folklorist: (Well this is certainly a mess)
Helios Sprensonne ([personal profile] folklorist) wrote2012-01-30 10:01 pm

ϡ - Chapter ThirtyThree; An Unusual Return [Action|Voice] (backdated to early afternoon)

[Action: Locked to Robert and Helios]

[ It’s a normal day and everyone has gone back to their own worlds. The cacophony of unknown voices over the journals has ceased and there is simply silence. But it’s not as if either of these two would have remembered. They were both taken by the droids just before such events took place, and were replaced with ones that looked and acted just like them. No one knew they were gone and no one would have to.

Except…except things weren’t exactly right upon their return. They usually never were, to be fair. But this, this was something beyond anything Helios thought the Malnosso were capable of.

He was… he was warm...and the pain... The pain was gone; that constant dull pain that had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember...for as long as Elise has been gone. It wasn’t right.

Something is so very wrong right now, and he doesn’t know what to do.

Helios looks over at the scientist lying off to the side and he finally realizes that they’re in some random, empty, unclaimed house. Robert is sprawled on his side, wings twitching a little under his lab coat, but he otherwise looks normal.

It's only when Helios stoops close to shake him gently awake that he realizes something is wrong with him, too. Robert's hands are deathly cold against his palms...just like his usually are.

...They're going to have to talk.
]

[Later action: Open to all]

[Eventually, Robert and Helios walk out of the building together, composed (enough) and ready to face all the inevitable accusations...though they will be very careful and recalcitrant about any major questions. And also a little reluctant to leave each other alone...especially not in their current conditions. Feel free to run into either of them on their meandering way back to House 55...they'd love the company.]

[Eventually, however, they'll get inside and be able to fish out Robert's journal...and then Helios fetches the journal to say a few words.]

Where is it? Oh! Yes it's on. [ He's always a bit more absentminded when there's a lot on his mind, forgive him. ]

It's b-been two days? N-No…around three, I believe. Ah, well, we’re both back. We’re both f-fine and, and there’s nothing to worry about! [ Oh yes. Nothing at all. ] W-We meaning Robert and I. H-He’s fine and-and if you want to speak with him you can. The Malnosso left us in better shape than usual. Ha...perhaps they are learning how to be compassionate. [ A light chuckle. ]

Yes, well, d-did anything happen? Is everyone…is everyone alright? [ A lot can happen in two days in Luceti after all. ]

[ OOC: Robert and Helios return from their mallynap! Feel free to specify in the subject line of your reply where your character is and who you want your character to talk to – either will talk if asked, though most action replies will probably be three-way threads.]
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (complaining)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-01 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Details, details. Normally he's detail-oriented, but he just doesn't have it in him to keep focus on sci-fi sounding conventions at that moment. Astrobiology? Time Dilation?

...yeah. Not gonna think about that.]


That's still kinda young; I've got a full ten years on you.
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-03 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, w-well...

[... Terran education is pretty intensive, but he's never really had anything to compare against here in Luceti.]

... I... s-suppose there might... b-be some differences, in... in terms of educational... p-protocol...?

... [Thoughtfully:] Though... I was considered a... r-rather quick learner...

[... He's actually kind of selling himself a bit short, here.]
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (casual-- impressed)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-03 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, then, Robbie...how is your education different from the...'standard?' [The guy still seems kinda young...]
semper_cogitans: (:|a)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-04 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
W-Well... [Awkwardly:] I am... r-rather unfamiliar with the... educational system of... m-many Lucetians. ... M-Might I ask for some... c-clarification...?
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (complaining)

Re: [Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-04 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
Elementary school. Middle school. High school. Tests on every level--after school cram classes. College degrees...the highest of which isn't earned usually until late twenties at the earliest...

[So Japanese...have fun.]
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-04 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
[The structure seems... a little inefficient to Robert, honestly. Not that the mun is totally solid on Terran schooling...]

