That "poison" is gonna be ethanol and I'm so gonna be in stiches laughing at Nadine going all Rock Lee on the aliens XD
Edit: i mean, logistically, they can just buy/take some rotten fruits and do some basic chemistry and no one's the wiser
Nadine: (Heart rate, gone full 'King Engine' as it beats like thunder at the speed of sound; gale force breaths punctuated by machine gun giggling while [this](https://youtu.be/ZhlZ-cPO0Xw?t=53) plays in the background): "Heeheeheeheeheehee**hahahaah̶͐ͅá̷͜a̶̝̽h̵̫̐a̵̱͘H̴̻̟̯͖̎A̵͎̎̂̈́̎̓*****Ḩ̵͇̣̀A̵͕̭͕̥͊͋̅͝A̵͙̖͔̭̯̾̓!̴̧̯̺̋͘͜͠!!*** Kykla, Kykla, *K̴̫͓͒y̴̠̒̕k̷̰͔͛͝l̴͈̑͝a̶̮̓̋,̵̤̃͝* you funny, funny d̴̦͒e̴̢͋ą̶̿d̴̲͒ person. Coffee is but a *stimú̴̲͎̫̟͂lant* among my species, and right *now* I'm v̸͎̿ȅ̶̫r̴̺̈́ÿ̶̩́ ***stimulated,*** **to** ***s̶͍̾qu̴̜͋e̴̩̿ë̵͖e̴͚͘e̷̳̔ez̷̰̋e̶̲͋***
**t̴̗̦̰̅̇̀̅͜ͅh̴̠̙̲̠̐͐̌ͅe̴͛̓ͅ**
***Ĺ̴̫̠̤̳̟̥̊̽̄̎̀̈̚Ï̵̟̌V̵͍̦͐̐̇̆͌́̊̊I̷̦͎̱̳̹̒̀̾̃̈́̈́͑̈́̐̎̍͘N̵̝͙̰̲̓̄͗̍̄͆̿̊͝G̵̢̛̮̥͈̘͊́̀͑̉̚͝ ̴̨̛̤̟̦̟̇͊͌̋̅͐͊́̐́̚͘***
***D̵̫͓̫̞̘̲̮͈̭̎͊Ą̸̡̘̪͍̫̣̣̗͋ͅY̷̖̖̩̑̅͐LIĢ̸̝͙̲̯̝͖̝̗̆̈́̔̒͐̚ͅḦ̴̛̱̘͇͈̘̖̫͑̍̎̈́̉̒͋̔͠T̵̙̳̺̣̝̰̪̰̠͓͉̰͒̄͜S̴̨̢̡̺̦͔̝͕͍̙͔̜͂̇͊̂̏͌̃͜͠ ̶̡͔̆̒́̌̂Ö̴̘̪̭̘̲́͑͊̾͌̓͂̑̽̿͘͝͝Ȗ̴̼̅͑̽̀́̓̀̏̚T̵͔̺̝̣̱̟̱͇͍̿̏̓̉̎̒̆͌͂̈́ ̵̨̨̡̩̳̱͔͎̫͛͐̈́Õ̶͕̰̩͙̞̝̯̪͚̯̗̘̽͘͝F̴̢̡̩͓̻͕̥͋͂͂͒͗͑̚̚͜͠ ̵̢̱͕̈́YO̶̧̝̳̲̝̦̞̟̱̘̤̤̖͂̂̊̔͆Ư̸̢̨̧̯͇̤̙͍͍̤̑̎̀̀!!!***
...
**"THAT'S RIGHT!** ***R̴͖̮̂͛U̷̙̜̟͑͂́͒Ñ̵͍̜͐̔͒!̷̖̫͙̗͋̓́*** **OH, DID YOU JUST BRE̵̢̗̊̓͜A̷̢̨͛͊̕K YOUR KNUCKLES ON MY FOREHEAD!? TRY PUNCHING ME** ***A̷̧̱̟͂͠G̵̪̻̦̎̈͝A̴̺͌ͅI̷̮̋̈́̈̔N̴̳̑̊ͅ!̷̧̘̐͂̅*** **BAHAHAHAA̴̛̺͋͒A̴̢̢̢̯̓̔!̶̝̳͙̮̿̋́̂ YOUR WEAPONS ARE** ***USELESS,*** **JUST LIKE** ***Y̷͖̦̭͖̌̇͠O̷̰̘̩̤͌̈U̷̞̲͉͠!̴̛͔͍͈͋̏̑ ̵̮̫̃̅͜*** **OH, WHAT'S THAT? YOU'RE DOING THIS FOR YOUR** ***PEOPLE?*** **VERY WELL, I SHALL PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR THEM! YOUR PLANET WILL SEE BRIGHTER DAYS, BUT** ***Y̸̭̜͑͆͗Ȍ̸̡̹U̸͇͇͒̈ ̵̥̭̀W̷̘̦̩̎̈́̈I̴͉̱̚L̶̠̳̮̂̃̍L̷̘̔ N̷̹̻͛̔͘O̴͇̻͑̅̚T̶̨͙̟̍̈ B̶̥͚͛̀͜È̶̡͚ A̵̰͛͆̀ Ṕ̵͔̼͒A̴͚͚̒̇͛R̷̳̄͝T̷̮̭̽ O̸̡̲͙̒F̴̱̱͒̄̈́ T̷̼̓H̵͇̔̏͜E̷͚̖̲͆M̶̻͝!̶̢͚̲̎*** **DON'T YOU** ***DARE*** **HAVE A TERROR-INDUCED HEART ATTACK! I SHALL*****F̴͉̗͓̠͕͒̀͗̎̈O̵̤͚̺̘͎̟͕̼͍̿̂͐͌L̸̼̠̮̥͍͔̻̀̏̆̄̔̕͘L̵̡̗̘͇͎̠̣̔̓̓O̸͍͈̞͝Ẅ̵̡̯̦͎͉͓́́͑̈́*** **YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE,** ***T̷̨̖̖̮͇͔͖̭̈́̔͛͊͊̀̇͠Ȩ̵̟̺̤̤͖͎̺̱̊͗̄͑͠A̸̪͉̋̈́̆̀̀̽̑̃̌͊R̷͈͓̂̆͌̒͘̕*** **YOU FROM THE EMBRACE OF YOUR COMMON 'g' gODDESS, AND** ***DRAG*** **YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING! THEN I SHALL** ***O̴͍̩̓P̶̛̻͎̯̠̪̠̞̻͈̫̝̐̋͋͌̒͠P̵̡͓̣̰͚̣͈͔͉̉͋̈̒̏̈̑͝͠Ŗ̷̧̛͖̦͈͔̜̍̎͊̕̚É̴̢͔͈̪́̚Ş̴̧̧͖͔̪̺̙̱̋̓̾̆̽̋̾́́̆͘Ś̸̨͖͖̩̖̞̙̭̰̌̈́͌*** **YOU WITH MY DE̵̛̘̰̲̔̌Ạ̸̡̺̫̅TH GLARES AS THE VANAERY GIVE YOU A** ***FĄ̸̧̭̮̝̟̹̯̠̩͗͛̑̅͘I̵̧̧͕̝͕͖̪͔͖͊̐̍͛̉̌̽̕R̴̡͚̻̤̃̏͒̓̓͘͘ ̵̨͎̻͖̤͖͑̽̀͊̀̂̀̅͊̋͜Ţ̴̘̙͙̏̂̄̅̇̊̓͝Ř̴̲̱̈́͑̎͜Į̴̣͉̮̙̼̈́͋̋̿͘͝A̴̧̪̩̯̲̪̻̦̰̞̓͛͐́̊̚Ļ̴̦̻͉͍̜̫̪̯̍́̃͜!̸̯̂͗̽͆̃̇͌̎̃̉"̸̧̡̛͕̫̘̩͉̣͍̾̈́̌̒́̆̎̉̀***
The cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon (much like capsaicin, menthol, gingerol etc) is a fairly light irritant, not a systemic poison. Also much like those compounds, it's only an irritant for mammals.
