Eh, well. It was worth a shot, and it was worth it to watch you cough up your own daddy long legs.
[He laughs, though it's just good-natured ribbing.]
So, what now? Sounds like we can't get much from this place just by guessing. [He picks his words carefully, to try and reduce his chance of some kind of bug. It does, indeed, sound like that!] Got any other ideas?
...actually, I wanted to talk to you about the Stanowar.
It shouldn't be that much longer until it's complete. I got components from the Admiral that'll let us travel safely into Gravity Falls. As soon as it's spaceworthy, we can go and get the kids.
[It's a stupid question - it's not like Ford coughed up any bugs afterwards - but it just slips right out of Stan. It's the first real evidence that the Admiral actually follows through on his deals, and Stan is pleasantly surprised!]
And it works, right? It's gonna do what he says it'll do?
[Despite all the tentative questions, Stan's hopes are clearly pretty high up.]
...I haven't given it a field test yet. But I haven't heard anyone complain about a warden deal so far. Bill thinks I should test it with a drone first, but I'm not sure that's feasible, given how impossible to replace some of these components are. We've only got one trans-metaversal drive, and I don't want to risk losing it by sending it in unmanned.
Great! We'll have the kids outta there in no ti-- I mean, a month or two! A month or two assuming everything goes according to plan.
[YOU CAN'T CATCH HIM, BUG FLOOD!!!]
Ugh, this stupid flood might almost be worse than the last thing that happened here. At least that alternate barge me wasn't in danger of coughing up crickets or choking on bees trying to have a normal conversation!
[Of course, no one's mentioned bees before now but now that Stan's brought it up, Ford might notice his cheek does look a little swollen. He isn't allergic and he has a large jaw, so it isn't comically over-sized swelling, but it's still there and has been for most of the day.]
I dunno. I was talking to someone on the network, and all of a sudden I had a pissed off bee in my mouth! I... [He frowns.] I don't think I was lying about anything? We didn't even talk that much, just some chit-chat about the flood and how terrible it is.
She broke the news about all the bugs and that it happens when you lie, we bickered a little about whether it was better than the last one or not. It wasn't that though, it was...she pointed out it was just a week and she talked me up a little and when I said I could handle a week of this I got stung.
[This doesn't immediately cause any bees, since he's just recounting what happened. But it doesn't change that he's frustrated about the whole thing, and he crosses his arms.]
The whole thing's stupid. Most of what I do is lie, so it could be pretty much anything!
[That though. That does it. The bee that just appeared hasn't stung him, not yet, but he can feel and hear the buzzing in his mouth, and on instinct he shuts his mouth tight. It doesn't solve the problem, but it certain prevents him from saying things that will make more bees appear.]
Of course, he can't open his mouth and reply, or the bee might move and sting him, so he tries to look as nonchalant as possible. It isn't an answer, but a silent assertion that no, he's fine! He's completely fine, he just has...
...two. He just has two bees in his mouth now. Oh no. He goes from pretending to be okay to not at all okay pretty quick after that. One hand over his mouth, one hand blindly reaching around for the bucket even though bees can fly and a bucket will absolutely not help him.]
[STANFORD PINES HAS NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING BUT HE ASSUMES IT'S BEES AND HE MOVES IN WITH THE FLYSWATTER HELD LIKE A BASEBALL BAT. BRING IT, BEES. NO ONE IS STINGING FORD'S BROTHER WHILE HE'S AROUND. IF HE GETS A SHOT HE'S TAKING IT.]
He can't hide it any longer. The bucket, as previously predicted, doesn't actually help aside from giving him something to hold onto. It's really hard to cough up something that can fly and it takes him a minute or so to encourage them to get the hell out of his mouth - and it's infinitely harder to do with two bees instead of one.
Bee one gets spit out (and seems a little dazed, bobbing around from the high velocity of that) and it's right about then that bee 2 decides it doesn't like being jostled so much.]
Ow! Son of a bitch!
[And there goes bee 2, spit out more easily. Stan sits there afterwards and holds his cheek.]
[Bee 1 receives no mercy. Ford, they're endangered. Ford, they're pollinators. Ford, you could have put them in the greenhouse. Nope, that bee meets its end on the business end of a forty-year-old flyswatter.]
[Stan's still holding his face, but he's trying to shoo bee 2, which has decided it wants to hang around too close to Stan's face now that it's out of his mouth.]
There were two of 'em! Kill it, kill it!
[It doesn't answer either question, but it's the truth, so the flood gives him a pass for it.]
[Well, the good news is, since that bee lived long enough to get shot, there's probably not a stinger embedded in Stan Pines's mouth. It sounds like he got stung, though.
Ford sticks the flyswatter in his belt for easy retrieval. No telling when a bee might resurface, since he hasn't figured out the rule yet. And--]
You'd better ice and disinfect that sting. Hang on.
[Ford heads for another cabinet, starts rummaging around in it.]
[Stan tries to shrug it off, though he doesn't stop Ford from getting whatever he's getting. It always feels a little strange to be doted on though, so he can't help opening his mouth.]
Eh, it's not that bad. It's not like it's the first ti-- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
[No, the flood is not kidding. There is yet another bee, but Stan doesn't fuck around spitting it out this time. He's almost got the hang of gagging up something airborne by now!]
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Okay. I've got an idea of what to expect, but I'm still going to give it a try.
Breach worlds are real.
