trans_9 | A Food-Lover's Personal Hell [Open]

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A Food-Lover's Personal Hell [Open]

When she made her contract with Alaya -- the part of the world that governed humanity -- the girl known to history as the King of Knights had understood that it would involve certain sacrifices. She had been pleasantly surprised to learn that in eras well into the future of her own, good food would not be among them. In fact, the cooks -- she was hard-pressed to call them that -- of her own time were so terrible that she had wondered if food was merely a form of punishment. It was only after she had been summoned as the Servant Saber in the Fourth War for the Holy Grail that she had been awakened to a new reality: eating could be a pleasurable experience. That is, if the food was pleasant to the taste.

Whatever this 'food' was that was foisted upon her was decidedly not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination.

It did not seem to be an unreasonable thing: the little blonde was not especially picky about food as long as it tasted good. A simple but tasty (and large) meal was far preferable to a fancy but bland (and small) one. The indecipherable mass she was served was the worst of all worlds: unidentifiable, small... but worst of all, tasteless.

She accepted her 'meal' with her usual impassive expression, seating herself in silence. Yet, she made no move to begin eating, staring at the slop with no change in her stony mask. However, those sensitive to supernatural phenomenon -- or even those who were simply observant -- would most certainly feel the heavy weight of a killing aura surrounding the otherwise proper and elegant young girl as she sat in morose silence.

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Answers had remained infuratingly elusive, in spite of the best efforts of those she had spoken with. Saber realised she was forced to eschew some of her valued secrecy if she was to discover anything helpful.

"To some degree, though it is not completely necessary. It is only one method... though eating had been a pleasant one."

"Not completely necessary?" So she really was something unusual, someone who doesn't necessarily need to eat to sustain themselves. This brought up the question of just how she did, though.

"So... is it... something weird, or what? Don't tell me you're a vampire." Now that would be kind of awkward, though it stands to reason that Stacy could accommodate that as well.

There was a slight hake of her head before Saber answered. "No. Vampires are a completely different sort of spirit. Still, I do need a certain amount of natural energy to sustain my existence. Consuming food is but one method of doing so."

She cast another jaundiced eye at her serving. "However, food does not provide a great deal, and I must consume a significant amount of it. I do not... relish consuming a great amount of this."

Ah, good. So she's from a place that has vampires, which is so much more reassuring.

Cagalli frowned down at the food. "So, basically... you don't eat unless you need the extra energy, or you really like the food. And as far as I can tell, no one alive likes nutrient mush."

She took a bite, swallowing it as quickly as possible. "Have you been to the Sensoriums?" she asked in lieu of eating.

Admittedly, whatever Saber knew of vampires was hearsay; she had never seen one herself.

"I have generally eaten during mealtimes, though it is not necessary for me to survive." She might not have needed to remain as vague as she was, but the little knight preferred to err on the side of caution.

She looked up from her plate, a look of curiosity flickering across her features. "No, I have not. What are these 'Sensoriums'?"

It was pretty obvious that the woman was, indeed, being vague on purpose. The lack of explanation set Cagalli on edge a little, to be honest, never a fan of that sort of behavior - she wasn't good at it herself, and she missed important things from others at times.

Otherwise this girl seemed friendly enough though. "You didn't hear about it when you woke up? You can go in, and get what is pretty much a solid hologram of whatever you think up." She grimaced at some memories. "Just watch what you think up."

Saber shook her head. "No... although I was, admittedly, somewhat preoccupied. It might have been mentioned, but perhaps I did not understand the significance at the time."

She spoke plainly and openly then; is cooly analytical as the King of Knights was, the new environment had taxed her to her very limits.

Well, whoever this was she had taken things a bit differently than Cagalli had. Definitely slightly more collected right now, even with how apparently appalled she is by the food. "There was a lot to take in," she admitted, "so it's not a big deal."

Cagalli extended a hand to the king. "Cagalli Yula Atha."

For her part, Saber had observed that, at the very least, the people aboard the strange ship had been friendly enough, even if what they told her had been confusing. She had no Holy Grail to impart important knowledge of her new environment this time. But it was not her way to panic or lose her head, even if she had been prone to despair. But her need for answers kept her going.

Accustomed as she was to bowing, the offered hand came as a mild surprise to her, but she accepted it, regardless. It appeared to be a modern custom. "Well-met, Cagalli Yula Atha. I am called Saber."

For her part, Cagalli wasn't sure what customs to adhere to. Handshaking, bowing... whatever any other cultures did, they were all represented here and more. She would have to learn what others here expected, or were potentially offended by, if she wanted to get anywhere around here.

"Saber? It's a pleasure to meet you." One name, a normal English word. It could be a pseudonym or codename, or it could be normal where Saber came from.

After a half-nod, half-bow of her head, Saber eyed the plate in front of her again. "Incidentally, where can these Sensoriums be found?"

Ordinarily, it would not have been high on her list of priorities, but the prospect of eating sludge indefinitely dictated otherwise.

Cagalli took out her handy-dandy Omnicomm. "You got one of these, right? It's on the map, and if you don't know how to get to that," which was probably likely for a lot of people, "I'll show you how it works." She'd already gotten a lot of use out of her own, and would probably be lost a lot without it.

Saber peered at the device for a brief moment.

"Ah, so that is what it is..." she commented before extracting her own. This time, she'd had to puzzle things out on her own, and such devices were beyond her understanding.

"I would be most grateful for any assistance you may render."

So Saber needed the whole thing explained to her? Well... that was okay too, even if there were people better suited to it. As long as she can work the thing, it shouldn't be too hard.

"They also allow you to send messages in text format, and download other useful information about the ship." Cagalli browsed through the menus to the map, taking her time so Saber could watch. "I don't know all the specifics, though."

Fortunately, Saber had enough knowledge from her time spent in Japan, and modern devices were not a complete mystery. It would be a simple matter to learn the basic functions.

"I see..." she answered, studying the device curiously. "I admit I have never seen a device quite like this before. It appears to be quite useful."

"Things like this are pretty common where I come from, though the particulars took some getting used to." She went through various other functions for Saber's sake, showing her the network and how to make a post to it, and all the information one could look up. "It's not all that complicated if you have some familiarity with technology, and it's been really useful so far."

"There are devices similar to some in the era I was summoned to," Saber admitted. "However, they were much more limited in their capacities. One could not send written messages through them, for example."

She shook her head with a small amount of wonder. "Nothing of this sort existed in my own time, however. Hence, I am at a loss for anything so complex."

"Summoned?" That piqued her curiosity a bit, not a word she heard in that context often. Saber made it sound like she was some kind of time traveler, which didn't seem at all far-fetched now. "You were brought from one era to another?"

Saber nodded slightly. "I was. That is the nature of my existence, to be summoned for a particular War."

She kept her face carefully neutral, burying her worst fears and focusing on the possibilities. "Perhaps it is no longer something I need concern myself with, but perhaps it is. It is too soon to tell."

Cagalli frowned thoughtfully. Summoned across time just to fight in a war, and it didn't sound as though it was her choice. "Forced to fight? But you've got a different life here, especially if no one else involved with the war shows up here." And if they did, and they tried to continue this war, they wouldn't last very long.

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A Food-Lover's Personal Hell [Open]

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