3628/A Taste of the Multiverse

A Taste of the Multiverse
Date of Scene:	07 January 2016
Location:	Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	Hearing that Kal Udar has never had real food, Staren contrives to remedy this at the Bar & Grill
Cast of Characters:	Maya, Staren, 687, 932

---

Staren has posed:
    Staren's mastery of Multiverse knowledge and head computer combine to let him set things up at record speed, sometimes.

    Staren was already on his way here before he invited Kal. After arrival, Staren immediately flags down a server and talks to them for a bit, then starts looking around for the next confused bird-person to step through a door. When he spies Kal, he waves him over to a table. "Hello! Kal, right? I'm Staren. Nice to meet you." He smiles and holds out a hand to shake.

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     The Multiverse is big and new. It's shiny and teeming with life and variety, things that Kal Udar, No.9 Thunder Lord of the A-RAYS, is not at all used to. The bird-man, upon following Staren's orders, finds himself inside a big Bar and Grill.

     Kal probably is not what Staren was expecting. He's big, largely human-looking, except for his huge grey wings and his weird birdy eyes. He looks at the hand for a really long time, as if puzzled by it (he probably is). Eventually, he pokes it with a finger, and Staren gets a sense that there's a space in that hand for nasty talons. Apparently, while he might look mostly human, he's probably not.

     Behind him is a Grey. Literally. It is about four feet tall, super-slender, super-skinny, and looks like it might shatter on contact. Its huge black eyes stare up at Staren wordlessly.

     Kal holds up a hand. "Hello! I'm Kal. That's Rider. Rider, say hello."

     Rider burbles something. It may or may not be hello.

     Kal shrugs, then claps his hands together and rubs them cheerfully. "So this is a place you eat, huh? It's a lot nicer than the facilities back home, that's for sure."

Maya has posed:
Maya would arrive pretty soon after Staren does the woman had long blue hair, and some visable tribal like tatoos on her forarms, though otherwise she looked like she'd hopped off some earth from the 2000s she seemd to be in a good mood as she takes a moment to spot Kal and her eyebrow raises a bit at his apperance..

"Kal and that's Rider? Wait Rider?"

She seems to know the term but also gives Rider a nod and a bit of a smile, he's not hostile, just strange looking.

"Yes this is a place where we eat and be social."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
The Bar and Grill doesn't immediately have to eject one of its patrons, so Ark must not actually be here. Thank God for small favors.

On the other hand, someone else is: a middle-aged man, with short hair, greying at the temples, and a suit jacket and trousers that are slightly rumpled. That porkpie hat seems kind of modified, and kind of crossed with a stetson, too. It's an odd look, but a recognizable one for anyone who has seen him.

Caster of Steel walks between the tables, a newspaper folded over in one hand. He's looking down at it, examining the columns of black-and-white text while he proceeds to what might be his 'usual' table, if he has such a thing. His other hand is fishing in his coat pocket for something or other.

He doesn't actually see Rider, and ends up walking right into it. Caster stumbles, catching himself, and looking around with obvious alarm. He ends up looking forward, left and right before looking down. His expression is somewhere between surprised and disbelieving -- especially when he looks /up/ and sees /Kal/.

"Er -- pardon me, I seem to have been --" Caster pats his pockets for no good reason. "-- I wasn't watching where I was going, I... do I know you?" He's squinting between Kal and Rider. He probably recognized the other Servant, and definitely recognizes Kal, but how is less obvious.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks down at the hand, then up at Kal again. "...You... have an alien following you? Ah, I guess you can explain in a moment. Uh... hello." He waves uncertainly to Rider. "Two things: One, a handshake is a traditional greeting in many worlds -- it developed from a ritual of showing that your weapon hand was unarmed." He clasps Kal's hand and shakes it firmly, if allowed. "Two... I took the liberty of ordering some appetizers, but obviously, you can try any food you want on the menu."

    Staren takes a seat. A waiter comes by and sets out... menus, a plate of shrimp, and one of those white pizzas with tomatoes and herbs on it (Staren forgot to ask if Kal actually eats meat. Now he's covered both ways!). Also soda, some multiversal brand along the lines of coke or pepsi, and plain water. "So... These here are shrimp, the tastiest animal. They live in the ocean. These have already been cooked: You pull the legs and shell off, like so, and then just eat them. And this is one of many kinds of pizza. The basic formula of crust, sauce, and various toppings results in unlimited combinations. No additional preparation required, you just eat it. Um, I forgot to ask if you eat meat or not, so..." he shrugs and looks awkward. "There are plenty of other options on the menu. Hamburger patty on a bun with toppings, and fries -- ahh, a kind of way of slicing and frying potatoes, with various sauces or just salt -- are also a popular favorite, but there are as many popular foods as there are cultures in the Multiverse, really..."

