Oh Hello Again

[iamnotpolaris]

This isn't Emily's dorm room.
This is Milliways! Awesome.
"Hi, Bar," she says cheerfully. "Looks like I'm the first one in at the moment, huh?" she says, looking around at the otherwise-empty room.

Comments

[middlingalong]

"Huh." He sips his pink thing.

[iamnotpolaris]

"I only get Milliways when I'm opening a door with magnetism, for some reason. No idea why."

[middlingalong]

"Huh. I couldn't begin to guess why that would be."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Nor I! The ways of Milliways doors are mysterious and unfathomable. Even Bar doesn't have a clue," she adds, patting the bar.

[middlingalong]

It is occasionally a frustration, confides Bar.

"Well, at least it gave me a place where if I understand correctly I can buy the groceries I was looking for in the first place."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Yep."

[middlingalong]

"Maybe you even have better groats than Earthside shops."

I assure you that you will find no fault with my groats.

"I will take your word for that."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Ooh, I hadn't even thought about that! I've never gotten Milliways while far enough away from home to be relying in import shops."

[middlingalong]

"Mostly I miss real meat. It's outrageously expensive on Earth and I've never gotten used to the vat kind."

[iamnotpolaris]

"You can absolutely get real meat here. Well, not real real I suppose, it's never been a dead animal, but I can't tell the difference."

[middlingalong]

"Some people claim this about vat meat -"

I assure you my imitations scarcely warrant the term.

"- but presumably Bar is better at it."

[iamnotpolaris]

"I mean, the pink thing she gave you has never been whatever it is pink things are usually made of. ...Hey, bar, can I try the vat stuff to see what it's like?"

[alicornucopia]

Of course. Do you have a preference for the inspirational dish?

[iamnotpolaris]

"Not pork. Or shellfish. Or anything else not kosher."

[middlingalong]

Of course not, agrees Bar, appearing a slab of spiced turkey with perfectly recognizable texture, aroma, and flavor, which simply happens to have corners.

"Anything else not what?" asks Ivan.

[iamnotpolaris]

"Kosher. I'm Jewish. Do spacefuture people not have Judaism anymore or is that just Barrayar too?"

[middlingalong]

"I don't know, I haven't actually heard of everything there has ever been. Bar, do we have Judaism?"

Not on Barrayar, but there are populations on several other planets and stations, exact populations depending on what is considered to constitute Judaism per se.

[iamnotpolaris]

"So we have some religious dietary restrictions, the most well-known of which is that we're not supposed to eat pork."

[middlingalong]

"I think I have heard of a religion that isn't supposed to eat pork."

You are more likely to have encountered this in the form of Islam and its offshoots.

"And that applies to magic or vat or both pork too?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"I don't know if it does, but since I've never eaten real pork it wouldn't be a good choice for comparing to the vat variety. Besides, I shouldn't like to get attached in case it turns out to be awesome."

[middlingalong]

"Eh, it's meat. It's a perfectly nice meat but I'd usually rather have beef."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Besides, better safe than sorry. I don't know that pork that's never been a pig isn't kosher, but I don't know that it is either. And it would be a little hard to check, too, given that it would involve trying to explain Milliways to a rabbi without proof."

[middlingalong]

"I imagine that could be awkward. I'm probably not going to tell anyone I was here."

[iamnotpolaris]

"I had to tell some people, because I brought home technology to reverse-engineer, but one of the perks of so many of one's nearest and dearest being telepaths is that it makes it much easier for them to believe your more fantastical truths."

[middlingalong]

"That's - probably easier than trying to construct an explanation, yep."