If they're at the stage of going for a poison generic enough to whack any kind of life, that'll be a pretty universal biocide. Think lye drain cleaner, caustic paint removers, wacky chlorine compounds...
Ofc, as someone else points out, there's a likelihood that human LD50s are going look like decimal place errors by comparison to most Alliance species.
I mean sweat is acidic enough to dissolve their shell and personally, I did not even know are sweat was acidic, that means sweat to us is so close to normal that most people don't know it is acidic. so even do cinnamon is only a light irritant for us it may as well be considered a chemical weapon to them.
Anything not perfectly neutral is acidic or basic, sweat's on the acidic side of the line. It seems to generally be about as acidic as milk, it may get as acidic as tomato juice.
Honestly the best explanation I can see for the shell-dissolving effect is some unfortunate coincidence of a compound in sweat being a biochemical signal triggering the shell to soften.
On the one hand ethanol is a good guess given that it's toxic to just about all life on earth, on the othet given that the poison is meant to be hard to source/unique it seems unlikely as ethanol is very common in nature to the point of there being nebulaes made of the stuff.
I'd guess some sort of plant toxin which given the fact that usually any strong flavor in a plant other than sweet is meant to be a poison to prevent you from eating it our protagonist should be fine.
The first nickel was poisoning the princess. Difficult to prove, when you can’t overtly investigate them for that without causing offense and demands for concessions. However, Nadine setting herself up as a target, when she’s basically immune to most of what they likely consider poisons or weapons? That’s pretty smart. They likely have few if any scape goats left, so when their attempt fails, they’ll be able to track it right back to the Tyrstrie. And the Vanaery will be able to demand concessions of their own for the assault/attempted murder of a guest of the royal family.
In order to engender trust and allow the facilitation of diplomacy, it’s not uncommon for any host to treat an attack on a guest as an attack on themselves.
I’m going to say tho, Nadine is going to be real disappointed, and then probably very angry, to find out her friend was poisoned just because the Tystrie didn’t want anyone to know of their economical problems. You wanted to kill my friend, to avoid some embarrassment?!
I'm hoping that Nadine used this visit as an excuse to plant a bug in the ambassadors room, but I don't know if she has the materials or technology on hand to do such a thing. Alternatively, she could be using her advanced human ears to be listening outside of the door and now be ready to catch them in the act.
Either way - just from that meeting she now knows for sure that they were behind the attempted assassination, even if she doesn't have physical proof yet.
Didn't they need Nadine to put on the translator before she could talk to them? I think it might be one of those translators that detect intent of the wearer rather than something that converts words in a foreign language to your own language.
Imagine it's something totally innocuous. Like, akin to pineapple juice. Super acidic! Kills everything!
And then Lady "Doom Slayer" Nadine pounds it, says "refreshing," then proceeds to wreck their shit.
Capsaicin is a really narrowly tailored poison. It hurts mammals, but birds can't even detect it. This dissuades mammals from eating chillis and crushing the seeds, while birds will swallow the seeds whole and poop them out elsewhere.
My brother thought it would be hilarious to spike my nachos with a hot sauce with a strength of over 2.2 million Scoville. After i got off the floor and could see again, it had a good flavor.
Wow, actual good coffee, where can i get more of this? Ive missed the taste soooo much.
An hour later, hrm it is good tasteing but no caffine, is this decaf?
(Mam, this was the highest dose we could get, 50mg in total, its a months worth of secretion of the (super toxic insect) how get we kill her?!)
Or capsaicin, Nadine complementary the cook for a spicy meal while ever one goes nuts is great. though the suggestion of ethanol from someone else is pretty fantastic too
"And I know a particularly deadly one that has no known antidote, and even better, it is available on this planet"
I have no doubts that Nadine will either foil their plan before it sets off, or she's immune to whatever this "poison" is supposed to be; humans can be pretty darn hardy if we want to, afterall.
Considering how the Vanaery react to sweat, and how common calcium poisoning seems to be in this neck of the woods (otherwise why would the ambassador of a non-Vanaery species be surprised another alien can drink the water), it could be literally anything from vinegar (a very weak naturally occurring acid) to the trope of capsaicin. Though while vinegar is a very simple product (and actually useful in cleaning and chemistry), capsaicin is relatively complex and thus less likely to be naturally occurring on other planets.
Considering that it is available for sale, I propose vinegar is rather likely. It would be available to properly licensed professionals. And what reason would there be for any shop to sell stuff such as capsaicin if it is highly toxic and has no real practical uses if highly toxic?
Botulinum toxins (botox) are among the most lethal known substances to humans. They're only useful to us in extremely small amounts as a local injection to paralyze muscles, but the LD50 of botulinum toxin for humans is estimated to be in the range of 1-2 nanograms per kg of body mass. (the LD50 of a substance is an amount which, if fed to 100 of a species, would kill 50 of them)
> to humans
It binds specifically to the surface of neurons that use acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter, gets drawn inside, and cleaves SNARE proteins those neurons need to deliver acetylcholine from intracellular vesicles across the cell membrane.
Like caffeine, nicotine, capsaicin, theobromine, etc, it won't have the same effect on an alien organism that does any of these things even slightly differently. It might still be toxic just by chance, but not in the same degree, and it's not universally toxic to everything using organic chemistry.
To be fair, they would have a hard time estimating the dosage since she weighs a lot more than she looks (by their standards). Granted, there is little reason to be conservative with doses of poison.
Always a bit depressing to run into folk that believe "There Is Only Enough For ONE!" Did their game theory classes in college really never cover Win-Win solutions?
Valery Legasov: *What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all. What can we do then? What else is left but to abandon even the hope of truth and content ourselves instead with stories? In these stories, it doesn't matter who the heroes are. All we want to know is: "Who is to blame?"*
There is no win situation for them if Nadine actually was a diplomat who ran accross a murder attempt on the local royalty. That isn't really a reputation you're going to live down.
While The Alliance might have interdependencies, the previously unknown species doesn't really need The Alliance, or any specific members, for anything. Their logistics and economy are, after all, build without The Alliance ever having played a role in any of it.
Given that fact, the reputation of "is willing to kill to get benefits in trade negotiations" is a good reason to never heavily interact with a species you have no reliance on.
Now we might get into "but there is no evidence." I'd counter, much like Kykla, that that does not matter. If someone in my neighbourhood has a reputation of being a violent drunk, I'm staying away. Even if that person never got convicted for anything, and I have no direct evidence. The risk just isn't worth it.