    He doesn't recognize Caster /immediately/, although, he's giving Caster a similar 'do I know that guy? Something familiar about him...' look.

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "Rider of Green," Kal confirms.

     Rider holds up its three-fingered hand. Each finger is almost as long as its arm.

     It waves.

     "He's pretty chatty, huh?" Kal grins. Kal, notably, is *very nearly* seven feet tall. Standing next to the tiny Rider, it's almost comedic how tall the bird-man is. His wingspan must be nearly twice his height, too. While Rider is hunched-over, skinny, and looks like he'd deflate if a pin was put in him, Kal is huge and muscular and looks like he could probably bench a bus. This is probably because functioning wings require a huge array of muscles to work!

     Kal watches Staren shake his hand with the sort of curious detachment someone hearing another person speak a foreign language might give. His eyes are blank but interested, and he pretends to get it as they sit down.

     Staren orders food.

     It is within minutes that Staren learns two very fundamental facts about A-RAYS. First, they are beastmen - and that means they have no table manners whatsoever. Kal just plucks things off the plates bare-hands, and they vanish into his mouth (there is a distinct sense of him pecking, and his neck lunges every so often when he grabs smaller bits).

     Second, A-RAYS have ridiculous appetites.

     No sooner has Kal eaten *most of the tray* - quite literally /most/ of the tray - he's staring at Staren with curiousity in his eyes.

     "Is there more? That wasn't really very filling. Tasty, I guess, but not really filling at all."

     Caster walks up to him. Kal blinks at him for a long moment. "Uh, I guess it's possible?"

     Rider, meanwhile, shifts around the table, ambling weirdly out of the way and giving Caster a long black-eyed stare.

Maya has posed:
Maya is just seemingly in a easy going mood, as Caster shows up she gives the man a bit of a look over while Staren talks abotu the food. Seafood was a wonderful thing of the multiverse to her. There were no oceans or seas on her world after all. She just looks for a place to sit down with the others and she thinks.

"... Woah your still hungry after all of that?"

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Caster seems to come to the conclusion that the thing in front of him is the same sort of thing as him. He also has a vague idea of what he's looking at, being kind of a contemporary to the incident that sparked that very appearance. There's a little bit of unnerving that's going on, there, since he actually doesn't know what to expect.

"Ah, no, my mistake -- I recognized what you were, not who you are. Terribly rude of me. My sincerest apologies." Caster nods his head, and then to Staren. "Excellent work with the drakes, young man; the drainage duct should be fully complete without too much more trouble."

Wasn't this guy at the planning table, standing next to /Lezard/?

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches Kal eat with mild amusement and curiousity. And then most of the food has gone, very fast. And, while he's hardly an expert at reading body language, he's suddenly getting exactly the same vibe from the beastman as you get from a dog that you gave /one/ piece of food to. "Um... well, the idea was, you'd pick something off the menu, and then we eat these while they make it... Um... I think we need to get you something like..." The eager... hungryness of the A-Ray is making him nervous. He flags down a server again. "Umm... get my friend here a platter of sausage, bacon, pancakes, eggs, and toast. You know, a big breakfast. ...Better make it two plates. He looks back to Kal. "There, uh, there will be more but they need time to cook it." He nibbles at what's left of the appetizer. "So... /Oh/. Rider. I get it. He's a /Servant/?" Staren looks confused. Aren't Servants supposed to be great people from history? But then, they met the Y2K bug...
Staren blinks at Caster. "Oh! Um... thanks... So you were there helping plan it out, right? I don't think I caught your name..." This is a slightly confusing and awkward night, with the new ally who's never seen real food before hungrily staring at him and the guy he barely knows catching him at a disadvantage.

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "'All of that'?" Kal asks, staring at Maya curiously. "Was that like a big meal for you guys? That was tiny! I'm not full at all! Man, humans sure are inconvenient."

     Kal's eyes narrow slightly at Caster's statement. That meant a certain thing, and that meant another certain thing. But Kal is either too polite, or too self-assured, to care. He shrugs, sending his huge wings fluffing with the mere motion.

     "Cook? Oh, that sounds like it'll take a while. Do you have it raw? I bet it tastes different."

