The Lost

Fire Tea

Annabeth, Benson and The Curator all went out to a new place that Annabeth had not gone to before. But it was still in the facility, so she didn't have to go there under armed guard. "Drinks are on me, Curator. Does Annabeth have clearance to drink?" He asked in curiosity.

The Curator looked back at Benson. "By all means, she can drink if she so chooses to, but it is up to her." He said as they walked into bar. Galactic Greenery was the name of the establishment, and amply named so with all of the vegetation the bar had all over the place.

As they entered the establishment they were greeted by someone of an alien race. How did Annabeth know this? They looked like a praying mantis, or at least some of their features did. "Welcome to Galactic Greenery, table for three?" It asked as it counted them as they walked in.

The Curator nodded. "Yes, please. Table in the west corner so we look at the rings," He said.

They were directed to a corner at the far right of the establishment, and it was right next to a Window looking out of the space station entirely. She was amazed. She could see so many different things she couldn't see while going through the stations city. She looked out of the window, and saw a massive planet lined with rings. "Is that...." she began to ask a question.

"Jupiter?" The Curator finished the thought for her. "No it is not. We are many thousands of lightyears away from your home, Annabeth, in a different part of the galaxy. Much like your solar system's planet, Jupiter, there are many more planets that share similar traits, such as those rings in orbit around the planet itself. These rings however, used to be far larger, but we do go out into them from time to time to mine the minerals trapped in the rocks and ice that orbit the planet." He praddled off this information to her.

She was awestruck more by the fact that the rings were not monotone in color, but she could clearly see blues and greens. "How is it that they are differently colored? The rings, I mean."

The Curator looked confused for a moment and then realized what she had been talking about. He looked out of the viewport window, and he started teaching her the differences in the rings. "The Color variations change in accordance with what each ring possesses. It makes mining the materials easier, and this is actually, to our knowledge, a common and naturally occurring phenomenon. Blue has a lot of ice, but there are certain minerals and crystals that can be obtained from them. Greens contain dense metals, and as the rings go inwards, the uses for metals change, as does density and strength of the ores."

She listened to this with fascination and wondered if any of these metals had been used to make her after her accident. "I see." She said, and then turned her attention to a waiter as they walked up to the table. This one looked human, but they had four arms.

"Hello, Curator." They said. "The usual for yourself?" He asked.

The Curator shook his head. "Not today, Horace, I have a procedure to do in the morning."

Horace nodded in understanding. "Then your other usual? Fire tea with Ginseng?"

The Curator nodded. "That will be fine to start with, thank you, Horace." He said and closed his eyes while the other two made their drink orders.

Horace turned to Benson. "Just a lemonade, please."

Horace then turned to Annabeth, She didn't know this places menu, and she decided to play it safe. "Ice water, please." She said, and Horace left the table and returned with their drinks a few minutes later. They thanked him, and then Annabeth turned to The Curator, eyeing his drink, Fire Tea they had called it. "Curator, why do they call your drink Fire Tea?"

Benson looked away, but there was definitely a smile on his face as The Curator slid the drink to Annabeth to try. "Taste it, and find out." He said with a blank expression. Well, if The Curator was telling her to taste it, it must be okay for her to drink.

Annabeth, trusting the Curator, grabbed his drink and brought it closer. She smelled it first. It smelt like cinnamon, and tea. she lifted the drink to her lips, and took a gulp, setting the drink down. That's when she understood why they called it Fire Tea. She coughed, and her face turned red as she fought to stay conscious. Her mouth was on fire, or at least it felt that way. As did her throat.

She fanned herself quickly, and drank some water, but it only helped for a second. She looked at the bar and at Horace, trying to get his attention. He looked up at the right time and saw the distress in her face, and then he saw The Curator's drink in front of her. He shook his head, and poured a glass of milk, bringing it over to her. "Drink this slowly." He said.

She took the first gulp of the milk and felt relief right away, at least longer than she had with the water. After that as the heat returned, she sipped the milk slower. She glared at The Curator. "Why... didn't you warn me?" Her nose was still very red from the heat of the drink.

He chuckled. "I wanted to see how well you handled spice. You see, my race, to us, spicy to you is sweet to us, sweet to you is spicy to us. So to me, this tea is very sweet." he said as he pulled his drink back towards him, and took a long drink. "I am surprised though. you handled that much better than others of your kind. The last one of your species to drink Fire Tea nearly choked to death and had to be rushed to the infirmary. He made it, but he was never the same afterwards."

Annabeth groaned and looked across the table at him. "I wonder why." She said sarcastically. Of course she knew why. How could she not. They must have been tricked the same way she had just been tricked!

Horace came back over to them and left a plate of Nachos and cheese queso dip. "Compliments to the lady. On the house." He said, and they sat there sharing chips and discussing the procedure for tomorrow. They were telling Annabeth what the process would entail. They told her how they would first have to put her systems offline, and then bypass her neural interface to keep her organs and what not pumping while took out her brain to insest the necessary nodes in order for the procedure to work. The whole process would take twelve hours to complete from start to finish.

They eventually ate, and then returned to the facility, and Annabeth returned to her room, which had been cleaned, and the bedding replaced. She curled up and was out within minutes.