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The Kid     The Bastion sits upon the highest hill within the confines of the ever-growing City. Much of it is still obscured with canvassed scaffolding, but the path is clear via use of Skyways. The platforms launch the visitors into the air, the winds guiding them to a gentle landing open the grassy lawn of the time-defying structure.

    It's a strange feeling, being back here. Sections and panels of the exterior are opened to reveal the mass of clockwork within. The Monument at the centre has masses of tubes pooling into it. All save one of the buildings upon it are still under construction. The exception is the Distillery a building of varnished wood upon brick foundations with a black sign of two bottles hanging above the door. Presently, Zia stands outside it sweeping the path. "Oh, welcome!" she calls, waving the guests over. "Kid and Rucks are just setting up inside."

    Inside the wooden structure is brightly lit, with many lanterns hung from hooks and set on the ground. The walls are papered green and the floor is polished wood. At the front is a bar with shelves heavy with bottles behind it. Rucks himself is manning it, polishing the counter top with a rag. "Hey there," he says in his customary voice of honey and gravel. "We'll be in the back for most of this. But nothin' like sittin' folks at a bar sharin' what you brewed." Stepping out from behind the bar, he guides everyone to the back.

     All three floors of the building are dedicated to the art of making drink. Entering the area leaves you upon a landing overlooking the basement, next to another staircase that ascends to yet another landing above. Tubing and pipes utilize the empty space in the middle of the vast room, flowing from one machine to another. There's barely room to navigate between massive tubs, presses, ovens, vats, and conveyor belts. Kid is presently lugging a massive sack and a barrel at the same time, nodding to everyone in passing.

    "All right folks, let's start all this in the office," Rucks says, guiding everyone downstairs to a large desk in a cramped corner of the room. The walls are plastered with hanging scrolls depicting types of drink, ingredients, and locations. "The world of drink is big. Bigger'n Caelondia even. So I've been lookin' into what other places are doin'." He rummages into a sack leaning against the desk and produces a handful of milled grains. "Generally speakin', drinks start with either grains," Now he reaches into another sack and produces a handful of grapes. "Or fruits. Now, there's some exceptions, like mead, made from honey. But generally' if it can ferment, it can make booze."

    He leans back in his chair and gestures at the assembled. "So you tell me; what are you lookin' to make. If you got no clue, tell me what flavours you like."
Arkae Zellar Arkae makes admiring noises as she looks around the Bastion.

"Well... I've always wondered," she says, when the question is posed. "Do bugs ferment?"
Arcadia Oh wow, this place has air-pressure launchers that are for general civilian travel? Neat! You'd think this wouldn't be very interesting to someone that can fly, but it's entirely the opposite case for Arcadia. Being flung into the air towards a destination and not under her own power is a bit of a thrill, even if not exceptionally dangerous. Eventually it lands the sphinx on the indicated location though. "Hello!" Zia is given a cheerful return greeting as she scampers past following everyone else inside.

Inside and down to a very limited space 'office'. Politely she folds her wings down and coils her tail around a leg to keep them out of the way of others. Thankfully without the wingspan she's not exceptionally big.

When Rucks poises his question she ahs, uhs, and taps her index digits together timidly. "I.. don't know? I mean, I am capable of food and beverage consumption but do not require them for dietary susitance or function. I was just curious!"
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz has been aware of the Kid and his companions for a long time, still, she's never really met or interacted with them much. She needs to change that and with the lure of booze? It didn't take any prodding to get the Newman hunter to come on down to the Bastion. The Skyways make the trip simple enough and the city is quite the sight to the old elite. SHe'll find her way into to the building and her one good eye goes wide, oh this is her sort of place to be sure.

She'll look over to Rucks for a moment as she'll make her way down an to the office.

"Mmm those three bases are about the same for anything worth drinking where I'm from. Though we have to import most of it as we still can't colonize Ragol."

She makes a face and is at the point maybe the Concord can help her people find a world that is not the jail for a Dark God that would love to destroy all existence.

"Honestly looking for something strong but not strong enough to make you forget the party you're at. Jokes aside? Honestly, I'm looking to see if I can do something with some of your people's local fruits and my world's own."
Haguro An office lady clad in purple and white arrives at the Distillery, carrying an overstuffed backpack with her. There's several dark green and brownish-red bottles sticking out of it, and it's not hard to guess that they're probably all booze considering the reason for her being here. She offers Zia a light bow at the waist in greeting, then steps inside to greet Rucks before following him and the others further inside.