     "Oh, yeah. That's Rider. He's my Servant. It's a long and complicated thing, I'll tell you about it later." Kal's bird eyes are still focused slightly off to the side, at Caster rather than on Staren. There's a sense of tension in the air around him, a coiled, predatory air despite his otherwise laid-back attitude.

     Rider, meanwhile, scrambles up on the table and sits down, crossing its awkwardly-shaped little legs under its bulbous grey body. It makes another burbling gibberish noise.

     "What he said," Kal agrees quietly.

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Kal a curious look. "Have you ever eaten raw meat before? If not, I'm not ordering it for you without a doctor's note... You can always try it later anyway though, I guess."

Maya has posed:
Maya pauses for a moment and looks to Staren for a moment.

"We might want to get them to get the Sayain sized portions."

She's not being mean but it dseems tht Kal has a much higher need for calories than a lot of people do.

"That was an entire tray of shrimp, someone could eat all that ya but that be half to a full meal worth of food. Just how much do you need ot eat if I might ask?"

She also catches the glances between Caster and Kal and uhohs a little bit.

"Raw meat generally doesn't do well for humans save in a few types of cooking."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
"That's right. Lezard required my expertise on the structure and the power sources we'd install after we'd cleared the valley. It was a worthwhile diversion." Caster nods at Staren. He smiles a little. "You wouldn't have. I don't give my proper one out very often. It's a habit I picked up from my less-reputable compatriots," he says with a sigh.

The man lifts the brim of his hat and tips it. He's addressing Staren, Kal, Maya and Rider all at once, but there's a sense that he's staring right at Kal the whole time, despite apparently looking at each of them. His focus is definitely the A-RAY. "I am Caster, of the Steel Faction within the Land of Steel. Pleased to properly make your acquaintance."

He hasn't made any sudden moves since he got to the table. Smart.

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "I've never eaten anything that wasn't processed," Kal points out cheerfully. "The grey ones are the best. They're like grey, but not quite as grey as the DARK grey ones, but not as light as the LIGHT grey ones."

     "Basically one ration bar is all I need. That's why I'm surprised your stuff isn't very filling. Maybe it's because you sacrificed calories for taste or something?" He shrugs.

     "Kal Udar," Kal replies, "No.9 Thunder Lord. This is Rider, of the Green Faction of the Land of Steel."

     Rider scrambles forward on all fours along the table towards Caster. It doesn't do anything else.

     Its eyes are *particularly* huge.

Staren has posed:
    "So... You're from the Land of Steel too? What's the Steel faction?" Staren glanced at Kal. "It's... possible. This is a restaurant. It can only /exist/ in a world where people are able to care about taste. I get the impression that anyone who didn't grow up on... processed food bars... can't stand the taste of such things and prefers not to eat them. Thus, they buy food like this. Also, Green Faction?"

Ark Line (687) has posed:
To his credit, Caster stands his ground when Rider of Green starts to scramble forward. His hand slips inside his coat, fingers curling around a cylindrical object concealed within. He narrows his eyes at the grey, speaking carefully and enunciating clearly, "Fighting is not permitted within this establishment. The management has made that very clear."

Ah. So /that's/ why he hasn't done something drastic. Of course, it could just be that he's being polite. There are literal knights as Servants among the Union that would treat with their foes -- why couldn't someone who isn't do the same?

"Yes, I am. Or rather, my Master is. We," he glances at Rider of Green, still standing rooted to the spot, "are of course from a time before the world became the Land of Steel, summoned to write the next bloody chapter of Babel's Tale across the face of a desolate world." Caster's voice is heavy with emotion. Resignation, maybe.

"The Steel Faction is the group of Masters and their Servants who support the Liner cause for humanity's survival..." He closes his eyes, tugging on the rim of his hat. He sounds a touch uncomfortable. "...and the destruction of the A-RAYS, who threaten that cause. By any means necessary."

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "The Green Faction is basically the same thing, but in reverse," Kal tells Staren, "Destroying the Liners who threaten us and all that stuff. Mostly it means I can slack and let Rider do all my work for me."

     Rider stands. Its huge head tilts so its giant eyes can stare at the cylindrical thing in Caster's hands. It steps back a bit, warbling. Whether it understands or not is totally up in the air.

     "Hey, c'mon, Rider, we don't wanna get thrown out on day one. Besides, I'm still hungry."

     Rider crouches back on all fours again, loping back down the table like an awkward bulbous-headed caveman.

