SZ-CAS05 (May 19, 2023)
Puzzle
“What a mess.”
Knowledge | 1 Word
Clue
Hover over the clues if you require!
Clue 1: If you're in a mess, what other words are you 'in'?
Clue 2: Look at CAS04. Anything you can use to figure out this word?
Clue 3: What process is brine used in?
Answer and Explanation
Answer: Pickle
Explanation: In CAS04, it says, "It looks like the hardest ingredient to get—beyond the obvious soul of the operation—will be some true brine." Brining is used to preserve or season the food, which can be applied to vegetables, cheeses, fruit and some fish in a process known as pickling. To reinforce that, another way of saying 'I'm in a mess' would be 'I'm in a pickle'.
Summary of Receipt
Capgras explains what True Brine is. It's God's pickle juice, which incidentally he loves so much he's neglected prayers in order to perfect his pickles. And no, this isn't a joke. So True Brine was found in the Black Tide, but that got destroyed. Although, since it was from Eden initially, it's possible that Eden's seawater is just what True Brine is - minus a few other ingredients, like regular dill, mustard seeds and garlic. Regardless, this also helps them further, since the apples from the Tree of Knowledge in Eden contain unused soul matter, so they can kill two birds with one stone.
Transcript
Receipt: SZ-CAS05
Author: Capgras
Status: Shaka Secret
Subject: Kings Cult
Thank God Seth and Nikki have met God. It really sped up my search for things. True Brine, for those unaware, is the briniest of brines, the ephemeral juice of His holiness' pickles. God has a weird obsession with pickles. I think it'd take too long to explain here, but the short of it is all those unanswered prayers are in service of God working on perfecting his pickles. I wish I was kidding, but apparently, this is one of the more serious aspects of the universe. Seth and Nikki both had no interest in explaining how the pickles relate to life itself, as they got that lecture over and over in an unfathomable amount of time in Limbo—but the point is True Brine is the base of all of God's pickle endeavors, and it can be found in the Black Tide.
Small problem… the Black Tide is no more. But I believe the Black Tide originated in part from Eden, which for all tents and circuses is the Black Tide now anyway. I know the "story" that it was from the tides of Mayda, but that doesn't really make sense, does it? I'm almost positive Mayda came after the Black Tide did. Or, if it didn't, it's easy enough to get some seawater from Mayda. But I'm guessing that the water from the shore of Eden is the same as what God calls True Brine. Almost. Seth mentioned that it also needs dill, mustard seeds, and garlic, but he's pretty sure that it doesn't matter where I get those from. Or, at the very least, God hasn't figured out the perfect ratio of those yet, either. The important thing is that this True Brine should already have some kind of acid in it, and that's how we'll know it's the right stuff.
This also works out as the other major ingredient for our experimentations is some soul matter. Which Nikki claims we can find in Eden, probably from the Tree of Knowledge itself. Apparently, the apples contain unused soul matter, which would work perfectly (and might I add ethically) for our experimentation. It might not be the best idea to bring an apple of knowledge back into the Flipside, but assuming Dover knows what he's doing, it should be fine.
Okay, so it's probably not a great idea.
But we've gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet. Or, no, we need to cut a few apples to make a pie! There you go, perfectly thematic banter.