Grrl Power #684 – Cosmic food court
Actually, Sydney’s wrong. The next stall over is an aromatherapy booth that sells scented candles for races with similar miasmic preferences to races like Neo-Otyugh. Scents include “Stinking Cloud,” “Boiled Durain,” “August Whale Corpse,” “Pickled Skunk Anus,” “Twelve Year Old Boy That Hasn’t Figured Out Deodorant is an Absolute Necessity – Times 1,000,” “Corpse in a Dufflebag,” “Fart Salad,” “Surprise Sweaty Testicles,” “Gas Station Egg Salad Sandwich Left on the Dashboard One Afternoon in Phoenix,” “Upsettingly Dark Urine Your Drunk Roommate Accidentally Loosed All Over a Hotplate,” and “Olives.”
If you don’t know what a Neo-Otyugh is, it’s a D&D creature that lives in the sewers and eats… well, its version of mana from the heavens. If you get my meaning. They also lurk in piles of offal to surprise attack prey. So you can imagine they don’t exactly smell pristine. Honestly lighting their farts might improve their smell.
The problem of putting a bunch of aliens or even a variety of fantasy creatures in close proximity to each other, even excluding social and racial incompatibilities, would be things like this. Some races would be incredibly sensitive to even slightly offputting smells, whereas some might communicate through smells like a race of advanced space skunks or something. And then there’s situations like, I don’t know, I don’t imagine orcs or klingons are particularly hygienic. Any number of races would have major issues with the way any other race smells, and that’s before you factor in cuisine, or what they like their detergent or incense to smell like. I really think a stellar melting pot like this station would either need serious odor scrubbers, or everyone would need to have filters installed in their noses.
For those curious, Sydney’s munching on a granola bar or something similar. She carries two with her in her utility belt. Also gum.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Okay, I see two probable outcomes for this: Either Sydney finally gets food spicey enough for her, or, she finally gets food that’s too spicey even for her hardened (charred?) taste buds. Either way, wackiness ensues.
Option 3; Even the aliens are freaked out at her scoval-rating-survivability! After learning of her taste in spiciness, they give her the spiciest food item in the entire galaxy (somewhat covertly brought there from some backwater planet who people can’t even leave their own homeworld, let alone system. Decent tourist stay tho) & are dumbfounded (yay big word!) by how easily she devours it…
At which point she calls it “lightweight” and asks for something “more serious” resulting in the entire galaxy finding her existence a moment to note in the galactic book of universal records.
I’m guessing option 3, followed by her washing dishes to pay for her meal, cause no money, and then her spazzing out because ADHD in alien multi-biology-equipped kitchen
I think it is just about time for Cor to put in an appearance. Also, I’m expecting everything to appear in English once she does a palm-print. This would include a private message from Cora. and might keep Deius from stopping by.
No, that’s a DNA identifier so the chef knows what is acceptable for the customer
In this world of advanced tech it can be both.
Option 4, hears she is called the Queen of Salt and decides not to seat her near the Slugonians from the planet Snailathon.
Sydney might get food native to The Orb Makers. After all there hands are obviously similar enough, and orbs are much more powerful than their host….
Hadn’t thought about option 3 and 4, mostly because I was certain with so many aliens on The Fracture, there had to be ONE species that prefer their food as spicy or even spicier than Sydney does. But I think we can still agree that whackiness WILL ensue.
The species that communicates by smell reminded me of the Artek (sp) from Tanya Huff’s Confenderation of Valor and Peacekeepers series. Luckily for humans their sense of smell is both less acute than other species and they find most of the scents used when the Artek are in a good mood to be pleasant. Also the Artek look similar to giant cockroaches.
With all this talking about talking by smell, this comes to processors…
I really need to get an actual pic of myself…
Dragonbait’s species of space dinosaurs (first seen in “Curse of the Azure Bonds”) also communicate via scent
The Saurials
That was them, thank you
Also, those three aliens at the center of pamel two: is it just me or do they look like three clones of Mysterio? (Though, with him they’re more likely to be illusions.)
I get the Mysterio angle, but I think they look closer to the Watchers of the Marvel universe.
With the recent news of the passing of Stan Lee, it wouldn’t surprise me if they pass Halo whilst discussing the matter of who should be their next Earth observer.
