[text - open]

[bossyboiler]

Who: Kate Cordello
Username: cupkate
Warnings:N/A

Anyone else think it's a bad idea to eat bread that's been baked on a gravestone? I don't care if it's a tradition or not. It's creepy.

I haven't been able to to investigate it properly, however. The line for Better Loaf Than Never is RIDICULES! It wraps around the building every time that I've been by. Which begs the question, should it be investigated? What do we know?

They're selling baked sourdough bread that they are claiming is baked on a gravestone. It's in the spirit of Halloween. It's probably just a decoration. But haven't we seen enough businesses that sell creepy things, claim it's all in harmless fun, and then turn around to be so not legit?

You're right. We should investigate the bakery. Who wants to come with me?

I'm still not going to eat the bread though.

Comments

[easilyamused]

People would occasionally build with them, too. Waste not, want not.

If you want company while you wait in line, I'm game.

[bossyboiler]

That would have to be one spooky looking house.

Please. There are only so many things I can do on my phone. Maybe if we go when they first open, the line won't be so bad?

[easilyamused]

Less than you might think. The origin of the stones aren't always obvious at a glance. Of course, anywhere around here, the inevitable horde of murderous ghosts would make up the ambiance on their own.

7am opening?

[bossyboiler]

Hey. It's Gloucester. Let's not text hordes of murderous ghosts into existence.

That works for me. I'm up early anyway. Tomorrow?

[easilyamused]

You have a point. If any eldritch terrors are listening, I retract my statement.

Tomorrow. Meet you at the residence gates?

text to action!Spam - Let's get this bread!

[bossyboiler]

Thank you. Your reraction is appreciated.

Tomorrow morning. It'll be *fun*.

[ It's not below freezing in the morning, not that anyone really cares because it does feel cold. Kate can see her breath. She's waiting for Adam at the gates. She is bundled up in a warm green coat with a matching hat and pair of gloves. ]

[easilyamused]

[She doesn't have long to wait. Sometime between his arrival and this excursion, he's apparently thought to visit the thrift store in anticipation of fall - the navy wool coat he wears is a little threadbare around the cuffs, but is solid enough to keep out the chill of an October morning before the sun has made it all the way up over the horizon.

He gives Kate a slightly crooked smile as he draws up even with her.]

I think we're going to have to stop for coffee once we've finished our investigation. Purely out of self-defense against the weather.

[bossyboiler]

[ She starts to walk the moment he pulls up even with her. They can walk to the bakery. And hey, maybe walking will help warm them up. ]

You're a man after my own heart. I love coffee. I'd stop for it now but Any Beans Necessary doesn't open until seven.

[ And since they were trying to make it to the bakery before it opened at 7am, no coffee for them. ]

Did you see what Cortana said about the lab rats?

[easilyamused]

[He makes no protest about the apparent decision to walk to their destination. It's better than taking a bus at this time of the morning - public transit before sunup is a uniquely depressing experience.]

I did. If it wasn't for the delay before symptom onset, I'd wonder if it was poison.

[bossyboiler]

It's not poison. It's magic and Entity-aligned but which one? They all like creating fear and the rats died of heart attacks. We need more information.

[ And they walk and they walk, eventually Better Loaf Than Never comes into view. ]

[easilyamused]

[As early as they are, they're still not the first ones there. A small line of determined shoppers straggles away from the door, people huddling in their coats against the pre-dawn chill.]

Well, they're certainly capitalizing on the fear of missing out.

[bossyboiler]

They are. [ Do the Entities get fed off of FOMO? ] I wonder if anyone in line is a repeat customer.

[ Kate doesn't wait for a response from Adam. She leans forward and taps the person ahead of her in line on the shoulder. They turn around. Kate is very polite. She asks. They haven't but they've heard wonderful things about the bread. Kate thanks them and looks back to Adam. ]

Maybe once we're inside, we can ask others? I'm not sure. What do you think?

[ 7am comes and the front door opens. ]

[easilyamused]

That's a good idea.

[The line starts moving, no doubt motivated at least in part by the prospect of warmth inside the bakery.

He leans it to add, voice pitched lower.]

A pity this isn't the sort of place that's likely to keep a customer ledger, except for special orders.

[bossyboiler]

[ Kate starts to shuffle towards the interior. She will appreciate the temperature change. ]

There's always the credit card and check receipts but it may be tricky to get those. [ Her voice is equally low in pitch. ] I wasn't planning on being nearly so clandestine.

[ The inside is warm and inviting with soft lights that enhance the baked goods and provide a cozy feeling. There are multiple employees working, most are behind the counter but there are a couple that mingle around, cleaning and seeing to customers. ]

[easilyamused]

[His shoulders shift in a nearly silent laugh.]

The best-laid plans...

[There's nothing immediately sinister about the inside of the bakery, which is almost unnerving on its own. Once inside, he turns towards an employee who's busy straightening one of the displays to ask, all friendly sympathy, if the crowd's this large every morning.

It's an easy enough in to a brief conversation; they are, apparently, proud of their popularity.]

[bossyboiler]

Should have brought Yelena, she could do some mission impossible thing and get them all. Alas.

[ Kate takes a look around inside the bakery once inside. It looks clean. Everything looks to be in order. The air smells of baking bread and other goods. Nothing seems amiss but Kate knows that something is amiss. Something is wrong in this bakery. Sourdough bread shouldn't be killing lab rats.

She lets out a little sigh once done with her first look around. It's not right.

While trying to keep the façade of a pleasant, well-meaning customer, Kate starts to make her way towards the counter. She gets in line. Again. ]

[easilyamused]

[He rejoins her after a few moments, leaning down to speak quietly in her ear.]

They do have a number of regulars. Maybe it's a matter of concentration?

[Does magic work the same way as physical compounds, with something tailored for a human likely to hit a small animal much harder? There's no reason to think that couldn't be the case.]

[bossyboiler]

Maybe. I didn't ask how much of the bread Cortana fed the rats. It would be helpful to know the concentration. I mean science could tell us the ratio amount needed for humans to succumb or something. If they are sharing the bread, they may not be getting enough to feel any effects.

[ Kate sighs. She needs to be a better detective. ]

We need a way of questioning the customers.

[easilyamused]

Or just eating it over the course of several days.

[Does magic build up in human tissues the way some toxins will? He doesn't know and that makes it impossible to gauge if they're looking at a ticking time bomb.]

If we knew the other effects, we could play it off as a health survey.

[bossyboiler]

But we don't know them because I didn't think to ask what other symptoms appeared in the rats.

[ She's going to beat herself up a little bit. ]

Okay so maybe one of us can ask a member of the staff if anyone has reported getting sick after eating the bread?

[easilyamused]

Even if you had, the rats can't talk.

[Which regrettably limits how well symptoms can be judged with so small a sample size.]

That might put their backs up. But staff in this sort of place tend to take some food home as a perk - we might ask if any of them have had any inexplicable illness, play it off as something circulating in the city.