BATTERY (archived)

1-11 The Cylinder

The automatic doors slide open and the scent of burnt cheese and pepperoni hits me as I enter the pizzeria. The walls of this restaurant are decorated with antique photos of various athletes from various different sports ranging from simple old baseball legends to the Onyx Rival Arena champions over the years. The tables scattered around the dining room are empty - not a body in sight. One of the tables still has trash on them like paper plates with half-eaten pizza crusts, half-empty glasses with stagnant soft drinks that are quite possibly watered-down, and grease-drenched napkins all over the place. Kind of gross, but nothing to really complain about, I suppose.

There's a rather large man behind the front counter with a glass hologram clipboard in hand, counting... something. There's something off about his left hand though. It seems like a mechanical prosthetic - a cheap-looking one too. I guess he doesn't get paid enough to afford nicer augments. Then again, if he works for or with Umbra, then he should one-hundred percent have enough Jivits to afford a better augment for his hand. Looking closer I notice a faint black and purple scar running up the man's arm from where the mechanical hand starts.

"Need something?" his deep voice makes me jump a little, "You've been standing there for, like, five minutes. Are you ready to order or what?"

I recompose myself to the best of my ability and approach the counter.

"Um, yeah, uh," I stumble over my words for a moment then awkwardly say, "I'd like a slice of pizza."

"Okay," The pizza guy quickly replies, "What kind and what toppings do you want?"

"T-Toppings?"

I get nervous. I've never ordered a pizza myself before, and this guy's attitude isn't helping one bit. I glance up at the menu mounted on the wall above his head and scan the prices of each type of pizza. The cheaper pizza options don't sound all that appetizing. The only one that looks edible is the Daily Special: a large pepperoni pizza with sliced mushrooms and Kinera grass. Mac and I used to toss Kinera grass in with the salads at the Diner, so it should taste good.

"Pepperoni, extra cheese, and Kinera grass," I finally blurted out to the guy.

"Do you want slices of it or the whole pie?" he asks.

"Uh, one slice, please."

"Just one slice?"

"Yes."

"That's all you're getting?"

"Yeah," I say, feeling slightly embarrassed, "I don't exactly have a lot of Jivits on me right now, so..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get ya," he says as he moves into the kitchen "Go ahead and take a seat anywhere. It'll be done in a few."

I whisper, "Thanks," then awkwardly walk to the dining room, sitting down in the booth next to the trash-covered table.

I glance around the dining room a bit to take in all the not-so-stunning scenery. Everything aside from that table looks nice and tidy for a back-alley pizza joint in the middle of Duenba. The tops of the walls are adorned with red and orange string lights and the diamond-like pattern of the carpet makes the rest of the dining room pop ever so slightly. Neat!

Without a moment's notice, the cook appears out of nowhere carrying a small silver plate with a single slice of pizza on it. I gave him a look - both surprised and weirded out by how quickly it took for my food to be done.

"Here you go," The man says coldly, placing my pizza slice on the table, "Enjoy - hope you like it - bon appetit - whatever."

Before I could thank him, he left the dining room and disappeared into the kitchen.