     "I imagine my food'd kill you," Kal corrects Staren, "I mean I'm pretty sure it kills ordinary humans in the Land of Steel, I'm not sure why it'd be any different. Maybe it'd make you really sick, I understand a lot of you guys are really, really good humans? But it probably wouldn't be very fun for you."

Staren has posed:
    Staren snaps his fingers. "Right! Grain. Yes, that'd be bad. Wait, could it be this food's not filling because it doesn't include /magic/? ...I guess we'll know when that order finally comes."

    Staren sighs. "See, this guy isn't interested in the fighting. I'm not getting the story out of /him/." Staren looks at Rider. "Or his, uh... Servant." He looks back to Caster. "Would /you/ care to enlighten me as to what the heck is really going on in the Land of Steel, why they're fighting?"

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "I'm sure Rider'd love to tell you a story, but I'm also pretty sure he doesn't know how to talk," Kal interjects cheerily.

Maya has posed:
Maya says "That could be it, i wonder how many calories they cram into things. Generall humans need about 2000 to 3000 calories if i recall numbers right."

Maya's been a bit quite for the moment as she takes moment to order her own meal and listens to Caster's talk about his faction and it's goals.

"Staten see how many calories are in one of those ration bars, I'm betting it's pretty insane."

maya notes. She looks back to Caster "I'm curious about just what's going on there. Given what's come crawling out of the wood work from your world a few times."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Rider can see the barest hint of black metal in Caster of Steel's hand when he starts to withdraw it from his pocket. It looks vaguely grenade-shaped, but if it is, it's a primitive one. Besides, what kind of Servant carries grenades? It's probably /way/ more dangerous.

He puts it back, though, when the alien lopes away. He seems to rest a little more easily on his heels at that point. "It's difficult to say. The prevailing Liner viewpoint is that the A-RAYS are a product of the dying Earth, who appeared some time ago and claimed that humanity's time on the planet was over. They've been attacking human cities ever since, necessitating the creation of Liners, and then the Ether Liners, which I'm sure you," he nods at Kal, "are familiar with."

"For my own part," Caster continues, "I believe it is not quite so cut-and-dry. The A-RAYS may believe they are the next stage of evolution for life in the Land of Steel, and that the humans -- or 'last seeds,' as they're called -- are an evolutionary dead end. Survival of the fittest, you understand. Humanity is unable to survive the Grain-filled atmosphere, so they are unfit to live in it."

"As for the start of the conflict, it seems likely that animal instinct may have led them to attempt to claim human territory and their remaining resources, which, of course, the surviving humans were ill-suited to defend." Caster paces a little at the end of the table, appearing to be comfortable acting like a lecturer. "Humanity, of course, continued to innovate, until it developed a solution that could stop the A-RAYS from simply finishing them off."

"Unfortunately, the remaining genetically-pure humans continue to dwindle, and they've had to leave their legacy to the Liners... a sad state of affairs." Caster shakes his head. "But that is why there is war at all, rather than simply a... a culling. Honestly, a state of all-out warfare is better than the alternative, so far as humanity is concerned."

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to this. "...So... the A-Rays can live in that /wasteland/, and they feel the need to kill humans over the places they're still living? What the heck, that's /dumb/. You should just /stop/ fighting. I mean... A-Rays live where they can, humans and liners live where they can... I imagine many of the humans are planning to leave for space or other worlds, anyway. Like, who's in charge of all this? Can we talk to them, or alternatively, beat their faces in until we're in charge instead and /order/ both sides to stand down?"

    The food finally arrives soon after. Two plates of breakfast, but not full of magic. Will it be enough to fill an A-Ray?

Ark Line (687) has posed:
"The situation is more complex than that, I'm sure," Caster of Steel says. "And I'm afraid I can't condone any actions that lead to assaulting Liner command staff. You would, I think, find the experience..." He searches for a good word, and settles on, "...unpleasant, at any rate. Emotions run too high for reason, many a time."

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs. "I'm spitballing here. And it still sounds better than joining /either/ side to exterminate the other, that's for sure."

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     The answer is no. That food vanishes just as fast as the prior. Kal's weird, birdlike eating snaps huge hunks of bread and meat into his mouth in rapid intervals. If someone is paying close attention to his face, they might notice that his teeth are *sharp*. Like, swords sharp. Like, /could tear flesh/ sharp.

     "This stuff is super tasty," Kal observes once he's torn through more or less all of it, "Aren't you gonna eat anything?"

     He may just not have realized.