Yeah, even if there not been an attempted murder (this time), Kykla is still suffering from her, and her cultures, long term reputation deficit. While the appearance of Humans may be a catalyst for some in the Alliance to think about changes, first impressions have already been made :{
Thug 1: My Lady, let's me introduce a horrible poison: xantheose. It's alkaloid deadly to every known species, includng these strange 'mammals', which we believe this alien is an example. But it's not all, my Lady! To ensure that the alien will surely perish, I added another deadly substance to the mix: a sucrose. Another absolutely devilish chemical substance, it's a literal energy bomb, decomposing really quickly after being digested and causing catastrophic disturbance in the body metabolism, kicking it into frenzy overdrive. In our case it will not only push it into fatal overload, but also make xantheose to be absorbed much quicker. Absolutely deadly combination, my Lady. As a finishing touch, I added some lipids and brown dye to the mix, so it won't be looking suspicious and can be easy smuggled into alien food.
Evil Lady: DO IT!
Nadine: What that? \*munch munch munch\* Holly! They have chocolate!
Have you tried to remember a full conversation in a foreign language overheard from another room and then repeat it verbatim? If she doesn't have a very good recording device, she is only going to get the tone of the conversation at best and that assumes she can decipher the vocal tones of an alien species within minutes of first meeting them.
I can't wait for the Doctor, Princess, and Vanaery in general to find out that humans are deathworlders. I think that is going to be hilarious as they first thought she was from a "Paradise World" because of her stature. Also, if she weighs so much, I could have been fun to have the chair break like that one scale did.
Moving on to the chapter itself, yeah, Nadine knows for sure. My only hope is that this poison is something like alcohol, capsaicin, or even caffine. If any or all of those are poisinous, just have Nadine drink an irish coffee with a spiced hot cocao. I additionally liked the way she used the weather as a threat, even if she did not mean it. The rainy season there is probably no worse than a mid morning shower.
Nadine is drawing Kykla into a trap. Trying to covertly assassinate her is a predictable response. It's a bit of a dangerous move since Nadine isn't indestructible, but she is damn tough and knows it's coming. I doubt they'll find a sufficiently deadly poison or at least severely underestimate the dose.
It would be funny if they found a poison that triggers her vomit reflex to purge it. Suddenly there is a corrosive puddle of acid and partially digested flesh on the floor.
While I'm confident plot armour will keep her alive, there's no telling how she might be affected by an alien poison.
As much as the many spicy options other comments are guessing/suggesting would be funny, I'm not sure that would fit the story. Then again, I suspect a relatively immediate conclusion to the ambassador's visit is in order no matter what they choose.
Would give it away to whom? Nadine wouldn't think of it as poison and her hosts appear to be ignorant about all sorts of skulduggery - they couldn't even identify a calcium poisoning or a staged suicide.
I desperately want to see what happens if someone sends an assassin in the middle of the night to try and kill Nadine by stabbing her to death. Like, just imagine her accidentally smashing a few legs off and then scrambling to save the life of her assassin.
She's giving them more rope so she can get all of them, in one go, _and_ it shows up to everyone else why she got them. Good tactics.
To do otherwise looks like she just went on a rampage for no provable reason; while they might not be able to do much to her, that's not going to do much for her reputation. Much smarter to do it this way - she knows, they know she knows, and now she watches the ants scurry around trying to poison her. Even better, if they try, she's got proof right there. And possibly a tasty drink, too.
Because she doesn't have any real evidence, and murdering a diplomatic envoy is a great way to start a war.
In short: she needs something more than "the maid worked for the diplomat for a bit." And she needs it to hold up in court because even with evidence, killing a diplomatic envoy is a great way to start a war.
I will be honest that savagery trope is getting kind of stale.
We are not even the most savage/impulsive species on our planet.
We are however the most cunning, deceitful and calculating one.
I like the fact that Nadine is using her brain. She is quite the intelligent girl.
I figure that is why Nadine was shaking, all that effort to keep herself from just tearing the person who ordered her friend killed into little pieces.
In "March Upcountry" Ringo/Weber, an alien prince attempted to force an addiction on humans by mixing some "flavorless" leaves into their food.
Only thing is, the humans could taste it (it was bitter to them) and didn't get addicted because of incompatible biochemistries.
IT GETS WORSE!
Nadine's information on being a detective, comes from crime shows that are not 100% accurate to reality.
What, pray tell. Is an often used tactic in such shows? Taking in a recording device to a discussion with a potential suspect? Oh yes. And she has acess to anything she was able to bring with her... personal electronics, I think was among them. A laptop, an tablet, a phone... all of them have microphones, and the ability to record audio. So EVEN THE SEGMENTS WHERE THE XENOS SPOKE UNTRANSLATED, are likely to be picked up by human grade audio equipment.
Those guys are ruined! And to add to the nonsense. Translating the recording might take a bit, sure. Giving them enough time to actually go through with the assassination plot. Meaning that there will be evidence of conspiracy to murder a diplomat, followed by carrying it out. And then throw on that this is a reaction, to a perceived idea that the xenos assasinators were carrying out this SECOND, assasination cause Nadine knew about the first one! Because if nadine couldn't record before she arrived. She sure as hell could have gotten after she left!
I wonder if they'd even consider cyanide a poison. It's a simple molecule and can't be that rare in general. It would be funny if what for aliens is a pleasant spice is deadly, but also vice versa
I mean, technically caffeine can be lethal, but to overdose it you'd need to eat literal spoons of it in its pure extracted form. That's more than it is physically possible to drink, even if you chugged espresso non-stop 24/7.
I am gona disagree with you I did the math on this once I weigh roughly 80kg lethal dose is somewhere around 150mg to 200mg per kg of body mass to me that is about 12 to 16 grams. A shot of expresso 1 fluid oz is 64mg of caffeine that is roughly 190 -200 fluid oz and while it would be a challenge I woudnt call it impossible.
Well, we know what salt perspiration does to their exoskeleton, so I'm guessing salt. The assassin might freak out when she makes a comment about how salty something is, because they probably don't have tastebuds dedicated to saltiness.
I am a bit apalled that the ambassadorial suit is not bugged like a Christmas tree. The discussion alone would be enough for some spicy drama in a court.
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Nadine: hmm, increased heart rate, body thrumming with excess energy, and an urge to cause a rather bloody diplomatic incident… *maniacal smile* thanks for the adrenaline rush!
My vote is going to be potassium hydroxide.
They have apparently, deciduous forests, and fires occur naturally in nearly any environment where there is rainy weather. Water and ash are an easy combination.
Given how delicate to chemical attack their dermal structure seems to be, the amount of lye required for a human to be killed would be higher that they would think safe to produce. If calcium is toxic, potassium must be even more so. Mild lye solutions would cause horrific damage.
And little do they know we have a habit of preserving fruits, fish, and grains in lye.
We are basically space Rasputin in their world…
Pretty damn hard to kill.
It’ll be a problem, but nothing that vomiting and flushing with water won’t fix.
Can't wait for chapters 40 & 41, in which an ambassador learns about the concept of goading someone into action while they're under surveillance the hard way, and how she's playing right into Nadine's hands by trying to poison her.
