Quoted By:
Thankfully, having Anthony around means you're spared from dealing with the tedious task of aimlessly wandering to and from identical hallway after identical hallway. You easily find an elevator that brings you back to Layer 2, and, well, it's a short trip back up.
Anthony casually leads the two of you towards the cafeteria. It's nice having someone who actually knows how to travel around this place. He clearly knows this facility like, in his words, not yours, 'the back of your hand'.
"I-I wonder." Lucy breaks the peaceful silence that settled between the three of you. "H-how do you feel about y-your, uh, aura? Anthony?"
"Like. M-me and Vi-vincent, w-we don't have all of the i-information we need to u-understand them but...?"
"Well, missy, I can confirm this much to ya. It ain't wrong, those specs, those damn things read me like a book." He doesn't seem particularly bothered by his own aura. "Ya live long enough, ya do some regrettable things."
"That's life. Heck, ain't Vinny got that regret in his spiral whatsit?"
"Yeah." You're still not comfortable with your own 'aura'. It feels like a private part of you got pried out, for everyone to see. "But I'll just keep moving forward."
"Mmh. All I'll say is this, ya know, don't let the past clin' to ya. That's how ya git your head twisted like ol' Rolle, yeah?"
"C'mon!" Anthony points a pair of finger guns at you and Lucy. "Look at the bright side. Ya got some cool shades, yer robot friend's getting all tuned up and stuff, and ya got one less sponner-rino to worry about."
"Yer doing good, Vinny, yer doing good."
You can't really disagree with him. You ARE doing a good job.
Lucy does her best to stop herself from breaking into a giggling fit. "Y-yeah. Y-yeah, w-we're doing great! W-we're going to live forever."
"Eh, don't jinx it." You dryly laugh.
The conversation dies once the three of you finally arrive at the cafeteria. Which, as you quickly realize, is packed beyond all belief. An almost solid wave of noise slams into you as your brain processes the sheer quantity of conversations going on at once. It doesn't even sound like speech anymore; it sounds more like a roaring ocean wave.
If there are still any tables available for your group, you certainly can't see them from here. Hell, there's a massive line of people pestering the cafeteria staff for more food. You appreciate your slop as much as anyone else, but you're clearly missing something here.
"Hey." You approach a random table. "Why is this place so packed? It wasn't like this yesterday."
"Apparently some big shot from Layer 5 impressed some Feast company." One of the strangers at the table answers. "Like, a hundred twenty samples in one day or something like that."
"So we're getting <span class="mu-i">actual</span> food today! REAL FOOD!" The stranger shows you a tray filled with actual, high-quality food on it. You can actually identify what's on it! Is th- Is that a <span class="mu-i">steak???</span>
"Better hire to get your own, man!"
