WEEK 4

[bathymetric]

Another trial, another week, and still you're probably running lower on answers than you'd like. And on people - you lost three since last Sunday. By the end of this week, you'll have been here for nearly a full month, yet still the days crawl on.

You wake up Sunday, again with no memory of Saturday, but this time with a simple message on your devices: You may resume requesting items, if you like. Enjoy. Guess it really was just a stealth motive after all, but at least it's being communicated that it's over! That's something, at least.

And when you leave your rooms on Sunday, there's another new area to explore! This one is... certainly more ambitious in its construction than the last one, to say the least. But hey, you have a pretty neat place to host parties, if you feel so inclined! That's... fun...

Hey, you gotta find the fun in situations like this where you can! Silver linings, right?



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 4! Remember to turn in AC here, threads for regain coins here, and if you feel so inclined you can visit Angel's office hours over here! ]

Comments

investigation!

[snackooed]

[ Wow. And she thought last week's selection of rooms were eclectic.

It's hard to think of a practical use for any of these new areas; if the last ones said leisure to her, after all, these are practically screaming it at the top of their lungs. But everything has a reason and a place, and she's always been adamant about taking full advantages of all of the resources they have, so for today, she's up and at 'em, with her head in the game and her feet in the bar.

First things first, she's going to poke around behind shelves and take inventory of their stock. It's a cute little area, and it'll come in handy if they're looking to wind down after a day of swimming in the pool, but she's moreso on the hunt for anything here that doesn't quite belong. Is it just an ordinary old bar?

Of course, that'll change if anyone pokes their head in on her while she's digging through. She's more than happy to flash anyone hankering for a drink a smile and wave them over to play barten; mixing drinks is basically like chemistry, isn't it? ...Right? ]

What'll it be? I'm no professional, but I can follow a recipe and listen, and that's half the job, I think!

[ Maybe keep it simple-- ]

Bar

[bolderfell]

[Therion's actually already crouching behind the bar when Ema arrives. Looks like he had the same idea she did. Partially, at least--the assortment of alcohol beside him doesn't look suspicious so much as it looks strong.

He glances up at her, then sighs and starts gathering his collection.]

I'll get out of your way.

[snackooed]

What, the ale in the cafeteria wasn't enough? You prefer the harder stuff?

[ She's teasing a bit, but not at all surprised to find him here-- ]

If you want, I can try and make you something. Do they have cocktails where you're from? Something tells me you could use one.

[bolderfell]

The ale is fine.

[But he doesn't elaborate. He looks up at her, then slows in his gathering.]

If we have these "cocktails," we might call them something else. What does making one involve?

[snackooed]

You're basically combining alcoholic drinks that complement each other together to see what tastes good. Sometimes you add a little something too, like a splash of fruit juice or something carbonated, just to give it a bit more of a flavor profile and make it go down easier.

[ Even if alcohol isn't quite her stress relief of choice, the science to it is fascinating, and she's been to more than her fair share of work gatherings at bars-- ]

For example, you'd combine a sugar cube with bitters from angostura, mix a little bit of water to dissolve the sugar, add some bourbon, and pour it over ice...then stick an orange slice and a cherry on top. And that's the oldest one in the book.

[ladygeryon]

You got any virgin options? [Nira has a very disapproving Aria following behind her as she approaches the place.]

[snackooed]

Even I could probably whip you up a Shirley, if you like soda and cherry. Though if you have anything in particular on the mind, I can do my best to experiment.

[ Is this a bar, or a science lab...? ]

[ladygeryon]

Anything fruity sounds good right now. Go heavy on the fruit flavor. [After getting drunk on fruity alcohol, clearly the best way to sober up is with actual fruit drink.]

[snackooed]

Coming right up! Let's see, if it's fruit that you want, I'm pretty sure this might work...

[ It's usually lemon-lime soda and grenadine, but she might put her own spin on it... ]

Are you feeling okay? I know Friday night was...well, none of us were having a good time.

[ It sounds like she's not judging, at least. ]

investigation!

[bathymetric]

[ It seems to be mostly a shockingly ordinary bar! Bottles on the shelves, a little fridge and freezer under the bar, plenty of glasses and the like... some cabinets, too, if you feel like searching them. ]

[snackooed]

[ Let's hit those cabinets first! We can wrap back around to the mini-fridge and the icebox if we've got time. What's juicy in here? ]

[bathymetric]

[ The cabinets are full of slightly dusty boxes of decorations - strings of lights, plastic flower necklaces, things like that - and in what is perhaps the most important find of all...

