me at. I pushed them open and found myself looking at a large kitchen. It was dominated by a large table at its centre. A chopping block on one side had a joint of meat half butchered on it. There was a board on the other side with a pile of vegetables sitting next to it. On one side was a coal fire, encased in a brass box. The man in an apron was throwing a shovel of coal into the open door in the middle. Suspended above the box were a pair of pots, steam coming up from both. A funnel sitting above that helped to vent the smoke and steam. I could see windows out on both sides of the ship, a door in one corner and doors opposite where I came in led beyond.

  “Can I help you, girl?” the terse cook called out as he pushed the door closed.

  “Errm, Amy said I might be able to get something to eat? If that’s ok?”

  “The Doc said that, did she?” He looked me up and down, appraisingly. “Just wake up?” I nodded. “I’m guessing she didn’t explain about status effects either?”

  “I’m afraid not,” I replied.

  “Can you chop?” he asked, pointing at the vegetable board.

  “I think so.”

  “Try and chop up one of those carrots.”

  Shrugging, I walked over the board. In the pile there were a few potatoes, some carrots and a mix of other vegetables. It looked like they had already been cleaned, so I grabbed one and the knife nearby and holding it like I had been taught, started to try and slice the carrot. I felt clumsy. The cuts weren’t even.

  “Ahh, you’ve used a knife before. Good. Felt wrong though, right?” I nod, looking down at my hand. “At least you didn’t cut yourself like the last one. Ask for your Status. Hud-Status”

  “My what?”

  “Your interface, Missy, your interface. The Doc should have talked you through that much before sending you down.” I nodded and tried thinking for the status screen.

  Before me popped up a screen with an outline of my body, all green, and a box with active effects written on it. Inside was a single item. [Famished].

  “Famished?” he prompted.

  “Yes,” I responded.

  “Focus on that, like you want more details on it.” A pop-up expanded from it.

  [Famished]

  ‘It’s been too long since you last ate a good meal. Stat benefits halved.”

  “Stat benefits?” I asked.

  “The benefits of your stats,” he responded like that explained it. He let out another sigh. “Think Stats.” I did, another screen popped up.

  ‘Physical:’

  ‘Strength: 1’

  ‘Dexterity: 1’

  ‘Constitution: 1’

  ‘Endurance: 1’

  ‘Mental:’

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  ‘Intelligence: 1’

  ‘Wisdom: 1’

  ‘Perception: 1’

  ‘Focus: 1’

  ‘Spirit:

  ‘Attunement: 1’

  ‘Aether: 1’

  ‘Resonance: 1’

  “The higher those are, the better you will do things. It’s not as impactful as skills, but it will make skills better. More strength, for example, you will hit a bit harder. Some things will need a base level of those as well. Like the big spellcasters apparently need lots of Aether to have enough magic in them to even be able cast the spells. I can just about light my stove,” he said with a grin, a ball of fire appearing in his hand as he wiggled his fingers around it, before waving it away. “Now eat this.” He plonked a bowl of stew on one side of the table, kicked a stool out from under it.

  I walked around and took the offered seat before picking up the spoon and sniffing the meal before me. My mouth watered from the scent.

  “That’s the appreciative look I like to see,” he smiled as he wandered over to the butcher's block. My first bite was some kind of meat. Tender, juicy, very tasty. It soon was followed by a perfectly cooked potato, some carrots, and some other vegetables. I think a bit of lamb.

  As I finished the bowl, I looked up at the grinning chef. Tempted to ask for more.

  “If you check your status page again. Should find that famished has gone.” He was right. “Try chopping that Carrot again.”

  I got up and did as he suggested. The first few chops felt different. Easier. Cleaner. Quicker. In a fraction of the time it had taken me to dice the first carrot, three of its brethren joined it.

  [Skill gained - Culinary: Food prep - 1 rank]

  “Gained a skill?” he asked

  “Food prep.”

  “Congratulations.” He grinned. “Finish dicing the rest of those vegetables. Let’s see if we can’t get you the cooking skill as well.”

  Following his instructions, I quickly diced up the rest of the vegetables and dropped them into the water-filled pot he provided. He then dropped some of the meat he had been butchering into the pot and put it on the oven’s hob.

  “You might get something for that later, but let's make something quicker and see if we can’t unlock it for you now. Wait here while I get the ingredients” He took himself over to the side door, and I could hear him walking down some stairs, and a few minutes later, he returned with a chunk of meat and a small basket with eggs in it. “See if you can slice a few rashers off this piece of bacon.” He handed me the knife, then picked up a frying pan from one of the cupboards and set it on the hob. Meanwhile, with care for the sharp blade, I carefully cut 4 slices off before he stopped me. “That should be enough.”

  “Need me to talk you through it? Butter’s in the basket with the eggs.”

  I took the block of butter and added half to the pan. Watched as the heat from the fire below quickly melted it. I put the rashers in and watched them slowly start to cook. Used a nearby spatula to flip them, and when they were mostly cooked, I cracked a couple of eggs into the pan as well. “Are there any breadcakes?” I asked. “Rolls? Fist-sized bread?” I expanded after seeing his confused expression.

  “Ahh, should be some almost done, right oven,” he indicated without moving from the stool.

  I opened the oven, it was full of rolls, which were on the edge of being ready. Close enough in my opinion for a couple of bacon and egg butties. I grabbed two out and placed them on a plate. Used a bread knife to slice them in two while I waited for the bacon and eggs. I moved the pan off the heat and then put the bacon and eggs in the breadcakes.

  [Skill gained - Culinary: Cooking - 1 rank]

  I offered him the plate. He took one of the butties off it and took a bite while waving the other at me.

  “Get the rank?” I nodded, my own mouth full of bacon and eggs. “I’ve never thought to put the bacon and eggs in a bit of bread before…what do you call this?”

  I swallowed. “Bacon and Egg Butty. The Breakfast of Champions!” and took another bite of my own.

  The sun was a lot brighter up on deck than I was expecting, forcing me to lift my hand up and shade my eyes. That bacon and egg butty was all I’d needed to get a new status.

  [Well Fed]

  ‘You have satiated your hunger, so that your body feels raring to go. Bonus to physical stats’

  Cookie had warned me, before shooing me out of his kitchen so he could do some real work, that eating too much could result in [Overfed], which would make you sleepy and sluggish until you digested enough to become well-fed.

  Looking around, I found the Bosun; he was exactly as Cookie had described him. He was directing a pair of men, dressed similarly to me, who then looked at each other, saluted the Bosun and then ran straight for the side of the boat and dived over. A moment later, I heard a pair of splashes. I approached the man as he looked out towards where the two had jumped from, shaking his head with wry amusement.

  “Ahh, Ms Ravenscroft, it is good to see you are awake once more. Did the Doctor find any problems?” He said to me as I approached.

  “None that she told me.”

  “Good news, then,” he nodded and gave me a relaxed grin. “For my sins, the Captain asked me to help you, freshly integrated, to get to grips with your new powers. What this means for you is that I will have you running around the ship doing seemingly inane activities, in the hopes of triggering skill gains and, with luck, stat increases.”

  He glanced toward the horizon. “We are presently becalmed, which means that there isn’t much in the way of sailing to be done. Still, gives us a fine chance to help you adapt. You’ll be taking messages to the other ships before too long, without much risk of leaving you behind. First though. Let us see how you handle yourself. Around the deck, there are members of the crew. They will either have a challenge for you or get you helping them with their chores. Come back and see me once you have helped at least 6 of them.”

  He gave a faint smirk. “Alternatively, if you think this sort of work is beneath you, feel free to go visit the Captain in his day room. He always appreciates initiative.”