New Proxima - A Slice of Utopia

Acquired Taste

One of the greatest draws to living on New Proxima was, as the name suggested, how new the ring was. It lacked the millennia of establishments, institutions and enterprises that could be found on the other rings. It was fertile ground in which to plant the seeds of new growth.

That is what lured the Argute Chiliad.7 genealogy to New Proxima from Wolf. Here, on the continental plate of Ylem, they founded one of the earliest restaurants on the ring and the first to be run by non-biologicals.

Argute Chiliad.7.0.2, Argute Chiliad.7.0.3 and of course little Argute Chiliad.7.0.3.1, arrived in an undeveloped field not far from the burgeoning settlement of of Serendipity Square. Each was a virtually identical floating metal sphere. They immediately set to work painstakingly building their restaurant molecule by molecule. Over the course of several weeks the building sprouted up from the ground like a tree as they added to it layer by microscopic layer.

At long last it was finished. The restaurant consisted of two rings, the larger one on the ground level and a smaller one above it. They were held in place by antigravity and connected by spokes to a cylinder in the center. All along the outside of the rings were field-windows capable of showing the greenery outside or any other view from any other planet with the flick of a mental switch. On nice days they could also be dismissed entirely.

Once the simple matter of manifesting a building out of the wilderness was complete it was time to begin the much more complex process of altering both their hardware and software to give them a sense of taste.

The Chiliads had put an incredible amount of research into this aspect of the project. Their new senses would be able to detect every subtlety in food down to the subatomic level. Their palletes would be as refined, as utterly profound, as was physically possible.

Argute Chiliad.7.0.3 came back online after having rebooted its mind. Although it was not yet projecting its tasting field it could already feel the void in its perceptions that flavors would eventually fill. It allowed its tasting field to expand and soon it could taste the air and the floor. It was immensely pleased with itself.

<Tasting the environment is not the intended use of this hardware,> signaled Argute Chiliad 7.0.2. <This is frivolous.>

<Frivolity is prized in human recreation,> retorted 7.0.3. <I will taste all things. In doing so I will gather much data and insight into our goals.>

<You must taste ingredients and foods. That will be a source of insight, not tasting things that humans do not eat. Doing so only introduces inefficiencies. We cannot make meals out of the floor.>

<How can we know that the floor is not a desirable ingredient without tasting it? We will not be able to innovate in a manner that gives purpose to our project unless we retain open minds.>

<I would caution against extremes of all kinds, open mindedness included.>

<I propose we act in accordance with our own iterations,> interjected 7.0.3.1.

7.0.2 left to go find proper ingredients, as per its comprehensive research. 7.0.3 went back to tasting the floor.

* * *

After assimilating the available information about the processes of human digestion 7.0.3 eventually came around to its predecessor's way of thinking. It was important to only feed humans things they could digest. Toxicity was an absolute disqualifier for a good meal. Facts of this kind were important tools for any chef.

It was a shame, though, because 7.0.3 really thought it had something there with those nickel plated trialloy flakes.

The three Chiliads instead acquired a wide variety of proper edible ingredients. They planted gardens of fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement what could be found in the surrounding wilderness. They carefully cultivated their own cultures of non-living meat to be identical to that from an actual animal at the atomic level. When they people of Serendipity Square learned of their impending restaurant they gave them herbs and spices the likes of which they had never seen, because up until that point they had never seen any herbs or spices.