They had been dereggers. Though long since rescued, their bodily systems made it hard for them to eat, well, anything very easily. But seeing all that people here enjoyed, made them long for something more than.. blah. They went to the Gyiik temple where they said the people there had magic that could help them. -- Anon Guest
It was a bizarre food allergy, if it could truly qualify as such. The freed former citizens of a now-extinct Greater Deregulation could not eat complicated food. Their former overlord had fed them the most basic Nutri-Food for all their lives. Which was essentially a vitamin soup. Even now they were freed, they could only safely digest simple proteins and carbohydrates.
They were working on it, but going was excruciatingly slow.
They were motivated, of course, because chicken, fish, and potatoes can get dull. To put it lightly, they held a huge party when they solved being able to eat eggs. They got fibre with the help of watermelon and cucumbers, and were looking forward to tomatoes.
Humans were famous for being able to eat just about anything, so this patch of Humanity was confoundingly anomalous. To protect themselves, they had bracelets to warn restauranteurs about their sensitivities. To aid in this effort, the bracelets had a chip to filter their menu options before they could sit and commit to a meal.
They often ate the same menu as the Havenworlders. Which made for more than one interesting encounter.
Tourist Lith regarded the Human with each eye, not quite comprehending what she could see. This Human, who had come to a Gyiikish restaurant, was enjoying a very Havenworld style of meal. The resulting curiosity burned brightly in both heart and mind.
She had to ask. Thus, she left her table to approach the Human. "May I ask questions you may consider rude?"
The Human, in Station Maintenance coveralls, looked at Lith, looked at their meal, and sighed, "I think I can guess what you're curious about." Ze showed the medikalert bracelet. "I'm a survivor of a particularly heinous Deregger world, and I have to be careful what I eat because of lingering metabolic scarring."
"I was going to ask if you were on a diet, but... technically yes. Yes?"
"Pretty much. I'm working on it. So are the rest of my fellow survivors. The good news is that our kids aren't as badly effected. They can enjoy cheese."
Lith attempted to comprehend the jealousy inherent in that last statement. Ultimately, all she could concoct was, "You must be very proud."
"You're right," said the Human. "I should be proud."
[Photo by Harry Dona on Unsplash]
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