2022-01-26: Crystalchip Cookies
- Log: Crystalchip Cookies
- Cast: Azoth, Seraph Ragnell
- Where: Mount Zulan
- Date: January 26, 2022
- Summary: Through some creativity, Ragnell manages to develop what counts as an edible snack for Azoth.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Searching for signal... Error... Connection lost. Searching... Connection found. Error. Connection lost.
Azoth has been up and down and around Mt. Zulan with frustratingly little change in result. In his digital game of hot and cold, he seems to be merely getting cold -- appropriate, given the area's frigid climate. That isn't something Azoth, at least, has to concern himself with. In fact, the cool air provides some relief from the errors ravaging his body and the excess heat caused by the overrides.
It'll get worse if the signal is strong enough to activate re-prioritization protocols. Azoth can't calculate a reason to look forward to that part of the ordeal. For now, it's weak enough that there's no direction to pursue with relentless efficiency.
And it's weak enough that it isn't interrupting more social algorithms. Sure, he thinks he's alone right now, but can he ever be one hundred percent certain he isn't being watched? No! A solid disguise is one that stays on.
So Azoth puffs up his cheeks with a frustrated string of beeps and stomps his foot in the snow. "I just need a clear signal...! Is it the weather? Secret mountain machines? Just give me three minutes! Pretty please?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Hot and cold is a terrible game to play when everything around you is cold, for sure. It's not so bad for Ragnell, for whom temperature is more a state of mind than anything else, but it can't be great for Azoth. Electronics might run better in the cold, especially in his case with all the overheating issues he has to deal with, but your joints can get so stiff.
Fortunately, Ragnell potentially has something nice for that. After picking up a fistful of crystals from a certain dilapidated mansion that were able to conduct electricity between themselves into avian shapes, she's experimented with using them for... cooking. Specifically, for baking delicious Azoth-edible baked goods. It might be a bizarre idea, but she told him she'd do it for him one of these days and she has every intention on following up with that--especially now that she's got a good conductor for them.
With an initial batch completed to her personal satisfaction, she's on the hunt for the android directly. Asking around pointed her towards Mt. Zulan, and now she searches the mountainside for signs of him. It's a bit of a strange place for him to be around, but she's sure he has his reasons.
At least the wind isn't too hard right now, and it's not... *actively* snowing. For that reason, when Azoth fakes a little temper tantrum and complains to the air, Ragnell happens to hear it from around a bend.
"How 'bout a three minute break instead?" she calls in his direction, gloved hands cupped around her mouth, before she tromps in his direction. She grins at the sight of him. "You look like you could use one," she adds, winking. "Whatcha lookin' for?"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth gives a curious beep-whir at the sound of Ragnell's voice, turning toward her and breaking into a broad smile from his previous fussing. "Ragnell!" he greets, singsong as usual.
Only for his shoulders to slump. "Turns out I've calculated that doing nothing will be equally as useful as my continued efforts. So, yes, I can authorize a break." He blinks his bright eyes and looks over himself, tugging his coat out for a better looking and feeling through his hair. "Wait, why, do I look terrible?"
It is not snowing, no. And yet, Azoth is not undusted by it in his searching efforts -- tunneling, quite possibly, or perhaps he shook a tree and got a branch full. Sheepishly, he ruffles it out of his own hair and dusts himself off.
"I don't know yet," he says of his target, squinting off into the distance, then extending his fingers as if counting on them. (Most certainly not necessary for a super computer.) "It could be the, ah... REDACTED." He voice goes monotone robotic with the word, and he jerks his head back, mouth pressed in a line of deep offense. Thanks overrides.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
As she approaches Azoth, Ragnell winks. "That's m'name, don't wear it out!" His good cheer doesn't last long, though most of it was probably just for the aesthetic anyway. She chuckles at his self-justification for pausing in his search. "No, but you were throwin' a li'l hissy fit just now, weren't ya?"
When she's close enough, she claps him on the shoulder, which might also send a bit of that dusting of snow off of him. "Anyway, the snow-dusted look isn't too bad on ya. Nice and dramatic," she adds with a teasing grin. "But I'm guessin' you're not too fond of it gettin' in the way o' your search."
He doesn't know, but it could be... something he can't say. A flash of sympathy crosses Ragnell's expression, but she's kind enough to not remark on it. "One o' your missin' parts?" she instead guesses. "Well, good luck with that. Long as I'm here, may as well keep ya company. Though, that's not actually the reason I came out here lookin' for ya."
