Joe decided to ask the most important question first.

“What is your-”

A loud growl interrupted his thoughts.

The light pain in the stomach wasn’t helping, either. He felt like he hadn't eaten for several hours,

“Oh, you are hungry… don’t worry, I’ll call someone. Don’t run away!”

Cat gracefully jumped down on the floor and quickly walked to the far end of the room. There was a door there - not unlike the ones he had seen back then on a submarine-like place. She jumped on a handle, pushed it down to open the door, and disappeared into the open gap.

Joe watched his new acquaintance leave. When the tail vanished behind the door, he slowly moved his legs down to the floor. Supporting himself by leaning on the wall, he got up from the bed.

He was still feeling a bit weak, but his mind was clear and his legs were keeping him standing just fine. Joe rationalized that walking around the room for a bit wouldn’t hurt, picked up the lantern, and walked closer to the table.

As with everything else, the floor was supremely clean. Joseph felt really guilty when he noticed that his bare feet were leaving noticeable footprints everywhere.

Both cabinets were closed. Joe tried to peek inside through a thin gap, but even with the light, it was impossible to make anything out. The only thing he could confirm with certainty was the strong alcoholic smell, coming from the left cabinet.

The drawer was shut and locked as well. Of course.

Damn, whoever is in charge of this room clearly knows better than to let a random hoodlum ransack his keepings… Well, that’s a shame.

Joe was definitely feeling like a thief in this scenario. He needed to figure out what was going on, however, so he kept on searching.

Until sounds of heavy steps came from behind the door. Joseph could swear he could hear a weird clunking sound along with them. He turned around, quickly realizing that there was no way he was going to make it to the bed in time.

The door opened, revealing a smiling black-haired man. He wasn’t very tall - 160 cm at best, just twenty-five centimeters away from Joe's height. The man was wearing a white coat - Joe felt a sense of deja vu as if he was back in a hospital. He had run headfirst into a man on a bicycle back then.

Then something unusual came into his vision.

He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it earlier. Probably got distracted by the appearance of the man himself. From the top of this person's forehead, going down his neck and underneath his coat, there was a gray stitch-like line. Joe couldn’t quite make it out in the dim light of the room, but he was pretty sure that stitches weren’t moving when the man changed his expression to the different one, expressing concern.

The man was carrying something, wrapped up in fabric. He put the item down on the closest bed before walking up to Joe.

“One energetic patient - isn’t that right, Ailuros? You said he was lying in a bed! Standing up without a proper analysis leads to unexpected complications - you do know that, mate?”

The last question was pointed at Joe.

Joe made a weird sound, that could mean anything, from agreeing to asking for milk. He wasn’t even sure himself what he meant by that. It was the first time he was scolded by a weird person with a metal stitch over a head, right after talking to a cat spirit.

The man in a white coat pulled a lever next to a door. The first few seconds, nothing was happening, but then the lines on a ceiling began to slowly brighten up, illuminating a room. They weren’t flaring up to the full in an instant like the normal lights would do - it was slowly building up, like a campfire.

The man sighed, coming closer to the bed Joe was lying in before.

“Come closer, I don’t bite. Wouldn’t want to ruin a perfectly good body, right?”

Joe didn’t like the sound of that one bit. Not like there was any choice in the matter.

The cat wordlessly jumped up onto the bed. The man in the white coat took the stool and moved it closer.

“I see you are already familiar with Ailuros. A charming one, isn’t she? She doesn’t bite, she’s soft and will tear a hole into your soul and mind… Quite a beautiful creature.”

So the black cat’s name was Ailuros. Joseph made a mental note.

He said nothing in response and sat down. The cat walked around him and took a place by his left hand, on a pillow.

The man settled for his wooden stool.

“So…” - he began while tracing down the metal stitch with his finger. That didn’t make Joe feel any easier. “Do you remember your name?”

Surprisingly normal question for a person like that.

“I do.” No reason to lie here.

His listener cocked his head aside.

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot here.” - He chuckled. “Do my injuries disturb you that much?”

Considering that now, as Joseph got a closer look, these stitches were looking like they were melted into the man’s skin - yes, absolutely.

Whoops. Did I accidentally say it out loud?

The man laughed, likely being amused by Joseph’s reaction.

“Melting one’s skin is quite a gruesome procedure, I agree. Still, no need to concern yourself with that - my injuries are quite extreme for a common man, you see. So, unless you die on my watch, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“So if I did die, there would be something to be concerned about?!”

“You would be dead, so no worries for you either way!” the genuine smile caught Joe off guard.

“How does being an unwilling test subject sound to you? If you find it a worthy cause, you can kill yourself right now and this freak Crunchy here will take good care of you.”

“Thank you, cat. You’re not helping.”

So that was the mysterious Crunchy she mentioned before. One riddle down, myriad more to go.

The man named Crunchy held out his hand for a shake.

“Name’s Roth, the ship’s doctor. The rest of the crew calls me Crunchy, feel free to do that as well.”

His hand was rough, with a barely noticeable web of scars covering his palm. His grip was very strong. Joe briefly thought that such hand would be more suitable for a soldier, rather than a doctor - not that he would’ve known the difference.

“Joseph.”

“Joseph, Joseph…” Roth has repeated his name a couple of times as if trying to taste it. “I think I like this name. This is a good name.”

“Why 'Crunchy'?” Joe was genuinely curious.

