1967/Testing A Snack Machine

Testing A Snack Machine
Date of Scene:	21 September 2024
Location:	Tsukino-Osaka Dorm
Synopsis:	A few weeks ago, Usagi recovered a machine from the Arthafall that spat out blueberries. This time, Usagi and Ami get it to spit out a few more snacks, and make plans to see if Rashmi and Chrono want to talk shop over a double date.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Ami Mizuno

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I still can't believe Rashmi-chan thought they'd poison me," Usagi pouts, sitting on the floor of Ami's room and watching as she tinkers with the Mysterious Snack Producing Machine she'd recovered a few weeks ago. "They tasted like totally normal blueberries!"

Which is sad too, because Ami-chan keeps smacking her hand with tools (lightly, admittedly) every time she tries to grab anymore. "How long do you think it will take to make it give us other stuff?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"She has a point about being cautious. Although I can't really see why it would be poisonous. Even if they're not from Earth, they're still carbon based life forms like us," Ami reasons as she reaches up to adjust her glasses a bit. The light from the lamp she'd pulled over to shine on the device as she worked on it caused a glare if she moved wrong. "The cross over of what is and isn't poisonous is likely pretty similar. Chrono-kun hasn't had any issues with being on Earth and eating our food after all."

"Although they could have been something other than food to begin with."

Her attention shifts back to the pile of blueberries to regard again with lips pursed together in thought. "Hm? Oh, it shouldn't be long for that. Right now I'm more curious if they're exact replicas of one another or if there are any variations as would be found in nature."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Cautious, smautious, if it was really bad, Mamochan would come save me in an instant," Usagi waves her hand, with all the casual confidence - even arrogance - of a girl sure her fiance would save the day. "And exactly! Chrono-kun can eat just about anything I think, probably even carrots, bleh, so why wouldn't space blueberries be any different?"

It's fine! Why worry? Things had not gone wrong, and besides, it would be pretty silly if she died by berry after standing up to Beryl and Sunbreaker and Gaito and Firefly.

"Oooh, like are they sixteen of the same berry or sixteen blueberries of all the different kinds? Would they taste different? I can taste them one at a time you know, I volunteer as tribute -"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Exactly! If they're completely identical copies of just ONE blueberry then they'd all taste the same. If they're just blueberries the device created or... Or teleported from somewhere?" She knew that wasn't the case but it was an easier way to break down what she was already wondering. It would be so much simpler to just copy one blueberry though. It would make the flavor very uniform.

Usagi is regarded as she considers only to let out a sigh. "That is the best way to tell, I admit. All right."

With that decided she's plucked up the handful of berries and raises one up to Usagi to feed them to her one at a time. Because she doesn't trust Usagi to eat them one at a time.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Ami is right to not trust Usagi to eat them one at a time, for she had definitely been prepared to grab an entire handful of berries at once, but now - well. Who doesn't like getting handfed by their beautiful girlfriend?Ami is just lucky that Usagi behaves herself and doesn't nip or kiss at her fingertips. "Hmm, they all taste the same," she reports, tongue stained by the blueberry skin. "Not even a little bit different, they're all kind-of-sweet-kind-of-tart the same way. That means they're all the same one, right?"

You could buy a pack of blueberries off the same bush and not have them come out that identical.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Very likely then," Ami agrees with a sigh as she pauses in her feeding of the Usagi to instaed pop one into her mouth. "Mm. It's not bad but that would get a bit boring after awhile. Though perhaps it would be good for recipes. I'll have to ask Mako-chan," she reasons thoughtfully.

At least she doesn't forget to give the rest of the blueberries to Usagi! She can finish them now, clearly, as her attention swings back to the device. "All right, I'm going to try tweaking a few of the settings with the Mercury Computer now. Let's see if we can get something else!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Yeah, it's like eating a mouthful of the same over and over again. Still good though!"

Far be it for her to complain about food, especially perfectly good berries, but well, it was a fair point. "If we could get it to make more food, Mako-chan could totally make us more treats, without even worrying about going to the store. Imagine the unlimited possibilities!"
Shetuffing her face... forever!

"Okay, okay, I'm waiting patiently now."

And as Ami fiddles with the machine via her Mercury Computer, she'll find that while it is, ultimately, responsive, it's responsive in an utterly foreign language, with foreign systems to boot. There's no way to access a menu or list of options, just a series of inputs with unreadable labels and a scroll of code based on strange computer systems. A puzzle to be cracked over time. Still, all that work will produce a result... In the form of a new ingredient.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami peruses the lists thoughtfuly, carefully, looking for anything that looked familiar. It doesn't of course but she'd already learned what meant 'blueberries' so it wasn't hard to look for familiar symbols.

Or in this case, totally different ones as she was exploring.

The device whirs to life after a moment earning a little tension in her as she stands back to watch. "Just in case, Usagi," she urges reaching out to rest a hand on her girlfriends' arm. Just in case. Though it doesn't appear to be any real reason for it as what's produced is a little pile of cream colored, oblong objects about the size of a pinky fingernail.

"... Are those pine nuts?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The machine whirs to life, unfamiliar characters scrolling on a little read out panel, and Usagi very reluctantly hops to her feet and leans away with Ami, making sure the machine doesn't have the ability (probably) to hit them with whatever delicious little -

Roly-poly cream-colored oblong objects it produces.