"Thank you for inviting us. It's been a while since I've been to one of these, so this should be fun." She comments with a light-hearted chuckle, ducking down a bit and dropping the backpack to one side just to make sure she doesn't knock something over on the way to that corner.

"I'm not all that certain myself, honestly. Um... Something less harsh to start before gettingt he stronger drinks, maybe? I've brought some stuff from my world if you needed extra... Erm. Stuff." The bottles come out, and they're giant novelty sake bottles, all filled with the real stuff!

"These are all made with rice... Er. I-I think."
Priscilla     It's a bit of a strange feeling, being back at the Bastion. Priscilla had spent much time here, what feels like ages ago, even if it had only been a few years. Back then, though, the last ditch fallback of the Caelondian people, the pinnacle of their science, had both been complete, and hovered intact over the shattered void that had once been their planet. Seeing it half-finished brings her an odd sense of being displaced in time somehow, lingering long on the incomplete buildings while reimagining what they used to look like --will look like. At the same time though, it's . . . satisfying to be here. To see things intact. Normal. To see Rucks again.

    And of course the Distillery would be the first thing finished here, fully stocked and furnished before the scaffolding is even complete on some other facilities. That's the type they are.

    "Well met, Lady Zia. Merely visiting, or art thou hard at work?" Priscilla asks, on the way through, smiling enough with her eyes that her presence briefly manages to be warm, rather than completely chilled. She inclines her head towards the Kid on the way in, in that habitually princessly sort of way rather than the masculine 'hey, sup?' that she gets. Upon meeting Rucks again though, she says "Well met to thee as well, Sir Rucks. A long moment, it feels as it hast beeen. I am pleased to see thee in good health."

    She contemplates the choices for a long moment, before deciding based on some sort of logical thing. "I am familiar enough to sayeth that grain is most oft used for beers, and fruit for wines, yes? I hath little personal knowledge, or preference, either way, but for mine own purposes, grains wouldst be best to beginneth with." After all. Grain is civilization. 'Bread and beer'.
The Kid     "Yes," Rucks says in response to Arkae without missing a beat. "Found some places put a whole snake in their wine. Though that's more to flavour it with their venom than their meat. We here actually make cider outta Squirt extract, so we're no stranger to that kind of thing. If you're lookin' to try that, we can. What kinda bugs were you lookin' at?"

    "Take it from me," Kid says as he comes up behind Arcadia. "Best way to learn about anythin' is to get your hands dirty. Just throw somethin' out there. Anythin' from back home will do. You'll make somethin' and learn the process." Rucks nods along with Kid. "And hey, if what you make is good, we can see about selling it, make you some profit on the side."

    "Local fruits? Well then... Zia!" The girl peeks over from the landing above. "Bring down a vineapple." She grabs something before descending the stairs. It's a large green fruit, covered with some spiky lumps. She produces a cleaver from her robes and cuts it up, offering a slice to everyone. It bursts with juice, bears a sharp citrusy tang and is shockingly filling for raw fruit. "Grows in the Wilds. We like ta make a sweet chowder with it in winter. If you're lookin' for strong, we'll be distilling it. What have you got that might complement it?" Rucks asks Crys.

    Kid pulls a bottle from Haguro's bottle, opens it, and downs the contents in a single go as Rucks watches. When he's done, he licks his lips and muses. "Sweet. Little dry. Not a lot of tail to it." The elderly man nods and smiles at Haguro. "You interested in making your own like this ma'am? Caelondia doesn't grow rice, but I figured out all sorts of places we can get some."

    Rucks smiles lightly to Priscilla. "You as well, Queen Priscilla. "He listens patiently as she explains what she's looking for. "Grains then. That presents its own question. Are you lookin' to mix different sorts, or brew from a single grain. Both have benefits. A mix lets you add a lot of stuff and create somethin' unique from the sum of its parts. But that means really tryin' all sorts of different things to get somethin' good. But just usin' one creates a strong taste profile that everythin' else needs to orbit around. Little easier I suppose."
Arcadia "That is why I am here," Arcadia agrees with Kid with a nod. She takes the offered slice of fruit, pinching it between two claws. Just because that's more precise than her broader paw-like fingers. Takes a bite. "Ooh, that's got some zip to it." Just because she doesn't 'eat to survive' doesn't mean she can't enjoy a good taste.