[No bug.]
The damage we leave behind does not get undone. Hrk!
[Cough. Cough!! Out comes a daddy longlegs!!]
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[Something about watching Ford cough up bugs makes him feel like they're little kids again, even if it's objectively very gross.]
So uh - was that what you thought was gonna happen?
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I was hoping for confirmation one way or another but.....yes, that's what I expected to happen.
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[He laughs, though it's just good-natured ribbing.]
So, what now? Sounds like we can't get much from this place just by guessing. [He picks his words carefully, to try and reduce his chance of some kind of bug. It does, indeed, sound like that!] Got any other ideas?
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It shouldn't be that much longer until it's complete. I got components from the Admiral that'll let us travel safely into Gravity Falls. As soon as it's spaceworthy, we can go and get the kids.
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[It's a stupid question - it's not like Ford coughed up any bugs afterwards - but it just slips right out of Stan. It's the first real evidence that the Admiral actually follows through on his deals, and Stan is pleasantly surprised!]
And it works, right? It's gonna do what he says it'll do?
[Despite all the tentative questions, Stan's hopes are clearly pretty high up.]
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It's risky, but so are a lot of stupid things Stan's done for the kids.]
So how much longer, you think? Until the thing's spaceworthy, I mean.
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[YOU CAN'T CATCH HIM, BUG FLOOD!!!]
Ugh, this stupid flood might almost be worse than the last thing that happened here. At least that alternate barge me wasn't in danger of coughing up crickets or choking on bees trying to have a normal conversation!
[Of course, no one's mentioned bees before now but now that Stan's brought it up, Ford might notice his cheek does look a little swollen. He isn't allergic and he has a large jaw, so it isn't comically over-sized swelling, but it's still there and has been for most of the day.]
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[That's significantly more unpleasant than anything Ford's observed so far.]
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I dunno. I was talking to someone on the network, and all of a sudden I had a pissed off bee in my mouth! I... [He frowns.] I don't think I was lying about anything? We didn't even talk that much, just some chit-chat about the flood and how terrible it is.
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[Then it occurs to him what a bad idea this might be.]
--hang on! Just a minute. Don't say anything yet.
[Ford goes over to a cabinet. He pulls out a flyswatter. Comes back.]
Now do you remember what it was you said?
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She broke the news about all the bugs and that it happens when you lie, we bickered a little about whether it was better than the last one or not. It wasn't that though, it was...she pointed out it was just a week and she talked me up a little and when I said I could handle a week of this I got stung.
[This doesn't immediately cause any bees, since he's just recounting what happened. But it doesn't change that he's frustrated about the whole thing, and he crosses his arms.]
The whole thing's stupid. Most of what I do is lie, so it could be pretty much anything!
[That though. That does it. The bee that just appeared hasn't stung him, not yet, but he can feel and hear the buzzing in his mouth, and on instinct he shuts his mouth tight. It doesn't solve the problem, but it certain prevents him from saying things that will make more bees appear.]
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....Stanley?
[Something wrong?]
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Of course, he can't open his mouth and reply, or the bee might move and sting him, so he tries to look as nonchalant as possible. It isn't an answer, but a silent assertion that no, he's fine! He's completely fine, he just has...
...two. He just has two bees in his mouth now. Oh no. He goes from pretending to be okay to not at all okay pretty quick after that. One hand over his mouth, one hand blindly reaching around for the bucket even though bees can fly and a bucket will absolutely not help him.]
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He can't hide it any longer. The bucket, as previously predicted, doesn't actually help aside from giving him something to hold onto. It's really hard to cough up something that can fly and it takes him a minute or so to encourage them to get the hell out of his mouth - and it's infinitely harder to do with two bees instead of one.
Bee one gets spit out (and seems a little dazed, bobbing around from the high velocity of that) and it's right about then that bee 2 decides it doesn't like being jostled so much.]
Ow! Son of a bitch!
[And there goes bee 2, spit out more easily. Stan sits there afterwards and holds his cheek.]
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Stanley! Are you alright? Did it get you?
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There were two of 'em! Kill it, kill it!
[It doesn't answer either question, but it's the truth, so the flood gives him a pass for it.]
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Then, Ford does what any sane man would do: he pulls out a ray gun and fries it.
There's a scorchmark on the wall with a little bee-shape in the middle. He'll scrub it down later.]
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He feels around his mouth with his tongue, just to make totally sure. It's mostly for show though, and he tries not to touch the new sting too much.]
...Yeah, okay, there were definitely just two. Ugh, bees, am I right?
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Ford sticks the flyswatter in his belt for easy retrieval. No telling when a bee might resurface, since he hasn't figured out the rule yet. And--]
You'd better ice and disinfect that sting. Hang on.
[Ford heads for another cabinet, starts rummaging around in it.]
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Eh, it's not that bad. It's not like it's the first ti-- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
[No, the flood is not kidding. There is yet another bee, but Stan doesn't fuck around spitting it out this time. He's almost got the hang of gagging up something airborne by now!]
Ugh, why does this keep happening?!
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it's quiet for a moment.
then, he holsters his gun again.]
That might be the first real clue we have. You said it wasn't that bad. The flood clearly disagrees. But "that bad" is subjective. Here, gargle this.
[He dumps a blue liquid into a bottle of water, shakes it up, then hands it to Stanley. It is gonna taste bad, but not the worst.]
Just don't swallow any.
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