Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Amelia, Ch 291- Taylor


"This is really good," I said before taking another bite of the stir-fry I'd ordered. I recognized some of the artificial vegetables as ones that I had come up with while idly chatting with Amelia. I couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm so glad you talked me into coming here."


"Told you so," Lisa smiled. "And please stop thinking about your pillow talk with your girlfriend. I want to enjoy my meal."


"So how did you even find out about this place?" I asked, meeting her eyes as I dipped into the link for a brief mental equivalent to a hug with Amelia. We were never truly apart from each other. Meanwhile, I considered the benefits of cooked food. Maybe we should create some plants specifically with the intent for them to be cooked before eaten. We should also look into foods that need to be processed, at the moment anything made from grain had to be imported from Aleph.


"Well, Crystal asked for about a hundred and fifty different production seeds," Lisa answered.


"Huh, woulda thought she'd ask Amelia for something like that," I answered. The production seeds were one of the few things we kept pretty regulated. Everyone who came to Avalon was given one seed. When planted it would produce enough fruit to feed a single person. Of course 'one person' in this case was by the standard of an American oversized diet, so in reality they could probably support two people each. Plus the vaguely lettuce like flavor and texture of eating Yggdrasil directly. But it was one person, one seed, and each made one flavor of fruit.


This was an artificial method to generate a trade economy, but it was a useful one. No one liked to eat the same thing all the time. Five families could easily have twenty different types of seed between them, and would barter with each other however they prefered to get a mix of options. That, plus the low scale personal livestock farming that had already started, would be the basis on which future economies would be born.


"I probably talk to Crystal more than Amelia does," Lisa responded. "Mostly about her handling of the west coast team."


"How is that going, by the way?" I asked. I knew there weren't any problems, then I would have been told. I was kept pretty much constantly updated on Victoria's antics in Philly. Although Carol was the one making the real waves. But that didn't mean there wasn't anything interesting happening.


"Really well, for the most part," she responded. "Anima and Clotho are really putting a rogue friendly face on our organization out there. They recently talked a new healer into joining the team. He's pretty lackluster, though."


Healers were a rare luxury, I couldn't imagine how one would be considered lackluster.


"An aura that grants moderate regeneration to everyone within a hundred feet or so," she answered my unspoken question. "It's like years of natural healing done in minutes, without scarring. Not enough to regrow organs or repair nerve damage, but it can beat diseases that are otherwise incurable like HIV or cancer. Even seems to halt aging and stabilize dying individuals in the radius, if sometimes only temporarily."


"Still plenty of uses for that," I argued.


"In the private sector, absolutely. There it's great stuff," she partially agreed. "But for our needs, it's lackluster. Some of our Tinkers are looking forward to seeing if they can imitate, range boost, or emulate it with machines one way or another."


I flagged the waitress while wondering what that power was meant to do to achieve the conflict that the Passengers were trying to achieve. It was able to heal both allies and enemies at the same time, so maybe that was the point? Access to healers tended to make parahumans less cautious. If nothing short of death was a consequence, and in Pantheon's case even that was only inconvenient, then of course there'd be more willingness to get into combat.


"Can I help you, ma'am?" the girl asked after approaching. Once again I was struck by the age dissonance. This young woman was older than me by a few years, probably college age, and I couldn't help but think of her as, somehow, 'younger' than me.


"I'd like a refill," I told her. 'Joanne', according to the name tag. "And the check."


"Oh, no, we can't charge you," she responded. Oh god damn it, it's going to be like that.


"I'd really rather you did," I responded. "After all, we'll probably come back here a lot." Understatement, Amelia would love some of this. Our diets consisted almost entirely of 'that stuff growing on our walls' and 'takeout'. And after the loss of Brockton Bay, we didn't even have the takeout. There was a time I when I enjoyed cooking. "Actually, while we're on the subject, I'd love to talk to your chef. Maybe get some recipes."


"Uh... sure, I'll go back and ask," she agreed, rushing off and completely forgetting my refill.


"Welcome to the splendors of international fame," Lisa smirked at me. "And ruling a planet."


"Think they'll get used to us if we show up often enough?" I asked. "I mean, there were a few good places in Brockton Bay that didn't flip out when capes showed up. Hopefully it'll be like that."


"True, they were okay with capes," Lisa replied. "But if the President showed up? I think it'd be a different story."


I slouched a little, before forcing myself back into proper posture. Too many people around here watching, had to look good for the public. "Is it too late to go back to mostly anonymous supervillain?"


"Yep," she smiled. "Not even faking your own death will get you out of it, now."


I was tracking the waitress, as she came out with a handsome young man. He looked a little like Brian, and there was a time that might have bothered me. But that part of my life was over, whatever might have come of the two of us if things had been different, I don't think I'd have traded it for what I had right now.


"Good day, Empress, I'm Tyrone, co owner of this establishment. How can I help you?" And just like that, my mind shuffled him into 'kid' status as well. Eager to please, a little scared even. I found myself feeling bad, actually.


"I was just telling your waitress how much I loved the food," I informed him, and watched the relief show on his face.


"Thank you," Tyrone responded, nervous that I might switch over to a complaint at any moment. These people were just so blatant and obvious in their reactions that I almost felt bad for reading them. Is this how Lisa views people? I glanced over at my best friend. She nodded, smiling a little.


"I'd like to ask you about a few of the recipes," I told him. "I admit, we never really thought of what we could do with these foods. I was wondering where you even got the idea for all of this."


"Sure," he agreed, relaxing a little warming. Clearly he felt confident about his cooking, at least. "I've been a big fan of yours for a while. I... was in your, umm, territory when the Slaughterhouse Nine came."


Oh, my turn to feel awkward. I don't even recognize him. "I was just doing what I could to help."


"Well, you did help," he replied. "More than most people will ever realize. After you started Pantheon, Jan and I. Umm, she's my partner. We were in culinary arts together in college. We started getting ideas, and experimenting with different recipes. Crystal, umm, Eki, was kinda one of Jan's friends from highschool, so that helped a lot. And when you announced Avalon, we knew we had to sign up."


"I'm really glad you did," I smiled at the guy. He was cute in an overeager puppy sort of way. "This is delicious."


He blushed. It was hard to see on his dark skin, but he was blushing. "Do you really mean that?"


"Yes," Lisa interjected. "In fact, we were talking about it while we ate. That and the idea of cultural identity. How Avalon would develop into its own unique culture instead of being defined by the countries its citizens came from. I think what you're doing here is a step on that path. You may only be a bit of a niche market right now, but in fifty or a hundred years, I think places like this will be normal. A point of national pride, even. France has its wine, Texas has its barbeque, and we'll have the stuff you're creating here."


"You think so?" he asked. Lisa had an interesting way of offering praise, but it seemed to be working.


"Absolutely," she replied. "You probably should write down your recipes. I know I'd love to see a cookbook showing all the stuff you've come up with. Maybe even think up a few fruit you'd like to see that haven't been made yet?"


"Umm, actually, there is one," he suggested. "We could really use milk of some sort. It's a filler for a lot of baking, and there just isnt any alternatives for it around here. Not even something like coconut or soy milk."


"That's probably possible," I agreed. Why didn't we think of that ourselves? "I'll let Amelia know about it. Bring her by sometime for a meal and a meeting to discuss your suggestions. How's next Thursday sound?"


"We'll be here," he responded eagerly.


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A/N- Don't worry, I'll do something horrible eventually.