Microstory 622: Feast of Zest

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As you’ve heard, in relation to the warbad parasites, there are some things in this galaxy that do not meet our people’s standards. In the old worlds, all recreational drugs were illegal. Alcohol, amphetamines, depressants; if they didn’t treat a medical condition, they were not to be consumed. Though we’ve tried to leave behind the old ways, there are a few practices we’ve held onto. One of these involves drug use. Now, there are some drugs in Fostea that are acceptable in moderation, though they are regulated by a special law enforcement body. This is one of only a handful of regulatory agencies, because of course, we in Fostea believe in a free market. For the most part, people in our galaxy, just as in any other, don’t have much interest in partaking of drugs anyway, so it’s generally not a problem. There is only one drug originating from the galaxy that has been deemed completely illegal. They’re called simply verbeans. These black and yellow fruits make you so energetic and enthusiastic, that you party and dance until you die. Literally. Once you’ve eat enough verbeans, you’ll feel like you won’t ever have to sleep again, and then you won’t. It starts out heavy, with an unending desire to loosen up and dance around. Then they’ll keep you awake for days, sometimes weeks, which could be long enough to suffer from exhaustion. They’re not addictive, but also have negligible effects in small doses, so the only time a user experiences any change in feelings or behavior, it’s probably too late. It’s nearly impossible to cure, with only one attempt out of hundreds of cases being successful. It would seem, however, that the taikon passages in the Book of Light command they be taken. Many have tried, but have found no other logical interpretation to the prophecy about a feast of zest. And so, a group of insignificant Fosteans were placed on a random moon, force fed verbeans, and left alone. It is the only taikon that has been arbitrarily carried out, but this was at the request of Eido Ivanka herself, so it had to be done.