FOOD CUBES
One technology I'm not eager to bring back to Earth is food cubes. Sure, when you've got so many alien metabolisms to sustain you need a cheap food source that's universally edible. But while these six-sided snacks might make a lot of sense on paper, I suspect the paper would taste a whole lot better.
As for their basic composition, I've managed to get a little info from Pilot ![[ FOOD CUBES ]](images/foodcubes.gif) and Rygel.
Pilot described them as "essential colloidal foodstuff." He explained that the cubes are made from whatever surplus products are available within a given system — animal, vegetable, or mineral — and are used mainly for the daily sustenance of the Peacekeepers' vast prison communities, able to keep 90 percent of all known species alive and properly nourished. Unlike some other food we've brought aboard Moya, the cubes never spoil, having an expiration date two weeks after the heat death of the universe.
Rygel proclaimed that food cubes are "the foul invention of sadistic Peacekeeper nutritionists." It seems the Peacekeepers have developed some means of processing raw material and extracting its "nutritional potential." With this technology they could evidently turn sand into sandwiches (or, at least, their dietary equivalent).
While the concept itself is amazing, the reality leaves a lot to be desired. Food's a funny thing; it really puts your life in perspective. I've traveled to stars totally unknown on Earth. I've seen mind-blowing technologies that would cause quantum physicists to curl up in the corner and cry. Hell, I've even made out with some of the Uncharted Territories' most-eligible alien bachelorettes.
But, honestly, right now I'd trade it all away for a double order of chili cheese-fries and a root beer.
Well, maybe everything except those make-out sessions.
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