/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46346895
pretty sure it was Rikakoanon
>the same separation using "..."
>this >>46286778
>similar writing style
could be wrong, could be not; but whoever did it knows well how to write horrors beyond my comprehension, that's for fucking sure.

(1/1)
—
When you're desperate, you meet the weirdest people.

To save funds for winter, my diet has thinned down to very statistics. I was never a forager or hunter, so though I can find edibles, I won't trust me to eat an odd mushroom or try to hunt game—I also learned the hard way why you don't hunt with Danmaku…—and my tainted reputation won't go away so easily. So, it's endure and scrape by with anything you can get.

"You don't know how many questions I have! So many~! It's almost impossible to get reliable information from the Outside world here!" The purple haired, white coat-wearing woman talks fast yet with cadence, though fails to hide her excitement. I ignore it, eating the pancakes and drinking juice calmly. The fairy to my side slurps on a straw, eyes droopy and wings not shining as much as usual for a fairy—not in a talking mood? All around us, the HSE's influence is felt. "But to have a teacher—one with an incomprehensible magic capacity related to history—to guide me is just so great!"

I raise an eyebrow… She's really excited. It warms that part of my heart that loves teaching, true, but it creeps me a little. Won't complain; she's paying my breakfast, after all.

"Okay… Let's say, hypothetically, that I want to prove that using asbestos in my lemonade is not a health concern—it really just improves the taste, really—is there any historical figure that just happened to make it work? If so: how did they do it?"

… Slowly, I stopped eating my pancakes, frowning. What the hell…?

"Look, I know how it sounds. But it's not THAT bad! It's really good, especially in powder form! I tested myself—didn't sell it!—and the zestness was out of this world—"

"… It causes cancer. Asbestos causes pulmonary cancer. Massively…" I pause, then look at my pancakes. She paid for them… "No historical figure beyond big names behind food chains and companies looking for cheaper alternatives defended it." Rikako ponders with a sigh, and I can't help but look at Tene; she looks so sad…

"That's a bust, then," she murmurs, pulling something from inside her lab coat and quickly glancing at it—were those notes? "Okay… What about… leadmonade?" There's a grin on her face, and I have yet again to pause.

"… Excuse me?"

"C'mon, the joke is obvious: lead and lemonade—"

"No, no, I got it—but why exactly lead…?"

"You see, there's this thing called: human adaptation of the genome." It sounds like she pulled that out of a top hat. "And, yes, I know what lead has caused on humans a century ago or so—but that's a long time! Humans have evolved, adapted, and have become much more resistant to lead! And what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!"

"But… lead in any food will kill you."

"It won't."

"How do you even know that?" Rikako remains silent, then scratches her nape. I sigh, wide-eyed. "Don't do that again… Humans in the Outside have fought against the implementation of lead everywhere, even in the fuel of their vehicles—and, as you may guess, a rich and powerful elite indeed tried to keep it in use for cheap manufacturing, but it's simply too awful for humans… Actually, recalling that incident two decades ago, lead in Gensokyo’s food would be pandemic!" Though my hunger has vanished, I force the pancakes down my throat. Rikako mumbles, fixing her glasses, and I can't help but frown. "… Why not just sell plain lemonade? Everyone likes plain lemonade."

Rikako scoffs. "That's not science—to remain stagnant, not move just because now is comfortable. Testing, improving, trying to find news and betters—even if in something like lemonade—is what every scholar should strive for. It's no wonder Gensokyo lags behind every other developed place on Earth." Her tone is stressed, checking her notes again, leaving the book on the table. I… can understand—maybe—her point, but that's all just dangerous and hazardous. Huffing, a pointy smile rises on her face, a gleam there. "Okay, okay—heavy chemicals and metals aside, was there anyone in history that used a combination of ethylene and sulfur dichloride on food? The names may be threatening, but both are used in alcohol brewing, and an alcoholic lemonade should be a bestseller considering 100% of my clientele is made up of adults and…"

Rikako goes on and on, and her plan is quite solid. I don't understand much, but pulling my scroll and checking for such info should—? Tene, bored, picked up Rikako's notebook, reading the page she left on. I leaned to have a better glance at it, finishing the last of my pancakes…

… Most of it is lemonade ingredients, some graphs, and—a big chemical equation scribbled on top of the page—’(Cl[CH2]2)2S e Cl-CH2-CH2-S-CH2-CH2-Cl'…? Frown creased, I stealthily pulled my scroll, eating the information in my head about the chemical equation. It's eerily easy; was it a prominent part of his—

Oh. Oh…

"NO!" I yell, slamming the book against the table, scaring Tene.

"… Look…" Rikako fixes her glasses. "It's not—"

“You’re not adding mustard gas to lemonade!”