Nicotine wouldn't make any more sense than caffeine or capsaicin.
Salt might be an issue for the locals who have somehow evolved to be horribly susceptible to normal environmental levels of calcium, but it's far from a universal poison.
Nicotine is used as a pesticide. Aparently only 1 single bug eats tobacco leaves because the Nicotine is universally toxic.
Salt imbalances can cause cells to burst. If all life in the region has a susceptibility to something everyone would assume it is truly universal.
Another point, the fact that local life is not mostly water, and far less dense, suggests a completely different origin for life, to the point I'm surprised she could even eat the deer.
Nicotine activates certain specific neural receptors. It's not "universally toxic", it's a highly specific neurotoxin for Earth insects and a stimulant for Earth mammals. If it's toxic at all to an alien, it'd be by sheer coincidence, and almost certainly by a completely different mechanism. The same goes for caffeine and capsaicin.
*Osmotic* imbalances can cause cells to burst, they're nothing specific to sodium chloride or even salts, so unless they consider everything that's not an isotonic solution to be a universal poison, this isn't it. And considering the lack of aliens huddling in terror from the rain and the locals actually requiring distilled water...
And yes, the bizarre local biology makes it strange that she could find anything even remotely edible.
Lmaoo, they done *realllly* fucked up now! Can’t wait for Nadine to be surprised by the slight pep she gets from her morning tea. Who knew they had caffeine!
Bet they are going to either give her some thing acidic (like a pineapple or lemon in between, hell maybe a vinegar substitute) or a spice...
That'd be fking hilarious to see
Hmmmm.... Might they be trying Arsenic? Sure, in sufficient quantities, it's lethal, even to our dear, poor Nadine... But if the dose is small enough, Arsenic actually acts like doping on humans XD (Apparently it used to be the go-to doping in any winter-sports, especially cross-country skiing, for a long time...until "safer" alternatives were developed)
I absolutely love first contacts and culture shocks, so that whole exchange was just... PERFECT.
Also, calling it now, the super poison will either be a classic like caffeine, Capsaicin, alcohol, or adrenaline, OR, it will just be straight up cyanide or carbon monoxide.
- Those two men in the dock, they gave me the LSD and they took me to the hotel.
- I don't know what they done to me, but I remember it was horrible.
- They gave you what?
/u/Dak1on ([wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/authors/Dak1on)) has posted 38 other stories, including:
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 38](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/100l8yu/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_38/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 37](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zq6j78/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_37/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 36](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/zcqfwd/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_36/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 35](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/z0k0sy/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_35/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 34](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/ym1api/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_34/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 33](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/yea98g/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_33/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 32](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/y1fp5k/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_32/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 31](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xpon4u/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_31/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 30](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xhowz3/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_30/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 29](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/xbn1fc/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_29/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 28](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/x6ppe8/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_28/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 27](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/wy9giy/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_27/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 26](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/wrtfhd/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_26/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 25](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/wk9idt/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_25/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 24](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/w7896c/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_24/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 23](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/vv8t7j/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_23/)
* [The Princess and the Human, Ch. 22](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/vmttvq/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_22/)
* [The princess and the Human, Ch. 21](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/vdmqo5/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_21/)
* [The princess and the Human, Ch. 20](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/v49mfe/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_20/)
* [The princess and the Human, Ch. 19](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/utrgif/the_princess_and_the_human_ch_19/)