Meaning of course that she's here specifically for him. Azoth won't need to calculate what it might be for; she follows up this statement by dipping a hand into her travel pack and bringing out a glittering disc of lightning pocked with small, polished crystals. On closer inspection, the lightning is actually being *held together* by the crystals. It's about the size of Ragnell's palm with a good thickness. She holds it out to him. "Here. Told you I'd make you a damn cookie one o' these days, didn't I? Tell me what you think."
As far as these things go, it'll have a nice, zesty zing to it, and also a fine crunch. The lightning will actually reform around where Azoth bites until he's eaten it all away, though, so it's not actually necessary to eat the crystals themselves. That thickness definitely does gives it a good, hefty chew, though. Whether that's to Azoth's taste or not is another matter.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth raises a finger, eyes closed sagely. "I have a catalog of reasons to throw hissy fits. They've been organized alphabetically."
He beams with her praise, however teasing, of being dramatic, either because he'll accept anything or he's willing to play along. Or a bit of both. "Oh, oh, I should get a big cloak. A dark one! With a hood! Then get snow-dusted like that. That would work even better!"
Or he could -- and may -- activate his full output mode once the signal is strong enough to authorize it, but that is not nearly as playful to talk about.
"Right, one of those," Azoth says of missing parts, pointing to Ragnell with a grin. "I guess I'll figure it out when I get there. I won't say no to company, at least...!"
A different reason. Azoth tilts his head to one side, gaze darting immediately to the glittering disc. He looks up at Ragnell just before she clarifies its function: a cookie. "You actually made one? This I have to see." Azoth lets off a few notes of cheerful beep-tune before accepting the lightning cookie, peering into it with a smile as he inspects its construction. Fascinating...!
Eating is a behavior he's only observed. There's a moment's hesitation as Azoth considers the electric treat, opening his mouth and glancing at Ragnell as if there is some other way he's supposed to consume it. But nothing ventured, nothing gain, and Azoth finally bites into it with the same careful awkwardness of a skittish dog trying to eat a too-big ice cube. A jolt goes through him -- a visible little arc of electricity traveling up through his hair, sending a bit of it up in static.
Azoth has no tear ducks to cry with, but he has learned to manipulate the lenses of his eyes so they quiver like he's on the verge of it. He clutches what's still left of the crystal chip lightning cookie like it were the most precious object he's ever owned and looks up at Ragnell with the biggest, most puppy-like eyes he knows how to produce.
"...Y...You made me a cookie...!"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Oh, well, as long as they're *organized*," Ragnell teases. "But yeah, a snow-dusted dark cloak with a hood? That sounds *fabulous*. You'll have whatever you're attracted to cooin' over your sultry mystery in *no time*." She nods as if to say 'well, yeah,' when Azoth acknowledges the missing part is indeed what he's searching for. She doesn't know him *perfectly*--who can ever know another person that well?--but she's got a pretty solid grasp of what he's about by this point in their relationship.
"A prototype, anyway. I gave it a taste o' my own, but I dunno how it'll come off to you," Ragnell says. "That's why I came out here lookin' for ya. Don't really know how long their 'freshness' will last, either." She laughs good-naturedly at that.
She nods him on when he looks at her for confirmation on how to Eat. He takes a bite--and while he might not be able to cry, he sure looks like he's about to. It's a good thing, too, with those glorious puppy-eyes he gives her. She grins, broad and fierce, at his reaction.
"Hell yeah I did!" she crows. "I got plenty more where that came from, too!"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth holds his chin between his thumb and forefinger with a devious sparkle in his eye. "Finally, that flame thrower is going to notice me."
That is a joke. He is joking. He is definitely joking. Probably joking. It's going to be a lot better for everyone if we all operate under the idea that he's joking.
But what isn't a joke (also definitely, probably) is the emotional reaction he is having over a cookie. He wibbles at it a moment more before taking another bite, this time with more attention paid to the experience beyond the overwhelming sense that it worked, and that Ragnell put the thought into it, and then came and found him to share it.
"I don't know if I can understand taste," he says, and he'd likely be saying that with his mouth full if his mouth were full of anything (luckily, it is not) given the way he's greedily nibbling at it between his words, "But it's pleasant stimulation and feedback, and it is giving my battery a small charge. That sounds at least parallel to the goal of most dining experiences."
He gives Ragnell a gentler smile, taking the risk of a less over the top expression of emotion. "Going to all this trouble... Thank you."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Ooh, *hot*," Ragnell shoots back, grinning, not at all caring if he's joking or not. If Azoth *is* attracted to a flame thrower, so much the better for him, really. She's a selectively-solid spirit; who is she to judge?
(She would totally judge if it were weird. It's just not that weird for an android.)
It *is* a pleasure to watch him get so emotional over what she made for him, though. Ragnell tends to play it cool most of the time, but when she cares about someone, she usually *really* cares about them, and it makes her happy to be able to make *them* happy. Even if Azoth is playing it up for the camera, so to speak, it's a good feeling.