She flips the rest of the slice in her mouth, chewing on it thoughtfully as she considers. "Hold on." She turns partially to rummage around in her subdimensional inventory pocket.
Priscilla     "Priscilla is very much fine." the half-dragon responds to Rucks. "Thou kneweth mineself well long enough ago." She tries a more visible smile. It's still, and probably always will be, a little weak, but at least hopefully reassuring.

    She doesn't even link at the next question. "I requireth as much capacity for uniqueness as possible, in this matter. Though of course I wouldst wish to learn a broad base of fundamentals from which to advance, the ultimate ends art to create something with little similarity to commonly encountered drink."
Haguro Haguro watches Kid curiously when he takes one of the bottles and chugs the whole thing, giving him a polite golf clap once he finishes. "Making...? O-oh, I wouldn't know where to start besides... Er. Fermenting, and I've only done that by accident before."

She laughs, but there's a deadness in her eyes when she mentions that. Precious, terrible memories.

"...But yes, I'd like to give it a try if it's not too much trouble for you." Indeed, the office lady looks intensely determined to do that, and she even straightens out her white admiral's cap to... Keep her hands busy, probably. She lets out an affirmative grunt when Priscilla mentions the fundamentals. "Those would be important, yes. Knowing how to do it properly without inadvertently poisoning whomever I'm serving it to, knowing what to use..."

'Anythin' from back home will do.' That line, though... That has Haguro thinking outside the box already. "If fermenting can happen with almost anything, then what if...?" Digging around in her backpack, she eventually retrieves what looks like an artillery shell.

It totally is an artillery shell. "Do you think we could ferment something in one of these? And.. Uh. Still consume it safely?"
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz looks over to Haguro grinning at the ship spirit for a moment before she turns her attention to Priscilla.

"Hello Lady Pricilla."

Crys bows before she'll turn her attention back to Rucks and the Kid. Given the topic of booze is something close to her heart here. She does seem happy though that her ultimate boss is interested in this subject.

The local fruit gets Crys's attention and a grin on her face, she looks to Zia.

"Thank you and yes Rucks I do have an idea they are called Rappie Berries. It's only not fallen into extinction because it's so fondly used for certain drinks it's a bit on the sour side but if you mix it right we might get something interesting and with what you offered I think we could get something quite new."

She'll tap on her gauntlet as a small container full of /very/ bright yellow berries appears in one hand.

"You can try some if you like. I have more stashed away in here."
The Kid     "Holding," Rucks says as he watches Arcadia root through her storage. He answers everyone else in the meantime.

    "Somethin' unique huh?... lotta folks like to conflate 'good' with 'unique,' but I know better. You're lookin' for the newest innovation. Tall order." He begins going through scrolls, unfurling them and reading the contents when Haguro proposes an idea. He looks up, and a confused look crosses his face.

    "Ma'am, uh... ya know what 'fermentation' means right? It's the breakdown of /organic/ things. A shell won't-" "Now hold on old man," Kid interrupts. "Ya must know somethin' that eats metal. Could we use that, with this thing as the food for 'em?" Rucks drums his desk with his fingers and thinks on it. "We could... but you're drinkin' it first Kid. Jus' to make sure it won't kill me." Kid nods, and looks to Haguro. "You willin' to go ahead? Probably won't taste anythin' like this stuff." He takes another bottle from her backpack and sips it.

    Rucks takes one of the berries Crys offers and chomps on it. "Ooohhh, that's tart. The two could definitely go well together. Some kind of refreshing fruit brandy. Dependin' on how much you got there, we could get started right now."

    Zia looks up to Priscilla and speaks to her. "I... might have an idea. I've had this on me ever since the Ura took me... Before." She rummages in her robe and produces a shark of rock. Black, glassy, oddly veined, and seemingly throbbing.

    Something Wrong.

    "I used it to draw on the walls of my cells. I've certainly never seen anything like it. Maybe it could be used somehow?"
Arcadia "Aha!" Arcadia eventually, finally blurts out. "I do still have some of the samples they gave me to show other worlds when I could."

She holds up what would presume is some kind of fruit, considering it's thick looking skin and the short knobby spikes covering it. "Even the plant life on The Line has had to evolve to deal with extremes from speed and friction. We call 'em studballs, because their texture is like a studded tire. But you just got to get past that." She squeezes, enough for her claws to pinch between the studs to dig into the hard skin, and eventually gets a trickle of juice from the inside. "They're a little tart, but most of the Line enjoys everything fast and hot."
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz thinks for a moment trusting in Rucks' experience and she thinks about the idea of a brandy. She thinks this over for a moment and she starts to smile at this.