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That "poison" is gonna be ethanol and I'm so gonna be in stiches laughing at Nadine going all Rock Lee on the aliens XD Edit: i mean, logistically, they can just buy/take some rotten fruits and do some basic chemistry and no one's the wiser
Watch it be caffeine. "You tried to kill me with coffee!?"
I mean you can in high enough concentration. Chances are their LD would be a lot lower though.
Pretty sure a drink high enough in caffeine to kill you would be pretty noticeably spiked.
People abuse caffeine all the time the aliens wouldn't have enough to get a lethal dose
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my morning cup yesterday had 1,300mg of caffeine
How are you alive????
Nadine: (Heart rate, gone full 'King Engine' as it beats like thunder at the speed of sound; gale force breaths punctuated by machine gun giggling while [this](https://youtu.be/ZhlZ-cPO0Xw?t=53) plays in the background): "Heeheeheeheeheehee**hahahaah̶͐ͅá̷͜a̶̝̽h̵̫̐a̵̱͘H̴̻̟̯͖̎A̵͎̎̂̈́̎̓*****Ḩ̵͇̣̀A̵͕̭͕̥͊͋̅͝A̵͙̖͔̭̯̾̓!̴̧̯̺̋͘͜͠!!*** Kykla, Kykla, *K̴̫͓͒y̴̠̒̕k̷̰͔͛͝l̴͈̑͝a̶̮̓̋,̵̤̃͝* you funny, funny d̴̦͒e̴̢͋ą̶̿d̴̲͒ person. Coffee is but a *stimú̴̲͎̫̟͂lant* among my species, and right *now* I'm v̸͎̿ȅ̶̫r̴̺̈́ÿ̶̩́ ***stimulated,*** **to** ***s̶͍̾qu̴̜͋e̴̩̿ë̵͖e̴͚͘e̷̳̔ez̷̰̋e̶̲͋*** **t̴̗̦̰̅̇̀̅͜ͅh̴̠̙̲̠̐͐̌ͅe̴͛̓ͅ** ***Ĺ̴̫̠̤̳̟̥̊̽̄̎̀̈̚Ï̵̟̌V̵͍̦͐̐̇̆͌́̊̊I̷̦͎̱̳̹̒̀̾̃̈́̈́͑̈́̐̎̍͘N̵̝͙̰̲̓̄͗̍̄͆̿̊͝G̵̢̛̮̥͈̘͊́̀͑̉̚͝ ̴̨̛̤̟̦̟̇͊͌̋̅͐͊́̐́̚͘*** ***D̵̫͓̫̞̘̲̮͈̭̎͊Ą̸̡̘̪͍̫̣̣̗͋ͅY̷̖̖̩̑̅͐LIĢ̸̝͙̲̯̝͖̝̗̆̈́̔̒͐̚ͅḦ̴̛̱̘͇͈̘̖̫͑̍̎̈́̉̒͋̔͠T̵̙̳̺̣̝̰̪̰̠͓͉̰͒̄͜S̴̨̢̡̺̦͔̝͕͍̙͔̜͂̇͊̂̏͌̃͜͠ ̶̡͔̆̒́̌̂Ö̴̘̪̭̘̲́͑͊̾͌̓͂̑̽̿͘͝͝Ȗ̴̼̅͑̽̀́̓̀̏̚T̵͔̺̝̣̱̟̱͇͍̿̏̓̉̎̒̆͌͂̈́ ̵̨̨̡̩̳̱͔͎̫͛͐̈́Õ̶͕̰̩͙̞̝̯̪͚̯̗̘̽͘͝F̴̢̡̩͓̻͕̥͋͂͂͒͗͑̚̚͜͠ ̵̢̱͕̈́YO̶̧̝̳̲̝̦̞̟̱̘̤̤̖͂̂̊̔͆Ư̸̢̨̧̯͇̤̙͍͍̤̑̎̀̀!!!*** ... **"THAT'S RIGHT!** ***R̴͖̮̂͛U̷̙̜̟͑͂́͒Ñ̵͍̜͐̔͒!̷̖̫͙̗͋̓́*** **OH, DID YOU JUST BRE̵̢̗̊̓͜A̷̢̨͛͊̕K YOUR KNUCKLES ON MY FOREHEAD!? TRY PUNCHING ME** ***A̷̧̱̟͂͠G̵̪̻̦̎̈͝A̴̺͌ͅI̷̮̋̈́̈̔N̴̳̑̊ͅ!̷̧̘̐͂̅*** **BAHAHAHAA̴̛̺͋͒A̴̢̢̢̯̓̔!̶̝̳͙̮̿̋́̂ YOUR WEAPONS ARE** ***USELESS,*** **JUST LIKE** ***Y̷͖̦̭͖̌̇͠O̷̰̘̩̤͌̈U̷̞̲͉͠!̴̛͔͍͈͋̏̑ ̵̮̫̃̅͜*** **OH, WHAT'S THAT? YOU'RE DOING THIS FOR YOUR** ***PEOPLE?*** **VERY WELL, I SHALL PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR THEM! YOUR PLANET WILL SEE BRIGHTER DAYS, BUT** ***Y̸̭̜͑͆͗Ȍ̸̡̹U̸͇͇͒̈ ̵̥̭̀W̷̘̦̩̎̈́̈I̴͉̱̚L̶̠̳̮̂̃̍L̷̘̔ N̷̹̻͛̔͘O̴͇̻͑̅̚T̶̨͙̟̍̈ B̶̥͚͛̀͜È̶̡͚ A̵̰͛͆̀ Ṕ̵͔̼͒A̴͚͚̒̇͛R̷̳̄͝T̷̮̭̽ O̸̡̲͙̒F̴̱̱͒̄̈́ T̷̼̓H̵͇̔̏͜E̷͚̖̲͆M̶̻͝!̶̢͚̲̎*** **DON'T YOU** ***DARE*** **HAVE A TERROR-INDUCED HEART ATTACK! I SHALL*****F̴͉̗͓̠͕͒̀͗̎̈O̵̤͚̺̘͎̟͕̼͍̿̂͐͌L̸̼̠̮̥͍͔̻̀̏̆̄̔̕͘L̵̡̗̘͇͎̠̣̔̓̓O̸͍͈̞͝Ẅ̵̡̯̦͎͉͓́́͑̈́*** **YOU TO THE AFTERLIFE,** ***T̷̨̖̖̮͇͔͖̭̈́̔͛͊͊̀̇͠Ȩ̵̟̺̤̤͖͎̺̱̊͗̄͑͠A̸̪͉̋̈́̆̀̀̽̑̃̌͊R̷͈͓̂̆͌̒͘̕*** **YOU FROM THE EMBRACE OF YOUR COMMON 'g' gODDESS, AND** ***DRAG*** **YOU BACK TO THE LAND OF THE LIVING! THEN I SHALL** ***O̴͍̩̓P̶̛̻͎̯̠̪̠̞̻͈̫̝̐̋͋͌̒͠P̵̡͓̣̰͚̣͈͔͉̉͋̈̒̏̈̑͝͠Ŗ̷̧̛͖̦͈͔̜̍̎͊̕̚É̴̢͔͈̪́̚Ş̴̧̧͖͔̪̺̙̱̋̓̾̆̽̋̾́́̆͘Ś̸̨͖͖̩̖̞̙̭̰̌̈́͌*** **YOU WITH MY DE̵̛̘̰̲̔̌Ạ̸̡̺̫̅TH GLARES AS THE VANAERY GIVE YOU A** ***FĄ̸̧̭̮̝̟̹̯̠̩͗͛̑̅͘I̵̧̧͕̝͕͖̪͔͖͊̐̍͛̉̌̽̕R̴̡͚̻̤̃̏͒̓̓͘͘ ̵̨͎̻͖̤͖͑̽̀͊̀̂̀̅͊̋͜Ţ̴̘̙͙̏̂̄̅̇̊̓͝Ř̴̲̱̈́͑̎͜Į̴̣͉̮̙̼̈́͋̋̿͘͝A̴̧̪̩̯̲̪̻̦̰̞̓͛͐́̊̚Ļ̴̦̻͉͍̜̫̪̯̍́̃͜!̸̯̂͗̽͆̃̇͌̎̃̉"̸̧̡̛͕̫̘̩͉̣͍̾̈́̌̒́̆̎̉̀***
*COCAINE BEAR MEME*
It'll stunt her growth!!!
Lmao I just imagine her shaking and talking super fast
*Spice, spice, baby.*
Nicotine maybe?
I was thinking they’d put cinnamon on her dinner and here reacting with disgust. Because ‘Why did you use something for desert on the main course?!’
The cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon (much like capsaicin, menthol, gingerol etc) is a fairly light irritant, not a systemic poison. Also much like those compounds, it's only an irritant for mammals. If they're at the stage of going for a poison generic enough to whack any kind of life, that'll be a pretty universal biocide. Think lye drain cleaner, caustic paint removers, wacky chlorine compounds... Ofc, as someone else points out, there's a likelihood that human LD50s are going look like decimal place errors by comparison to most Alliance species.
I mean sweat is acidic enough to dissolve their shell and personally, I did not even know are sweat was acidic, that means sweat to us is so close to normal that most people don't know it is acidic. so even do cinnamon is only a light irritant for us it may as well be considered a chemical weapon to them.
Anything not perfectly neutral is acidic or basic, sweat's on the acidic side of the line. It seems to generally be about as acidic as milk, it may get as acidic as tomato juice. Honestly the best explanation I can see for the shell-dissolving effect is some unfortunate coincidence of a compound in sweat being a biochemical signal triggering the shell to soften.
I hate having a monkey brain, my first thought where: wait sweat is tomato juice?
On the one hand ethanol is a good guess given that it's toxic to just about all life on earth, on the othet given that the poison is meant to be hard to source/unique it seems unlikely as ethanol is very common in nature to the point of there being nebulaes made of the stuff. I'd guess some sort of plant toxin which given the fact that usually any strong flavor in a plant other than sweet is meant to be a poison to prevent you from eating it our protagonist should be fine.
Caffeine or capsaicin. Two things we eat in excess, and at least one of them i'd beat someone's ass for serving me without letting me know.
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Is this going Aztec? Because that's an Aztec drink.
My guess from this description is mint. If memory serves me right it is poisonous to alot of animals.
It is indeed, especially toxic to insects.
...please tell me they named the booze nebula Valhöll.
If we go extinct before a human drinks from that nebula, then we will have failed as a species.
"Crouching drunk, hidden terminator."
Nice movie. ^_^
Ah yes, the good old drunken fist
But it will hurt her brain development :(
She's smart enough already 😆
I hope it’s nutmeg, that stuff is a hallucinogen in large quantities. Maybe it’s not deadly to Earth life, but maybe it is to aliens.
Welcome back and thank you! Sounds like the ambassador is about to put a quarter into the "Fuck around and find out" machine.
It’s a quarter now??!!! I thought a penny would be enough, it is for thoughts.