Thereby giving Halo news of and a potential direction to Earth, Urth, Dirt or Dust accordingly.
Problem though: Just about every species uses some synonym of ‘Earth’ to describe their home world.
Regarding ‘Earth’ that’s true, but talking about Stan Lee in English too?
They might be talking about Stanley Tweedle
But they blue. More like the Oans from DC.
Too tall, Oan’s were tiny, half a Pixel tall :P
Dunno, their heads are perfectly round with not even a hint of ears or facial features. Look like fish-bowl helmets to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRiuX8am-og
I will be disappointed if there isn’t a stall that serves “spoo.”
Someone will. After all, ALL races have some form of Spoo
I believe the human version is either yogurt or cheese.
No, all races have the equivalent of Swedish Meatballs. On Narn, they’re called Breen.
Spoo is considered a delicacy by all races except the pak’ma’ra, because they’re just contrary.
https://meyerweb.com/other/humor/spoo.html
*Swedish Meatballs, not Spoo. All races have some version of Swedish Meatballs. It may be called Flarn instead of Swedish Meatballs, but it’s always some form of lightly spiced meat in a light, subtly flavored white sauce (with or without sour cream).
Also, all races have a drink called “Gin and Tonic” in some variation of spelling or slight pronunciation. This ranges from priest-blessed holy water to industrial strength intestinal solvent, but it’s always called some phoenetic variant of Jeenantonix.
…All races eat spoo…but only the Narn eat it fresh.
This was either because of the Vorlons or another of the first ones (that we didn’t get to meet just saw their space ships…).
Also “gin” of some sort. ;)
You mean Gin and Tonic. And all species just have a drink CALLED Gin and Tonic or some variation of the words :)
THis should also go back on the page where Maxima is imagining Sydney attack a mugger. Apperently there is a wikia or sci-fi/fantasy/fictional explicatives and oaths. Here is the one refering to grabthar’s hammer: https://frakipedia.wikia.com/wiki/Grabthar%27s_Hammer
Fart salad? Do we have a Purple Eyes WTF reference here?
Universal translator species identification system?
Payment touchpad?
Security system?
“Alert unregistered alien. Possible match with ship destroying terror. Unleash the nerve weasels!”
Or how about “No financial records on file. Opening new account with complementary free coupons good for 3 Gooblex worth of goods and services (Food court excluded) – Submitting Indenturement agreement for confirmation.”
It turns out that indentured servitude is the default currency, but it’s literally just until you earn enough to pay back what you spent. And Sydney has incredible tools to earn a LOT of credits very quickly.
Probably a bioprofile scanner so he can tell at a glance what products are safe to sell.
Thtat’s what Daniel the Human was thinking. Something to let them know what to feed her type of organic & what not to…
This Pretender Armour lets me eat anything. Apparently these “plate” things aren’t supposed to be eaten…
Yup. The correct etiquette is to use them as a percussive instrument, when dancing to ‘Zorba the Greek’. Although local ordinance on the matter varies from region to region.
I am going with localized translator field *so instead of the whole facility for privacy purposes they are localized to booths*,
or
bio-scanner, like the gut bacteria scanners of some series that determine the appropriate/safe foods….also a source of terror for some aliens investigating humans as a cross cultural sample reveals humans will eat virtually everything on their planet including the ground in some form.
-this option also has the potential…of holy crap this alien consumes pure poison! outcomes thanks to differing biology.
also an account on file thing sounds about right, it could be multi-purpose.
In any case I kind of feel Sydney is going to end up name dropping Xurial Tantalus before too long…who will find a bill from the Fracture sent to her and demand favors from Sydney in return.
“Nerve weasels”? That sounds suspiciously like Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons. Never mind, I’ve said too much.
Invader Zim reference.
Gosh… Took me some time to remember how you got there… Weasels, yes. Great unusual SF :^)
We have this problem here, too, when we travel outside of home country. Or spend time around other people.
I’m surprised that any establishment is allowed to vent smoke, vapors, and fumes directly into the air inside the station.
maybe it has atmosphere scrubbers of some sort, like the orb drones absorbing it, filter fields, some special freaky giant tree vines things that feed on the smoke, among other options.
Although chances are they are less “inside” as on the surface of the facility.