Doctor wordlessly pulled the trousers on his right leg. Upon seeing an artificial metal leg replacing a normal flesh one and hearing the sound it was making, while the doctor was moving it back and forth, Joe had no further questions. Except for one, but he wasn’t really sure if it would be appropriate to ask.

Roth beat him to it.

“Just an accident. My work is pretty dangerous, you see. Even to myself, sometimes.” He chuckled in a bemused tone.

The cat decided to interject, noticing Joseph’s discomfort.

“Roth is a good doctor, just a li-i-ittle bit out there. You can totally trust his skills, just don’t mind his creepiness. Or his interests.”

The Good Doctor turned to the cat.

“You always giving out the best compliments, aren’t you?”

“You, people, are invading my place, why do I have to be nice to you?! Especially you! You know, the next time you bring another bo-”

She suddenly cut herself off mid-sentence, shifting her glare from Roth to Joseph. Her ears went low and her tail was rapidly moving back and forth.

Joe was startled by an unexpected reaction. He was looking at both of his new acquaintances, with a pure confusion in his mind.

A doctor’s face shifted, his eyes darkened. He opened his mouth, then closed it, awkwardly trying to form a smile - except this time, the forced nature of the expression and the metal scar were together creating a very unsettling impression.

A loud growl returned with a vengeance. It broke through a stalemate like an icebreaker, making the doctor abruptly stand up and making the cat’s ears perk up in surprise. Joe remembered that he hadn’t eaten for quite some time.

Actually, what time was it?

“How long have I been here?”

“About five hours.” Cat replied.

“When Xander first brought you here, you had a hu-u-u-uge bump on your head. Honestly, I’d bet my money on you getting blessed by the Deity of fortune back there - our mountain of muscle can easily kill even the most hardened soldiers in one punch and lift a cannon on his own… The fact that you’ve survived and recovered in only five hours is nothing short of a miracle.”

Roth pulled out a pair of white gloves.

“So, before eating, let’s do a medical check. Let me see your injuries…”

The procedure went by fairly quickly, even though Roth was very thorough in his examination. The pale skin in the place of impact did make him scowl, but after confirming that Joe didn’t feel any discomfort there, the doctor decided to move things along. Eye reaction - by making Joseph focus on a sharp point of the scalpel - mouth and teeth, upper body, lower body, hands, and legs.

He then asked Joe to walk around for a bit and, somewhat satisfied, allowed Joe to unwrap the thing he brought with him.

“Bread, smoked meat, and cheese? Looks pretty good. Thank you, doc.”

“Anything for a patient.” He was happily smiling again.

There was also a flask. Joe picked it up. It was pretty heavy and was wrapped in the skin of some kind of animal. He opened it and took a sip.

Water. Just normal water. Exactly what he needed.

The doctor also brought with him a knife and a fork. Despite the fact that meat was burned in some spots, and the cheese was a bit stale, for hungry Joseph it was the best food he has got in a long, long while. Best meals in the best restaurants of the entire world could not dream of coming close to the juiciness of a piece of burned meat on a slice of bread, with a piece of cheese on top of it.

For the first time in those hours, Joe was completely and utterly relaxed, completely disregarding everything about this bizarre situation he found himself in. Together with the doctor, who had lost his leg, who was happily sharing a piece of meat Joseph gave to him as a sign of goodwill.

Together with a talking cat, who was shaking her head, refusing her portion. But just a moment later, she snatched a piece of cheese instead - which Joe found hilariously out of character, but chalked it up to cat just being picky. Besides, if Ailuros really was some kind of a spirit or a demon, then Joseph was not the one to act like he knew what the spirit’s tastes were like.

“You can take this flask for yourself if you want. We got plenty anyway.”

“Shankyou, Rosh,” he really should’ve finished his food, but he was starving. “I have no pockets for it, though.”

“Want me to make you some now? It’s won’t hurt much, I promise.”

“Human skin is not a good material, doc.”

“Skin might not be, but the muscle…”

“I’d rather ask for my clothes back, thank you very much.”

A bemused chuckle escaped from the doctor’s lips.

“Well, about that…” He scratched the neck near a melted skin. “Xander took everything you had on you. If you want to get them back, you should just ask him.”

“Xander?…”

“Our beloved quartermaster. He was the one who brought you in.”

“Is he, like, tall, with black fur and looks like a cat that slept with a snake?…”

“That’s the one! I see at least some of your memories are actually intact, that’s great!”

The mental image of the 2 meters tall giant wasn’t giving Joe any confidence. But he had to get his things back, one way or another.

“Is there something I could wear for a time being?”

Roth nodded.

“We have some old clothes. They’re in a decent shape, maybe a bit dusty, since nobody was wearing them for months. Still laying somewhere in the Hold.”

“Wouldn’t moths be a problem, if it’s not used for this long?”

“Moths?” Roth looked like he was genuinely puzzled. “We are at least fifteen kilometers away from the nearest land, and the crew always checks through everything every other day. No way there is a single moth on this ship - we would have got rid of them immediately.”

Joseph felt like he got poured over from a pot with cold water. That was a lot of new information to process. If he was on a ship, why there was no motion? He also remembered that Roth was referring to the cat-like giant beast as a Quartermaster, provided it was really him who brought his motionless body on the ship. If that’s the case…

“Why did you attack that ship?”