"I think that I have enough for a small batch on me. We should be able to make enough for a small test batch." She'll take a moment to look around.

"Though I should not unpack it till we get to a suitable spot I think."

She seems to be in a very good mood about this and she listens to some of the other ideas that are being batted around. Haguro gets an eyebrow rises but when Crys thinks on that plan, she seems amused.

"Huh if it works out that might be something for a rather untapped market in the multiverse."
Haguro "Huh? Oh! I was thinking more of using this just as the container rather than the actual..." Haguro sarts to clarify, then stops when Rucks suggests using something that eats metal. She furrows her brow and closes her eyes, deep in thought while starting to nod to herself.

"If I could find another I-class that won't try to eat me, maybe... Although I don't know where the metal goes after they eat it. And getting it back out..." She grimaces slightly, but the wheels are already turning for better or for worse. Opening her eyes again, Haguro finally gives Kid a firm nod. "I won't know if it's good or bad until I try it. Besides, if it is bad, it'll just be disgusting. It won't... Er. Shouldn't kill me."

The second bottle is also sake. It seems like they're all sake and all oversized, but there's also a moderately warped thermos deeper inside that's labeled 'deep' filled with (mostly) seawater if Kid goes for that.

Crys gets a light chuckle at that last comment. "You think so? Hm. I mean, there's probably some marketability in drinks made specifically by Fleet D-" She pauses, that glazed over look returning to her eyes for the briefest of moments. "... Ship spirits. That could help bring some extra funding in for the fleet, and I could even see if the Seaport wanted to collaborate."

She hasn't even made anything yet and she's already getting ideas. This cannot possibly go wrong.

Speaking of things going wrong, there's Something Wrong right there. Haguro squints at that odd rock, resisting the urge to poke and prod at it. "I heard some people like steeping their tea in hollow metal balls, so maybe... Something like that?"
Priscilla     "I am looking to surprise someone, eventually. One with greatly veteran experiences with drink." Priscilla says, nodding slowly and firmly, without explaining any further.

    Until Zia produces that item. That impossibly strange, yet dreadfully familiar item.

    "Where didst thou obtained this?" Priscilla asks, starting to frown. "Didst thou taketh this back with thee? This whole time?" By which she means literally *back* in time. She looks to the Kid, then back. "I cannot . . . imagine such a thing to be healthy to be consumed in any quantity. Truthfully I am somewhat surprised that there appear to be no effects upon thineself for possessing it so long."
The Kid     Rucks reaches out and takes the studball from Arcadia, catching a drop of juice on his finger and sucking it off. "Mm. That is tart. Hot and fast you say?... I reckon this could go with a bunch of spices, maybe ferment it with some peppers. Could make jus' what your people like."

    "We'll start with these two ideas then. C'mon, presses are upstairs." Rucks leads Arcadia and Crys up to the highest landing and gets two great machines running. Using a bench, he prepares some vineapples with Kid's help and the fruit mixed with Crys' berries is placed under the enormous press. With the push of a button, the machine begins pounding the two, producing their juice and pulp and letting it collect in a tank. The same is done with studballs mixed with some femented peppers that Rucks adds from a jar on a different press.

    As this goes on, Kid only gives Priscilla a half-shrug, a kind of 'yeah I knew about that.' Zia smiles lightly and puts it away. "I kept it with me as a reminder. So I wouldn't forget. It's strange, but it's not corruptive or anything. At least, I haven't noticed it doing anything."

    Once the presses have done their work, Rucks collects the tanks and smirks. "Now, we didn't get this workin' according to Zia Before, but we got it now." He adds some fresh water to the mixtures, along with some yeast as a fermenting agent, and places them in a strange machine. It looks almost like a centrifuge, with racks set around a central axel contained within a glass case. "Cores 'n Shards remember things. The passage of time... we figured out how to take that experience of time, 'n transfer it to other things."

    The two mixtures are placed inside, and the device hums to life. The fruity mashes are bathed in a blue light for all of five seconds before the process ends. With a hiss, the machine opens, revealing the contents are now darker, as if they've been fermenting for months.

    "With this, we can ferment mixtures and age drinks in instants. Let's get these distilled." Down the stairs to another setup. The mixtures are heated in glass below a tower filled with strange shards. Beyond the shards is another tube that goes downward into a separate container, with the tube being continually cooled with water pumping through a hose. "This'll get all the bits out. Leave us with near-pure alcohol."

