Skylar flopped into their chair across from Benti’s desk, not caring how their gelatenous body hung over the edge of the chair and was lumpy. Their business partner’s eye rose up over their screen and looked down at Skylar.
“Did the last customer finally finish their juice?”
“Yeah.” Skylar sighed. “Unfortunately I think they have a pore issue.”
“Oh no.”
“Juice all over the back of the chair, dripping off the sides down to the floor, and I did my best not to seem disgusted as they slunk out.”
“Well that explains what took you so long to close up shop.”
“Yeah.” Skylar wiggled and wobbled so their body was centered on their chair, nothing hanging over the edges anymore. “It sucks how many Qwotarians are suffering that after the whole famine thing.
“And worse.” Benti pushed their hologram screen to the side. “Have you heard how many failed eggs? From soft shells to dry insides to fertilization failure, the list goes on.”
The lights flickered, followed by the usual apology for electricity being on the fritz due to low staff and lost knowledge from the famine.
“Will it ever end?” Skylar muttered. “The food is back, why is everything else still falling apart?” Benti didn’t answer, because the pre-recorded message already had.
The numbers were so large as to be meaningless, but to see the individual hardships, that really drove the consequences home.
The pore issues causing Qwortarians to leak, the eggs that broke apart at the slightest breeze, the prices at markets, hording and fighting though the food was plentiful.
“Is there anything else we can do?” Skylar asked.
“Donate our scraps? Some profit? Find a way to fix the new health problems popping up?” Benti shrugged a couple of their tentacles. “You brought back food, really, you’ve done more than most of us.” Benti pat Skylar’s desk. “Don’t let your disappointment food didn’t solve all the problems get you down. If you hadn’t, there would be no more other problems to worry about.”
“Thanks Benti. You always know how to be oddly comforting.”
Word count: 346