"Only one way to find out! But first, let's count them; one, two, three -" she counts out exactly nineteen little objects before devouring three of them - they've got an understated sweetness, a soft nuttiness, and they crunch well, and she nods cheerfully - "Yep! Pine nuts, and they're pretty good, too!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The devouring of the new ingredient is watched cautiously. One of these days Usagi was going to end up with a stomach ache if she kept eating anything that looked edible. Though she had to admit they really did look like the little pine nuts that cost so much due to being a pain in the butt to harvest.

Once they're confirmed she takes a few herself to lightly nibble on. "So the quantity is increased, and it's something from an entirely different plant. I wonder if it can produce fish too? Though that would be a bit messy." Still she grins a bit. "It's progress, though! If I can get it to create enough different items, I may be able to also work on deciphering more of the language with Naru-chan's help." She did numbers. Naru did language.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
One day she'll learn, but not today! Today, she has again been rewarded for her daredevil food habits. "I wonder if it's just plants, or if it's all foods, and if we'll get anything weird and alien! There were all kinds of things on the other planets, and Chrono is from space, right?"

That means they MUST be able to get space food, they just have to crack the code!

"If you can get it to display the menu, even if we can't read it, we can poke around and figure it out by trial and error right? Snack and let snack!"

They shall eat their way through the alien tech!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Yes, they're from space." Ami regards the Mercury computer screen a moment considering. "But that meant they were rarely on planets. The travel time between them, even if it's acclerated due to their technology, must mean a long time between visits to a planet. There's so much to space in general. I'm surprised this isn't just giving us something equivalent to military rations, or granola bars."

"Trial and error will help to some extent in this case, yes. We ought to still record our findings though and be careful not to use it too often. Who knows when it may run out of energy." Or if. That was still uncertain.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Maybe it's too broken? Or maybe it's designed for fresh snacks? I mean, rations and granola bars would get super boring after a while, right?"

That could happen, right? Who didn't like snacks? What brave space explorers wouldn't want to have an unlimited supply of fresh snack foods? Usagi wanted an unlimited supply of fresh snack foods and she was neither brave nor an explorer.

"Okay, so let's take a picture of this label and the pine nuts then, and... I wonder if Makochan could repower it with a lightning bolt?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
With all the options and possibilities there, it's very reasonable what Usagi suggests. Surprisingly. "That would also make sense why it's only giving small quantities of ingredients. Either to make something with or just as a 'snack' to offer a difference in diet without actually ruining a diet."

"We're not going to have her hit this with a lightning bolt. I can speak with Rashmi and see if there's a standard power source we should look for. I'm sure Nicomachea has a bit of information. Perhaps."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm just saying, lightning is power," Usagi huffs a little, grabbing a couple more of the pine nuts. "I want to try it again this time - let's see what this button does!"

Fateful words, and she jabs a button before Ami can stop her, taking a quick picture on her phone when the strange script lights up. A few moments of whirring later - and she yelps as three lemons fly out to smack her forehead, one after the other!

Down goes the moon princess, spiral eyed and twitching, red mark on her forehead.

"Ow..."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami winces as she hadn't managed to stop Usagi in time. The lemons roll around the floor and she crouches down beside the felled blonde. "Usagi-chan, this is why we need to set up rules. Or at least a barrier!"

All she can do is sigh softly while smiling in amusement though. Sure it had hurt her girlfriend, but it wasn't serious! Right? Right. She helps her sit up, and leans in to kiss the sore spot on her forehead.

"Maybe this is enough for tonight. We should get you some actual food before you starve."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I don't think a barrier would have saved me," Usagi tells the circling duckys flying around her head. A moment later she realizes it was Ami talking, not the little ducks, and she blinks them away.

"Okay, okay, but, only if we make lemonade with those lemons! I want justice!" She is pouting so much, though the kiss to her forehead threatens the pout with a bright smile.

"Talking to Rashmi-chan is a good idea. Chrono-kun too; it was his ship, he might know something."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"It would have kept the lemons from flying out though. At least they weren't melons." Ami helps Usagi up the rest of the way. The lemons in question are then scooped up and examined just in case they only LOOK like lemons. "Okay, we can do that then."

"Oh, that's an excellent idea. It's been awhile since I've gotten to chat with Chrono-kun about such things as it is. We ought to ask them to meet us somewhere to discuss it." Wouldn't that be a double date, even?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Okay, fair. ...do you really think it can make something that big?" Blueberries and pine nuts weren't very big, but the lemons were good sized, and melons would be even bigger. Could the machine really have space to fit melons?

Then again, one could ask how Mamocha fit so much in his hat, or how she pulled her Crescent Wand from thin air. Wasn't it the very nature of these things to be unbelievable?

"...I wonder if it could make those 20,000 yen melons..." Reselling those would probably be breaking some kind of law. Maybe. "Hey, yeah! Maybe if it's a working lunch it won't count and we won't get interrupted!"

Double date, double date!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
That's a viable question after all. Ami considers the machine a moment only to shake her head. "I think there must be a limit on it. So far it's only created whole items. Not any prepared foods, or meals. Perhaps that's why. It might be able to make melon but likely not many at once. Or maybe cubed melon instead?" She makes a gesture. "Cut up I mean."

Her head tilts back toward Usagi with a smile at the thought of not being interrupted. "At the very least if someone else is with us, that might reduce the chance of interruptions. Besides, I think Rashmi's parents shop has never really been hit with such issues. It might be 'safe' there. As well as a good place to meet up and chat."

With that decided (was it really?) she pulls out her phone nodding in thought. "Let's let the device rest for now and recover or recharge if it needs to. Come on, Sagi-chan."