    Kid watches this all happen intently. An idea seems to strike him, and he looks up at Priscilla. "Ma'am. Y'know what Cores 'n Shards are made of. Things that remember. Livin' things. I wonder... could we make your drink with 'em? Instead of yeast or the like. Beer made from rememberin' things..."

    As that happens, Rucks extends a hand to Haguro, taking the shell from her with a grunt. "I reckon I got an idea for this now missy. Something that tastes of the sea, of war... mind leavin' it to me?"
Arcadia Arcadia tilts her head to the side. Both in watching Rucks work, and in listening to what he says about Cores and such.

"Much of the magitek in Argo Alexandria is similar, using crystals as a storage medium." She taps the crystal imbedded into her forearm armor. "For energy, and in the way other races use 'circuits' and such." So shiny chunks of rock holding memories or what not doesn't strike her as very odd.

Though her attention is very much back on the process as the giant machines are spinning and Rucks explains the results. "Ooooh, -that- makes it much more efficient as an economic product! No waiting for years or longer." She knows that much about the process... Or more likely looked it up before coming so she wasn't completely in the dark.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz looks to Arcadia and seems to like where this plan is going. She will fall in with Ruks and Arcadia heading up fo follow him to the machine once they get to the right spot? She will summon the storage container full of the berries for Kid to help get them into presses. She takes a look at it for a moment and grins.

"The basics never really change how much magic or technology a world has I find."

She will help get them loaded up making sure all the Rappie Berries end up in the presses.

"I can't wait to see how this turns out, you excited Arcadia?"

She also looks to Kid.

"Thanks for the help."
Haguro Haguro listens to the commotion from upstairs as Rucks leads two of the group that way, peeking up those stairs as best she can without heading up herself. It'd be impolite to follow them up there without an invitation! Besides, Zia's strange rock is still rather curious looking, and it's not like she has to wait long for Rucks to come right back down to the next setup in the Distillery.

None of this is what Haguro was expecting to see in the fermentation process. "Isn't pure alcohol.. Erm. Extremely potent? I wonder if that'd be..."

She's about to say safe, but stops herself. "Sorry. I shouldn't worry about that sort of thing. Not if we're looking for stuff to enjoy ourselves with!" She lets out another determined noise, then hands over the shell to Rucks without missing a beat. "Oh? Certainly. I can I always get more if you wanted to rest things, too, although... I'm not sure how safe it is for humans to consume too much gunpowder."

No bad ideas ever.
Priscilla     Priscilla doesn't look immediately convinced at Zia's reassurances. She remembers that stone all too well. What it had been used for. What even the Kid did used it for in the end. She looks misgivingly between Zia and he several times, evidently feeling as if she should say something else, turning it over and over again without quite saying the words, and then finally gives up with a sigh. "Well, if thou sayeth so. I shouldst requireth some time to imagine how it coulsa be used, however."

    Well, she'd first like to see how this works at all. Having an outright inside tour of the whole process fulfils that need well. Though she has to duck under some pipes and squeeze past some machinery here and there, even taking the walkway, she paces around the landings to be able to watch the fruit's journey from start to finish. When the samples are almost instantly flash fermented, she speaks up with a measure of finely measured approval, clearly impressed, but measured --probably by the fact this kind of technology is being used for alcohol.

    "This place was especially more impressive than I had dared imagine before." she says. "I had wondered, slightly, at its importance to thee. Why it shouldst be built into the Bastion itself, rather than a simple storehouse. Surely this is a valuable find indeed."

    The Kid brings up an especially esoteric piece of knowledge, then. Priscilla blinks in consideration, but doesn't look lost for even a second. "Yes . . . I remember such a fact. It was direly relevant, if for but a moment, once ago. Such tiniest of creatures, deep in the earth. Thou wouldst believe they couldst . . . well, Sir Rucks did sayeth something of even insects being appropriate in some cases. It is a novel idea, at the least. Albeit, likely one expensive sheerly by the process of acquiring such. I assumeth thou knoweth of places, yes?"
The Kid     "They can eat a little," Rucks says to Haguro, with the air of a man who knows this from experience. He gets to work immediately, opening up the shell and extracting a majority of the gunpowder, leaving only a bit. "Zia. I'll need some fish guts, rinsed out." The girl nods, and slips out to retrieve the slippery item, soon returning with them bundled in a rag.

    Rucks dumps them into a container along with the disassembled shell, a small amount of gunpowder, and the seawater Haguro provided. Lastly, he adds some kind of algae, and puts the whole thing through the accelerator. What comes out is a rancid-smelling mix of corroded and broken metal and aged guts. Rucks sieves this rigorously, washing the mixture with water to get it all out.