Check out the ventilation of mall restaurants and the like. The aroma of the food is deliberately released where it will attract customers. At most, some smoke scrubbing is done for health reasons. OTOH, most of those places use electricity, not burning oil/gas/wood fuel, so there’s no danger of carbon monoxide.
The joys of a multispecies food stall. Every cooking surface and utensil has to be cleaned to surgical standards before cooking up the next order. Because, ya’know, the last customer might have enjoyed a dash of cyanide or polonium for flavor.
Gotta love that Sydney’s inherent sass instinct made her forget that there was an (assumed) language barrier.
Guess she’s gonna flip out when the fast food guy answers her back after the scanner does its thing.
So how is Sydney planning to pay for that food? Did she find a purse of galactic credits?
Washing dishes is a universal currency. Unless there’s a robot dishwasher union.
Pulls up some pictures (she wasn’t supposed to take) and ends up putting her order on someone’s tab, like Dabbler or the Alien tourist agency rep she met at the Twilight Council.
Granola bars? I would have expected her to have a box of Red Hots or Hot Tamale candy. Though I would also expect her to shove the entire box in her mouth at once.
She is an adult, capable of feeding herself. She knows that candies are short term energy boost only, since it’s simple sugars, and comes with a dangerous “crash” at the end of the sugar rush. Granola contain complex carbs for a longer, much more sustained energy burn, with better caloric efficiency. Plus, some people actually like the taste of granola. (The oats n’ honey bars from Nature Valley are actually tasty…AND if you’re celiac, you CAN still have them!)
+1. Red Hots are good but they’re not food and, while something like spiced nuts might do the job, they’d also be a lot more hassle. Both to carry and to eat.
With Sydney, I’m surprised she even can taste something as bland as a granola bar. Unless she made them herself and the main ingredient is atomic peppers…
Granola bars aren’t bland. They’re not *spicy*, but they should have plenty of flavor. Enjoying spicy foods doesn’t necessarily mean that one has little or no sense of taste otherwise. I will admit to having eaten some generic brand granola bars that had less flavor than raw oats. However, I stand by my *should*.
That said, I have encountered a few people who apparently ramped up their spicy food intake a bit faster than their palate could handle who do have little sense of taste otherwise, and others who never seemed to have a sense of taste otherwise. Generally, distinguishing between the two requires having known them and their taste sensitivity before they encountered spicy food for the first time, or knowing someone who knew them before and noticed this sort of thing.
Look like food court uniforms are truly universal.
I am reminded of the Bazaar at Deva, in Robert Lynn Asprin’s “Myth” series. Most notably, the tents that sell Pervect food are required to magically roam around the Bazaar, so that their smell is not inflicted on any one area for too long.
Hg
Damnit, Sydney! TRY TO USE THE COMM BALL AND THE UKNOWN ORB!!!
This.
Maybe Sydney’s not thinking too clearly anymore,,, after all, it’s been a very long and stressful day for her, and even she can run on adrenaline for only so long… Frankly, I’m surprised she’s still standing after what she’s been trhough. She’s a lot tougher than she looks, that’s for sure!
Yes, she should be unconscious by now.
Maybe finding herself on an alien Megastructure surrounded by
honest-to-God aliens has given her stamina a boost/extension.
It can’t last.
That’s what I’m thinking. Early in the series, when she first met Maxima at that fake bank robbery, she had an episode of adrenaline fuelled ADHD violence and immediately afterwards she ended up puking her guts out al over Max’s boots. That was 7 years ago by our time but to Sydney it was only 7 days or so. I can’t help but wonder what keeps her going like this after being stranded on an alien world, fighting giant monsters, being shot at with nukes and then travelling to a place full of al kinds of aliens. Can one week of training make such a huge difference?
But yeah, what jayessell said, for Sydney The Fracture is a dream come true, and that might keep her going a little longer.
Well, to be fair to Sydney the reason she puked her guts out was because she realized she nearly got shot. It wasn’t so much from a drop in adrenaline.
I doubt the absolute timescale is a big factor in this sort of thing. The Yoga Hwarf came after the adrenaline situation had finished, and in response to a (rather dark-humoured) reminder of the worst bit. Sydney hasn’t yet reached that stage this time around; she’s still in that plateau state where everything’s in motion.
