Tatehan left the gym, taking one last look at the equipment and space before stepping back into the corridor. As soon as he crossed the entrance, the wall began to close behind him, metal sliding back into position, sealing seamlessly until no trace remained that anything lay beyond. Within seconds, the wall looked completely solid, indistinguishable from any other section of the ship's interior.

If he hadn't just spent the last hour inside that gym, Tatehan might have questioned whether it was really there at all.

He made his way back to the main cabin, his muscles still warm from the workout, sweat all dotted on his face.

He should probably hit the hygiene station after this, clean up properly, but curiosity and anticipation drove him forward. One more restoration.

The control room welcomed him back, the displays were still active, the pilot seat sitting empty in the center of the space. But Tatehan's attention focused immediately on the starboard wall — the second restoration point, waiting patiently for his attention.

He approached it, and just as before, a section of the wall irised open to reveal the triangular receptacle with its three empty slots. The mechanism was identical to the first.

Tatehan pulled up his inventory interface again, and the final three mode restoration cores materialized in his hand. These were his last ones, he'd need to hunt more Carapace variants if he wanted to unlock additional systems in the future.

But then, the carapace brutenecks were very easy to kill.

He inserted the cores one by one—click, click, click, each settling into place.

When the third core was seated, the receptacle began to glow with increasing intensity, drawing the energy inward, feeding it into the ship's dormant systems.

Tatehan stepped back, his heart rate picking up slightly with anticipation.

The walls hummed and did all that stuff.

The walls separating and sliding apar.

Then lights flickered on.

And Tatehan felt his breath catch.

A goddamn library!

He couldn't hide his joy, couldn't suppress the wide grin that split his face or the laugh of pure delight that escaped his throat. It had been so long since he'd felt actual entertainment, genuine excitement about something that wasn't combat or survival related. Seeing this…this beautiful, impossible, perfect space, made him feel more human than he had in weeks.

"Yes," he said aloud, practically bouncing on his toes. "Yes, yes, yes."

He stepped through the opening into the library, and the space opened up.

The room was circular, maybe six meters in diameter, with a domed ceiling that rose three meters at its highest point. The walls curved smoothly, creating a cozy, enclosed feeling that still managed to feel spacious. The lighting was warm and ambient, coming from recessed fixtures that cast a gentle glow throughout the space without creating harsh shadows.

But what caught Tatehan's attention immediately, what made him stop and stare in wonder, were the shelves.

They floated.

Actually floated.

It was shocking.

Five separate shelving units hung suspended in the air at various heights around the room, each one about two meters long and half a meter wide, tilted at a slight angle for easy viewing of the spines. They rotated very slowly in place, each shelf a different height and position, creating a three-dimensional arrangement that used the vertical space efficiently while remaining aesthetically pleasing.

Books filled each shelf, actual physical books with spines and covers and pages, not digital displays or holographic projections. Real, tangible volumes that Tatehan could reach out and touch. There had to be hundreds of them across all five floating shelves, maybe even a thousand or more.

"How..." Tatehan began, his voice filled with wonder. "How does this even work? How can you have floating shelves with gravity manipulation technology in a broken spaceship? How does any of this fit inside the ship's dimensions?"

He turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. All of this shocking stuffs. The impossible floating shelves, the books, the comfortable-looking reading chair positioned in the center of the space with a small side table next to it.

[Crazy tech,] the AI replied, and if a synthesized voice could sound smug, this one did. [The library utilizes localized gravity manipulation, spatial compression, and structural reinforcement that remains functional even while other ship systems are damaged. The books themselves are both physical objects and data repositories, the physical form is generated from stored digital templates. As for fitting inside the ship... let's just say that internal dimensions don't always match external ones when you're dealing with technology this advanced.]

Tatehan shook his head in amazement. "Crazy tech indeed."

He approached the nearest floating shelf, which hovered at about chest height and rotated slowly to present its contents. The books varied in size and binding, some thin volumes and others thick tomes. The spines displayed titles.

As he looked more closely, he realized each floating shelf seemed dedicated to a specific genre.

The shelf at eye level held science fiction.

A shelf floating higher, near the curved ceiling, appeared to contain fantasy literature.

Another shelf, positioned lower and to his left, held what looked like historical novels. Actual history from actual alien civilizations, or at least fictionalized accounts of real events from worlds beyond Earth.

A fourth shelf held poetry.

The fifth shelf, rotating gently near the right wall, contained plays and dramatic works.

"This is incredible," Tatehan breathed, still turning slowly to take it all in. "I can't believe this is real."

[The shelves will respond to voice commands,] the AI explained. [Simply call out the genre you wish to browse, and that shelf will descend to a comfortable reading height. You can browse the titles, select a book, and the shelf will remain accessible until you're finished. When you're done, simply return the book and the shelf will resume its floating position.]

Tatehan nodded, already making his decision about what to read first. Science fiction seemed appropriate, he was living in a science fiction scenario, after all. Might as well lean into it.

"Science fiction," he called out clearly.

The shelf containing science fiction immediately responded, descending smoothly from its chest-high position until it hovered at waist level, perfectly positioned for browsing. The rotation stopped, presenting the spines for easy reading.

Tatehan stepped closer and began going through the titles.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.