Ah, w-well. Education on Terra is... v-variable, tailored to the i-inidividual student's needs, b-but... the typical human student w-would start education around four y-years of age, with core e-educational principles being expounded u-upon in later years...

... M-Most Terrans will have a solid idea of eventual c-career choice by f-fifteen, though it can... v-vary in practise and in estimated a-ability projections by... simulators.

[... Yep.]

I have... h-heard cases of people... changing their m-minds later, but... it t-tends to be rare...
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (casual-- staring contest)

[Voice] 1/2

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-04 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
...
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (sigh)

[Voice] 2/2

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-04 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
You have my condolences.
semper_cogitans: (>_>)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-04 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
... Your... c-condolences...?

[He is legitimately confused.]
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (complaining)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-04 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Too concrete--no wonder you can't lie. Sorry, I can't see people being happy in a world like that...

Then again, I'm biased.
Edited 2012-02-04 20:21 (UTC)
semper_cogitans: (:|a)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-04 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Whatever do you m-mean...? [What does the concreteness of the world have to do with the educational system, anyway? He really can't draw any parallel there.]
redjacketthief: (howboring)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-09 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
...

You're one of those guys who thinks inside the box, aren't you?
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-11 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[... Give him a second to parse that metaphor.]

... I... w-would not know. B-By... by definition, s-scientists do... need to have some, er, u-unique thinking processes...
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (complaining)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-11 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
...

Just my biases then. I never got structure and order. [He shrugs on his end, invisible to Robert's eyes via the audio feed.]

Here's a small tip: you can apply those 'unique thinking processes' to formulating lies next time. Or finding ways to avoid them. People are like science, when you get down to it. Their behaviors follow patterns that are pretty easy to manipulated.
semper_cogitans: (D:>)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-11 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I... a-always found people much... more d-difficult to comprehend than... th-theorems.

[So many abstractions. So many unpredictable behaviours and things he can't account for and quirks he can't understand and... what feels like a whole language sometimes, hovering just beyond him.

He remembers the brief, experiment-induced time he could understand it. Sometimes it hurts, remembering that.]
redjacketthief: (is this what I think it is?)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-11 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Stop thinking and just watch every once in a while then. You might learn something. Once you know, they're easy to move around the board unless they are onto you.

That's when it becomes fun.
semper_cogitans: (:|a)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-13 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
... Stop... th-thinking...?

[There are many things that are difficult for Robert to comprehend. This is one of the worst.]

...

... You... s-seem experienced with... this c-concept...
redjacketthief: (whine)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-13 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
I watch people. It's useful for my job.

--and, I don't mean literally stop thinking. [even he, especially he, knew how impossible that was.] I mean...just watch without judgements or opinions clouding your observations.
semper_cogitans: (:/)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-13 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh. That's slightly easier to do then...]

... Well, t-to an extent, I... d-do something like that. I just... do not th-think I would... necessarily be able to, er... i-interpret all the data...
redjacketthief: (whine)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-13 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
...

I don't understand.
semper_cogitans: (D:>)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-13 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
... I... miss much of it. S-Social cues, and such.

... It... it i-is not something I... u-understand...

[He's not sure how much more obvious he can make that.]
redjacketthief: (totally not a wolf)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-13 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe if you try looking at it as not people, but data? Would that help?
semper_cogitans: (:|)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-16 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
... I am not c-certain... it would still be something that... is l-largely indecipherable to me.

[It's kind of like trying to run a file with a program it's not designed to be used with.]
redjacketthief: @ starkxravingxmad (wtf-- wait a minute)

[Voice]

[personal profile] redjacketthief 2012-02-16 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[wait. what?]

...I don't understand.
semper_cogitans: (D:>)

[Voice]

[personal profile] semper_cogitans 2012-02-16 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[... How does he put this into words...]

... I have... a c-condition that renders s-social cues very difficult for me to... i-interpret...

... It is, er, l-largely... invisible to me.

[Entire parts of conversations just... don't get processed...]

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