animus_network | 002 ♍ In Which Our Correspondent Discovers The Function Through Which To Visually Broadcast

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002 ♍ In Which Our Correspondent Discovers The Function Through Which To Visually Broadcast

[ The video clicks on to show Dolorosa fussing with the computer. Well, most of her. Only the bottom of her head is visible, as whoever used this terminal last is far shorter than she is. After a few moments of this, the camera shakes and refocuses to show her face, and after double-checking it against the display on the monitor, she smiles and places her hands in her lap.

She looks tired, and the bags under her eyes have deepened from getting very little sleep this past month. ]

Well, I'm pleased to see they have heard and followed my suggestion to improve the cafeteria menu! The recent state of affairs has been simply atrocious, we can't have growing children expected to receive their necessary sustenance from such negligent offerings.

More than this, it allows little excuse for one to not eat healthfully, so I must encourage you all to observe your proper nutritional schedule each day. Should you require assistance, or perhaps more direct motivation, [ ie. her pulling you by the ear to the cafeteria ] my services remain available.

I'm glad to see local operations improving following the dreadful events of the past weeks.

[ Of course, she...doesn't know about the puffer fish soup... ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Dolorosa frowns at the response. ]

Not as such, no. I merely voiced my concerns regarding its inadequacy when that brutish warden had seen fit to broadcast prior to the recent outages we've suffered.

...You appear less than pleased.

W-Well, yeah. I, I mean...m-maybe you should have specified. Some of that stuff...I guess, m-maybe it's not poisonous to you but it, i-it could kill a lot of people here.

Poisonous?! Well, this is intolerable! We'll need to make it better known, that no one will ignorantly fall prey to the trap!

[Tara lets out a little sigh of relief. Oh, thank goodness. The Dolorosa is just, well, literally inhuman. She's not crazy, psychotic, or homicidal.] Um, I can do that. I-I'll make signs. I mean...I, I hope they let me put up signs there but, um, if they don't, m-maybe in the dormitories.

...i-if they prepared it right it, um, it might be okay. I-I just, um, don't know if we should trust them to make it right.

[ Yeah, her appearance may be slightly unnerving and she's pretty much a giant, but she'll always be a mother at heart. ]

Yes, I do think some posted notice would be a worthy endeavor, though perhaps one to maintain in case the janitorial services take issue with it.

Was it the full menu? I have yet to encounter such complications, personally.

[Really, anyone who is quite this dedicated to, as it were, making sure everyone eats their vegetables to grow up big and strong is kind of okay in Tara's book. It's hard, making sure the hero types remember to take a lunch break.] I, um, I don't think so. At least, not to humans.

Just the, um, blowfish soup. But I'll let people know, if there is. Kind of wish I-I knew some magic, for poisons and stuff.

I don't...have much knowledge regarding magic. [ Or even any certainty that it's a thing that exists. ] Though poisons can have antidotes developed, given the right materials.

[For Tara, it's a thing that exists.]

Not pufferfish. That's, um, "dead in minutes" kind of dead. Nerve toxin. R-Really bad. And, and I know more about magic, th-than antidotes.

...but I asked for some herb seeds, from the people in charge. I, I guess I could learn that, too.

Then prevention should be tantamount among our priorities. An antidote can be developed, if it is possible, but we would better succeed if we nullify the necessity for such a contingency.

Right. Um, prevention. I-I'll get right on that.

[...] I'm Tara, by the way. Sorry for, um, freaking out. I-I know you meant well.

In such circumstance, I can sympathize with the impulse. This is not a kind place, and perhaps it was rash of me to assume that even the smallest positive quality was without its caveat.

But it's a pleasure to meet you, Tara. I am the Dolorosa, and I will not hesitate to assist in the creation of such notices on the potential dangers now available.

Th-Thanks. I'll be sure and ask.

...but it's, i-it's good that you were worried. I mean...especially after last month. I think a lot of us, um, just have to get used to eating in the cafeteria again. W-We, we kind of got used to nothing being there.

[Or Tara certainly did.]

And it was quite the sorry state of affairs which inspired such a lack of expectation. A very unfortunate reminder that we are not as independently existing in this Tower.

Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to begin cultivating our own crops, should this recur in the future.

Oh! [Tara brightens just a bit at this last.] I-I was just thinking that, too. I mean, I even asked for some seeds. And, um, even if they don't give them to me, th-there's plenty we should be able to get from the other floors.

...I-I'm not that great, at gardening, but I-I'm sure someone else is.

[ Heh, I saw your request just after I made that tag, when I went to do the very same thing. ]

Well, Tara, then you display a commendable degree of foresight! I'm honored to have one of such intelligence to coordinate with on the matter.

As for myself, I have some limited knowledge on tending to a pasture. But hopefully there will be others who can augment against our lack.

[Let's hope one of them lucks out on the non-poisonous front!

Also, the compliments make Tara visibly blush.]

I-I'm not that smart. I, I just used herbs a lot, back home, and I cooked a lot, a-and I was reading some books, out of the library.

...I s-still have one, actually. I should probably put it back.

Well, you possessed the foresight to have arrived at the same conclusion, at the least. Being aware of the path at which we'll need to progress is just as important as accomplishing the progression itself.

Some supplication of our knowledge with the library's offering should be an excellent idea. If you're finished with that book, I might peruse it myself.

Oh, um, I-I'm finished. Or, um, I've made a lot of notes. I can just go ahead and bring it to you, if you want.

[Really, she's kind of enjoying keeping a book out of the library for a long time. It gives an illicit thrill similar to shoplifting.]

It's, um, just got plants from my world. But I, I guess th-that would be useful to you, since you're...

[...not human.]

...n-not from my world.

Yes, I'm sure there will be types I have yet to encounter, and so the information should be quite useful! Most of the human flora I have encountered, if that is indeed it's origin, are those flowers growing in the meadow.

Oh, yeah. Well, um, there's a lot more. Y-You should try spices. If you can, I mean. It can help the food taste a bit better, when it's not so...strange.

If you don't mind, um, what room is yours'? I-I can just, um, leave the book there for you.

The concept is not alien to me, though I could do with a familiarization on the specifics as it relates to a more human expression.

[ She glances offscreen, behind her, gesturing to where she's looking. ] It's the first room on the first floor, that being the one adjacent to this terminal.

Oh, y-yeah. I can find that. [Tara tends not to linger on the dormitory levels, since she doesn't really know where anyone else is, but she's confident that even she can find the room.]

I'll come right up. I'm, um, I'm not doing anything important.

I'll be certain not to wander off too far.

[ And she'll be sitting at the computer, tending to the post still when Tara arrives. ]

[...and, really, it's not exactly easy to miss someone like the Dolorosa. She looks even more imposing in person, and so Tara winds up holding the book in front of her almost like a shield and...well, inching forward.]

Um, h-hi. I'm Tara, and...here's your book.

[Tentatively holding it out, now.]

[ It probably doesn't help that Dolorosa has a good foot on her, even before the horns, and rises to her feet to greet Tara with a bow once she sees her.

She takes the book with a smile, giving it a quick flip-through. ]

You have my gratitude, Tara. It has been enlightening for you, yes?

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