Open Post: Curiosity

[sporesprouter]

Tress is, as she often is, in her workshop. However, what she is doing in her workshop is not even close to her usual activities.

Instead of her usual array of spores and sprouter's gear, she has found some more standard tools which are sitting on the table next to a rubber mat that is holding... a toaster. She secreted one from a kitchen that isn't particularly used. To the side are a couple books from the library as well as her open notebook.

She turns the toaster upside down and starts undoing some screws on the bottom of the case.

After all, the best way to figure something out is often to gain practical knowledge.

Comments

[sagramore]

"Very well. I promise to question you whenever possible."

[sporesprouter]

She grins. "Good. I'll hold you to that."

[sagramore]

"I hope so. May I watch you work? I'm curious about the intricacies of it."

[sporesprouter]

"Of course. But I will say I'll probably have no idea about some of the intricacies either."

[sagramore]

"Does it help to tell someone else what you do know?"

[sporesprouter]

"It can't hurt." She pulls her notebook closer. "I made notes."

[sagramore]

"Splendid. Enlighten me, my lady."

[sporesprouter]

"All right." She starts to indicate on the toaster itself as she speaks. "So this wire brings power from the wall to the toaster itself. The power goes through some bits inside before going to these wires. Now, the other wire is covered, like when roseite is covered in wax for flare casings so that the water can't get to it, but in this case, it keeps the heat from getting out and melting the insides. These wires, though, are the ones that the heat is supposed to get out of, because the way they're placed puts them along the sides of the openings for the bread, so they're what's actually cooking it. There was a term for the specific way that toast is cooked, but it really didn't seem particularly important to remember on a practical level, so I didn't actually write it down. I think the way they're spaced evenly is very helpful to keep the toast consistent. Timing's important too, so you don't actually burn the toast, but recreating the timer seems a little beyond me, so it might be better to just vary the amount of sunlight spores depending on how toasted you wanted it..."

[sagramore]

"That all sounds quite complicated for toast." He's listening attentively, even if he's not really grasping every single concept here. "What have you considered thus far? The roseite and the sunlight spores; are there others that would be useful?"

[sporesprouter]

"I can think of a couple I could use if I wanted the toast to pop up automatically like the real thing, but I'm also wondering if that might be overkill."

[sagramore]

"So for the actual cooking, the first two are the only really relevant ones."

[sporesprouter]

She nods. "And sunlight more than roseite, even. It's where all the heat comes from."

[sagramore]

"Well, that narrows it down. So it's really about putting it in a form that does what you want."

[sporesprouter]

"Pretty much." She looks thoughtful. "Since uneven heating is the trickiest part of cooking with sunlight spores, it's diffusing the heat, which the metal wires might possibly help with. I'd have to experiment. Keeping it compact is probably the best part of the thing, honestly."

[sagramore]

"Besides the wires, is there anything else that would help?" He's almost done with his coffee. The back and forth is easy; he doesn't really need to understand how she would do any of these things or how the spores work, just keep prompting her to organize what she already knows.

[sporesprouter]

She starts making some notes. "Maybe some sort of reservoir for the spores to drop them slowly enough into water to keep a steady enough heat supply to spread down the wires evenly. It wouldn't be as fast as this, but if I could get it reliable enough, that's more important anyway, as long as I didn't accidentally turn it into a flare."

[sagramore]

"Jesu, thou'rt so clever," not trying to keep the admiration out of his voice. "Thou hast a thousand thoughts in thy head."

[sporesprouter]

She smiles, even if it shades a little bit rueful. "I do. Sometimes they trip over each other."

[sagramore]

"Aye, I don't wonder."

[sporesprouter]

"Lan Wangji's taught me something that helps with that a bit. I'm working on being more diligent with it than I had been when he first showed me."

[sagramore]

"Really? What did he teach you?"

[sporesprouter]

"Meditating. It's basically controlling your breathing and just clearing your mind for a while. It's almost like cleaning cobwebs out of the corners of your head."

[sagramore]

"Oh, I think I've seen him doing that." This is absolutely wrong, but both of the things Sagramore has seen Lan Wangji doing seem very mind-clearing. "And that's helpful?"

[sporesprouter]

"It is, especially when I'm actually meditating. Apparently it will help more and more outside of that the more I do it, though."

[sagramore]

"Thou hast won the heart of everyone here, and we all want to see thee well," with a laugh.