Congratulations, Ema, you've found a boombox, complete with a small box of CDs. ]

[snackooed]

Oh, now that's interesting...

[ What kind of CDs are we talking, here? Like, Barry Manilow? ]

Bar

[drladysounds]

If you're preparing highly scientific cocktails I'll be glad to be your test subject.

[Sounds like a fun time!]

[snackooed]

I'll have you know that all cocktails are highly scientific. If you give me an idea of the kind of stuff you like, I'll do my best to work with it. If you don't like it, it's on the house, I promise.

[ ... ]

N-not that it isn't on the house anyway.

[drladysounds]

Anything with gin is right up my alley. You can't go wrong with that one.

[Not that Shelley is picky when it's about booze, really!]

[snackooed]

Well, let's see...any joe schmoe knows that gin goes with tonic, right? There's gotta be a way to spice that up somehow...

[ First things first, she'll need ice, so she'll get a big shaker full... ]

Do you have a favorite fruit, Shelley? I'll see if I can try something with that, if you'd like...

bar

[hardnosed]

[ So a rock walks into a bar...

While it can be easily surmised that Jasper isn't hankering for a drink, she's at least curious about her surroundings. She's also dripping wet from head to toe. It's probably not hard to figure out where she was right before this. ]

I don't eat. [ Yeah, Jasper, everyone knows because you never shut up about it. ] I just — want to know what it's for.

[snackooed]

Oh! Hang on, I think I have towels back here so you can dry off...

[ They're a little small, but Ema's quick to reach behind the bar and pull out more than a few washcloths for Jasper to rub herself down. Don't go dripping around too much, someone might slip-- ]

The drinks here are a little different from stuff like water or fruit juice! The vast majority of them contain a chemical compound called "ethanol". And when you drink something with ethanol in it, that ethanol spreads through the bloodstream and eventually reaches the brain. And when it gets there, it activates another chemical in the brain with a very long name that we call GABA, for short.

Scientifically speaking, GABA makes you feel calm and relaxed. It helps with fear, stress and anxiety, and makes you more talkative. And there are a lot of factors that affect just how much that GABA will influence a person, but the more you drink, the more of an effect the GABA will have. But at the same time, while that calm feeling goes up, your cognitive function and the parts of your brain that control memory start to go down, so you become more sluggish...

[hardnosed]

[ She readily accepts the washcloths, which means her reactions to Ema's incredibly helpful explanation are obscured by her own body (mostly the arms and hair) as she towels herself off. She's listening, though! She wouldn't have asked, or taken anything she was offered, if she weren't interested on some level.

The science of it all goes over her head, but she gets the gist, or thinks she does. No wonder everything is so dangerous to organic life, when they've got all these body parts and biological processes just waiting to be interrupted. Maybe it's that she and Therion were just talking about this, but... ]

So you're saying that humans poison themselves for fun.

[snackooed]

Exactly! You got it precisely!

[ Maybe the grin on her face doesn't quite belong, but that's pretty much the gist, yes! ]

Ethanol poisoning is actually a fairly dangerous concern, once you have a certain amount of it in your bloodstream. So it's always, always important to drink in moderation, preferably on a full stomach! That said, most people usually manage to fall asleep before they consume enough alcohol to reach the point where it becomes life-threatening.

[nothingcanstop]

[ A bar, huh. ]

Wow, something besides vending machine Malort. [ Please don't misunderstand, she loves Malort-- ] They got anything that uh... Anything that burns?

[ della. ]

Like... Bacardi. [ DELLA??? ]

[snackooed]

Oh, so you want something, like, strong strong. I'm not really an expert, but I can maybe give you a shot or two, if you're looking to take a bit of a load off. I can't say that I blame you.

[ Ema is just enabling bad behavior today-- ]

Unless you want me to try and make a cocktail that'll knock you out. I'm always willing to play mad scientist.

[ Ema-- ]

[nothingcanstop]

Wha- oh, no, I don't drink to pass out, I drink 'cause I like the way it feels burning my throat!

[ normal, huh. ]

I used to have a good gulp 'a that stuff, mmmm. Unfortunately, wouldn't you know it, they discontinued it just last year! Weak!

[ the moon took even this from her. ]

[snackooed]

[ Huh. Discontinued? That sounds peculiar...Bacardi's a pretty famous brand, isn't it? ]

I think I can give you a hookup, if that's what you're out for.

[ It doesn't take a lot of digging before she pulls out a clear bottle of rum, with a somewhat menacing-looking bat on the face-- ]

This what you're looking for?