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

[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.

[hardnosed]

Huh. [ She starts wringing out her hair with the least saturated towel, a task which it is not even remotely up to, and her yellow eyes narrow suspiciously at the rows of bottles on the bar. ] Sounds irresponsible. No wonder he decided to include a room dedicated to it.

[snackooed]

Here, let me help with that, I'll put those soaked ones in the sink...

[ Don't worry, Jasper, she'll trade out your soaked ones for a couple more clean ones. She's running out, but at least Jasper's getting drier... ]

Leaving them unattended is asking for trouble, if you ask me. Usually people who serve you drinks like these keep an eye on you and cut you off if they feel you've had too many. So if you're ever around here and you see someone who isn't looking quite right, can you do me a favor and make sure they don't drink any more than they should? You're big and strong, so you could probably convince them a lot better than I could...

[hardnosed]

[ Jasper's eyes briefly light up with recognition as she recalls the Whole Thing that was Nira at the afterparty, now with added context. That was what was going on? And humans do this to themselves voluntarily?

While she doesn't do favors, and doesn't take orders from anyone here, the grunt she gives sounds kind of affirmative? ]

I'll see what I can do. If I'm here.

[ Welcome to hell, everybody!! ]

The last thing we need is more people making themselves easy prey.

[snackooed]

Thanks, Jasper. I'm sure you'd be a big help. I think if you told anyone to pull themselves together, they'd listen without much of a fuss.

[ She doubts anyone would really want to argue with her! ]

But don't go on, y'know, patrol or anything on my account. In the meantime, I can make you something without the ethanol, if you'd like to try it. Rose said she can make herself taste buds, so I'm assuming you can do the same?

[hardnosed]

Under reasonable circumstances.

[ Which these are not, her glower says. ]

My shapeshifting hasn't worked since I got here. If she has... [ ugh ] buds, she must have made them a while ago, before this happened.

[snackooed]

Ah. I'm sorry, I should've figured that...I keep forgetting that people here who have abilities normally can't use them here. It's probably just because you're talking to a normal old Plain Jane...

[hardnosed]

I thought you were a scientist.

[ oh come ON ]

Anyway, it's not like you've got anything to do with it. [ She pauses, still looking stormy despite the icon, but clearly considering something, before coming over to drop another towel in the sink. ] I've been able to taste things here before. And I like wasting his money.

[snackooed]

[ Ema can't help it; she tries hard to stifle her laughter, but she can't help but burst into a giggle at that. ]

Let me make you something good then! If you can taste a little, I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy this. And if you don't like it, I'll finish it off for you. Sound okay?

[hardnosed]

[ Jasper's last two sentences were already her getting 90% of the way to assent, so she doesn't hesitate for much longer before saying: ]

Sure. Let's see what you've got.

[ She's so above it all!!! ]

You said you weren't a professional — so this isn't one of your duties.

[snackooed]

Not even a little. My job is investigating, which is why I...y'know. Do what I do, at those trials.

[ Let's see, it's Jasper, so she absolutely needs to make her something orange...how about a virgin mimosa? Orange juice, lemonade, a bit of lemon-lime soda... ]

But I think doing this is kind of fun. Mixing and matching, see what tastes good, see what doesn't...

[hardnosed]

So it's a hobby.

I guess we've got enough time for it, here. Five out of six days. [ she pauses. ] It's been helpful to have someone who's actually suited to those farces around for them.

[ It's not what Anna said, at least! ]