banana zone

alcohol boosts the brain's inhibitory neurotransmitters, resulting in slower cognition and reduced sensitivity to stimuli

the eridian's brain is crystals with "neurons" made of refracted light, surrounded by blood

negative-index metamaterials (NIMs) are structurally engineered to negatively refract light, which is kind of like reversing the direction of the light

NIMs enter blood via digestion, and impede cognition like alcohol by inhibiting refractive "neurons" in the eridian brain?

NIMs get their properties from shape, not substance; specialist eridian professionals could manufacture NIMs out of xenonite

digestion takes days; if an eridian wants to be drunk for a wedding, they'll have to digest the NIMs days in advance

TLDR: eridian bartenders arrange little pieces of xenonite in specific repeating patterns, the eridians consume the little structure, and then they get drunk

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