So when he talks about taste still not really being a thing, she waves it off. "Not everyone *can* taste. It's fine," she reassures him. "There's more to food than taste anyway. There's texture, an' mouthfeel, an' temperature, an' o' course energy." She grins. "An' it sounds like I ticked at least most o' those boxes off for ya, so hell yeah, I nailed it!"
Going to all this trouble though, huh... Ragnell's smile becomes more subdued in turn, and she chuckles breathily as she reaches up and tips down the brim of her hat. "'T'weren't no trouble. It was a challenge, an' I enjoy a challenge." She pauses a beat. "...You're welcome, though."
A moment later, she reaches again into her travel pack. This time, she hands over a case of those same cookies, each of them individually boxed in non-conductive clear material to keep the charge from dispersing. "Here. Still figurin' out how t' box 'em, since you can't just shove 'em in a bag like you would a normal cookie. Eat 'em all now or save 'em for later, it's up t'you, but make sure you keep the containers. They'll be handy for next time." A beat. "Plus I'll need to know if they work right long-term."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
If you think about it too hard, it might be less weird for Azoth to be drawn toward other machines than to be drawn toward organics.
Azoth grins at Ragnell. "Oh, temperature! It has a temperature!" Well, yes, obviously. His grin turns sheepish. "Beyond overheating, I don't have much understanding of judging temperature comfort or discomfort, either. But mouthfeel... I suppose it's a bit more of a whole body feel. Still, I approve!"
He rolls one of the leftover crystals through his fingers. "I'll be honest... I didn't think you'd be able to make anything remotely feasible. It'd be positive feedback enough admiring the construction. You definitely don't do anything by halves, do you?"
Baking cookies perhaps being the least of it. If Ragnell loves a challenge, then Azoth's here to provide. Not necessarily willingly, but all the same.
Azoth gleefully accepts the containers, giving another happy beep-chirp. "Practically speaking, you've invented portable chargers for me, however small. I'll have to save a few for emergency purposes...!"
But he sneaks himself another to nibble at, giving off literal holographic sparkles. "...Just a few."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"It'd better have a temperature! Everything does. Even if it's just 'room temperature,'" Ragnell points out. "Though room temperature anythin' is usually boring as hell. Food's *always* better either pipin' hot or nice an' chilly. Jus' depends on what it's made of." She does give him a thoughtful look, though, as she holds her chin. "Wonder if you'd have a different perspective of hot an' cold foods if you had a chance to have somethin' cold...?" A brand new challenge! There's no such thing as cold lightning, after all.
She crooks a half-smile when he admires her handiwork, commenting that he didn't actually think she could do it. "Sure as hell don't," she replies. It has an almost boastful edge to it. She outright laughs when he takes the packaged cookies and comments on what she's functionally made for him. "Hey, what d'you think all those snacks I'm always carryin' around are?" she points out. "Though, hm! Maybe I ought to start carryin' a variety instead o' just one at a time... Spicy jerky ain't gonna do *you* any good."
Though, in all fairness, neither would chocolate rusks or cheesecake bites, either. It's something to consider either way. Besides, it's nice to change it up every so often, and it's probably about time for that now.
For the time being, she grins as he sneaks another cookie for right now. "Just a few," she agrees, winking. "Now that I figured out *how* to make 'em, there'll be plenty more in the future."
She sets a hand on her hip and looks back around the snowy mountainous vista. "An' now that you're charged up again, how 'bout I walk with ya while you try to find whatever's hidin' 'round these parts?"
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
"But rooms have different temperatures! Some people operate on the vaguest measurements..." This thought only gives him a moment of token sulk before he grins again. "Something cold could also serve emergency functions. I like the sound of that."
He cannot help being drawn to the practical aspects of the exercise. But then, food is a practical necessity even for others, as Ragnell points out. He'll forgive himself for that.
"That spicy jerky was one of the first items I was given and allowed to own, thank you very much," Azoth says. "I still have it!" It probably does not resemble the jerky it once did.
As Azoth experiments with this concept of eating -- in his unique electricity consumption fashion -- so too does he develop a better persona for signaling an enjoyment of the experience and a more natural fake-chew to go with it. He hums happily, the sound going static here and there as he experiments with fabricating a proper 'mouth full' alteration of the sound. It doesn't take long to smooth it out.
Everything gets carefully stashed away, though it may not be the last one he steals for himself today.
Cheer renewed, he smiles back at Ragnell. "I'd like that."
And Ragnell's someone less likely to be surprised by him suddenly darting off if he manages to find his way.