Auntie toasts the VRMMORPG

2.2 Temple Cleaning - Favorite Home Appliance

The council members and Flora stood in a circle in the main hall of the headquarters of the Church of Evailyn.

In the middle sat a small table Aidan's console and with two orbs, the Globe of Revalation, which disclosed every spell used in its vicinity and the Globe of Honesty, which shimmered red when someone told a lie.

Several novices, monks, priests, and paladins filed into the hall but kept a respectful distance to the Council. Flora spotted Deriga in the crowd and smiled at her. While some of her colleagues stared at Flora with open hostility, the majority looked curious, some even excited.

Behind Flora stood the hungry chest, and at her feet, grouched Aito's octopussy. Its hide was tinged in the same tone of yellow as the robes of the bishops. The camera tentacles pointed in the directions of the faces of the congregation. Aito collected video footage of everybody's expression.

Now that the Council had assembled, Flora was unsure about whether it was the right move to collect everyone at the start of the investigation. In Agatha Christi's books, they always did it at the end. But Flora wanted to prevent them from destroying the records before Aidan could hack into their network. Of course, there was still the possibility of non-digital records. But who would hold information on actual paper these days? Only ancient bureaucracies like the government... or the church. 'Oh well, let's provide Aidan with enough time to crack the firewalls.'

"Thank you very much for the welcome. I'm here to prove to you that I'm the Champion of Evailyn and to discuss our further cooperation. But first, we should introduce ourselves. I'm interested in your responsibilities in the church and your favorite home appliance. Does anyone want to start?" Flora's voice rang through the hall.

"Please take the beginning, Champion." The Pope finally said.

"My name is Flowing Flowers. I'm the Champion of Evailyn, and my favorite home appliance is the toaster. I like all home appliances but the toaster the most. In my world, they reached the limit of innovation a long time ago. They can't make a qualitative leap in function or usability anymore. They are a pinnacle existence among utilities. I toiled all of my life to stretch the pinnacle just a little bit further."

Meanwhile, Aidan had entered the first layer of the network and received permission to go deeper.

Flora described her life's work of 50 years. The designs, the tiny improvement of functionality, and the joy of toasting the countenance of yourself, idols, or enemies on a piece of bread and eating it.

"The pleasure of having a toast is one of the daily luxuries of the modern human. You wake up, your mood may vary, your prospects for the day may vary. Maybe you need a cup of coffee to be able to speak or even think a coherent sentence. But what is the next step? Having a piece toast! What do you prepare for your kids or your partner as a snack? A toast! It's the symbol of basic care and, simultaneously, the expression of deepest love even in hectic circumstances like mornings in a busy family.

Dysian glanced between her and the Pope. His puzzled look was caused either by Flora's lecture or by the benign nodding Pope Razo. Zander's face was still unreadable. Nomizo looked thoughtful. The Abbot Irden was nodding as well, while the Paladin Ceart stared at her unblinkingly.

"Do you have a sweet tooth, or are more of the mix pickles with ham kind? It doesn't matter. Toast goes well with both, with everything really. Salmon, caviar, ham, cheese, jam, Nutella, Vegemite, peanut butter, and vegetable spreads. The toast supplements the rarest and the most common ingredients."

Flora fetched two dishes stacked with sandwiches. Two tiny streamers, one with SWEET and one with HEARTY written on them, stuck in the top of the pile. She passed them around. While she had only prepared the two plates for the Council, she carried enough Nutella and cheese toasts to feed an army, in this case, the clergy of the church. Telekinetically she moved two boxes to the crowd. Additionally, one of her spy toasters distributed its load as well.