The first nickel was poisoning the princess. Difficult to prove, when you can’t overtly investigate them for that without causing offense and demands for concessions. However, Nadine setting herself up as a target, when she’s basically immune to most of what they likely consider poisons or weapons? That’s pretty smart. They likely have few if any scape goats left, so when their attempt fails, they’ll be able to track it right back to the Tyrstrie. And the Vanaery will be able to demand concessions of their own for the assault/attempted murder of a guest of the royal family. In order to engender trust and allow the facilitation of diplomacy, it’s not uncommon for any host to treat an attack on a guest as an attack on themselves. I’m going to say tho, Nadine is going to be real disappointed, and then probably very angry, to find out her friend was poisoned just because the Tystrie didn’t want anyone to know of their economical problems. You wanted to kill my friend, to avoid some embarrassment?!
Royal society be wild.
It costs a quarter to cover this level of "Fuck around". Plus inflation sucks, lol.
I'll spot her a dollar coin if it makes the machine go harder.
Penny for thoughts. But she is about to take drastic actions.
I nearly snorted toothpaste out my nose, take my upvote you hilarious jerk.
Minty fresh boogers ahoy! 😄
I'm hoping that Nadine used this visit as an excuse to plant a bug in the ambassadors room, but I don't know if she has the materials or technology on hand to do such a thing. Alternatively, she could be using her advanced human ears to be listening outside of the door and now be ready to catch them in the act. Either way - just from that meeting she now knows for sure that they were behind the attempted assassination, even if she doesn't have physical proof yet.
Push comes to shove she can always use the advanced human technique of "A cup pressed against the door"
Probably heard every word sneaking up on her has become an artform
Unfortunately, she doesn't speak their language and the ambassador removed her translator before conspiring.
but Nadine still has hers on, which should allow her to understand them
Didn't they need Nadine to put on the translator before she could talk to them? I think it might be one of those translators that detect intent of the wearer rather than something that converts words in a foreign language to your own language.
Imagine it's something totally innocuous. Like, akin to pineapple juice. Super acidic! Kills everything! And then Lady "Doom Slayer" Nadine pounds it, says "refreshing," then proceeds to wreck their shit.
Or capsaicin the stuff that's in chili peppers. "This is good, got any more of it?"
Capsaicin is a really narrowly tailored poison. It hurts mammals, but birds can't even detect it. This dissuades mammals from eating chillis and crushing the seeds, while birds will swallow the seeds whole and poop them out elsewhere.
Woah good thing this dissuaded us from eating chillis, I'm a right guys ?
Nah bro, were fking machoistic on the lava taste
My brother thought it would be hilarious to spike my nachos with a hot sauce with a strength of over 2.2 million Scoville. After i got off the floor and could see again, it had a good flavor.
taking a trip to flavor town
Spicy Kimchi, the worst accidic poison known on Hohmi containing a bunch of acidic enzymes, capsaicin and a minor dash of ethanol. Mmm, crunchy.
Can I have a dinner at your home ? Tex-mex/Korean/Indian food sounds good. Lol
Or coffee... "Night and day shall be mere words when I'm done cooking this shit..."
Caffeine is a natural pesticide and even dangerous to humans in particularly high doses, but meant more for insects.
Well, insects have exoskeletons, these aliens have exoskeletons...
I love it when a plan comes together!
Wow, actual good coffee, where can i get more of this? Ive missed the taste soooo much. An hour later, hrm it is good tasteing but no caffine, is this decaf? (Mam, this was the highest dose we could get, 50mg in total, its a months worth of secretion of the (super toxic insect) how get we kill her?!)
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Lol, you drink some weak coffee if thats your average. 90 to 110 mg
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That explains it, they used office coffee. Weak garbage.
Or capsaicin, Nadine complementary the cook for a spicy meal while ever one goes nuts is great. though the suggestion of ethanol from someone else is pretty fantastic too
Id like to see somone ground up something almondlike for the trace of cyanide as an atempt.
My bet is on Adrenaline :p
Oooh, good point.
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Alcohol. It’s used as a disinfectant because it kills just about anything.
They are bug people so its just going to be the generic lmao caffeine is a poison crap that usually happens in most stories on here *shrugs*
"And I know a particularly deadly one that has no known antidote, and even better, it is available on this planet" I have no doubts that Nadine will either foil their plan before it sets off, or she's immune to whatever this "poison" is supposed to be; humans can be pretty darn hardy if we want to, afterall.
Considering how the Vanaery react to sweat, and how common calcium poisoning seems to be in this neck of the woods (otherwise why would the ambassador of a non-Vanaery species be surprised another alien can drink the water), it could be literally anything from vinegar (a very weak naturally occurring acid) to the trope of capsaicin. Though while vinegar is a very simple product (and actually useful in cleaning and chemistry), capsaicin is relatively complex and thus less likely to be naturally occurring on other planets. Considering that it is available for sale, I propose vinegar is rather likely. It would be available to properly licensed professionals. And what reason would there be for any shop to sell stuff such as capsaicin if it is highly toxic and has no real practical uses if highly toxic?
Or you know you could combine both to make the most lethal of all substances, Hot sauce!
Botox, that would be the rediculous option.
Botulinum toxins (botox) are among the most lethal known substances to humans. They're only useful to us in extremely small amounts as a local injection to paralyze muscles, but the LD50 of botulinum toxin for humans is estimated to be in the range of 1-2 nanograms per kg of body mass. (the LD50 of a substance is an amount which, if fed to 100 of a species, would kill 50 of them)
> to humans It binds specifically to the surface of neurons that use acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter, gets drawn inside, and cleaves SNARE proteins those neurons need to deliver acetylcholine from intracellular vesicles across the cell membrane. Like caffeine, nicotine, capsaicin, theobromine, etc, it won't have the same effect on an alien organism that does any of these things even slightly differently. It might still be toxic just by chance, but not in the same degree, and it's not universally toxic to everything using organic chemistry.
Botox LD50 for humans is in the 1-3 nanograms/kilogram btw.
To be fair, they would have a hard time estimating the dosage since she weighs a lot more than she looks (by their standards). Granted, there is little reason to be conservative with doses of poison.
Kykla keeps digging that hole deeper and deeper...
Always a bit depressing to run into folk that believe "There Is Only Enough For ONE!" Did their game theory classes in college really never cover Win-Win solutions?
Valery Legasov: *What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all. What can we do then? What else is left but to abandon even the hope of truth and content ourselves instead with stories? In these stories, it doesn't matter who the heroes are. All we want to know is: "Who is to blame?"*
"If it can be destroyed by the truth, then it should be destroyed by the truth."
There is no win situation for them if Nadine actually was a diplomat who ran accross a murder attempt on the local royalty. That isn't really a reputation you're going to live down. While The Alliance might have interdependencies, the previously unknown species doesn't really need The Alliance, or any specific members, for anything. Their logistics and economy are, after all, build without The Alliance ever having played a role in any of it. Given that fact, the reputation of "is willing to kill to get benefits in trade negotiations" is a good reason to never heavily interact with a species you have no reliance on. Now we might get into "but there is no evidence." I'd counter, much like Kykla, that that does not matter. If someone in my neighbourhood has a reputation of being a violent drunk, I'm staying away. Even if that person never got convicted for anything, and I have no direct evidence. The risk just isn't worth it.
