Tatehan woke to the soft ambient hum of the spaceship's life support systems, a sound that had become as familiar to him as his own breathing. His eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim blue light that the sleeping area maintained during rest cycles. For a moment, he just lay there, staring at the curved ceiling above him, feeling the comfortableness of the blanket.

His body felt good, rested, recovered and ready. He stretched beneath the covers, extending his arms above his head and pointing his toes, feeling joints pop and tendons pull in satisfying ways.

Tatehan threw back the covers and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The floor was cool against his bare feet but not uncomfortably so, the ship's temperature regulation kept everything within a comfortable range. He stood, grabbed a fresh set of clothes from the small wardrobe built into the wall, and dressed quickly.

The sleeping area was kinda cramped if he was being honest, just large enough for the bed and a small amount of floor space. He'd gotten used to the confined quarters, though part of him still longed for the spaciousness of a real home with multiple rooms and high ceilings. That was Earth thinking, he reminded himself. Here on Mars, any shelter at all was a luxury.

He made his way to the kitchen area, his footsteps echoing slightly in the metal confines of the ship. The lights brightened automatically as he moved, responding to his presence, creating a path of illumination that followed his progress.

"Morning," he said to the Spaceship's AI, some compulsory greeting he had obligated himself he should do.

[Good morning Host] the Spaceship's AI replied.Feeling lazy to do the coffee himself, he used the coffee maker, a compact unit mounted on the wall.

He went to the sides and inputed the type of coffee he wanted.

'Black, double strength, hot.'

The coffee maker hummed, lights flickering across its interface as it worked. Within thirty seconds, a panel slid open and presented him with a steaming mug of coffee that looked and smelled eally good.

Tatehan took the mug and inhaled deeply, letting the bitter aroma fill his nostrils. He took a careful sip, testing the temperature, then a longer drink when he found it tolerable. The heat spread through his chest, the caffeine beginning its work almost immediately, sharpening his thoughts and pushing away the last lingering cobwebs of sleep.

He stood there for several minutes, just drinking his coffee and thinking about the day ahead. He'd been on Mars for... how long now? Time had started to blur together, his days now days bleeding into one another in an endless cycle of survival, exploration, combat, and rest. Soon he might be approaching a couple of years living on the planet.

He thought about the mode restoration cores still sitting in his inventory.

Six cores total, harvested from the Carapace brutenecks he killed yesterday.

Tatehan finished his coffee, set the mug aside for the automated cleaning system to handle. Crazy how there were many techs in the kitchen area. Life was simple here.

"AI," Tatehan called out as he left the kitchen and headed toward the main control room. "I'm going to use the mode restoration cores. Six of them. I want to unlock new areas. Is it possible?"

[ It is] the Spaceship's AI responded. [ It will take three mode restoration cores to restore a place so

Six mode restoration cores are sufficient for two major system restorations. Please proceed to the main cabin. The ship will indicate available restoration points.]

Tatehan entered the control room, the pilot seat sat where if always was, the radio device on it. But his attention wasn't on the chair and radioright now. Instead, he focused on the walls—specifically, on the sections where he knew additional compartments lay dormant, waiting to be awakened.

As he stood there, two sections of the wall began to glow with faint blue outlines, marking themselves as available restoration points. One was on the port side of the cabin. The other was on the starboard side, closer to the ship's stern.

[Each restoration requires three cores,] the AI repeated again. [Simply approach the restoration point and insert the cores into the receptacle that will appear. The ship's systems will handle the rest.]

"Understood," Tatehan said, pulling up his inventory interface with a thought.

The six glowing cores materialized in his hands, three in each palm, each about the size of a large marble and glowing with internal light. They were warm to the touch, the energy within them tangible even through the crystalline shells.

He approached the port-side restoration point first, and as he got within arm's reach, a section of the wall irised open like a mechanical flower, revealing a triangular receptacle with three slots arranged in a pattern. The slots glowed with a soft invitation, waiting.

Tatehan inserted the first three cores one by one, each clicking into place. When the third core was seated, the receptacle began to glow with increasing brightness, the cores' energy being drawn into the ship's systems.

He stepped back quickly.

The wall hummed with power, vibrations spreading outward from the restoration point in visible waves of blue light. The section began to split, metal sliding apart with precise movement, revealing darkness beyond. Then lights flickered on in the newly opened space, illuminating what lay within.

A gym.

Tatehan felt a grin spread across his face as he took in the sight.

The space was larger than he'd expected, maybe five meters wide by eight meters deep, with a ceiling high enough that he could fully extend his arms overhead without touching it. The floor was covered in some kind of rubberized material, slightly springy beneath his feet as he stepped inside, designed to absorb impact and provide traction.

The equipment was arranged efficiently throughout the space, there was an undeniable touch of advanced design to everything. Not overtly high tech, but definitely futuristic in a sleek way.

Against the far wall stood a weight rack holding various dumbbells and plates, each piece machined from some dark metal that looked heavier than iron. The dumbbells ranged from what looked like five kilograms up to masses that would have required serious strength to lift. The plates were clearly designed for some kind of barbell system, though the bar itself was mounted horizontally on the wall, a single straight bar with adjustment mechanisms at each end.

To the left was what appeared to be a bench press station, the bench itself contoured and adjustable, with safety catches built into the frame. Next to that was a squat rack with similar safety features, the whole setup looking sturdy enough to handle serious weight.

The right side of the gym held cardio equipment. A treadmill with a control panel that displayed more options than any treadmill Tatehan had ever seen on Earth, not just speed and incline, but atmospheric settings, gravity adjustments, and what looked like holographic terrain simulation. Behind that was something that might have been an elliptical machine, though the motion mechanisms looked more sophisticated than standard models.

In the back corner was a pull-up bar mounted to the ceiling and walls, along with resistance bands hanging from hooks and a set of medicine balls arranged by weight on a small shelf.

The walls themselves weren't plain metal like the rest of the ship. They had a slight texture to them. The lighting came from strips embedded in the ceiling, bright enough to see clearly but not harsh, casting minimal shadows.

But perhaps the most interesting feature was the large mirror mounted on one wall, except it wasn't quite a mirror. As Tatehan approached it, the surface shimmered and suddenly displayed his reflection along with a overlay of biometric data: heart rate, muscle tension readings, posture analysis, and other information streaming in real-time.

This was one hell of a Gym.

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