It’s a bit like a mental version of the Wile-E-Coyote run. Keep moving, don’t look down, and you can cross the void to a place where you can come down safely. Stop, and everything can come crashing down – especially if you’re then reminded of how precarious your situation is.
Just noticed the smoke plumes from the food booths – after the discussions on previous pages about atmospheric needs of different species that might visit the station, I think this shows a few things about the station.
First, presumably all visitors either wear self-contained life support, or they have basically the same respiratory set up as Earth life (oxygen exchange, basic particulate filtering via e.g. mucus membranes). Given that there is an atmosphere, either natural or artificial (more likely since Dyson-sphere-like object aren’t know to form naturally), I’d bet most visitors and therefore most life in this sector either need or can easily survive Earth-like air. Pretty plausible given that Earth is a tourist destination accessible with only basic cloaking (at least for examples we’ve seen thus far).
Second, I would’ve at least expected some air scrubbers on a small port, but maybe the station is big enough that air quality isn’t a primary concern. Either Fracture is a lot bigger than I thought, or the permanent residents (at least in this section) are a lot more down-trodden and unable to influence whoever controls the station in a meaningful way to protect their own health.
Dave has said the Fracture is about the size of the Moon, so it probably has its own atmosphere. They have to reduce the gravity of the pulsar inside to something most species can live in anyway.
It looks like fingers are a common feature among all kinds of sentient species. Actually, fingers are so useful that a sentient species that didn’t have natural fingers would probably make cyborg hands to get in on that opposable-thumbs action. I mean, how are you supposed to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate without fingers? My condolences go out to all the sentient slime molds of the galaxy.
The push for slime molds to develop social media must be greatly lagging behind other cultures. They could never give a thumb’s up on someone’s online post.
Don’t worry Sydney. Earth’s best minds have put together a crack team of brave astronauts to lead a rescue mission to find you. https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/11/Halloween_with_Expedition_57
I was worried they’d send these guys:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/c2/07/17c207fdb3d918a8fc33d8516ef8093e.jpg
Just to get the thought out of my head, as I am certain DaveB wouldn’t go super dark, but I am just going to say I hope this avoids the “Greedo” potential. That is; the alien running the stall discovers that this other alien species has the “perfect flavor” for their recipe so wants to turn THEM into a menu item.
-for those that don’t know, in the EU of Star Wars after Greedo’s smoldering corpse was left in the cantina the guy running the place loved the smell so much that he dragged the body into the back, ground it up, and made smoothies out of it.
Soylent Greedo?
Alien dietary preferences may vary, heck some may even like the different aromas in this area together.
but that said, when it comes to aliens and food and subverting the tropes, I have always loved this scene from the Green lantern cartoon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVXpmfUwjM
And the durian flavor? (According to the Smithsonian it’s not durian, which is a type of bituminous coal layer.) Anthony Bourdain calls it “indescribable, something you will either love or despise…Your breath will smell as if you’d been French-kissing your dead grandmother.” Talk about organosulfates!
Damn spell checker! Durain is a specific layer in a bituminous coal seam.
She’s given a plate of lavender glop and a spork to eat it with.
She sniffs it passes the smell test.
But it’s missing something… she reaches into her pack for her emergency bottle of hotsauce. (Every soldier should have one…speaking from experience).
Slaps a dash at the glop. It reacts and spreads around where the hotsauce hits the plate…
WTF?? slap slap slap…eww THIS IS ALIVE!!
She should have taken a flash at least :) Less sloshy :)
I wonder if the atmosphere orb can make water, actually.
Maybe two flasks, one for water and one for something stronger?
Vodka? or “Mother’s Milk” (Whiskey)
I actually own a flash which any geek or nerd would love.
It’s a flash that looks like a Zelda NES cartridge. :) It’s pretty cool. I keep it on my shelf next to my pipboy.
I think someone else mentioned it but I just realized that a Camelback or similar hydration pack would make sense for all the ArcSWAT members to have but Sydney in particular. They aren’t sloshy and can add a small amount of valuable space to her gear.
Once you get used to having one on they aren’t uncomfortable at all. I know you can get ones that are marketed for hiking in 70-100oz sizes but they also make smaller ones that are only a 1L 1.5L.
