Happy Halloween!

[mosaic_archive]

It might be a good idea to carry an umbrella when walking in the open area of the Nexus today. Not because of rain, however, but because of a light shower of wrapped fun-sized candies that started when a threshold number of portals reached midnight on October 30th (or the first second of the 31st, depending on how you look at it) and will continue until the same conditions for midnight October 31st.

The free candy is perfectly safe. The ground fog playing over the grassy field, however, carries an LOL with the following effects: If someone is not in costume they suddenly will be (mun's choice), and may have abilities to match whatever they're costumed as. An example would be someone in a ghost costume gaining the temporary ability to float or walk through walls. If someone is already in a costume they might get related abilities, but will otherwise be partly immune. All effects will wear off at the same time as the end of the candy shower.

In other words: Happy Halloween, everyone.

Comments

[museicalmarty]

"Similar chemicals involved in both, I'm guessing," Doc says with a little smile of his own.

"And it's Halloween -- having maybe a little more candy than is healthy is kind of the point," Marty adds, grinning. So yeah, if Blaine's indulging, he'll grab a Kit-Kat out of the appropriate pile for himself.

[pogo_boy]

"Sugars do tend to be one of the easier organic compounds to convert to electricity," Quint says. "Well, that or alcohol, but... um... that actually doesn't work out so well for us. And not just because most of my brothers look underage."

"That tasted a lot different from chocolate," Little Blaine said. "It was more like the lollipop, but also different. I liked it too. But does all food taste different?" Because that was going to be a lot of new data to process.

[museicalmarty]

"Oh? I hope it doesn't cause a reaction like mine," Doc says, grimacing. "Yes, Part III got that right, by the way. I don't know what it is or how it affects me so quickly -- just that it's apparently common on my mother's side of the family."

"Yeah, pretty much," Marty informs the little ghost. "I mean, some stuff tastes similar, but I don't think there's anything that's exactly like some other thing."

"You'll get used to it," Dee assures him. "Lots of stuff is fun to eat."

[pogo_boy]

"Not exactly, but... the way we process organic food gets confused by alcohol, and it doesn't go through all the steps it should and... well, the short version is we can actually get drunk, but it's because of a fuel contaminant problem and surges that cause similar symptoms. Including the hangover until the damage is repaired." Quint's facepalming by the end of his explanation. "It hasn't happened to me yet, but I've had to deal with the results in a few of my siblings."

"Like how you said Skittles were supposed to taste like fruit?" Little Blaine asks. "It is fun," he adds to Dee, "but there are so many new things now."

[museicalmarty]

"Aha. Judging by your reaction, that's quite bad enough," Doc says, nodding at the facepalm.

"Guessing you have some interesting 'my brother or sister got drunk and caused some shi-mayhem' stories," Marty adds, quickly switching words as he glances at Little Blaine. Yeah, maybe what he assumes is an actual kid's already heard worse, but he should at least make the effort to keep it a little cleaner.

"Yeah, basically," Marty says. "And yeah, there are, but nobody says you have to eat everything all in one go. You can keep trying stuff slowly."

"Right," Dee nods. "Nobody's gonna make you eat." She assumes, anyway.

[pogo_boy]

"Yeah, plus anyone who does repairs or helps out the medics... well, you get to where you really want to smack the people who stumble in needing help because they did something stupid that they knew would cause them problems, but they just thought it would be funny at the time. It's not just the alcohol... just that that one comes up a lot. Almost as much as the barbecue recipe one of my older brother's made." They actually have a whole filing cabinet for records of certain kinds of injuries. One whole drawer is given over to anything indirectly caused by Heat's Special Recipe Barbecue, which can't cause any direct damage to a Reploid or Robot Master, but, well...

Little Blaine was about to comment that he likes to eat as long as he doesn't try everything at once, but this mention just makes him say. "I think I don't want to eat that."

[museicalmarty]

"I don't blame you there," Alice says, shaking her head as she twirls her tail. "If there's anything that gets up my nose, it's people diving head first into stupid actions when they ought to know better -- either from past experience or simple logic." She sighs deeply. "But then again, from what I've seen, 'common sense' is most inappropriately named, so. . ."

"It's human nature," Doc says with a little shrug. "And Reploid nature too, apparently."

"Alcohol or that barbecue recipe?" Marty asks, raising an eyebrow. "'Cause neither sound great. . . Dare I ask what's in the recipe?" He's pretty sure it's not human-edible, but he's darkly curious.

[pogo_boy]

"Either," says Little Blaine, picking an orange Skittle next.

