Page 82 of Treasure of the Abyss

“You have running water here!” She turned on the faucet at the sink. It sputtered, spraying brownish water, but soon flowed clear. Cupping her hands, she took asip.

It wasfresh.

“Fresh water,” Jax scoffed. “Useless for kraken.” He stood in the entrance to the room, sweeping his gaze slowly about. “What is that device for? The first one youtouched?”

“It’s a toilet. It’s for, um…going to… When you have to…you know. Get rid of…waste.” Her cheeks burned. After all they’d shared, why wasthisembarrassing toexplain?

“I see.” There was a hint of skepticism on his face. “Humans need a tool for everything, itseems.”

“We’re not talking about this anymore.” She rubbed hercheeks.

Jax shrugged, moved across the living space, and stopped in the lavatory doorway. “What of that, then?” He pointed at the stall in thecorner.

“A shower. It’s for bathing, like I did in the waterfall in ourcave…”

She frowned; they wouldn’t be going back to the cave.Thiswas their home now, not because they’d chosen it, but because it had been forced uponthem.

Turning away from Jax, she occupied herself by turning the dials in the shower. Water sprayed from the nozzle overhead; like the sink, it cleared after a few seconds. Steam gathered in theair.

Not just fresh water, buthotwater.

It couldn’t eliminate her sorrow, but having a working toilet, clean water, and hot showers was an unexpected upside to thesituation.

“Jax, this isamazing!”

He leaned past her and turned the water off. “I burned myself playing with these as a youngling. You should becareful.”

Macy chuckled and kissed his uninjured cheek. “That happens with hotwater.”

She turned to the cabinet built into the wall and opened it. Her smile widened; it held towels, washcloths, and little bottles of soap. Twisting the cap off a bottle, she held it under her nose and sniffed. Whatever scent it may have once emitted was gone, but when she poured some of the liquid into her hand and rubbed, it latheredimmediately.

Clearly, the things the colonists had brought to this place had been made tolast.

After rinsing her hands in the sink, Macy rummaged through the other items. There were bottles of teeth cleaner, a brush and several combs, cans of some sort of cream, and sticks with thin, horizontal blades at their ends. Though these blades were rather different than the straight razors men used to shave in The Watch, she guessed they served the samepurpose.

She picked up one of the cans and read thelabel.

Removal of body hair?Wasn’t that what the razors werefor?

After replacing the can, Macy returned to the main room and searched the dresser. The clothes in the drawers were plain — pants, shirts, undershorts, jumpsuits, and even an overcoat, all in shades of white, gray, and dark blue. They were clearly tailored for aman.

Macy stepped back and looked around the room. There were no personal objects in sight, no further clues as to who had lived here. “Do you know if your people removed anything from theserooms?”

Jax watched her from the doorway to the lavatory. “I do not know. The likely have, over time, but it’s been many, many years since humans livedhere.”

She walked into the hallway and entered another open room. It was in the same condition as the last, but the clothing stored in the dresser was closer to Macy’ssize.

“I can choose any room?” Macyasked.

“Out of what’s accessible. Some of the doors are locked, or stuck.” Jax leaned his shoulder against thedoorframe.

“You’ve never tried openingthem?”

“I’ve tried opening each one, many times. But I have never been curious enough to try breaking themopen.”

Macy grinned and approached him. “You’ve never been curious enough? Aren’t you the same Jax who’s filled up a cave with interesting things you found in the ocean? Who has spent his entire life seeking out new places, even when it puts your life atrisk?”

“Kraken larger and stronger than I have tried to open some of those doors. It is sometimes used as a test of strength, and the result has always been the same for everyone who has tried.” His eyes shifted, following the border of the door up and around. “Arkon once spent four days asking the computer to open them, when we were younger. My curiosity was better directedelsewhere.”

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