Sydney… Sydney… You spoke English to the Alien and it seems to have understood you and is gesturing to the biometric panel, likely to check certain things like species, credit rating and if any outstanding warrants… and maybe What Foods can be safely consumed
Food booth, they’re probably used to aliens coming up to order. This pad might even tailor food product to the consumer’s exact needs and desires – even if they both want say a buttered baked potato, they would not be exactly the same.
As far as payment goes, I’m waiting to see how that’s resolved.
“Uh, I think the machine’s broke, it says she wants incredibly spicy hot type 7 vegetables.”
“Type 7? I can understand why she wants a bit of…. Ancestors! Let me try that!”
“Is it right?”
“Yeah….”
Both stare at Sydney in awe.
“Make it.”
“You sure? I don’t want to get into trouble if she gets sick.”
“Make it! I’ll even pay just to see her eat it!”
That would make for a funny callback.
The result being that the next humans to stop by receive four alarm vegetarian chili.
At least no is serving SPAM!
If Dr. Who has taught use anything it is that space tends to be rather British so they probably will have it some where.
The would be tinned corned beef: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corned_beef
Otherwise known as “bully beef”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_beef
SPAM is made by Hormel, which is based Austin, Minnesota, USA.
Anyone else think of None Piece/Code Ment with the mention of fart salad?
“August Whale Corpse,” lol, that reminds me of a story. Back over ten years ago when I was stationed on Oahu, there was this whale carcass floating by out to sea off the windward side of the island. Every rich fuck on the north shore with a beach view called every number in the blue pages to complain about the stink and demand that ‘something be done about it’. You know what I did about it? That’s right, I hung up on them, that’s what I did about it.
*applauds*
Speaking of Neo-Otyughs…
I’m not the only one who watched the 3rd season of Overlord (specifically, this scene of episode 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUpxnsiYX40 ) And had immediate flashbacks to these above-named creatures from old D&D games, like Curse of the Azure Bonds? (Or table-top games I guess, but PC games is where I fought them back in the 90s. :P)
I think a human would be alright in a galactic food court, we’re omnivores and there’s a lot of things we eat that are toxic to other animals (caffeine, chocolate, onions, capsicum) and the few things we can’t eat are generally eaten by a species that can only eat that one thing because it’s their ecological niche, like koalas eating eucalyptus leaves. If anything we’re the weird ones, google “Shiokara” or “Hákarl” or “pheasant hanging” or “casu marzu” or “high meat”, heck most aliens would probably think a human drinking vodka is trying to commit suicide, whereas by contrast fried insects are probably quite normal.
Actually there are ALOT of organic things humans can’t eat that many other animals can eat. Like rotting meat, and also MOST green vegetation and fungi. You can’t just go into your backyard and start eating things, most of those plants will either A: make you horribly sick, B: cause stomach ulcers, or C: straight up kill you.
There is a reason survival guides tend to list edible plants vs toxic plants and even then look a likes are still pretty bad for you…read fatal., in fact humans are more a mid-range omnivore. Yeah there are a handful of oddball things humans can eat that most other creatures can’t, but there are so many more things they can eat that humans can’t.
Yeah but this isn’t a backyard, this is a food court, when was the last time you had mushrooms in a food court? Or food that wasn’t thoroughly cooked? Granted there may be a salad stall for herbivores but if it’s not suitable for human consumption it’ll probably be unpalatable in the first place and if you’re at all concerned about poisoning yourself (as you should be) you won’t swallow anything that doesn’t taste right. How many things are there that a human would actually put in their mouth and swallow that are toxic and being toxic would still be readily available in a food court that caters to a wide range of species? Granted there may be some delicious looking fruit that’s actually full of neurotoxin that kills you as soon as you bite into it, and it may be present in an inter-species food court, but I find it far more likely that the food will be as highly processed, simplified and nutrition deficient as our junk food is.
Mushroom pizza in a food court is fairly common, its a topping.
Also you are falling into the trap of using human as a universal standard. My point which you shouldn’t try to work against is that humans aren’t as capable of consuming as much or wide a range of organic matter as you might think YET OTHER organisms on our planet alone can.
That is the point, if other life forms on our own planet can consume things we can’t, despite us sharing the same environment, while we can consume things they can, and some overlaps here and there; chances are a scanner to determine what is edible and inform those different species is important and humans wouldn’t always be as *I can consume ALL* as you might think.