"A lot of different kinds of hot peppers," Quint says, "including one that supposedly the hottest kind on record, according to Heat. And... well, when you think about it, that doesn't seem to be something that should affect one of us. I mean, the way hot peppers work is a weird chemical reaction that really has nothing to do with actual heat. And don't think I can just blame Dr. Wily for that one because it's not just Wilybots that end up showing up for repairs because of Barbecue Related Injuries. Mostly bitten tongues."

[museicalmarty]

"Smart kid," Marty says, smirking. "I mean, a little beer or hot sauce ain't gonna kill you, but you don't need either, so. . ."

He sucks in a breath as Quint explains what's in the hot sauce. "Oh yeesh -- okay, I don't think I'm gonna be touching that anytime soon."

"You shouldn't -- it would probably cause chemical burns," Doc says, grimacing. "And that is rather odd. . .maybe it's something similar to how alcohol can get you drunk, just for different reasons than a human? Another fuel contaminant problem, as you put it?"

"Might be another case of 'sufficiently dedicated scientist can do anything in that world,'" Alice says, twirling her tail.

[pogo_boy]

"I don't need Skittles," Little Blaine points out. "But I like them. I don't think I would like those."

Quint shakes his head. "The problem is before it reaches the fuel systems, so it would have to be something in sensors... specifically the interface software. For some reason we're designed to detect that chemical and have that reaction to it." There's a snerk and he shakes his head. "I almost suspect it was some very old joke between Dr. Wily and Dr. Light, back when Dr. Wily was still sane... but we'd have to ask Blues to know about that for certain."

"I don't think I'd change it, though. Weird things can happen messing with some parts of our coding... it could end up making other food taste weird. I know that kind of thing can be done, though, because of Morph Moth. He was designed to eat recyclable metals and plastics... he thinks they're delicious, and most human food is nearly tasteless to him."

[museicalmarty]

"Heh, point," Marty allows. "I like 'em too. But yeah, I'm a little surprised anybody, organic or otherwise, touches that barbecue sauce."

"Some people like spice," Doc shrugs. "Or the challenge of enduring something that hot." He nods at Quint as he explains further. "Very strange that he would program that in -- though, as you say, if it was some sort of joke between Wily and Light in the old days. . .maybe one of them had a fondness for hot sauce himself," he adds with a slight smile.

"Oh, I can imagine," he agrees. "I wouldn't touch it either, if I were in your place. Better to have it in place and just avoid the hot sauce."

"Morph Moth?" Victor repeats, tilting his head. Nibbles copies the motion.

[pogo_boy]

An orange skittle disappears under the bedsheet next.

"Dr. Wily did like tex-mex food, and he was still sane when Blues was made..." Quint thinks it over, and then shrugs himself. Again, getting a straight answer out of the oldest of their kind would be needed for confirmation, and that was something completely up to Blues.

"He's one of the younger Reploids that came to us after getting away from the Maverick Hunters," Quint says. "And, yes, he does look like a moth. There was kind of a... fad, I guess, for a while, of making Reploids that looked like anthropomorphized animals and bugs."

[deadgirlslikeme]

"Seems a reasonable hypothesis then," Doc says with a small nod. "And it does allow you to enjoy a greater variety of food." He smiles faintly. "For, ah, specific values of 'enjoy.'"

"Oh, I see," Victor nods. "I wasn't sure if it just referred to him being able to fly -- can he fly?" He can't imagine that anyone would go to the trouble of making a mechanical moth and not give it the ability to fly.

[pogo_boy]

"And at least it keeps my siblings from putting things that might be even more problematic in their mouths because those things don't taste good." Quint could share some funny stories about a very young Zero, but he's trying not to give in to the temptation. "I think so," he adds, in regards to Morph Moth. "I don't really know him that well."

The assigned Batontons continue to sort candy... and shortly they're not all that's in the air as the previously napping magelets drift over. It seems the flying drone swarm woke them up.

"Did it stop raining candy?" asks one, just to be sure.

[deadgirlslikeme]

Doc chuckles. "True. I think the same thing saved Dee from poisoning a couple of times."

"I was new to being a person and thought gasoline would still be okay," Dee says, crossing her arms with a pout. "I didn't have more than a drop!"

"Fortunate, as our current reality doesn't really have a working poison control hotline."

Victor looks over at the magelets as they float up. "Hello! Certainly over here it has," he says, glancing skyward.

"The storm's been steadily shrinking for quite some time," Doc confirms. "I think we've seen the last of it. We're getting it all sorted so people can take some home."