"You can't... tell... anyone," Gouache said to Armony, leading the girl into a small crawl space in the station.
"Okay, okay, I won't. It's taken me like three months to get you to tell me what it is you've been doing back here. I'm not about to jeopardize it," Armony whined as she followed behind, her short hair seeming to ruffle at the implied accusation.
Gouache stopped to frown at her while on hands and knees within the crowded space, before pushing onward. Finally, he came out into a space that Armony recognized as a "holler" - a mechanical "dead space" where air pipes connected, pipes flowed, and bulkheads turned. This just happened to be a nice little level space, about five feet by five feet by seven, completely covered in scraps of blankets and dropcloths Gouache had probably pilfered. The real wonder, though, were the locker boxes he had set up, some of which had equipment on them that Armony didn't recognize.
"What the heck are these?" she asked as Gouache began to turn some knobs on one with a spiral metal design. The metal began to heat, and Gouache pulled out another metal thing - a dome shaped object with a spout on it and a handle. He put it on until Armony heard something bubble inside, then he poured a mug with the stuff. Her eyes were wide as he put in a few other things she didn't recognize - white crystals, along with a bag full of... something.
"This is tea," Gouache said, letting her carefully take it.
"Tea?" Armony asked curiously. "Is it... it's not like SOMA."
"No, not at all. It's just water with a little bit of stuff seeped into it."
"Why would you drink something like that?" she asked with a disgusted look on her face.
Gouache made a face, and Armony put her hand up in acquiescence, carefully taking a sip. Her eyes widened as she coughed on it, staring at the drink in her hand.
"I-it's sweet! What did you put in it?"
"Sugar."
"But... but only the Prefectors can get a hold of sugar. Gouache, what... what is this?" Armony asked, looking around her.
"I'll show you, how's that?" Gouache asked with delight, a crooked smile pulling at his mouth. The lanky boy began to pull things out of the lockers, explaining what each was: rice, freeze-dried vegetables, syntha-butter. Within thirty minutes, her mouth was watering at a smell she'd never encountered before as Gouache added a little bit of dried something or other - egg mix, he said - and finally served her something with a strange implement she didn't recognize.
"Spoon. You scoop with it," Gouache said, and Armony very carefully put some of the food in her mouth, humming with awe at the texture, the many flavors, the umami taste of egg and fat. She was about to scarf the rest down before Gouache stopped her and said, "Easy! You've been on SOMA for so long, I... I don't know if you can handle the solid stuff easy. Take a couple bites first, wait a bit, then try again, okay?"
Armony slowly, pensively chewed to savor the taste, and she asked, "Gouache... how did you get all this? This... I'd heard about stuff like this, you know, food that isn't SOMA, but... there'd be riots if they could taste this. We have to give some to Mom!"
"Armony, I said we can't tell anybody. Not even your Mom," Gouache warned, putting a hand on her knee as her face fell. "This... is dangerous. Really, I... I could get killed for keeping this stuff here. Imperators, Prefectors, they're the only people allowed to eat this stuff. They don't even cook it. Others do."
He withdrew his hand, tapping his spoon on his own plate - plate, another completely new concept. Armony chewed the thought as much as her food, and finally she said, "When can we come back again? After this?"
Gouache's face lit up. "I've got a schedule. The new shipments from Midbay 7 come in on Tuesday and..."
