OMG STFU WAIT EVERYBODY KNOWS RYLAND EATS TWIZZLERS AND ITS LIKE ONE OF HIS MAIN THINGS BUT HES LITERALLY EATING A PETROVA LINE. THE LEADING SCIENTIST IN ASTROPHAGE RESEARCH AND BREEDING IS EATING AN EDIBLE RED LINE LIKE THE PETROVA LINE ONG IF SOMEONE DOES NOT COME UP WITH THE FANART RN
do you think Grace was ever put in charge of explaining the Petrova problem in small words to like, a group of scientifically-illiterate politicians, who were hesitating over giving Stratt support or resources that she wanted?
do you think he stood up in front of them all, fished a piece of licorice candy out of one of his pockets, held up the Twizzler (after trying and failing to be subtle at brushing a bit of pocket lint off of it), and went "okay, so imagine that THIS is the infra-red line of Astrophage going from the Sun to Venus…"
and Stratt, also seated with the politicians, just had to keep on watching politely and attentively, while resisting the urge to gently lay her head down onto the conference room table in despair. she silently vowed that if the Petrova Taskforce somehow made it out of this meeting without completely alienating the politicians present, she'd award herself an entire hour of personal free time carved from her schedule, dedicated to nothing more pressing than a gin & tonic and a relaxing seat on a comfy couch.
and the worst part was that Grace's Twizzler demonstration worked. the politicians in the meeting were brought to full understanding of the scientific problem at hand (...well. ehhhh. kind of. full enough, anyway), were actually charmed by Dr. Grace's humorous and down-to-earth presentation, and ended up agreeing to give Stratt everything she was demanding from them.
that evening, Stratt sent off an email to the Stratt's Vat procurement team to increase the budget allotment for Dr. Grace's candy supply.
(and then she poured herself the promised drink, locked her office door, and set a timer for half an hour. no need to be wasteful.)
imagine the world leaders and top scientists watching the videos that came with the beatles immediately locking in the moment Grace pulls out a pack of sour skittles because they know that this is the part where they miraculously learn about the microorganisms protecting their sun