    "We'll distil this too, multiple times. While that happens though, let's try these two." He takes the now-distilled drinks made with Arcadia and Crys' suggestions and pours them out into shot glasses for everyone. The vineapple and berry eau de vie is a cloudy greenish yellow, while the studball and pepper drink is a reddish black. "Down the hatch folks."

    Everyone, Zia included, tries both. As expected, the eau de vie is citrusy and sour, the kind of thing that makes you suck your cheeks in. It has a smooth burn, and the tail leaves your mouth tingling. The studball liquor is burning hot and tart, the flavour profile being the equivalent to a mugging. It comes and goes fast, nary lingering on the tongue at all. But everyone is left red-faced and eyes watering by it.

    As Kid gets over it, he looks to Priscilla and nods. "Burstone Quarry. Should be a safe dive now. We jus need some fragments for a test batch. Could take the Skyways and back in half an hour."
Arcadia Arcadia takes the shot and looks it over for a moment. She's not going to be the best judge because she doesn't drink anything very often, but nothing ventured nothing gained right. "What is the saying? Cheers, bottoms up?" And slugs it back without actually waiting for an answer to that.

Even her not entirely organic complexion almost immeadiately shows a bit red to it, eyes scrunching a bit. Then she finally rasps out a breath, and a few vapors with it. Shakes her head a few times. "That qualifies as hot and fast! Kicks like drinking nitro straight from the tank." Which... may be a thing she has done in the past. Just because it's suppose to be a speed booster, and she doesn't have much in the way of fear (or common sense at times). Rubs her mouth with the back of a paw. "Not an every person drink, but for those that are concerned most with the kick and the rush, that's perfect."
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz seems pleased her own project is well underway if it turns out it could certainly be something that could go beyond a small test batch. She watches the process with the others as they get to work on helping with Haguro's planned brew.

Crys thinks would be best for beings like Ship spirits and mechanical lifeforms maybe CASTs would like it? She wonders about this but isn't bold enough to think about trying it herself. It's fun experimenting and it's done faster than she expected.

She will happily give both a try and she seems pleased with the results of her own mix. Arcadia's idea is also quite interesting as she takes it down and does make a whooo noise.

"Well I got to say I never thought my taste buds could be mugged." She notes to Arcadia.

She looks over to Rucks grinning.

"I think I'll be taking some of my batch back home to get some more input from the Hunters and Marines on the colony ship."

She looks to Arcadia and wonders if she's drunk Nitro before. Then again she's from the Line so it's possible.
Priscilla     "That closely?" Priscilla replies, in rhetorical wonderment moreso than a real question. "I am surprised at such convenience. I remember very well what it was like whence we last explored it, though the circumstances then were quite obviously different." She spends a moment looking pensive, shifting her weight subtly in some mild, sourceless hesitation about going, but finally decides that it might be a good idea, expressed though little more than a slow nod.

    "Of course, I hath in mind many such potential 'original' additives. Ones few people hath had any occasion to sample. Some, perhaps none. I cannot anticipate whether such memories, distilled from them, wouldst be fond or foul, however. I wonder, wouldst a pure and tasteless mix simply bringeth them at random?"

    "I believeth I wouldst hath thee do the honours of a first inclusion, however. Certainly thou hast some fond memories of home, and authentic Caelondian ingredients art no doubt plentiful here." Barely a moment's silence passes. "Or perhaps that of the Ura, actually." she says, looking towards Zia, the one who is here far from home.
The Kid     "Back then, the Skyways were all messed up. Old man had to rechart them every time. Now they're stable," Kid says, earning him a cane to the shin for calling Rucks 'old man.' He then busies himself with corking the remains of the test batch and handing them to Crys and Arcadia. "Let me know what they think. We could do with addin' more ingredients to the mix. Try eatin' it with food too."

    Zia looks to Priscilla and smiles. "You're making this for someone in particular aren't you? Add things they like to it, and maybe it'll bring good memories to them?" Rucks nods and starts to say something before he is interrupted by something buzzing in his pocket. He produces a smart phone(!) and reads the screen. "Emergency at the office. Sorry folks, gotta close up early. Kid, you lock up." The young man is tossed a ring of keys as the old Mancer strides away.

    "You heard the man. I'll use the time to get a proper expedition together. Bring back a lot of fragments to do a lot of tests." He begins to usher everyone out, before remembering the last drink in the distiller. Quickly, he grabs and corks it, wrinkling his nose at the smell.