     Staren's assertions get a frown across Kal's face. "You know, I really didn't want to talk about this stuff," he points out, "*I* wanted to try some of your cool food and see what you guys do for fun, because that's way more interesting. Do humans just like fixate on how they can solve problems and kill things? I mean you've literally JUST met me. I know your name and also I know that you're paying for this food, which I bet is some kinda barter and I bet it's gonna make you really unhappy at the end when you see how much you have to trade for it."

     "It's just kinda sudden, you know? You need to learn to relax."

Maya has posed:
Maya has been queit and eating her own meal listening for the most part, it would be a drop in the bucket to Kal for sure. "Staren easy. There's also music which is a fairly unviersal thing that humans share with a number of other species as well. If that strikes your fancy Kal." Maya's clearly wanting to move on from the topic of the situation on Kal's world and it's problems. "There's as many types of food out there as there are worlds and cultures. There's a lot to explore just on that."

Ark Line (687) has posed:
"My Master has a rather... /romantic/ sort of goal in mind," Caster eventually says, "but destroying the A-RAYS is what he was made for. Perhaps seeing things from another perspective enough might convince him it isn't necessary, and he can move on to doing what's important for our blighted world."

Seeing the topical shift imminent, Caster of Steel nods again. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal. I've got my own to think about." He nods to each. "Gentlemen; lady." Then, he straightens his newpaper, and starts to move on. He's made things awkward enough in these few minutes.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks back at Kal "...I had meals earlier, and I ate a bit of the appetizers as a midnight snack. this was... It just felt wrong that an ally had never tasted real food. However, it seems for one reason or another, human food's not working for you, even if it tastes good." Staren shrugs. "Sorry..."

    "As for human fixations... I dunno, I'm pretty weird by human standards, but I /do/ fixate on solving problems, and a lot of problems in the Multiverse seem to come down to killing things. I didn't mean to sour your meal experience, but I /was/ curious about what's up with the Land of Steel and this seemed the first opportunity I've seen to learn much."

    Staren takes a deep breath. "You've eaten two meals and some appetizer. Even given that it's like, three times as expensive to buy prepared food as it is to get ingredients... I'm a Multiversal with a lot of resources and a Union salary, and not a lot of expenses that I can't invoice the Union for. This is /not/ a big deal, although I wouldn't wanna pay to feed you every day. I'm afraid food like this is gonna just have to be occasional flavor till we figure out what's in those rations of yours, though."

    Staren slouches in his chair. "I get that a lot, but I'm /kinda/ relaxed? I don't think I'm /actually/ gonna solve everything tonight. But to some degree, I just can't stop thinking. That's just the way I am. The only time I can really relax is... well, I guess that's not important."

    Staren sits up. "Sorry the meal ended up being a disappointment. At least it was educational... I'd say I'd make it up to you, but..." Staren scratches his head, "Getting you tasty food kinda /was/ my treat? Still. I hope that someday I will help your cause in a way you find more agreeable."

Kal Udar (932) has posed:
     "I'm not disappointed," Kal corrects cheerfully, "I just don't really wanna talk about depressing stuff like 'why people are dying' when there's delicious food right here in front of me. It may not fill me up but that just means I get to taste more of it, right?"

     "I'll tell you more stuff later. But..."

     Kal looks at his empty plate.

     "For tonight, let's lay off the heavy talk, huh?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs affirmatively. "I'm kind of curious where it's all /going/... and I'm concerned that if you /do/ need magic, we could just feed you all day and it's not gonna get us anywhere. You might want to save trying some things for later."

    "Still, I suppose we can get you some more of the basics today..." Next order is the biggest whatever-decker hamburger they have together with breaded fish and french fries (Staren eats some of the fries.)

    If Kal is /still/ hungry, Staren covers more kinds of food. Stew. Chili. A hero sandwich. More kinds of fish. There are endless kinds of food. (Staren has his head computer, so sitting here isn't much of a bother)

    If Kal just /keeps going/, once the amount of food he's eaten approaches /ten/ meals, Staren calls it. "Alright. We could literally feed you all day, this has gotta stop somewhere. And I need to get to bed. You'll get more food later, but for now, we can wrap things up with ice cream dessert." Because someone having never had ice cream is too cruel and that must be rectified.

    It's a big check and a big tip, but Staren was honest about his financial situation. Maybe he couldn't do this every day -- though he could for awhile -- but spending a bunch of money to let someone who's /never had food with taste/ try it? It's worth some expense, at least once.