NOVEL NEXT Just Having A Beer
So… We ended up going down that alley that Amber had pointed out to find a good place to have some drinks.
I was expecting the alley to be empty but I sure wasn’t expecting it to be lined with several eateries that served a range of food.
Most of them were bars and served mostly drinks but there were some stores that seemed to be selling street food.
I was quite tempted to get myself one until I got close and had a whiff of the smell.
Ugh… Oh god… They’re synthfood alright… And they weren’t even made well… Bleurgh…
Now I’m worried that even the alcohol would be just as bad here…
“Oh! This place looks good!” Amber pointed at a shop enthusiastically.
I looked in the direction of where she was pointing and found that a rather empty store had caught her eye. The shop literally just consisted of a bar facing out to the alley and several bar stools in front of it and that was pretty much it.
I don’t even know what made her think that the place was great because there were literally no customers and there were only enough seats for five people as well.
Still, I decided to humour her and went with Amber to the store. Maybe it’s empty because it’s still early in the day? Though the other stores around at least had a few customers unlike this one.
The bartender wasn’t even human and I could tell because it didn’t even have a human body or face but a robotic frame and a screen for its head instead.
The screen changed into a smiley face when we approached and a preppy male voice came from over unseen speakers on its body.
“Good day, dear customers! What can I get for you on this fine day?”
I guess this robot was designed to have that kind ‘happy’ attitude? I’m wondering if that was the reason why there’s no customers here because of that?
You know… Because most people might not appreciate a talkative and preppy bartender and would just want to drink in silence or something.
I don’t really drink though so that’s just what I’m assuming at least.
Amber took a seat at one of the stools and grinned at the robot bartender, “We just arrived at the station so what’s the recommendation around here?”
The robot paused for a while and I have a feeling he was processing Amber's words before he answered.
“May I ask dear customer to specify what kind of recommendations you are asking for?”
“For drinks, duh.”
He stared at her for another moment, “What kind of drinks, dear customer?”
“This is a bar right? Alcohol of course.”
Another pause, “In that case, I would recommend the Seventh Generation Fergandi Aste, made from real organic grapes grown on the planet Aste.”
“Yeah, sure, let's try that then. Give us a glass of it.”
“I apologise, but we do not have that in stock.”
“Then why the hell would you recommend it?!” ber roared, banging her fist against the bar.
Ok, now I think I know why there aren't any customers here… At least I got part of the reason right and it was indeed related to the bartender himself.
I cleared my throat, “Ahem… Allow me, Amber. Umm, what should we call you?”
“You may simply refer to me as ‘bartender’, dear customer.”
“Alright, so what's the most popular alcohol on your menu that you have in stock right now?”
“That would be the synthhop beers, dear customer. Would you like to sample one? We allow free sampling of our alcohols.”
Ok, so first thing… He was answering my questions with no lag time at all which was odd.
Second thing, synthfood again? I'm already not looking forward to it…
And lastly… Free sampling? Seriously? I'm more surprised that this place isn't filled with drunkards trying to get free beer!
“Sure, could we get two glasses to sample it, bartender?”
“Coming right up!”
I thought he would turn around or just start working another machine to start serving our beers but he just stood there and vibrated for a moment which made me wonder if he was malfunctioning before a short ‘ding’ sound came from him.
His torso then opened up to reveal a space there where two small glasses of what looked like beer sat inside.
He then placed two coasters in front of us before reaching his hand inside and pulled out the two beers to set it down on top of the coasters.
Both Amber and I just stared at the two small glasses of beer in front of us, though I’m looking at it more in trepidation while Amber was looking at it with curiosity.
“Is that… Safe?” I asked.
This time, it took a moment for the robot to respond, “Dear customer, please specify what is your definition of safe?”
“Err… Safe for consumption?”
“The glass is most certainly not safe for human consumption but it is perfectly safe if you belong to the--”
“Yeah, that’s ok, I got it, thanks.”
“It is my pleasure.”
Amber chuckled before picking up her glass and raised it to me, “Let’s try it then!”
I grimaced, not really expecting much since it was synthfood after all…
I raised my own glass and knocked it against hers before bringing it up to taste it.
Oh… Oh god… Oh my god…
Seriously?! No, seriously, seriously?!!
It actually tastes like beer!!
You couldn’t even get most of the synthfood right and you somehow managed to get synth alcohol right?! Where are your priorities, holy shit!
Actually… I can make use of this can’t I? There’s food out there that uses beer as an ingredient…
Yeah, I can make use of this.
“Ahaaaa! That’s pretty good right, Tera?” Amber sighed contentedly.
I nodded, “This is good. I don’t mind drinking this, do you?”
“Yeah, let’s just go with it. Two pints please!” Amber ordered, tapping on her personal terminal to transfer the credits.
I was about to do the same as well when Amber stretched out a hand to stop me, “Please Tera. This is on me! This is our first drink together here after all!”
I shrugged, figuring that that was normal considering that she was the one who suggested we do this, after all.
The screen on the robot’s face turned into a Credit symbol, “Payment received, please hold on for your order, dear customers!”
HE then started vibrating again and I already knew he must be preparing our drinks inside of him. I don’t even want to know how it works…
I’m guessing they just have him hooked up to some pipes that runs through his chest and the orders are prepared inside his torso or something.
Soon, his chest opened and our drinks were placed in front of us, the robot taking away our empty glasses to replace them with our pints.
Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of alcohol but I do drink socially. It would be pretty bad for me if I couldn’t drink as someone who worked in sales after all.
Just as we picked up our drinks, there was a commotion behind us and we turned to see a bunch of four guys dragging along a pair of middle aged men.
They tossed the two of them out into the middle of the alley, ignoring their cries of mercy.
“Wait, wait! Please! I didn’t even mean it! It was just a slip of the tongue!”
“The both of you called me a spineless bastard, didn’t you? Well, I’ll show you what happens around here when you disrespect me!”
“No, please! We were just joking! No, we weren’t even talking about you, please believe us!”
One of the thugs kicked the crying guy in the stomach, cutting his pleas short and forcing him to curl up in pain.
“Shut up! Boss is speaking now! You don’t get to interrupt him!”
The ‘boss’ guy stood in front of the two guys with an arrogant air, “So you want to see how big of a bastard I can be? Well I’ll show you how big of a bastard I can be!”
He pulled out a kinetic pistol and, without even a second of hesitation, shot one of the middle aged men in the head, killing him instantly.
The other guy saw his friend die and tried to lunge towards the boss guy, probably thinking that if he was going to die anyway, he might as well try to attack him.
The boss guy simply whipped him across the face with his pistol before emptying his mag into the poor guy.
He then gave the dead body a kick before putting his gun away, finally noticing both Amber and I staring at them.
“What are you looking at? Never seen some trash being taken out before?”
Amber waved at him, “Oh don’t mind us, we’re just enjoying the show.”
“Fuckin’ tourists,” The guy grumbled before leaving the alley.
I thought he would want to silence us or something and was a little surprised he didn’t so I moved the hand that I had placed on my holster away.
Amber wasn’t kidding when she said you could just die at any time huh…