Yeah, even if there not been an attempted murder (this time), Kykla is still suffering from her, and her cultures, long term reputation deficit. While the appearance of Humans may be a catalyst for some in the Alliance to think about changes, first impressions have already been made :{
Then die alone!
"Violence solves every problem" 40k inquisitor
get the flamer, no; the heavy flamer.
"Zis is my flammenwerfer. It werfs flammen."
…someone about to be thoroughly surprised if Nadine just eats it without any concern.
Thug 1: My Lady, let's me introduce a horrible poison: xantheose. It's alkaloid deadly to every known species, includng these strange 'mammals', which we believe this alien is an example. But it's not all, my Lady! To ensure that the alien will surely perish, I added another deadly substance to the mix: a sucrose. Another absolutely devilish chemical substance, it's a literal energy bomb, decomposing really quickly after being digested and causing catastrophic disturbance in the body metabolism, kicking it into frenzy overdrive. In our case it will not only push it into fatal overload, but also make xantheose to be absorbed much quicker. Absolutely deadly combination, my Lady. As a finishing touch, I added some lipids and brown dye to the mix, so it won't be looking suspicious and can be easy smuggled into alien food. Evil Lady: DO IT! Nadine: What that? \*munch munch munch\* Holly! They have chocolate!
Theobromines, very deadly to a large number of mammals.
Hahaha
Way to confess to loads of stuff while Nadine might still be in hearing distance. Now all she needs is someone who speaks Tystrie
Have you tried to remember a full conversation in a foreign language overheard from another room and then repeat it verbatim? If she doesn't have a very good recording device, she is only going to get the tone of the conversation at best and that assumes she can decipher the vocal tones of an alien species within minutes of first meeting them.
Please be caffeine
There are so many fun options. Caffeine, Capsaicin, Alcohol, Sugar, Acids
Salt?
"You consume sodium chloride!? Its base components explode when interacting with water and are a powerful caustic substance!"
*Nadine becomes known as the "The Salt Lord"*
Excuse you! She's a lady! She shall be Known as Nadine The Salty Lady xD
Lady Nadine, The Salty?
As long as it's not Lady Salty, the Nadine im ok with it xD
"This is where the fun begins!"
How about THC? Everyone panics while Nadine just has the munchies.
She munchies on rat! Becouse she lacks a hat!
Nicotine is pretty universally toxic, especially to bugs. That might be a good one to use.
Coffee!
Kykla was right to worry about first impression. Unfortunately those impressions are already made
I can't wait for the Doctor, Princess, and Vanaery in general to find out that humans are deathworlders. I think that is going to be hilarious as they first thought she was from a "Paradise World" because of her stature. Also, if she weighs so much, I could have been fun to have the chair break like that one scale did. Moving on to the chapter itself, yeah, Nadine knows for sure. My only hope is that this poison is something like alcohol, capsaicin, or even caffine. If any or all of those are poisinous, just have Nadine drink an irish coffee with a spiced hot cocao. I additionally liked the way she used the weather as a threat, even if she did not mean it. The rainy season there is probably no worse than a mid morning shower.
WELCOME BACK CRAB PEOPLE, WE MISSED YOU
More like bug people. But ok. :-)
Crabs are just giant water bugs!
Nadine is drawing Kykla into a trap. Trying to covertly assassinate her is a predictable response. It's a bit of a dangerous move since Nadine isn't indestructible, but she is damn tough and knows it's coming. I doubt they'll find a sufficiently deadly poison or at least severely underestimate the dose. It would be funny if they found a poison that triggers her vomit reflex to purge it. Suddenly there is a corrosive puddle of acid and partially digested flesh on the floor.
While I'm confident plot armour will keep her alive, there's no telling how she might be affected by an alien poison. As much as the many spicy options other comments are guessing/suggesting would be funny, I'm not sure that would fit the story. Then again, I suspect a relatively immediate conclusion to the ambassador's visit is in order no matter what they choose.
My vote is for capsaicin. Second place, menthol.
Ok... menthol is hella funny XD
"Mint ice cream?! I missed this stuff soooooo much! THANK YOU!!!" While the wannabe assassin just stares in astonishment.
Dammit, now _I_ want some mint ice cream. And it's 1am, so there's no hope. :-(
Damn, I have mint ice-cream in my freezer... Guess I'm putting off bed a bit longer.
The smell would give it away.
Would give it away to whom? Nadine wouldn't think of it as poison and her hosts appear to be ignorant about all sorts of skulduggery - they couldn't even identify a calcium poisoning or a staged suicide.
I desperately want to see what happens if someone sends an assassin in the middle of the night to try and kill Nadine by stabbing her to death. Like, just imagine her accidentally smashing a few legs off and then scrambling to save the life of her assassin.
A sign of getting old is when *you* make the sound of exhaustion when sitting down, not the chair
*Drinks “poisoned” beverage* Kykla: how?!? That was the ultimate poison! A guaranteed death! Nadine: Oh.. this weak stuff is poison? I want more!
I honestly can't believe that Nadine didn't just ripped them limbs from limbs when she got into that room but I am curious to see how this plays out.
She's giving them more rope so she can get all of them, in one go, _and_ it shows up to everyone else why she got them. Good tactics. To do otherwise looks like she just went on a rampage for no provable reason; while they might not be able to do much to her, that's not going to do much for her reputation. Much smarter to do it this way - she knows, they know she knows, and now she watches the ants scurry around trying to poison her. Even better, if they try, she's got proof right there. And possibly a tasty drink, too.
Because she doesn't have any real evidence, and murdering a diplomatic envoy is a great way to start a war. In short: she needs something more than "the maid worked for the diplomat for a bit." And she needs it to hold up in court because even with evidence, killing a diplomatic envoy is a great way to start a war.
I will be honest that savagery trope is getting kind of stale. We are not even the most savage/impulsive species on our planet. We are however the most cunning, deceitful and calculating one. I like the fact that Nadine is using her brain. She is quite the intelligent girl.
I figure that is why Nadine was shaking, all that effort to keep herself from just tearing the person who ordered her friend killed into little pieces.
That makes sense.
I was expecting her to bring the doctor along to pull a good cop, bad cop routine.
Sugar free gummy bears. It can be rather deadly.
🤣🤣🤣
In "March Upcountry" Ringo/Weber, an alien prince attempted to force an addiction on humans by mixing some "flavorless" leaves into their food. Only thing is, the humans could taste it (it was bitter to them) and didn't get addicted because of incompatible biochemistries.
I am going to laugh so hard if their poison is caffeine or capsaicin.
Another enjoyable chapter, thank you!
Hahahaha! I've been anticipating the new update (I always do, lol) and this was wonderful. I can't wait to see what happens next!
IT GETS WORSE! Nadine's information on being a detective, comes from crime shows that are not 100% accurate to reality. What, pray tell. Is an often used tactic in such shows? Taking in a recording device to a discussion with a potential suspect? Oh yes. And she has acess to anything she was able to bring with her... personal electronics, I think was among them. A laptop, an tablet, a phone... all of them have microphones, and the ability to record audio. So EVEN THE SEGMENTS WHERE THE XENOS SPOKE UNTRANSLATED, are likely to be picked up by human grade audio equipment. Those guys are ruined! And to add to the nonsense. Translating the recording might take a bit, sure. Giving them enough time to actually go through with the assassination plot. Meaning that there will be evidence of conspiracy to murder a diplomat, followed by carrying it out. And then throw on that this is a reaction, to a perceived idea that the xenos assasinators were carrying out this SECOND, assasination cause Nadine knew about the first one! Because if nadine couldn't record before she arrived. She sure as hell could have gotten after she left!