Also humans have a habit in many cultures of consuming vegetation raw, I don’t have to cook an apple or a banana to eat it. Which is where the danger lies, the salad bar alone is usually just chilled not cooked stuff. But other species could be able to eat even just parts of things humans can’t and vice versa. For instance there are flowers that humans can eat the petals but not the stems, or eat the stem but not the blossom, or even just the stamen but nothing else. There are specific toxins and organic compounds different species are just better at digesting than others.
That said, the answer to your question is ALOT, A lot could be available in an interspecies food court that isn’t edible to humans, and humans get sick and die all the time because they put stuff in their mouths that are toxic, hell dogs and cats do to, being toxic doesn’t always mean it tastes bad (anti-freeze tastes good to a dog), flavor is not a warning sign universally.
So it would be a good idea for humans to be weary of anything in space and perform tests to insure it is edible.
Humans are carnivores and fructivores – other than fruit and seeds, there are actually not many plants humans can eat. Most are simply indigestible, and some are toxic. Whereas there are only a relative handful of animals we can’t eat, and those are in all cases toxic rather than indigestible.
Fungi, pretty much the same as animals except a higher percentage are toxic. Probably because they aren’t nearly as good at running away.
I’d really *not* want to go up against a goat or a pig in a challenge to see who could be the most omnivorous, even if I wasn’t vegan.
On the matter of having a variety of aliens sharing the same space / facilities, I am reminded of a scene from the novel ‘Illegal Aliens’ (fun read). In a notably interspecies alien bar / cantina, thee are three distinct restroom doors – labelled respectively ‘Oozers’, ‘Emitters’ and ‘Squirters’..
Well depending on what one has been consuming, a human could effectively use any of those, possibly all three at once should they try the mutton vindaloo.
Two Neo-Otyugh are discussing a planned vacation to Earth. One says to the other “Hey look what I read about on their internet when checking out local delicacies” * Shows the other one an article on London’s Victorian sewer system. “Hey!” says number two, “I didn’t know they had all you can eat buffets!”
Boiled durian sounds pretty ok to me, since the smell would likely be removed from the fruit. It’s boiling durian that you’d have to worry about.
Whats your beef with olives? They smell delicious.
After growing up with the things, I have developed a knee-jerk reaction where the mere smell of olives makes me cough. Doesn’t mean I hate it, though. I don’t know what Dave’s issue is at all.
Sounds like a joke to me
Not weird to me, a strong cherry smell causes me to have hacking fits for some reason.
An Italian-based recipe, in a lightly herbed ragu on a bed of spaghetti?
So…what do otyugh poop? I mean, they eat poop…so what do they poop? What is grosser, an otyugh’s meal, or an otyugh’s vomit, or an otyugh’s poop? Does partially-digesting the poop make it…better? Or worse?
like most coprophagia/bottom feeders they feed on the pre/partially digested food that mammals tend to inefficiently process. dont know much about otyugh but im guessing from their poop is like earthworms castings ( dark moist soil full of nutrients but free of organic material that can continue to rot and stink)
I have one phrase for Sydney: “Lost in translation!”
Is that a suburb of New York?
Prefecture in Japan :P
Remindes me of some places I have picked up from doing food delivery. Some cuisine does not smell particular apetising, at least not to me. I have actually read 1 book series that did feature a species that cmmunicated quite a bit by scent.
I get the feeling that the hand pad detects what biology the creature is and what foods they can eat and then the cook works with that. I also think that they accept a lot of different currencies even if there is a universal trade currency.
There’s an app for that. Or another device.
Her paper money and her utility belt items are instantly,
accurately and honestly converted into the appropriate
currency and credited to the business account.
Still waiting for her to pay with Googley Eyes.
The problem being how she would get change. Perhaps a cultural trinket from the inhabitants of a planet circling Barnard’s Star? A swan-like sculpture which would melt if Sydney picked it up with her bare hand.
Vat Lutefisk!!! Lutefisk is disgusting at the best of times why make vat grown versions. Inconceivable!!
Maybe for their neo-otyug clients?
When ever someone mentions Neo-otyugs now, can vaguely envision an otyug wearing a long black coat and dark sunglasses bending over backwards in slow-motion :P