Posted by Lieutenant Thomas McGregor (COS) in Away Team Two
<snip>

The cooked food could have been more tasty. However, it was not bland or unpalatable. Even the sweet drink was not as sweet as the sodas one found on Earth.

Shou had been also taking some food. He had taken one serving of each category of food.

“I hope that you find our food good enough for you,” he remarked. “More and more of our food is processed here in the cities because of the pace of life. I prefer the simply cooked food that is found in the country. We get the original taste of the food.”

GM

Thomas took a sip of his sweet drink, pondering that statement.

“On Earth, there’s a large portion of the population with similar preferences. Especially in the areas close to where the food is grown, but even in the urban areas there are restaurants that source their supplies directly from the farms, or even cultivate their own vegetables and herbs in nearby gardens,” he said. “It’s called farm-to-table.”

COS

Shou turned to Thomas with a puzzled look. “What are restaurants?” he asked.

GM

Dagen had been eating and listening and, honestly, waiting for the shoe to fall regarding the Genesis taking their scanning trip. He swallowed and replied, “If for example one doesn’t wish to prepare a meal at home, there are places where they specialize in making meals and where one can go, join friends or family, and share the meal together. Often they are specialized in a particular food type. For instance should you join the Federation someone may begin a restaurant somewhere that serves Pallasian food and recipes and where people can come in and enjoy them. It is a .. business employing cooks and servers.” He thought it might be a stretch to have a Pallasian restaurant but there were many people about in the Federation with a wide range of tastes.
- Dagen, CE

“So,” said Shou with a smile, “this food providing location could be called a restaurant?” He said it as he looked round the place where they were eating.

GM

“Well, in the loosest definition of the term. Since it’s a part of a building with a different overall purpose, we would call it a ‘cafeteria’ or ‘canteen’. A food-providing location specifically for employees, or guests, of the building. A restaurant would be its own building, providing food for anybody who walks in and wants what’s on offer,” Thomas replied.

COS

“We don’t have those,” said Shou. “Most of us would prefer to eat at home. For those of us who have left our families and live alone, we make use of the ‘canteen’. When families do not have the time to cook for themselves, they would pay another to cook their food, who would cook in their own homes, and then deliver it to the family who requested for the food.”

GM

That was different, but then they were different. “We would get the same type of service from a restaurant. Call them to deliver the food rather than eating in the restaurant.” He smiled and added. “But your way would have a more personal touch to it. Would you know those cooks then?” he asked. Home made food. Wow, Dagen thought. That would be a novelty, and was. It was usually something a Starfleeter would know growing up but not once they joined on. At that point it would be replicated food or restaurants while on leave. He did sound a bit envious in his tone.
- Dagen, CE

Reia had picked through parts of her meal and found it satisfactory, but not stellar. Picking up her savory beverage, she hoped for something along the lines of coffee or unsweetened hot tea.

• Reia, CIO

The savoury beverage was like chicken soup in cup.

“What an interesting concept,” observed Shou in response to the CE. “The usual arrangements are usually private. Sometimes, the people who ordered the food would pick it up at the cook’s home.”

When they had finished their meal, Shou said, “We’ve seen the therapeutic recreational facilities and our nourishment centre, I believe that we would have to go back to meet up with Ms Yeeker.” He stood up to lead them away.

GM

And the power plant, Dagen thought, not to mention their high speed trains and a little on their environment and what they were trying to do to clean things up more. It would take some time to get back and give them time to think and put all of this together. Dagen found that he was developing a small headache, just a pain at the back of his head. He was not a diplomat. Oh he could schmooze but he was a doer, a helper. he’d always wanted to just fix things or better things. This dance around the diplomatic side and not overstep his bounds was a stretch for him. He chuckled inwardly in that a few years ago he was a contract engineer on an outpost and about as opposite to this job that he was doing now. Fortunes turned. It all went down to choices. And opportunities.

“Thank you for your tour and your openness, Shou,” Dagen said, setting down the cup he had in hand. So far they had not met any opposition or hostility, though he was certain that not everyone on the world would be happy about their presence. People were people and with that came a myriad of opinions. The other team would have their own stories to tell of different areas. “Lead the way,” he gestured to him and then to Reia and Thomas.
- Dagen CE

The beverage reminded Reia of something her Gran would fix when she was feeling ill but the pang for home didn’t last for very long as she stood and prepared to leave with Dagen, Thomas, and the others.

• Reia, CIO

“Tom, wanna let the ship know we’re heading back please,” he asked the security chief.

“Right,” Thomas said, dropping back a little from the group. =/\=McGregor to Genesis. We just finished lunch, learned a little bit about their food production and preparation processes and introduced the concept of a restaurant. Heading back to resume the tour now.=/\=

As they moved along, now one of the bunch returning the way they came, Dagen leaned in to Reia. Since first meeting her he had come to realize that she had more than a little Orion in her and her natural pheromones were like a sweet perfume that had a heady feel to it. It was not disagreeable to him. “What do you think?” he asked softly.
- Dagen, CE

Reia smiled up at Dagen. She considered him a very competent colleague and an interesting friend.

“I think there’s probably more to all of this than they’d like to tell us upon a first meeting. Put out the good China for the guests ad my gran would say.” she explained thoughtfully.

• Reia, CIO

COS

“Good observation,” Dagen said. “Any ideas what from what you see?” He liked that comparison to the good china. Still something bothered him that did not totally add up. Was Shou a sincere guide or a ‘useful idiot’ that the powers wanted to display? They showed a higher level view of the world in the facilities and power generation and these centers, yet showed considerable planetary pollution through what they had done. They had halted sports due to the competitive nature of it and replaced it with an individually chosen AI activity. Their space vessels were heavily on the military side - odd when one has a one world government and .. who to fight or defend from or control if it wasn’t the people? So much of what they had seen had a sense of ‘control’ to it.

“Shou,” he asked as they moved along. “It sounds like the home is a very common environment for the people. Is there a range of video entertainment that they view? On many worlds there were considerable channels that people could tune into for entertainment or topics they were interested in.” They ate at home. They didn’t collect together for sports. What ‘did’ the people do when they were not working?
Dagen, CE