Chojin Patriarch
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I suppose it's kind of hard to stay asleep when your partner is rattling around getting ready for work. And a little rude. Still, the usual quiet start to an episode. I wonder where things will go this time...Coup Data
27th October 2012
01:23 GMT
Jade glances at me as I pull myself out of bed after her.
"You don't have to get up. I know you came to bed a while after me."
That's either a request to shut up, an invitation to join her, or both..."No, that's not the point. I moved in-"
She tosses her pyjama shirt to me and I catch it as she heads towards her quarters' sonic shower.
Nice touch with the harmonics of the shower making her speech randomly bolded."-because I want to spend more time with you, and if that means getting up out of sequence and taking a nap later, then so be it. " I walk towardsherthe wardrobe. "Ah, uniform or exercise clothes?"
"I already laid-" There's a burst of sound distortion as the sonic shower activates, effectively limiting the pitch of sound that can escape the shower unit. "-it out in here last night."
Heh. I bet OL likes his heavy foods. If you aren't waddling a little, then you haven't really eaten."Oh, okay." I hold out my hands, calling my rings to me from the dressing table. A flicker of orange and I'm clean of the night's dead skin and sweat and dressed in my own light armour. Then I clean, iron and fold her shirt and lay it down on her pyjama trousers "Breakfast?"
"Something that doesn't make me need to spend an extra hour working out."
Tease.I walk towards the kitchenette.
"I'm hearing pancakes and golden syrup!"
Ah, if only they existed now (in a reliable and affordable form.) On the other hand, no better way to cool off in hot weather than a below-room-temperature shower..."No you're not!"
The distortion cuts out, and as I pull out the… Foil… Alien oats packet? I hear the quiet rustle of her donning her clothes. With sonic showers not actually involving water they can double as a changing room, because there isn't any need for them to dry after they share in the cleaning process.
Ah, the Internet. Still masters of grabbing a lame joke and running with it to extremes.Okay, alien probably-milk, or-? Oh, right, lactose intolerant. I'm sure it says something about Jade that she was happy to change the structure of her own brain in order to improve her emotional awareness but it didn't occur to her to gain the ability to digest milk properly. Heck, that means that this isn't actually milk, it's-.
To be fair, the only real difference would be the lactose content. Once you hit a certain level of technology, it's probably easy to manufacture nutrients in roughly the right ratios.Well, she's clearly fine with drinking it or it wouldn't be in here. I'm having the actual milk that my majority Anglo Saxon digestive tract is evolved to process in stead of...
I'm not going to scan it.
Especially those species who prefer their food still live. With such a diverse groups of species, I'm sure there's some...Okay, two bowls of porridge and under the smart microwave cooker they go. And fire. It's essentially the same as a microwave on Earth, only lacking the whole box element and the turntable. It's also quieter than the models I'm used to, leaving me to watch the countdown.
Fruit juice is chemically synthesised, but given how I've been agitating for the return of Still Tango I'm hardly in a position to complain about that. Darkstar food processors are able to adapt to produce food that's nutritious and palatable to just about any carbon-based species, though… Obviously the components aren't going to be recognisable due to not occurring in nature. For obvious reasons most Darkstars prefer to bring in food from home rather than subject themselves to the synthesiser.
I'm guessing non-combat duty, so no exo-mantle? Or he would have noted that.Though I will admit that the green lumps it came up with yesterday were actually quite nice.
Jade strolls in wearing her uniform, picking up her juice cup and taking a small sip.
Eh, there's probably still some surprises that might turn up..."Briefings today, then?"
"I think we're nearly getting to the point where we can leave them to take care of themselves."
So, relatively light duties. Makes sense after a combat tour. At least you're not stuck flying a desk, doing paperwork."Oh? Where are we off to next?"
"I don't know for sure, but I'm due a rotation on one of the liberated worlds. Investigation, counter-insurgency, that kind of thing."
Admittedly, given the things she'll be doing, having you around will be like swatting flies with a nuke. ...And likely as messy."Still got room for a plus one?"
She smiles faintly. "They're not going to say 'no' to you even if we don't."
Dude, what's status for, if not taking advantage of it? Enjoy the privileges for a bit."I don't want to take advantage of my status."
A quiet non-beep tone as the microwave cooker finishes its work, and I offer Jade her bowl.
There's the downside of eating the same thing for ages: one different meal and your stomach goes 'what the hell? I'm not prepared for this!' and next thing you know you're spending the next day or two on the loo."I have real fruit and nuts-."
"It's been so long, I don't know if I can handle real food. Why is mine a different color?"
Besides potentially mission-endangering gassiness if you accidentally eat something with the wrong chemicals? Seriously, given the variety of Darkstar recruits, I would not be surprised if some had better senses of smell, such that they have to learn to tolerate the odours of their squadmates..."Because I can handle real milk." I frown. "I know I offered it to Artemis but I don't remember ever offering it to you; are you at all interested in improved milk digestion?"
"Why?"
...I don't see you complaining about improving your ability to empathise with others..."Because it would let you ingest milk-based products without ill-effects?"
"Considering what happened last time I modified myself with a power ring, I-"
...To be fair, most people think of themselves as more attractive than they actually are. So an Orange Ring would only reinforce that impression when it adjusts the wearer to match their self-image. I know if I got a Ring, I would definitely make some improvements.I frown and look at her breasts. They look like they've gone back to normal size to me, but-.
"-think-." She follows my gaze, then averts her eyes with an expression of amused embarrassment. "No, my brain, not.. that."
True, dicking about with genes can lead to all manner of odd biological crashes. Humans are lucky they're as stable as they are... And we still have lots of problems."Oh. Ah, while the lactase gene might have a knock-on effect, it would be a very minor one. Humans all produce lactase at some point during their lives."
"Did you give yourself that gene?"
Oof, still salty about her father, I see."No, I was born with it. Like your-." Oops. "Un-cle."
"I'll.. stay with the nut-milk, thanks."
Awfully organised."As you will. I -on the other hand- am trying different fruit combinations, and today is…"
"Apricot."
On the upside, if he doesn't like it, he can always change the taste he receives.
...It'd be odd if it was."Last time I ate apricots, it was with a pork chop."
"For breakfast?"
Brave man. He's come such a long way since those early chapters..."No."
"Do you like pork chops?"
"No. Honestly, I just want to try everything once. I don't have high hopes, but I've been wrong before."
Assuming he's not going to hang around his lady at work...Seven apricot halves appear in my-. And there's the eight half so that I won't be thinking about the missing half all day. Thank you, ring. I generate a construct spoon and dig in.
"What are you doing today?"
I guess she's been blocking plans to shake up Themysciran culture a bit?"Quick check up on my students, then I'm in the Themysciran forum all morning. Elections are coming up and I'm hoping that we can finally get Clyemne out of office."
"Are you standing?"
Time for the old 'Ring, make this taste... Not like this.' trick."Hah! Ah, no, I don't think that Themyscira is ready for a male senator. Maybe when the war's over."
I take a spoonful of-.
Uh.
Well, you did this to yourself. I know I couldn't push through it like that...
A pleasant start to things. While I doubt the Themysciran politics will amount to much, you never know. No, I think the title hints at something a little messier. What have the Computer Tyrants of Colu been up to since OL helped free the people, again? At any rate, I'm sure we'll see soon enough.
And there's the eighth half so that I won't be thinking about the missing half all day.And there's the eight half so that I won't be thinking about the missing half all day.