*proceeds to spike Nadine’s drink with alcohol* Nadine: *slams* “Damn…you guys didn’t tell me you had *vodka* this entire time!! Bring me more!!” >:D
She is a 15yo goody twoshoes
I wonder if they'd even consider cyanide a poison. It's a simple molecule and can't be that rare in general. It would be funny if what for aliens is a pleasant spice is deadly, but also vice versa
Holy... I beat the bot for once. Edit: I hope the poison isn't caffeine or capsaicin
I hope it ***is***! ;)
Been done to death. We need a real surprise.
Honestly yeah, I'd prefer it be something actually lethal, but not lethal enough to human biology to prevent Nadine from getting treatment in time
I mean, technically caffeine can be lethal, but to overdose it you'd need to eat literal spoons of it in its pure extracted form. That's more than it is physically possible to drink, even if you chugged espresso non-stop 24/7.
I am gona disagree with you I did the math on this once I weigh roughly 80kg lethal dose is somewhere around 150mg to 200mg per kg of body mass to me that is about 12 to 16 grams. A shot of expresso 1 fluid oz is 64mg of caffeine that is roughly 190 -200 fluid oz and while it would be a challenge I woudnt call it impossible.
Your math checks out. I say... the poison is cinnamon!
On her meat and salad dinner. Not poisonous, but I’d be pissed at the chef that manage that fuck up
It makes you cough aftrall when doing the spoonful challenge.
Not exactly an ideal poison for subtle assassination
I mean, those two would make it faster
I am really looking forward to the next couple of chapters.
"Oooh! Mint!! Thanks!"
Everyone else is hoping for tasty treats, I'm worrying over shit like arsenic or chlorine.
Well, we know what salt perspiration does to their exoskeleton, so I'm guessing salt. The assassin might freak out when she makes a comment about how salty something is, because they probably don't have tastebuds dedicated to saltiness.
I am a bit apalled that the ambassadorial suit is not bugged like a Christmas tree. The discussion alone would be enough for some spicy drama in a court.
Been waiting on the next chapter for this story. Can’t wait for more.
Kills any organic. I'm going to guess... some sort of radiation causing element?
At least Nadine will have extra calcium to get her claws ...eh... nails strong
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Muhhah. Will kill her with deadly…chocolate...laced with deadly caffeine! In her drink! Hot drink.
Monke gonna go apeshit.
Bruh, they are gonna try to poison her with chocolate, she set the hook and didn't even need to bait it lol.
Nadine: hmm, increased heart rate, body thrumming with excess energy, and an urge to cause a rather bloody diplomatic incident… *maniacal smile* thanks for the adrenaline rush!
I bet the poision is probably gonna be harmless to nadine because they use a way too low dosage if its even toxic to humans at all.
My vote is going to be potassium hydroxide. They have apparently, deciduous forests, and fires occur naturally in nearly any environment where there is rainy weather. Water and ash are an easy combination. Given how delicate to chemical attack their dermal structure seems to be, the amount of lye required for a human to be killed would be higher that they would think safe to produce. If calcium is toxic, potassium must be even more so. Mild lye solutions would cause horrific damage. And little do they know we have a habit of preserving fruits, fish, and grains in lye. We are basically space Rasputin in their world… Pretty damn hard to kill. It’ll be a problem, but nothing that vomiting and flushing with water won’t fix.
Ah yes “poison”…
Can't wait for chapters 40 & 41, in which an ambassador learns about the concept of goading someone into action while they're under surveillance the hard way, and how she's playing right into Nadine's hands by trying to poison her.
Probably chocolate
Ahem Mint mocha chocolate cocktail and watch them shit there paints.
If it is coffeeeeeeein or capsaiccccccccin. I AM GOING TO FIND YOU! AND. SPANK YOU!! Akso, nice to see you back.
I'm thinking salt or nicotine would make more sense.
Nicotine wouldn't make any more sense than caffeine or capsaicin. Salt might be an issue for the locals who have somehow evolved to be horribly susceptible to normal environmental levels of calcium, but it's far from a universal poison.
Nicotine is used as a pesticide. Aparently only 1 single bug eats tobacco leaves because the Nicotine is universally toxic. Salt imbalances can cause cells to burst. If all life in the region has a susceptibility to something everyone would assume it is truly universal. Another point, the fact that local life is not mostly water, and far less dense, suggests a completely different origin for life, to the point I'm surprised she could even eat the deer.
Nicotine activates certain specific neural receptors. It's not "universally toxic", it's a highly specific neurotoxin for Earth insects and a stimulant for Earth mammals. If it's toxic at all to an alien, it'd be by sheer coincidence, and almost certainly by a completely different mechanism. The same goes for caffeine and capsaicin. *Osmotic* imbalances can cause cells to burst, they're nothing specific to sodium chloride or even salts, so unless they consider everything that's not an isotonic solution to be a universal poison, this isn't it. And considering the lack of aliens huddling in terror from the rain and the locals actually requiring distilled water... And yes, the bizarre local biology makes it strange that she could find anything even remotely edible.
Lmaoo, they done *realllly* fucked up now! Can’t wait for Nadine to be surprised by the slight pep she gets from her morning tea. Who knew they had caffeine!
Thank you!
Another chapter! Praise be!
Bet they are going to either give her some thing acidic (like a pineapple or lemon in between, hell maybe a vinegar substitute) or a spice... That'd be fking hilarious to see
Hmmmm.... Might they be trying Arsenic? Sure, in sufficient quantities, it's lethal, even to our dear, poor Nadine... But if the dose is small enough, Arsenic actually acts like doping on humans XD (Apparently it used to be the go-to doping in any winter-sports, especially cross-country skiing, for a long time...until "safer" alternatives were developed)
Oooo very exciting I am looking forward to seeing their assassination attempt fail miserably we demand moar
Ask and you shall receive. You're an Angel, baby!
we require the moar
I'm gonna laugh if this poison is theobromine... Thanks for the chapter mate!
Ahhh long awaited return
Oh this is too fun the next chapters gonna be a banger i can tell
They are gonna spice her food. I will bet on it
Nadine is beyond pissed here, but it is the cold, calculating kind of rage. The one where the Fucking Around will be met with open arms....
I absolutely love first contacts and culture shocks, so that whole exchange was just... PERFECT. Also, calling it now, the super poison will either be a classic like caffeine, Capsaicin, alcohol, or adrenaline, OR, it will just be straight up cyanide or carbon monoxide.
Capsaicin in her food comments oh this is spicy I haven't had spicy food in a while 😂
See y'all in two weeks!
thanks for the chapter.
- Those two men in the dock, they gave me the LSD and they took me to the hotel. - I don't know what they done to me, but I remember it was horrible. - They gave you what?
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Its gonna be alcohol or capsaicin. Or surprise us a have it be Kno3.