Early Birthday

Upon entering the building, there is a large opening with walls plastered in tired, worn-down white paint. The wooden floor beneath my feet had lost much of its texture, making stepping on it feel uncomfortable. A giant staircase stands to my left, leading up to the museum's entrance. In front of me, there’s a ticket booth with most of its texture worn out.

“…”

“…”

We take a single step, causing a large echo to resonate throughout the building.

“For a museum, it’s weirdly really empty…” Alice mutters.

“Yeah…” I replied as I walked to my left, climbing up the large stairs.

Once we reach the second floor, we head to our right and jump over the turnstile barrier gate. Beyond it, there’s a room with multiple displays spread around it, detailing all of the cup noodles invented up until today.

We then head towards the next floor, where a factory that displays the noodle-making process stands, its machines completely lifeless.

Of course, most of the interiors are completely trashed with broken glass panes, rotting wood, and multiple roots surrounding the area, but it’s surprising that the place isn’t as damaged as I thought it would be.

There’s a likely chance that the infrastructure contributed to this building’s longevity, and whether it’s intentional or not, I have to give credit where credit is due…

As we continued exploring, we eventually reached the top floor, where all of the restaurants were available.

Alice looked at one of the posters on the right-hand wall, furrowing her brows at the sight.

“…Cup noodle flavored soft cream?” Alice tilts her head.

“That sounds disgusting…” I muttered.

“But it’s pretty interesting, isn’t it?!” Alice looks back at me, her eyes sparkling.

“On paper, I guess…” I mutter, looking down the dark room.

In a room beyond us, multiple tables and chairs are aligned, accompanied by several food stalls located on the right-hand side, selling all kinds of questionable cup noodle-related food.

We enter the room, where most of the tables are scattered about. Some food stalls have flickering lights, and the entire area feels oddly cold. Eventually, Alice stops her tracks on a particular one, a giant grin plastered on her face.

“Let’s check that one out!” Alice points towards the one that has soft cream written on top of it. “The machine could still be working!”

“I highly doubt it…” I shrug my shoulders.

Without much thought, Alice rushes into the food stall as she nonchalantly enters the kitchen.

“Alice!”

Well, it’s not like anyone will report us, so I’ll let her do whatever she wants.

“…”

Still, it’s a bit weird that while the first and second floors don’t have any electricity, the third floor, the one we’re standing on, has some parts of the area where the lightbulbs are on, albeit not every single one of them is active.

“…”

I’m surprised that this is the first place my dad got assigned to…

I wonder what kind of jobs he was assigned to before the meteorite struck…

And…

‘For every citizen that has been sent to Mars, our scientists have also reported that things have gone incredibly well when it comes to the living habit.’

“…”

If he somehow made it, I pray he’s okay out there…

“Holy crap, Yuiko!” Alice pokes her head out of the kitchen, looking at me with a shocked expression. “The machine works!”

“Really?!” I jump over the stall and head towards the kitchen.

Within it, multiple pieces of metal hardware are broken. However, there’s one machine that seems like an ice cream maker. It has a small red light next to the handle, indicating that it might be active.

“Let’s give it a try!” Alice grabs one of the cups and pushes the handle downward, producing a soft cream that’s in the shape of a cup noodle.

“That’s kinda gross…”

“Woaaaaaaah!” Alice's eyes beam.

“You’re really excited, huh…” I murmur, a smirk forming on my face.

“How can I not?!” Alice looks at me with glee. “This thing looks so weird!”

“Is it even edible…?” I ask, pushing my acid that has been rising downwards.

“Edible or not, we might as well give it a try!” Alice grabs a plastic spoon next to the machine and digs it into the cream, grabbing a chunk.

“A-Alice, I don’t think this is a good idea—”

“*Munch*”

“…”

Too late.

“GWOAAAH…” Alice quickly spits it out of her mouth, shrinking her body onto the floor. “It tastes like fart!”

“What did you expect…?” I lean to my bag to grab my water bottle, giving it to Alice.

“T-Thanks…” She mutters as she drinks most of it in one go.

*Brrr*

“…?”

What’s that sound?

I look up towards the source, noticing small smokes coming out of the machine that Alice just used. Its air gradually goes upwards, eventually making contact with the red cylinder on the ceiling.

*RIIIIIIIIIIING*

“…?!”

“Eh?!”

Both of us instinctively look up.

And then,

*PSSSHHH*

A giant sprinkle of water rains over us.

“Wah?!”

“Get out, get out!” Alice screams as she stumbles her way out of the kitchen on all fours.

“Gogogo!” I push her butt from behind, making us fall forward.

“Owowowow…” Alice rubs her head.

“A-Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah… what about you…?” She asks.

“My face was cushioned by your thick butt, so I’m perfectly okay!” I reply, giving a thumbs up.

“What are you saying?” Alice distances herself from me, her face scrunching up. “Hehe… hahahaha…”

“Hahaha… hahahahahaha!”

I wonder…

We’ve heard a lot of terrible news regarding our eventual fate.

Yet despite that,

There’s no sense of despair regarding our impending doom…

“…”

I look back at the room we were just in; the ringing has slowly receded alongside the water sprinkler. It seems like it detected that there aren’t any more smokes, so it was able to shut itself down.

“…You’re incredible, Dad…”

“Did you say something?” Alice asks, looking back at me.

“Nah… just talking to myself…”

I’m not sure if you were the one who made that alarm, but…

“…”

You did great.

There are no problems in sight.

“Yuiko…” Alice fixed up her posture, sitting right in front of me. “For my birthday gift, I want you to stay by my side forever…”

“…That’s a given, isn’t it?” I grabbed onto her hand, pulling myself up and dragging Alice into my embrace.

“…Yeah…” Alice nods, hugging me back.

“Hey, Alice…”

“Yeah…?” She asks.

“I want you to touch me tonight…”

“…Are you sure?” Alice asks.

“If I can’t give you anything, then I at least want to give you me.” I pull back, looking at Alice’s bewildered face.

“…Okay…” Alice replied, her smile becoming seductive.

“Happy early birthday, my dear Alice.” I grab Alice’s chin and pull her face close to mine.

Letting our lips make contact.

…

….

…..