The canteen was on the same level as the living quarters. People streamed in and out, making it as noisy as a street market.
It operated much like a school cafeteria. After swiping an ID card, a person received a tray and a serving of "basic food."
"Is this rice porridge?" Chen Xuan asked, looking at the mush on his tray.
"Rice? The shelter doesn't produce anything like that. If you want food from before the disaster, you have to buy it with Credit Points." Zhuang Yu pointed to the counters around the canteen. "Everything the searchers find is managed by the shelter, repriced, and sold. If you don't want to pay, this is what you eat."
"Then what's it made of?" Xiao Jiu asked curiously.
"Synthetic starch, of course," Zhuang Yu replied. "The carbon dioxide people breathe out here gets collected and processed into starch. The power goes off at midnight every night because making food takes so much electricity."
Chen Xuan scooped up a little of the mush with his finger and put it in his mouth.
It was faintly salty and had a grainy texture. It wasn't bad.
But if he had to eat it every day, he reckoned it would turn his stomach within a month, never mind a year.
"For something free, it's not bad," Honglian said. "At least it keeps poor people from starving."
"I think so too. I hope they don't change the policy," Zhuang Yu said with a nod.
"Why would they?"
"Lots of reasons. Some people think it encourages idleness, and some don't like the power cuts at night. Besides, the Fusion Reactor's output really is dropping. Powering the defensive weapons and shielding devices matters more than producing enough starch."
As she spoke, she found an empty table and waved everyone